#teenage love triangle

[themidnightarcher]

GUYS i think that i'm going to start a series of fics based on the folklore love triangle!! it's not going to be chapters or smth like that? it's just going to be songs based on the characters. like i was thinking of doing a short oneshot inspired by 'the grudge' (VERY ANGSTY) and it focuses on james and betty!! and i've always wanted to write a fic about betty x augustine too so we'll see where that goes!!

ever since the release of folklore, i've constructed an entire world inside my head and i need to express it someway, somehow. considering how extremely talented i am at procrastination and perfectionism, it might take a long long time for me to finish so please bear with me😭

a HUGE thank you and shoutout to @moonanditstars for all the motivation!! and your folklore fic (#1 fan btw) really inspired me to start writing so this goes to you 💕💕

#folklore #folkmore #taylor swift #ts #taylornation #folklore love triangle #the folklore love triangle #teenage love triangle #the teenage love triangle #<3

[madlovesswift]

#taylor swift #august #Betty #cardigan #folklore #ts polls #teenage love triangle #taylor swift poll #reblog and tell me why #also is it a close race or a clear decision for you?

[inmywritingera]

Illicit Affairs: A Folklore Story

Part one: Betty

The Beginning

She never thought there was anything wrong with being a hopeless romantic. It’s what she grew up knowing, watching her parents dance in a refrigerator-lit room at midnight when they thought they were alone. Through their love, she saw the world through soft light and believed three fundamental things: people are innately good, everyone is worthy of love, and the right love will be built on mutual respect and understanding. She knew love was out there for her, just waiting in the shadows.

So when Betty officially met James in the fall of her junior year, something in her stirred and she thought, this could be it. He could be the one. The connection seemed instant and natural, leaving her thinking that they could someday mirror the love her parents had. And every love story has a beginning.

“Hey,'' came a soft, deep voice from behind her as she gathered her books from her locker. Startled, she whipped her head around, wild blonde curls flying around her shoulders. There he was. James. She felt her heart tremble and the butterflies in her stomach fluttered so strongly she thought they would fly up her throat and out of her mouth. “You’re Betty, right?” 

“Obviously,” she replied, internally cringing. Don’t screw this up, she urged herself. “I mean yeah, I’m Betty. Don’t you know this?” She chuckled nervously and tucked a flyaway strand of hair behind her ear., glancing up at him from beneath her long eyelashes. He towered over her, his dark hair unkempt as if he had just rolled out of bed. To her absolute horror, she was suddenly flooded with visions of them together in his bed, making the blood rush to her cheeks. Being so close to him allowed her imagination to run wild and she quickly pretended to be very interested in her shoes. 

“Well, yeah. We’re in chemistry together.” I know that, she thought, hoping that he wasn’t just an idiot. She’d been fawning over him for years, despite never really speaking to him. He was the quiet but funny type with strong opinions. They’d shared history class together last year; whenever it came time for him to present a project, he did so with a passion that made it clear he was genuinely interested in the topic. He was well-liked amongst most teachers and was just popular enough that he was known around school by most students for his soft-spoken humor. She’d gushed and gushed to her best friend until Augustine had finally told her to stop and actually do something about it. I didn’t have to, did I? Betty thought smugly.

“Yeah, we do have chemistry together,” she said rather stupidly, still staring at her shoes. “We had history last year, too.”

“Well, I don’t mind having chemistry or history with you.” 

Wait, what? Was he…flirting? At this point, Betty finally lifted her head and looked up at him, blue eyes wide. His chocolate eyes stared intently back.

 “Listen, I know we’ve only kind of seen each other at parties and shared a couple of classes, but we don’t really know each other, do we?”

“I guess not.” Get to the point, she thought, worried about being late to class.

“I’d like to get to know you,” he said conspiratorially, leaning in close. “I’ve had my eyes on you for a while.” He paused and chuckled softly. “Wow, that sounded way creepier than it did in my head.”

“Yeah, it did,” Betty laughed. “But I guess now I can say the same.” Her heart was racing and she nervously rubbed her palms on the front of her jeans. “I’ve kind of been into you for a while, too.” She paused. “You make me laugh.” 

“Well, this is a great coincidence,” he stated as they finally started their walk to the chemistry classroom, making mindless but comfortable smalltalk. The hallways were buzzing with summer vacation gossip and new couples making out against lockers. They stopped just outside, ignoring a particularly entwined couple, and turned to face each other. “You know, it’s unseasonably warm today,” he said suddenly. Seriously, the weather?? 

“It is,” she said simply, wondering where this was going.

