#i can’t sing the x factor musical

[musical-dreamcasts]

Hadestown - Cynthia Erivo (she/her) as Persephone, requested by anon

Birthday: January 8, 1987 (age 35)

Birth Place: Stockwell, London, England

Theatre credits include: Celie Harris Johnson (The Color Purple), Deloris Van Cartier (Sister Act), Rosemary Pilkington (How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying), Cathy Hiatt (The Last Five Years), Dessa Rose (Dessa Rose), Puck (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Chenice (I Can’t Sing! The X Factor Musical). Erivo also played the role of the Blue Fairy in the 2022 live action adaptation of Pinocchio. She will also play the role of Elphaba in the two-part film adaptation of Wicked.

(Pictured on the right is Lana Gordon, who is currently playing the role in the US tour production)

Credits: Terrell Mullin, Lana Gordon

[onlyangle1]

X FACTOR

HELLO LOVERS!! this is my very first fake instagram fic so i do apologise if this is a bit shit, but if you like it i will continue this and make it a bit of a series/fic thingy.

had no clue who to choose as a face claim so i decided to use ari! <33

Summary: Y/N supports her big brother when he goes to the x factor!!

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Y/Nhorran

Liked by niallhoran and 64 others

Y/Nhorran I can’t believe my smelly big bother just sang infront of KATY PERRY!!!! LIKE WHAT? No no in all seriousness im so proud of you, dont forget me when your all big and famous!!!

p.s next round tell katy i love her!! xx

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Niallhoran Thanks tiny ❤️ I’ll be sure to tell her next time she comes round for tea, shall I? You are a melon aren’t ya x

Y/Nhoran Yes that would be much appreciated thank you! xx

Maura.horan He is a cutie isnt he! We’re all so proud my love xx

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Y/Nhoran

Liked by Niallhoran and 72 others

Y/Nhoran LOOK AT THESE MUPETS!! Who knew Ni-Ni could fly? Crazy days.

ANYWAYS IM SO PROUD OF YOU NIALL, LOVE YOU SO SO MUCH!!!! xx

(thank you mumzy for catching my reaction x)

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Niallhoran Thanks pumpkin, now come to my room so I give you a big cuddle xxx

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Niallhoran

Liked by Y/Nhoran and 172 others

Niallhoran Tiny has been watching my X Factor performances at least twice a day for the last week, as much as i love her support, she needs to turn it the fuck down! xx

view all 42 comments

Harrystyles Don’t be horrid Nialler

Y/Nhoran Yeah ni-ni, listen to your mate.

Maura.horan Aw she just loves ya, darling x

Niallhoran Don’t be on her side mum!!

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Y/N lounged on the comfortable bean bag she had brought into Niall's bedroom, her eyes fixed on the vibrant posters that adorned the walls. The room was a mix of music and Hannah Montana memorabilia, a reflection of Niall's interests. The soft hum of their favorite tunes played in the background, creating a cozy atmosphere.

Niall, her big brother, sprawled out on his bed with a guitar in hand, strumming casually as they shared stories and laughter. His fingers strummed the strings effortlessly, a skill he had gained over the years. Y/N admired her brother's musical talent, feeling a sense of pride as he effortlessly played familiar tunes.

During their childhood, the two often enjoyed karaoke, and other musical activities together, finding comfort in each other's singing. Y/N, having a desire to audition for the X Factor alongside Niall, never mustered the courage, letting him take the stage and eventually become a part of the growing band, One Direction. As the five boys' musical journey unfolded, Y/N eagerly looked forward to meeting them, hoping they were as friendly as Niall made them out to be.

“So when ya’ gonna come meet me mates then?” Niall questioned looking up from his guitar almost like he was reading your mind.

“Not sure you know, whenever really.” She said with a shrug looking back down at her phone and quickly messaging someone back.

“I’ll sort something for ya pumpkin, these are my best mates! Need to meet them at some point.” Niall sent her a soft loving smile beginning to think up ideas to make the day they all met even more special.

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A note from moi: Im sorry it’s so short but i really didn’t know what to do for the first post but i hope this was okay and i’ll be making better as time goes on 🫶🏻🩷 Remember to eat, drink water and wear your suncream, love ya’s xx

Taglist: (if you want to be on the taglist just let me know!)

[tomorrowxtogether]

The inner workings of idol casting are what brought TXT and EN- to the world

When it comes to scouting, it’s all about plucking stars from the sky

2023.04.10

BIGHIT MUSIC Casting head Hong Seung Woo can still remember the first time he caught sight of future TOMORROW X TOGETHER member BEOMGYU. “Even though I was far away, I could see he had really strongly defined eyes, nose and mouth as he ran for his parents’ car, and I chased after him with all my might knowing I couldn’t just let him go.” His sharp eye, which he used to find TOMORROW X TOGETHER members BEOMGYU, TAEHYUN and HUENINGKAI, as well as ENHYPEN members JUNGWON, HEESEUNG, JAY and SUNGHOON, is a testament to how important scouting and, more broadly, casting are in the K-pop world. MOA, the fandom of TOMORROW X TOGETHER, often asks how BIGHIT MUSIC was ever able to find five members with their looks, personalities, backgrounds and capacity for growth, as well as how different they are from one another. If TOMORROW X TOGETHER were made up of different people, it’s unlikely they’d be anything like the group they are today. If ENHYPEN didn’t include former figure skater SUNGHOON and taekwondo buff JUNGWON, it’s likely the performance styles and even seemingly trivial in-house content items may have been impacted. “From management to production, things only move forward when the casting’s done the right way, and that’s what makes it the first step of everything in the entertainment industry,” Hong explained. “That makes the casting team an important pipeline that’s tightly integrated with all other areas.”

Every possible way is utilized for casting: open auditions held by labels, visits to K-pop academies and even scouting on social media. Of all the approaches available, you might expect chance encounters with future talent through street scouting to yield low results, but there’s a surprisingly active effort toward it. It’s exactly how Hong discovered BEOMGYU in front of his middle school in Daegu and where he handed his business card to future ENHYPEN member HEESEUNG as the idol-to-be left the entrance exam for an arts high school “wearing a red padded jacket” but whose “face is what immediately caught my eye.” While good looks are an important factor when it comes to street scouting, it’s what comes next in the process where the true casting takes place. According to Hong, although neither BEOMGYU nor HEESEUNG had ever had any training whatsoever, they showed clear potential during their auditions. “As soon as I heard BEOMGYU’s voice, I knew he would be great with some training,” Hong said, “and you could tell HEESEUNG had a feel for singing right from the start.” He could see what direction and how far the two boys would go after training with BIGHIT MUSIC (then Big Hit Entertainment) despite their as-yet unpolished abilities and that’s what led to the label signing them on as trainees. HEESEUNG had the skill and the attitude to make him, in the other ENHYPEN members’ words, the “model image and paragon of a trainee,” placing him top of the trainee class every month. BEOMGYU was not only ready to debut after a short time of preparation but also the song he wrote while first learning the craft, “Maze in the Mirror,” was included on one of TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s albums. Cases like these demonstrate why Hong emphasizes each person’s “potential” again and again. “There’s so many times that someone thinks they can’t sing or dance but they actually have a talent they don’t know about. We’ll even ask candidates to sing the national anthem or their school song when needed. We also have them rap or act. It’s impossible to say what talents will turn up where so we keep every door open.”

With the increase in people who want to become idols, the number of auditions has increased as well, giving them an opportunity to have their skills and potential judged directly. It’s for this reason that there are academies that specialize specifically in preparing students for the K-pop audition process entirely separate from those for music and dance alone. “We used to focus on vocal or dance skills, or teaching for school entrance exams, but now we provide training exclusively for idol auditions,” a representative from one such academy said, explaining that there’s now a demand for “training that prepares people for the audition screening process.” Their academy has come up with a system that focuses on teaching idol hopefuls to put on “a performance that most effectively shows off what makes them unique by taking a balanced approach that doesn’t prioritize either vocals or dance over the other,” and they coach students in how to maximize their individual visual appeal, too. For example, if someone aspires to join BIGHIT MUSIC and has something about them that reminds of YEONJUN from TOMORROW X TOGETHER, they receive help on crafting “a similar image, using YEONJUN’s hair and styling as reference.” As K-pop idols continue to become more skilled and the expectations in scouting and auditioning for labels have followed in tow, thorough training for a high level of aptitude across a wide spectrum of talents has become an integral part of the process for attaining the idol dream. In that sense, scouting and auditioning are equivalent to a job-hunting process in the eyes of prospective idols today, the academy rep said. “Everyone finds the process of looking for a job hard. You have to have the right stuff on your resume and put together a portfolio. What these people are doing is making a portfolio made up of singing, dancing and themselves.”

With everything idols-to-be put into training to try and become one of the labels’ trainees now, being selected through scouting or auditions is more and more about the amount of effort they’re willing to put in. It’s becoming less and less likely to be selected on looks or first impressions alone. “These days it’s hard to make it to the end, even if you look good, if you don’t have talent,” the academy rep said. “Naturally, talent tends to be proportional to the amount of practice you put in. So few people are actually scouted and it can take more than a year to be signed as a trainee, especially with the major labels, but those who continuously set goals and put in the time and effort make it in the end.” Some labels monitor how well probationary trainees are coming along before officially inducting them, and trainees in this situation are especially aware of this reality. “For those who get feedback from the label telling them where they can improve and that they should work on it, if they take that and make a real effort to improve, they usually make the final cut.” Some people therefore have the “potential” that Hong pointed to, but others can also reach the same level on their own sheer willpower. In ENHYPEN leader JUNGWON’s case, Hong received his photo from another trainee’s mother and was immediately “surprised by how cute he looked, so I had to at least check this kid out, even if it’s just because he’s so cute. They set up a proper meeting after JUNGWON had finished training with another label and Hong casted him after seeing he had “a good overall balance of singing, dancing and looks.” After Hong wrote a report on JUNGWON for the label, he was concerned how “his cuteness unfortunately didn’t come across as well as it could” and Hong suggested he go on a diet. The eventual ENHYPEN leader instilled renewed confidence in Hong, making a “drastic change in a really short timeframe thanks to cutting out his nightly ice cream completely and working out.” Hong felt “from now on he could do anything if he’s that driven and persistent.”

The academy rep said there’s been an increasing number of young hopefuls who “find the right academy and program by themselves and register after getting consultation on their own.” Teen stardom seekers have become very active in the process and it’s having a positive effect on their personal development, including in nurturing their talents. “Their one goal training to be an idol is to debut, but they also have a lot of fun doing it. They feel alive because they’re doing something and they end up knowing how to do more things in the world.” It’s also become possible thanks to “parents becoming much more aware about K-pop idols due to world-famous groups like BTS.” Hong added that he can feel how “the acceptability has clearly gone up because of this generation of parents having a comparatively strong understanding of K-pop culture.” JAY from ENHYPEN has previously talked about how he had given careful consideration to his future plans after wrapping up his previous training, at which point he had taken lessons with the goal of being a part of Big Hit Entertainment like BTS before him, practicing hard before finally passing the audition. “He stood out more than anyone his age,” Hong recalled upon having met him. “He was especially good at rapping and came across as shy at first but it was amazing to see how confident he looked as soon as he started rapping—like he had never been shy at all.” It was at that moment when all the effort he had put into, as he said, practicing for months to sharpen those skills, finally paid off. The representative with the academy stressed the importance for there to be safety measures in place to protect teenagers at a time when it’s become so commonplace for them to pursue the dream of becoming an idol. There’s fairly open access to relevant information now compared to how shrouded in secrecy the label audition process was in the past but there are still some questionable people who prey on kids’ dreams of the idol life, which is why the academy rep works so hard to share information about all the different trainee ecosystems, including their scouting and auditioning processes. “For aspiring idols, the more information, the better. I think it’s on the adults to create a healthy culture since this is a world for people in their teens and 20s.”

