#i know a lot of the fanbase is fairly young though so i know they dont know better but

[seasurfacefullofclouds1]

Hey Sea

Now that Louis is in a fairly good position professionally I badly want him to date someone it must be nice having a partner and also it would shut those delusional fans for once and for all.. I acknowledge that professionally he has a lot to do yet.

Not wanting to speculate about his sexuality but deep down how much I try to convince myself with that "in fact straight" tweet I somehow feel Louis isn't - I know it is wrong and not good of me to think that. I just want him to be happy keep making music and get some industry help his music deserves awards!! Do you anytime feel the same - thay he gave away too much of his self, love and affection when has was young and maybe it hurt him, now he is too cautious about it, I don't mind him getting back with Eleanor also because she seemed to always be there for him during tough times and she has seen his ups and downs (although I never felt any chemistry in between them ) I just want to Louis to have someone in his life who deserves HIM. Music industry is itself a tough one to navigate having a partner and having a shoulder to rely on can make it much easier. What do you reckon?

Hi,

I think that Louis is able to have a bird’s eye view of his experiences, and make a longterm plan for the future. Every professional accomplishment we see now is that outcome of decisions from back in 2018 or so. Louis has been able to come to these decisions mostly on his own; his team is there to facilitate the plan.

This is why Louis is able to answer eloquently about his choices, unlike others who stumble through talking points made by their manager or label.

Louis’ choices are obviously his, as Matt Vines, his tour team, and many others have corroborated. Louis talks about songwriting himself; there is never a proxy appointed to speak on his behalf, to give interviews in lieu of Louis himself. Louis’ voice has stayed consistent throughout his discography, through many collaborators, because he writes the lyrics himself. Louis still keeps his childhood friends close to him. Louis gave a free festival for 10,000 fans. Louis doesn’t charge for meet & greet or VIP. Louis keeps his tickets affordable even though he can sell them for 10x the price. Louis has championed the same artists through the years, has lifted up women and POC artists, and his support has been consistent. And now he’s touring with friends— the DMAs— whom he’s known for years. All of these are choices.

Louis has never— will never— objectify women in his music. He will never sexualize the people who make up the majority of his fanbase as sexual body parts, or see us as wallets, or write songs about how we are hard candy dripping on him, or how sex with women is better when you “pay for it,” or how his fanbase are mostly girls who want to be treated as pop tarts for a sugar daddy. Louis will always encourage community (“you can’t do it by yourself/ whatever tears you apart/ don’t let it break your heart,” “you won’t be the first or be the last to bleed/ You're not the only one, no/ In a strange way, we're all in this together”) and he will sing about both the darkness (“all the lonely shadow dances from the cradle to the grave”) and the light.

Fans who are unable or unwilling to see this characteristic about Louis— his fierce self-determination and really, a generosity of spirit to do good in the world— but instead concentrate on winning fandom wars (bad takes on his smoking / drinking, stupid theories on why never spending time with another person means they’re still together, conflating swearing and flashing middle fingers with intellectual incoherence) are the myopic ones, the ones who will never catch up with Louis. He’s already years ahead.

As for a romantic partner, I think this is an interesting issue, because it’s the one thing in life that maybe one can’t intellectualize with an executive plan. Through his discography, we can hear that Louis has had turmoil in his romantic life, and that romance has played a pivotal role in the highs and lows of his career, in so many ways. Yes, I do think Louis has regrets, he’s made mistakes, and he feels guilty for some of it. Yes, I do think Louis feels he has revealed too much of his life. I think he doesn’t lack for partners, but he’s wary of anyone connected to the industry. I am also 1000% sure that he will never be back with Eleanor.

[bisexualbard-writes]

A few weeks ago in the comments section of The Miserable Art @nyxelestia brought up how much of a mess it would be if Chay and Kim’s relationship got out, what with Chay doing porn and all. So then I panicked for six hours about how I’ve doomed them, then realized that as the author I could just come up with why they’re not doomed. I thought I’d share my response here now, as kinda an epilogue epilogue to the open and honest communication series:  So first of all, I think Chay never really grows a large following. He never really spends a lot of time promoting himself to try and get new viewers, and he doesn't spend a lot of time responding to comments, or doing personal request videos, or doing much in the way of trying to retain viewers. He mostly just does whatever he wants without worrying about how much he's making off of his platform. So because of this, I think he flies under the radar a lot of the time.I think a few of the other college students/med students at various points learn about his videos, but a surprising number of them are like "oh, you're funding your way through med school? Respect, man." Gen Z's superpower of disregard for outdated notions of sexual shame or whatever. 

Chay's agoraphobia was never really about being socially awkward - his brand is being shameless after all - but more about fearing for his own safety or the safety of the people he loves. When he is worried about the social aspect it's mostly in relation to Kim and that's because things did spectacularly fall apart with Kim once before.

I also think that anyone who DOES present an actual threat to Chay's happiness and career... tends to stop being employed at that particular facility shortly after. There's almost certainly a professor somewhere along the way who tries to extort Chay for sexual favors in return for not telling the rest of the faculty about his side gig and that professor disappears before Chay’s next class with him. Chay feels a little bad about it, but also knows he's not the only one on campus with an onlyfans and those people could have also been targeted if said professor stuck around. I think after that though he does talk to Kim/Kinn/Porsche/Tankhun about how Chay needs to be able to fight his own battles, and they compromise that no one will interfere unless Chay's problem could potentially be harmful to others too, and no one is super happy about the compromise but sometimes that's just how compromises work.

So that's how Chay makes it through his years of schooling and training. And by residency he's probably too busy to update his channel regularly and it just falls to the wayside as other interests take priority.

As for Kim, that one is definitely harder if word of their relationship gets out. I do think that both of them are fairly happy to stay closeted from the public. It may be annoying that Kim can't take Chay to red carpet events, but they're both aware that there are security risks associated with being a public couple, and they're very interested in staying out of the public eye. That gets them through a number of years. And from there... I don't think Kim wants to be an idol forever. He likes the freedom and the music more than he likes having a huge fanbase and filming corny commercials. I think eventually he gives up idol!wik to become producer!wik - he settles down out of the spotlight to write music and help other young artists break into the scene. He has a soft spot for youtube kids with parents who don't support their music careers but are ballsy enough to try for it anyway. I think he still drops albums occasionally, because writing and singing is still his preferred method of communication when he's overwhelmed with emotions he doesn't know how to process. So by the time his and Chay's public relationship drops he's a little less famous, and his target audience is people who enjoy his music as opposed to people who want to try and date him. And then it's just a news cycle of "can you believe this celebrity who used to be huge is dating an ex porn star, how juicy" and then maybe some of his fans leave in a huff but the rest are like "hey are you ever gonna drop a studio version of why don't you stay, we've literally been asking for it for years"

SO that's how they get through living life on their own terms and relatively unscathed by scandal.

#the miserable art #want and need

[liquidstar]

i wanna follow more ducktales blogs bc i love the show SO much but so many ppl ship webby with the triplets and i 🤢

#incest mention #shes written to be like an adopted sister to them! they call her family like... MULTIPLE times #even the crew has said theyve written it as a family dynamic #its gross and i do not like it please just . keep it away from me #whatever do what you want i dont give a shit like ik i cant stop you but I Dont Wanna See It #i know a lot of the fanbase is fairly young though so i know they dont know better but #whats that one buzzfeed unsolved quote? #''any time you have to say its technically not incest thats not good'' #something like that. it applies here #not to mention its also bad bc ur saying u dont view adopted family as real family. no... theyre real family. #its about more than just blood but the relationship and dynamics between them and i just Do Not Like webby shipped w any of them i dont!!!!! #shes their sister #denying that fact is a huge disservice to her character tbh! i mean #all she wanted was family. the main theme of the entire series was family. shes their family #as well as their charmingly violent best friend #its even WORSE when they ship all 3 of them with her and they just pass her around and its so WEIRD and just #uncomfortable. i do not like it not one bit #i know some ''anti anti uwu'' asshole is abt to barge in on this post so i wanna say 1. im not an ''anti'' im just a normal person #who is allowed to be grossed out by this stuff and have options on it #and 2. youre a hypocrite if youre gonna yell at someone for saying they dont like something you like because ''everyones entitled to their- #opinion'' yeah well mine is that its gross live w it idc #sorry i ranted a bit i am just SO sick of seeing it u_u

[orionsangel86]

Lets talk about the Bare Minimum

Okay guys, obviously there is a huge divide here among those of us that are super positive and excited and those of you that are really doubtful the finale will give us anything remotely worthwhile. So lets break this down okay? Perhaps it can get us all on a fairly level playing field?

What is the absolute bare minimum the Supernatural Finale can give us to satisfy us?

Everyone will have different ideas of course, but if we dismiss all our wildest dreams and high expectations and consider the fact that yes, this is still Supernatural and they do tend to run on a mix of batshit crazy, profound and poetic beauty, and things seemingly falling into place so perfectly it was clearly 100% accidental (eg: The Monster at the End of this Book) then we should probably try to find a centre point. A point that we can use to gauge how the episode will fair overall.

So what is the bare minimum?

Castiel returns

This is it. This should be the bare minimum we should expect in order to make this finale meaningful.

If we are given nothing else, Cas returning should be enough for us to nod and say “okay Supernatural. You tried. You got him back. He was there for the finale. That’s the main thing.”

If Castiel isn’t back and the finale is just Sam and Dean driving around looking for generic MOTW hunts like in Season 1 in some sort of bronly wet dream, that would be a massive anticlimax and miserable way to end the series. It will be the worst ending of a show since GoT.

BUT we know Misha filmed 20. I will hear no more to the alternative. Misha filming 20 is and always has been a fundamental FACT.

So Castiel returns. Bare minimum met? Right? Of course there are caveats to that key point.

Castiel returning in flashback form only, or as a memory or dream, whilst the actual Castiel still remains in the Empty is NOT an acceptable option. If the show takes this route, this is still below the bare minimum. This would be deemed a failure in my opinion just as if the finale is just Sam and Dean being bros on the road.

What really needs to happen for the bare minimum to be met, is for Castiel to be rescued from the Empty. Whether that is by Jack, by Dean, or by himself or some other means, Castiel must return from the Empty to fix the only actual loose end not tied up in 15x19. We should also finally get the Empty being sent back to sleep, because having just binge watched episodes 12-18 all in one week, let me tell you, the amount of times it is repeated that the Empty desperately wants to go back to sleep is a LOT. From what I have been told, the Empty isn’t even mentioned in 19, so that is the only plot point actually still hanging over the series.

Of course, had Castiel not confessed his “homosexual feelings of love” for Dean in 15x18, then at this point I would have said that the bare minimum I needed was for Cas to be saved, and for Dean to give him a heartfelt hug and a look of love and to say “lets go home” off into a future where we know the story ends with Dean and Cas together in an ambiguous relationship. (Honestly, for a long time, this is the ending I thought we would get).

But Dabb and Bobo have written themselves into a very specific corner.

Castiel’s confession was not ambiguous. Because of this, the big question hanging over the final ever episode of the longest running genre show on TV, isn’t about whether the heroes will stop the big bad, it isn’t whether or not they will live or die, nope, it’s whether the lead male character will reciprocate romantic love for his “equally male” (Note - I’m talking in terms of mainstream here don’t @ me) best friend. The big question Supernatural has gone and put to its audience is “is Dean Winchester also in love with Castiel and therefore, is he also queer?”

This is an unpresedented situation that the show has put itself in.

Because of this, the bare minimum is no longer just Castiel being saved. It’s also Dean answering that question that the show has put to us.

Castiel must be saved, and the love confession must be addressed. These things are the key points going into this final episode. If either of them are glossed over in any way, the show would have fundamentally failed it’s audience, its characters, it’s cast, and everyone involved in it. Given how optimistic and happy everyone who works on the show seems to be currently, I highly doubt that is the case.

So. Castiel must be saved, and the confession must be addressed. Do we accept Dean rejecting Cas?

There is I suppose, a very slim chance that this could happen. If the Network let their own homophobia get to them (before you come @ me, no I don’t consider the CW’s many young attractive lesbian characters to let them off the hook for years of avoiding any non stereotypical queer men. IT’S TOTALLY DIFFERENT) then they may have greenlighted Cas’s queerness whilst refusing to do the same for Dean. They may consider simply saving Castiel and therefore #resurrectingyourgays as enough to satisfy the queer viewers, even though Castiel’s love was not returned. Perhaps in the final episode we will get a flashforward to years down the line and Cas has got over Dean and is living it up with another man? It’s possible right?

It would also cause utter outrage in the fanbase. Dabb and Bobo are far more savvy than fandom gives them credit for. I personally think that had the network said no to Dean reciprocating Castiel’s love, then Dabb and Bobo would have kept it ambiguous, and simply strongly implied that they end up together in an ending like the one I always thought we would get when my hopes for Destiel were at a low point.

So Dean reciprocating Castiel’s love also falls under the bare minimum requirements for the episode to be a success.

How they go about showing Dean reciprocating Cas’s feelings I don’t know. Do I absolutely need a kiss? No. It’s not a bare minimum requirement. Anything beyond Dean simply telling Cas he loves him back and Cas smiling at him is a bonus. Perhaps they could show it the way they showed Jesse and Cesar in 11x19. Through affection and care, but no actual kisses.

Whilst I personally believe we will get a kiss, it’s not a bare minimum, and if we don’t get one I will still be satisfied so long as we get all of the following:

Castiel is saved from the Empty

Dean reciprocates his love

Dean and Cas end up together (whether that be to live lives together on Earth, or both go out fighting and reunite in heaven together. Whatever the case, they must end up together)

My 3rd point here is the only other bare minimum requirement I need to not feel like they have screwed it up. I don’t care whether Dean and Cas end the show alive or dead. What I DO care is that regardless of where they end up, be it Earth, Heaven, or even Purgaytory, they are together. They must end the series together.

There are of course many other things I want. I want Cas to give up his grace (by choice) and become a human (I really wanna see him in Winchester plaid at least once!). I want to see them slow dancing like Garth and Bess did in 15x10. I want Sam to reunite with Eileen and also get a happy ending. I hope they get to keep the damn dog too. Ideally, I want a soft epilogue, because these boys are good people, and they’ve suffered enough. Whatever else may happen though, so long as those bare minimum requirements are met, I will consider the ending a resounding success.

Personally, I don’t think I’m asking for much.

#supernatural #destiel #spn endgame #15x20 #destiel is canon #give us the bare minimum #the rest is confetti #lol

[tiredspacedragon]

The Toa Metru as Matoran

So, I’m fairly certain it’s a widely known fact at this point that not all Matoran are actually capable of becoming Toa. Most Matoran will remain pint-sized their whole lives, and only those with a spark of Toa power inside them from the moment of their creation have the capacity to transform. Having such a spark inside you has been shown/stated to have a few strange effects, namely, Matoran with “the calling” tend to be eccentric in one way or another; for example, Takua was always wandering around, not content to stay in one place and focus on work, and Krakua broke De-Matoran convention by loving sound. 

In the case of the Toa Metru, their eccentricities manifested as extreme talent in their respective fields. They were considered the best of their profession in all of Metru Nui, and that’s had me thinking. What would being the best actually mean for these six disasters?

Onewa, I think, is the simplest. He was a carver, an artist, and what usually defines an artist as “great” is their skill, but also the popularity of their work and the messages they put into that work, if any. We know Onewa was, and still is, a talented stoneworker, but the other two don’t come up much. If Onewa was in fact considered the best carver in Metru Nui, then he would have been famous, and would probably have had a sizeable art-nerd fanbase. Maybe some of his sassy, jaded attitude came from having to dodge paprazzi all the time. His status as a top artist also means that, for all his rude, gruff exterior, Onewa was a deep thinker, one who attached a lot of meaning to things. It’s been a while since I read 2004/2005, so I’ll have to keep an eye out for this next time I read the Metru Nui saga, see if I can spot any cases of Onewa’s Artist’s Eye revealing itself.

Whenua was an Archivist, which is shown off plenty in the books. He is extremely knowledgeable about various breeds of Rahi, is a learned historian, and he’s just a little anal about organization sometimes. I used to just think that amount of knowledge was standard fare for Archivists, but now I’m not so sure. If Whenua really was the best Archivist, then his knowledge was most likely leaps and bounds ahead of anyone else’s. I imagine he spent all his downtime in records rooms, ravenously devouring any and all information he could get his hands on. The average Archivist likely knew all there was to know about their specific field, but you could ask Whenua anythng about Metru Nui’s history, Rahi population, folklore, science, or virtually any other topic you could think of, and he’d probably be able to give you some kind of answer, or at the very least, a suggestion on how to learn more. Honestly, the Toa Metru seriously underutilized Whenua’s brain.

Nuju is simply described as “a scholar,” or on occasion, a seer. His primary field seems to have been astrology, given his preoccupation with the stars and the future, though “scholar” certainly leaves room for interpretation. But sticking to the seer angle, for Nuju to be the best seer in Metru Nui, would that mean his predictions were the most accurate, or perhaps the farthest-reaching? We know from Ehrye that Nuju was in a position to evaluate couriers and other young Ko-Matoran and determine whether or not they were ready to become full scholars, so perhaps Nuju’s job was more bureaucratic in nature than you might expect. That would certainly explain his attitude. But even so, to reach such a high-ranking position, Nuju would have to have had some impressive accomplishments under his belt. Maybe Nuju was responsible for some pivotal scientific advancements or discoveries. I’m using the word maybe a lot here, because while I feel there’s a lot to potentially unpack with Nuju, it’s difficult to effectively articulate.