“An unseasonably warm September day makes for a perfect walk on the beach, wouldn’t you agree?”

“I suppose so..?” Is he about to…

“Okay, I’ve been working up to this for a while.” He looked nervous but quickly composed himself and smoothly continued, running his hand through his hair. “Why don’t we take a walk down to the beach after class?  The surf is still pretty intense with the storm yesterday and there’s something about the crashing waves…”

“That brings you peace?” Betty finished for him. James smiled.

“Exactly.” Her heart was thumping so loudly there was no way he couldn’t hear it. “We’ll go there after class and find our peace, yeah?”

Oh, my god. This isn’t happening. This is a dream and I’ll wake up any minute.

“Okay,” she said with a smile. 

“All right,” James grinned. “It’s a date.”

The Dance

“It’s gorgeous, James!” Betty exclaimed as James tied the corsage around her wrist as their parents wildly snapped picture after picture. It was a band of white lace decorated with peonies and lavender, Betty’s favorite flowers. The blues and purples matched perfectly with the pastel chiffon of her prom dress. The air was sweet with the scent of pollen and approaching summer, with only a lingering nip of the late spring wind. James beamed, evidently very pleased with himself.

“I knew you’d love it,” he said, and tilted her face towards him to gently press his lips against hers. He took her decorated wrist and bowed to kiss her hand. “Shall we?” 

They turned together and stepped through the doors of the school hand in hand, pausing for a quick, cheap portrait before entering the gymnasium. It had been transformed by tricks of lights and florals into a garden paradise. Music pulsed from speakers all around the room and the dance floor was already thick with classmates celebrating the end of a stressful school year. The last nine months had flown by in a flurry of college applications and essays and it was clear Betty wasn’t the only one relieved that it was over and welcomed the start of summer break. 

It wasn’t all so bad, though–she’d had James. It hadn’t been just nine months of bureaucratic college nonsense–it had been nine months of walks on the beach, regardless of the temperature. Snow on the beach was weird, but beautiful. They spent nights together when he made her his own and enjoyed plaid shirt days as autumn stripped the trees bare. It was nine months of kisses stolen in his car at a stoplight. Holidays with each other’s families. A winter wrapped in each other’s arms, the heat of their skin against each other keeping them warm through every snowstorm. Falling in love with James had been the greatest part of junior year and Betty had been looking forward to dancing with him for months.

“Oh look, there’s Augustine!” She was standing by the drink table looking like a completely different person. The backless red dress she wore clung to her body like a second layer of skin and the auburn hair she usually wore in a messy bun fell sleekly down her back, stopping just above her waist. Betty knew that Augustine was easily one of the most beautiful girls in their grade, and Augustine carried herself with an air of confidence that indicated she knew that, as well. She always drew attention from guys across every clique and nonchalantly brushed off every advance. That confidence surrounded her in a halo and the air around her seemed to shimmer as she made her way towards them.

“Girl, you look incredible!” Betty said, looking her best friend up and down with approval. She didn’t notice that James was also staring at Augustine. “No wonder you kept it a secret from me!” She grabbed Augustine’s hand. “Let’s go dance!”

The trio made their way towards the dance floor, and let themselves become swept up in the music and movement of dancing bodies. Betty was finishing a dance with Augustine when the music slowed and the soft introduction to her favorite song began.

“Oh, my god, James! It’s our song!” Betty turned excitedly towards James, only to find him gone. She turned towards Augustine. “Where’s James?” she asked. Augustine just shrugged and told Betty she was going to go take a break. 

“Wanna dance?” Someone she didn’t recognize had approached her while she was searching the room for James and was holding out his hand.

“Do I know you?” Betty asked, eyeing her suitor with a raised eyebrow.

“You will once you dance with me.” She rolled her eyes. This guy seemed annoying already.

“I’m here with my boyfriend, you know.”  I think I am, anyway.

Mystery Guy looked around. “I don’t see him.” He turned back to her.  “Besides, I’m sure he won’t mind. Once he sees my hot moves, he’ll be jealous he isn’t me.” He spun in a very Michael Jackson manner and Betty laughed then. Well, it is my favorite song, she reasoned with herself. Plus, he seems harmless.

“Okay, fine,” she said with a resigned smile. He put his arms around her and Betty scanned the room again, just in time to see James standing in the doorway looking like he was about to get his knuckles bloody. But he didn’t approach them and take her in his arms himself. Instead, he turned on his heel and stormed away.

Rumors

James had never returned when he left the gym on prom night. Betty received a text from him just before the end of the dance explaining that he was getting claustrophobic and had to go home. Ever since, things seemed different. She knew he was angry with her for dancing with someone else at prom, but they’d talked about it. She had apologized and explained that she just wanted to dance to her favorite song but James was gone. Things seemed fine for a while.