Generational changes have had a progressive impact on the casting process, but changes in the K-pop market have had an impact as well, as HUENINGKAI’s own experience shows. “HUENINGKAI looked particularly young for his age but it’s his voice that really stands out in my memory,” Hong said. “He had the pop vibe Big Hit Entertainment was going for at the time and I thought he would go a long way to making the team succeed not only in Korea but worldwide.” TOMORROW X TOGETHER was intended to appeal to a global audience directly from the debut and so Big Hit Entertainment was looking for trainees who would have global appeal right from the scouting stage. According to the academy rep, “It used to be that companies like overseas labels came looking for training or auditions, but now there’s far more individuals contacting us because they want to become idols in Korea.” As K-pop spreads the world over, people from all around want to become K-pop idols and, at the same time, the industry is looking abroad to scout for and cast people, which is exactly why the global BIGHIT MUSIC NEW BOY GROUP AUDITION is being held: to find future members of the successors to BTS and TOMORROW X TOGETHER. Hong said the auditions for BIGHIT MUSIC’s third boy group has an identical set of standards for all potential talent, whether Korean or not, and that “anyone who dreams of being an artist can try out.” The academy rep offers what could be another tip for those looking to audition: “The labels never used to give much thought to things like academic performance but nowadays I think they’re accounting more for grades and the ability to speak multiple languages. I think they’re paying more attention now to those who show themselves to be individualistic and self-motivated.”

When TOMORROW X TOGETHER member TAEHYUN talked about his own casting experience in the group’s promotional video for BIGHIT MUSIC NEW BOY GROUP AUDITION, he said he chose BIGHIT MUSIC over all the other labels that were trying to court him because he “felt certain that I would receive wholehearted support.” That was after the casting team spent a lot of time and effort to persuade the future idol at a point when he was refusing to become an idol trainee. Although he didn’t scout TAEHYUN personally, Hong was the one who first told TAEHYUN’s scout about him. “TAEHYUN’s so shrewd that he already had his whole life planned out despite being so young,” Hong said. “He was really passionate about his studies and was determined to get into a good school. He was mature and realistic, so we didn’t feed him an idealized version—we told him everything straight and we were realistic about it.” SUNGHOON was making a name for himself as a figure skater before he eventually debuted with ENHYPEN—again the result of Hong “pouring everything I had into” getting the future idol on board. Hong spent a significant amount of time talking with SUNGHOON’s parents, trying to persuade them with various possibilities including that he take on his careers in sports and music simultaneously. “In the end,” Hong said, casting is all about “sincerity.” Casting directors must come prepared with a full vision for their hopefuls and concrete steps the trainees-to-be can take to fulfill it, and be confident in their decisions at the same time. It’s that confidence that led him to persuading SUNGHOON, who already showed many different talents, to try out to be an idol. “I figured he would pick up dance quick thanks to all his experience figure skating and, seeing as he was an athlete, I was confident he would be responsible and competitive. People with that kind of ambition always end up doing well.” Hong’s confidence went on to completely reshape someone’s life. 

Back when they were still known as Big Hit Entertainment, the label had just one team taking on a new artist’s every need—from casting all the way to training and management. Now, BIGHIT MUSIC has a separate, specialized team for every concern, and they continue to iterate on their casting process to this day. According to Hong, the BIGHIT MUSIC Casting team continuously researches new methods on the best paths to cast artists, evaluation standards that are in line with the latest trends and approaches to promotion and scouting in addition to actually casting group members. “For casting, you can’t get stuck in an outdated mindset and you have to be quicker than anyone at picking up, and then keeping up with, new trends and especially those that are unique to and popular with teens,” Hong explained. That’s why the casting team “goes out and interviews teens directly about what they like to do, their patterns, what they’re interested in and more,” developing new avenues for scouting based on the information they amass. “Using apps like ZEPETO and Bondee that are popular with teens” is something else they consider when making contact. “We take many different possible approaches to casting, researching the trends of today and doing market research like plotting out the appearances of idols by generation and the characteristics of each country and making guidelines for that.” Hong said that casting is “mostly intuition- and feeling-dependent” and it isn’t absolutely required that they make concrete, systematic decisions for such a subjective and abstract job. Still, the reason for taking the approaches they do is clear. “If it could be in any way helpful, we just try it. We’re always eager to discover people’s latent potential and help them explore their dreams of becoming an artist. That’s also why we work hard to cultivate casting professionals by establishing a system for casting and improving on that process.”

Last year on Teachers’ Day, JUNGWON expressed his gratitude toward Hong on the EBS radio show Listen, calling Hong a memorable mentor and explaining how he spared no effort giving advice and encouragement from the time JUNGWON was casted to the day he became an artist. When artists he casted reach out from time to time to tell him they’ll never forget his efforts, Hong said, “any sense of feeling tired or drained goes right out the window and I think about how I made the right choice getting into this job.” But for anyone working in the field, that same sense of joy is accompanied by an equally serious sense of responsibility. “I used to go full speed, fearlessly, into casting, but since then I’ve necessarily started to think things through a little bit more and be more cautious,” Hong said. “My decisions change the daily and long-term lives of countless people.” Not only does the decision to cast someone in the role of idol have a profound impact on that person’s teens and 20s, but that one person in turn will have an influence on innumerable others. That’s why happiness for casting directors like Hong is their discovered trainee blooming into an artist. Hong and others can also rest assured they made the right choice when they see those artists grow. “I’m always rooting for TOMORROW X TOGETHER and ENHYPEN,” Hong said. “I feel as proud as a dad. When the members I casted myself and continue to cherish—people I realized were the one—continue to grow as artists and I see how much they’re loved by people …Is there any feeling in the world better than that?”

[zot3-flopped]

Not the Liam Payneful stans celebrating 4 years of LP like it won 10 Grammys 🤣🤣🤣

An apt moment to remind ourselves of what Pitchfork said about it!

Score: 4.3

By Rawiya Kamei

REVIEWED:

December 16, 2019

The former One Direction member’s solo debut is just another pop star flailing to find his identity amid trend-hopping production and half-baked lyrics.

One Direction was famously assembled because Simon Cowell and his fellow X-Factor judges didn’t have much faith in the boys’ potential as solo artists. If Liam Payne’s debut, released more than a decade after the band’s televised genesis, is any indication, Cowell was right. Payne is, at best, competent.

His voice is pleasant but not especially charismatic. His choices are safe but uninspired. A couple of years after launching his career, his musical identity remains wholly unremarkable. (Cowell has since criticized Payne in the press for signing with Capitol, and not his own pop-pipeline label.) 

LP1’s 17 songs, including a 2018 Rita Ora collab from the 50 Shades Freed soundtrack and a Christmas number tacked on at the end, have the ambiance and trend-scraping of a Zara fitting room.

The journey from boy band to solo act has broken many aspiring pop stars. But what it requires most—gesturing at a distinct, compelling identity—is Payne’s biggest question mark. Despite being a UK tabloid fixture, he’s been unable to convey a discernible personality—or any personality at all.

Even with a built-in global audience of millions, it’s unclear who this collection of middling songs could possibly resonate with. Former Directioners clamoring for a solo Liam album? New fans seeking nondescript, paint-by-numbers pop? And yet, improbably, Payne has been among the band’s most successful solo members, metrics-wise.

“Strip That Down,” a 2017 love song premised on his freedom from One Direction and featuring a bloodless verse from Quavo, has amassed billions of plays. Other singles, like “Familiar” with J Balvin and “Get Low” with Zedd, despite being completely unmemorable, have proved adequate enough to satisfy the low bar of a generic pop playlist.

Throwing spaghetti at a Spotify algorithm and seeing what sticks appears to be Payne’s strategy with the rest of LP1. The single “Stack It Up,” featuring A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, further betrays his ambition of an Ed Sheeran-style metabolism of the current pop sounds. There are layered R&B harmonies, vaguely Latin rhythms, and compressed synths as melody, but even with two songs written by Sheeran himself, Payne only gasps at his radio-ready effectiveness.

In recent press, Payne has hinted at the complexity of his life post-One Direction, including fatherhood, brushes with substance abuse, and frustration with accepting his role as the band’s most-boring member. But he draws little inspiration from that wealth of real-life experience. Instead, he relies on inane songwriting concepts, rote misogyny, and feelingless flexing.

The lyrics are puerile and half-baked. It’s hardly worth laying them all out on the page, but the worst offender must be from (the nerve!) “Hips Don’t Lie”: “Don’t be giving me the eye/Unless you got what I need/I hope your hips don’t lie/Unless they’re lying with me,” he sings.

One song, “Both Ways,” takes the trope of hetero objectification of bisexual women to gross new lows: “No, no, I don’t discriminate/Bring it back to my place/Yeah, she like it both ways.”

In addition to being offensive, it’s not even convincing as an expression of desire. If you can’t effectively use a pop song to communicate horniness, the most basic of human emotions, then what do you have?

Listening to LP1, you almost feel sorry for Payne. It’s maybe more pathetic to have failed not for risking too much, but after seeming to have tried so little.

[butterflyrry]

https://www.tumblr.com/daisiesonafield-blog/652842632143372288/masterpost-of-all-the-times-miss-camille-rowe-has

To add: multiple times she posted about that damn ring within 1 week, close ups &stories showing it off, a few days later Harry was wearing it (so obviously staged). then all „organic fan pics“ of them „alone“ dropped all while 1 of her friends (1 specifically (Lauren cohen)) posted from same location & always quickly deleted her posts when people found out.safe to say that her friend took most of „organic fan pics“. Or the time she posted cows from out of a train to show off that she was in England🙄. Can’t forget that embarrassing „photoshoot“ of Harry taking pics with fans around New Year’s Day 2018 & holding her coat in every damn pic instead of her holding/wearing her coat herself (they were with Jeff/Winston’s) (coat she posted herself in end of December). how she never stayed at Harry’s place in London, bc she always was with her friends at a hotel/Airbnb (her friend posted multiple times). Or when she showed up uninvited to music cares thing when Anne celebrated her bday & everyone but her was wearing yellow flower crowns & she was just brought out to audience for 1-2 songs & then was gone again. Gemmas less then pleased face in one of Gemma’s friends story’s that night 😂. Can’t forget the way she was introduced on literal live radio before they even „started dating“. Or how Harry can go totally private & undercover to concerts (as he did so many times & we max got a blurry pic if that!) but at the Fleetwood Mac show back in 2017 we got 1000 pics & videos & not only that, got pap pics backstage with both!! oRgAnIc, huh?! Did I mention the times she „joined“ tour when he was the most busiest & literally didn’t have time? Example: beginning of November 2017. After music cares thing she was uninvited at, Harry kept his distance a bit & went on to tour Europe & looked more at ease than ever in last few months, also not wearing that red stunt ring. Then she turned up all of a sudden in Europe on tour after she had that insta meltdown (grocery shop bag photoshoot, insta story’s singing sott, wearing the necklace, most of her friends wearing somewhat Harry related costumes for Halloween etc) & of course posted about being in Europe! Harry had back to back shows: Berlin, Amsterdam, X factor Italy, Italy show & shenanigans there etc & X factor performance in UK. All those shows were within 5 days in a row! Traveling all over Europe! Yet she turned up & was gone like after UK X factor performance again (she had a shoot in LA, someone posted her being on set, meaning she had to leave right after his xfactor UK perform!) so why not turn up earlier when he actually had time? Or later when he was off again?? She didn’t attend any of his LDN or Manchester shows, not in 2017 nor 2018! Weird for being a „gf“ & missing out on ALL of his homeshows, huh? There’s so much more but I just wanted to show people how both (the Hamille and Holivia stunt) are really similar! The only difference is that the Hamille thing was to make it look more organic and consisted of mostly her trolling & announcing her whereabouts & introducing new stunt stuff „lowkey“ & to create a narrative for an album. Where’s the Holivia thing was right in our face yet Harry made sure she was not allowed to post directly about him. The few times cockburn tried, she had to take it down (pickle gate & his bday etc). Harry was obviously way more annoyed from Cockburn than he was from Camille, even though you can see that he didn’t mind Camille at the beginning & probably tried being friends, but this also changed the more annoying she got. not a coincidence that stunt stuff was changed & that Camille & O were allowed different things & that O moulded herself into a Camille lookalike after that Fine Line narrative… & I also KNOW that Camille saying she wished she could „tell her side of story“ doesn’t mean „Harry being an ass“ rather a NDA preventing her from spilling beans about PR stunt. She hoped to get more out of it publicity wise & after being made fun of or rather her new man in „cherry“ it’s not a surprise she wanted to tell the truth to look less of an asshole

Camille was before my time so I can’t speak to any of this. But I’m wondering why she’s suddenly being discussed again?