Exactly what makes someone a great teacher, let alone the best teacher, is difficult to pin down, the implications of Nokama’s status are unfortunately nebulous. Was she the best teacher by virtue of being knowledgeable in the most fields? Or did she simply have some kind of spark that kept her students engaged and interested, so that Matoran taught by Nokama most often excelled compared to those taught by other Ga-Matoran? Given Vhisola’s obsession with her, I would guess the latter. But that brings up more interesting questions. How many Matoran did Nokama educate in her time as a teacher? Were they only Ga-Matoran, or was she known and renowned city-wide? How often did she accidentally slip into teacher-talk when speaking with the other Toa Metru and congratulate them on simple tasks or tell them to say goodbye to inanimate objects? We may never know.

Here’s something that’s always bugged me. If Vakama truly was the best Mask Maker in all of Metru Nui, why could he not tell everyone what their Mask Powers were, and how to use them? I’ve come up with a few answers over the years. The first is that, as a Matoran, Vakama would of course have no idea how to use a Kanohi, so he can get away with that one. As for why he couldn’t tell the others what their masks were, well, maybe he had reached that level of expertise where you forget that not everyone knows all the stuff you know. Maybe he did recognize all the Toa’s masks on sight, including his own, but simply forgot that most Matoran don’t know the shape, name, and power of each and every Kanohi by sight. The second, and more interesting possibility in my opinion, is that Vakama truly didn’t know what any of the Metru’s masks were, and the reason he didn’t know was because he was the best. I imagine that being the best Mask Maker likely didn’t just mean his masks were of the highest quality, it may have also meant that Vakama spent most of his time forging masks that were difficult to craft. We know from the various movies/animations/comics/etc. that the masks the Metru wore were all very common masks, likely easy to produce given how many of them there were. Perhaps Vakama simply didn’t waste his time on such masks and instead focused his time and energy into crafting rarer and more complex masks like masks of telepathy, emulation, spirit, and such, and so didn’t recognize the Metru’s masks because they were beneath his pay grade and so he wasn’t overly familiar with them. Or maybe he was just used to seeing those masks in their Noble forms and so didn’t recognize the Great Forms.

And finally, Matau, whose profession I think has the most interesting ramifications. Matau was a test pilot, so it was his job to try out new vehicles and see if they were worthy of public use. The driving part of this job was key to the story, and we got to see Matau show off his impressive piloting chops many times. But being a test driver is a twofold job; obviously to be the best test driver, you would have to be an excellent driver, but the other part of the job is figuring out if the vehicle you are testing is working properly, has any issues that could be tightened up, or any blatant design flaws that make it unfit for the market (a moto-sled with handlebars that easily snap off, for example). So to be considered the best at such a job, Matau would have had to have been not just a great pilot, but also a reasonably skilled mechanic, able to deduce when a vehicle wasn’t quite functioning properly and accurately deduce what the problem was. As far as I know, this aspect of Matau’s expertise never came up in the story, which is a shame, because I think it would have made for some excellent comedy. I can picture the Toa Metru running into some kind of trouble involving malfunctioning machinery, and none of the others can figure out what’s wrong, and then Matau casually points out the exact part causing the problem and the others are just stunned. And Matau just shrugs and says “What? I crashed things for a living, I know how stuff breaks.”

Also, it’s just occurred to me that all the Toa Metru likely had celebrity status in one way or another thanks to their skills, which makes the whole situation of Dume/Makuta framing them that much stranger/funnier. It’d be like if a real-world country’s most famous fashion designer, university professor, racecar driver, museum curator, painter, and astrophysicist all walked into the capitol one day wearing sci-fi armour and carrying items form that country’s mythology, claimed to have put an end to a crime spree, and were then accused by the head of government of murdering the country’s most beloved actor. Imagine the sheer confusion.

#bionicle #toa metru #vakama #nokama #matau #whenua #onewa #nuju #sorry for the long post #i ramble when i talk about one of my obsessions #is it a special interest #is that the right term #no idea #don't really feel like taking the risk of offending people #i overthink everything

[1ddotdhq]

🍌Wed 2 Dec ‘20💚

Harry Styles Reacts to Banana Innuendo Rumors by Making EVEN MORE Banana Innuendos part TWO

Good morning/evening/night to Harry’s post and Harry’s post ONLY! (Okay that’s not true but it was definitely a highlight of my day). In case people haven’t seen it yet, it’s Harry in a light blue custom made suit putting a penis banana in his mouth. The picture is captioned “Bring Back Manly Men” so take a suck on THAT Candace Owens! It was only one of many great pictures in his variety shoot (including another, um, fruity picture of him biting into a pomegranate okay Persephone we get it), but Harry did indeed choose That One to post on This, the day after banana necklace dickscourse, BLESS. Harry’s interview was a little more in depth than they have been in the past, touching upon his feelings on race (“Historically, I can’t think of any industry that’s benefited more off of Black culture than music. There are discussions that need to happen about this long history of not being paid fairly. It’s a time for listening, and hopefully, people will come out humbled, educated and willing to learn and change”), as well as his tattoos (the only time he regrets them is in the DWD makeup chair), his love of reading, fashion and art, his exercise routine (Kid Harpoon couldn’t keep up!),  and his feelings on success and acclaim (“It’s never why I do anything...it's always nice to know that people like what you’re doing, but ultimately — and especially working in a subjective field — I don’t put too much weight on that stuff...Fans are the best A&R”). 

The problems arose - as they so often do - when One Direction was mentioned. The article said that “The proof [of the band’s benefits] is in the relatively seamless solo transitions of at least three of its members- Payne, Malik and Horan in addition to Styles- each of whom has landed hit singles on charts in the U.K., the U.S. and beyond”. Leaving aside the bad math (that's 4 people!) one name, of course, is notably missing: Louis has in fact enjoyed quite a lot of success both with Walls (remember when his album went #1 on iTunes in the UK AND the US literally 2 months ago?) and his pre-Walls singles like “Back To You” and “Just Hold On”. It got worse because the author tried to back up her claim with Harry’s quote, “When you look at the history of people coming out of bands and starting solo careers, they feel this need to apologize for being in the band...but we loved being in the band...I think there’s a wont to pit people against each other. And I think it’s never been about that for us. It’s about a next step in evolution. The fact that we’ve all achieved different things outside of the band says a lot about how hard we worked in it”. By linking her own words with Harry's quote she made it seem as though Harry said it to agree with her biased take, which we'd know he didn't even if we hadn't heard him say this exact quote without that slant multiple times before. Fans were quick to point out both to the author and to Variety that they were wrong (to describe the reaction mildly), and the author rather than fixing the mistake, doubled down and began blocking fans. Plenty of people were quick to say that of course HSHQ and Harry had approved this content, despite more knowledgeable fans trying to be heard protesting that that is not how it works. (Remember how just recently Vogue got Harry’s whole ass FAMILY situation wrong and it was not corrected until after print, for example?) In fact, even the magazine didn't really proofread this- the print version of the article is different and says, “The proof is in the relatively seamless solo transitions of at least three of its members - Styles, Malik and Horan”, effectively erasing both Louis AND Liam. It's an annoying take either way, but it's one the author more than likely picked up by doing her research on harrie twitter, not on orders from Jeff.

And because we DO NOT STAND FOR LILO ERASURE ON THIS BLOG, let’s talk about Liam’s Web Summit panel! It was 25 minutes of Liam and Marian Dicus (VP of Spotify) being interviewed about the current and future state of the music industry. Both of them, of course, noted that things had changed very quickly in their careers back at the beginning of lockdown, and how it had seemed surreal, at first, but that Liam had found that the way he was operating now (with Veeps and Tik Tok and Instagram lives) had made his platform a two way interaction with his fans. “For a long time I've been living in a dream world where I thought I was speaking with my fans but really I was just talking at them whereas we as artists ask a lot of rhetorical questions... I wanted to start a conversation”. Marian discussed how engaging fans differently WAS one of the most difficult things to puzzle out at the beginning, but that as months have passed, it seems artists like Liam have found a viable virtual future in the music industry (Liam tells us that he's been doing “stadium size shows” on Veeps which is an exciting clue about the mystery of how many tickets they're selling). They also went into the way music trends change as a response to social and political occurrences, how comfort songs gave way to protest songs this summer. Liam said, “People want their artists to have an opinion nowadays it's not that we can stay out of the conversation anymore-- and nor do we feel that we should in many places-- but for me it's a fine line because I realize what I do for people is an escape, people don't want things rammed down their throats every day and news messages from me about things that they don't want to hear about if they've come to listen to music, so its a real fine line that we kind of teeter on”. And about his opening acts, he acknowledges that his fanbase are mostly young women (based on the data breakdowns he gets from his team), and so he feels a responsibility to mentor young female artists in the industry so that more people like his fans have a voice. In an interview full of really fascinating music and technical discussions, this remained my favorite moment from Liam. Just like we won’t erase HIM, he refuses to erase US! And let's not forget our Liam alarm of the day-- it starts out absolutely adorable (“good moooorning!”), is hilarious in that apparently he just rambled completely unscripted and then they awkwardly cut it into 25 parts, but today's installment is frankly not relaxing! “only 23 sleeps til christmas have you done your shopping are you prepared” excuse me Liam YOU ARE STRESSING ME OUT. The promised relaxing sleep story affirmations are still 'coming soon'-- hurry up please I need them to decompress after that alarm!

Now for a lightning round of epic proportions: DWD darling pictures and vids keep comin’ and Harry and Florence are both looking GORGEOUS as Jack and Alice,  after the Variety shoot dropped ‘THE CAPTION’, ‘BRING BACK MANLY MEN’, and ‘LOUIS IS SUCCESSFUL’ trended worldwide on twitter, Tan France said “yes please” to Harry's banana post, Harry reiterated that London was home and he didn’t want to be in LA for longer than he needed to,Variety has its virtual show tomorrow at 5 pm PST so see you there! Veeps is sending out emails promoting Louis’ show to people who bought LP show tickets, fans have already started to receive their Louis Tomlinson Live From London merch, Trinity College in Dublin’s Law society presented Niall with an award for, uh, his Irishness, I guess? (Just kidding, it’s for “his incredible talent and work ethics which is famously underscored by a distinct humility despite unthinkable success”). It looks like he will be giving a talk when he’s presented with it, and I’m honestly really interested to see what it’s all about - is he...gonna be talking to law students? Idk but tune in on December 7th at 12 pm GMT to find out!

#harry styles #liam payne #louis tomlinson #niall horan #also i am seeing discourse about H's COOP and how he loves the Manchester music scene #but that this stadium will be changing it irrevocably #i mean it will be adding jobs (4000 of them!) but it will also be pushing out the small music scenes that benefits small independent artists #who are trying to break through into the indusrty #*industry #and i think thats a really interesting and important convo #of which i dont have any knowledge but i did want to shine some light on it #also!! tumblr has finally recced me something that i like! a store called 28cultures.com #and its NOT larry merch but it COULD BE its SO COOL!!!! #this isnt spon con i just thought it was so funny! #anyways! #song of the day~ #savior complex by phoebe bridgers #(and rob moose!)

[afeatherinthewind]

Reminder that there is a separation between content creators' public personas and their real selves (from u/berkeleynoob)

((This is not my post, it is originally from reddit u/berkeleynoob but I got permission to repost as I know a lot of younger Dream SMP fans are on Tumblr and Twitter)) --- This was originally a comment I made on another post, but two people pm-ed me and told me it would be a good standalone post so I decided to expand on it a little. Given the amount of new (young) fans there are, I thought it might be a timely reminder.

The different levels of personas:

I'm using Tommy as an example here because that was what the original post I responded to was about. There are at least three levels to Tommy (and probably most content creators in the DSMP as well). There's c!Tommy, the character he plays on the Dream SMP. Then there's the public TommyInnit profile that he portrays on Youtube and social media (e.g. Twitter). Then there's the real Tommy, who we as the audience obviously aren't privy to see.

I think most fans are fairly clear that c!Tommy is very different from the real Tommy, and criticism/negative comments about the character are very separate from their opinions about the real Tommy. But I've heard less about differentiating Tommy from the TommyInnit persona that he portrays.

Criticism towards the persona vs towards the person:

There's a reason why Tommy starts every Youtube video with a disclaimer about people finding him annoying. The TommyInnit persona is a fairly polarising one, and I too found it somewhat grating when I first watched him. Even now I take my TommyInnit content with breaks because it can be a bit much after a while. But clearly Tommy knows his audience very well and he knows that the TommyInnit persona appeals to a great deal of people, as evidenced by how he's one of the fastest growing Youtube/Twitch creators and his fanbase is huge.

I think it's valid to have criticism for or to dislike the TommyInnit persona. It's not for everyone, and some people probably do find it annoying. But I don't think any of the audience has any basis upon which to judge the real Tommy since we know so little about him. The closest we got was probably the Eboys podcast, in which Tommy impressed me with his maturity and humility for a 16-year-old kid who skyrocketed in fame less than a year. Even when Techno was complaining to Phil (on stream) about how exhausting it was to stream with c!Tommy, he added something like, "and I mean the character Tommy, because believe it or not, Tommy is a entirely different person off-stream". I've heard nothing about great things about how Tommy is off-stream and there's no doubt he's an incredibly hardworking person.

So even though I don't love c!Tommy and the TommyInnit persona can get a bit much for me sometimes, I have nothing but respect for Tommy the person and how much he's achieved.

This goes for just about every content creator out there. Despite how much of their content you may watch and how well you think you know them, that is still their public persona, not who they really are in normal life. It's valid to pass judgement and have criticism for the personas they portray and how they portray it, but it's unfair to use the personas themselves (e.g. "oh Wilbur was mean to Tommy in non-roleplay video", or "Bad swore in this video so he's a hypocrite") to pass judgement on them as people. As fans and audience members, I think we have to accept that we may never really know much about who they are as real people, and that's fine.

The other side: Why being overly attached to the persona is bad

I'm probably older than a lot of the fans here, and I've been in and out of fandom for over 10 years now. I've lived through the terrible days when fandom was all about LiveJournal, ONTD and Tumblr ("I like your shoelaces"). So I know how easy it can be to get sucked into obsessive fandom and become overly attached to actors/singers/content creators. Here's a cautionary tale to show why you shouldn't make the mistake of thinking you know the content creator just because you're a superfan.

I used to be very involved in the Achievement Hunter (a group of Let's Players) community, I watched them since I was in high school and I enjoyed their content a lot. Roleplay wasn't really a thing and they did a lot of behind-the-scenes type of content (e.g. podcasts, recording random shenanigans in the office) that made it feel like I really knew and liked them as people.

One of my favorites was Ryan Haywood. He was a witty, sarcastic guy who was known as the 'madman' and 'evil mastermind' in the video games they played. He was happily married and had two children at home, and for many years I admired his perfect life and how he had gotten to that position: playing video games for a living and enjoying life with his family.

In 2020, it was revealed that Ryan had been having affairs with several female fans. He had messaged many young fans manipulative and explicit messages and even met up and had sexual relations with some of them. Some of the fans who came out and told their stories testified that they were underage when the affair happened, and they felt pressured into having relations with Ryan. There are a lot of other complicated details that I won't go into here. But this news shocked me and many fans to our core. I didn't want to believe it at first. This was so utterly different to the Ryan Haywood I thought I knew and loved.

TL;DR

That was an extreme example but it's a reminder that we are fans and audience members. We don't know the content creators, regardless of how personable they may be or how much of their life they choose to share with us. Especially for younger fans who may be delving headfirst into a fandom for the first time, it's a wild and fun ride and it's easy to get overly attached or obsessed.

Please use this as a reminder to take a step back and remember that there is a very real wall of separation between TommyInnit and Tommy, between Wilbur Soot and Will, between Tubbo and Toby, between any content creator's public persona and their real self. And similarly, there should be separation between what you feel about a content creator's public persona and the content creator themselves. We know their personas, not them. And that's fine.

#Dream SMP #dsmp #parasocial relationships #tw: ryan haywood #tw: manipulation #ryan haywood #be safe #tommyinnit #technoblade #dream #goes for all content creators #do not idolize people

[princessofprocrastination]

A Creep? (Sapnap)

MASTERLIST 

pairing : sapnap x reader 

summary : in the world of flashing cameras and big stages, love lives don’t exist, and there’s no such thing as personal space. 

a/n : a sapnap story for y’all, muah. also, thank you so so much for 175 followers, holy crap.