She wasn’t exactly sure when everything changed, but she didn’t feel like James was James. He spent most of his time working at Schmoe’s, a yogurt shop down on the beach, so they didn’t see each other as much. But it wasn’t just that. He seemed distracted whenever they were together, always checking his phone. She chalked it up to nerves, knowing he had recently sent out a bunch of college applications and was likely waiting for a response. They didn’t walk on the beach the way they used to but occasionally at night, they would wander down and watch the waves bring the moon’s reflection to the shore. James would check his phone and suddenly declare that he needed to head back home. He never gave a reason why; he’d just kiss her good night and she would walk home alone. Every time she asked him what was wrong, he’d just brush it off and after a while, she developed a sinking feeling that something wasn’t right between them.

Betty was writing out a college essay in Augustine’s room when she noticed a sweatshirt that she recognized crumpled on the bed. “Hey, isn’t this James’s?” She asked, holding up the sweatshirt. 

“Oh yeah,” Augustine said, quickly looking back down at her own essay. “I ran into him at Schmoe’s last night and it was freezing, so he lent me his sweatshirt so I wouldn’t be cold walking home.” 

“That was so nice of him,” Betty said dreamily, continuing her work. “Isn’t he the sweetest?”

“Yeah, he is,” Augustine replied quietly, focusing on the essay. Betty felt an uneasy suspicion creeping in as she took note of the  strange tone in Augustine’s voice, but quickly  brushed it off as ridiculous. There’s no way.

Betty and James were having one of their beach walks on a particularly humid night. Betty was deep in thought and James was silent, which wasn’t unusual for him these days. It had been a few days, but that sweatshirt on Augustine’s bed was still on Betty’s mind. She decided to broach it cautiously. 

“Hey, did Augustine ever give you your sweatshirt back?” Betty asked James casually. 

“Huh?” James responded, snapping out of whatever reverie was grasping his attention.

“Your sweatshirt. It was at Augustine’s; she said you guys ran into each other the other night and you gave it to her so she wouldn’t be cold.”

“Oh, yeah. Right. Yeah, she gave it back.”

“Oh, good.” She paused, wondering if she should follow her train of thought. “When? I was just over her house and we’ve hung out, like, all week.”  Her attempts at sounding casual were weakened by the slight accusatory tone in her voice. If James noticed, he didn’t give any indication.

“Uh..she dropped it off at Schmoe’s earlier today.” He quickly changed the subject then, asking Betty about her college essays, effectively ending the conversation.

James’s unusual behavior continued until finally Betty found herself thinking, is there someone else? The thought came suddenly, catching her off guard. The signs were certainly there but could also easily be explained away. She tried to shrug the feeling off, but it remained in the back of her mind like a mosquito in her ear as she recalled once again the hoodie on Augustine’s bed and the heavy feeling of suspicion she had felt in her chest. Don’t be silly, she scolded herself. They would never do that to me.

But when she had asked James about it, his story didn’t quite add up. She spent the entire week with Augustine, and James was at work most of that time. She couldn’t figure out when Augustine would’ve given the sweatshirt back. She felt ridiculous stressing over an article of clothing but something just wasn’t sitting right with her.

She was stretched languidly on her beach towel, soaking in the burning late July sun, when her phone buzzed with a text from Ines. Betty shared a few classes with her and had shared many for the last three years. She didn’t necessarily consider Ines a friend but she had her number, and discussions were mostly about assignments and the occasional small talk. That’s why she was surprised when she opened the message.

I think there’s something you should know.

She knew Ines was a gossip, but Betty’s heart did a little flip anyway.

A second text came through a moment later. It’s about James.

“You can’t believe a word Ines says!” James exclaimed, pulling at his hair in frustration. Betty stared coldly at him, arms crossed over her chest. They were standing in James’s bedroom with Betty still as a stone and James frantically pacing.

“Most times.”

“Jesus, Betty! You seriously think I left prom, got in the car with your best friend, and have been sleeping with her ever since? Because Ines told you??”

“Well, she saw you get in the car with Augustine when you allegedly went home because you were ‘claustrophobic.’” Betty’s voice was thick with sarcasm at “claustrophobic.” James blanched. “She also saw you at the beach with her last week and she said it didn’t look like ‘just friends.’”

“Oh please,” James said, rolling his eyes. “Ines would say anything to stir the pot. Yes, I was at the beach with Augustine, but it was because we ran into each other after I was done with work. We hung out a bit and I gave her my hoodie so she wouldn’t be cold.” That did match up with what Augustine told her. Maybe she was overreacting…

 “Besides,” James continued in an accusing tone. “You’re one to talk about looking like more than ‘just friends’.”

