#<- just in case i ever post more playlist stuff there's a tag for that now

[felicitysmoaksx]

Rating: Mature

Summary: Her eyes squeezed shut before she dropped her head. Borrowed time. It was meant to be her…It was meant to be-

Word Count: 2.3k

Warnings: Inaccurate medical procedures, and implied/references a canonical character death and in depth survivors’ guilt

Read On AO3 | Fic Playlist | Fic Playlist but Less Shippy | Want to be tagged when I post a Rheese story?

Bottled Up Feelings are Silently Screaming (You Were Breaking Down) Ch. 1

“Damn it,” Sarah dropped the clasp she had been fiddling with behind her head and clenched her shaking hands into fists. She had fallen asleep with it on and now the delicate chain was tangled in her hair.  Her eyes squeezed shut before she dropped her head. Borrowed time. It was meant to be her…It was meant to be-

“How long have you been awake?” Connor’s gruff drowsy voice appeared behind her and Sarah jolted before her eyes snapped open. She lifted her head to see him leaning against the doorframe. Bedhead mused hair and he was in nothing but his boxer briefs.

“A while. The storm woke me up.” She told him, which wasn’t a total lie. The rain pelting the roof violently kept her awake, but it was her nightmare that woke her up first.

“It’s barely four in the morning,” he yawned, moving closer to her with padded footsteps. She had been staying with him, since her reluctant release from the hospital. Ava had wanted to keep her at the hospital another three days, but Justin’s funeral was tomorrow…today technically. She wasn’t going to miss her chance to say goodbye to him. Sarah owed him so much more, (“You don’t owe me anything Sarah,” Justin’s voice rang out through her head. She ignored it.) but she could at least give him her being there for Olive, Hank, and Danny. They had lost a husband, son, and father because of her.

(“But Sarah, this wasn’t your fault.” Justin again. Even her mind made him sound annoying as he ever was. Sometimes she thought she saw him too. But she was keeping that little factoid to herself.)

[LINE BREAK]  [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK]

So when she was discharged three days ago, Connor had been there, like he had been since that first day she had woken up and every day after that. So he was there to see a four-way sibling squabble. Erin, Teddy, and Olive were on one side, arguing against Sarah, who was trying to go back to her apartment by herself. It didn’t help that Ava had said that was against advisement. At least while the bandage was over her neck. 

“You’ll need help to change it. It's too awkward of a spot for you to attempt it by yourself.” And so the argument began and when it became clear it was going nowhere, Connor quietly inserted himself and offered up his apartment and himself. 

“You spend five nights out of the week there and over half of your stuff and pillow is there anyway,” he said to her but looked at the other three too. He said it easily, like…like there was no other option because it was like they were in a relationship.

But they weren’t in a relationship. They just slept together. 

 There was that secondhand déjà vu feeling again. Especially when Sarah and Connor were packing up her hospital room with Erin and Teddy’s help. Olive and Hank were busy making the arrangements for Justin’s service. 

Until Connor was pulled away. Even though he had taken this whole week off to be with her and help her recover…another thing that made it seem like he was her boyfriend…He still got called away for the occasional special patient or in this case patients because the Cronin twins were definitely special and Sarah knew how involved he had been with their separation surgery and care since. So she did not bring up her question until he was out the door.

“You know something. I know you know something, I can see it in your eyes.” She whispered after her something was out the door. Keeping her voice down even though it was just the three of them in the room. Her childhood had been rough but growing up the way she had before and after Hank had taken them in, had taught her ears were everywhere. 

Erin pursed her lips together but said nothing as she folded the blanket the nursing staff in the ED had bought Sarah. 

“I mean, you saw the look in Hank’s eye when he left here that day. It’s the same look he had that day with Charlie.” Charlie had been heading for the bottom of the river until her pseudo-sister had begged Hank for his life.  “But when he came back later that same night that look was gone, yet he said intelligence was still looking for Bingham and that he skipped town. We all know what Hank is capable of and there is only one reason why that look would be gone if Kevin Bingham actually ‘skipped town.’” 

Her sister ignored her, soothing the blanket once it was in the duffle. Sarah found herself sighing, her pseudo-sister was always better at pressing for information than she was.

“Erin,” 

“Sarah, the most important thing is that you're safe.” Her sister told her as the oldest of three of them whirled around to face her. Her tone was filled with agitation and another emotion the curly brunette couldn’t place. So that meant Hank had- “And if Bingham somehow tries to come back, we’ll be here to protect you.” 

 So did that mean that Bingham was still out there?

“You’re answering my question, but also not answering my question by giving me two answers.” 

“Exactly,” the older woman sighed and glanced between her siblings. The emotion that Sarah couldn’t place before was still there.  “Look, intelligence was ordered to step away from the case and we didn’t. That alone is going to prompt the brass to investigate but especially since there’s been nothing from Bingham in a few days. So if and when someone comes to question you-”

“We��ll have plausible deniability because we don’t know if he’s alive or dead. Like that hypothetical cat in the box.” Teddy finished for her. Erin nodded. Sarah wanted to argue. Say that Bingham had shot her so she deserved to know if he was gone for good or not, but she knew why her pseudo-sister was being so careful. 

“I hate this,” she said in frustration and anger at everything. The use of an explicit word showing just how much all of this was affecting her. “I fucking hate this.”

“I know, and I’m sorry I can’t give you a definitive answer but it is what it is.” 

“You know though. The definitive answer?” Sarah asked. Erin didn’t look at either of her siblings. Then the brunette sighed, “Erin, I’m not asking about what happened. I’m just asking if you know what happened.”  

Then there was the faintest of nods.

[LINE BREAK]  [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK]

“What’re you thinking about?” Connor’s voice broke through her thoughts as he finished untangling her necklace from her hair. 

“Nothing,” Sarah answered softly, and when the Justin in the corner of her vision scoffed, she amended her answer, “Everything. It’s like my mind is going at a breakneck speed and when I try to focus on just one thing, it’s like this roaring fills my ears.” 

“Have you tried the sedative Dr. Lana prescribed you?” Sarah shook her head. She was a psych resident. She had prescribed sedatives to her patients before. So why did her body seize up at the thought of taking it? 

Justin’s ghost scoffed from where he now stood in the corner of Connor’s on-suite bathroom. (So it was going to be one of those nights. Where she could hear and see him.) Yeah, Yeah. Logically she knew it wasn't a weakness. Especially right now. Given everything going on in her orbit right now.  But logic wasn’t in play at the moment. It hadn’t been in the last few days. 

Still, she had tried to take the medication last night but, “I need him to change it. I read the label and it reacts negatively with my migraine medication that I took last night.”

The achy feeling of crying on and off the last few days had finally caught up to her and had settled in her head and beneath her skin, making everything feel stiff and marking the beginnings of a migraine for her. 

Her lover hummed sympathetically, resting his head against hers. 

“We could turn on the TV? Maybe that’ll help you fall back asleep? Or at the very least relax?” Sarah frowned at his offer. If they did that, Connor wouldn’t be able to sleep. Her lover had always said he had trouble falling asleep to TV because the lights flickering on and off kept him awake.

She shook her head at him. His skin like usual was warmer against hers. “You won’t be able to sleep then. I’ll be okay. I haven’t been sleeping much anyways.”  

“I know, baby. But we should at least try to get some more sleep. I know it’s going to be a difficult day for you, already. Not sleeping is just going to make it that much worse.” He murmured in her ear. Despite the new ache in her neck, from the hole in her skin, the brunette nuzzled her face into his neck. 

“Hey, have I ever told you how Dr. Downey convinced me to go into cardiothoracic surgery?” He mused in her ear quietly. Eyebrows drawing together in confusion because she didn’t understand why he was suddenly bringing this up, Sarah shook her head. 

He grabbed her hands and started to walk backwards. Back to the bedroom as he tugged her along. “Come on. I’ll tell you all about how I thought he was completely crazy at first and I was content in trauma.” 

They settled back against the mattress, under the sheets and blankets. That was a breakdown in the making when they got here that first night.

[LINE BREAK]  [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK]

When they left the hospital and made it to his apartment, she had decided to take a nap while Connor put her stuff away because he wouldn’t let her. So Sarah climbed into her side of his bed and that’s when it happened. She turned on her side because she absolutely hated sleeping on her back. Her neck sang with agony as pain radiated and pulsed through the hole. In the grand scheme of things, the breakdown seemed especially childish now. But because of the stupid hole in the side of her neck now, she couldn’t sleep on her side of the bed where her spot was. She couldn’t be pressed up against Connor like was used to. She would have to sleep on her back.

So Sarah had started crying. And not just crying, but bawling and wailing into her pillow, with Mr. Bear tucked into the bend of her arm like she was a child again. The brunette knew it was childish to cry, and had even felt silly about her fit afterward. 

But it was just another thing that stupid bullet hole had taken from her. The already gaping wound just made that much deeper. The knife or gun if you will, was dug that much farther. The bullet hole had already taken her brother and now it was taking her ease of sleeping.

Connor had stopped at the sight when he came out of the bathroom. To his credit though, he didn’t bat an eye or react negatively when she told him what was going on, and why she was so upset. Instead, her lover simply pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. 

“We’ll fix it,” he promised her in a quiet voice. That night he did fix it after he changed the bandage on her neck. With such an easy and simple solution that Sarah found herself feeling silly for not thinking of it herself. He switched sides with her. Now her pillow and Mr. Bear were on the side closest to the door, instead of being closest to the windows. 

[LINE BREAK]  [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK]

With his hand carding through her curls and caressing her cheek, he began to tell her how he thought Downey was a pothead. But he was just smoking to help ease the pain of his cancer. 

“He should’ve made brownies with it. The stuff is a lot stronger that way and it would’ve worked faster.” Sarah yawned; her legs caged one of his as she pressed farther into his side. Connor halted in his story. Then in a joking tone, he asked, “Do I need to start checking the brownies you make before I eat them?”

A snort left her mouth before she could stop it. “No, I just had one experience with pot brownies when I was ten. I didn’t know were pot brownies though, but I will say this. They made it so I barely felt my appendix scar that day. I slept right through the day before I told Erin that I borrowed her sweater and I was the reason it had a huge tear at the bottom of it”

 Connor laughed. A hearty big laugh that Sarah felt through her body. His hand reached up to cup her neck so he didn’t jostle her. Still chuckling he continued his story. Sarah didn’t necessarily fall asleep to her lover’s soothing tone, but she drifted into a state close to it. Justin’s ghost appeared in front of her as she blinked slowly, in the middle of her drifting off. “He’s good for you. He seems to know when to push you. You’re going to need that now that I’m gone.” 

Too bad, he wasn’t hers. Despite his confusing nature these last few days of acting like he was hers. Sure, she had him now. But she didn’t really have him. Not where it counted.

The roaring dulled slightly and Sarah drifted farther into that sleeping, not sleeping state and stayed that way. At least until Connor shook her shoulder a few hours later to inform her it was time to get up to get ready for the service.

[alleiradayne]

In Baldur’s Gate, Dragons Dungeon You! | Art Master Post

An SPN/D&D mashup that can be read on its own or part of the greater series The Way Things Ought to Be.

On a quiet afternoon a week shy of Christmas, Dean is interrupted while poking through the news for a case. Someone is pounding on the  Bunker door. After a brief huddle with Sam and Castiel, they investigate to find Charlie on the other side, a box of books at her feet. She needs to use their archive for research and a place to stay while she does it. Of course, she's always welcome at the Bunker

After showing her to a room, Dean offers to help her unpack. He finds her collection of Dungeons & Dragons books in the box and asks to borrow one: Candlekeep Mysteries. Charlie offers to run one of the campaigns from the book, specifically, The Scrivener's Tale. And Dean, giddy as a school girl, rushes off to gather his party for a good ol' fashioned mystery.

But the game is afoot and has been since Charlie's unannounced arrival. Between that and her awkward behavior, Dean can't shake a familiar, nagging worry. There's just one problem: he can't remember what, exactly, it is about her or her behavior that's got him on edge. And neither can anyone else.

The campaign unravels—along with Charlie's secrets—as she tells the story of The Scrivener's Tale.

Characters/Pairings: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester/Eileen (implied polycule with Rowena and Gabriel), Jack, Charlie Bradbury, several original characters during the D&D campaign. Warnings/Tags: Plot-heavy, no smut, lots of comedy, action, fighting, intrigue, investigation, D&D stuff. Again, no smut. Total Word Count: 44,013 A/N: For @spn-mediabigbang 2023, I adapted The Scrivener’s Tale into an SPN story and the ever amazing @solstheimart​ rocked out some absolutely stellar art. Check out the art master post above (there’s more coming tomorrow)!

 I tried my best to format the different PoVs between the players and their characters, but blockquotes/formatting on Tumblr in general sucks, so good luck (I suggested using the AO3 link at the top of every chapter). Since this was a Media themed event, I also managed to sneak in over 80 (88 to be precise) pop culture references. Each chapter will have a count at the start, and if you can pick them out, you win fake internet points.

Playlist: In Baldur’s Gate, Dragons Dungeon You

Chapter 1 - Money for Nothing

Chapter 2 - Inferno Galore

Chapter 3 - Video Killed the Radio Star

Chapter 4 - Cult of Personality

Chapter 5 - On My Radio

Chapter 6 - The Grand Illusion

Chapter 7 - Ramble On

Chapter 8 - Destroy the Orcs

Chapter 9 - Turn Up The Radio

Chapter 10 - Hollywood Nights

This series is complete! Reblogs are loved and feedback is welcome!

[kikithefox231]

About me!