-

your backstory is quite simple. a texan girl who had a dream of singing, but was limited since the main genre of your state was country. 

you appreciated the genre, but you have never been interested in making country music, the song choices never fit your voice. you didn’t even think you had a texan accent, at least that was what people told you. 

your parents have always been super supportive of what you do, constantly posting your covers on youtube, hoping that people out there enjoy to listen to you as much as they did. 

your dad had been the one to encourage you to do busking. he says it’ll be a great opportunity for you to learn what it’s like to sing in front of people, and a chance for you to get rid of your stage fright. 

so you did that. you started busking when you were about fourteen and stopped when you turned sixteen.

no, you didn’t stop because you were quitting, or that you were tired of it. instead, you were really lucky, and got recognised pretty early on your busking days. 

your dad decided that it was best to move to the US, where it’s closer to the record company that you were tied to. hence, that was what you all did. 

well, that was what you and your dad did. your mum decided to stay in houston to take care of your younger sibling. she felt that it was best they all stayed. 

that didn’t mean you guys were distancing from each other. instead, it felt like you were closer, calling everyday, making sure she knew what you and your dad were up to, and making sure that they were okay back in texas. 

you would consider yourself extremely lucky, for getting to experience what it’s like to be in the industry from young, for being able to produce music really quickly, for being able to attract people so quickly, those who liked your music. 

in your prime age of eighteen, you decided it was best to move back and forth from texas and california, from where you live. since things are going smoothly and you weren’t really needed in the US all the time, you thought it was best to move to texas again for the time being. 

you could say your music career was going pretty well. you found a loyal fanbase who enjoyed listening to your music as much as you enjoyed producing them. you were glad to have listened to your dad from such an early age. 

you were happy doing what you’re doing. but you were losing things to write about. 

being young, you didn’t have experiences in anything. sure, you excelled in school well and continued to attend online courses but you never really had friends, you never had a love life. 

a lot of people would say you’re too young, that it shouldn’t irk you this much, not being in a relationship but you thought the opposite. 

granted, you are happy with the close relationship you and your family have but you wanted to know what it would be like to be loved by someone else, to feel what it’s like to be held. 

you craved it. you’ve heard all about it, the pain, or the happiness it comes with. but you wanted to experience it for yourself.

so your dad and you move back to houston to your old house, not letting go of the house in california since you knew you’d come back once in a while. 

something that you hated telling people was what you did for a living. most traditional families would think that music can never bring food to the table, but times have change and music have changed a lot of people’s lives. 

another thing you hated explaining was why people took photos of you everywhere. with certain popularity, in comes curiousity. people want to know what you’re up to. 

and as weird as that sounds, you needed to get used to it. even though it was obvious that paparazzi’s jobs are basically an invasion of privacy. 

although you thought you could never be important enough for someone to document every step you take, paparazzi’s thought differently. but you understood it to a certain extent. it was their job, after all. 

as much as your job is important, so is theirs. 

sometimes it does get annoying though. you could be just in a grocery store, shopping for ingredients alone and there would be a swarm of paparazzi’s waiting outside to catch you and ask some questions. 

and everyday, a different question arrives. 

you never held back in telling them what they wanted answers to, you never had to hide anything. so what was the point of hiding. they never asked anything of importance, anyway. 

although the number of paparazzi’s lessened as you moved back to houston, the numbers weren’t small enough for you not to get overwhelmed. 

it really shocked you the extent they would go to write something vaguely interesting in an article. you didn’t even know how they knew you were moving back, but you never questioned it. 

as long as they don’t invade your privacy at home, all is good. 

about a couple months ago, you decide that your house was getting too boring and cramped with the cries of your little sister to really write anything good for your new album, so you found yourself sitting in a starbucks about less than an hour away from your house. 

you thought it was best to find somewhere further away from where you lived just in case someone spots you. you hoped for the opposite, though. 

you found yourself sitting in a secluded spot at the side, next to a window, facing the parking spots. you knew you’d stay for a while, so you tried to find a spot where people wouldn’t really see you. 

of course, with the way starbucks is set up, everyone can see everyone and but you can’t complain. the place had good drinks and pastry, and had pretty good wifi in case you needed to use your laptop at some point. 

you texted your manager from time to time, earphones in both your ears, listening to the newest sza single. this was the best time to finally catch up on some new music you missed out on. 

often times than not, you’d be typing away in your computer, stopping to grab your iced drink in your right hand to sip it, putting it down after a couple seconds. 

but you hated not knowing your surroundings, it has been what your mum taught you since young, to never be vulnerable, especially in public. with that lesson etched in your brain, you’d look up and around the cafe to see the changed of people once in a while. 

about an hour or two after you seated, you noticed a man walking in, wearing a simple, t-shirt and jeans outfit, carrying a backpack seating on the spot opposite you, but more on your left. 

he sat facing you so you quickly knew what he looked like the moment he sat down. 

for some reason, he caught you eye. 

he was fairly tall, taller than you at least, but wasn’t above six foot, not that it mattered. his hair was long, noticeably not been cut for a while, and had a short stubble, which suited his face so well. 

upon others, he seemed like the normal looking texan, white male. but to you, he was attractive. everything with him seemed to fit so well. he looked about your age, though you’re terrible at telling ages. 

you looked older than eighteen sometimes, yourself. you blamed it on the identity crisis you once had in california when you turned seventeen. 

you watched him silently as he stood up to the counter to order something. you snapped out of your thoughts, thinking if you got caught, he’d surely call you a creep. 

it had been pretty quiet actually. a couple came up to you when you walked in, asking for a photo but that was it. 

it seemed like it was going to be a relaxed writing day for you. 

your eyes glanced once more to the texan male as he settled down, typing away on his laptop. perhaps he’s writing an essay for school. maybe he’s still in college. 

but who were you judging, you, who was seated typing away probably looked like a college student, too. well, you are, just that you didn’t attend physical school. not that you were doing school work at that point, anyways. 

that day had been reserved for writing. and it seemed like you’d be coming to this starbucks more often.

no, it’s not to check on that man, obviously. 

even i can sense the sarcasm in my own tone. what the hell is wrong with me? i see one attractive male around me and i don’t know how to act? that’s so unlike me. 

you sat at the same spot for another three hours, eventually getting another drink when your first one ran out. you felt relaxed, thinking about your life, about what you wanted your new song to sound like. 

you and your producer texted back and forth, sending each other files of different guitar and piano notes you both liked to be into your song. 

you were so focused that you hadn’t looked up for a while. so you did that, you glanced up to check your surroundings, to see what had changed from the past couple hours.

looks like that guy is still there. it’s been so long. must’ve been a long essay. 

your eyes looked back on your laptop, clicking on a short snippet of a music file to listen to on your earphones that haven’t left your ears for about four hours. 

you listened to the file, eyes glued to your notepad in your laptop, trying to decipher if the beat went along with your lyrics. you picked up your cold drink with your right hand, putting it up to your lips as your eyes never moved from your laptop. 

while you gulped a couple sips, you decide to look out the window.

your heart skipped a couple beats as you surprised yourself, seeing a row of people with cameras flashing and recording you in your seat. 

damn, has it been that long since i looked up from my laptop? 

you slowly put down your iced drink, pulling your long sleeved sweater to cover your hands, covering your face for a couple seconds to calm yourself down before you looked up again. 

you were pretty acquaintanced with some of them outside, so they offered you a big smile, some of them laughing at the shock on your face when you spotted them. 

you were embarrassed, to say the least. people here weren’t used to you and didn’t know who you were, aside from the few who asked for your autograph from earlier. you didn’t want to make them uncomfortable. 

with your covered hands, you waved at them but told them to go home, mouthing the words to them, hoping they caught on with what you were trying to tell them. 

you made a ‘shoo’ motion with your hands, signaling them to leave, that you didn’t want the company today.

since they all couldn’t hear you anyways, they soon left one by one, thinking they got enough footage of you for the day, to save their films for another day. 

you knew that you couldn’t go to that starbucks as often as you wanted anymore, you didn’t want the same paparazzi’s to swarm the whole cafe.

so you didn’t end up coming back to the same starbucks location for a while. specifically, for about three weeks. 

for the time being, you went to several small cafe’s, where no one knew you, aside from strangers who called themselves your supporters who spotted you drinking your coffee. 

you were sad when you had to leave the starbucks that day. you knew that if he were to indeed come the next day, the same time, you wouldn’t be able to see him for a long time. 

you weren’t even sure if you’ll see him again after that. houston is huge, after all. 

when you walked into the same starbucks from three weeks ago, the barista greeted you, practically shouting your name out, telling you how much he misses you, since you came only once before this. 

you went to him first, ordered a drink and spoke to him for a couple minutes before telling him that you needed to start writing things before you lose your motivation. 

you sat in a different seat this time, a little scared of sitting next to the window. 

you found yourself sitting in a further in spot, furthest away from the door and windows, unlike last time. hopefully this time, no one can spot you from outside. 

but you were sure that the paparazzi’s were tired of waiting on your never arrival there that they’ve probably given up. 

there was a reason you came again, though. and you’re sure you made it obvious. you just wanted to see him again. 

-

SAPNAP POV 

there was not a day i don’t stop by that starbucks. but that was the first time i had ever seen you in there. you seemed to like your own space, away from people. 

it sure did look like you were so focused in getting your essay done. you barely looked up from your laptop.

i just couldn’t look away from where you seated. you just looked so beautiful, but so mysterious. being since i’ve never seen you before. but for some reason, i felt like i’ve seen you somewhere. i just didn’t know where. 

but it shocked me even more when i saw the sea of people waiting outside, pointing huge cameras on you. 

when i first spotted a couple people standing outside, i assumed that some celebrity was going to walk in soon, or that they were already sitting, just in some sort of disguise, or that i didn’t know who they were. 

i didn’t really care, and continued typing in my laptop, wanting to quickly finish work before i could relax and finish drinking my cup of coffee sitting right in front of me. 

but then i started noticing that they kept on getting closer to the window that you were seated next to. so i stopped what i was doing, and curiously looked, as some of the customers in there stared as well. 

i did see someone coming up to you, talking, but i assumed that you knew them. maybe they were your family and they came to say hi before needing to urgently go. 

but i can see that i was wrong. 

every single camera was pointed your way. there was like ten people standing outside of the cafe, some cameras flashing, others recording you. 

you hadn’t noticed yet at that point, still very much focused in whatever you were doing on your laptop. 

you finally picked up your drink, eyes finally leaving your work to look around you. you almost choked on your drink, seeing the cameras. 

you put your drink down, pulling your sleeves to cover your hands and covered your face with them, clearly caught off guard and embarrassed. 

you smiled at them, waving a little before politely telling them to leave, that you had to finish doing something, as you pointed to your laptop to them. 

you seemed to know them. you didn’t really look uncomfortable, but more of cautious of what people in the cafe would think of the commotion. 

soon, they left anyways, seeing as there was nothing they could really document from you sitting inside, and they couldn’t really ask any questions. 

about an hour later, you left, the barista greeting you, saying that he hoped to see you again soon.

now i’m more intrigued. who could you be? 

how did so many people know you? 

soon after her, i got into my car and drove home, exhausted from doing school work all day. the coffee helped for a couple hours and now clearly wearing off. 

george and dream texted me, telling me to join their discord call, saying that george was streaming and they wanted to talk about some weird shit. 

well, there goes my extra sleep for the day. 

soon, he ended his stream and the three of us were left talking about how our days went. 

“dude, mine was so confusing.” i stated last, after hearing what dream had to say about patches shitting everywhere on his carpet due to diarrhoea. 

“what do you mean?” dream asked me. 

“there was this girl, she came in before me into the same starbucks i go really often, right?” i stopped to make sure they were listening. they hummed to let me know they were.

“ten paparazzi’s swarmed the starbucks. they just pointed their cameras at her while she sat on a table at the side.” i said. 

“she was so shocked to see them at first, but she quickly told them to leave. she looked not comfortable with the stares after that she had to leave like an hour later. i don’t even know if she finished her work.” i finished. 

“wait really? what did she look like?” george asked. 

“my age, hair pretty long. she looked shorter than me and she was wearing flared jeans with a graphic tee.” i described her the best that i could.

“wait. you said starbucks in houston, right?” dream cut in. 

“yeah, why?” i asked, hoping for some answers. 

“i just saw the photos. i know her. she’s a singer, moved back to texas from california recently.” dream told me. 

“she’s like extremely known dude, how did you not know?” george said after dream told me who she was.

“i don’t know artists besides 21 savage, i’m sorry.” they laughed.

dream sent in her instagram in discord for me to see. 

i searched her name on instagram and scrolled through her photos and highlights, switching to youtube to listen to her music after that. 

i quickly clicked follow, wanting to be updated whenever she posted. i didn’t care if we met in real life anymore, i’m just intrigued at this point.

but it’s not like she’ll see my username following her. she has people following her everyday, she must not check it, right?

you had over a hunder million followers on instagram. i’m just shocked i hadn’t heard of her. maybe that’s where she was familiar.

i came back to the same place the following da, the week after. i came everyday and couldn’t find you anywhere. 

well, not that i could blame you, you were swarmed the first time you came, anyways. 

i saw the paparazzi’s waiting every single day, hoping to get a glimpse of you to ask questions but soon gave up and ended up not returning after a week seeing as you stopped coming. 

but you didn’t stop coming. you ended up coming three weeks after your first time. 

the barista practically jumped on the spot and screamed your name, i was sure everyone in the cafe knew you came in after that. 

you didn’t check the entirety of your surroundings so i was sure didn’t know who was seating where. i wasn’t even sure if you knew me, or remembered me from last time. did you even notice me?

this time, instead of sitting next to the window, she sat on the table to my right, we were both facing the direction of the barista. you sat where you could rest on the wall like i did, so we were basically in the same position, just next to each other. 

you settled into your seat, putting your drink down, turning on your laptop and got ready a little notebook that you had from inside your bag. 

while you sipped on your drink, you looked around to finally see what was around you. my eyes and yours locked at the same time, being i didn’t look away from my stare from when you came in. 

you smiled at me, acknowledging me. i gave her a smile back before turning back to my laptop to make myself busy. 

you had your hair different today. last time, it was down, and showed your natural looking hair but this time you had it pulled up into a ponytail. i guess you meant business today. 

i don’t know if that means you didn’t want people talking to you, or. 

oh, you put on your earphones. i guess you didn’t want to be disturbed, then. 

i kept staring at every part of you. okay, that sounded wrong and makes me sound like a pervert. 

you looked perfect. every single ring you wore on your fingers fit perfectly. your hair pulled back gave me the chance to see your side profile. your outfit casual, straight jeans with a sweatshirt on. 

god, you are beautiful. 

-

you felt his stares. he stared for a good couple minutes before he went back to his laptop to finish whatever he came here for. 

so he did remember me from last time. or he just noticed me today. or did he know who i was? 

“god i hope he’s not one of those creeps.” you thought. finally i find a guy attractive and he’s a creep? i hope not.

at some point in the couple of hours you’ve seated there, you had to take out your earphones to focus even more on writing something, instead of getting distracted with listening to something. 

you really wanted to come out with a new album in a couple months, and to do that, you needed to write something. urgently. 

you sipped your drink from time to time. you even had to facetime your producer for a while to ask on his take for the path you’re going with your new songs. 

he was really supportive and heard what you wanted and didn’t dump all his opinion and tried to call it a day. that was what you liked about him. he seemed to always take your thoughts into consideration.

playing with the rings on your finger, you looked up to look around to think of a word that seems to be at the back of your head, just you couldn’t seem to put your finger on it. 

there was no paparazzi’s today, thankfully. you were able to just keep your thoughts at bay and not have to be worried about the swarm of people waiting for you to answer their questions. 

you glanced at the man seated next to you just for him to notice your stare and look up from his work and matched your gaze. 

you hadn’t expected him to notice so you gave him a small, shy smile. to which he gave you back one. 

“do you mind if i, uh. sit with you?” he asked, pointing at the seat next to you. 

your heart jumped. holy crap this was happening. 

“i don’t mind, here.” you moved to your left to give him space to slide in next to you. he took that seat, moving his stuff from his table to yours, now laptops next to each other, your elbows touching. 

-

you two laughed at a dumb joke he said. 

to you, his name was nick but had apparently been sapnap to his online friends and fans. 

you were amazed at what he did as a hobby. sure, your job was a close second, but not close enough. you found it fascinating and promised him that you would check his channel out someday. 

that, to which he told you that he was embarrassed now and regretted telling you about what he does in his spare time. but you told him that he had nothing to worry about and that nothing could creep you out. 

you two spent a while talking to each other, even getting each other’s numbers at some point and promised to come here more often to meet other and do work together more often. 

“i actually had noticed you from the first time you came. it’s hard not to when there was a sea of people outside for you a couple hours later.” he told you. you covered your face with your hands, embarrassed that his first impression of you was that crazy. 

“i noticed you from the moment you walked in a few weeks ago too, i was a little sad when i had to leave.” you told him. 

“but please, no more speaking about the swarm of men waiting outside to talk to me. i am still as embarrassed to this day.” you started another sentence. 

“it was shocking, but i think i needed the experience, you know?” he laughed. 

you two sat there, next to each other until the sun sets, till the there was no sign of the sun at all, till the moon was high in the sky. 

you two didn’t realise how long you’ve sat there until his parents called him, asking where he was. and when your dad texted you. 

you two promised each other to come again the next day to meet and do work. actually do work this time, not just talk. although you both knew that you two would end up talking instead. 

with the promise to text you when he reaches home, he left the place and got in his car to drive home. 

that was nice. well, now you had something to write. 

with a smile etched on your face, you stayed in the cafe for about another two hours writing about the happiness you felt in your heart until you decide to leave. 

oh and yeah, he definitely texted you when he reached home. and fulfilled his promise to meet you again the next day, and the next, and more after that. 

you never ran out of ideas of things to write after that. it seemed that you had finally found someone who you could share new experiences with. 

and even after years of dating, he still teases you about writing multiple songs about him even before you started dating. 

god, he’s adorable. 

well, you could say that he wasn’t a creep after all.