[instaaronews]

How Did Selena Gomez Became a Billionaire? The Surprising Truth Behind Her $1.3 Billion Fortune

Let’s be honest—who will not know Selena Gomez? How Did Selena Gomez Became a Billionaire? The ex-Disney princess has charmed us on film and earned 700 million dollars in business as the youngest self-made female billionaire in America today! Yes, Dreams do come true, become a billionaire. But how did Selena Gomez actually get so rich self-made? Is it pure ambition, good luck or something completely different? Let us take it step by step.

How Did Selena Gomez Became a Billionaire?

Selena didn’t become a billionaire overnight and there are reasons for that. Do you remember the times when she used to play the character of Alex Russo in the show Wizards of Waverly Place? That’s where it all started, but it was just the beginning.

Selena’s Early Career: Disney Darling Days and How Did Selena Gomez Became a Billionaire

Having started her career too young meant that Selena Gomez was on her way to success and there were movements within what looked like a predictable scenario. She had it in her—fame, looks, talent, and nurtured by the masses. There is no doubt that being under the umbrella of Disney helped her build herself for the future, but that had been just another teen idol for her. Selena had bigger aspirations, bigger than the Disney fandom.

Seeking New Avenues: Singing, Acting & The Rest None

But even after that, as far as Selena is concerned, there was no dipping of the pace. She continued with her career in music, and went on to have hits such as “Come & Get It” and “Lose You to Love Me.” Not to mention her current roles, including the ever-so popular serial Only Murders in the Building. But what about the acting and tocando el piano? Performed music and constructed acting? Still fairly limited.

Yes, Selena was already a one-man entertainment blender but hell-bent on achieving more than that. And for God’s sake, did she get it.

The Rare Beauty: The Brand that Worth a Billion Dollars

Now, this is where the fun begins. Selena entered the beauty business with her own brand called Rare Beauty in 2020, and she was an instant hit in a matter of days. But what separates Rare Beauty from the other one hundred or so celebrity beautician brands? The X factor lies in Selena as a person, not a character.

Unique Selling Proposition Of Rare Beauty Ltd. And How It Operates In The Cosmetics Industry

Rare Beauty is more than just another blushing makeup line: it’s a cause. Selena wanted Rare Beauty to be a vehicle for self-acceptance and self-expression. The brand does not represent unattainable ideals of beauty that’s a nice change from an easy to be tired with a seemingly airbrushed society. Rather, it promotes self-esteem and beauty in the unmade-up face.

Everyone enjoyed it. I mean, who would not? It is make-up with a twist and customers are lapping it up.

All About Gomez’s Weakness: This Sells Her Brand

How Did Selena Gomez Became a Billionaire? Selena’s willingness to stand in front of the camera and give exactly what she had inside her head bears great influence on the growth of Rare Beauty. She has never hesitated to talk about her lupus condition or her problems with mental health and this truthfulness connects with people. But when she shares her life struggles, she appears as a human who happens to be a celebrity, without PR filters, without fake concerns. This weakness is not only a character of the person but has also made up the structure of her company. People want to be like her. That desire will always come in useful.

Income Generation: Other Businesses That Selena Has Ventures In

It is correct that most of Selina’s earnings are from Rare Beauty, but one can’t be this precise. The girl’s got multiple streams of income, which is smart. After all, why rely on just one source.

How Did Selena Gomez Became a Billionaire? Brand Endorsements: Coach, Puma, and Others

Selena has worked and endorsed with some of the greatest brands on earth. She has been the brand ambassador of numerous companies like Coach, Puma, and Louis Vuitton. These sponsorships really help to boost her bank balance nicely. But… it’s not only placing her name on any cosmetic line, it is well thought out. Exposure is good but it is important how you leverage it: that enhances her reputation or brand with her fans.

Wondermind and Mental Health Engagement

If you think that’s all, think again. Wondermind, the mental health platform, was founded by Selena in 2021. The goal? To make sure people looking for assistance in mental health problems get the help they require without being judged. It’s a project that resonates with her own battles and contributes positively to society.

The Click Factor, Why Fans Are Drawn To Selena And Her Brand

There is one lesson that we learn from Selena, we should not hesitate to declare our true selves. It works, and yes, it pays. Given how many stars act up these days, what makes Selena different is the fact that she has been real about her health issues and other insecurities.

Do Not Hide When Offering a Health Related Services: Lupus and Mental Illness

Selena has not held back describing the health issues that have incapacitated her or worried her fans. In fact, her documentary ‘My Mind and Me’ goes into detail over when she talks about living with lupus and being bipolar. This sort of openness is not something you see very often in the lives of famous people and that is what makes Selena so appealing.

A Politically Influential Shoulder of a Celebrity in Today’s Business Setting and How Did Selena Gomez Became a Billionaire

For Selena Gomez, fame is not the end goal, but rather, social media is a platform that comes with responsibility. She almost single-handedly built a whole ‘business’ around herself. After all, in contemporary society, being as genuine as Selena is and trying to succeed is quite rare.

What is The Driving Force Behind Selena Gomez’s Furtherance Potential In Terms of Fame and Revenue Streams Considered?

Now, this is the question that can win you a million dollars: who would say that Selena’s success is a wondrous bioccin, or, an instance of serendipity? The spoiler is, it is not only sheer good fortune. Yes, it absolutely was timing, but more so, Selena’s business choices were nothing less than fabulous.

The Power of Being Relatable and How Did Selena Gomez Became a Billionaire?

We can all agree that one of Selena’s greatest assets is her ability to connect with her audience. She is not only a pop idol or a movie star, she is also a person who has faced challenges and has earned successes. This is why her business endeavors have also been very rewarding.

The Importance of Business Acumen and Timing

Of course, as important as Selena’s relatability is, there are also her business acumen or savvy. She has been able to make certain businesses moves when it mattered most including launching Rare Beauty with the rising trends of authentic and inclusive beauty products.

Wrapping Up: Is Selena Gomez’s Billionaire Status a Strategic Masterstroke or a Fluke?

When all is said and done, Selena Gomez did not just happen to wake up one day and be called a billionaire. She is an astute and enterprising businesswoman who has a knack for exploiting her personal brand. Wen it comes to the core value of her empire, the reason is simple – her honesty, openness and genuineness – yes, the entire world is hungry for this sort of thing. And that is quite an achievement in a society that is so starved for authenticity.

Short Resources

How Did Selena Gomez Became a Billionaire in 2024 and What is Her Net Worth?

Selena Gomez networth as of 2024 is expected to be $1.3 billion.

What is Selena Gomez’s most shrewd business move to date?

How Did Selena Gomez Became a Billionaire? Selena’s makeup brand Rare Beauty is the activity that pushes her further up the billionaire ladder with over 80% of Selena’s net worth.

In what ways does Selena’s candidness regarding people’s gossip work for or against her business?

Selena’s openness about the diseases that she has undergone helps contribute to her ability to connect, and that has been a big factor in the success of Rare Beauty.

What is the contribution of Rare Beauty to Selena Gomez’s wealth?

This new cosmetic line has revolutionized the industry, raising back Selena into the billionaires’ club due to its message of self-acceptance, empowerment, and inclusiveness of all women.

Being a self-made female billionaire under the age of 30, is Selena Gomez amongst these rare individuals?

While Selena Gomez is age-wise one of the youngest female billionaires, she is among young female billionaires Buckingham overalls, such as Kylie Jenner.

[areyouwho-ithinkyouare]

i’ve talked about this before but apparently rly it’s relevant again - the thing about the american eurovision spinoff that really makes me doubt it’s viability is the lack of history there. Not like, national history, but actual history of the contest. A big part of why esc is so beloved and such an *event* over here is that we grew up with it, our parents grew up with it, our grandparents watched it be created as a way to reunify the continent after wwii - there’s an inter-generational connection to it. And it took TIME to develop. The first year, there were only 4 countries involved. It took DECADES to build up the audience it has - partly because of that generational journey. There’s old acts who are still adored, the new performers grew up with esc and were inspired by that history. I just.... don’t think that you can recreate what eurovision is, and the way people feel about it, and the scale of it, by copy-pasting it somewhere else without building up that history.

It will 100% feel more competitive than esc just as a byproduct of broader american culture, and i’ll be AMAZED if there’s no prize money, so that sense that it’s not so much about the winning, rather the bonds and relationships and unity that the show builds, just won’t exist in the same way. And without that.... i mean, without that it’s kinda a completely different show. Something like esc can only come about via natural evolution. I really don’t think you can just build a stage and gather 56 performers and compare that to esc, because that’s not the POINT of esc. that isn’t the appeal, that’s not what draws the audience in every year.

You’re also gonna need more semi-finals with that many songs, probably 3/4, and at that point you’ve lost the sense that it’s this one-off event. It’s just a series at that point!! That shift alone changes the feeling of it all and makes it less unique, compared to other music shows.

So you combine all these things together and what you’ve got is something that, both functionally and culturally, is more in line with your standard singing contest. And i think that’s way harder to sell to people, because it’s an oversaturated market at this point. People will see it and think “oh another copy of the voice/x factor/idol” and not think twice about it.

anyway the point isn’t “haha stupid americans can’t do eurovision”, it’s “americans CANT do eurovision because so much of what makes eurovision special is stuff you can’t recreate on demand”.

[teddyduchampsglasses]

Hi!!! I was wondering if I could request gender neutral headcanons for being really shy/introverted/but still very passionate (about writing/music) and dating Charlie dalton.

Please take your time writing. Thank you sm <3

Charlie Dalton X Shy Reader

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everyone thinks it’s funny that the two of you ended up together, you’re such different characters with contradicting personality’s. While you’re more secluded and tend keep to yourself, Charlie likes to be the center of attention, all eyes on him. But something drew you to each other. Charlie liked to observe you, watching your every movement as you took part in every day activities. The way you swayed your hips or fluttered your eyelashes, you were, in his mind, some sort of higher being. And you liked how free Charlie seemed, how funny and thrilling he was. He was so much different from the life that you lived and you wanted something, or someone, to spice things up. And those factors attracted you to him. But no matter what, everyone thinks that you guys are absolutely adorable together. I mean, they do say that opposites attract.

And someone needs to be there to keep that boy in line.

