givenachance166

[givenachance166]

"Single people are on average less healthy, less financially stable, and overall less satisfied with life than partnered and married people are. This must mean that monogamous relationships and marriage are the solution to society's problems"

Huh, it's almost like society, both socially and financially, is set up to specifically benefit people who have monogamous relationships and get married and punish people who don't partner or get married. It's almost like there are financial benefits that exist specifically to incentivize people to get married and have kids and be a nuclear family. It's almost like it was very culturally normal until very very very recently to just not have any deeper platonic relationships after you get married, meaning that single people past a certain age just get left behind and get treated as spinsters or loser bachelors. It's like life just is not designed for single people to be able to easily participate and survive while still being single. Huh, very weird. I'm sure marriage will fix this.

[givenachance166]

Lucky Again

I spent the last few days thinking about this song quite a lot. I haven’t paid much attention to it at first, probably the excitement felt a bit mitigated by the fact we knew the song already, but I’ve been binge listening to the album for a month now and every week it’s a new week obsessing with a different song, so now it’s Lucky Again turn. I haven’t read many analysis or opinions lately, because I’ve been pretty busy, so I’m sorry if this is something someone already wrote about or if it doesn’t really make sense. It does make sense in my head tho, so I’ll hope I can articulate my thoughts well enough to convey the message lol.

I think Lucky Again is a very comforting song, more like self-comforting. It is a love song, but to himself. And since when I started reading at it like this… Lucky Again has been hurting more than any other song in the album. Yeah, I said that about All this time too but yall know what I mean lol. They are very very very personal songs. Louis is so good at writing about himself and being so open to fucking stub your heart with a single word, but sometimes it goes a bit unheard. Not here tho, not here.

Anyway. Let’s start!

You give and give until it's gone away, Just tell yourself you've got another day

Starting with a bang. I usually read deeper than necessary but the incipit feels a bit tough, doesn’t it? He’s saying life can get consuming. It consumes you, your time, your energies, sometimes your feelings. You give and give until everything is gone and you go though your day by inertia, one day after the other.

You've lived that life, you just don't see it yet

Truth been spoken. When you are in your darkest place, it’s hard to appreciate what you have and usually you miss it when it’s gone (oh wait! Maybe you don't know what's lost 'til you find it 🎶)

I see how hard you've worked to be yourself

When I tell you I sobbed the first time this line clicked in my brain. Just imagine Louis saying this to himself… argh! I don’t know how to react. It’s like absolutely amazing he appreciates and values how much he has grown as a person and how many steps forward he has taken and how rough some times were. It’s amazing to see him acknowledging he came out of his own dark places or at least he has tried. I was wondering what Louis meant when he said in some interviews he doesn’t like when people pity him, and I see why. There’s nothing to pity here, it’s just congratulations for how strong and tough he is. Hard work always always pays off.

If you believe that guy is Superman, They're selling tickets at the cinema

The interpretations of this line are potentially endless, but it always hit me for how real it is. It spoke to me like the best way to say ‘it’s bullshit, but you do you’. It’s a recurrent concept in FITF, the disillusionment and the concreteness of reality. He’s not a dreamer in this album, always very optimistic, positive, mature but never not pragmatic. He sounds jealous at some point, like one of those things you say to your partner when they make a comment about somebody else, right? But it’s the way he sets this in a specific direction, he sets the tone with two words: superMAN and cinema. So it feels to me like he is talking about a famous person who usually gets idolised, and by extent fame, popularity in general. I am not a teacher, but I would say this is a rhetoric figure called Synecdoche and I absolutely adore it! So does Louis, by the way. The choice of words is interesting and telling. He’s using believe as something a bit negative here. That’s ironic for an abum called FAITH in the future, isn’t it? But it’s his way apparently. He wants to create a paradox, a contrast and it’s clear since the cover of the album, since it doesn’t strike as a faithful cover to me lmao

Whatever gets you through the darkest night, Just find the light, Out in the madness, hold tight

Now that I’m writing about it, every line in this song feels like a ring of a chain and everyone references the other like it’s 🤯. Sometimes when I listen to songs I imagine how the singer would speak to someone else. For this part, I clearly see future Louis talking to present Louis and that applies to any other timeline, it’s an inception of Louis talking to himself basically. He’s encouraging to keep going no matter what (whatever gets you).