#sapnap imagines #sapnap imagine #sapnap x reader #sapnap

[lily-the-leopard]

hermitcraft and thirdlife get a fandom tag and not dsmp bc dsmp fandom cant be trusted to fandom tag properly, like genuinely can’t be trusted with its massive scale and young users

(also dsmp fans need to stop puts dts to tag wranglers in the tags for “doxxing the creators”, maybe then they’d get a fandom tag)

"last anon was /lh kinda, but genuine reason why dsmp doesnt have a fandom tag bc it fits ao3’s pre existing conditions for rpf. plus the fandom specifically for dsmp? its fairly new and peaked during this time ao3 has been making big changes to the site, like they’re creating a blocking function + more things and that takes more than a couple of months to plan and roll out this versus hermitcraft having a tag, hermitcraft fandom has been established for multiple years with a decent size fanbase to warrant it"

Oh boy nonny, this was certainly a take to wake up to, I'll be honest. I'll take you at your word and assume you really meant this to be light-hearted, so instead of throwing out the whole suitcase, lets unpack some of this! I think it's a conversation that's a bit overdue in my little corner of the internet. I am gonna put it under a cut though, because I had a lot to say and it got kinda long.

Right, so here's the thing. I get where you're coming from. This fandom is pretty young, you don't trust them. But if you've been on dsmpblr at all, you'd know this fandom is actually pretty good about tagging things! Like- better than some other fandoms I've been in! And I think it's funny that you'd bring 3rd life into this, because from what I know they lost their tag when ao3 realized it was being used for minecraft rp, it redirects to RPF just like the "Dream SMP" tag now.

I know it's frustrating when people use posts in the archive to complain. I've actually sent a ticket about this, which is the proper way to get ahold of staff, but I'm so tired of seeing real names thrown into the Dream SMP. You don't tag MCU fanfic with "Steve Rogers | Chris Evans" do you?? No, there's separate tags for RPF on so3 because we understand that characters are not their actors.

And I don't think the DSMP qualifies as RPF personally! I think if anything Hermitcraft should. I'm glad they got their own tag, don't get me wrong, I'm an HC fan as well. But the DSMP has an ongoing plot with characters that are different than the people playing them, moreso than HC where they largely play themselves. (This isn't to discount someone like Xisuma btw I think his lore is great, but as a whole they tend to do smaller plots, if any).

Also, the DSMP fandom is huge! I've been in fandoms much smaller than DSMP who have fandom tags. You know what got a tag before it had a major online presence? The Mechanisms. Had like five whole fics and it got a fandom tag. That's a band, by the way, doesn't use the RPF tag either because it's cabaret and they're playing characters.

Not to bring mechs fandom into this (god I hope this doesn't crosspost into your tags, I apologize), but nonny why does a band and another mc server get a tag, but a mc server that has established storylines spanning over a year get shoved into RPF with character tags sharing the real names of creators who only go by an alias??

And lastly. I know we've got a lot of kids here. But I'm not a kid. I was one, back in the day, pre-ao3. And I love the archive! It has its problems, this being one of them, but as a whole I'm glad we have a corner of the internet for ourselves.

I just wish I could actually filter RPF because I don't personally read it, and I can't do that unless we have a fandom tag.

#dsmp #dream smp #mcyt #discourse #ask to tag #I think that's all the things #sorry if this came off as aggressive #it's just frustrating to me #man I come from naruto and ygo #two fandoms that at least back then had huge amounts of child presence #so I'm a bit biased on the 'theyre all kids why does it matter' front #not sure if you're in the fandom or not nonny #but there's my two cents #ask the leopard #also another thing I couldnt make fit so going in tags #in fandoms like this we really depend on self regulating #same as in ygo #and I feel like even if you don't trust the kids there's enough of us older fans to kinda lead them #in the right direction if that makes sense? #god I sound like a fandom mom #but I tend to answer questions people put in the tag about how tumblr works so I guess that's just how it is #this is also totally okay to reblog btw

[ghostiewriter]

chapter one | tale of a slightly unstable teen hero

Summary: JJ is starting to gain recognition around New York as the new hero in town. However, some complications arise with his new chemistry partner. Oh, and turns out he isn’t the only bloke around here with powers.

Warnings: John B is a simp, I feel like that needs a warning tbh. Umm there’s a lot of swearing (I’m Scottish, don’t judge), again some violence and fighting, also some cute ass moments between JJ and his mum so enjoy that

Word Count: 8.1K

A/N: Sooo there’s finally some Jiara in this chapter!! Hope you enjoy👀and I’m not responsible for any feels caused by JJ and Georgia Maybank!!

masterlist // taglist // ao3

“Spider-Man does it again! Report of our favourite web-slinging hero saving the day once again after a fatal accident left an apartment complex on the corner of 5th and 36th street in flames. The teen hero arrived at the scene not long after the distress call was made to the local fire department and managed to rescue over twelve people that were trapped on the top floor. New York thanks Spider-Man once again.”

JJ grinned as he leaned back in his seat, sparing a smug look towards John B in the driver’s seat. JJ didn’t usually carpool with John B but it was getting colder and his extra-curricular activities were wearing him exhausted by morning. Plus, the last time JJ skated to school when he was half asleep, Pope had to pull him out of a trash can. Turns out raccoons can be very territorial and did not appreciate the blond taking a small visit into their home. He was pretty sure he still had scars on his back from some of those little bastards.

“Three weeks on the job and you already have a little fanbase,” John B commented, reaching over to turn the radio down a little since the reporter moved onto some irrelevant news neither of the boys cared about. “Soon you’ll have a swarm of fangirls chasing after you while you fight crime.”

“Don’t be jealous, JB,” JJ grinned, both arms behind his head as he looked at the passing view. “I’m sure one of my groupies will slum it down for you.” He teased, only laughing when he felt the flick on his forehead.

As much as he hated to admit it, JJ had seriously enjoyed the past three weeks. They were intense, impulsive and unpredictable. Just how JJ liked his life to be. It wasn’t easy at first though, it took a good few attempts before the people of New York actually labelled him as a hero. Maybe it was because he was some young bloke who popped out of nowhere with abilities that no could really understand. Or maybe it was because he was going around in a red ski mask, blue shirt, a red vest with an awfully drawn spider on it and some blue joggers. He looked like a right on idiot, especially with the chunky goggles Pope added to his costume. But if it kept his identity secret, then so be it. The last thing JJ wanted was a bunch of journalists swarming his apartment, especially since he wanted to keep this whole alter ego away from his parents. In fact, he wanted to keep it away from anyone who wasn’t John B or Pope.

It was safer that way.

“At least that’s one more that Pope.” John B said nonchalantly.

“As if, dude!” JJ scoffed, grinning at the distressed—and fairly high pitched—‘WHAT’ that came from the brunette. “Oh, c’mon, Pope created a whole ass bat signal for me! You just sit there and look pretty! Pope gets at least two groupies.” He said with a shrug.

It was true. JJ knew Pope was smart, but this was next level. After realising that JJ wasn’t getting the recognition he needed to be labelled a ‘superhero’, Pope had come up with the ingenuous idea to infiltrate the police radio stations. Not only did they have full access to updates on crimes around the city, but Pope even felt a little fancy and made it so JJ would get a notification sent to his phone the second there was a job for Spider-Man. That boy was way too smart for his own good, but JJ was grateful for it.

“Aw, you think I’m pretty?” John B asked with a teasing grin.

“Yeah,” JJ smiled, reaching to place his hand on John B’s shoulder with a squeeze. “Pretty fucking ugly.”

John B’s smile instantly dropped as he scowled at JJ, who was happily snickering at the sudden change in mood. “Whatever, Spider-boy.”

“Yikes, low blow.”

The rest of the journey was spent in a similar vibe, except with JJ checking his phone every five minutes. He couldn’t help it, but the past three weeks had been some of the most exciting in his life. JJ had been labelled the troublemaker his whole life, the one that was throwing pencils into Mrs Ramirez’s curls because they looked like little hoops. Or even just doing his damn best to avoid the work he was given. It was a force of habit. JJ’s brain was running at a million miles a second. Nothing could hold him down, keep him entertained for longer than thirty minutes at most. And his teachers had constantly reminded him that his impulsive nature and high energy would lead him nowhere good in life.

All JJ had to say to them now was a massive ‘FUCK YOU!’ because how wrong they were. It was those qualities that made JJ the perfect hero. He could react quick to a sudden change, he was always on his feet, he had found something that not only could he channel all his energy into—but he was damn good at it as well. John B and Pope had warned him that it was best to keep himself humble, to not get too arrogant. But who was he kidding? JJ made a pretty fucking bomb superhero and everyone loved him. It seemed like he deserved to feel arrogant, to soak in his time in the spotlight. He enjoyed every single second.

So, can you really blame JJ for checking his phone, wanting an excuse to put that mask on and do the one thing he is good at? Except for skateboarding. Everyone knew JJ was the best skater in Queens.

Unfortunately, there was no sudden crimes that JJ could use as excuse to ditch school. A true tragedy, if you asked him. It seems like he will just have to suffer through another day of learning things that either happened way too long ago, didn’t make sense to him or he just truly didn’t care about. Which just happened to be basically every subject—excluding wood-shop. Except he was taken out of the class because apparently making mini bongs for birds is not okay. Who would’ve thought.

“I don’t see what the issue is—it’s a fool-proof plan!” John B argued as the two boys made their way through the corridors of Midtown High. Only stopping once they reached John B’s locker where he exchanged his books and JJ checked out the hallway for anything that caught his eye.

“Bro, you have a ten-year plan to end up with Sarah Cameron,” JJ stated bluntly. “And even then, you end up as her second husband—“

“No one can prove what happened to the first.”

“It’s fucking sad, JB.”

“It’s a solid plan.” John B stated simply and shrugged his shoulders, deciding to ignore JJ as he rolled his eyes, muttering something about John B being a ‘hopeless fool’. John B only grinned wider and glanced at his watch before whispering a small ‘shit’ to himself. “I gotta go, see you at lunch.” And with that, John B was zooming his way down the corridor.

“You know it’s really creepy that you plan when you bump into her!” JJ called down the corridor, but he doubted John B heard him. “Like really fucking creepy…like restraining order level creepy!

Once he noticed John B’s head turn the corner, undoubtedly on his way to ‘coincidentally’ bump into Sarah Cameron, JJ calmly made his way to his first period class, not in a big rush to get there.

**********

You see, after the incident in wood shop and many others after that, the school had taken the decision to move JJ into a class they deemed more valuable of his time. Chemistry. Stick the ADHD kid in a room full of chemicals…seemed about right. However, JJ was being transferred half way through the term with absolutely no knowledge in chemistry other than how to make a Molotov cocktail. Therefore, he didn’t really see an issue in showing up to a class he was already hopeless in. His teacher disagreed.

“Mr Maybank, it’s nice of you to finally join us.” Mr Marino—a middle-aged bald man who had looked as though he had been through one too many divorces and contained most of his knowledge in the form of his beer belly—commented as JJ entered the class.

“Oh, you wouldn’t believe what happened to me!” JJ sighed dramatically.

“Let me guess: your alarm didn’t go off.”

“It was my pet monkey, sir. Has a mind of its own.”

“Your pet monkey?”

“Yup, his name is JB. Nasty wee guy but I keep him around, he’s a good laugh. Could do with a shower though.”

“Take a seat, Maybank.”

“I can feel the love.” JJ grinned before he turned to look at the class. It was set up with eight workbenches, two seats at each. His eyes scanned over each one before he caught an empty seat at the back-left workbench, the only empty seat—and just his luck it was next to the curly haired beauty for the trip.

JJ was starting to think he might actually enjoy this class.

“We just keep meeting, sweetheart. I think it’s a sign.” JJ whispered to her as he took his seat next to her, definitely sitting a little closer than he had to. He tried not to smirk when he noticed her subtly moving away from him. JJ always loved a challenge.

“Or a punishment.” She replied bluntly, not even sparing JJ a glance.

“Aw, is this how it’s going to be for the rest of the year, princess?” JJ muttered with a pout. He tried not to smile when she finally turned to look at him.

“Rafe got a concussion.” She hissed.

“So?” JJ frowned.

“So? You caused it!”

“And I should care because?”

“He is banned from the football team for six weeks!”

JJ stared at her blankly. “And…?”

“He is the captain!”

“Boohoo, they’ll survive without him.” JJ shrugged, leaning back in his stool as he flashed her one of his usual girl-charming smiles. “But hey, if you’re really stressed out about it, I’m sure I can help you find a way to relax.”

“You’re a pig.” She stated with a small huff, stubbornly turning to face the front, planning to not even give him the chance to redeem himself. Trust me when I say Kiara is an open person, always there to give people a second chance. But JJ Maybank was not one of those people. In the three times she had met him, he had been nothing but a shameless flirt who had no care for the world beyond his sex life. She could be judging him too quickly, but in her defence, he hadn’t given her anything else to work with.

However, Kiara assumed her behaviour was clear enough that she didn’t want to talk to him, that she could gladly go the rest of the year without willingly speaking to him. But this is JJ. Hyperactive, unable to sit still JJ. He didn’t get the hint.

“So, do anything interesting this weekend?” JJ asked her, that classic smirk of his on his lips. But she didn’t answer him. Instead, she kept her gaze on Mr Marino and his oh-so interesting talk on bond orbitals within an atom.

JJ raised his eyebrows when he received no reply from her. “Giving me the silent treatment now? That’s a bit rude.” He commented.

“So is giving someone a concussion.” She stated.

“Do you want to know what I did?” JJ asked.

“No.”

“Geez, princess, no one ever taught you manners?” He teased, taking the pen he was spinning between his fingers to gently poke her arm. She only huffed and moved her seat further away.

“Okay, alright, fine! I get it…” JJ trailed off, and Kiara couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief. But she spoke to soon. She heard the scrape of a chair and suddenly she could feel the warmth of JJ right beside her, their elbows just touching.

“Is there an issue, Mr Maybank?” She heard Mr Marino call out but the boy next to her just shook his head, that mischievous glint shining in his eyes.

“No, please carry on, Alan.” The blond replied, his fingers tapping against the worktop counter.

Kiara sighed. She knew very well that she could put her hand up and complain, or even ask Mr Marino to change seats after class ended. But she was stubborn, and she would be damned if she gave JJ that satisfaction of knowing that he got under her skin.

This was going to be a long year.

**********

“She called me JB! That basically takes three years off my plan!”

“Dude, I don’t know if this is really sad or creepy now…” JJ grimaced. He had spent the last fifteen minutes listening to John B and his ‘coincidental’ encounter with Sarah Cameron. And if he was being honest, he was concerned for his friend. And his stomach…this boy needed to let JJ eat his lunch before he had to hear one more comment about how ‘yellow is totally her colour’.

“I mean, it just compliments her complexion so well! C’mon, how many people do you know that can pull of yellow and not looked totally washed out!” John B argued. But JJ just met him with a blank stare.

“When the fuck did you become a fashion expert?” JJ spoke up, his nose scrunched in confusion.

“I took a class once.”

JJ looked at him with his mouth agape. “Who the fuck are you?”

“Piss off, I wanted to learn how to dress better.”

“Says the guy that wears horrible thrifted Hawaiian shirts.” JJ deadpanned. John B only rolled his eyes and turned his attention back onto Sarah.

JJ followed his line of sight towards Sarah Cameron and her group, and he was shocked at the sight. He noticed the usual people in their uptown outfits and obnoxious laughs he could unfortunately hear from his seat. But it was the sight of his chemistry partner looking quite cosy under Rafe’s arm that caught him off-guard. His eyebrows furrowed a little, but hey, JJ should have seen this coming. The uptown kids like to stick with each other. Yet, JJ couldn’t help but find the sight quite uncomfortable to look at—Rafe had that effect on people. It was a surprise he managed to score…JJ paused. He had spent a whole hour with her and yet, he didn’t even know her name.

He nudged John B, yet neither one of them looked away from the group. “Hey JB, who’s Sarah’s new chick?”

“Who?”

“The pretty curly haired one standing next to her, dumbass.”

“Oh…I don’t actually know—“

“—Kiara Carrera. Relocated here from Kernersville, North Carolina. Her father owns a large chain of restaurants around the country. She is also the only junior other than yours truly doing three AP classes, including environmental science, biology and English.” Pope finished, panting a little considering he had literally just ran into the cafeteria and heard the last few words of their conversation.

JJ looked up at Pope with a mix of awe and fear. “What, you forgot her national insurance number as well? How the fuck do you know all that?”

“The school files.” Pope answered easily as he turned his laptop around and with the screen facing them, JJ decided he was definitely a little scared of Pope.

“Those are meant to be locked away in some super, secret network thing!” JJ hissed, only to be met with a smirking Pope.

“As if, it’s easy as fuck to hack something as amateur as the school’s firewall. Could do it with my eyes closed.” He grinned at the two of them. “Why, JJ? Hiding something from us like…I don’t know…your middle name being Belinda.” He snickered.

“YOUR NAME IS BELINDA?!” John B gasped, looking at JJ with wide eyes.