Charlie absolutely lives to embarrass and draw attention to the two of you in public. Be it yelling something stupid like “MOM! MOM, I CAN’T FIND YOU!” While in the grocery store, or faking a proposal everywhere the two of you seemed to go. He always had a trick up his sleeve. He always seemed to know exactly what to do to make you hit his arm while scolding him as your face turned red. All though, he knows exactly what your limits are. What and what not to say and where and where not to take part in his little jokes. And as soon as he notices that he’s taken things maybe a little too far, he’ll immediately feel so horribly guilty as he watches you go quiet. He physically cannot forgive himself until you accept his apology.

And on that note, he knows exactly what to say or do to cheer you up. Or maybe even as an apology for his miss behavior. He knows to give you a little time and space at first, just sulking around his dorm while he waits, but after about an hour or so, he just can’t seem to keep himself away from you. You both absolutely love cuddles so that’s one of the main things on his agenda as he try’s his best to lighten your mood in general. Loads of kisses and sweet words are shared, along with small gifts like stuffed animals or food. All he wants is for you to feel your absolute best, 24/7, so if he has any affect on that, he try’s to make it a good one.

You two often steal Meeks and Pitts’ radio so you can slow dance in your dorm. Especially on rainy days when you can hear the noise of water pelting the window panes in the background. Feeling like a married couple as Charlie holds you close and sways you lightly is the best feeling in the world. Every so often, you can pick up the faint sound of him humming along to what ever tune is playing. No ones ever caught you two taking part in this action and you’d like to keep it that way. It’s like you’re little special thing. “You’re just so lovely.”

He absolutely loves just sitting around and listening to music with you. Putting on a record or stealing the radio once more so you two can just chill while listening to your favorite music. Maybe he’ll even play you a small song on the piano or sing specially for you. (I headcanon that Mr. Dalton is actually very musically talented so yeah, his skills would actually be quite impressive.)

This man absolutely adores you. To go into more detail about something I mention earlier, he might just sit around and watch you from a far as you work and write. He just loves how natural your movements are, how easily and gracefully you move. You’re like a god/goddess to him, it’s like you glow everywhere you go.

Charlie is extremely protective over you. He will stick up for you under any circumstances, because he knows just how passive you can be. He doesn’t want you to get tossed around, stepped on or walked all over in this world, so if you can’t stick up for yourself, someone else has to step up and take that job. And that someone else is him.

And let’s not get started on how jealous this man can get.

On the days you don’t feel like going out, or doing anything at all for that matter, Mr. Dalton will gladly stay home and lay in bed with you. All day. Charlie is a huge cuddle bug, all though he doesn’t seem the type and will never admit to it, he is. It’s a fact that he just cannot deny. So, if he could lay inside and hold you all day while you play with his hair, for any reason at all, he would never pass up that offer.

He enjoys seeing you in his clothes. He thinks you look absolutely adorable and he likes how flustered you get when he points it out. How his shirts are just a couple sizes too big or how you’re basically swimming in his sweaters. If you would agree to wearing his clothes all the time, he would happily give them all to you. Without hesitation.

PDA, OMG YOU HATE IT BUT HE LOVES IT. Pulling you down to sit on his lap while he’s studying or working is like his favorite thing in the world. Not in a sexual way, just to have you close, which draws everyone’s attention to you two. Everyone’s eyes on you. And you hate him for it. Anything he can get, he’ll take. Hand holding, kisses, hugs, giving you piggy back rides, anything to be close to you all through out the day.

And this last thing is some times a hard concept for Charlie Dalton to grasp but, it’s your need to have some alone time. Sometimes you just want, more like need, to be alone, to get to your own devices. Like writing or music. And, at times, your boyfriend just doesn’t get it, because he could be around people all day long and not become drained. But you’re just not the same way. He try’s his best to understand and if you ask him for some alone time, he’ll happily give it to you. But while he’s waiting for you to make your return, he’ll usually just spend an hour sitting in his room, doing nothing, waiting for you to arrive and ask to lay with him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[spencersmagic]

a knife twists at the thought - SR

Prompt: a knife twists at the thought that i should fall short of the mark - Arctic Monkeys

Summary: Spencer is new to this, and the poor boy is terrified

Couple: Fem! Reader x Spencer Reid (i picture season 2/3 Spencer but y’all do you)

Category: angst

Word count: 3086 words

Warnings: general criminal minds stuff, mentions and descriptions of torture, descriptions of loss, HAPPY ENDING!!, my 3am writing, tooth rotting love, uhmm spoilers for Orwell’s 1984 (if anybody hasn’t read it), humiliation, Spencer crying and breaking my heart (lmk if you need anything warned or trigger tagged).

A/N This is very loosely based on 2x15 (VERY LOOSELY). I’m quite proud of this one :)

masterlist // 505 series taglist

*****

They say you never see it coming.

When a tragedy occurs, and someone’s life is turned upside down forever, they never see it coming. It just... hits them. Like an oncoming car ramming into a bystander who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

No one has time to prepare. In our time-starved lives, there is no place for such a warning.

One day, you just wake up. And they’re not next to you. They’ve disappeared, leaving the stickiest, most unforgettable parts of themselves behind for others to grieve to: the smell of their shampoo in the pillows they used to share, the seconds just as you wake when you still feel like you have them - only to gain full consciousness and realise they left you behind - even the fucking jars, which never seem to be open because he’s just not there to do it.

And you feel your heart breaking all over again as your soul sticks to the parts that couldn’t be erased with the rest of him as he left. Because you needed him, you had him, and now he’s gone. No warning, no letter, no signs which could’ve helped you foresee such a tragedy, because how could he? He didn’t disappear on purpose.

She doesn’t understand why he's so absent. So unequivocally missing. And the person she would turn to to ask these riddled questions isn’t there to answer. Because he’s gone.

But they’re not there yet.

And she feels so close to that feeling - the helplessness, the pain, the empty cups next to her bed because he always carried them to the sink when she was finished with her tea the mornings of those rare days they got to sleep in. Those days when they had time. She can practically touch, with the tip of her fingertips, the waves of pain that would surge over her if he was gone for one more fucking minute.

She has to remind herself, over and over again, like a mantra. He’s not gone yet.

The “yet” at the end of her mantra just breaks her all over again.

She was always the one to tell Spencer “if you worry before something happens, in case it goes wrong, and then it does, you’ve managed to suffer twice through something painful for absolutely no reason”. It usually worked. Needless to say, she felt like a hypocrite right about now.

Because Spencer is gone. And she doesn’t know how to bring him back.

She knows only to watch the monitor, never once blinking, taking in everything that happened in that damned livestream - every word, every sound, every reference. She can only try to hear anything over the whimpers and sobs her love was letting out as he’s tortured by that man. She can only hear the cracks of his knuckles against Spencers soft skin, the same soft skin she had kissed mere hours ago before telling him to “be careful”. Her own way of saying the three little words the couple was too young to hear. She can only see his lips parting, sobs rumbling out of his body as the unsub abuses his frame over and over again - same lips which had kissed her forehead before telling her “i always am”.

Then again, she isn’t sure if its his voice which is filling her head with painful sounds or if her mind is playing tricks on her, memorising the horrifying vibrations coming from his chest for her to ever consider anything else. She hasn’t stopped hearing him since she turned on that damned computer.

She isn’t sure she’ll ever stop hearing it.

**

As a man of great intellect, Spencer always recurred to knowledge to understand difficult occurrences in his life. Burying himself in textbooks, novels, poems, and even music to understand pain, and himself having a life filled with it, he was an incredibly knowledgeable man.

He knew much. But right now, he only knew one thing.

In Orwells’ 1984, as Winston was being tortured (much like Spencer is right now), Orwell described the following:

“Never, for any reason on earth, could you wish for an increase of pain. Of pain you could only wish one thing: that it should stop. Nothing in the world was so bad as physical pain. In the face of pain there are no heroes, no heroes”.

And, as a man who had acquired most of his intellect by immersing himself in trivial content in the face of pain, he found himself doing the same thing as the unsub hurt him over and over again, each blow seemingly more painful than the last. As his skin bruised, a causality of his abusers torment, he analysed the seemingly logical quote.

It must depend on the person, he was sure. In fact, a number of factors must be taken into consideration at this statement. For starters, Winston lives in a society incapable of any human feelings. There is only dominance, and those who attempt, in vain, to challenge it. Surely, if he had felt happiness, like the one you feel when the first day of spring rolls around, or like the one that creeps up on you as you look into the eyes of your loved one, surely, he would understand that some things can outweigh pain.

Love.

If Spencer’s mind could make sense of what he was feeling right now, he would understand, something he would figure of were he to leave this damned place, that he was thankful to the Gods, were there any, for having the unsub kidnap him and not Y/N.

Winston hadn’t understood emotional pain because emotions weren’t dealt with regularly. They were discouraged. That’s why he believed that there are no heroes in the face of pain. Because he doesn’t understand emotional pain.

He knew he was suffering. He also knew that Y/N was at the other side of the blinking camera suffering more than he could ever imagine.

**

They say emotional pain lasts 12 minutes. Anything one feels after this would be the aftermath of the cause of the pain in question. Pure emotional pain, the one you practically feel in your chest, the one that says “i can’t think, feel or be. not until this feeling dissipates”.

She had learned this from Spencer.

And she wished it were true. As she watched that damned monitor, she wished that all the venom the unsub was spewing at Spencer, all the verbal abuse, was long forgotten. She wished he could only feel the physical pain. Because the mind is incredibly stronger than the body - it could keep him awake, alive, for just enough time for the team to rescue him.

The entire team had huddled around the monitor around her. She was painfully aware that other people were seeing this. Which meant it wasn’t her imagination. It wasn’t another one of those damned dreams she would have when she slept a little too far away from Spencer’s touch.

They had only been together for two months, but his touch was all that could get her to fall asleep.

She jolted as the unsub landed another slap on Spencer’s cheek, swiftly grabbing his hair for him to look into the camera. He had a cut above his right cheek, just where she would kiss him in the mornings, and bruises all over his neck, jaw and left eye.

“Say hi to your team!” he mocked Spencer, chuckling darkly as he moved his almost lifeless body around for the team to watch in horror. Spencer let out a heartbreaking sob, feeling so vulnerable.

“Why don’t we make this interesting?” he jumped, as if he had gotten an idea. The unsub reached behind himself to grab a pistol, clicking off the magazine safety to put one bullet in one of the eight slots, leaving the other seven free. He pointed it at Spencer’s temple.

Her entire body shook the thought of seeing Spencer’s lifeless body, held up only by the ropes and that sick man’s grip around his curls. The same curls she grabbed as she kissed his face when she wanted his attention.

“I’m going to ask you some questions...” he said, voice dripping with sickening sweetness as he turned the roulette, “and if i don’t like your answer i’ll pull the trigger! Let God decide what I do with you. Sounds good?”. He wanted to humiliate Spencer.

However, Spencer made the mistake of not answering him. He was quickly reminded as the barrel of the gun pointed right between his eyes, pulling the trigger, a loud bang! sound expanding through the barn.

“I asked you a question!” he suddenly yelled into Spencer’s face.

“Y-yes, Sir” he whimpered, shaking at the ease at which the man pulled the trigger.

“Good, you’re learning”.

**

She experienced it by bits. Hotch’s hoarse voice. “Talk to me Garcia”. “We’ve got coordinates”. Everybody rushing to the SUVs. Tripping over her own feet on the way to the car. Morgan’s voice. The iPad, which still carried Spencer’s whimpers and the man mocking tone.

“I’ve got your diary, Spence” his sing-song voice didn’t match the disgusting man she was looking at. Nothing made sense.

“And I wanna know why...” he drew out the ‘y’ as he looked for something between the worn pages between his hands.