Hey! Call me Kiki or Amaryllis! I mainly scream about animation and cartoons here! :D ☆ Status:

look im gonna do what’s called a Pro Gamer move

*projects all my emotions and worries and mannerisms onto fictional characters*

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⋆｡° ✩ More info ✩ °｡⋆

Fandoms: (Bolded + Italicised are the one's I am screaming and crying over right now) Amphibia ✮ The Owl House ✮ Svtfoe ✮ Gravity Falls ✮ Miraculous Ladybug ✮ The Dragon Prince ✮ She-Ra (Reboot) ✮ Ducktales (Reboot) ✮ Pokemon ✮ Over the Garden Wall ✮ Infinity Train ✮ Glitch Techs ✮ Kipo and the Age of the Wonderbeasts ✮ Phineas and Ferb ✮ Milo Murphy's Law ✮ MLP ✮ Warrior Cats ✮ Your Name ✮ Weathering with You ✮ Suzume ✮ HTTYD ✮ Your Lie In April ✮ Exu ✮ Critical Role c3 ✮ Wolfwalkers ✮ Aggretsuko ✮ Genshin Impact ✮ Honkai Star Rail ✮ Animal Crossing ✮ Neko Atsume ✮ Spiderverse ✮ Murder Drones ✮ Nisekoi ✮ Nimona ✮ Zootopia ✮ Sonic Franchise ✮ Littlest Pet Shop ✮ Keeper of the Lost Cities ✮ Tamako Love Story ✮ Spy x family ✮ Percy Jackson and the Olympians ✮ One Stormy Night ✮

The Blorbos ever!!! Marcy Wu ✦ Star Butterfly ✦ Fluttershy ✦ Starlight Glimmer ✦ Cinnamoroll ✦ Willow Park ✦ Miko Kubota ✦ Jesse Cosay ✦ Lake ✦ Hazel ✦ Rayla ✦ Marinette Dupain Cheng ✦ Adrien Agreste ✦ Robyn Goodfellowe ✦ Mebh Óg MacTíre ✦ Leafpool ✦ Hollyleaf ✦ Yae Miko ✦ Sucrose ✦ Lady ✦ Webby Vanderquack ✦ Della Duck ✦ Fearne Calloway ✦ Goldie ✦ Gwen Stacy ✦ Serial Designation N ✦ Chitoge Kirisaki ✦ Miles "Tails" Prower ✦ Amy Rose ✦ Zoe Trent ✦ Penny Ling ✦ Coco Pommel ✦ March 7th ✦ Bailu ✦ Huohuo ✦ Anya Froyer ✦ Mabel Pines ✦ Dipper Pines ✦ Pacifica Northwest ✦ Mei ✦

Socials: AO3 ✧ Amarylily YT ✧ Amaryllis Spotify ✧ Kikithefox Amphibia Sideblog ✧ brb-crying-over-amphibia ML Sideblog ✧ chaton-et-buguinette Svtfoe incorrect quotes blog ✧ incorrectstarvs Hubris Bracket Blog ✧ hubrisbracket

Tags I Track: #fav - favorite posts/posts I want to find later #my stuff #kiki stuff - both used for tracking my original content #kiki rambles - for stuff where I talk a lot in the notes #tagged - for tracking stuff I'm tagged in #Important!!! - important posts #funnies - posts that made me laugh #ive been personally attacked - what it says on the tin lol #thanks for asking! - for asks answered by me #thanks for answering! - for asks sent by me #bee bestie <3 - starting to use this tag for posts where I'm tagged by @mell0bee or mention bee bc there's so much and I wanna save them 🥺 Ultimate fav posts! ✪ Amphibia Trio Playlists ✪ Amity’s TRUE Hair Color!!1!1! ✪ PARTNER IN CRINGE!!! ✪ One of the most insane posts on this website (affectionate) ✪ HE'S SO CUTE SHUT UUUUP (picture of Georgia) ✪ Follow your dreams ✪ Leafpool request (spoiler: got kissed on the forehead 🥺🥺🥺) ✪ Princess Joe (of USA) ✪ "i appreciate the (extremely cursed) bee bee." ✪ polyamorous power move ✪ happy robotnik slaughter saturday everybody ✪ IT FINALLY MAKES SENSE TO ME ✪ it's okay fish. don't let this get you down. you are all of you. ✪ AROACE AND TRANS SONIC REAL?????? (NOT CLICKBAIT) ✪ Everything is canon. ✪ cant be mentally ill in PEACE!!! *sobs* ✪ last book that made you cry ✪ disney romcom (on a VERY evil and fucked up train) ✪ LGBT bar so good it made someone gay <3 good for them <3 ✪ POLY PLS ✪ Happy birthday Grimace! *fuckin dies* ✪ y’all are always finding new ways to make fossils fuels. ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ �� (updating soon!)

Likes and Dislikes! ♡ Tea ♡ one-liners that cause me to break down immediately ♡ Extremely specific aus catered to me directly ♡ amvs ♡ Alt/indie music ✘ Confrontation ✘ Heavy gore ✘ Waking up early ✘ Horror movies ✘ Fermented Black Beans

Personal: ✿ I get socially anxious easily so I will try my best to communicate how I feel but just fyi in case! ✿ My memory is horrible so feel free to remind me of something if needed! ✿ I have ADHD so please be nice :’) I’m trying my best

Extras: ❀ I don't mind being tagged in things if we are mutuals! If you're not sure just ask me in advance! ❀ feel free to ask for me to use tone tags or tag trigger warnings for posts! If you'd like me to ID a post let me know! ❀ spam liking/reblogging is welcome! ^^ ❀ feel free to ask my a question! I am not guaranteed to answer it if I feel uncomfortable with it, however! ❀ fun fact: this URL is my animal jam username from ages ago lol

❀ I got called a donut once???

DNI List Please don't interact with me if you post: -nsfw -heavy gore -do not tag triggers -cp -extreme horror

⋆｡˚ credits: purple city divider ⟡ moon dividers

[iholli]

👑 Holli / Rat King || 24+ || Any pronouns || ocean loving ficto ace rat || that damn swamp rat.

heya! call me Holli or Rat! this is my home away from home, so welcome to my blog & I hope you enjoy your stay. I mostly post ocean views and selfship content. don't like, don't read! here's the rundown of the place 💖🐀

Main timeline:

not comfortable sharing but selfshippers can still interact!

#heart of mars || Rat King & J'onn J'onzz, DCAU

playlist 🌌🐀

Alternate timelines:

okay sharing with other selfshippers, canon depends!

#💜💖💙 || Rat King, Donatello Hamato, & Leonardo Hamato, ROTTMNT

playlist 🐢🐀

#ratstatic || Rat King & Vox, Hazbin Hotel

playlist 📺👑

#king of hearts || Rat King & Remy "Gambit" LeBeau, X-Men

Other tags:

#venne & squeaker || Rat King & Wally West platonic ficto posts

#ratio broadcast || Rat King & Alastor qpp / platonic ficto posts

#ficto tag || unspecific ficto posts

#ficto tag familial || Justice League / Hamato Clan / assorted Hazbin Hotel familial ficto posts

#ratkingdraws || personal art tag

#ratkingdiscourse || proship / anti anti & other discourse posts

#happy place 💙 / #oceancore || daily scheduled ocean aesthetic posts

Fandom check-in:

DC || Justice League: The Animated Series & Justice League Unlimited, and all affiliated series || My Adventures with Superman || Green Lantern: The Animated Series || I'm very much a DCAU fanatic, but I enjoy lots of other DC content as well!

ROTTMNT || Donnie simp. Leo enjoyer. || make no mistake, found family is my all time troupe, that's why I'm here. but if you ask me about Leotello,,,

Marioverse / Luigi's Mansion || Luigi my beloved. normal about King Boo. || if it exists I probably ship it. Booigi. Bowuigi. all three. I'm there.

Invader Zim || ZaDr || RaPr || Almighty Tallest stan account

Hazbin Hotel & Helluva Boss || Moxxie & Millie enjoyer || RadioStatic || Alastor. Vox. Queen Bee. back in my original era now that Hazbin s1 is out 👏

MCU || Octogoblin my beloved || really not here anymore, however Loki is part of Rat King lore, so feel free to talk about him to me c:

More to know:

I'm very chill, I love notif spam, and it makes my day to get asks! feel free to throw anything to my inbox-- ask me about Rat King lore, talk to me about my f/os, whatever you wanna know or just wanna say bc I do enjoy chatting too c: it just takes me a while to answer stuff sometimes bc I'm very forgetful and overthink ✨ everything ✨👏

as you might've picked up on, this is a proship friendly selfship space. for my own comfort anyone I selfship with is at least my age or older in my lore. I'm a little bit of a tcester and above all else I believe everyone has the right to ship whatever they like in fiction without fear of being harassed. tag your shit, keep it fictional, and we're all cool. if you bring your anti rhetoric onto my blog you will be reported and blocked. don't like, don't read ✌️

I'm not a big NSFW person, I will never reblog anything I feel is graphically explicit but I use safety tags just in case as I see the need. keep an eye out for #suggestive and / or #nsfw. minors are fine to hang around my blog-- I just expect you to be responsible and block the tags you need.

AI thieves will not be tolerated in any capacity. come within a mile of my blog and you will be reported and blocked on sight. if I ever accidentally reblog AI work please let me know so I can remove it.

thanks for stopping by! if you'd like some tunes for your Tumblr browsing, feel free to check out my Spotify. have a great day 💖🐀

banners courtesy of @lovelycureaestetic 💜💙 & @senseichaos-thedetention 💙❤️

[allie-campbell-bradshaw]

Chapter 11: Serenade

A/N: Good God I am in LOVE with these two! It’s here folks. Brallie is HERE!!!! There are two songs that Bradley sings during this chapter. For the best effect, please play these songs as you are reading that part of the chapter. You will know when they come! I have also added a “Brallie Playlist” in the master list. Check it out whenever you want! I mention this in my notes for every chapter, but just in case you missed it– I do not give permission for my work to be re-posted without credibility. If you do want to post this story to your page, please be sure that you tag my account or at least mention its original source in your post. 

Also: This story is sequential…please go back and read my other chapters, in order, for the best results!

Again, thank you for being here and I hope you enjoy :)

Warnings: Swearing (it is the navy after all)

Jerry Lee Lewis - Would You Take Another Chance On Me (1971) - YouTube

8675309 Jenny Jenny - YouTube

Chapter 11: Serenade

ALLIE’S POV

Friday evening was here before I knew it. I looked at myself through my full-length white mirror that was sitting on the wooden floor in the corner of my bedroom. The outline of the mirror was white wood, matching the headboard of my twin-sized bed. I hadn’t gotten around to doing laundry yet, so the floor was quite messy. Not “dirty” messy, just a few piles here and there. Not to mention all of the science books that were scattered around everywhere. The messiest area of my room was my dresser, which had piles of stuff all over it. Makeup, hair essentials, jewelry, and my music box.

I was wearing my seersucker 1960’s designed sleeveless shirtwaist dress as well as my deep red sweater. My hair was pinned up in victory rolls and I had a red flower in at the side that matched the color of my sweater. I was a sucker for the 1940’s-60’s and dressed in that style whenever I could, which was hardly ever!

I walked over to my dresser and grabbed my white kate spade cross shoulder bag before making my way downstairs and grabbing my car keys off the table. “By mom, by daddy!” I yelled politely, letting them know that I was leaving.

“Hold it young lady!” My dad said as he kicked down the recliner of his big brown chair and made his way over to me, he was still in his navy service khakis. I rarely ever see him in anything else. This man was always in full-military-mode, ready to pounce at any second. I turned to him, ready to answer the shower of questions I knew I was going to get. “Where are you going?" he interrogated.

“Out.” I responded shortly. The look on his face told me that that was not enough for him. It never was, “To Acton Cove with Kiera and Holly”. I gave more details, with a slightly annoyed tone in my voice. I was 21…I didn’t need to be vetted every day. 

“Are you going to be joined by any boys”? Daddy asked with a suspicious tone in his voice.

“Daddy,” I said softly. He knew full well how uninterested I was in boys at the moment. In fact, I always had been uninterested, definitely less than average for a woman my age. In high school, I had casual flings that would lead to a date or two, but no serious boyfriend. Ever.

“Okay,” He said, giving me permission for departure, “Be back by 11”. He added, still giving me ridiculous curfews.

“Okay, daddy.” I agreed as I grabbed my car keys, rolling my eyes slightly, wanting nothing more than to just avoid conflict at the moment. I swear, he still sees me as a little girl in pigtails.

I made my way out the door and towards my red Audi RS 3, looking over at the sun that was setting on the horizon. There was only about an hour of sunlight left. I rolled my eyes, knowing that I would spend a majority of the remaining sunlight in the car on my way to get the girls. I lived on the outskirts of Annapolis, closer to Parole than the Naval Academy, which was right on Chesapeake Bay. Acton Cove was right next to the bay, and a common bar for midshipmen and women to go to on the weekends.

As I drove to Kiera and Holly’s my mind continued to shift in multiple directions. From the song on the radio, to surgical terminology, to my parents, to THE patient. Bradley Bradshaw was by far the standout this week. His charm, his sarcasm, his wit, his muscles, his-SHUT THE FUCK UP ALLIE. I yelled to myself in my head, he wasn’t even that cute. That’s a lie, my mind called out to my dishonesty. 

I was trailing back to his face when my left hand landed on my horn, not to signal to Holly and Kiera that I was there, but more so to yell at my distracted brain. What the hell was that about? I thought to myself as I snapped back into my reality.