Betty sighed in exasperation. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, James.”

“I’m talking about prom night! I leave for a second and come back to see you dancing with some random guy!” He was beginning to raise his voice and Betty felt rage start to bubble in her chest.

“For God’s sake, James!” she yelled. “I thought we already talked about it–you can’t seriously be throwing that in my face again. That was two freaking months ago! It was just a dance! ”

“To our song!” She could see James getting angrier and angrier, which only fed the flames of her own fury. 

“James, it was just a dance!” She repeated in frustration. “You were gone.”

“I just had to get some air! I hate crowds, you know that!”

“Well, in any case, I had the opportunity to dance. I already apologized for that. But your response seemed to be getting in the car and the bed of my best friend.” She stared directly at him, her face stoic despite the rage in her chest as she watched a variety of emotions cross his face. He quickly pulled himself together, taking a deep, steadying breath.

“Betty,” he said slowly. “You’re being crazy.”

Oh, no he didn’t. If she wasn’t crazy before, she certainly was now. Red hot fury sped up her neck and into her cheeks and she curled her hands into fists. 

“Do not fucking call me crazy, James!” she shouted. “You’ve been acting weird all fucking summer! This explains literally everything!”

“You’re being paranoid for no reason!”

“For no reason?! Ines tells me you’ve been sleeping around with my best friend and your best response is that I’m fucking being ‘paranoid for no reason’? Be serious, James!”

“I said it once and I’ll say it again–you cannot believe a fucking word Ines says. You know this!” He took a deep breath, collecting himself before stepping towards her.  “Betty, I would never hurt you. You know that, right?” His voice was low as he pulled her towards his chest and stroked her hair. She sighed against him and they stood that way for a while.

“I’m sorry,” Betty said, a little uncertainly. “I guess I did let Ines get in my head a bit. She’s probably just bored and wants something to talk about.”

“I’m sorry I called you crazy. I was just frustrated that you weren’t listening to me when I was telling you that she’s a damn gossip.” She didn’t respond, just laid her ear against his chest and listened to his heart thump.

“I would never hurt you, Betty,” James repeated. And for a moment, Betty believed him.

But then she saw it. A half-used bottle of perfume that she instantly recognized. Her stomach dropped and she pulled away from him.

“James,” she said slowly, pointing at the bottle. “What is that?”

Panic flashed across James’s face. “Perfume,” he said obviously. He moved away from her and began pacing again as Betty further inspected the bottle. “It’s an early birthday present.” She could tell he was working to sound confident but Betty wasn’t an idiot. “James, I’m not stupid. You know I don’t wear perfume.” She turned and faced James, a coldness creeping through her veins as realization struck her. “But Augustine does.” 

James paled then and stopped pacing to look at her. “Why is Augustine’s perfume in your bedroom, James?” He swallowed hard and just stared at her, anxiety plain on his face.

Betty took another deep breath, already knowing the answer. “Did you sleep with her?” She paused and added softly, “You can’t keep lying to me now.” He was silent, staring intently at her, then sighed deeply in resignation, giving up on his attempts at ignorance.

“I did,” he admitted quietly. “I am. Ines is right.” Betty felt the blood drain from her face and she began to tremble. She stepped away from him. This time it was true, she thought grimly as tears prickled in her eyes. Suspecting your boyfriend was cheating and knowing it for sure were two different things.

“And you called me crazy…”. She sank onto his bed and put her head in her hands. Her chest burned from the shards of her broken heart and a heavy pit made its home in her stomach. She was my best friend…how could she…there was an indescribable storm of rage swirling and bubbling in that new pit and she clenched her hands hard against her forehead, wishing she could pound out the images invading her mind. She knew if she acted on her anger she would destroy him. She knew if she acted on her anger she would hurl words and lamps at him with intent to harm. She knew that she would have so much to regret if she acted on her anger, and so she didn’t say anything at all. No one likes a mad woman. The soft world built on the foundation of the love she grew up watching her parents share crumbled into dust around her. What was there to say?

James begged her to say something, but she remained silent. I gave him so many signs that I knew something was wrong. But he lied. And lied. And lied. She was vaguely aware of James’s feeble attempts at explaining himself but couldn’t hear anything over the thud of her own heart and the ringing in her ears. He wasn’t just my first. He was hers, too. Augustine was her best friend, after all. 