Through the night… isn’t it a-m-a-z-i-n-g how consistent this theme is in Louis songs? He’s been singing Through the dark for months and look at her, coming back in disguise! Self references are hot, but this one gets the cake. Is he by any chance saying «whatever gets you through the night… we will find a way through the dark» etc etc? Love it. 10/10.

'Cause I'm a hard man to lose

This has always felt a bit… weird. Like imagine you go “im hard man to lose” in a song where you are basically saying you are happy you’re together again or something. It feels… arrogant? A bit? And honestly that’s not a ‘songwriter Louis’ move. I just don’t see it. And I know, it’s always about the layers with him, but what if it’s literal this time? What if he is saying “I am not the one gives up, I am not the one losing”? After all, he’s been pretty open here about how hard he worked, he has just said he has to hold tightly.

But I figured it out then made my way back To a life I would choose

He settled it for me in this line. He is not one to lose, that’s how he went back to the life he chose and he says it as proudly as he can because the thing is… it doesn’t matter how crazy it is (the madness and all that) but he would do it again. Despite all the shit, he would do it again. You can take it as a nod to his relationship of course. He changes the line second time with ‘I'm a hard man to find, but you figured it out and I love you for that’, almost pushing for a love story interpretation. But to me it feels more like he is talking about second chances, specifically in his life and work opportunities . The life I would choose part screams career to me and hits you in the face pretty hard if you think of how many obstacles he has been going through since the start of his solo career and even before during the band.

We were lucky once, I could be lucky again

He’s been using only you/I form til here. Now, I know this we can be misleading. It’s very natural to conceive a we as an us, like two people in a relationship or something, but see… that’s very Louis lol. He writes songs like stories and here he’s storytelling. Sometimes it even feels like a plurale maiestatis! I use it an embarrassing amount of time especially for non-formal conversations, and probably this is my bias of interpretation since English is not my first language but it’s curious the way he switches from a We (in past form), to I (possible future form). That’s why I think the we is used only to help with the story he’s writing about, the past he’s recalling while writing the song.

Before the world had got so serious, Before the time it got away from us

Layers againnnnn! Is this about his past maybe in the band or before that? Is this about… I don’t know, the pandemic? The world got pretty serious in 2020 didn’t it? And stunt-wise things haven’t been looking pretty bright since the second half of 2020 so… yeah. But actually I consider this a description of more innocent times. He seems nostalgic of. Still… he doesn’t seem to be willing to go back then again. He misses simple times, but has faith the future would make him feel lucky again.

It got away from us… is so strong. It’s powerful the way he never really blames anyone for the bad or the wrong. It’s just that time goes away. Very Heraclitus of him with the panta rei and all (an usual recurrent theme in Louis songwriting) and very it is what it is too. He’s very coherent in his songs, I love it.

I meet you at the favorite subway stop, We grab some food then meet the lads for one

Storytelling king strikes again. He’s so good in describing moments from the past. Like Saturdays is a song born entirely from past memories, so I really shouldn’t be surprised he does it in Lucky too, but still! Look, lines like this are seriously meant to paint a scenario in your head and he does it so well. Meet, eat and smoke with friends like a Netflix and chill ante litteram. It’s so straightforward. 11/10.

Look back on a time, I was lucky once, I could be lucky again

I love love LOOOVE the way he uses look back on a time, because he really kinda confirms how all he just did was recalling moments from a past life through lyrical narration.

What a gem of a song.

Also special mention to The unfiltered version of Lucky again with the “I’m lucky/I’m in love” whatever the fuck you meant by that, Louis, that was pretty sick and it should have survived the final revisions.

[givenachance166]

this pride month i want to give some positivity to my fellow aspecs

you are all real and valid and your presence is enjoyed without a requirement for love or sex

if you don’t see a particular label on this post feel free to add it! you are not derailing by talking about your experiences

so!

Shoutout to…

Aces!