“Shut up, would you!” JJ hissed at the both of them, leaning over the table to flick John B on the forehead. “I was named after my grandmother.”

“Aww, Grammie Belinda.” John B cooed. JJ only glared at him.

“Hey, Grammie Belinda was a saint, don’t disrespect her like that.” JJ huffed, pointing a finger towards John B. He then turned to Pope who had made himself comfortable in the seat next to him.

“Why were you asking about Kiara?” Pope asked JJ, snatching a few chips from his plate. JJ swatted his hand away but didn’t stop Pope from doing it again. “Does JJ have a little crush?” He teased, pouting a little.

“Piss off,” JJ laughed as he nudged Pope with his shoulder. “She’s just my chemistry partner.”

“Ooh, so you guys have chemistry together?” John B grinned, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Fuck off, JB. Go back to stalking your little uptown princess.” JJ commented, returning the grin as both friends shook their head. They both knew the other meant no harm.

“Well, if you two little lovebirds are done having your moment,” Pope piped up, both boys looking over at him. “I need you to meet me on your rooftop at nine sharp tonight.”

“Damn, Pope, finally taking me out?”

“You wish, Spider-Boy,” He grinned, but the look he was giving made JJ a little nervous for what Pope had hidden up his sleeve. It could honestly range from a pet raccoon he befriended to creating some weird Frankenstein bug. “Just be there.”

John B pouted. “What about me?! Is this where I become the third-wheel?”

**********

“Mama?”

“In here!”

JJ dropped his bag by the couch as he made his way to the kitchen, the soft sound of the click telling him the door shut behind him. He sniffed the air as he walked in, seeing his mum at the stove and grinned a little, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

“What’s for dinner?” He asked, peeking over her shoulder.

“Spaghetti,” She hummed, a soft smile on her lips as she peeked a glance at her son. “How was school?”

“The usual,” He answered with a shrug as he made his way to the fridge, grabbing a bottle of water before heading towards his usual spot on the counter. “Teachers still don’t appreciate my comments, Pope said smart things I didn’t understand and JB was a love-sick puppy.”

She grinned, shaking her head a little. “I find John B’s attempts to woo that girl quite admirable actually,” She commented. “It wouldn’t kill you to be a hopeless romantic every once in a while.” Yet, she only laughed when she saw JJ’s face scrunch up in disgust.

Despite JJ’s reputation for being an adrenaline junkie who loves to live life on the edge, these were actually his favourite moments. The little moments he shared with his mum, just the two of them. It is one of the few moments in his life where he feels relaxed, no expectations or pressures. And as sappy as it sounded—and no offence to John B and Pope—but JJ wasn’t ashamed to admit that she was one of his best friends, one of the few people in his life he truly cared about. People like her are the reason he enjoys being Spider-Man, because despite the shit people in the world, there were some genuinely good people out there, like Georgia Maybank.

It was hard to believe JJ and Georgia Maybank were related. She was a sweetheart, the type of woman who would take time out of her own life to volunteer at local food shelters despite having just done a twelve-hour shift at the hospital. She is the type of woman to buy flowers and hand them to strangers on the street just to brighten someone’s day. She is the type of woman who would work her ass off to give her son all that she could, despite the struggles she faced with the bills and rent because her son was her life. She was the opposite of JJ’s hyperactive self.

But boy, did they look very similar. From the sandy blonde hair the two of them shared, to the bright blue eyes, to even the exact same smile. JJ really was a carbon copy of his mother. And there was a small part of her, one she would never outwardly admit, that adored the fact JJ looked so much like her. Like a primal mother instinct, she loved her son and she loved that everyone knew he was her son. She would be damned if someone ever asked her to hide that.

Georgia was the type of mother that had that warm aura around her, the one that made you just trust her with your life. The hugs she gives just makes you want to stay in her arms forever, because everything is just better with Georgia Maybank. JJ knew that and he always reminded himself of that. No matter what shit he gets into, no matter how much he may envy the uptown kids—none of them will ever have Georgia Maybank and he would gladly flaunt that.

He may not have designer clothes or a fancy car to drive to school. But they don’t have Georgia Maybank, dancing around barefoot in the kitchen while she badly sings along to some old 80s song that is playing on the radio, just to make him crack a smile.

JJ grinned as his mother grabbed his hand, pulling off the counter before they jokingly began to waltz around the small kitchen, some classical song playing from the small radio that sat on the counter by the stove. JJ only laughed as he apologized for stepping on her toes again, but she didn’t mind. She just smiled and continued to dance.

“Why do I have to do this? I’m starving, woman!” He whined playfully as he twirled his mum around a few times.

“Because, JJ, one day you’re going to have a beautiful girl—or boy, I won’t assume—that will somehow fall for that charm of yours,” She spoke softly, placing a hand on her son’s cheek, a proud glint in her eyes when he rolled his eyes at her statement but still had a small smile on his face. “And I will be damned if I don’t teach my son how to sweep a girl off her feet.”

“Nothing says romantic like stepping on a girl’s toes.” He stated bluntly.

Georgia only laughed and ruffled his hair before she turned back to the stove. She grabbed two plates, putting in a larger portion for JJ—which with his new transformation wouldn’t actually be enough but he will sneak out during the night to eat the leftovers when she’s asleep—before placing them on the small dining table in the corner, gesturing for him to join her.

The rest of the dinner was fairly uneventful, simply just JJ telling her about John B’s updated seven-year plan with Sarah Cameron and Georgia sharing any particularly interesting stories about patients she had to deal with during her shift. JJ really let this dinner sink in. As much as he loved his mother, her inability to say ‘no’ and be so giving kind of bothered him. Because she had taken up extra shifts for a few of her colleagues due to something about the ‘stress of wedding planning’. JJ had been seeing her less and less—and though it was good for his recent Spider-Man shenanigans—this dinner made him realise just how much he missed her. Just a nice, wee dinner with his mum, nothing else. And everything seemed to be going well, until he heard the radio presenter’s voice flowing through the kitchen.

“Locals say that Spider-Man is the next best thing to happen to New York since deep-fried pizza! But I don’t know, Janet. I mean, who is this kid? Where did he come from? There just seems to be a lot of unanswered questions with this so-called hero. Can we really trust some prepubescent boy who probably spends his day with his head in a textbook? It just doesn’t seem—“

The radio presenter was cut off by Georgia turning the volume down. “People can’t appreciate a good gesture anymore.” She huffed. JJ watched her closely as she finished off washing the last of the dishes before turning to face him, a small frown on her lips.

“I think he’s doing the city a favour.” JJ said half-heartedly with a shrug.

Georgia nodded, her fingers gently fiddling with chain around her neck, well more specifically the gold ring attached to it. “I know but,” She sighed. “What a shame, putting all this pressure on a poor teenage boy. Oh, I feel bad for his parents!”

JJ coughed a little. “It could be his decision, you know.”

Georgia continued as though she hadn’t heard him. “I could only imagine how stressful it would be have your son out there, throwing himself at danger.” She shook her head as she made her way to where JJ still sat at the dining table. “Promise me you wouldn’t do something so careless?” She asked sweetly, gently cupping his face in her hands as she looked down at him.

Now, JJ knew there was a teasing tone to her words. She wasn’t being serious because, how could she? Her son being a superhero with crazy powers? Not possible. She and JJ shared everything and it was because of that he couldn’t help but feel a wave of guilt wash over him. He hated lying to his mum, he hated keeping secrets from her. They were always close, JJ never felt the need to hide things from her. There was always such a comfortable vibe between them. But he knew how she would react if he told her the truth. He knew she would freak out and make him stop. And JJ didn’t want to stop. As much as he hated the guilt that bubbled inside him, he pushed it away and gave her a grin.

“Of course not, I would come up with a better name than Spider-Man.” He joked lightly and closed his eyes when he felt his mum press a kiss to his forehead. He nuzzled his head slightly as he wrapped his arms around her, resting his head against her stomach. He smiled softly when he felt her hands running through his hair, just like the way she used to do when he was younger and struggling to fall asleep. He tried to hold back a yawn.

“That’s my baby boy.” She said with a gentle laugh.

“Mama, I’m a not a baby! I’m a man now.” He whined but he didn’t pull away from her grip just yet. He missed his mum’s hugs, sue him.

“You’ll always be my baby boy.” She commented with a small shrug.

“Yeah, yeah,” He murmured. After a few moments of silence, he looked up at her, giving the best puppy-dog eyes he could. She was always a sucker for those. “Can I go hang out with JB and Pope tonight?” He asked with a sweet smile.

She rolled her eyes but nodded. “Just be back before your father gets home.”

**********

JJ rubbed his hands together as he stared at the view from the roof. New York looked absolutely stunning this time of year, especially at night. The sky was pitch black, and it should’ve seemed daunting. But the bright lights of the city illuminated everything. It was mesmerising, a sight that JJ would never get tired of seeing. And with his newly discovered powers, he found something therapeutic about swinging around the city and being surrounded those bright lights. It felt like he was swinging through the stars—he obviously didn’t share that with the boys, they would take the piss out of him. Speaking of which…

“Where the fuck is he?” JJ hissed, turning to look at John B who only shrugged in response. As much as JJ liked New York at night, it was cold. The lower body temperature caused by the spider bite really didn’t help the situation. He had a hoodie and a jacket on and still the light breeze was making his teeth chatter.

“I don’t know.” John B shrugged. JJ rolled his eyes in annoyance. It was 9:15pm and JJ was about five minutes away from freezing to death.

Just then, the rooftop door opened and a wild Pope was sprinting towards then, panting heavily as he ripped his backpack off and quickly unzipped it. Words were leaving his lips but between the panting, neither of them could work out what he was saying.

“Dude, calm down, breathe!” John B exclaimed. Pope nodded and took a minute to catch himself.

“Your lives are gonna change forever!” He grinned before looking at JJ. “Strip.”

JJ raised his eyebrows. “What?”

“Strip.”

“Dude, it’s like fifty fucking degrees, I am not gonna fucking strip!”

“Stop whining and do it!”

JJ huffed and started to take his clothes off, muttering some very…colourful phrases towards Pope. However, he didn’t get much time to question his friend’s demands because the second he was stripped down to his boxers, he had a bunch of fabric thrown at him.

“Wait…is this…?” He trailed off, looking at Pope with a new look of excitement shining in his eyes.

“You bet,” Pope grinned. “Say hello to your brand-new suit, Spider-Man.”

JJ excitedly began to pull the suit on, suddenly forgetting all about his theatrics with the cold. But Pope wasn’t done with his surprise.

“The suit is a total upgrade!” He began, his hands moving wildly as he spoke. “The fabric is strong but flexible. I have added small web-shooters to go over your spinneret glands so you can have a more direct shots. There are a few extra things I’ve added like a small heater to keep you warm and a few sensors, so we can keep track of your vitals. Oh, and for us—” He paused before handing John B a silver bracelet.

John B looked at the bracelet in confusion. “Uh, thanks?”

Pope only grinned and showed John B that he was wearing a similar bracelet. He slipped it off before unclipping a small oval shaped device from the middle of the bracelet. “This is the coolest part,” He nodded for John B to copy his movements. “To be honest, these took the longest. I had JJ’s suit done like two weeks ago but—”

“And you made me wait this long? Dude, I looked like a weirdo running around in joggers!” JJ groaned, but there was no real hostility in his voice.

“Just put on your mask, dude!”

JJ rolled his eyes but didn’t answer as he slipped the mask over his face. He was a bit surprised at how easily he could see through it, way better than the goggles he had before. The suit was a perfect fit—props to Pope after it took an hour to get all of JJ’s measurements. The material was tight and breathable, practically clinging onto JJ like a second skin. Oddly enough, he felt far more comfortable in it than his last costume. Pope clearly liked the colour scheme, having kept the red and blue palette but with a massive spider on his chest, with lines wrapping around him to look like a web. He looked totally badass, he felt badass. He felt like a proper hero from one of those comic books and posters Pope has around his room.

“So, how do I look?” JJ asked, flexing as he gave the boys a little spin. Pope only grinned, proud of his creation. John B gasped, clearly just as hyped as JJ was.

“Dude, your ass looks great.” John B commented, causing JJ to snort.

“When does it not look great?”

“Guys! The last surprise!” Pope piped up, causing both boys to stop staring at JJ’s ass and instead turn to him.

“These little guys,” He said, nodding between the small oval devices in his and John B’s hands. “Are gonna help us keep in contact with you while you’re swinging around. Little ear pieces so we can help you out and keep tabs on you if you need any help.”

“Where’s my bracelet?” JJ frowned beneath the mask.

“You don’t need one, dumbass. Your ear piece is connected into your mask!” Pope grinned proudly. JJ let out a scoff, shaking his head.

“Pope, you fucking genius!” He yelled, and he pulled his friend into a tight hug. John B, feeling a little left out, quickly joined the hug.

“This is so cool, dude, now we are like an actual team!” John B grinned.

Pope was the first to pull back, looking at JJ with a wild look in his eyes. “I think it’s time for Spider-Man to show the city his new look.”

JJ grinned under the mask, already beginning to take a few steps back. “I think you’re right.” And without a second thought, he left himself fall off the edge of the building.

On that October night, New York watched their own hero swing through the streets, letting the cheers and whoops of the strangers sink in. They watched their hero in a new light, a more professional one. The next day, he was no longer that kid running around like some wannabe. He was Spider-Man, the new saviour of New York and a beloved hero.

It was wild what a good new suit could do for your reputation.

**********

“Did you see the pictures The Daily Bugle released?”

“He looked so hot!”

“I’d let him save me any day!”

“You don’t even know what he looks like…”

“So? Have you seen those arms? Nothing else matters!”

JJ couldn’t help but let the smirk on his face grow as he walked through the corridors of the school. It was the day after his new suit reveal and he wasn’t going to lie, he was soaking in all the attention. He was particularly enjoying the twitter thread that was made about his ass. John B didn’t lie, his ass did look good in this new suit.

He continued his way through the sea of students before he made it to his chemistry class, not surprised that people were still talking about Spider-Man. His eyes instantly glanced over at Kiara, who was sitting at their workbench scrolling through her phone.

He grinned as he quickly past the other students and sat quite comfortably in his seat. His eyebrows raised slightly when she didn’t react at first to his appearance. His curiosity got the best of him as he leaned towards her, peeking over her shoulder to see what she was looking at. Now, JJ won’t lie to you, but when he saw her staring at pictures of Spider-Man, his ego definitely inflated a little. Okay, maybe more than a little but you get the point.

“You a fan?” He couldn’t help but ask, trying to keep his smirk to himself.

Kiara quickly snapped her head to look at him, slamming her phone down screen first onto the desk. “Can you mind your business?” She huffed, trying to calm her heartbeat a little. She didn’t even hear him come in, which is odd since usually you could hear JJ from a mile away.

“Aw, c’mon, Kiara! I thought we were besties now.” He grinned to her, wiggling his eyebrows a little. He leaned forward on the desk, bringing him a little closer to her. His forearms were pressed against the desk, his body leaning on them. She noticed how close their hands were. But after yesterday, she refused to left JJ get under her skin again. Or at least let him see how much he is bothering her. So, she stayed where she was, not moving back like he expected.

“You know my name.” It wasn’t a question, more a statement.

“Surprised?” He whispered, smirking a little when he noticed he wasn’t moving away. JJ risked it a little more and moved a bit closer.

“Took you long enough.” She replied with a shrug. JJ’s grin only widened.

“Oh yeah, counting down the days, princess?” He raised an eyebrow. He noticed her lips quirk a little, like she was fighting back a smile.

“You wish, pretty boy.”

“You think I’m pretty?”

“Shut up.”

“I think someone has a little crush, Kiara.” He grinned at her, only to witness her roll her eyes and push him away.

“In your dreams, Maybank.”

“Oh, you’re definitely in my dreams, Kiara.”

She rolled her eyes again but didn’t bother replying this time. She instead focused her gaze on the front of the class as Mr Marino entered the room, beginning the lesson. But if she had glanced over to the blond sitting on his right, she would’ve seen he was smiling throughout the whole lesson.

**********

“Thank you, dear!”

JJ nodded his head a little in acknowledgement and gave the older woman a small salute. “Always here to help, ma’am.” He said, handing her the small handbag that he had just rescued from the hands of some man who had tried to steal it from her.

“Aw, you’re really starting to win over the senior citizens.”

JJ rolled his eyes when he heard Pope’s voice through his earpiece. “Dude, I think she pinched my ass.”

“Lucky you, older woman, that’s hot.”

“JB, shut up.”

JJ snorted a little at the bickering, extending his arm out before he was swinging between the buildings with no trouble. He had been using any free time he had lately to be out in his suit, getting used to all the cool, extra bits that Pope had added. And he won’t lie, the boy really outdid himself. JJ felt like a total badass, being able to swing around and save people and feel like a real hero. He also enjoyed the change in attitude people had with him. He was Spider-Man, the city hero. He was appreciated. He was wanted. Not something JJ felt very often.

“Anything happening around town?” JJ asked, his eyes scanning the streets below, waiting to see any conflict. He couldn’t help but feel as though there was a part of him that was on edge. He couldn’t really explain it, it was like a bad shiver down his spine. It was a similar feeling he felt before that bank robbery fiasco a few weeks ago. It was a nasty wee feeling, one that had him on alert. Something was wrong, he didn’t know what. But he could sense it.