After a while, she turned her despairingly blue gaze onto James, who looked like he was going to vomit. She regarded him for another moment, then stood and silently left the room. James called out to her, begging her to stay and talk, but she was gone, leaving him in the hall with the last of his love in his hands.

Cardigan

As composed as she had been when James and Augustine broke her heart, by the time Betty reached her car across the street, she was falling apart. She sobbed and screamed and smashed her fists on her steering wheel, cursing James for throwing her aside like an old cardigan after spending almost a year telling her she was his favorite. Memories flooded her mind and she flashed back to their early days when they walked home from a house party and drunkenly danced under a streetlight, laughing loudly enough that neighbors yelled out their windows to tell them to shut up. He held her closer than usual that night and kissed her with passion and intensity. His hand had traveled under her sweatshirt and the night ended with their chests pressed tightly together, hearts beating in unison. 

Tears ran hot down her face as visions of worn Levi’s and streetlights, snowball fights and quiet nights flashed before her eyes like a silent movie. Her chest ached, tight and hot as she struggled to fill her lungs with air. She continued screaming curses at him from the privacy of her car before turning her anger onto Augustine as her mind raced with images of Augustine and James together in ways she thought were only for her. 

She was angry with herself for not listening to her intuition, which had told her for weeks that something wasn’t right. What did I do to deserve this, she sobbed to herself. Even on my worst days, I do not deserve this hell.

After a while, Betty’s tears began drying on her cheeks as she stared blankly forward, not seeing past her windshield. She stayed that way, observing the coldness that was spreading across her heart, leaving her completely numb. Betty eventually looked up at the house to see James standing at the window, watching her. 

She felt oddly calm as she pulled out her phone and sent Augustine a simple, short message. 

You can have him, but never speak to me again.

Betty blocked Augustine then, put her phone on silent, and pulled away. She knew James was still watching from his window. She drove away without looking back.

#love #taylor swift #folklore #short story #teenage love triangle #swifties #swiftie fandom #love story #romance #teen

[tayfabe75]

If cardigan is about Matty, what do we have with august and betty, considering that these three songs are one love story?

Kinda interesting that Matty and Betty rhyme... I know the story with all these names, but it's still funny to me

The pesky teenage love triangle strikes again! Anon, I admit - I have the same concern. Is Matty Betty because they're the same number of letters and end with a "t-t-y"? And, would that then mean that Taylor is James? After all, she was named for James Taylor… Or, is Matty James because they're both male? Your guess is as good as mine! I do, of course, have some speculation about the love triangle… (you knew it was comin'!)

Recently, Taylor chose to mash-up 'August' with 'Getaway Car' and 'The Other Side of the Door', which is interesting. On Twitter somewhere, I saw some comments about how we're getting all sides of the story, here. August: the perspective of the other woman, Getaway Car: the perspective of the cheater, and TOSOTD: the perspective of the woman spurned.

When it comes to making sense of this storyline, there are a few things I like to consider. It seems like there was some sort of undefined "situationship" between Taylor and Matty in the early days - I'm basing this off of 'Is It Over Now?' and 'TooTime', songs that share a melody.

While Taylor's song is lyrically much more fraught, Matty does imply that he's cried over this "situationship" ("you wet my eyes"). Pair that with Taylor's 1989 tour speeches, like this one before 'All You Had To Do Was Stay':

"I don't really like grey areas. I don't really like when people say 'I don't know', when it's a basic yes or no question. Do you want to be with me? Yes or no is the answer. And I tend to think that, you know, relationships are much less complicated than we make them if we simplify it to two basic options. Would you like to hear the two basic options, Boston? Okay. I think that your two real decisions and your two real options in a relationship are: you either leave or stay."

Recently (I think at MSG?), Matty introduced 'A Change of Heart' by describing himself as an "indecisive young man"… now, I get that most people don't think that song is about Taylor… however, that wasn't historically the case! (and that's certainly an interesting rabbit hole to fall down…)

Anyway, there are two theories that I really like, both suggested by my fellow "Tayfabe" collaborators:

The first theory being that 'August' might refer to opioids. Often, Matty describes his relationship to drugs almost like a romantic relationship:

"It's just… you know, if you break up with your missus for a good reason, even if you love her, you can understand it, you know, you can get on with it. But if you still fucking love her, it's really hard, you know? I think that would be the best way to describe it."

(Interestingly, Taylor speaks about addiction as an intro to the song 'This Is Me Trying' in the Long Ponds film… pair that with the "This Is Us Trying" engraving on NOACF… and you start wonderin' some things, no?)

