#nothing is as entertaining as harry styles girlfriend drama

[narrie]

[liquor-and-intellect]

WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP WHERE DO WE GO? H.S. AU part one: bad guy

SUMMARY: Jay is force to be reckoned with. She does what she wants and the consequences aren’t as bad she’d expect. She stays out late, drinks with her friends and sleeps with Kai- who may or may not have a girlfriend.

When Jay meets Harry, her life seems to slow down. Feelings start to slip through the hard exterior that she’s worked so hard to build. She could finally learn to be vulnerable and overcome the scars left by her childhood that she didn’t realize went to deep.

Follows Billie Eilish’s Album.

part one: bad guy

“White shirt now red,

my bloody nose

sleeping, you’re on your tippy toes

Creeping around like no one knows

think you’re so criminal,”

- Billie Eilish

“Oh, my-“

I didn’t let Kai finish his sentence, but instead swallowed his moan. Pressing my mouth against his, I increased the strong rocking of my hips.

As my nose brushed the rough flesh of his, I felt a warm liquid slide across my nostrils, filling my nose with the hint of iron. I broke the contact of our mouths to ask when he groaned.

“I’m about to- I’m-“ Kai released a breath as his body shook beneath mine. His sweaty hands loosening their previously tight grip on my hips. I’m sure they would leave their usual marks. Kai dropped back against the pillows of the bed, his chest rising up and down as he worked on coming down from his high.

I pulled back from him, shifting my weight to his thighs as he caught his breath. “Are you using again?” I asked, wiping the back of my hand across my face to see the red stain of blood that had been dripping from his nose.  

He opened one deep brown eye, obviously irritated that I had ruined the mood of our sexual endeavors. I was never one for pillow talk, he should have known this by now.

Kai sniffled, pushing his index finger against his nose. “Just a bit,” he grumbled.

He didn’t expect me to make any disappointed or upset remarks. It wasn’t our thing. I didn’t really care what he did with his life– and frankly he didn’t really care what I did with mine. This was the extent of mine and Kai’s relationship: mid-day, late night– or anywhere that could be quick and meaningless– sex.

He rubbed his thumb underneath my naval, looking up to meet my eyes. “Do you want me to…?”

Right when I was about to nod my head, we heard the front doorknob turning followed by the familiar sound of someone trying to find the right keys.

“Shit!” Kai sat up quickly, pushing me off in the process. “Get dressed now!”

I didn’t want to argue with him and tell him I was basically already dressed. We had never been in the business of too much foreplay. I smoothed my shirt back down and pulled my jeans up the remainder of my exposed hips.

“Get in the closet,” Kai demanded, and I saw the familiar spark of amusement in his eyes. While he was acting stressed, I knew better than anyone that Kai loved this game. He loved to sneak around, he got off on the excitement of it.

I rose any eyebrow and followed his order, letting him shut the closet door behind me. It wasn’t long before I heard his girlfriend enter the room.

“Kai, what are you doing home so early?”

Tiffany had a small, tender voice. She seemed sweet—at least as sweet as I could tell from her bedroom and apartment she and Kai shared. I also might have looked her up on Facebook once while drunk. I didn’t ever ask about her and Kai never really brought her up. We had a mutual understanding that she stayed out of our relationship as much as possible. I’m sure it was because- deep down- Kai felt guilt for continuing to cheat on his girlfriend. They had been together since high school.

I—on the other hand—had no such feelings on my conscious. I was fine. What I did was just to have some fun.  Kai would cheat on his girlfriend whether I was a part of it or not. That was his personal problem, some deep rooted issue I’m sure he had from an absent father. I had never really been one for drama though. There was nothing that could ever practically come from my relationship with Kai—not that I had even wanted something. Even if I had even believed in love, it definitely would not be with someone like him.

“I came home on my lunch break, babe.”

I rolled my eyes at Kai. He really knew how to play the game. A small part of me felt bad for Tiffany.

Turning around in closet, I ran my hand across the silky shirts that were Tiffany’s. She had nice style, at least.

A bottle caught my eye on the shelf in the corner. Black and sleek. I picked it up, sniffing the top of it. Kai always did smell good when we were together. It reminded me of when we had first met drunkenly in a bar. All my friend had been mixing pills with their drinks and I was desperate to get away from them. Kai was there and very attractive and looked ready to tear the clothes off of any female that looked his way. Luckily, that had woman was me in the backseat of his car.

I spritzed a small amount onto my neck.

The closet door opened.

“She’s gone, Jay.”

His eyes looked at the bottle in my hand, I placed it back where it had been and walked out of the closet, my shoulder brushing his as I went around him.

Kai grabbed my wrist to pull me back to him, using his finger to brush down my cheek. “Now, where were we?” he whispered.

I snorted. “Done.” I reached underneath the bed to grab my shoes. I wonder if Tiffany saw them.

Kai stepped in front of me, blocking my way to the bedroom door. “She’s gone,” he said, his eyes trailing down my neck. “she’s not coming back for at least a couple of hours.”

Placing a hand on his chest, I gave it a friendly pat. “And I have somewhere to be,” I told him.

He puffed his chest in response. He was disappointed but Kai was also a tough guy and would never admit it.

“Where are you going?”

He asked so many questions. “Hell,” I responded.