“Nah, everything seems to be fine. Maybe you should take a break, you’ve been swinging around for, like, three hours. You need to rest, dude.”

“What?” JJ muttered, so quiet that the boys on the other side barely heard him. That couldn’t be right, he can feel it. Something isn’t right, something bad is going to happen. “Guys, are you—”

He was cut off by a series of screams.

JJ’s body was reacting way before his brain did, like his hero side just leaped into action at the alert of any distress. He was swinging as fast as he could, his arms burning a little as he got closer and closer to the sound of those screams. He could hear his blood pumping in his ears, could feel his heart rate pick up. The adrenaline coursing through him, making him forget about the burning in his muscles from the three hours of patrolling he had done.

“That’s fucking weird, there is no police reports coming through.”

JJ ignored the voices coming through the earpiece, his whole body feeling rigid as he crouched on top of a building, looking at the carnage below. There, in the middle of the square stood what looked like a moving black cloud. Civilians were screaming and running away, but the black cloud just remained. His eyes narrowed slightly, like he was waiting for it to do something, to lash out. But it didn’t. He opened his mouth, ready to ask Pope if he was just imagining something when he heard the black cloud speak.

“Spider-Man, oh Spider-Man! Come out, come out wherever you are!” It spoke in a raspy, demonic voice. Whatever this way, it wasn’t human. JJ may have failed biology, but he knew that for sure.

“JJ, don’t. We are have no idea what this thing is. It could be a trap—”

“I got this, Pope.” JJ muttered, ignoring his friends’ pleas to think this through as he swung down, landing a couple of feet away from the black cloud. “You called?”

Suddenly, in the middle of the cloud, JJ swore he could see lips begin to materialise. He frowned beneath the mask but didn’t move away. His fist was clenched at the side, ready to react if the cloud tried anything.

“Ah, we finally meet, Spider-Man.” The cloud spoke again. The voice sent shivers down his spine. JJ pushed away that feeling of discomfort. Something about the cloud felt familiar, but he couldn’t tell what. It was like an annoying itch he couldn’t reach.

“Am I supposed to know who you are?” JJ questioned. “Look, dude, if you’re a fan, I appreciate it, but you don’t need to scare away a whole block of people to get my attention. You can just ask for an autograph like everyone else.”

“JJ stop provoking it!”

“You’ll know me soon enough.” The voice replied ambiguously. JJ furrowed his eyebrows together. Whatever this cloud was, it was being far too vague for JJ’s liking.

“PEOPLE OF NEW YORK, I SPEAK OUT TO YOU!”

JJ winced, clutching his ears. His body was on high-alert, his ears sensitive to pick out any small noise or rustle. He looked at the cloud and then at his surroundings, noticing how every screen—every phone, every billboard, every electrical compliance in this vicinity that he could see—was projecting the black cloud. It was broadcasting to the whole city. JJ couldn’t help but wonder where the fuck the hidden camera was. How was it doing this?

“YOU LABEL THIS KID AS YOUR HERO! YOU TRUST THIS CHILD WITH YOUR LIVES! YOU ARE FOOLISH!” The voice boomed, suddenly the black cloud began to form tentacles that were slithering from whatever was at the centre of it. “LET ME SHOW YOU THE TRUTH! LET ME SHOW YOU WHO YOU HAVE TO PROTECT YOU!”

JJ was a little too distracted by the concept of a cloud broadcasting to the city that he didn’t even notice one of the tentacles slithering towards him. It wrapped itself around his leg before swinging him into the nearest building.

JJ let out a small oomph as his body made contact with the brick wall. He could hear yelling in the distance, the sounds of people screaming. But nothing was overpowering the ringing in his ears as he slowly dragged himself to stand up.

“JJ, GET UP! JJ!”

“Jesus fucking Christ,” He muttered, blinking a few times before he turned back to look at the cloud. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise and quickly rolled over to the side, the tentacle that threw him smashing into the wall not even a second later. That rush of adrenaline hitting JJ again as he quickly swung out of there, not even looking behind him until he knew he was a good distance away to assess the situation.

“IS THIS WHO YOU WANT PROTECTING YOU? A COWARDLY TEENAGER? C’MON, SPIDER-MAN! LET’S SEE WHAT YOU’VE GOT!”

JJ swore under his breath, trying to catch up with his thoughts as he watched more tentacles appear from the cloud. “Where the fuck are they coming from?” He muttered before swinging down to a lower building rooftop, crouching at the edge. He narrowed his eyes as he extended his hand out, shooting a web towards the centre of the cloud. There had to be something solid within this thing, something he can grip on to, something he can fight. But he was met with nothing. “Fuck.” He frowned before he began to crawl down the side of the building.

“You seem a bit jealous, mate!” JJ called out, watching as all eight of the tentacles seemed to snap their attention towards him. God, that was scary. “Don’t you have to tell me some wild origin story before you kill me?”

“MY AIM ISN’T TO KILL YOU, SPIDER-MAN. NOT YET!”

“Oh, that’s really reassuring, thank you so much.”

“I WANT NEW YORK TO SEE HOW PATHETIC YOU ARE. HOW USELESS THEIR SAVIOUR IS.”

“A bit of an odd wish, if you ask me.” He murmured to himself, quickly snapping his wrist before swinging around the black cloud. He watched as the tentacles reached out for him, just grazing him as he swung between the buildings.

“JJ, FIGHT BACK!”

“How the fuck do I fight something that isn’t solid? Get a vacuum? If you have one big enough, please do share. Call the ghostbusters or something!”

He heard more screams, some closer than he expected. He assumed everyone ran off, but when he turned his head to the side, he noticed a man standing there, frozen in fear. More importantly, he saw a car heading straight towards the scared man.

“Shit, shit, shit,” JJ yelled as he quickly yanked his web, spinning around and landing in front of the man, his hands extended out in front of him. Seconds later he felt the impact of the car, the weight and momentum it came crashing in at hit him strong enough to make him slide back a few feet. “Go, dude!” He yelled at the man, who had finally come to his senses and thanked JJ profusely before sprinting away. JJ groaned and threw the car away from him, huffing slightly.

“HOLY SHIT, JJ! THAT WAS A CAR!”

“Oh, no shit, Sherlock! I thought it was Barbie’s Dreamhouse.” Only JJ would be sarcastic while his life is in threat.

But it was that sarcasm that distracted him long enough for one of the tentacles wrap around his ankle, yanking him down from the small jump he had taken so the web he was currently gripping snapped with ease, preventing him a quick escape like he planned. He didn’t even have time to scream before he noticed the tentacle bringing him closer to the middle of the cloud, his eyes widening slightly.

He wiggled around in the tentacle’s grip, trying to find a way out but it was relentless. He wasn’t sure what was real or not, not sure if he imagined screaming in his head or if he actually did as he was dropped into the centre of the cloud.

Then, he felt nothing.

JJ was vaguely aware of his surroundings. He didn’t know if his eyes were open or not, but it was dark. He tried to move his arm, but it felt constricted, like he was swimming in something really thick. His brain was screaming at him to call out for Pope and John B, to move his hands and swing out of here, to do something. But another part of JJ felt completely content in this situation. He couldn’t explain it, but something washed over him, like a massive electric shock that made him aware of just how…familiar this seemed. It was similar to the feeling he had earlier.

He felt safe, understood.

And then that feeling was gone.

Suddenly, JJ found himself being thrown around in circles, something holding a tight grip on his ankle. But soon enough, that let go too and JJ was soon flying through the air, too out of it to even react fast enough to web onto something or soften his eventual crash.

JJ felt the air be completely knocked out of him, his body bouncing off the concrete a couple of times before he rolled over. It took him a few attempts to finally open his eyes, take in his surroundings, to see he was in some dingy alleyway. He turned his head to the side, briefly seeing a black blob in the distance. He could hear some muffled yelling.

“HEED THIS AS A WARNING, SPIDER-MAN. NEXT TIME WE MEET, IT WILL BE OUR LAST!”

JJ vaguely furrowed his eyebrows together before turning his head to stare at the blue sky above instead. When the ringing and the muffling was over, he could hear the screams of his friends coming through the earpiece.

“JJ! JJ, PLEASE FUCKING ANSWER, DUDE!”

“JJ, ARE YOU DEAD?!”

“WHY WOULD HE FUCKING ANSWER IF HE WAS DEAD!”

“SHUT UP, I’M FLUSTERED!”

JJ frowned a little, his whole throat felt dry and numb. There was also a metallic taste in his mouth that told him he must’ve bitten his tongue at some point. God, he hated the taste of blood. “It…It felt…”

“OH MY GOD, JJ!”

“IT FELT LIKE WHAT BUD? YOU GOOD?”

“It felt just like me.” He finally got out.

Then everything went black.

#jiara #outer banks #obx #jj maybank #kiara carrera #jj maybank x kiara carrera #outer banks fanfiction #jiara fanfiction #spiderman au #marvel #tale of a slightly unstable teen hero #obx fic #my fic

[silentfcknhill]

I've seen you reblogging lots of horror movie gifs lately, so do the ask meme for your favorite horror movie/the one you're fixating on!

Oh man there are so many horror movies that flooded into my mind xD My favorites are obviously Silent Hill (it’s my username) and Midsommar (it’s my profile pic), but I was trying to think of a movie that had lots of characters or that people might know better. 

It’s hard because most horror movies don’t get the sort of widespread fanbase that most shows/movies do, it’s a very close-knit fanbase since it’s such an acquired taste and there aren’t a lot of characters to choose from each movie usually since horror utilizes a lot of filler-character tropes.

I think I’m going to go against expectations and pick Saw because 

1) I do like it very much 

2) I’m very familiar with all the movies and characters 

3) It’s a whole franchise of films so more people to choose from 

4) It’s fairly recognizable even outside of the horror movie fanbase

favorite male character: The one, the only, the old man with the world’s biggest god-complex himself...Jigsaw! xD And by extension Billy the Puppet, but he’s not technically a character since he’s not sentient I guess.

favorite female character: Amanda Young! She’s one of my kins. I first saw Saw when I was in middle school and I really related to her because she was one of the only characters I saw in media that struggled with self-harm like I did. Most shows and movies are too scared to show that I think for fear of being accused of glorifying it but I think it’s important for people with a lot of scars and cuts not being erased or pretended like we don’t exist. I understand the desire to not want to promote self-harm, but I don’t think people understand that it can actually hinder you a lot in life (people not wanting to hire you, date you, be your friend etc because of it all of which has happened to me personally) and for the longest time I felt mutilated and ugly and ashamed of this part of my appearance that I couldn’t get rid of, so it was nice to feel like I wasn’t alone for once. It also helped that over time I became even more like her when I developed a drug addiction so even though I’ve been sober and clean for awhile now it gives me more in common with her.

least favorite character: Since there’s so many deplorable side characters I’m gonna stick to main characters and say Detective Hoffman. -n- He straight up fucked up Jigsaw’s entire protocol and everything the games originally stood for and seeing him get away with it for multiple movies just pissed me off because that wasn’t what Jigsaw (flawed as he was) stood for.

prettiest character: Dr. Denlon was really beautiful...before the end of Saw 3. >.> Wish she could have been in all of the films.

funniest character: Ok so the first movie was really intense but it could be really hard not to laugh a lot because Adam Stanheight kept throwing out these sarcastic and out-of-the-blue insults and quips every five seconds and we stan a man who mocks everything even while threatened with imminent death xD

favorite season: Saw 2 was my favorite of the movies and the one I’ve seen the most. It shows Jigsaw in his full glory since he wasn’t shown interacting with people in Saw 1, was ill in Saw 3, and wasn’t around in the rest. I also really liked Saw 5.

favorite episode: Hm, since it’s not a show maybe we can go with ‘favorite scene’? And it’s always and unequivocally the ending of Saw 1. My mind will never be unfucked from how shook I was from that twist. Saw as a franchise is notorious for it’s very detailed and complicated plot twists, but none of the others could top the sheer omg-what-the-fuckery of that one imo.

favorite romantic ship: I like the complicated and troubled relationship between Jigsaw and his ex-wife Jill Tuck. It’s tragic but also kind of sweet in a way.

favorite family ship: Jigsaw as a father figure for Amanda...even if it didn’t end well because of her insurmountable self-destructive flaws.

favorite friend ship: Doctor Gordon and Adam from Saw 1 xD Yeah they were definitely more on the enemies side of frenemies than the friends side, but it was so funny watching them simultaneously panicking, snarking at eachother, yet having to work together to save themselves.

worst ship: Hm, I don’t really see a lot of ships for these films but I would probably say romantic/sexual Jigsaw x Amanda because I’m sure someone out there ships it or shipped it at one point and I only see it as paternal/mentor figure relationship.

#saw #jigsaw #asks #jcmorrigan #saw v #saw l #saw ll #jill tuck #amanda young #billy the puppet #lynn denlon #detective hoffman #adam stanheight #lawrence gordon #saw lll #detective hoffman fuck off challenge

[winterbites]

Quicko thing I've seen about Yashahime

So, as a recent commenter and the general fanbase of InuYasha have said, the mother of Towa and Setsuna is theorized to be Rin. She's an obviously popular choice to be Sesshomaru's lover/baby mama. Honestly, I would be ELATED if she's confirmed canon as the mother but there are a few complications that need to be checked in order to reasonably explain the theory of her being the mother. Keep in mind, I'm not a guru of InuYasha and I'm going to be referencing mainly the anime canon for this. So, in the case that I get something wrong or miss something, don't mob my house and crucify me amongst my mint garden. With that being said, let's get into it!

So, right outta the gate is the obvious one: Rin's age as she's 11 years old at the end of InuYasha. The seasons never seem to change in the Feudal Era but we know it was spring when Kagome graduated high school and transported back to the Feudal Era. So, as we know that time in the Feudal Era moves at the same rate as the Modern Era due to the 3 year time skip, we can safely say it's fall during the Since Then chapter/episode. I'm not an expert in the Japanese school system but a quick Google search says Japanese high school begins in April and ends in March, so I'm just gonna assume I'm close enough. Anyway, we don't know Rin's birthday but, just for a best case scenario for the theory, we'll say Rin turned 12 during this time. The synopsis of Yashahime is that it begins "a few years after" Since Then and then time is skipped ahead by 10 years. The girls are 14 years old - 10 years + 9 months of pregnancy = they were 3-4 years old during "a few years after". If they were 3, then we'll just say they recently turned 14 as we're only counting the years and not the months or days. Now, in ye olde days girls were generally married off when they got their first period, and that usually happened when the young ladies turned 13-14 years old (due to changes in nutrients in the modern world's food, puberty and, thus, periods actually start earlier so that's why 13-14 years old might seem a bit old for it to start). With that in mind, I'm going to add a year to this Rin is the mother theory so that she can be 13 and become eligible for childbirth. Kinda weird to show a 13 year old as a mother but Miroku did have a 14 y/o girl beg to be his wife (Kagome commented on this as well) so it's obviously a line that Rumiko isn't afraid of crossing. Also, given that Miroku and Sango's twin daughters are 2-3 years old and Sango was a 16 y/o during InuYasha, Sango and Miroku were clearly married and got busy while she was still 16. This is Rumiko telling us that modern expectations don't mean shit in the Feudal Era; what we consider underage is overage in the Feudal Era.

Whew! I think that's the biggest one out of the way, so let's move on to genetics - phenotypes in particular (remember, genotypes have to do with genetic appearance and phenotypes have to do with physical appearance). Typically, children in the InuYasha universe look very similar to their parents. Sesshomaru is the spitting image of his parents: white hair, face markings (Sess takes after his mother in that category along with her pale skin) and golden eyes. InuYasha also takes after both his parents: Toga's tanned skin, golden eyes, white hair and (in his human form) Izayoi's black hair and eyes. We don't know what Kagome's father looked like but she does share many similarities to her mother in pretty much all phenotype categories. The only real difference between the two is that her mother's hair seems to be on the curly side while Kagome's (and Sota's) hair is more straightened, presumably a trait from their father. For an example from Yashahime itself, look no further than Moroha: brown eyes from Kagome, InuYasha's tanned skin, Kagome's (and technically InuYasha's) black hair - hell, she even got InuYasha's doglike behaviors (even if it was meant for comedy relief at most times). Setsuna and Towa though? They don't look a lot like Sesshomaru to begin with, let alone Rin. Assuming Rin is the mother, Setsuna has Rin's hair, Towa has Sesshomaru's hair, and both have Sesshomaru's pale skin; however, both girls have red segments in their hair and both have differently colored eyes, neither of which match their parents. Now, Setsuna and Towa are half-demons and, although we don't see a lot of half-demons in InuYasha, we DO know they don't always look like their parents. Case in point: Jeninji. Jeninji is...well, physically-wise, the general definition of a monster despite his father being godly in appearance along with a very pretty mother. The only other (canon) half-demon we've seen is Shiori, and the only things she got from her mother was her gender. So Towa and Setsuna, two confirmed half-demons, having physical features that match only one or neither of their parents? Fairly plausible.