Holly and Kiera ran out of their condo and into my car, Kiera taking the front seat and Holly taking the backseat directly behind me.

“Jesus, Jesus, we’re here!” Kiera commented as she got into her seat.

“Sorry,” I apologized sincerely, “I was distracted”.

“By what,” Kiera said sarcastically, “All the cars in front of you”...She gestured to their garage that was illuminated by my headlights. There was nothing in the driveway but me.

“No,” Holly interjected flirtatiously, “By her loverboy”.

As I put the car in reverse, I looked over at Kiera and saw a huge illuminating smile on her face. I looked over at Holly to find the same as I made my way out into the street and on route to the bar. “What?!” I asked.

Both of them let out a giggle. “Nothing” Kiera answered smoothly, looking out the window and at the now black sky that was littered with stars.

I rolled my eyes and let out a soft sigh, “Oh,” I started, realizing who they were talking about, “I literally have no idea what ideas you guys have, but there is NOTHING going on between me and Bradley”.

“Who?” They both asked simultaneously. 

I let out a deep breath, not realizing that they didn’t know his name, “The bet guy”. I answered them.

“Oh,” Holly said in the back. “Houston, we have a name.”

“You two are so annoying” I clapped back, as I kept my eye on the road.

“Oh, we know!” Kiera said before changing the subject, “Thank you for coming out with us tonight”.

I smirked as I turned left, halfway to my destination.

“You look good!” Holly complimented.

“Thanks” I responded.

“Like a cute little 1960’s pin-up doll”. 

Kiera and I both gasped at her comment “Holly Nickleson!” I yelled, letting out loud spurts of laughter. I wasn’t actually upset. I appreciated Holly’s commentary–most of the time.

“Bradley is one lucky man,” she shot back, which a large smirk on her face as she looked out her window.

“Would you stop it!” I said, leaving my amused tone in my voice so she knew I wasn’t actually mad, but I was getting a little annoyed at her not dropping the subject.

“Oh, come on Allie. He’s cute!” She exclaimed.

“No he’s not,” I contradicted her, stealing a glance at her in my rearview mirror. She had an ‘all too knowing’ look on her face, like she knew something I didn’t. The only problem was, there was nothing more to know.

“And why do you say that?” Kiera questioned genuinely. Looking over at me as we kept driving.

“Because,” I said, pausing what I was saying as I searched for the right words. I was speechless. I couldn’t give her an adequate reasoning, “He’s not my type”.

“Allie honey,” Holly said from the back, “You have to date to have a type”.

“For real,” Kiera interjected, “you’re not gonna find anyone if you don’t look”.

“That’s the whole idea” I pointed out, “I’m not going to date until after medical school”.

“Oh that’s right” Holly said sarcastically, “medical students can’t date”.

“Oh yeah, I forgot” Kiera interjected comedically.

“It’s not that I can’t date,” I answered, “it’s that I don’t want to. Especially to guys like that!”

“Like what?” Kiera asked.

“You know…” I said, trying to find words to describe him.

“Exactly” Kiera fired back, “There’s nothing wrong with him”.

“He’s so much better than that Simon guy” Holly said, rolling her eyes as she remembered all about Simon Powell.

“Don’t remind me!” I shot back in disgust. 

“Oh Allie, I’ll write to you every day” Holly mocked the sound of his voice.

Kiera joined in; “It’ll be like I never left”.

All three of us at the same time shot up and finished Simon’s statement; “You’re the girl for me”.

“Shit,” Kiera said, looking over at the lights of the bar as we pulled in, “Some men deserve hell”.

“If every man I ever dated was in hell-” Holly started

“Then they’d be over capacity!” I interrupted her as I put my car in park and made my way out.

“Why you little-!” Holly said as she and Kiera both made their way out as well. All three of us were laughing as we looked up at the sign of the bar, Missing in Acton, which was a clever name considering a majority of their patrons are affiliated with the military. The parking lot was fuller than usual, with a lot of men and women in various uniforms, and some without, that were walking around the lot. The bar is made of tan cedar shingles, which look a lot like wood. The roof was flat, with a lighter shade of tan covering the shingles. The main entrance of the bar had no windows, but the walls on the side and back of the bar were practically covered with glass from top to bottom. It was truly breathtaking, and all three of us were taking that in.

All three of us were taken aback at a wolf whistle that came from a military man as he and two other men made their way into the bar. “You look fine today ladies!”

I rolled my eyes and looked over at Kiera, who also didn’t look amused.

“Sorry boys!” Holly yelled back, “The girl in red is taken!”

I gave Holly a friendly punch as an airy giggle left my body.

“What?” She asked innocently, “You are!”

We all exchanged laughs as we made our way into the bar sitting down in a dark green covered booth that was directly to the right of the door. It was a round 8-seater booth. I loved this spot, because men that came in would look directly forward to find their next target, and not waste time looking over their shoulder.

I smirked at them and slid into the dark green covered booth, finally noticing what the girls were wearing: Holly was in a purple dress and sweater, of the same style as mine. That was my favorite thing that we had in common. Kiera was in a lime green knit sweater and jeans. No matter what the temperature was outside, this woman was always cold. She had dangly gold earrings on.

Holly got up, offering to buy the first round, which for us, was always the same–Kiera was gin in tonic with a lime, I was a rum sour, Holly was a vodka cran.

I rested my hands on the table, looking over my right shoulder at Kiera who was beaming, obviously too excited that I was here. “So,” she began, and then froze. She was not used to the fact that I was here. We were both stuck in continuing the conversation.

“I’m surprised it’s ‘open campus’,” I yelled over the music that was blaring from the jukebox, looking around at all of the naval students that were filling in the bar. Actually, I was not surprised that it was an open campus weekend. Most weekends during the school year were, but I was just surprised to see this many of them here. 

Kiera looked at me, smirked and then brought her finger up to her mouth as if to choke herself. I laughed hard at her response. Kiera was as tired of the men as I was. She had her fair share of men that hit on her, but it was far less than me.

Holly came back with the drinks in her hand. “Hey, do you two mind if I invite those men over here?” She asked, signaling over to three guys at the bar, the same guys that were whistling at us outside.

I looked at them and then at Holly, making it clear that I was not interested myself. I leaned over the table so I was in earshot of her, who was anxiously waiting for my response. “Knock yourself out”, I whispered to her. She beamed at my blessing and did a sort of gallop back over to them, looking way too excited for what I could tell they had to offer.

Within a few seconds, they were coming over to our booth. The one that wolf whistled had a buzz cut, his hair seeming to be a deep shade of blonde. He had blue eyes and was very built, his muscles toned in his service khakis. Holly was all over him like a bad rash. What made me the most upset, was that his eyes were directly on me, I shrunk slightly at the uncomfortable gaze I got from him.

Holly turned her attention from the guy to the table, “This is Kiera and Allie” Holly said, pointing to us as she introduced our names. Kiera gave a polite acknowledgement and a wave. I, on the other hand, only gave them a slight smirk, making my disinterest the most clear.

“Kiera is a nurse here at the Academy. She’s from Manhattan.” Holly said, in an impressive tone although Kiera’s accomplishments were the bare minimum of what one would expect from someone. 

“And Allie here is in a complicated situation,” Holly began with a twinkle in her eye, “she’s in love!”

“Wait, really?” The buzz cut man asked, a look of concern that matched what one would look like if their vet told them that they had to put their dog down.

“Hardly” I said, as I brought my straw to my lips, taking a sip of my drink.

“Well then,” another man said, a brunette with a side swoop of hair. Less muscular, but taller than the buzz cut man. Obviously way more friendly, “Until I see a ring on that finger, I’m not gonna quit”. He said as he slid into the booth, sitting next to me on my left side.

I tensed up at his approach and he looked at me with concern, scooting back a little bit. His care for consent was incredibly refreshing. 

The other man that was with them was also a brunette. His hair was fuller than the other, and unlike the green eyes that that guy had, he had brown. He slid in to the spot on my right. Holly followed him and the buzz cut guy same in after her. Kiera opted to sit next to the polite guy to my left.

Holly then introduced them as Ben, Oliver, and Patrick. Ben was the nice one, Oliver the quiet one, and Patrick the one I already hated.

We were now all settled and participating in small talk to get to know everyone. They now all knew that we were nurses and we found out that they were all fresh out of the academy, stationed here in Annapolis at the Undersea Warfare Center. Ben was very apologetic about making me feel uncomfortable, and kept asking how he could make it up to me.

We had just started to talk about me going to medical school, thanks to Holly’s interjection of the fact, when Kiera interrupted us, “Ho-Ly-Crap” she said, emphasizing every syllable. She was looking ahead and all 5 of us followed her gaze.

No.

Absolutely not.

Please don’t have this be true.

Holly’s mouth was wide open, and she looked over at me first, my eyes were still locked on his, but I could now see all 6 eyes on me, the men already figuring out that this was the guy Holly claimed I was in love with.

He was slowly walking over to us. He was in a blue hawaiian shirt with the leaves printed in white, the shirt was open and he had a white wife beater on underneath, khaki shorts, and aviators over his eyes. The only qualities that gave him away at being Bradley was the ace wrap around his right hand and the fact that he had the audacity to approach me.

I looked over my shoulder at Ben and crossed my arms that were resting on the table. I brought my head down and muttered “save me” under my breath, but I’m not sure he did, because he just sat there as observant as the rest.

I first felt the shadow of Bradley over me, before looking to find him at the edge of the table, which was only a few feet away from me. He slowly took off his sunglasses and put them on the nape of the wife beater. “Allie” he said, greeting me with no expression on his face. However, he did have an amused tone in his voice.

I looked at him and raised my eyebrows so as to show him that he had my attention. He looked down and noticed my empty drink, I looked over at his hands and noticed a bottle of beer was in his left hand. I brought my gaze back to his face and a second later, he returned his. “Can I buy you a beer?”

“No,” I said, in a slightly rude tone, but I was just so over this man at this point.

He looked down defeated before Ben chimed in, “Allie, do you want to finish the rest of my beer”?

I looked at him, still holding onto my poker face, but very much impressed with how well he can read a room.

I looked up at Bradley as I grabbed the half-full glass from Ben. “I’d love to” I said, keeping my eyes on Bradley as I chugged the rest of the beer in the glass with ease.

BRADLEY’S POV

I watched in amazement as Bradley chugged down this random ass man’s beer. Who the fuck does he think he his? But more importantly, how is she able to drink beer that smoothly? That was not something I ever expected from anyone, regardless of if they were a woman or not.

“Are you gonna stand on your tiptoes too?” I asked Allie amused at my Titanic reference to when Rose is down at the party with Jack. The whole booth looked at me confused and I broke my gaze from her to suffer the embarrassment on my own.

I raised my injured hand, sporting the ace wrap that she gave me a day ago. “I’m feeling much better,” I reported to her, hoping to change the tone at the table.

“Hmm” she responded, growing her smirk a little more while she tilted her head, as if to acknowledge my comment. She still had her eyes off of me.

I put my bottle of beer down on the table, placed my non-injured hand over the wrap, and slowly pulled the ace bandage off. That is when she looked over, curious as to what my actions were implying.

“Look, I realize that the bet was very vile and stupid-”

“It was completely vile and stupid!” she interrupted.

“Regardless, I would like to negotiate my own bet”.

She rolled her eyes at this and crossed her arms back onto the table, slouching as she looked over at me. She was gorgeous! “Do I have to sit here and read your brain too?” she snapped.

I jolted at her comment, snapping back into focus as she pierced me with her hazel eyes. “Uh, sorry,” I apologized to her before continuing, “I would like to bet that I can make you laugh within the next 20 minutes”. She looked at me with her eyebrows furrowed, “Look, I know I’m an asshole. Hell, I deserve every insult you can throw at me. But I truly believe I can make you laugh. Like genuinely laugh…not just a sympathy giggle. I mean a full on smile and belt of laughter.”

She looked down at the table, amused at my confidence in my new negotiations. “And if I don’t?” She asked, bringing her gaze back to me.

“Then I’ll leave you alone”. 

“Deal!” She said, almost immediately, with an extreme deadpan look on her face. Holy shit, what did I just get myself into?

I could do nothing but smirk at her as I fully embraced the challenge I had just created. I found myself getting lost in her eyes as she searched into mine, looking confused as to what I was doing. “You have 19 minutes and 30 seconds left” she said, unenthused as ever. 

I snapped back into it and smiled bright at the table, “Okay then!” I exclaimed with high enthusiasm as I took a step back, clearing a space for this perfect plan that I had just concocted, “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.” I said to Allie, pointing my finger at her as I got ready for this performance of a lifetime.

I looked over my left shoulder and found an empty chair at a table where two military service members were sitting. “Excuse me.” I said to them as I drug the chair over to my place a few feet away from my target. 

I stood up on the chair and looked around the room, clearing my voice, “Excuse me! Excuse me ladies and gentlemen,” everyone got quiet and the song on the Jukebox was shut down, “I would just like to announce to everyone that this woman and I are going to get married!” I motioned over to Allie, who immediately had a panicked look on her face. She covered her face with her hands as she grew a flaming red of embarrassment.

All of the students from the academy rolled their eyes at my exclamation, knowing full well the reputation that Allie had with rejection. All of the older military men and women looked excited, not fully getting the joke that I had intended, either way, it was fun to just go along with it!

“And what better way to celebrate this engagement,” I added, “than by serendating to my one and only Allie…” I looked at her, carrying out the last vowel of her name, making it clear that I forgot her last name for a moment.

“Campbell!” She snapped, with a look of shock that I forgot her identity.