The second theory being that Taylor could be both Augustine and Betty! That somewhere in her tumultuous timeline with Matty, she's found herself at one point being his "girl", and at other points, being "the other woman". Either way, she seems to deeply empathize with poor Augustine:

"August was obviously about the girl that James had this summer with, right? So she seems like she's this bad girl. But really, she's not a bad girl, she's like really a sensitive person who like, really fell for him and she was trying to seem cool and seem like she didn't care because that's what girls have to do, and she was trying to let him think that she didn't care, but she really did and she thought they had something very real. And then he goes back to Betty."

Something about the way she says this makes me think that no, Taylor is not actually Augustine, but there might be another reason she humanizes the "other woman" so much. Maybe because it's a friend of hers?

Warning: High (and morally dubious) speculation ahead

Anon, I'm personally a bit uncomfortable with celebrity gossip, but since so much of fandom song speculation seems to hinge on the gossip aspect of things, I thought it might be worth mentioning! Now, Matty used to date Halsey. It is alleged that a few of her songs are about Matty (more on that soon). Of course, Taylor and Halsey are friends as well as collaborators! I believe Taylor actually gifted her a Folklore cardigan, and Halsey posted an IG story of herself wearing it and lip-synching along to 'Illicit Affairs':

Don't call me "kid" Don't call me "baby" Look at this godforsaken mess that you made me You showed me colors You know I can't see with anyone else

If you're at all familiar with the Matty x Halsey lore, you'll know that her song 'Colors' is alleged to be about him, as well as the song 'Is There Somewhere', which shares a theme with 'August' in that it's about being the other woman:

Your girl's got red in her cheeks 'Cause we're something she can't see And I try to refrain but you're stuck in my brain All I do is cry and complain, because second's not the same

Now we'll go back to Taylor's quote about Augustine:

"So the idea that there's some like, some bad villain girl in any type of situation who like, takes your man, is actually a total myth because that's not usually the case at all. Like, everybody has feelings and wants to be seen and loved, and just like… Augustine, that's all she wanted was love."

(Oh, and to address the elephant in the room: Yes, I'm pretty sure Matty and Halsey dated in 2013. I know not everyone is on the same page when it comes to the "Tatty Timeline", but there are a few hints that Taylor and Matty met at least as far back as the Red era…)

Lastly, I'll leave you with this, Taylor's forecast for what ultimately becomes of James and Betty:

"Cardigan is from Betty's perspective from like twenty to thirty years later, looking back on this love, that was this tumultuous thing. In my head, Betty and James ended up together, right? So in my head, she ends up with him, but he really put her through it."

I definitely veered a bit off-course here, anon, forgive me! lol

And, of course, thanks for the ask! ♥

#answered #tatty #maylor #taylor x matty #song speculation #song: cardigan #song: august #song: betty #teenage love triangle #topic: rumors #topic: gossip #a bit morally dubious my apologies

[to-the-beat-of-your-heart]

happy august month here's a one-shot i wrote about the teenage love triangle in folklore

#if this gets kudos i might write more #taylor swift #teenage love triangle #august #folklore #james folklore #betty folklore #august folklore #betty #cardigan

[loveislarryislove]

Do You Think The Tides Know

by LiveLaughLoveLarry/@loveislarryislove – 12k (Zayn/Louis and Louis/Harry)

Zayn had known from the beginning that his summer fling with Louis was just that – a summer thing, and no more. He’d known that Louis’ heart was already taken, known that this was just a chance for Louis to learn more about himself and his sexuality. Louis had been upfront about it the whole time.

Unfortunately, Zayn dramatically underestimated how easy it would be to fall in love with Louis.

~*~

Louis looks over at Zayn, his eyes deep and earnest and full of emotion and it takes Zayn’s breath away.

“Before you go,” Louis says softly. “I need you to know – you’re my best friend. You’re the person I trust most in the world, the person I know always has my back, the person I’m always looking for a reason to spend time with. You’re kind and you’re smart and you’re funny and you’re brave and – god, there’s so much I admire about you.”

Zayn can feel his heart pounding a mile a minute, but he tries to keep his expression neutral. It’s not for him, he reminds himself over and over. Even as every word sinks into his skin like a kiss, like a promise, like a bruise. It’s not for him. 

Maybe he’s the idiot here. 

“I know we’ve been dancing around each other for a while,” Louis continues. “And I’m sorry for that. I was… scared. And confused. But I think I’m ready now.” He swallows hard. “I want to be with you, Ha-”

Zayn kisses him, and the final words die on Louis’ lips as he laughs against Zayn’s mouth. 

“Fucking hell,” Zayn says between hungry kisses. “You’re dangerous, Tomlinson.”