Of course she knew Spencer owned a diary. But she was mature enough to keep her hands to herself and her eyes on her own pages as he wrote on his, eyebrows creasing as he recalled all which he had experienced during the day. His face would twitch slightly at the memories, both good and bad, as he basically described his day word by word.

“...why did you wait until you were 24 to lose your virginity?” he asked in a clear attempt to humiliate and ridicule Spencer in front of his team.

“I-I didn't-” he could barely finish a word before a sob wrecking through his body at the humiliation, chest rumbling and voice wavering. “I didn’t want to lose it before, i w-wasn’t in a hurry” he rushed out. The man brought the pistol to his own chin, tapping it as he thought. “Hmm... I’m satisfied with your answer. Let’s dig deeper, shall we?” he asked as he went back into the pages.

“ooh! This one is new” that sick bastard was having fun with this, completely unaware that the team was less than 5 minutes away from their location.

“Care to read what you wrote three days ago? Right here” he turned the pages so Spencer could read them, though he was painfully aware of that entry he was talking about. His body shook violently. “P-please. D-don’t ma-make me do t-this” he whimpered, body feeling defeated.

“Wrong answer” the unsub said before pointing a gun at him and pulling the trigger.

A shriek was heard from the iPad. The SUV went silent.

“He’s alive” she whispered, unable to speak up. “He-” she swallowed. “He’s alive. We’re not there, yet” her mantra became a reminder that she hadn’t been quick enough to help him. She had the tools to save him. Every second she had the knowledge to save him and didn’t was another second she remained impotent at the risk of losing the love of her life.

Spencer’s voice spoke from the iPad.

“C-can you at-at leas-st turn off t-the ca-amera?” he said between sobs.

And it hit her.

What hurt him the most wasn’t the memories he had to relieve, but the fact that the rest of the team would have to hear his most intimate thoughts. His deepest secrets.

He could bare the pain. The humiliation? That broke him.

“Aww” the unsub chuckled mockingly, “are you embarrassed?” he said, slouching down to look into his eyes. “Well too fucking bad!” he screamed into his face, spitting with every word he spewed at him. Spencer’s sobs got louder.

“O-okay okay!” Spencer caved, accepting the journal that got shoved into his face.

“Read, pretty boy” the unsub sang. That son of a bitch was having fun.

“We’re two minutes away, Y/N” Hotch said. Maybe it was he sobs, which were barely audible to herself, having accepted them as second nature after all the heartbreak she was experiencing, but Hotch needed her to be okay.

His own heart thumped into his chest, feeling as helpless as he’d ever felt. Seeing a member of his team - someone he was supposed to take care of, someone he was supposed to keep safe - was sobbing as he was physically and emotionally tortured. But he was painfully aware of the feelings Y/N was experiencing. The sheer fear that was running down her veins at the idea of them running out of time.

After a few sobs, Spencer started reading, interrupting himself occasionally with his whimpers:

“It’s been three months. Today, three months, seven hours and forty-six minutes ago, she did what I didn’t have the courage to do. She asked me out. “I’ve been wanting to ask you pretty much since the day i met you” she had said. Those words keep ringing in my head like a beautifully written symphony, intrinsically designed to make me face my deepest fears. Opening my scars one by one, dissecting them and reaching the simple conclusion that i was a coward.

She didn’t say it, but what she meant was “i’ve been waiting for you to do it, but you never did, so i had to”. We wasted time - a time so precious and sacred - because i was a coward.

I’ve never felt like this before. I never understood a love so deep as to move something so stubborn as the human spirit. I’ve read textbook after textbook, and novel after novel, and still I’ve never learned more than with her. But I was a coward. And i wasted her time. I fear that I still am.

A knife twists at the thought that i should fall short of the mark. It’s impossible for me to ever be enough for her”.

Her heart broke at this confession. Even worse at the thought that he wouldn’t’ve told her, instead inhaling fear and exhaling rejection at every breath he took next to her.

“We’re here” she heard Hotch, looking at her. She grabbed a bottle of water and dropped the iPad, not hearing the teams objections at the lack of vest and preparation and ran into the barn.

She isn’t sure if she’ll ever stop hearing his whimpers. As she runs closer, she hears them louder and louder, decorated with sobs and cries, and small, meaningless replies to his abusers’ mocking words.

She kicked the door down, the loud bang booming across the room, only helping in raising Spencer’s sobs as he feared the sound had been the result of a certain trigger being pulled. As she looks at him, she realises just how much pain he’s been put through.

She remembers Orwells words, much like how Spencer had remembered them mere hours ago. And disagrees, wishing over and over, praying to the Gods that she would be the victim of such atrocious abuse. She wished she could take his pain. Morgan joined her at her side mere seconds later, yelling. “FBI! Put the gun down!”.

Spencer used the last bit of energy to lunge forward, hitting the unsubs stomach with his head, successfully getting him on the floor for Morgan to apprehend. Y/N rushed to Spencer’s side, untying him, as his now nonexistent sobs grew louder and louder, not only at the prospect of getting out of that horrible place alive, but also at the knowledge that Y/N had heard what he had so dreadfully recited.

Spencer collapsed into her arms, crying into her in the same way she was crying into him, and she wondered just how to take away all his pain. So they cried into each other, desperately grasping each others hair, skin, clothes, anything that would make them feel like they wouldn’t have to spend another damned second without the company of each other.

Spencer was the first to break the silence.

“I need-” he stopped, coughing. She reached for the bottle of water she had brought with her because she knew he would need it. She always knew what he needed.

He chugged it desperately, stray drops falling down his chin at his eagerness. He took a deep breath trying to steady his lungs.

“I need to get out of here” he choked out.

She grabbed him under the shoulders, careful not to hurt him - not being successful, realising that there wasn’t much of him the man hadn’t hurt. Y/N pulled him out, sitting down on the grass with him. Their legs intertwined, pulling each other impossibly closer. They kissed, over and over again. Not as an act of any sexual relevance, but as a reminder that they had each other in any way, shape or form. That they weren’t out of time.

The team was certain they would stay there, never letting each other go for another minute.

After what felt like seconds in their time-starved little world, she broke the silence, which had only been filled with their own cries and occasional sobs.

“Spence” she grabbed his chin to look into his eyes. They were dull, red and hooded. He was exhausted. “Mhmm?” he let out, looking into hers. She was his solace.

“How could you ever think you were anything but completely and unequivocally enough?” she whispered the words he dreaded.

But as Spencer looked into her eyes he knew, better than he had ever known anything, that he was enough. And she was enough. He realised that which she had known for the past three months (possibly longer). They fit like two marvellous puzzle pieces.

Her hands grabbed his cheeks slowly, as to not hurt or startle him, pulling his forehead into hers. “Baby, I can’t imagine anybody else waking up to me every morning. You’re so much more than enough”, she planted a small kiss on his forehead before resuming her position. “I’ll remind you every day of the rest of my life if that’s what it takes for you to believe it”.

And with their eyes closed, foreheads and noses pressed together and legs tangled between each other, pulling each other close, closer - around grass and voices and his abuser pressed into the hood of a police car, they only felt each other. With their shaky breaths, even shakier voices, fearing any words that would leave them in case they triggered a cascade of tears down their oh so vulnerable cheeks, they were more than enough.

***

I hope y’all liked it!! Feel free to let me know by liking, reblogging, or sending me a message :) 

super cool kid taglist: @lady-anon-x​ @spencerreid-mgg​​ @eoupe​ @inlovewithbabygirl​ @galaxydefenderjulia​ @username2002​

[charlie-rulerofhell]

For they know exactly what they do

Today there was a pretty long article published in the German newspaper FAZ, written by Julia Schaaf. Since there were quite a few interesting topics raised in it and Måneskin talked about some new aspects (or in more detail), I translated the whole thing (it might also have helped me to procrastinate).

Full interview in English under the cut.

For they know exactly what they do

June 22, 2021

Four young rock musicians from Rome are today's hottest band. Måneskin are enchanting Europe. Why? We met them for an interview.

Every romance needs its founding myth, an anecdote from the beginning, something you can tell later in more difficult times for self-assurance.

In the case of the band Måneskin, who first had Italy and now half of Europe wrapped around their fingers, and who are now trying to conquer the rest of the world with their rock music, there is the story of the shoe box. Rome, around five years ago: Four teenagers who are meeting every day after school in their rehearsal room to make music together, and sometimes they play their songs on the Via del Corso in the city centre in front of a changing audience. One day they want to record their own stuff. They find a studio that they can actually afford and as they go there they bring a shoe box, with the name of the band written on it, 'moonshine' in Danish, the bassist's mother is Danish. In the box: around seven kilogram of coins. The things you get from playing music on the streets. Everyone searching through Instagram for photos from that time can find four hippies with children's faces, three boys in batik, the girl is wearing a straw hat.

As they have to pay [for the recording], frontman Damiano David, 22, says that there was this guy, Angelo, and his bandmate Victoria De Angelis, 21, is interrupting: “No, Andrea, not Angelo”, and all of them have to laugh because a rigid studio manager with the Italian name 'angel' would be even funnier for a founding myth. David continues his story: “The guy was completely dumbfounded. 'We can't do that.' We went: 'Sure we can, that's worth the same even if it's just 20 cent coins, it's still 300 euros.” Thomas Raggi, 20, the guitarist of the band, is gasping for air as he laughs, while drummer Ethan Torchio, 20, is smiling dreamily. David finishes: “And then we snuck off before he was able to count it.” [the German text says 'verdrücken' here which is just a colloquial way of saying 'we left', but it entails some sort of a dramatic exit, so yeah, let your thoughts get creative how they left exactly :D].

Four young musicians on the verge of global fame are sitting on a white interview sofa in Berlin, completely styled, babbling across each other like overeager teenagers.

Ever since the Roman band first won the music festival Sanremo and then also the Eurovision Song Contest, carried by the enthusiasm of European viewers, you could say Måneskin has become a phenomenon. “Rock 'n' Roll never dies!”, Damiano David yelled fueled by the adrenaline of winning, and the insinuation that circulated on social media of the singer snorting during the counting of votes in front of a live camera – including their strict denial followed by a negative drug test result – might have given an additional boost to their public interest, their exploding album, ticket and merch sales, and their outstanding success on Spotify.

“We think it's a shit prejudice against rock music that there always have to be drugs involved. We fully threw ourselves into our participation with the utmost professionalism. We give everything for the music. So of course we don't want people to think that we can only do that because we take drugs.” – Victoria De Angelis

Prior to Eurovision, Måneskin was more of an insider's tip outside of Italy. Handmade rock music, not creating something entirely new but paying homage to the good old times with classic guitar riffs and cracking drum beats, being a lot of fun but also quite fragile and vulnerable at times and, first and foremost, conveying a captivating energy. Finally, on the stage of Rotterdam, live after so many months of isolation and renunciation, this wave of energy spilled straight over into European living rooms. It seemed easy to (mistakenly) interpret the winning song “Zitti e buoni” (Shut up and behave) as a declaration of frustration of our youth in times of a pandemic. In fact, singer Damiano David is singing about the favourite topic of the band: the unrelenting need to, against all odds, be yourself, despite or perhaps because you are different. The message fits their provocative sex appeal, which the band uses to demonstrate their independence of gender norms at any given time. But the core essence of rock music has always been the promise of unlimited freedom.