“Campbell!” I responded, with too much confidence. Now the other military service members looked confused and slightly unenthused at what was happening, figuring out that it was all a joke. “Campbell. Campbell…chicken noodle soup” I muttered silently so only a few people around me could hear.

This caused her friends, especially the one in the purple dress, to laugh. Allie rolled her eyes at my lameness.

I pointed to one of the midshipmen that was standing by the jukebox in his service khakis, “Haniman,” I cued to him, remembering his last name from our Cyber Security class, “Please play track 5”.

There was a moment of silence as James Haniman, one of my classmates, got the correct track to play. During that time, someone in the back of the bar cleared their throat and let out a cough, while others gave into the embarrassed giggles. Allie’s mouth was part way open, with a look on her face that was a mix of being flabbergasted and confused…as though she didn’t know if she should be embarrassed or not.

Jerry Lee Lewis’s Take Another Chance on Me started playing. A perfect song given the circumstances of what Allie and I had been through these past 2 weeks. 

I made sure to sing this song as off key as I could and even stuttered over some of the lyrics, wanting to make this as bad as possible: 

“If I promise you to straightin' up and put my life in order”

 I got down from the chair and started making my way over to her. As if it wasn’t possible, Allie’s face was completely red from all sorts of embarrassment.

If I swear to you woman on bendin' knees I won't hurt you again 

At “bendin’ knees, I got down on my knees at the end of the booth, my arms up as if I was begging to Allie, whose breath was heavy.

If I become the kind of man that you want me to be

Would you take another chance on me?”

At this point, a lot of people in the bar were cheering out of sympathy and laughing at the pathetic fool that they thought I was making of myself. I knew what I was doing though. I looked over at Allie, who was smiling and laughing with wide eyes at the embarrassed moment that I had just handed to her. YES! I had done it, but I was not even close to ending this show for everyone. I stood up from the floor and started walking around the section of the bar that we were already in, singing to other people and grabbing their hands as we failed in pitch together.

“The good lord knows I've done you wrong I've asked him to forgive me

Deep inside I think he would if you could do the same” 

I jumped back onto the chair and pointed to Allie as I finished the song, who was still in a fit of laughter.

“If I could take back all the things that caused you misery

Would you take another chance on me?”

The room was filled with singing, laughter, and words of embarrassment, which had standing-room-only at this point. There were various whoops and hollers from people around the bar, but my eyes were glued on just one person, who was coming down off of her laughter and amusement.

“Miss Holly,” I said directed towards her friend, but still kept my eyes on Allie, “Could you please write your friends’ number on a piece of paper for me?”

“No!” I heard Allie object as Holly got out a marker from her purse and wrote on a white square napkin. “Holly!” Allie screamed as she reached over for the napkin, which she couldn’t grab thanks to the barrier of the table. I quickly grabbed the paper from Holly.

“Looks like you’re stuck with me forever,” I said to Allie as I put the napkin in the front pocket of my jeans. “And now, for the grand finale”! I jumped down from the chair and unplugged the jukebox that was loudly playing. I got a few “boos” from the crowd for my actions, but I didn’t give a shit. I grabbed my aviators which were still sitting on the edge of the old run-down piano in the back of the bar and looked over at Allie, who was watching me with more dread than ever.

I placed my hands over the keys and played a few notes to show people that I was actually musically talented with this instrument. 

I looked over at Haniman, who was standing next to the piano. He had been a regular here for a few weeks, so he knew the entertainment he was about to witness. “Wanna help me out”? I asked him, as I started to play some cords to the next song.

James went over to the corner and grabbed the electric guitar that was already plugged in. We made eye contact before we started playing the first few bars of 86753o9.

I looked over my shoulder at Allie as the song began, making sure that I was in perfect pitch and rhythm this time.“Jenny, Jenny, who can I turn to? You gave me something I can hold on to”. 

I went back over to James and we played the rest of the first verse perfectly, as though we had rehearsed this bit before, but we had not.

I know you'll think I'm like the others before

Who saw your name and number on the wall

By the time of the chorus, people that were around us joined in; “86753o9”.

Jenny I've got your number

I need to make you mine

Jenny don't change your number

Eight six seven five three oh nine

Eight six seven five three oh nine

Eight six seven five three oh nine

Eight six seven five three oh nine

Before I knew it, the song was at the last chorus, and the entire bar was dancing and singing to the lyrics, including Allie:

Eight six seven five three oh nine (five three oh nine)

Eight six seven five three oh nine (five three oh nine)

Eight six seven five three oh nine (five three oh nine)

Eight six seven five three oh nine (five three oh nine)

When we were done, everyone roared in applause. I was sweating all over, panting hard as I came down from the musical high that I was on. 

I looked over at the people who were clapping and did a little gig to soak in all of the congratulatory applause that I was receiving for my showcase.

I turned around and made eye contact with Allie, who was completely amazed from what she had just witnessed. I walked over to her, smirking, as I took off my aviators and put them on the booth she was at. “Take a walk with me” I said to her, gentle and smirking into her twinkling eyes.

“Sure” she said, slightly nodding her head and smirking wide at me, returning the flirtatious gaze that I was giving her.

[smzeszikorova]

15 Questions, 15 Mutuals

Truth be told, I'm really not on this app that often, so I'm not entirely sure who's done this already. Hopefully this reaches a few of you who haven't done it yet.

Tagging @dragonedged-if, @infinite-survivor-choco, @nanashi23, @j-1173, @penspiration-writing, @late-to-the-fandom, @rexxles, @bardic-tales, @kiraofthewind, @angelasscribbles, @harinawa, @writersandpoetsunited, @isabellebissonrouthier, @alwaysastrophel, @writingpotato07.

And thanks again to @dogmomwrites for the tag!

My answers:

Are you named after anyone? I was. For trans reasons, I'm not anymore. I mean, unless you want to make a case that I was named after myself.

When was the last time you cried? I almost cried rereading Castle Swimmer just this afternoon. Does that count? (More importantly, are you intrigued? You should be. It's a very good Webtoon.)

Do you have kids? Newp. At this point in my life, that's not something I really want.

Do you use sarcasm a lot? Who, me? Never.

What’s the first thing you notice about people? Kinda depends on the person. If I'm just observing, could be hair, height, outfit, etc. Whatever stands out. If it's someone I'm talking to, I usually notice the sound of their voice first.

What’s your eye color? Blue. I always wished my eyes were brown as a kid on the basis that "blue eyes are scary". A quick Google search taught me I'm not the only one who thinks that, but it definitely confuses everyone I know irl.

Scary movies or happy endings? Yes.

Any special talents? I like to think writing and art are a couple. But as for stuff I don't post about regularly . . . I guess songwriting?

Where were you born? Texas, but I've got no memory of it. Didn't grow up there.

What are your hobbies? Writing, drawing, watching cartoons, finding a way to insert my characters into every conversation I have, collecting stuffed animals, making Spotify playlists.

Do you have any pets? Not technically mine, but my mom has a few, and I love them more than I love food, which is saying a lot. Two cats, one dog.

What sports do you play/have you played? So many. God. Softball, basketball, cross country, track/field, gymnastics, karate. I stuck with none of them.

How tall are you? Shorter than @adrielcastlyre, unfortunately.

Favorite subject in school? German and writing. 1000%. Every other subject I've ever been interested in became boring the second it was for a grade.

Dream job? Writer, surprising no one.

[oasislandingresident]

Music Meme

Okay, I know I am super late at this stuff but here is my response for the music meme.

I was tagged by @hazely-sims and @simstryingtheirbestok. Thank you so much for the tags lovelies! ❤️

🎶✨ when u get this u have to put 5 songs u actually listen to, and publish. then, send this ask/tag 10 of your favorite followers (non-negotiable, positivity is cool)✨🎶

It is very hard to choose the songs for this because I listen to a lot of music. I love so many of them. But here is my list of songs I've been listening to on repeat or a lot my whole life (under the cut)

I don't believe I know enough people to tag 10 but I'll do my best. I'll be tagging them here because this is a long ass post and I don't want to force anyone to go through the whole thing. Anyone who's tagged, it's been a while since this circulated so I have no idea if you guys did it before and if not don't feel obligated to do it.

Tags: @squeezleprime, @echoweaver @treason-and-plot @kamel-simmer-ts3 @yliel @novapark

n.5 - Ghostcity by Thomas Azier

Found this one while I was watching Lucifer and been obsessed with it ever since. The lyrics just speak to me.

n.4 - Galvanize by The Chemical Brothers

I have been listening to this song for more than 15 years (I was born in 95). I was introduced to the song by a friend who was like a big brother. One of my all time favourite songs, never tire of listening it and always go back to listen when I'm in the mood.

I have looked high and low to figure out what they mean when they say "it's time to Galvanize" I still don't get it but love it all the same.

no.3 - Moonbound by Anzo

Easily one of the songs I've listened to the most in 2022. It's like it says, Moonbound. Listening to this song just takes me out of my body into deep thoughts and I love it. It's like there is a promised land of happiness in the neon light and synthwave. This song inspired a whole playlist dedicated to similar songs as I realized how much I love synthwave, EDM and Melodic House. Here is the link, in case if anyone likes synthwave. I know there aren't many of us out there.

no.2 - Tali by Jack Wall

I play a lot of games along with Sims and Mass Effect is easily the one I love the most out of all. If there are any Mass Effect nerds out there who reads this, they'll know when this song plays. It's when you go to help one of your mates, named Tali, who's in trouble. I died so many times when I did that mission. So, so many times when I just couldn't figure out which route to take on the battlefield. All that time this song was playing but it was the most fun I had even though I died countless times.

no.1 - Sunrise Prelude by Daft Punk

I know that this film, when it came out in 2010 (I believe) wasn't the best received films. A quick look at some reviews in Youtube will tell you that is not the case anymore. It was one of the first films which used the de-aging technology which was mind blowing to me back then. The graphics, music, story, the neon design everything about it I was in love with.

There are no words to describe how happy watching that film makes me. I watched it over and over again, late at nights, whenever I was alone for 13 years now. This goes for the music album as well. A lot of young people knows, or heard about Daft Punk thanks to their collabs but to me, songs for this film and this whole album is their masterpiece. These days, the album is my go to when I am out jogging. I re-live the film every time I'm out there and I've pavloved myself further with the endorphin of jogging mixing with the music so I become happier when I listen to it.

This song comes up when Sam and Quorra are looking into what Quorra imagines to be the sunrise. Someone who looks out into sunsets and general horizons often when brooding, the moment just speaks to me in my soul.

This is my playlist for the album in order of appearance in the film. I doubt I'll find another nerd who loves the movie as much as I do but just in case.

I doubt many people will read this long ass post but for those who did thank you! I know you don't recognise most of these and it's okay. Music is the most personal thing anyone can listen to imo. No one will ever feel the way I feel when listening to these and I won't be able to do the same for others, and that's okay. I enjoyed writing a little homage to some of my favourites.

[daz4i]

Honestly I'm with you that it is pretty hard not to get jealous whenever a fic gets suuuuper popular like that. Like when they write a fic, they get an entire fan base and waves upon waves of fanart; when I write a fic I get like three single sentence comments and one person listing every single thing wrong with it.

I know they don't decide to have that happen but like... What am I doing wrong? I'm trying my absolute best, I'm rereading and rewriting like ten times to make sure it's as perfect as it could possibly be, but no matter what I try, nothing works. Meanwhile they're like "yeah sorry wasn't feeling too well lately so this chapters not as good" and they get hundreds of comments, playlists for the their fic and a whole gallery worth of fan art.

Maybe I'm just bitter but it really does just crush your motivation and self esteem after a while.

this is an understandable reaction tbh 😔

for what it's worth, i don't think you're doing anything wrong. i can't say for sure bc none of my fics ever reached wild popularity or smth but i assume in their case it's a combination of

popular ship in an already popular fandom (also, gen usually doesn't catch on unless you're VERY lucky)

existing following. i noticed a lot of popular fic writers usually have a bunch of followers from stuff like art already

luck. ofc

common tropes. easily digestible stuff that is kind of familiar

length and consistent long term updates usually help (like, spreading it out as multiple updates keeps you at the top of tags when ppl click them)

this isn't for all of them. but like. one thing i noticed. and i mean this nicely. is smth i wanna call wattpad-style writing? kind of an underlying edgy vibe like more swears and ppl reacting to things in kind of extreme ways at times. every most-popular-fic-in-the-fandom i read fit that description, so. (i assume it's bc a big part of any fandom is teenagers, and this, well, fits a teen mindset)

if you don't wanna fall into common tropes and stick only to popular ships, it's better to stick to writing for fun, as hard as it is sometimes with no external validation 😔

i see why this would be very discouraging. i think ik who you are off-anon, and if I'm right then i saw comments you got on fics before, and yeah i would definitely get discouraged by these too

i think if you don't gain any joy from writing, it may be good to find an additional hobby, or try a different type of writing for now maybe :? (like if fics aren't working, try original work. or dabble in poetry. or switch up the genres etc. doesn't even have to be a long term thing, just to scratch the creative itch for now, and maybe get inspired to write what you're used to again)

i imagine you're probably tired of hearing that you should write for you and don't have to post it. bc i get wanting to get validation. so instead I'll tell you this is an extremely valid feeling, including the jealousy part. this is a very normal reaction honestly, and i could never blame you for having it

i will say tho! you should channel that feeling somewhere. not for others, but for your own sake. don't let bitterness eat at you or you'll always be miserable, and you deserve better than that :(

finding a new hobby can help with self-esteem (like, for example, baking smth and enjoying how it tastes, and feeling proud of yourself for making smth that tastes good) and is a good way to let out creative energy! it will take time, but maybe slowly you'll be able to lay out building blocks that will eventually make you feel confident enough in your own creation to not need external validation :0!