Louis grins. “So you think that’ll work? You think he’ll say yes?”

Zayn pulls back for just a moment, weighing his words carefully. “I don’t know if anyone could resist falling in love with you if you said that to them.”

Or, a fic based on the folklore love triangle, but it’s nobody’s fault and no one means to hurt anyone.

This fic was written for the @1dcountryfest and I am so incredibly grateful to the mods for once again giving me the push to write a story that I’ve been absolutely dying to tell for ages. I also owe @alwaysxlarrie about 5378 thank yous for all their support and encouragement and excitement, for making me believe I was capable of telling this story and that it would find an audience. 

I highly encourage everyone to read the other incredible fics in this year's collection here, and if you like those then check out last year's fics here. You can also check out the Country Fest '22 Playlist on Spotify here. 

#zayn malik #louis tomlinson #harry styles #one direction #larry stylinson #zouis #taylor swift #august #teenage love triangle #fanfiction #my fics #fics #mine

[daylightaftertherain]

ok sea i REALLY need you to come with me on this one

been thinking about the folklore love triangle a lot today and remembered that i talked with one of my friends about a plot twist in the love triangle plotline where instead of augustine being in love with james she's actually always been in love with betty so here's how that looks in my brain

seven is actually about how betty and augustine are childhood friends and it's from augustine's pov and her looking back on how close they used to be, but somehow they grew apart. even though they grew apart, augustine always hoped for them to grow close again but instead she watched in high school as betty and james grew close and had to sit by and watch them fall in love so she thought the closest she could ever get to being with betty was to go for james. she knew in doing so it would probably ruin her chances with betty forever but she just wanted to feel close to betty again and she felt like the only way to do that was see what she saw in james... and james fell for it but betty wasn't supposed to find out. she never did it to hurt betty.

however there's a small part of her that's relieved that this means betty probably won't get back together with james.... however then she hears (from inez) about the party and how james showed up and basically proclaimed his love for betty and betty fell for it and augustine just loses all hope that she'd ever have a chance.... however then betty, for some reason, starts turning to augustine thus we get illicit affairs, and at first it's everything augustine had wanted... until she realizes betty is still with james. however she feels like she'll take all that she can get... and that's as far as my brain goes lolll

(then because of this storyline in my brain, i looked up if there's any stories on ao3 and there's about 114 so...)

(this is SO long wow)

anyways yeah this is the innerworkings of my brain

-miels 💜✨

HI omg thank you for the long ask sdhgfdjhgfjdg

oh my GOD that makes so much sense (a slightly long answer for you comingbecause I'm always willing to talk about the teenage love triangle)

also going along with my theory that the "hide in the closet" was actually about betty being queer and augustine knowing, seven could also about all of their secrets and stories that they told each other. the "cross my heart won't tell no other" line makes sense with that context, and the "your dad is always mad" line could totally be about betty's family being homophobic.

and I think somewhere along the line augustine fell in love with betty too, and illicit affairs could be an ambiguous song that could be about both betty and james. like "what started in beautiful rooms" could be augustine's perspective on the rooms she and betty held tea parties together, and now they only see each other in mundane places like a parking lot, and the "for you I would ruin myself" being about her summer affair with james that probably ruined betty's view of her, from childhood best friend to the other girl.

ANYWAY loved reading your thoughts, taylor is so good at creating stories that can be interpreted multiple ways it's insane

#ask #teenage love triangle #folklore #taylor swift #allthefakepeople

[xwhatababex]

I’m sorry I just now discovered Taylor swift’s Teenage Love Triangle song trio from folklore- and oh god it is screaming Duncney-Gw*ncan love triangle in every possible way. 😭

betty is from James’ perspective (in the songs’ storyline), and would be from Duncan’s perspective.

cardigan is from Betty’s perspective, and Courtney’s perspective as well

august is from the unnamed other woman’s perspective, or Gwen.

did some digging and found this online:

betty” touches on the aftermath of “august,” which describes a summer love that was doomed from the start. Listeners learn that while the summer affair was going on, the speaker, James, was still dating their classmate, Betty.

And from Taylor’s own words:

“[James] has lost the love of his life basically and doesn’t understand how to get it back…Everybody makes mistakes, everybody really messes up sometimes and this is a song that I wrote from the perspective of a 17-year-old boy. I’ve always loved that in music you can kinda slip into different identities and you can sing from other people’s perspectives. So that’s what I did on this one…”

this is new, this is golden.