Aces who are also aro and apl

Aces who are apl but alloro

Aces who are aro but allopl

Aces who are alloro and allopl

Aces who feel sexual attraction

Aces who don’t feel sexual attraction

Aces who want sex

Aces who don’t want sex

Aces with sex-related trauma

Aces who aren’t ace because of their trauma

Aces who are ace because of their trauma

Aces who don’t know if they would still be ace had their trauma not happened

Aces who don’t have trauma

Aces who have trauma unrelated to their aceness

Aces who meet all the stereotypes

Aces who don’t meet the stereotypes

Aces who have had sex

Aces who haven’t had sex

People who might be ace but might not and are kind of just confused

People who are on the ace spectrum but don’t consider themselves ace

People who identified as ace previously but don’t now

People who are scared of id-ing as ace in case it changes later

Aros!

Aros who are ace and apl

Aros who are ace and allopl

Aros who are apl and allosx

Aros who are allosx and allopl

Aros who feel romantic attraction

Aros who don’t feel romantic attraction

Aros who want romance

Aros who don’t want romance

Aros with romantic trauma

Aros who aren’t aro because of their trauma

Aros who are aro because of their trauma

Aros who don’t know if they’re aro because of their trauma

Aros who don’t have trauma

Aros who have trauma unrelated to their aroness

Aros who meet the stereotypes

Aros who don’t meet the stereotypes

Aros who have been in a romantic relationship

Aros who haven’t been in a romantic relationship

People who might be aro but might not and are kind of just confused

People who are on the aro spectrum but don’t consider themselves aro

People who identified as aro previously but don’t now

People who are scared of id-ing as aro in case it changes later

Apls!

Apls who are alloallo

Apls who are alloace

Apls who are alloaro

Apls who are aroace

Apls who want friends

Apls who don’t want friends

Apls who are comfortable with saying i love you

Apls who are uncomfortable with saying i love you

Apls who are comfortable receiving i love yous

Apls who are uncomfortable receiving i love yous

I’m sorry you have to deal with “aros/aces can still love!” and “but there’s platonic love!” and “love is what makes us human!”

all of you -

you are seen. you are appreciated. you matter.

[givenachance166]

Also, I am convinced if we had better representation there would be more of us. I see so many posts on the apps that jibe with “This is gross” for very vanilla missionary or “Intimacy should last no more than 5 minutes” and I just want to scream “THE CLOSET IS GLASS.” But no one has the language to express this identity therefore we are a small community. Some representation would free so many ace/ aros

Honestly, I forget how little representation there is for ace and aro people every year, until pride month rolls around.

There are all these posts going around recommending queer movies and books and tv shows and comics and what not and it covers most identities and has a wide variety of different stories, but if there is anything with aces or aros included it’s always the same three shows. It’s kinda sad and annoying.

Most (of the few) depictions of asexual and/or aromantic characters are in tv shows aimed at highschoolers, which isn’t wrong, but once you’ve graduated it stops being particularly relatable. I wish I had some extensive history of aro-ace film and literature where I could pick and choose based on my mood and personal preferences. Instead I have to scavenge the internet high and low for something that might possibly have characters that are like me. Wether or not the rest of the plot seems enticing to me be damned.

[givenachance166]

The omegaverse is not a hard sell for aces, because if you tell me "magical pheromones made them do it", that is no more a stretch of the imagination to me than "looking at someone in their underwear made them do it".

[givenachance166]

I haven’t been on this app in over a decade, so I am sure some contrarians will find me now that I got up the courage to post 😆 But I found 1D in October after Liam’s passing. The tiktok editors dragged me in, yall are elite I must say.

From there I stumbled upon Larry and all the genius that is Louis’ song writing. You guys seemed fun here so ✨here I am✨. I have been watching fan edits and reading fics for months, somehow the AO3 Larries even broke my 15 year boycott of the Omegaverse.

I am now deep in writing a Larry Omegaverse fic that deals with reproduction politics and gender inequities via DV and the power imbalance that comes with it. I write a lot of fics I never publish, but this one is nearly 100k words and not done. It feels wasteful to let it rot in my drafts. Anyone think its worth it to post 👀

[givenachance166]

Someday I will have my own place. My world won’t be confined to my room. I will stumble sleepily through the house in the morning, opening the blinds. I will sit out in the backyard and look at the stars. I will go out whenever I want to. I will survive long enough to have that.