(ofc, you don't have to listen to any of this. please make sure to go at your own pace as well! either way i hope things turn out well for you, and i thank you for sharing your honest feelings with me!!)

[justablah56]

Pinned Post

Hey there !!! I'm Aether , it/it's :]

@justahopelessbellusromantic is my a-spec side blog

I also run the @dndadscharacterpolls , so if you're interested in that, go check it out !

Im open to art requests ! I make no promises on how long they'll take me or if I'll do them at all tbh- tho please make sure that it's a character I know , otherwise I wont do it , sorry 😅 I've got a list of fandoms I'm in just below the cut if you want to check and see if I know the character youd like me to draw, or you can ask if youre not sure :]

I have . so many dndads character/ship playlists and if you ever want to see if I have a playlist for smthin I probably do and I WILL send them to you btw <3

this is a notice to every individual who decided to actually read my pinned post , PLEASE FUCK SEND ME CHARACTER RANTS/INFODUMPS I WILL LOVE YOU !! I don't even care if I know the character though I'm sure that will help , I just love listening to people talk about things and if anyone decides they want to spout random headcannons or fun facts or whatever about their blorbo/ship/hyperfixation ? please do !! idc if you decide to do it on anon or whatever , just so long as you know you will lovingly be referred to as *character/ship/thing* anon in my brain <3 and if you're asking off anon I'll probably come up with a talking tag for you eventually unless you give me one to use <333

below the cut is mostly just a guide to all the tags I use in case any of y'all want to know those either to find specific stuff or block specific tags :3

I post mostly dndads, rwd, tma, or just y'know whatever, but I'm also interested in/will post about dvc, dungeon meshi, galavant, love and luck, hohr, tmagp, malevolent, monstrous agonies, tss, furry stuff, tpp, ofmd, stellar firma, wtnv, w359, any Riordanverse books, tdp, Pokemon, good omens, toh, amphibia, gravity falls, de:pp, stranger things, cookie run, A:tla, Steven universe, plus probably a few other assorted fandoms that I can't think of rn :]

all my art is tagged under "my art" , and you are welcome to use my art in edits or as a pfp etc . as long as I'm credited :]

"blah's reblogs" is me rbing my own art/other posts that I probably made at some ungodly hour that I still want to be seen

"just blahs" is my talking tag , and "cookies rambles <3" , "icy asks !" , "silly zilly" , "jay !!" , "hi laurie !!" , and "vik !!" are a few of my friend's talking tags for when they decide to have full conversations in my ask box <3 "tj anon" and "gothweebcleats anon" are exactly what they sound like , beloved anons who occasionally appear to talk about their guys <3

I use the tags "tag games" and "ask games" so if you see some post tagged w that you can probably scroll back through that tag for a minute to see which ask game I'm replying to !

I also tag most art/outfit memes with "art meme" , so if you wanna send me a req please do ! however if I rbed it more than like . a few days before you ask I would like it if you specified which one you're talking abt 😅

"luca my beloved" is the tag for my oc Luca and his partner Mitch, I'm always happy to receive asks abt either of em or outfit suggestions or literally anything tbh dbjdjdjdn I just like thinking abt them and getting questions abt them

"pet posting" is me talking abt my cat and/or dog bcs I love them <3

if you have anything you'd like me to tag , don't hesitate to lmk and I will try my best to make sure to tag it :3

[tacobellabeanburrito]

Welcome To My Blog!

Hey! I’m making another pinned post because the one that I originally did got lost to my reblogging so yeah. 

Aloha! I’m Raina (or Raine) and I draw, sing, dance, write and act! But I don’t really post a lot of the stuff I write or draw, although I have finally gotten around to posting my writings, I don’t think I have the confidence to post my art yet. I’m also 18! (Thought it was about time I put my age in my bio)

Fandoms I’m Into ATM: Gravity Falls, Sonic, Hunter x Hunter, Ducktales, The Three Caballeros, Ouran High School Host Club, Fullmetal Alchemist, Buddy Daddies, The Millionaire Detective: Balance Unlimited, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Hazbin Hotel, FNAF, The Umbrella Academy, My Little Pony, Sanders Sides, Clarence, Wander Over Yonder, Craig of the Creek, Mario, Kirby, Hamilton, Dan Vs, Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, Villainous, Minecraft: Storymode, Ace Attorney, Hazbin Hotel, Sk8 The Infinity, SpongeBob SquarePants, Stardew Valley, Good Omens, Vinesauce, Markiplier, Undertale, Total Drama, Deltarune and many more!

I’m mostly just into books, musicals, cartoons and video games in general!

Most of my posts are reblogs, but sometimes I’ll post random shit that happens to me (especially rants, vents and school related stuff) and some of my drawings and writings, so don’t mind that. (Also, sorry if my reblogging is too much, I reblog ALOT of shit, so sorry if it’s annoying) and if you want someone to talk to or wanna be friends, just hit me up! My blog is also a safe space for everyone (except for the usual gross people like p*dos, incest shippers, the like) I hope you enjoy your stay! (I also don’t usually tag my reblogs, sometimes I will but only for little comments I make)

And in case I don’t see you, good afternoon, good evening and goodnight! (PS, if you are the IRS or are sent by the IRS just know that I will not be paying taxes)

Oh also, if you ever get on my blog on the computer, tell me what song you got on my playlist! Whatever song you get is you if you were a song.

Oh right, here are a few of my fanfics if you’re interested.

Experiment 47: The Copier Machine: Ford is lonely. Very, very lonely. And as much as he didn’t want to admit it... He missed his twin. So, what’s the most logical way to deal with repressed emotions instead of sucking up your pride and actually trying to make up with your twin? Build a cloning machine, of course. (Basically my theory on how the cloning machine in the Mystery Shack came to be)

The New Look Turnabouts: As time goes on, Miles and Phoenix end up changing their iconic looks (Either by accident or on purpose) and every time they end up falling more in love with each other.

Restless In Los Kyoto: After Phoenix sends his radio message to Miles, he doesn't exactly expect anything to come from it. And he especially doesn't expect to get a response back.

Hijinks & Shenanigans Will Ensue: Little snippets in the lives of our favorite Ace Attorney characters. Some stories will be based on official artworks, others are based on my own ideas. Some will even be Aus. All of them will be drabbles and little ficlets.

Also, here’s some quizzes I made! 

https://uquiz.com/fZWBsK (what do you live for?)

https://uquiz.com/eCH3HW (which member of my family are you?)

https://uquiz.com/v2O6Sp (would i let you introduce me to a new type of media i haven’t seen and that you like)

https://uquiz.com/m1NZOq (you answer stuff and i decide what unknown media i like that i think you’d like)

https://uquiz.com/2ulAQQ (which character from a musical/play that i was in are you)

https://uquiz.com/payRQj (what character are you but it’s my original story characters that will most likely never see the light of day)

Also here’s some of my art (I’ve been posting it recently and it’s been sooo bad I promise I’m good at art guys look)

(It’s a pencil drawing of a photorealistic balloon)

[jaydeelliottblog]

Joining The "Band" Wagon · Part 2

BAND THAT SURPRISED ME: Periphery ~

I'm thankful to have an amazing boyfriend with a similar taste in music as me. Whenever we go for drives in the car, usually to the supermarket, I occasionally let him take control of my car's aux cable, and he introduces me to new music and bands that I wouldn't have thought to listen to. This was the case with Periphery. I was instantly blown away, obsessed and surprised by Spencer Sotelo's incredible voice and how it's integrated into their music, especially their song "Scarlet". Goosebumps. Actual goosebumps.

BAND THAT CHANGED MY LIFE: Breaking Benjamin ~

The moment I discover something that I know is going to be life-changing to me is almost like a religious experience. I honestly don't really know how else to describe it, but I find myself having deep emotional connections with things that I hold close to my heart. For me, Breaking Benjamin and their music had that exact feeling and connection. I think it stemmed from my overwhelming love for the Halo franchise and Halo 2 in particular. I remember listening to the soundtrack and discovering Breaking Benjamin with "Blow Me Away", which it literally did. It's also hard to express how exactly they changed my life, but all of their songs really hit home in some way and their lyrics trigger nostalgia, as well as good and bad memories with people from the past. Breaking Benjamin really led me down the path of discovering all of the rock bands and music that I love today.

GUILTY PLEASURE: Nickelback ~

I'm so sorry, but I have to admit... Nickelback has some absolute flippin' bangers. I will happily blast out "Rockstar" at full volume and sing along to it at the top of my lungs (only when I'm home alone of course and the neighbours can judge me).

BAND I SHOULD HAVE SEEN BY NOW: Paramore ~

Oh, how I crave to see Paramore live. Being poor sucks and I'd love to experience more gigs and festivals in general, but especially a Paramore gig. I really like the different direction Paramore has taken over the recent years and I love their album "After Laughter". I also adore Hayley Williams so much and I'm actually really into her solo stuff right now! But, having said that, you just can't beat where it all started and feel like a little badass scene kid moshing to their music. I still do... just minus the ripped skinny jeans and coontails. In other words... 🎵WOAAAAAH, I NEVER MEANT TO BRAG!🎵

GREAT BAND TO SEE: P.O.D ~

Sadly I've only ever experienced two major gigs, the first being Ed Sheeran and the second of which, I was lucky enough to see Alien Ant Farm supporting P.O.D in Bristol a few years ago. I admit, I'd never really listened to much of P.O.D's music and only really went to see AAF, but of course, I love P.O.D's song "Boom" and "Alive" and was super excited to see them regardless - and since then, I've listened to more of their music. They're amazing live, very high energy, got the crowd going and involved and it was such an awesome night and a great experience.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my choices and give them a listen, if you haven't already. Let me know if you agree or disagree with me! Make sure to check out my Spotify playlist for this blog post, linked below.

Also! Please feel free to copy and paste and add in your own answers! Leave them as a comment below or share them to your own Facebook/Instagram and encourage others to add their bands (and maybe tag me @callmejelli_ so that I can have a read).

[sunflowervolvimp3]

Okay, you don't have to answer this if you don't want to but I saw your tag in response to the love letters post and I'm curious if you regret doing it? People always use the line "better to have loved than lost than to never have loved at all" but I don't honestly believe it in every case. It's like people telling me that my trauma made me stronger. Like no, no it didn't. It traumatized me beyond a redeemable point but cute thought tho.

You seemed really happy while you were in the relationship, at least from what you shared with us. Do you regret writing it and sending it to her?

Again, you don't have to answer. I was just curious because you've always come across as the romantic, and to think you might not believe in romantic gestures in the same way is sad. You still deserve love and romance despite how awful it is to break up with someone. You're always deserving of love and romance.

okay this is probably gonna be a long answer so just bear with me here like. overall i don’t regret doing it. i don’t regret our relationship in the sense of like. i wish we hadn’t dated. she was one of my best friends and was my first love and part of me is always going to love her. i think i learned a lot about myself in that relationship and had a lot of really good moments and a lot of really good feelings

that being said!! i did not share anything negative i ever felt on here because she followed me on tumblr and i didn’t want her to know. i repressed a lot of things that made me feel bad or unloved or insecure because i didn’t want to seem like i was complaining or i didn’t want to hurt her feelings. and even when we broke up, the reason i gave for ending things was the distance. it wasn’t until i really sat with it and reflected and let myself admit the bad parts that i realized that we weren’t good for each other. and even that i had to have my friends validate me and he like “no you’re not overreacting that is FUCKED and i can’t believe you didn’t say something earlier”

we’ve been broken up for almost 7 months now. we’ve been no contact since our breakup apart from one 5 hour text conversation in november where i finally told her everything i felt while we were dating. most of the time i feel like i’m over her and i miss the good things and i miss her friendship but i know it had to end. and then some days i’m like jesus fucking christ how did we get here???? you were someone i spoke to every day and told my every thought to and i was going to move across the country for you and now your moms deleting comments off my fb posts???? like how the fuck did this happen????

so to sum it up. i don’t regret sending the letter but i do regret not speaking up for myself more and just going “this is fine :))))” when things were clearly not fine

but i do still consider myself a romantic!!! i love romantic gestures and the sappy mushy stuff and buying flowers and making playlists and cooking for someone and being taken care of. but one major problem was that wasn’t something she liked so i know when i’m ready to seriously date again that’s something i need to feel secure and loved!!

anyways that was really long anyone else got relationship trauma they gotta get off their chests lmao

[luminecho]

Hello Echo, question. Do you still have Four brainrot? Follow up question. Do you have any songs that you associate with Four? Thanks bestie <3

Answer 1: Steel, I ALWAYS have Four brainrot <3

Answer 2: I am literally SO FUCKING GLAD you asked, you have no idea how excited I got seeing this holy shit. HELL YEAH I do!! Take a few songs from my playlist

If I include more than 3 Sleeping At Last, Of Monsters And Men, or The Oh Hellos songs on any given playlist or list of songs you may be entitled to financial compensatio-- *looks at this list* oh whoops

1) Crystals - Of Monsters And Men - this might as well be Four’s theme song for all I associate it with him. It’s so good. So so so good.

2) Call Them Brothers - Regina Spektor - Obligatory Call Them Brothers mention. This is not original at all I've seen so many other people talk about this song with Four and-- yeah they're right this song is about Four JKHEHBFDEKF.