Lastly is Rin and Sesshomaru's relationship and Sesshomaru's general relationship to the general human race. Sesshomaru fuckin hates humans, no ifs, ands or buts about that one; HOWEVER, there are a few humans that meet his exceptions. I'm fairly positive he only puts up with Kagome (she called him big brother at the end of InuYasha and no shit it looked like he wanted to kill her) because InuYasha loves her and I'm a firm believer that Sesshomaru cares for InuYasha more than he lets on. As I said in a previous post, Kohaku is on Sesshomaru's good list due to his efforts to protect Rin; I think the only reason Sesshomaru seemed to be harsher to Kohaku was because he was a boy and was expected to take care of himself (for example, Sesshomaru expressed annoyance at having to defend Kohaku and threatened to leave him to die but didn't follow through with it). Last human on Sesshomaru's 'this person is ok, I guess' list is, obviously, Rin. He loves her, no ifs, ands or buts about that either but we don't know what kind of love it is and we don't know where it could extend to as she grows older. When Rin died the second time, Sesshomaru cradled her body and probably would've cried if he was normal in literally any kind of way. When his mother (y'all ever realized that Sess's mother doesn't have a canon name?) revived Rin, Sesshomaru crowded her and caressed her cheek. As one of my dad's favorite songs goes, if that ain't love then I don't know what love is. The way Sesshomaru views Rin is never stated, whether explicitly or implicitly, and, in my opinion, Rin is too young to understand whatever type of admiration she has for him. Rin has stated that she wants to be with Sesshomaru for forever and Sesshomaru, who seemed to feel the same way, had obvious plans to retrieve her once she spent more time with other humans - but only if Rin wanted to come along. Also, lets keep in mind that Sesshomaru was reluctant to separate from her to begin with and he still visits her very often plus brings her gifts on each visit.

With half-demon daughters and his general hate for anything human, Rin is by far the strongest candidate to be the mother but we don't know what Sesshomaru is up to during his travels. For all we know, he could've bonded with some other human woman in the time between InuYasha and Yashahime. On a sidenote, and I know this is pretty stereotypical, but clothes (the type of gift he seems to leave her more often than not) is among the top 3 things you give to your boo to woo them (I especially say this 'cause even I enjoy clothes shopping) but that kinda depends on the person.

#kohaku inuyasha #rin inuyasha #miroku inuyasha #sango inuyasha #inuyasha #sesshomaru #sesshoumaru x rin #sessrin #kagome higurashi #kagome #towa higurashi #setsuna #yashahime: princess half demon #hanyou no yashahime: sengoku otogizoushi #inu yasha

[officialleotolstoy]

🔥 Helenkhov 🔥 Anatole or the Kuragins as a whole

Helenkhov (I’m assuming this is Dolokhov x Hélène)

🔥I’ve read good arguments for them actually having an affair but I’ve seen equally compelling ones for them not actually having an affair (at least not to the point where they have sex in Pierre’s house *glares at Andrew Davies*). My personal favorite interpretation kinda walks the line between the two. I think they became close fairly quickly, borne partially out of the fact that they were both a little lonely (especially Hélène). It was eventually at least somewhat romantic and probably would have turned physical if Dolokhov hadn’t gone and been obnoxious about it to Pierre, but it never actually had the chance to become something solid. It definitely wasn’t strictly platonic though, and neither of them can properly label it. I think Hélène was justifiably angry at Dolokhov too post-duel, and mostly cut contact with him. They’re not able to avoid each other entirely because of Dolokhov’s continued association with Anatole, and they develop an outwardly cordial but slightly awkward relationship. They never regain that closeness they had pre-duel. I think Dolokhov would be down to restart their affair but tbh I don’t think Hélène would be. She learned her lesson and has moved on.

🔥I’m not saying Hélène was justified in having an affair (or an affair-adjacent thing), but far more of the blame lies on Dolokhov than her. She’s young at that point, and from what we know about Dolokhov, we can be reasonably sure he was manipulating her at least a little bit. At the very least, he had ulterior motives and wasn’t acting entirely out of a real love for her. But they probably did genuinely like each other and consider each other confidantes, if we take what Hélène says about needing someone to talk to as true. I like to believe that defense was at least partially truth, because it makes me feel better lol

🔥I wish we saw more exploration of their emotional connection. Adaptations are very bad at showing them actually interacting beyond either makeout scenes or hate sex. I know it wasn’t in the book but like. If you’re gonna add a sex scene you can write some dialogue too, you clearly don’t care that much about the integrity of the story (can you tell it’s Hating On Andrew Davies hours whoops)

Anatole

🔥Anatole’s slightly more manipulative than Tolstoy’s narration gives him credit for, but far less manipulative than the fanbase thinks he is. He’s just not smart enough to be that manipulative! That’s Dolokhov’s department, something highlighted by the fact that Dolokhov writes the letters that help persuade her to elope. However, Anatole also definitely knows how to omit unpleasant truths and paint a false picture of himself to Natasha. I think he doesn’t plan it so much as go off of the vibes of a situation though.

🔥I don’t think the way he hurts Natasha stems entirely from a lack of care for her. He’s willing to go to great lengths to get with her (and of course you can argue that it’s just for sex, but I think that’s missing some of it), and I think he genuinely likes the idea of her. He doesn’t know her well enough to actually love her, I think. And this is NOT a defense of him, he’s trash. He’s just trashy in a different way than most people characterize him. I’ll explain it a little more in the next one.

🔥Anatole’s biggest flaw is that before anything else, he’s horribly selfish. He doesn’t set out intending to hurt Natasha, I think, he just doesn’t think about the fact that he would. He only cares about himself and the pleasure he’ll get from it. I’m too lazy to find it, but now that I think about it I’m pretty sure there’s a book quote on him that says pretty much that.

🔥I don’t think there’s a whole bunch of evidence for book Anatole being bi. I’m happy to be proved wrong, but he was one of the ones that seemed straightest to me. Is that gonna stop me from thinking about Danatole though. No. I wish it would djsjksksnsnsn

🔥Comet Anatole being canonically bi is...a little questionable to me. Maybe I’m just not seeing the big picture but having the cheating whores be the only canon bi characters is uhhh. A little weird! I get that it’s also a bit of a plot thing, the part he chose to adapt just had a lot of gay vibes with Hélène and Natasha. But why Anatole? There are two wolves inside me. One says Danatole fun and more LGBTQ+ rep good. The other one says Anatole terrible bi rep. (Again, I’m open to being corrected on this one, or to hear bi people’s thoughts. I might just be overthinking it)

Kuragins in general

🔥Ippolit wasn’t having an affair with Lise he’s just a weirdo. No way is he straight. (This isn’t a hot take with good canon evidence I just feel it in my soul)

🔥I’m vehemently anti-Kuragincest and I don’t care what Tolstoy’s intentions were. He didn’t tell it to us in canon in the version I read, therefore it doesn’t exist. My explanation for the rumors is that Hélène and Anatole were very close as kids (and probably still are), physically and emotionally. People just. Misinterpreted it. I know it’s a bit of a weak defense but let’s be real 1) Pierre has a tendency to believe outlandish things without question and 2) i just. Hate incest. Its super uncomfy so i am deleting it from my mental canon

🔥Doesn’t it says somewhere Aline treats Hélène coldly because she’s jealous of her beauty? I might be making that up but if it’s true I hate you Aline </3

#war and peace #asks #anons #my post #vassily kuragin #helene kuragina #anatole kuragin #ippolit kuragin #i dont have an aline tag rip

[wrestlingisfake]

Rebellion preview

Rich Swann vs. Kenny Omega - Swann is the Impact Wrestling men's world champion, and Omega is the AEW men's world champion. Both prizes are on the line; it will be champion versus champion, title for title. This isn't the first time top champions from different promotions have squared off, but it usually only happens at a minor-league level, or when one group is in the process of absorbing the other. Truly interpromotional champion vs. champion battles at this level are rare, and even rarer when both titles are defended. So even though it's "just" Impact, and even though AEW has only been around for "just" a couple of years, it's still fairly special.

Omega also holds the AAA mega championship, but it looks as though that title is not at stake. Last month Swann unified the Impact title with Moose's unofficial TNA world title, but he's still carrying around both belts, so I'm not really sure if they're both on the line here. So technically this isn't winner take all. Maybe we can call it winner take most?

This match has been brewing since December, when Impact executive Don Callis made a guest appearance on AEW Dynamite, and helped AEW executive Omega win the AEW title. Since then, Callis and Omega have been throwing their weight around in both promotions. Swann took offense at the idea that Omega is the "real" world champion, and Omega expressed an interest in collecting more top championships. After Omega pinned Swann to win a six-man tag team match in January, it became clear that they had to meet one-on-one and put it all mostly on the line.

Omega is clearly the heavy favorite to win. They've all but said that in the storyline, with Callis trying to get in Swann's head about how he really has no chance. The minute Callis said he was bringing Kenny to Impact, everyone started fantasy booking past "Omega beats Swann" all the way up to "Omega invades New Japan to collect more belts." It's going to be tricky to lay this match out in a way that doesn't make Swann look like a second-rate chump. But Kenny is the guy who took a lot of guff from people who thought he made Allan Angels look too good in a squash match last year. If he can manage that, I'm pretty sure he can and will protect Swann.

The bigger question is what happens after Impact puts their world title on an AEW guy. Impact will have a outsider as their champion, who only wrestles for them on special occasions, and they can't plan a date for him to lose the title without clearing it with Tony Khan. For a company the size of Impact, that's a small price to pay to have the prestige of Omega carrying their richest prize. But it's risky business not having an endgame planned out, and I doubt their fanbase will have an appetite for Kenny Omega playing Brock Lesnar with Impact's top guys. But that issue will have to play out later; for now we just get to wait and see if the inevitable really happens.

Juice Robinson & David Finlay vs. Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson - FinJuice suddenly showed up in Impact a couple of months ago and won the Impact men's tag title from the Good Brothers. Then they took the belts back to New Japan Pro Wrestling, and now they're back to give the former champs a rematch.

The story of the feud is that Robinson and Finlay were "young boys" back when Gallows and Anderson were the top team in New Japan, but now the tables have turned. What's more interesting, though, is the metanarrative: If NJPW is sending FinJuice to fight the Good Brothers in Impact, and AEW is sending Kenny Omega to team with the Good Brothers in Impact, then sooner or later NJPW and AEW will end up directly working together for the real fantasy matchups. If FinJuice retain here it strengthens the idea that the NJPW/Impact relationship isn't a one-off; if they drop the belts then it could go either way. That's kind of more compelling than anything about the match itself.

I'm a fan of Juice, so I'm always up for seeing him getting to win big matches and capturing championships. But seeing FinJuice in New Japan with the Impact tag belts felt a little hollow, because I know they're only doing that because they're not figured into major programs in New Japan. So I'm not sure where I want to see them end up after this. For now, though, I'll be rooting for them to keep frustrating the Good Brothers.

Deonna Purazzo vs. Tenille Dashwood - Dashwood improbably won a six-way hardcore match to earn the right to challenge Purazzo for the Impact women's championship. It's a little weird booking a heel vs. heel match, but Purazzo has kinda cleaned out the division so there aren't a lot of better options. No offense to these two, but this is basically a one-match show no matter what they put on the undercard, so if they have something better in mind it makes sense to save it for, say, Slammiversary.

I always felt like Dashwood was undervalued by WWE and never got a strong run anywhere else to prove her worth. So it'd be neat if they put her over now, but her current character is so two-dimensionally vapid that it's hard to take her seriously. Purazzo's gimmick is that she's really fucking good at wrestling, and Dashwood's gimmick is that she's only really interested in her Instagram or whatever. So on paper Purazzo has to clobber this chump; if she gets bamboozled by a distraction from Kaleb with a K then she looks like a giant idiot, and Tenille is just the chump who beat a giant idiot.

Now, if they want to have Dashwood turn it up a notch and remember it says "marquee" on the wrestling, then great. But I'm not expecting them to do that. Deonna should retain.

Ace Austin vs. TJP vs. Josh Alexander - This is a three-way match for Austin's X division title, so the first man to score a fall over either opponent wins the match and the championship.

I think this match is a three-way because Austin won the title in some other three-way. They do three-ways for this title a lot. I mean, I'm grateful they finally quit doing Rohit Raju vs. TJP vs. Chris Bey, so that's something. But I'm pretty sure the last time I wrote about an X title match on an Impact PPV I just bitched about why multi-man matches suck and don't settle anything. I bet I said that the winner will just end up feuding with the guy who wasn't pinned, and then a third guy will interject himself to set up another multi-man that doesn't settle anything. I wish Kenny Omega would collect this belt and put it out of its misery.

Matt Cardona vs. Brian Myers - Cardona and Myers came up through WWE together as the Major Brothers and later as Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins. They were both cut from WWE a year ago, and Myers quickly signed with Impact while Cardona had a cup of coffee with AEW. It seemed like they had gone their separate ways until Cardona turned up in Impact, which Myers resented. Now they're finally squaring off to settle their differences. But considering Myers is playing a conniving heel that tries to weasel out of stuff, I get the feeling he won't give Cardona the chance to settle anything in the ring. This match feels it'll either end in a disqualification or a fuck finish.

Sami Callihan vs. Trey Miguel - This is billed as a "last man standing" match, so if a wrestler is on the ground and fails to get up to answer the referee's ten-count, his opponent is the last man standing and the winner. Other than that rule, anything goes.

Miguel had spent a few years in Impact as part of the Rascals with Dezmond Xavier and Zachary Wentz, but then all three got a big sendoff back in November. Dez and Wentz signed with WWE and have since captured the NXT tag team titles as Wes Lee and Nash Carter. Trey unexpectedly returned to Impact in January, and Callihan has been giving him shit about being alone. Callihan keeps trying to provoke and manipulate Miguel into becoming Sami's protege. So it's kind of a thing where Trey has to either pull out all the stops to get a big win over a top guy, or fight so savagely that he turns to the dark side and accepts Sami as a mentor.

This may sound weird, but Callihan almost seems like Impact's equivalent to Bray Wyatt in WWE. Not, like, in terms of magic powers or whatever (although he does seem to teleport now and then). What I mean is every Sami Callihan storyline is kind of overwritten with all these layers of character development and intrigue about how Sami is trying to make the babyface recognize some subtle point. It's all so psychological, but then it just boils down to a vicious brawl, and Sami usually loses, so it kind of doesn't matter. Then they do it all over again and act like it's so deep, as if we hadn't seen him do it eight times already.

I think Trey should probably win if they're going to do anything with him. But on the other hand I think Sami needs a win at this point. But if Sami beats Trey I'm a tag concerned that Trey will become his crustpunk disciple or something, which is a little too close to what Eric Young is already doing.

Eric Young & Rhino & Cody Deaner & Joe Doering vs. Eddie Edwards & Willie Mack & Chris Sabin & James Storm - Young's team is Violent By Design. The group started feuding with Sabin and Storm a few weeks ago. (Storm became Sabin's regular tag team partner when Alex Shelley decided to sit out until he can be vaccinated, for the good of his physical therapy patients.) I don't really remember how Edwards and Mack got pulled into this, but it was inevitable as VBD is one of those groups that all the babyfaces are going to end up feuding with.

I read that Young tore his ACL during the last set of TV taping, and he worked through it in a number of matches. I don't know if this is one of them, because I don't know if this show is live or if it was taped weeks ago. Either way, it's possible Young just won't do anything during the match. Or they'll do an angle to write him out immediately before or immediately after the match. I'm not sure what happens to VBD while he's sidelined. But in the moment, I think they're the favorites to win this match.

Kiera Hogan & Tasha Steelz vs. Jordynne Grace & ??? - Hogan and Steelz (Fire & Flava) are defending the Impact women's tag team title. Grace earned this shot when she and her partner Jazz defeated the champs in a non-title match. However, Jazz had recently put her career on the line in a match she lost, so to honor the stipulation she declined to participate. So Grace gets a different partner for this match, who probably won't be identified until right before the bell rings.

Impact has been hyping the return of Taylor Wilde, but somehow I don't feel like she'd fit in this spot. If I remember right, Jazz said she had someone in mind for Grace's partner, and it's hard to imagine either of them deciding Wilde is a good fit with their team. ODB would make more sense, except she already came in to team with Jazz and Grace, so it'd be anticlimactic to just go there again. I think it's highly unlikely that anyone WWE let go on April 15 would be available for this show, so don't get your hopes up for Mickie James or Chelsea Green.

Usually you would expect the team with a mystery partner to blindside the other team for a big win to hype up said mystery partner. But it's possible they could do a swerve--the mystery woman could turn on Grace, for example. Without any idea who Grace's partner will be, I'd personally rather see Fire & Flava keep the belts. So if there is going to be a title change, I really hope they have somebody who can win me over.

#impact wrestling #rebellion #kenny omega #rich swann #aew

[dailytomlinson]

At the stroke of midnight on January 31st, 2020, the music industry was single-handedly saved by just a young lad from Doncaster. We can all agree, in confidence, that the majority of artists won’t top the charts with their first LP, especially with little to no promo. “Walls” however, debuted at #1 on the worldwide iTunes charts, a feat not many will come by. Judging by its success, we can rightfully assume this album could be rather magical. Just over a month into the decade, I can happily testify that this may be one of the greatest pieces of work we’ll see over the span of the next 10 years. The only record I may allow to top it, will be Tomlinson’s sophomore album, which is fair to speculate will have a little less fan service and show a little more of the grunge britpop rockstar that Louis is dying to showcase.