#tda #tdi #tdwt #total drama #tdi courtney #tdi duncan #total drama courtney #duncney #total drama duncan #total drama gwen #tdi gwen #gwuncan #taylor swift #august #cardigan #betty #Teenage Love Triangle #folklore

[pansexual-lilychen]

not gonna lie if ryan and blake don’t call their kid august/augusta/augustine i’m gonna be pretty disappointed

#taylor swift #blake lively #ryan reynolds #folklore #teenage love triangle #betty #august #cardigan #folklore love triangle

[themidnightarcher]

any idea about where your folklore fic will take place? <33 so exciting!!

firstly, thanks you so so much for the ask!! and i think it'll take place in a small fictional town? i have absolutely no idea what the town's called but it's this melancholic town filled with hazy, summer days? i really want it to reflect the nostalgic and wistful nature of folklore (the album)!! kind of like this moodboard i've put together:

#idk how to put it it's so complex in my head? #answered ask! #taylor swift #folklore #folklore love triangle #the folklore love triangle #teenage love triangle #the teenage love triangle #cardigan #august #betty #💌 #<3

[chaotic-theatrical-weaver]

Consider “Dear August” as Augustine’s internal monologue following the events of “august” and everything that happened with James. Yes, I know they were by different artists--I’m only positing this because of one of the playlists I have (Misguided Torchbearers, for anyone who was wondering), which features both.

#dear august #noah cyrus #pj harding #people don't change ep #august taylor swift #august folklore #folklore #teenage love triangle

[overeasybluebloods]

Sometimes I get entirely decapitated by the cardigan voice memo because just…

Tried to change the ending, Peter LEAVING Wendy, which became Peter losing Wendy.

In my little heart of hearts this was james pretending he didn’t care, that he was leaving her, when Betty refused to take him back. Tay changed it to something that better fits finding neverland. It became Peter losing Wendy because she wants to go back home, but it doesn’t add much to the story within the song* to have it that way when just namedropping Peter and Wendy already adds a layer of timelessness to the Jeremy Bearimy that is the teenage love triangle I digress if it had stayed that way, when she eventually added “I knew you’d miss me once the thrill expired, and you’d be standing in my front porch light” it would’ve added a layer of mutual distancing, knowing it was for the inevitable reunion.

Not to mention the happiness parallel Great Gatsby reference in “Living in a gold age, sneaking to my birdcage, I knew you, laughing like a damn fool, breaking every damn rule.”

To be a beautiful fool is to live in cushioned ignorant bliss, often protected from one’s own faults and vices. James made mistakes and didn’t learn, but when he realized what his immaturity and pride had cost him, he went back. She replaced these lines, yes, but added one that feels even more on the nose: you’d be standing in my front porch light. The green light of forgiveness is a dock light, as opposed to the porch light above, but for the fact that it is on and it is visible, we know that both characters are still under that weighted illusion of the other being fated yet out of reach.

I don’t need to elaborate “cat and mouse” or mastermind, but it all comes full circle doesn’t it?

* “Leaving like a father” was not yet written on April 28th, 2020.

#ri iterates #folklore #evermore #teenage love triangle #taylor swift

[imherethephantom]

Also I have a theory. So you know the teenage love triangle in folklore? And how she references “Peter losing Wendy” in cardigan? And here in the Anthology, Peter is about Peter from Wendy’s POV?

What if she’s Wendy AND Betty, and Joe is Peter and James?

And I think she found out about the cheating during the pandemic or around when it started or shortly before

#jess speaks #Peter #cardigan #teenage love triangle #folklore #taylor swift #ttpd

[inmywritingera]

hi there

it’s been a while. A lot of shit has happened in the last few years lmao so I’m a huge swiftie and over the summer I got really into folklore. I was recently inspired to put The Teenage Love Triangle into a short (maybe long, idk yet since I’m drafting) story that I’ll be posting here for whoever may be interested. Part one is going up…now.

#taylor swift #folklore #teenage love triangle #illicit affairs #cardigan #short story

[favichanwriter]

Am I the only one who interpreted "betty" from Augustine's pov instead of James' pov? I need to know I'm not alone in the world.

#taylor swift #folklore #folklore taylor swift #betty #teenage love triangle #folklore teenage love triangle #just random thoughts at random times

[sorivii]

More battle poses with Leo. Don’t ask me where his foot went, I gave up😔

Edit: Y’all are funny as hell, let me just…

Better?

#Leo is the easiest to draw I swear to god #like triangle heaven #yoooo my skills to make backgrounds is evolving backwards #lol #love Leo #blue #rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #artists on tumblr #rise of the tmnt #art #fanart #rise leo #rottmnt art #rottmnt fanart #rottmnt leo #tmnt leo fanart #Tmnt #tmnt fanart #SivArt