3) Bad Blood - Sleeping At Last - I'm biased. If you know me then expect way too many SAL songs from me in any list of songs ever because I will never shut up about SAL and they have a lot of songs I like. So there's 4 SAL songs on this list, deal with it jhkwewjkwjkfh. Anyway Bad Blood gives me so many Four feels. 11/10

3) Soap - The Oh Hellos - THIS SONNGG. Ouugghh. I could probably dissect this song if I wanted to go over every little thing in it that makes me think of Four & why but I already exhausted my song infodumping capacity on the last song on this list so perhaps some other time HDEGJDDEKF. Just. The vibes AND the lyrics. Mannn

4) Forgive Me Friend - Smith & Thell - I have both the original and the acoustic version saved to my Four playlist because I really like both versions hwdfjefke but. There's so many ways this song could be interpreted w/ Four and tbh I'm just gonna leave it up to everyone else because every time I listen to it I think of something else lol.

5) Meteor Shower - Cavetown - I don't have much to say about this one other than thinking about this song gives me a LOT of emotions jhqkdhwbefjk. Just,,, it has a lot of self-acceptance vibes to me when I listen to it in this context and I think I'm drawing those comfort vibes from the melody? Idk but they're there for me lol

6) Glitter & Gold - Barns Courtney - Someone did a mini AMV to this song w/ Four a while back for the LU zine and I've associated the song with him ever since hwdkjgefhkfev. I like the vibes. Reminds me of the forge.

7) Lakehouse - Of Monsters And Men - Idk what it is about this song. It has a mix of homesickness feels and storytelling feels and something about that makes me think of Four. Also there's a line about breaking trust in here somewhere heehee hoohoo Vio go brr.

8) I Dare You - Bea Miller - my brain can't decide if I actually like this song or not for some reason buuuut it has big Four vibes regardless lmao. Mostly in the lyrics. Definitely in the lyrics

9) No Light, No Light - Florence + The Machine - based more off the vibes of the song than the lyrics. i don't really have an explanation for this one, it's just always given me Four vibes for no reason hdwkjfgeh. Shadow too. I have it one both playlists

10) I Have Made Mistakes - The Oh Hellos - probably self-indulgent but this one has the self-acceptance and self-forgiveness vibes than go hand and hand with Four as a character so <3

11) From The Ground Up - Sleeping At Last - something about the line "in an effort to remember what being mended feels like" shakes me to my core. Am I allowed to slap the "self-acceptance" label on this song and call it a day? Cause,,, yeah the self love in this song. Ough. Also the themes of growth and being somewhere that's truly home.

12) Overture III / Awake - Sleeping At Last - Bestie this one's so self-indulgent. This song is pretty new and when I tell you that I latched onto it the DAY I first heard it FTHDGHWJKEFG. I connect so deeply with this song and I can and will project every emotion I experience ever onto Four which means he gets this song too. <3 Also it once again has themes of self-acceptance

13) September 15, 2017: Cassini - The Grand Finale - Sleeping At Last - OH MY GOD *VIBRATES INTO THE FIFTH DIMENSION*

Alright alright alright. Listen. This song is entirely instrumental. So why do I associate it with Four, you may ask?

WELLLLLLLL.

First of all, happy anniversary to the event this song was written about! Or-- well, it was the anniversary when this ask was sent djwhfkhjdewjhke. I took a while to answer it. BUT still. Happy anniversary!

Second of all, strap in cause I’m about to infodump the hell out of this song on my way to explaining my reasoning behind why I associate it with Four. It might seem irrelevant at first but trust me, I’ll get there.

(All the stuff I mention here is all explained in a much better fashion by the artist behind Sleeping At Last on his podcast episode about the song here. I'd absolutely recommend giving it a listen if you're interested!)

Cassini was written about a satellite with the same name that was built with the intention of exploring Saturn. On September 15, 2017, its journey was complete and its course was set to crash into Saturn in a brilliant grand finale. Hence the name of the song.

This song is a medley of four of Sleeping At Last’s songs, written as a mirror of the exact flight path of the Cassini satellite. (SAL has songs about each of the 9 planets + our moon.)

The song starts and ends with Saturn. The beginning is a chorus singing the tune of SAL's "Saturn" and the ending is that the song on the "Astronomy, Vol. 1" album leads straight into SAL’s "Saturn" to symbolize Cassini crashing into the planet. Cool, right?

After the opening the song crescendos with SAL’s "Earth" to represent Cassini’s launch. Cassini passed by Venus twice in its flight, so the part of the song immediately after that is from SAL's "Venus". The next part of the song (and ofc the next part of Cassini’s flight) is Jupiter! It’s very faint and distant since Cassini only passed by the planet. Aaand then finally it reaches Saturn.

Now what does any of this have to do with Four?

Welllllll, it's all a bit of a stretch but LET ME HAVE THIS hdgjhkjdwef.

I mentioned that Cassini is a medley of 4 different SAL songs.

Venus could easily be associated with Red! It’s a love song and love of course comes from the heart and all that. But it’s also a song that reflects wonder and awe and I feel like that’s a very Red feeling.

Jupiter is a song I associate a lot with Green, not only because of the song itself but also because of the planet and Green’s wind element. Jupiter is well-known for its storms! So it seems fitting for Green. Jupiter is one of the songs I have on my separate playlist for Green too. It has vibes of instinct and wanting to make things count and make a difference which I feel like fits him.

I feel like Saturn and Earth are interchangeable with Blue and Vio. I’d probably tentatively assign Blue to Earth and Vio to Saturn for now despite Earth being Vio’s element and me generally associating that song with him a lot more than Blue anyway. Saturn is a song about loss and trying to move on and I think Vio encompasses that feeling and experience. It’s very melancholy and slower-paced too, which fits Vio more. Whereas Earth is a very powerful, somewhat explosive song (which fits Blue’s vibe) about ignorance and possibly arrogance. ALSO if you go with Blue as Earth then it works even nicer because Earth and Venus are woven together very closely in Cassini. Which could represent how Blue & Red are both the "heart" of Four compared to Vio's mind and Green's instinct.

And ALL of these songs are packed into Cassini into a convenient little medley. Four songs blending seamlessly into one another creating a whole song that makes me want to throw my hands in the air and weep.

And how perfect that the day Steel sent this ask is coincidentally the anniversary of the day the song is about. jhkqdwfgehf. It was meant to be :>

[serendipitous-magic]

What is your writing advice for young people who want to write fanfiction and original stories in the near future?

If this is just Way Too Much, skip to the end (#16). My most important piece of advice is there. I also happen to think #5 is pretty good.

-_-_-_-

1) Literally just write. Write whatever you want, and do a lot of it.

_-_

2) You don’t have to post everything. In fact you don’t have to post anything. You can, don’t get me wrong, but it can be intimidating to sit down and think “I will now write something that other people will see and read and judge with their eyeballs.” Because that’s probably gonna lead to nerves and writer's block. Just write down the ideas that you have, the things you want to write, whatever’s in your brain that you want to explore and expand upon and make into something. And then if you want to, share it. Or don’t share it. I have plenty of half-baked ideas and documents and random story chapters and shit hidden away on my Google Drive that will never see the light of day, for a whole number of reasons. I wanted to write it but it wasn’t ~Spicy~ enough to warrant posting, or it’s only like an eighth of a good idea, or it’s like one scene with no story around it, or it’s just something incredibly self-indulgent I just wanted to write for my own enjoyment.

Point being, don’t write for other people. Don’t write so that other people can read it; write what you want, write for yourself, and then if you want to share it, do.

_-_

3) You can pretty much ignore any and all of these for fanfiction. In fact, you can ignore pretty much any rules or guidelines you want for fanfiction. Fanfic is a sandbox. You don’t have to be a “professional writer” to post fic. No one expects you to be Stephen King or Margaret Atwood. Fanfic is just for playing in a fandom and having fun. If you wanna write a 50 chapter slow burn with very little plot aside from the OTP slowly getting to know each other, and no real stakes or central conflict, I guarantee people would read that. Really, fanfiction is the Old West of writing: lawless, wild, unpredictable, and free.

However, here are the rules you must follow:

-Separate your paragraphs. (I’m sure you know this already, but I’m gonna say it anyway just in case.) Do not post one big block of text. Make a paragraph break when someone new is talking, when the characters are in a new place, when a new event occurs that changes the scene, when a chunk of time has passed, and when there’s a major change in subject.

-I know it’s obvious, but... grammar, punctuation, and capitalization. They exist to make writing easy for readers to read, and more people will read your stuff if they don’t have to stop and try to figure out what you meant.

-Use tags and labels, as is possible with whatever site you’re using. Especially if you include possibly triggering content in your story. Again, I know it’s obvious, but it’s common courtesy. Bonus: tagging the themes and content of your story helps readers find it and read it :)

-If possible, limit the use of all-caps and exclamation marks / question marks. 99% of the time, one ! or one ? will do. If you overload the page with a lot of all-caps and long rows of exclamation marks or question marks, it hampers readability.

... That’s literally all I can think of. And, like I said, it’s all pretty basic stuff. You were probably rolling your eyes like, “Uh, yeah, Gwen, I know.” But that’s literally it. You can pretty much do whatever you want in fanfic.

That being said, here’s my advice for both fanfiction and original work...

_-_

4) A quick and dirty rule for coming up with a plot, starting a story, keeping up pacing, or maintaining tension: figure out what dreams, desires, and goals are nearest and dearest to your main character’s heart (see #16). Then set up the main conflict to be directly in opposition to that goal. It doesn’t have to be in a tangible way, though it could be. But, if your main character wants more than anything to reach the ships on the southern coast of your world and sail to a new life, make sure the main conflict immediately prevents them from doing that - in fact, make sure to send them north. If your main character just wants to keep their loved ones safe, kidnap the loved ones. If your main character just wants to date their best-friend-turned-crush, make sure they think they have no chance - or, make them cocky about it, and make sure it makes Person B determined not to ever like them. You get it. Figure out what your character most wants, and then keep them from having that. Boom - your conflict now ties in with your character's motivation. It's like instant yeast for plots.

_-_

5) If you’re anything like me, you want your first draft to be Good, despite all that advice about how the first draft doesn’t have to be good and it’s just to get words on the page, yadda yadda. And if you’re somewhat of a perfectionist (like myself), it’s easy to get stuck looking at a blank page because you don’t have The Perfect Words, and you want what you write to be Good the first time.

Here’s how I cheat that:

Instead of trying to write a Good First Draft from a blank page, hit the enter key a few times, skip a little down on the page, change your ink to red (or blue, or whatever - just something immediately identifiable as Not Black) and just thought vomit. Write whatever the hell you’re thinking, exactly as you think it. Don’t worry about it being readable, don’t worry about narrative flow for now, don’t worry about covering all the details, don’t worry about anything except either a) getting all the details of your idea out onto the page, whether that’s a lot or whether it’s just a sentence or two, or b) if you don’t have an idea yet, finding your way there.

Because this method is also very good for finding your way to ideas when you’re stuck in writer’s block.

Because of how human brains work, getting this stuff out onto the page - in all its messy, stream-of-consciousness glory - will likely spark more thoughts. As you write your original idea about the scene, it’ll likely spark more ideas. Creation begets creation. If you just start thought-vomiting your ideas onto the page, chances are you’ll think of more things as you go, and you’ll start filling out description or dialogue or tone or action or whatever, and pretty soon the scene starts writing itself.

Not sure where you’re going with the scene or which ideas you wanna use? Use a lot of ambivalent language in your “thought-vomit draft.” My pre-writing notes are chock-full of the words “maybe,” “perhaps,” and the phrases, “At some point...” and “...or something like that.” In this way, I don’t tie myself down to one idea; it’s just an idea, and I’m keeping it on the page in case I use it, but I might chuck it in the trash or change it or whatever.

And then, once your ideas for the scene (or story, or chapter, or whatever) are on the page, then go back to the top and start translating them into a “real” first draft. Use black ink, and start copy-pasting chunks of the thought-vomit up into the top part of the document and translating them into Draft 1. Separate out paragraphs where paragraph breaks should be. Add the correct punctuation and whatnot. Change “describe the lobby here - include potted plants, fancy carpet, blood stain, etc.” into an actual description of the lobby. Flesh it out, or condense, or whatever it needs. And if you’re still stuck, change back to red ink and ramble some more until you find a path that feels right, then plug that in. This keeps you from looking at a blank page, and it allows you to generate a kind of Draft 0.5, somewhere between a plan and a first draft.

You don’t have to use every idea. Like I said, jot down whatever comes to mind, put a “maybe” before or after it, and keep working. If the idea grabs you and you wanna keep expanding on it and exploring it, cool. If you just wanna jot it down so you don’t forget it and then move on, also cool. Red-ink draft / “thought-vomit draft” is your time to jump around in the timeline, add or finesse details at whatever point your brain moves to, etc. Don’t try to do it exactly in story order, because you will get tangential thoughts and ideas, and you will not remember to write them down five pages later when you finally get to taking notes on that scene. Trust me. On that note...

_-_

6) Write everything down the moment you think of it. Seriously.

“I’ll remember it when I get around to writing that scene in a couple days / weeks / months (/years).”

You won’t.

Write it down.

Phone, journal, google docs - hell, my family regularly laughs at me for grabbing a napkin during dinner and scribbling thoughts down alongside pasta sauce stains.

And then, once you have it written down somewhere...

_-_

7) Consolidate your writing ideas in one place.

Maybe this isn’t really your style, and that’s totally chill.

Buuuut, if you’re Type-A like me - or if you tend to be somewhat unorganized and you know you’ll lose track of your writing notes if they’re scattered across multiple notebooks, journals, napkins, phone notes, etc. - having one consolidated document of notes is a life saver. I keep mine on Google Docs so I can access it, add to it, and look through it for inspiration anywhere at any time. When I have one of those Shower Thoughts that I jot down on my phone or on a napkin during dinner, I set myself a reminder on my phone to type it up in my Story Ideas document later.