Thus at the first moment, the meeting with Måneskin is kind of startling. It's Wednesday, we are in the top floor of the new Sony head quarters in Berlin. The four Italians have just started their two-week long promotion tour through Europe. In the afternoon there will be a live concert in a queer club [the SchwuZ, but that's not mentioned here] in Neukölln, which will be streamed via TikTok. Around one million viewers will watch the show, some of them even from Brazil, so people at Sony are pretty excited [for Måneskin to come here]. But at first, these stunningly gorgeous creatures [yes, that's the exact wording :D] are standing surrounded by an entourage of people – their management, PR team, a stylist, a photographer, people who can hold a smartphone or a cigarette if needed [this paragraph is worded a little weirdly, especially taking into account that basically their whole team / 'entourage' is just friends of them, but it seems like the journalist didn't know that or maybe they just wanted to describe their first impression]. They seem like fictional / artificial characters out of a Hollywood movie. Transparent frill blouses with blazers and flared leather trousers, even the platform boots, everything brand-new, the makeup makes their faces look like a glossy magazine cover even in person. The smokey eyes of De Angelis and Raggi make them look smug and bored. Later, on the pictures it will probably look cool.

So of course your first impression might be: This band is under contract to industry giant Sony ever since their success on an Italian casting show [X Factor] in Winter 2017. The music industry must have its hand in the game when a band is photographed half-naked by Oliviero Toscani and styled by Etro. Also, one does not simply rent a villa with a pool in Rome to produce new music there, isolated from the rest of the world. And who else went to London for two whole months, shortly before the winter lockdown, just for inspiration? After the TikTok concert in Berlin – De Angelis and David are now wearing fishnet shirts that sparkle with every move, their bare nipples covered with an X of black tape – the band is posing with a few influencers. In the world of social media you would call that 'producing content'. But what does that mean for a band who are preaching their hosanna of authenticity? How authentic is Måneskin? And is their pointedly casual approach to sexuality and gender cliches in today's pop-cultural spirit more than a marketing strategy?

We're in the interview, the recording device is running for not even five minutes, when Victoria De Angelis says: “Actually, we just try to be ourselves and do what we really want to do.” And really: The more you listen to those four how they speak about the early days of the band in their slurred Roman dialect, about the shoe box and their own experiences with being different, but most importantly about their shared obsession [with music], the more you realise that [De Angelis] is  very serious. Ethan Torchio, who got his first drum kit at the age of six or seven from his father because he was beating everything he could reach, says: “For me, music is like food. I cannot live without it.” The bassist next to him laughs at his pathos. Singer Damiano David applauds the otherwise more reserved friend for his truthfulness [it says 'klarer Punkt', meaning 'for the point he makes', but it makes it seem like Damiano is agreeing with Ethan here, although it doesn't indicate whether he agrees that yes, music is everything for Ethan or that he understands and feels the same].

De Angelis and guitarist Raggi already knew each other from middle school and they were the ones who tried to form a band at the age of only 13, a band that actually took music seriously.

De Angelis: “It's just difficult at that age to find other people who really put everything into music and who truly commit themselves and are willing to invest a lot of their time.”

Raggi: “We set strict rules and scheduled fixed times for the rehearsals, for every day.”

David: “Fever, stomach ache, there was no excuse. Even if you were feeling sick in the rehearsal room. At least you were in the rehearsal room.”

The way the four of them talk across each other, completing each other's sentences, taking turns in talking and sometimes joking about each other, seems intimate and playful. Singer David remembers how at first bassist [De Angelis] was merciless towards him when it came to her first metal band project, as she told him that he wasn't committed enough [to the music]: “Back then I was still playing Basketball. I was one of the people that Vic absolutely didn't want [in her band].” Drummer Torchio was later discovered through Facebook, even though there had already been a drummer, a close friend, but he was not good enough. It seems as if even back then music was everything for them. Even if it meant that only Raggi managed to graduate.

And why rock, why rock music of all things? Because it's great, the four of them say in unison. David adds: “Actually, it's a genre that allows you to do everything you want to do.”

When they played on the street, they were laughed at by their classmates. But not only there. De Angelis explains that she never wanted to be a typical girl: “I was always deterred by those stupid boxes that people put you in, and that are just restricting and constraining you, because something is only regarded as male or female. I always rejected that. Instead, I just wanted to do the things I enjoyed doing, I went skating and played football.” Torchio says: “Friends who are not friends anymore were already telling me at the age of ten that those“ – he grabs his long, silky black hair – “were wrong. Because I'm a boy and boys are meant to have short hair, long hair is only for girls. I was bullied a lot for that.”

“Compared to the past, people in our age became much more open-minded. It gets better.” – Thomas Raggi

Frontman David on the other hand, for whom eye shadow, jingling earrings and nail polish as well as his bare torso with the tattoos have become trademarks by now, says: “I was actually more of the average boy.” De Angelis convinced him to try out some eyeliner, which he describes as a spiritual awakening: “I liked myself much more [with makeup]. I saw myself more as myself. As if it had been a suppressed desire of mine.” On a trip to Copenhagen with the others, when he realised that it really didn't matter what people were thinking about him, he got his first fake fur [coat? the article doesn't specify that] in a second-hand shop and let his clothing style be guided by his own love to experiment: “I realised that my whole life I was just going at half speed.” When it comes to diversity all four of them are becoming almost missionary.

At the same time, their success is not only opening doors for them. Back home in Rome they are barely able to go out on the street due to all the paparazzi. “[You need a] hoodie and huge sunglasses”, David says, “the mask is quite helpful, too.” And still, none of them is complaining, and Torchio explains why: “Even if those experiences right now may have sides that are not so pleasant, we still know that for us a dream is coming true. We experience something that we always had in our minds, so we are willing to face every consequence that this entails.”

So is the band facing difficult times, is Måneskin going to change with all the success? Again, all of them answer at the same time.

David: “I'm not worried about that.”

Raggi: “No way!”

De Angelis: “On the contrary. Everything that happened to us happened because we are who we are, so we want to continue the exact same way and stay ourselves.”

Just a few hours later, they are at the stage in Neukölln, bouncing around like pinballs, hammering at their instruments, flirting with each other. “We are out of our minds, but different from the others”, David sings their winning hymn against conformism, and: “The people talk, unfortunately they talk.” Here on stage, the four paradise birds [a German word describing someone with a flamboyant personality] with their half-nude-glittering outfits are radiating an incredible energy with the utmost sincerity, and you begin to wish there was a live audience instead of the TikTok cameras, absorbing and spreading this energy. Måneskin. A cry for a life after the pandemic, a cry for freedom and a better world.

“We do what we wished for all our lives.” – Ethan Torchio

[thomaslightwood]

Music Headacanons - TSC gang

(There is also part 2 now)

No offense guys, but I'm tired of everyone saying "x character would be such a taylor swift fan!" Like... there are other good musicians, people 😩. The world is more than pop. So, here I made a few headacanons for random tsc characters based on their vibe (my opinion of course).

Thomas is obsessed with 20th century music, especially the 80s. Queen, George Michael, Elton John, Pink Floyd - mentioned it to him and he would know it. He has especially soft spot for George Michael.

Ty loves classical music. Especially the Russian and German classics. He's never tired of listening to Tchaikovsky and Beethoven. Kit tries to find him modern music he'd like but so far he had liked only John Legend.

Alastair is one of these people who are history buffs. When someone says "Måneskin's Beggin' is actually Madcon's from 2007!", he says "No bitches, it was The Four Season's from 1967 first" (Thomas help here)

Isabelle is a rock hardcore fan - Skillet, Panic! At The Disco, The Score, Fall out boy - she can sing half of their songs if asked to (she rarely is though BUT SHE CAN). Simon had used Imagine Dragons' I'm so sorry to apologize to her.

I feel like Grace is one of these people who's favorite musicians are unpopular or no one has heard about them. She likes more chill but meaningful music. Glass animals are her all time favorite band and she recommends it all the time. If not them, she recommends not well knows artists from youtube and tiktok, like Summer Luk, grentperez and Cayley Spivey. 

Cecily is Florence + the Machine biggest fan. She discovered them through the radio while Gabriel was driving them to the hospital where Anna would be born. She made Gabriel record it and Anna was born listening to their music (and Christopher and Alexander as well). Cecily loves to tell this story, making Gabriel sigh and the kids - a little embarrassed.

Alec is one of these people who can't remember the name of bands/musicians. He knows exactly two songs of someone and listen only to them. Little Game and Rendezvous by Miss Benny? He loves them. Youngblood by 5SOS? He can sing this while sleeping. But when Magnus asks him what he thinks about Boys will be boys or Teeth he’s confused. “What?” “By Miss Benny and 5 Seconds Of Summer? You listen to them all the time.” “I have no idea who you're talking about.”

Gabriel is more of a jazz guy. As a kid his favorite show was The Pink Panther and since then he's fascinated by it. He adores Cab Calloway and through he discovers some creepy Snow White animation from 1933 and is traumatized (but Calloway is a king). 

Raphael claims that any music that isn't created the 40s, the 50s or isn't Traditional Mexican music, is trash. But he secretly loves Will Jay's Never Been In Love because it's a song he relates to.

Livvy is the Little mix top fan. She follows them since X-Factor and for years dreams to meet them. For one of her birthdays Julian and Emma gives her two tickets for their concert. She doesn't know who to take with her because Ty doesn't like this sort of music and crowded places, and Dru would be really bored. In the end she goes with Kit who doesn't mind and they have a great time. In return Livvy goes with him at an Apocalyptica concert.

Jem is, obviously, into violin music. If he's honest, he’s not that much of a fan of the modern music but he likes to make/listen to violin (and piano sometimes) covers of popular songs.

Kamala is obsessed with Zendaya for years. She’s waiting for a new song until late at night, watch every film with her no matter how little role and she admits that Zendaya is her celebrity crush and should be everyone’s.

Dru knows all the popular pop songs - but as rock and metal covers. She can't stand Billie Eilish unless it's a cover by Halocene because her lyrics have such rock potential but are wasted with pop instead (she once said it to Livvy and they had a fight about it - in the end Julian said they both have a point and made them pancakes).

Kit has strange unspecified music taste. One day his favorite song is Anti-Gravity by RUNAGROUND, and the next is listening Jem playing the violin. He also can never sing on his own, his sense of rhythm is non-existing and he’s singing some random nonsense instead the actual lyric. The only song he actually knows the text of is Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics because it's one of Tessa’s favorites.

(There is also part 2 now)

[celestial-ringleader]

Gamquick Headcanons

Ok so I mostly blame my discord friends for this but I’ve just had a mighty need for more gamquick so have some random headcanons in these trying times. I’m going off my own canon here and only pulling some stuff from 616 in (as any comic fan does akjbdvkj)

Getting Together: (bc i have no impulse control this is gonna be a long section bc i dont wanna write it all out rn)

Before they were friends, they absolutely hated each other’s guts and only tolerated one another when they were put on a team together. Remy barely trusted Pietro since he worked with the Brotherhood for the longest time and Pietro had little to no respect for Remy because of how he carried himself (but also because he found him very obnoxious to be around and work with). Pietro only slightly tolerated him more when he helped him rescue his daughter, but aside from that he just wanted to go back to being with the Avengers over Mr. “Flirts with everything he sees and talks his ass off constantly”. Remy felt mostly relieved when Pietro went back to the Avengers because it meant he was gone and back to working with the resident assholes in New York.

This sort of bitter tension between the two of them lasted for a long time and thus led to there being an unspoken rule to never put the both of them on the same team because then they would argue with one another almost constantly and jeopardize the mission for the sake of being spiteful.

So when Pietro found out Remy was to be on the same team with him at Serval, he was seconds away from quitting on the spot. Lorna stopped him, of course, but he made sure to point out that she was probably mistaken in taking in a untrustworthy gambler to work for X-Factor, especially one that would willingly work with Apocalypse and Sinister. Remy responded badly, in hindsight, and snapped back saying Pietro has no room to talk down to him since it was his fault that everything fell apart thanks to House of M.