Oh, this guy’s from One Direction, too. It’s a fact that doesn’t need to be honed in on, but in case you aren’t familiar with his older work, the UK-based band is where he found his origin story. Though hopefully after giving these tracks a listen, we’ll all be able to start celebrating him as the solo artist he was destined to become.

Kill My Mind

You hate me and I want more.

Perhaps I wasn’t alive during majority of the Britpop Movement of the 90s, but I can wholeheartedly say that if you played this opening track for anyone familiar with the genre, they would tell you it would feel right at home as a feature on one of Oasis’ final LPs or as a single brought to us by Blur. However, that is not to say it lacks originality. In fact, far from it. His thick Yorkshire accent demands your attention right off the bat. This song is confident, it’s loud, it’s sexy, it’s everything his loyal fanbase has been patiently waiting to see arise from the musician. It’s a different Tomlinson than the general public may be accustomed to, but it’s a perfect example of an artist finding their authentic self. The electric opener, Kill My Mind gives us a little tease as to what’s to come.

Don’t Let It Break Your Heart

What hurts you is gonna pass and you’ll have learned from it when it comes back.

After careful consideration, this may be the album’s weakest link. It draws on a bit of the pop-influence his previous audiences may be more familiar with. Previously, Louis released a single-edit and a piano version. The one featured on the album, is by far the most well mixed. It’s filled with beautiful harmonies and the layered vocals have a lot of potential. The message of this song is uplifting, about overcoming hardships with grace and allowing yourself to grow from them — A theme not uncommon in Louis’ writing or general life philosophy. Always the lyricist, coming from him, this message works and it works beautifully into the melodies of the song. My main issue comes down to production. The background vocals are choppy and make the general feeling of the song a little cheesy. Ultimately, it all just sounds forced. I can say however, experiencing this song live is a different story. Some songs are meant to be played live, and this just happens to be one of them.

Two of Us

We’ll end just like we started, just you and me, and no one else.

The lead single was one Louis himself proclaimed needed to be written, or else his other art would suffer from being insincere. “I just feel like musically, I almost needed to get this song off my chest,” He recently told Rolling Stone, “People say writing is a part of therapy and in a way, I feel like I’d been avoiding writing this song because I knew I only had one chance to get it right.” For those who may be unaware, at the start of his solo career, Louis tragically lost his mother, the person he was closest with, to leukemia. Out of respect to him, I won’t dwell on this, and it does feel fairly inconsiderate to put the piece under review, per say. I will, however, assert that it is a stunningly orchestrated song. You can feel the authenticity and honesty radiate from the words he’s singing, especially in the big build up of the chorus in comparison to the heart wrenching and softly sung outro. It’s rare we find artists who are proud to wear their hearts on their sleeves and speak with true openness. Each song is an example of this, but Two of Us broadcasts this vulnerability loudly, as he gives us an anthem of accepting that you’re grieving and reminding listeners to always hold onto hope.

We Made It

Nothing in the world that I would change it for, singing something pop-y on the same four chords.

Yes, she’s corny, yes her lyrics might not be up to standard with the rest of his work, and yes, she is my favorite song on the album. We Made It, is filled to the rim with nostalgia and embracing that although the tunnel was dark, there was in the end, a light. For anyone who has grown up with Louis and supported him through all the twists and turns of his decade long career, this song could be a celebration of us and our relationship with our favorite musician. There were always struggles along the way, but we, as fans, never turned our back on him. We were there for him when he needed us to lean on. The sentiment remains when reversed. Ultimately, whatever we needed, he was able to provide. It’s easy to see how much of a team Louis and his followers are, and this song is honoring that. If you’re less familiar with the singer himself, then this track is just a fun little guitar-driven song that reminisces those nights of getting smashed and blazed out of your mind with your young love, and what’s wrong with that?

Too Young

Face to face at the kitchen table, this is everything I’ve waited for.

Every album needs a song to cry to, and for Walls, this is the one. There aren’t too many complexities here, as Louis has said he generally likes to stray away from metaphors when he can. The calm strumming of the acoustic guitar, lends itself beautifully to the track, and never overpowers Louis’ voice. Vocally, this a huge example of a myriad of Louis’ strengths. It contrasts some of the heavily belted pieces we hear later on in the album, and focuses on the softness he’s able to convey in his killer range of a chest voice. His raspy tone demonstrates a certain intimacy. When the song is listened to through headphones with your eyes closed, it almost feels as if Louis is right there on your bedside, gently playing a personal piece he had just written and trusts you enough to perform it for you first. There’s a certain amount of emotional intelligence demonstrated in this song, as he never pulls the victim card, but instead takes the mature approach of admitting to where he’s gone wrong. This notion is used a lot in his writing, and is a sure telling of his character. This catchy little ballad wouldn’t feel out of place on albums of most genres, musically lacking some originality, which is made up for with the candor and polish in his vocals.

Walls

Why is it that “thank-you” is so often bittersweet?

Objectively speaking, this is the most well crafted track on the album. Perhaps even more Oasis-y than some Oasis hits, it even earned itself a writing credit from Noel Gallagher himself. By now, we are more than well accustomed to embracing Louis’ themes of overcoming barriers (or walls). It’s something he writes about often, and why shouldn’t he? He knows what it’s like to stand above what’s been dragging you down more than anyone. The most titular lyric opens and closes the tune, proclaiming, “Nothing wakes you up, like waking up alone.” As soon as you’re hit with this, you know you’re listening to a song which dares the audience to take the musician earnestly. Louis has always been the funny one who has chosen to never take himself too seriously in life. With his music, he had a hard time at the start, choosing to put out records which defined Top 40, but never himself. Walls forces us to accept the artist he’s become. It proves to every listener, that Louis Tomlinson is a musician, a lyricist, a vocalist; a true craftsman. He is a serious artist and this salient track forces us, for once, to accept him as one.

Habit

Took some time cause I ran out of energy, of playing someone I’ve heard I’m supposed to be.

Back in February of 2018, Louis teased this lyric on his twitter, sending fans into a frenzy of when and where this sentiment might come into play. In September of last year, he finally played it for us live. This live version of the song was a complete bore. Again, Louis’ biggest asset in his music may come from his lyrics. He wrote more songs for One Direction than any of the other boys, often partnering with Liam Payne who would work on the melodies, while Louis focused on cutting deep with his words. This is more than evident here, meaning any initial fondness of this song was independently due to the verses he was singing. When the album finally hit stands and we were able to hear the studio version, I have to say, my opinion on this absolute banger changed drastically. It may be a little controversial to say, but this song might have some “Yeehaw” vibes. If you played someone the opening, before his vocals take the forefront, it would’ve been fair to assume it was a Maren Morris hit. Country/Britpop/Indie isn’t exactly something I would ever even consider diving into, but let me tell you, this certified bop has been on repeat. Here’s to hoping him and his band can put together a new live arrangement before the world tour kicks off in March.

Always You

Waiting to wrap your legs around me, and I know you hate to smoke without me.

To be blunt, this song was a fan service. If it wasn’t for Louis’ persistent stans, this track may have been ditched months ago. However, when he gave us a glimpse of the songs upbeat opening lyric three years ago, we latched onto it. For years we bombarded Louis, telling him this song needed to stay on the record, and thank God he listened. He did realize partway through the writing process that this isn’t the sort of music he would like to put out anymore, so it may not resonate with someone looking for the more grungy side of the artist. Always You is almost pure bubblegum and it sounds like it should be radiating loudly off festival speakers. The tune will be a crowd-pleaser, and will surely bring the most hype for live audiences. It’s the sort of song you want to scream out while drunk on a rooftop in the summer atop the ocean in New York City, which is exactly what myself and approximately 6800 more fans will be doing this June.

Fearless

Cash in your weekend treasures, for a suit and tie, a second wife.

God damn is Fearless sexy. The slow and pulsing beat of this song, with the organic guitar, subtle production, and his sultry voice are a recipe for a great and sensual tune. The song was written with the inspiration of feeling youthful, and teaches what to center your sense of self-worth around. There’s a certain level of maturity that comes with a song of these intentions, and in that, Louis is able to showcase his ever growing wisdom. “What I wanted to try and capture with the song is the idea of feeling youthful and how important that is,” He recently said in an interview with Apple Music, “I’m at this age where I’m on the cusp — I’m definitely not a teenager, I’m not a young lad anymore, nor am I old, but I sit in this space where I’m aware of my age now. I hear it as a playground or going back to real youth.”

Perfect Now

Don’t you wanna dance? Just a little dance?

On release day, Louis did a signing, where he bravely asked a few fans what their least favorite track on the album was. Everyone said Perfect Now, earning them a high five from the man himself as well as his genuine agreement. While many look at it as a cheesy romantic love song, masquerading as a rejected early One Direction track, mirroring Little Things or What Makes You Beautiful, I wholeheartedly disagree. It’s easy to chalk it down to being “cheesy” when you approach it as being romantic, but if you look at it as, simply, a love song, that changes the perspective. Louis sings over an appealing and charming little guitar melody, and you can almost hear his smile. It’s easy to picture him singing this to his younger sisters as a piece of brotherly encouragement, or to a good friend who needs cheering up after a hard day. This darling melody invites you to dance around your bedroom feeling loved. Perfect Now proves that not everything has to be deep and serious; allow yourself to be open to simply feeling happy over the little things like a lyric that makes you smile. When in the chorus he prompts, “Keep your head up, love,” listeners can’t help but feel a sense of personal support from the artist, which is exactly what makes this song so special.

Defenseless

We’re sleeping on our problems like we’ll solve them in our dreams.

It’s understandable why Louis likes to stray from metaphors in his writing, because generally speaking, they simply aren’t good. This is proven with lyrics such as, “I’m running to you like a moth into a flame”. As well as this, the rhyming of “defenseless” with “fences” and then “defenseless” again, doesn’t exactly sit well. The song does grow to be much better than anticipated after the first verse. The pre-chorus has a strong beat, which you’ll find yourself accidentally clapping along to in public. The bridge allows Louis to explore his falsetto, which is something we’ve never heard from him before. It’s strong and poignant, and it’s a real shame that his old band never gave him the opportunity to use his voice in all its capabilities. The control Louis has over his vocals throughout this song is astonishing, and almost unheard of in most modern music outside of musical theatre. This track alone, proves that he is one of the most vocally gifted artists not only to come out of One Direction, but to come out of the last decade at all.

Only the Brave

It’s a church of burnt romances and I’m too far gone to pray.

The lyrics to this song are borderline poetry. Each and every word draws you in and leaves you speechless. It’s a short song, ending at one minute and forty-four seconds, and that works well. It leaves us wanting more, even when we’ve reached the very end of the whole experience. The tune feels like a mantra; something to sing to yourself as you prepare for something you’re nervous about or to congratulate yourself on completing a task you never thought you could accomplish. There’s no proper structure and his voice has a retro filter over top, giving the whole thing a bit of a wartime vibe. The most powerful moment is undoubtedly when he sings, “It’s a solo song, and it’s only for the brave,” as a way of patting himself on the back for where he is now in life and in his career. It’s the perfect way to bring home the album. After 12 tracks demonstrating it, it is proven to us that he doesn’t need his ex-bandmates, he doesn’t need a big production, he doesn’t need Simon Cowell, he doesn’t need other songwriters dictating what direction to go, because he is Louis Tomlinson and he is brave.

#walls review #keira millian #050220 #louis tomlinson

[americanphancakes]

1/? I know everyone is happy about dan talking about the next chapter but I can’t help but feel bratty about it. It’s been a year and a half since dan was heavily involved with the fanbase. I completely understood time off preparing to come out that is big. But I expect him to be involved again after a couple months. A year since that happened and nothing’s changed. This isn’t meant to be negative at all just part of me can’t help but be sad. How long till the next thing happens?

2/2 Once that’s drops will be disappear again? Will he give us one upload a year? I don’t think dan wants to quit yt I just can’t think what dan actually does wants to do. And I’m not mad at dan or hate him in anyway. If anything I love him and phil so much that it’s the reason I have these feelings. I’m scared of losing hope or interest in people that have been a big part of my teen/adult life. I just waiting for nothing. I love them and I’m afraid of not caring. That’s my biggest fear. Sorry

No need to apologize! Your feelings are valid, that’s the first thing you need to make 100% sure you know. I’ve expressed some degree of frustration with people who are disappointed it Dan’s inactivity, but that doesn’t mean your feelings are stupid or even bratty. You’re fine! :)

My job here with an ask like this is to try and make you feel a bit better, I guess, but what I say may not have that function in the end, lol.

Dan walks the precarious line between being a person and being a product. That’s the case with a lot of people in social media, but also a lot of celebrities in general, which is unfortunate because it’s literally impossible for a person to be a product. They can play a role, they can present themselves a certain way, but they can’t give us what we expect from products. We want (and can usually safely expect) products to be consistent, reliable, and high quality. People, however, are inconsistent, messy, and flawed.

Dan has been a product for a decade, his ENTIRE adult life, during a period of time in which most people are free to figure out who they are without so many eyes on them, and without so many people judging them. Sure, we endure the judgement of our parents & peers, but peer groups change when we move, our parents stop watching when we move out, and even when we have those people judging us it’s only a few people compared to the scores of comments and reblogs and meetups Dan has had.

The funny thing about self-esteem is that the first ingredient is self-actualization. In order to be confident in who we are, we have to figure out who we are, on at least some level. And right now, Dan is probably spending time figuring out who he is. People get upset about Dan for not communicating his intentions for the future, but no one seems to take into account that he probably doesn’t KNOW what his intentions for the future are. Most of us spend university-age and up experimenting with majors, taking retail jobs, talking to people about their careers and families, and learning what options life has. Dan had a youtube career plus social phobias; he didn’t really have that option. He didn’t even have teen years where he experimented with career paths & talents, I mean he chose “law” as a career more or less arbitrarily -- it wasn’t a passion he was following because he hadn’t figured out what his passions were yet. Then he became a youtuber fairly young, and eyes have been on him, judging his every move and studying his habits and mannerisms, trying to predict his behavior even when, as a human, he’s never going to be entirely predictable, and that really held back his growth as an individual. When everything you do is going to have eyes on it, it’s hard to take any action that’s purely your own. You end up doing everything either to satisfy other people or rebel against them, never to serve yourself.

And clearly he’s been happy enough doing the YouTube thing for ages. It’s clear that he quickly developed a passion for connecting with people (even in AmazingDan you can hear his delight that the people on his channel can ‘be themselves’). But he never really figured out if youtube was the way he wanted to forge those connections, or if he was only continuing it because that’s what his audience expected from him.

It’s entirely possible he’ll discover that YouTube is the best way to connect with his audience in a personal way, and maybe eventually he’ll return to it full time. Or he may find that writing - whether that’s scripted fiction television or novels or anything else - is the way he’d rather go about it so he can work more independently for longer stretches of time. Maybe he’s trying to make his face less well-known so people don’t come up to him in public quite so often because that stresses him out; or maybe he’ll learn he misses those surprise fan encounters because they put a face on the people whose lives he’s touched. It’s impossible for him to know what would make him happy until he actually tries taking his life in some new directions and sees what happens.

Even now, a year after his last upload, we’re watching him and waiting and predicting his behavior based on whether he likes art on his birthday or not, and when you put yourself in the shoes of someone like Dan who has social anxiety and feels like he’s being watched all the time, you start to realize why he’s backing off. I mean.... no offense to my fellow phandom members but we are EXHAUSTING sometimes lol.

But I do truly understand the fun factor of trying to guess what he’s going to do next. The thing is, though, it’s his LIFE we’re trying to predict; not a plot twist on a tv show, or the pre-planned release schedule of a pop idol’s next few singles & album. We’re in the middle of Dan’s first proper gap year (one that, from the sound of it, is extending longer than expected because COVID-19 put a hold on something he’s been working on, so Dan can’t be blamed for that).

I think it’s very reasonable to be impatient about Dan’s absence from our lives. His content is wonderful, he’s a joy to listen to when he speaks, and he makes so many of us feel just that little bit less alone. But I do think we need to give him the grace & space to figure himself out. It’s a luxury a lot of us have, but he never really did.

I also think it’s very unlikely that Dan will stay away from us forever. That connection with us seems to be extremely important to him, however anxious he may be around people. We helped give him the strength to come out. He and Phil went on tour twice just to see as many of us as possible. He looks so genuinely happy to meet fans at conventions. He’s one of us, in so many ways, and I think he wants to empower us and make us feel like we belong. But I think it got to a point where he was letting himself burn to keep us warm, and he needed to back off for his own well-being and long-term growth as an individual. And as much as I miss him, I want to give him all the time he needs.

In the meantime, everything he’s done for us up until last year is part of us, and no one can take that away - not even Dan! Even if he never came back, even if he decided YouTube was too much and he couldn’t do it anymore, his words and the example he’s set is woven into the fabric of who we are now, and that is so incredibly important.

I strongly believe, even though we’ve never met, that Dan Howell wants me to be happy, whatever that means for me, and that he wants me to grab my existence’s reins and take my life wherever I want it to go, and that thought alone is enough to cheer me up. He wants that for you, too.

I hope this helps you feel a bit better, anon. :)

#anon #answered #dan discourse #tagging that just in case this discussion stresses anyone out #long post