(Or, if the idea I had was for a story of mine that I’ve already started planning / drafting / whatever, I put it in the document for that story instead of the Big Random Story Ideas doc. You get it.)

_-_

8) Have other ways to collect and save writing ideas, besides just writing stuff down. If you like Pinterest, make pinterest boards of your characters or stories or settings or whatever. If you’re big into playlists, make a playlist for your character / setting / story / etc. Or both. Or something else. I’m not good at drawing, but maybe you are, and maybe you like to draw your ideas. Whatever form it takes, having another way to save ideas and think about your stories is invaluable.

_-_

9) Some writers can just start writing with no idea where the story is going, and they just kind of figure it out as they go. I envy those writers. And I do that sometimes for fanfiction, where the stakes are somewhat lower and the audience is reading more for scene-to-scene enjoyment (and to see their OTP kiss) than for a Driving And Compelling Narrative.

But here’s the thing: especially if you’re just kind of starting out, writing without some sort of plan is really, really hard, and will likely lead you into a slow, meandering narrative that will likely frustrate you.

Even if you think you’re someone that just can’t write with a plan (and again, I have the highest respect for pansters out there - I don’t know how you do it, you crazy bastards, but you keep doing you) - even if you think “I can’t work with plans, they’re too prescriptive, I just want to write and see what happens -”

Try at least making the most skeletal of plans.

Even if you have no clue what 90% of the story is, yet. That’s fine. But you need to have some idea of what you’re building to, even if that’s nothing more specific than a feeling, or a turning point for your character. Even if your entire plan for everything beyond Chapter 1 is, “At some point, Charlie needs to realize that Ed was lying to her.”

This is where those Draft 0.5 notes come in handy. Because, more than likely, working on your current scene that way will spark ideas for later scenes, which you can put down at the bottom of the document and save for when they become relevant. In my experience, the line between planning ahead and making a Draft 0.5 is exceptionally thin. One can quickly turn into the other.

If you’re really, really resistant to the idea of planning ahead, that’s okay. It’s not everybody’s style. But for the love of all that is holy, write down your ideas for future scenes, even if you’re a person that doesn’t like to plan and writes only in story order, because you will not remember that idea once you get to that scene.

_-_

10) You don’t have to write in order.

Here’s the thing: I’m a person that can only do my Draft 1 in story order (meaning, chronological order). I just have to be in that flow; I need to write in story order for me to best channel where the character is at from scene to scene, both narratively and emotionally.

But my Thought Vomit Draft is another thing entirely. By using the brain hack of putting my notes in red (or another color, it doesn’t matter) and going down to the bottom of the document / page and taking notes there, and then integrating them into whatever plan I have, and then translating them into Draft 1 once I get there in the story - by doing that, I can get my good ideas onto the page (and expound upon them and let my muse carry me and ride that momentum while I’m in the moment of inspiration) without writing out of order.

Maybe that’s just me. But if you’re a person who really prefers to write in story order, that could be hugely helpful to you. It is to me.

_-_

11) Emotion and motivation will do more for your story than technicalities of plot.

If your characters really care about something, and their journey through the (shaky or weak) plot is emotionally engaging, it will be a much more compelling story than a story with a “perfect” plot and unrelatable or unmotivated characters.

If your characters care about what they’re doing, and it means something to them, and their goals and actions are driven by dreams or fears or emotions that are integral to who they are, your audience will care too. If you have a perfectly crafted plot that hits all the right beats and has high stakes and fast pacing and drama - but your characters don’t connect with what’s happening in a way that’s deeply meaningful or emotional for them? You’re gonna have a hard time engaging readers.

When in doubt, prioritize character emotion and motivation over plot. Emotion is what drives story.

This power is highly exploitable. (Just look at pulp novels and shitty but entertaining movies.) You can even use it to glaze over plot holes or reinvigorate a limp narrative. Use it that way sparingly, though. It’s a band-aid, not a surgery. 

_-_

12) Evil villains are hard to write - mostly because there are very few truly evil people in the world. (There are a few. Billionaires and several big name politicians come to mind.) But by and large, there aren’t that many evil people. There are plenty of bad people, but bad people have some good in them, somewhere in there. Trying to write an evil villain is hard, because they often turn very cartoony.

Here’s a tip: it’s much easier to write antagonists who aren’t evil. Even if they’re bad people. Of course, there’s no reason you can’t write a villain that’s just truly evil - a serial killer, or an abuser, or a billionaire, or someone who legit just wants to hurt people or blow up the earth or stay in control of an oppressed population, or whatever. But chances are, it’s gonna be really hard to make them feel real, and even harder to create a plot around them that doesn’t feel forced or contrived.

Instead, try writing an antagonist / villain whose motivations and goals directly clash with your protagonist’s - but not because they want to take over the world or see people suffer. Write an antagonist who’s chaotic good, but whose perception of the situation is completely opposite from your hero’s. Write an antagonist whose only desire is to save people, and who will do anything to achieve that goal - anything. Write an antagonist who believes in the letter of the law, and will hinder and oppose the hero’s methods even if they agree with the hero’s motivation. Write an antagonist who got in way over their head and did some things they regret, and now they don’t know how to get out, and they’re doing their best but whatever they set in motion is too powerful for them to stop now.

Write villains who are human. Write a killer who thought they were doing the right thing by taking their victim out of the equation, who vomits at the sight of the body and sobs over the grave they dig. Write a government leader who truly believes she’s doing what’s best for her people in the long-term, even if it might hurt them in the short term, and is willing to endure the hatred and belligerence of the masses if it means securing what she thinks is a better future for her people. Write a teenage bully that thinks they’re the one being picked on by the world, and they’re just fighting back, standing their ground. Write a scientist who will break any code of ethics and hurt anyone he needs to - in order to bring back his baby sister from the grave, because he promised her he’d protect her and he failed. Write an antagonist who is selfish and self-centered and capricious - because in order to survive they had to look out for Number One, and that habit ain’t about to break anytime soon.

Write villains who aren’t even villains. Write antagonists who oppose the hero because of moral differences. Write antagonists who are trying to do the right thing. Write antagonists who treat the heroes with kindness and dignity and respect and gentleness.

They don’t have to be good. They don’t have to be Misunderstood Sweethearts who “deserve” a redemption arc. They can be cruel and nasty and dismissive and callous and violent and etc. etc.

Just hesitate before you make them Evil-with-a-capital-E. Because evil is hard to write, and honestly, boring to read. Flawed human beings with goals and motivations that directly oppose the main characters’ are much easier to write and much more interesting to read.

Ask why. Why is your villain trying to take over the world? What does that even mean? Are they trying to create a Star-Trek-like post-capitalism utopia, but they know that won’t happen in a million lifetimes, so they’re trying to do it by force? Are they actually super in favor of human rights, but they got very impatient waiting for the world to do anything about poverty and war, so they decided to take it into their own hands? Are they determined to fix the world - no matter the cost? Are they terrified and overwhelmed, but committed to see it through to the end? Or - maybe they’re just doing it on a dare. Maybe they don’t really give a shit about world domination, they were just a mediocre rich white guy who decided to fuck around and find out, and now he’s kind of curious how far he can take this thing. And now he’s kind of an internationally-wanted criminal, so he’s kind of stuck living on his hidden private island in his multi-billion dollar secret base, strapping lasers to sharks’ heads for the hell of it. Gross, selfish, uncaring, and dangerous? For sure. Evil? Depends on your definition. See, now we’re getting somewhere.

_-_

13) It’s tempting to let the plot control the characters. It’s easy to drop your characters into a situation and see how they react. But here’s the thing: that doesn’t drive plot. In fact, it bogs down pacing. Instead, try to build you plot off of your characters’ actions and decisions. Let your character build their own situation. Not to say it should go they way they wanted it to go; in fact, usually, their grand plans should go to hell very quickly. But having the characters take action and make decisions, and letting the plot develop based on that, is much easier to make compelling than making a rigid series of events and then trying to herd your characters into them.

_-_

14) Having trouble justifying a character’s actions? Consider having them make the opposite decision, or having them approach the situation in a different way. For example: you need your character to go meet the bad guy, for plot reasons, even though there’s no way it’s not a trap. If the character goes, readers are gonna be groaning with their head in their hands, because c’mon man, that was really fucking stupid. But he’s gotta go, because the plot needs that. Two ways you might handle this: a) He knows it’s probably a trap. He decides not to go. The plot conspires to get him near the villain anyway. Or, b) He knows it’s a trap. But he needs to go, for (insert reasons here). So, he approaches it in an unexpected way. He brings backup, recruiting a side character we met earlier in the story. Or he arrives on the back of a dragon, because ain’t nobody gonna fuck with a dude on a dragon. Or he goes - early, and ambushes the villain. It may work, it may not. He may get himself kidnapped anyway. But it moves the plot along without having Stupid Hero Syndrome.

_-_

15) This is a legit piece of advice: if all of this sounds overwhelming, literally just ignore it and write what you want. For real. Writing should be fun, and every single writer operates differently. If you’re sitting here like “I’m getting stressed just reading this,” just flip me a good-natured bird and get on with your life. I promise I won’t take it personally. Same goes for literally any other writing advice you see. Lots of rules and guidelines can very quickly make anything thoroughly un-fun. Just write. If you’re passionate about it and you do it for long enough, you’ll start figuring out the tips and tricks on your own.

_-_

16) Here’s the best piece of advice I can give you: know your characters. More importantly, know what’s important to them. Build their personality and decisions off of that, and build your plot off of their decisions.

I see a lot of character building sheets that ask a shit-ton of questions like “What’s their most prized possession?” “Do they like their family?” “What’s their favorite food?”

And while these are good questions, my problem with this type of character building is that if you start there, with the little stuff, you’re building on nothing. IMO, to make a truly strong character (not strong like Inner Strength, strong like effective), you need a strong foundation.

Here are the things you must know about your character:

a) What are their greatest fears / deepest insecurities? And I don’t mean “wasps” or “heights.” I mean the deep shit. I mean fears like “living a meaningless life,” or “turning out just like their parents,” or “that no one will ever love them,” or “being powerless.” You may say, “But they’re really scared of wasps! They fall into a wasp nest when they were little and got stung so much they almost died!” Great! That’s a fantastic bit of backstory. They should absolutely be afraid of wasps, and that should absolutely be an impediment later in the story. But dig deeper. What about that event actually scarred them? Was it the helplessness? Stumbling around, swatting at the air, not being able to do a single thing to stop what was happening to them? Was it that they were alone, and no matter how loud they screamed, no one was coming? Was it the bodily horror of feeling themself turn into an inhuman creature as they swelled up from the stings, unable to move their fingers or face normally anymore?

And don’t forget insecurities, because those factor in, too. Are they deeply insecure about their identity? Do they believe, deep down, that they’re ugly? Did they grow up poor and they’ve always been really touchy about that? Why? Dig deep. Figure out what really, really bothers them.

b) What are their hopes and dreams? What do they truly want out of life? What do they consider the most valuable to their experience here in this thing called life? Is it the freedom to forge their own path and be independent? Is it the approval of their family or peers? Is it a home? Is it knowledge, or understanding? Spiritual fulfillment? Is it deeply important to them that they contribute to their community, or protect those they love? What do they need in order to feel truly and deeply fulfilled in life?

Figure out those two things (each one encompasses several things, btw, you don’t have to stop at just one for each), and then use that to inform how they behave and the types of decisions they make within the story. 

It also informs character behavior and personality. 

Let’s say we have a character who’s afraid of helplessness. They’re probably gonna be the person that always wants to do something, try something, no matter how hopeless the situation seems. They’d despise just sitting and waiting, probably, because it makes them feel powerless. They might even be the person that makes rash decisions and acts impulsively and puts themself in danger unnecessarily, because in their mind it’s better than being at the mercy of fate. This is one way you could use a character’s personality to inform their decisions, which in turn helps to inform plot.

Or, let’s say we have a character whose greatest fear is being left behind or forgotten. We may have a chatterbox on our hands. They might be obnoxious. They might love the spotlight, constantly vying for attention no matter the situation, because deep down they’re so afraid that they’d be forgotten otherwise. Or, it may go the opposite way. They may be so afraid of people leaving them that they’re terrified of bothering people. They don’t want to do anything that could annoy people, anything that might give people a reason to leave them. They might be exceedingly polite, quiet, accommodating. A push-over, really.

These are two nearly opposite types of personalities, both stemming from the same core fear/insecurity. You can go a lot of different ways with it. But if you build on that strong foundation, you’ll have a strong character, and a stronger plot.

Likewise, the structure of your story can and should inform the design of these character traits. If you need your characters to team up near the end, it may be impactful if you give your main character a deep fear of commitment, an insecurity about being unwanted or left behind, and make them highly value independence and freedom. That could make their team-up for the final battle very meaningful. Conversely, you can use your character’s deepest fears and desires to help design the plot. Is your character deeply insecure about voicing their opinions or taking a stand, because of trauma they faced in the past? Make them face that. Build that into the climactic third act. Give them the big inspirational speech where they stand up and talk about what they believe to be important, what they think the group should do. And then design that character arc to run through the story, giving you more handholds and stepping stones, more pieces of foundation on which to design the plot.

In this way, character should inform story as much as story informs character. It’s a feedback loop.

Bonus: if you build your character and your plot off of each other in this way, it automatically starts to build in the foundations of that emotional investment I mentioned earlier. If your character’s decisions are based on what they most want and do not want in life, you basically have your character motivation and stakes pre-built.