Yeaaaaaah things at Serval were not good for a little bit after that. Neither one of them want to leave but they also would rather be anywhere else than with each other. And whenever they were together, the room got so much more tense and they both looked seconds away from snapping if they were so much as ten feet apart from one another. Now everything the other did pissed the other off: Pietro hated that Remy’s cats keep getting into his shit and getting their damn fur everywhere, Remy hated that Pietro would eat all the fucking food and force Remy to have to order out constantly. Pietro hated how loud Remy would get all the time (during meetings when he would tap the desk constantly, during time-off when he would listen to music and sing at the top of his lungs, just ALL THE TIME), Remy hated how Pietro would mess up his hair whenever he ran past him, not like it took him a whole thirty minutes to do it or anything! Just everything about one another got on their nerves and they’re both holding back every urge to not punch their lights out.

But it was very complicated at the same time because of course it is. They hated one another sure, but for some reason they found each other hot regardless and would hook up mostly for the sake of letting off steam. Angry sex happened a lot and they hated that they thought the other was fucking fantastic in bed.

Things really didn’t start to get better for their relationship until one mission that resulted in them being captured and held in some mutant lab in the middle of buttfuck nowhere. Worst of all they were tied up together and locked in a small room so now they can’t even pretend to avoid one another.

Didn’t stop them from bickering though: Pietro: Well you’re awfully quiet for once, LeBeau Remy: Oh I’m sorry I thought ya wanted me to shut up an’ never talk again. Pietro: I did, but you also make it your life goal to piss me off as much as you physically can. Remy: Should be lucky we’re tied up or I would’a punched ya in the jaw by now. Pietro: I almost want to see you try, Cajun, would be hilarious to watch. Remy: I’ll show ya hilarious, Quickie.

But once they got their initial anger out of the way (which involved a lot of shoving and jabbing) and several days of no news from their team, things started looking a little dire. Normally Remy could figure out a way to escape, but thanks to the collars on their necks and how thoroughly restrained they were, it was almost impossible to see a way out that didn’t involve one another being hurt or worse in the process. And Pietro picked up on that. A week or so goes by and Pietro finally asks what’s wrong when he notices just how hopeless Remy was acting. Remy’s confused why he would bother asking since he hated his guts not that long ago, but after some gentle pressure he finally admits that he’s scared that no one’s coming for them. Pietro has the same fear as well, and he tells him that despite how much he wanted to keep it guarded.

Despite how much they dislike one another, they still try their best to be reassuring. They call a truce on being angry so they can at least get through this with as little headache as possible, might as well make the most of being captured for the rest of your life with someone right?

Another week goes by and they’re freed from their prison and brought back to Serval, both very briefly telling what they learned and what happened before going to lay down somewhere for a million years. But when they walk with one another back to their respective rooms, there’s a new kind of tension there. But this time it’s over the big elephant in the room; their supposed rivalry now being called into question now that they know one another better. Remy feels guilty for placing blame on Pietro for House of M, Pietro feels just as guilty over insinuating that Remy doesn’t care about his teams. But what are they supposed to say now?? “Sorry for saying the most hurtful things imaginable, no hard feelings right”???

But neither of them really act on it for a while, they just...ignore it as best as they can despite how much they wanna talk about it. They don’t argue anymore, but now they can’t be with one another without being reminded of their mixed feelings. That stalemate stays for another few weeks and doesn’t stop until Remy goes to Pietro’s room and asks that they talk.

Needless to say, emotions come out and by the end of their conversation, they apologize to one another. And at first Remy was half expecting Pietro to leave it at that, but then Pietro asks if they could try being friends instead. Surprisingly their relationship doesn’t change much, now they’re just not hostile towards one another anymore. They still bicker and argue, but it’s different than how they would before.

In fact over time they actually started to like each other more and more, sure they’re both essentially opposites but it seemed way more tolerable this time. Pietro even thinks to himself that he likes being around Remy. Maybe his loudness wasn’t such a pain as he thought, and maybe his cats weren’t so bad after all. Remy started feeling the same way over time, but he knew his heart would get in the way and have this all blow up in his face so he tried to keep the liking of Pietro as bare minimum as possible even though he really liked how he would ramble about his books, the way his face lit up as he smiled, his laugh too... But he doesn’t want to ruin what they have, just this is the best he’s had in a long time; someone who actually understands his pain and is fun to be around.

But the good times never last long. Eventually X-Factor disbands and the both of them go their separate ways as much as they hate it. They say they’ll keep in touch, but several years go by and neither of them really know what the other is doing. But one fateful day Pietro shows up at the mansion to visit and lo and behold, Remy is also there (looking a little worse for wear but thats not surprising). They catch up for lost time and not surprising, by the end of the conversation they’re confessing to one another and kissing each other like they need it to breathe.

Definitely feels weird calling one another their “boyfriend” but it feels so good at the same time. They try to take it slow but they’re too excited to be a couple, they can’t help it!

General Headcanons:

In terms of likes, they’re mostly on opposite ends of the spectrum: Remy likes the summer, Pietro likes winter/autumn; Pietro likes romance-focused books/shows, Remy likes more sci-fi/adventure/fantasy stuff. At first this made talking about their likes difficult, but over time they found a happy middle ground.

They take turns being the big spoon, depends on who needs it more or just wants an excuse to be held.

Pietro used to be reserved about showing affection in public, but being with Remy made it hard to not want to kiss/hug him constantly. Now they openly cuddle/kiss no matter what, especially at parties.

Remy really likes it when Pietro plays with his hair, sometimes after a hard day he’ll lay his head in Pietro’s lap and just let the other mess with his hair; it’s like an instant de-stressor for him.

Remy’s love language is touch and affection, in every way, but Pietro’s is mostly seen through keeping his loved ones safe and sound.

In terms of body heat, Pietro runs hot mostly due to how fast his heart beats (meaning his blood circulates through his body quicker) but Remy almost always feels slightly too cold. However this is worsened when he uses his powers since he’s losing energy, therefore losing body heat. So after long missions, the both of them hold one another as close as possible, of course for the sake of calming each other down but also making sure Remy doesn’t catch his death. [I put actual science behind a headcanon...we’re deep in it now, lads]

Remy cooks mostly, Pietro is basically banned from the kitchen unless he’s making tea. Although if it’s up to Pietro to get food, he just orders out.

After a few years of getting together, Remy gets a little tattoo in honor of Pietro right over his heart: a little blue/silver hummingbird. Pietro gets one in secret on his thigh: a small pink/red heart with a playing card with the text “love’s a gamble I’ll take” in cursive.

When the time comes when they want to propose, it ends up being on accident. Pietro fumbles over himself and basically drops a ring box right onto Remy right as they were about to have sex, meanwhile Remy starts tearing up before revealing that he...also got a ring for Pietro. Of course they end up proposing to one another formally at a dinner, but they both found it very fitting they would pop the question on accident.

Pietro makes a point of kissing Remy’s scars, reminding the other that he isn’t his pain and is still a beautiful man aside from them.

Remy loves carrying Pietro around, he knows it annoys him and will continue to do so even if Pietro pouts and shoves him. Pietro secretly likes it but he’s not gonna tell Remy that. Remy also likes being held, in fact Pietro’s strength is very deceiving and he’s shocked every time Pietro effortlessly picks him up and throws him on their bed/against a wall/etc.

Pietro learns to love the cats, now he’s an unofficial cat dad (cat step-dad??)

In terms of what they want out of a relationship, they’re mostly happy with just having it be the two of them and their pets but they briefly talked about having kids together once or twice. It’s definitely something Remy wants but Pietro is hesitant since he already has Luna, and having Luna resulted in the end of his previous relationship basically so...

Depending on the AU though, they definitely do end up having kids in one way or another.

[ellavogues]

london sunrises - harry styles

summary: harry made you feel like home in a place far from it, but stupidly ruins it in fear of losing you

a/n: hey, second fic in two days! let me know your thoughtsss :) thanks for reading angels

Sometimes you wish you were seventeen again.

The carelessness, easy breezy lifestyle you lead was problematic and unproductive, but you never felt more free. Even now as an adult, unrestricted by menial rules made by your parents or your school, you don’t feel the same liberty as you felt when you were seventeen.

Maybe it was him that made you feel so free.

You met him at sixteen, when you moved countries from the USA to England. Originally pessimistic about the complete upheaval of your life, you took it upon yourself to not even try and socialise and familiarise yourself with people at your new school.

But one day, around a week after you moved, you were sat on the bus, headphones in your ear and gazing out the window as you waited for the bus driver to start the journey home, a brown, curly haired boy sat next to you, sporting a huge grin on his face.

“I’m Harry,” he introduced himself, extending his hand as if to ask you to shake it. “Mind if I sit here?”

You shake your head, “Yeah, go ahead. I’m Y/N.”

“You’re new, right? We’ve got homeroom and science together I think.”

He’s smiling the whole bus ride, cracking stupid jokes and telling stupid stories, right up until you get off at your stop. You’re smiling too, feeling grateful to have met a friend in this new place.

The next day, he sat next to you in homeroom and science, and you conversed as if you had known each other for years. He was just that easy to talk to, always able to quickly come up with a witty, smartass remark to whatever you may say and chuckling to himself when you get slightly irritated at his teasing. He noticed you sitting by yourself at lunch, and insisted you sit with him and his mates.

Over time, your friendship with Harry gradually and organically blossomed into something more. Worried that it was only a one-sided feeling, you kept it to yourself and put on a front when you were around him, attempting to veil your new-found feelings with excessive teasing and smart remarks at his expense. But keeping up appearances proved to be difficult as time progressed and the two of you got closer and closer and as he got to know you better, picking up on the way you deflect your emotions.

One night, after a lot of weed and talking, you both found yourselves on Harry’s roof, just above his window to his room. His parent’s room was thankfully on the other end of the house and given it being the early hours of the morning, they were surely asleep. At least you hoped they were, he did manage to make you laugh louder than you thought possible and you crossed your fingers that they didn’t hear the two of you. The night sky was full of stars, you remember, and you finally didn’t have a weight on your shoulders, finally comfortable enough to be your true, authentic self and genuinely happy for the first time since you moved. Neither of you realised how long you had been up there, talking, laughing, smoking, until little glints of orange light began peaking through the clouds in the sky, the birds starting to sing their morning songs. You were honestly disappointed that the memory was over, that the rare moment that you got to feel like yourself alone with Harry had come to its inevitable end.

It was hard making friends in a new city, but his cheeky grin made it so easy to be his friend. 

The next time you went up there, you had your first kiss. It was like you thought it would be, your friends implanting in your mind that your first kiss is never as special as it is romanticised on film, but the kiss with Harry made butterflies swarm in your stomach, his soft lips feeling like the closest thing to home in this foreign city that with him you’ve grown to love. You later found out that it was his first kiss too, making the moment feel more special.

You were giddy again that night, but not because you had alcohol. A smile was stuck on your face with no setback being able to push you out of this happy trance. Harry loved seeing you happy, he loved the way your eyes got that little sparkle in them when you got all excited, a detail that no one else would be able to notice. He made you feel giddy in the best way possible, the feeling almost addicting. Dangerously, it seemed you had the same effect on him. 

It seems for once the two of you were on the same page about your feelings, making a hopeful promise of what the future may hold

By the time you were seventeen, London sunrises on Harry’s roof after a long night of talking and weed have become a habit for the two of you. Something about being wrapped up in each other’s presence, in a space just for the two of you and distanced just enough from the world around you, is incredibly addictive. But the rays of sunlight pop the little bubble over you and Harry every time, though despite your disappointment of being brought back from your own perfect world where all you have and need is each other, you’re quick to get over it because it just means it’s time to climb back in his window and go to sleep in each other's arms.

All you had with him was friendship, but it felt like so much more than that. He gave you butterflies, he made you feel free and invited you to be a part of his world when you had no one. When you were with him, you had nothing to hide. He gave you this warm feeling that you had never felt before, a safe feeling. A feeling of home.

All you desperately wanted was to be more than friends, but you were simultaneously so scared of losing what you had with him. The love you had him was unfathomable, you couldn’t wrap your head around it and nothing made you more scared than losing him.

He was scared, too.

Despite being enlightened that your feelings were mutual, Harry couldn’t comprehend in his mind what you had, It didn’t make sense to him that you could love each other so deeply but not be together. He wanted to be mindful that you were heading in completely different directions in life, knowing your dreams of starting a startup and his dreams of having a career in music. He was scared that if you both wanted different things you’d lose each other forever. And he can’t lose you. 

So he pulled away. He forgot to invite you to his X-Factor audition, making up some lame excuse that everything’s been so hectic and he knew how stressed you were about our own future. It hurt your feelings, because in spite of his carefully crafted excuses, you could tell he didn’t invite you on purpose. 

It quickly became apparent that not inviting you wasn’t just a mistake, because he didn’t hold you safely and securely in his arms after you watched the sunrise anymore, kissing the back of your head as you fell asleep tangled in each other. He didn’t kiss you like he used to, no butterflies forming in either of your stomachs, his hand barely grazing your cheeks as he reluctantly connected your lips. Eventually he barely kissed you at all. 

He wanted you so bad, but he wasn’t willing to lose you to get you.

But he pulled so far away that you were barely in sight anymore. He tried to convince himself it was for the best, because at least this way you’d always be on good terms and he’d always have you in his life. He’d always have a part of you. But he missed the smell of you in his sheets, he missed the way you rubbed your nose against his when you were sleepy. He missed making you laugh so hard that you were practically falling off the roof (not that he’d ever let that happen, you were too secure in his arms to even slip an inch.

He wanted all of you, the good, the bad, the ugly. He wanted to wake up and see the remnants of your makeup from the night before still on your face, your sleepy smile completing the look. More than anything, he wanted to have you as his, to announce to everyone that he finally got the girl.

You wanted him just as bad, but his distance hurt you more than you’d ever admit to him. Harry had always made you feel free, like you can have anything you could possibly want. That is, except for him. 

That was the fucking catch. He gave you everything you could have ever wanted. You had the passion, the love, the sensitivity, the jokes. You had it all with him, except you never had him. That’s what sucked the most.

It wasn’t til graduation that you finally worked up the courage to put everything on the line. You went back with him to his house after everything with the school finished, him driving you because even after all this time, he absolutely never trusts your driving. 

“We need to talk,” you start ambiguously.

He laughs, raising his eyebrows as he turns to you for a second, “Should I be scared?”

“Maybe,” you mumble back, anxious and growing fidgety in the seat next to him. Harry clocked this, his hand coming to rest over yours to calm your fidgets down. Glancing over at you briefly, the worry was evident in his features. “H, you’ve always brought out the best in me and made me feel special when I had absolutely no one. I didn’t need anyone else because your friendship, our relationship is all I’ve ever needed. I mean, we’ve dreamt about our futures while we were fucking high on your roof, but when I told you about what I want in my future, I never told you that I wanted you. You’re all I see when I see my life five years from now. You’re all I want, H.”

Harry goes unusually quiet, processing what you told him. It’s uncomfortable, usually by now he would’ve made some inappropriate joke, called you stupid or even just reacted in some way. It’s painful when he looks at you for a moment as he’s stopped as a stop light, and it’s blatantly obvious to you that he’s carefully considering what to say next. 

“Y/N, you’re my bestfriend-“

“Fuck that,” you laugh dryly, unimpressed and masking your hurt with anger.

“Y/N-“

“No,” you raise your voice slightly. “I fucking get it. It’s fine. But I can’t be your friend, Harry. Fuck that. I want more than that.”

“I don’t want to lose you,” his voice is a whisper, tears beginning to form in his eyes before he roughly wipes them away, clearing his vision as he parks in front of his house and turns to meet your gaze. “I can’t lose you.”

“And I can’t be just your friend.”

This moment still replayed in your head like a broken record for years later. 

Maybe you were stupid for letting him go, but you might’ve driven yourself insane if you were still his best friend after everything that you’ve been through together. It wasn’t sustainable for you to continue to just be there, waiting for him to decide that you’re what he wants or, scarily, sticking by him and watching him be with another girl. It would have ruined you to see him treat another girl the way you wanted him to treat you.

You ran into him when he was strolling London a few years later, on his rare day off from touring and concerts and meetings. Even though the run in was supposed to be short you got to talking and laughing and he saw that sparkle in your eye again, something that he hadn’t seen in years and something that made him feel at home. Old habits die hard, and you and Harry ended up staying up all night together, catching up. It felt like you were seventeen again, hopelessly and foolishly in love with a man you could never have.

Before you left the next morning, he grabbed your wrist, turning you to face him. “I have to see you again. Please, Y/N, don’t say goodbye forever.”

Butterflies erupted in your stomach, contented that after all these years apart, you finally have a part of him again. You always had a part of him, you just didn’t know it. “Take me to your album’s party tomorrow?”

And he did, picking you up sporting that grin that made you weak in the knees. He was proud, introducing you to his friends, showing you off on his arm. It felt right.

As the night started getting old, Harry laced his fingers in yours and led you out to the balcony, escaping the chaos and noise inside and making the world just about the two of you. Letting go of his hand, you stepped towards the railing and admired the view while Harry admired you, breath taken away as you turned your head back at him and smiled. Harry wondered how he ever let you go.

Tapping your shoulder gently, he prompts you to turn around to face him. His hand finds your cheek, tilting your face to face his and leaning in to kiss you, lips soft against yours and his free hand finding its home on your hip.

He finally felt like yours again.

[kingstylesdaily]

Harry Styles — ‘It’s about bringing more music to Manchester’

The One Direction band member and solo star on launching into his first substantial business venture.

Two weeks ago, the stark phrase “HE CUT HIS HAIR” began trending on social media. I can confirm its truth: the One Direction member turned solo star Harry Styles has indeed cut his hair. The usual curly tresses are gone, scissored into a tousled, swept-back look. It’s for a film role he’s currently shooting in Los Angeles.

But the star hasn’t joined me on a Zoom call to discuss traumatic haircuts. Instead, we’re discussing what’s being billed as his first venture into the world of business. Styles is the public face of a new arena to be built in Manchester, which will be one of the largest indoor venues in the UK when it opens in 2023.

It’s being built by the US entertainment company Oak View Group at a projected cost of £350m. The capacity will be 23,500. Following a link-up with the Manchester-based business The Co-operative Group, it will be called Co-op Live.

“It feels like full circle for me to be doing this,” Styles says, speaking in what looks like the stainless steel confines of his LA film trailer. He grew up near Manchester, in a village in the neighbouring county Cheshire. “My first job was with the Co-op, it was delivering papers for them,” he recalls.

Manchester was where he went to gigs with friends. It was also where he auditioned for the television talent show The X Factor in 2010 when he was 16, singing an unaccompanied version of Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely”. It led to him joining the boy band One Direction. Transcending their talent show origins (they came third on The X Factor), Styles and his bandmates became a global phenomenon. They were the first band in US chart history to have their first four albums debut at number one, outdoing even The Beatles. With his newly shorn hair, a green jacket with big stitching, a T-shirt with blue palm trees and a cross dangling from his neck, Styles manages even on a visually unflattering Zoom call to look the part of the teen heart-throb. But, whereas other boy band singers have struggled to establish themselves as individual acts, Styles has made a handsome success of it. He launched a solo career in 2016 and has released two accomplished hit albums. In 2017, he made his acting debut in Christopher Nolan’s war film Dunkirk. He’s currently shooting Olivia Wilde’s horror-thriller, Don’t Worry Darling.

Diversification from the evanescent world of teen-pop continues with his involvement in the Co-op Live arena. It links him with two big names in the US entertainment industry. Tim Leiweke, former CEO of the concert promoter AEG, and Irving Azoff, former CEO of Ticketmaster, run Oak View Group, the company building the arena. Azoff’s son Jeffrey Azoff is Styles’s manager. “This is a big project and it would be a lot scarier if I was with people I didn’t know,” the singer says.

He has a financial stake in it as an investor. “I didn’t get into music because I wanted to be a businessman,” he says. “I got into music because I love music. That’s always going to be a first for me. But when an opportunity like this comes up, for me it feels so much about what I can bring to it as a musician, and also as a fan.”

Construction of the arena is due to begin in November. Styles has a vaguely defined role as an adviser in its design and decor. “Obviously I’m not an expert architecturally, in terms of building an arena,” he says. “I guess the weight of my involvement falls into the idea of what you want backstage as an artist. People operate in different ways after a show. Some people like a quiet space, some people like a place where you can invite all your friends.”

Arenas have a reputation as soulless venues, the kind of interchangeable setting where a forgetful star can get the name of the city wrong (as happened to Bruce Springsteen in 2016 when he cried, “Party noises, Pittsburgh!” during a show in Cleveland).

Even at the tender age of 26, Styles is a veteran of these cavernous spaces, which he refers to as “rooms”.

“There’s a lot of cold rooms that you can play in,” he says. “You definitely remember being in the ones that sound better, the ones in which you can create some sort of feeling of being at home.

As an artist, it’s rare to find that if you’re touring for months at a time, to go in these big rooms and feel that comfortable.” Manchester’s new arena is being designed to maximise sightlines between performer and audience. “That’s usually the first thing that you miss when you go into big rooms,” he says. “There’s a point when you’re doing shows and you can see the whites of people’s eyes and you can have that connection with people. It’s easy to lose that if you can’t see people’s faces.”

The first time he sang in public was in the canteen of his Cheshire school, for a music competition. He recalls the feeling of exhilaration: “You’re so used to sitting in the classroom and looking up at your teachers. All of a sudden everyone’s down there and the teachers are looking up at you.” He gets the same sensation when performing for tens of thousands of people. “It’s obviously on a different scale but that feeling is very much the same,” he says. “I think it’s the same chemical. It’s just like such an unnatural thing. It’s kind of like — this isn’t supposed to be like this, this isn’t how life works. That kind of adrenalin I think is just something that you wish you could share with people that you know. It’s a beautiful thing, it’s a really special moment.”

The coronavirus pandemic poses an existential threat to venues. “It’s such a strange time to be talking about live music, because right now it just doesn’t exist,” Styles says. He insists that the Co-op Live is designed to enhance Manchester’s live infrastructure, not overwhelm it. (The city already has one of the UK’s largest indoor venues, the AO Arena.)

“The purpose is not in any way to try to monopolise the city in terms of music,” he says. “It’s about bringing more music to Manchester, wanting to bring more artists there, to use this building as a reminder of why it’s such a great music city, not trying to wipe out other venues.”

After its projected completion in 2023, Co-op Live will be able to welcome its celebrity investor on stage (“If they’ll have me. I’ll have to speak to someone and ask about that”). In the meanwhile, Styles is due to embark on a world tour next February, although the pandemic has cast it in doubt.

“It’s one of those things of just seeing how things go,” he says. “I don’t think anyone wants to be putting on a tour before it’s safe to do so. There will be a time we dance again, but until then I think it’s about protecting each other and doing everything we can to be safe. And then when it’s ready and people want to, we shall play music.”

via the Financial Times