Note: you need to know these things about your villain, too.

-_-_-

I’m genuinely sorry about the length of this, lmao. But you did ask.

Best of luck!

Edit: I forgot an important one:

17) Start when the scene starts and end when the scene ends.

What do I mean by that?

If your notes say “Danny asks Nicole out after school and majorly flubs it,” start the scene when Danny approaches Nicole after school. Better yet, cold-open the scene on “I was wondering if, you know, you’d wanna. You know. Hang out some time?”

Don’t start that morning when Danny goes to school, unless you’re gonna cover the school day in like one or two sentences. Don’t spend whole paragraphs going through the school day, unless it’s to cover other plot points first (in which case apply these same guidelines there), or if the paragraphs are there for a specific reason, like to illustrate how stressed he is and how it seems like every little thing is going wrong. Even then, trim the fat as much as possible. Expounding and describing everything Moment-to-moment is for the meat of the scenes, not the leading-up-to and coming-away-from.

Here’s my rule of thumb: study how and when movies cut from scene to scene. Movies have exceptionally strict, limited time for storytelling; they’re excellent examples of starting a scene when the plot point starts and ending when it’s over. If you can’t picture a movie showing everything you showed, start the scene later and end it earlier.

[lwt28brave]

LT2 masterpost

If it was up to me, we would get an autumn or winter EP. Since it’s not up to me at all, here, enjoy this post with everything we know so far of LT2, which is to say, not much at all. Everything here is hypothetical. I’ll be updating every time I see something relevant. A little disclaimer that while this is a masterpost (kinda), it could be read as discourse (duh, it’s also a theory), AND it’s also by me, and you shouldn’t expect me to be serious at this point.

Due to me restraining myself, there’s no reference to any of the times he’s mentioned his guitar skills and him improving but I hope you know I cried every single time.

I’m also linking my old pinned here. It was written before AFHF and around the free merch thing that didn’t lead to much, but I still think I made some good points.

Possible tracks:

Copy of a Copy of a Copy

Change

Faith in the future??

369??

Possible names:

369

Faith in the future

When is the album coming out?

Your guess is as good as mine

Friday 28th of January 2022. Almost two years after Walls. It’s a Friday. It’s a 28th. What else can I say?

Here you can find @want-to-be-loved timelines for every month.

Here you can find @berlinini’s timeline of what Louis has been up to this year (2021).

The rest is under the cut. And here you can find a PDF version where Tumblr can't tell me how many pictures I can add.

2020

He said back on May 2th 2020 he wasn’t writing anything new yet.

(x)(x)(x)

Interestingly enough, he’s said many times after that that the album’s not ready cause he has no new experiences to drawn from. I won’t call him out because he does it himself.

May 4th. He liked a tweet from DMA’s Johnny Took saying they had to go write together again. Louis has been credited as an influence for them and (kind of) participated in their previous record, so I’m assuming he meant for their music and not his, but you never know.

Nothing(literally nothing??? how did we survive) until 11th of July. We all know what happened that day. We all celebrated it. Nonetheless, that’s not what I’m talking about here.

(x) So, by the beginning of July 2020 he was working on concepts and ideas for the new album. That was fifteen months ago. I know perfection takes time but…

Brief summary of important things that happened from then until the next mention of new music:

Louis left Syco!!!! 10 days later he rescheduled the tour for the first time. He followed Matt Vines on Twitter, probably so we could publicly shame him into doing something. Also, the 10thanniversary. He followed more people I wish he hadn’t.

Then more nothing until September. Not even a single tweet. The first merch drop was on the 28th of August but he just RT’ed the tweet. He first mentioned Free my Meal on the 25th of September. Then on October 1st Walls hit #1 on a lot of countries and Louis was incredibly happy and excited about it ^^

And then, that same day, October 1st, 2020, he dropped this bomb:

(x)

He also said it was too soon to be sharing new lyrics with us (x)

And, obviously, this tweet which is actually what made me start this whole post. I would hope you know mate.

(x)

He also told us he was cooking "banger after banger" and that he was incorporating more social themes into his music (x)(x) (I believe any social issue is a political issue but that’s not the point rn).

COPY OF A COPY OF A COPY?!?!

These next paragraphs are brought to you by my mind not remembering things and me not having any links. I’m assuming COACOAC came from those writing sessions that supposedly happened in October. Or in LA but I have no idea if he actually was in LA at any point other than a Daily Mail article putting him there on December which would have been too late, but I do remember that someone said he was in the studio in LA last autumn???? A rumor. Maybe. IDK. Did I mention already all of this is very hypothetical?? Well, this is it. I can’t even remember if this was October or November or what. So, take this with a grain of salt.

I’m also… taking the liberty to assume, if you must, that Copy wasn’t meant to be a Walls reject because it sounds more mature and darker and it has a vastly different tone that Walls songs. I know he’s said that song probably isn’t getting into the album, but I want to have faith (in the future) that I’m getting a studio version. (But also, Louis, if you’re reading this, first of all GET OUT OF MY BLOG second of all, please don’t ever feel pressured again to add a song to the album because we have already heard it before. It’s your art and it should always be under your own terms).

So yeah, I believe that Copy is either one of those four songs (then imagine the other three??!!) or was written around the 1st of October date.

---End of the Intermission---

Then not much important (other than sharing more about Marcus Rashford fight against food poverty and the 2nd merch drop) until he announced the livestream on the 24th of November. (x)

It wasn’t until a few days before the livestream date we even thought again about new music (jk, I know we’re always thinking about new Louis’ music). So, December 9th/10th, 2020. Nine months ago. We got our first taste of new music!

He made sure we knew Copy of a Copy of a Copy isn't a cover! (x) (x)

(x)

Ok, so that’s it for 2020. (I feel like I’m missing something from September 17th because tweet was deleted but maybe he was still talking about cucumbers. We might never know. Unless I understand how Tumblr tags work). Expected, cause Walls was released in 2020. We needed to let it sit for a while.

2021

Another Summary: Louis third tweet of the year was telling the UK government off. So was the fifth. What a good beginning. On the 26th of January, he said he prefers pancakes over waffles. I hope he meant pancakes other than his own. More importantly, he tweeted the infamous “you lot read into things too much”. Don’t get me started, Tomlinson. Don’t. Then the 31st came around and Walls was one. He tweeted this. How wise. And Project Defenceless happened!!

15th of February!! Who cares about Valentine Day when the next day we got this? ♥

(x)

(x)

So…AN EP?? AN EP?? PLEASE RELEASE AN EP.

“I’m sure I will have something out this year but unlikely that will be the album”. Unlikely but not impossible. Also. A single would be good. This is the second time he mentions releasing something in 2021 and he sounds surer about it than the first time around.

He also said that he isn’t sure we will get a studio version of Copy. And that the best bridges from Walls to LT2 are Walls, OTB, KMM and Copy. Can’t wait!

Then we jump to March 6th when he announced he was going to create his own management company. “Sometimes action is needed first to encourage the motivation and belief”. As we can tell he was already manifesting some stuff which will lead us to the numerology stuff/Tesla… kidding. Or not. We might never know.

On the 22nd of March he answered some questions:

He told us music was still his main focus ♥ mwha. (x) I included this tweet to guilt-trip him into giving us music in case he’s reading this even after I told him to leave. ILY.

(x) I’d love to get a visual EP this autumn. Just saying. It sounds like a lovely concept.

(x)

…next (I will get into it, I promise. I’m just mad).

On the 25th he left for Mexico until April 10th. You could assume it was just for the documentary where we got ten seconds of footage or admit the obvious: LT2 its a Mexican baby!!

On the 26th (so, not so far apart from that first 369) we got the first Faith in the Future mention: (x)

Back then we were innocent people who had no idea what was coming upon us. We still have no idea because what the fuck does he mean with these. Please explain. I have one braincell and I don’t use it enough for this. I’m linking some theories.

On the 30th of March he confirmed he was already working on the documentary. So AFHF was already on the works. Will it take this long for us to get the Veeps numbers? We also got this tweet: "Got a decent chorus idea down" (x).

Same person that got the “something out this year” exclusive. If you know something share with the class. Also. Is this Change? I feel like this could be Change but I also assume he wrote Change after hanging out with his friends or being in Doncaster. But who knows.

(x) And the second mention to 369.

(x) 15th of April. The second "Faith in the future".

On the 19th of April he announced that he had something BIG for us later on the year which turned out to be the Away From Home Festival ♥♥ (x) I love him so much.

Then on the 28th he announced the 369 merch drop (which it’s probably the Walls drop? Except that the TOU and KMM ones were “drop 1 and drop 2” and this was drop 369 which, again, makes no sense) but we still don’t know what 369 means.

Into May’ 21 we go.

He rescheduled tour again. And dropped another bomb (x).

He announced he has signed with BMG as an independent artist by RTing this tweet on May 10th. The article also says that he’s already working on writing and recording LT2. The timing… we don’t know. What this deal involves… we don’t know either. Bear with me here because I have a lot to say about this.

I think the deal is only a distribution one, but that BMG are interested in Louis and what he (us) could bring to the table. They were either present at the festival or watching it, but officially they had no involvement at all with it (everything is credited either to Louis own company, 78 Productions, or Charlie Lightening’s company). That’s the case for both giveaways too; the vinyl one and the tickets for the festival.

I think it would be an unbelievably bad move not to test the waters with BMG now or soon-ish. At least a single, to see how it performs. Due to the circumstances, it’s obvious there’re certain limitations on place but I want to see how they push it, whether the radio play exist this time around and if the song is playlisted and promoted and all that… I would also love to know, since it says he signed with BMG UK, but it also states it’s a global deal, how things are going to go on the US and other countries.

Yes, yes. I know those are all questions and no answers. But I know the same as you, sadly. If any of you know more than you’re letting on… again, share with the class.

Where was I? Yes, on the 25th of May Louis had a great day writing (x). Since the first time he had mentioned he was officially writing to this date there’s almost eight months. And I believe he was writing before October’ 20.

He followed Robert Harvey that day and, on the 28th of May (why is it always the 28th???) he was spotted at the studio for the first time.

June was an interesting month for the fandom ♥. Lots of LHL content which I will love and cherish for the rest of times. On June 4th, June 9th, and June 10th he was spotted at the studio, but I believe he was there more days.

(x)

This was posted on June 6th and captioned Studio. Charlie also shared it with “Mega tunes being put down, can’t wait for this @louist91 #louistomlinson #LT2” as the caption. This gives me 2019 (Elton-Joint) vibes. I like it. Feels like we’re getting closer to something.

He added the Milano date on the 9th too which I’m mentioning because I’m going alone. Anyone wanna go with me please? I’m nice and I never eat anything before a concert so you can have my food. On other news. It didn’t come home.

During July he was at the studio at least three days too. Probably more. Feels like more with all the fan pictures we got. Or was that June? Anyway, July 1st and 9th we got some videos from Robert Harvey and wearesuperhi, which is who Louis has been working with the most, that we know of. I don’t know for sure they’re from that day. And on July 5th we got an article and lots of pictures of Louis looking really good outside the studio.

On the 12th of July the first fans started getting the free, 369 bucket hat and print. We still don’t know what the purpose was other than to thanks fans. Maybe that was it. I want answers and I still think it relates to a future project (see theories above), but it could also just be a bridge with the Walls breaking.

He didn’t tweet about anything interesting for a while, mostly because he lost his phone (he either throwed it in the air or smashed it who knows). Then on the 29th of July he announced the festival!

I’m glossing over it because there’s already been a lot of talk about it (rightfully) and while it was a wonderful thing, it doesn’t have much to do with LT2.

Let’s talk Change!

On August 3rd he tweeted this about the setlist.

(x)

And this (x) on the 28th! I can’t stand him.

We didn’t get it, obviously. Because who was going to get that. But we read too much into things. Alright.

On the 16thof August Dave Gibson shared this post tagged #LT2 with the eyes emojis 👀👀👀. I believe this has to do both with Change but also with whatever else came out of that Mexico trip.

(x) Last relevant tweet related to LT2 is this one.

So, on the 30th of August we got Change and we cried, and we know that Change is going in the new album. He said it. With those exact words. He also said he was “getting a feeling for it”. This has to meant he already has a general idea of the vibe of the new album and what’s going in it!!!!!! (Right? RIGHT?).

Anyway, let’s go back a few weeks because some other things happened on August. He was at the studio a few more times. Or it was suggested that he was there. On the 17th and the 18th. (Why was it so time-pressing to be at the studio instead of rehearsing for the festival? There was no studio at all on the documentary. Which makes sense, but again, then why?).

On the day of the festival we got another mention of Faith in The Future that made me feel part of a cult ngl. The words were flashing on the screen for less than a second. Okay.

And then he tweeted those words again after watching the livestream/documentary on the 4th of September (x). This is what makes me suspect it's either the name of the album or of the single.

On the same day, we got some interesting quotes about LT2 on the documentary.

“Soon I’ll have to think about me second album, which in my head I’ll get the tour out of the way and then I’ll address that. So, I hadn’t really given it much thought, to be honest”.

“When every day is the same is hard to feel creative and it’s hard to have any kind of proper inspiration”.

“As season started to come back, I started writing again and it was great and some of these songs turned out alright”.

And I think this is it. I might be overlooking some important details but that’s what we know and what we don’t know.

So. Conclusions. That’s what you missed on Glee. I do believe the album is, if not mostly done, partially there. And yes, this post is pointless and never-ending but it’s all in here if you need to tell Louis “Hey, you said this, mate”.