He chuckled, leaning against the doorway and crossing his arms. “Ah, but you have such a good soul.”

I opened his front door, glancing back at him. The sun was bright and it was hot in Los Angeles in mid-august, I could feel my skin burning already. “Don’t be so cynical,” I yelled back as I closed the door.

My mother was not the proudest.

I tried my best not to give her as many details of my life when she called, I knew they would only disappoint. Which was fine, I totally get it. The little girl that tore your vagina during her grand entrance into the world lives in a small two-bedroom apartment with one roommate and likes to get drunk in her free time when she’s not waiting tables at the local Italian restaurant.

Life was not too shabby if I did say so myself. Sure, I had room to grow up and possibly mature some more. Most of my decisions were borderline questionable, but I’ve learned to lean into the excitement of doing things that caused risk.

My father had been a drughead and unfortunately left us by his own misdoing when he overdosed. I was twelve, mom was depressed, and I did the best to live my life on the fine line of learning to pretend I was okay. Which to some fortune, has turned out okay ten years later.

My thumb pressed ignore on my mother’s call and let the hustling of the bar that we were in blend into the background of my brain as I took another methodical sip of my drink. It was a place that me and my friends liked to attend often—especially on Friday nights when they had local bands playing on the cramped stage.

Currently, a deep raspy voice floated above the delicate strums of an electric guitar. “I’ll be your animal…” he sang. It put chills down my spine, but I pretended to remain unfazed.

I, also, tried not to notice as my roommate slid a pill past her lips and took another sip of her drink.

A groan to my left. “Shit, Jay. Wipe that frown off your face. I swear you’re always so serious.”

I smirked. “And you’re never serious enough.”

Hunter, my other friend accompanying us tonight, was a bundle of hormones and anxiety issues. She was the type of girl to jump on any guy that looked her way but then cried the next day as she wondered if he really thought she was pretty or if he was just faking it.

Of course, what she didn’t realize, is that she was gorgeous. Down to her freckled face and dark auburn hair. She could really be a picky girl if she tried.

“Oh my gosh, I think he’s looking at me. Is he looking at me?” Hunter sat up straighter, smoothing her blouse against the nonexistent wrinkles.

Winnie, my roommate, groaned. “Calm down, your, like, anxiety“-she waved her hand to motion Hunter’s entire body- “is really ruining this chill high I have going on.”

I snorted.

To entertain Hunter and genuinely check- although she wouldn’t admit it because she loves to be mean to her—, Winnie flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder to glance behind her at the mystery man that she was referring to. “Oh yeah, no,” Winnie laughed. “that’s that guy that Jay sleeps with on the reg. What’s his name? Kyle?”

Hunter nodded. “Yeah… he looks like a Kyle.”

“All the douches are Kyles.”

I glanced over Winnie’s shoulder to where Kai was standing with his girlfriend Tiffany. They were happily laughing at something their friend was saying in the corner area of the bar. Kai was nursing a beer in his hand while his other was resting on the small of his girlfriend’s back. Even though his name wasn’t Kyle… damn he really was a douche.

Winnie followed my gaze. “Five bucks says a sister won’t walk over and say hello.”

Hunter gasped. “No… don’t make her do that.”

I downed the rest of my melon Bacardi mixed drink and smiled as I stood from the stool. “Make me do what?” I asked Hunter as I slid away from the countertop.

“Shut up! You, bitch!” Hunter gasped in astonishment, but Winnie only laughed.

Kai saw me approaching before Tiffany did.

He did a really good job at hiding the slight anger in his eyes that lit up when he saw my confident gait. I loved his anger. It looked good on him. Right along with the tight ripped jeans and white shirt.

“Hey, Kai… I thought I saw you over here,” I greeted.

He took a deep breath. He loved the game but he hated that I could play it better. “Jay? Wow, I haven’t seen you in ages. Tiff, babe, this is Jay from work!” He sent her a million-watt smile and gestured to me.

As her eyes took me in, I knew– within that moment– she knew exactly who I was. I became highly aware that I was still wearing his cologne from my endeavors within the closet and that the strong smell of it was oozing off my clothes. It flooded my nostrils and wrapped tentacles around my brain that I knew it must have been doing it to Tiffany as well.

She smiled—softly—regardless. “Nice to meet you.” There was actual sadness in her eyes.

Kai, like the dick he is, did not notice it and gestured to the man that was with them. “This is Harry—but you should know him already, he works with us.” There was a slight panic in his eyes.

Glancing towards the tall man that stood with them, I recognized him as the guy who had previously been singing the haunting melody on stage. His green eyes drank me up and I felt as if we were caught in a dominance battle of who would look away first. I didn’t mind though, he wasn’t bad to look at. Brown curly hair, sharp jaw line, tattoos littering his exposed skin… he was god-like.

I broke first and nodded. “Yeah, of course. I think I’ve seen you around before. We must be in different departments though.” He and I both knew we were not in different departments. And I definitely knew that I hadn’t seen him around before.

Harry raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

I took a deep breath and laid a quick hand on Kai’s arm. “Anyway… I better be going. Nice meeting you, Tiffany.” I quickly excused myself before I could catch their gazes, feeling lingering green eyes trailing my steps as I walked back to the bar. My heart fluttered a bit in my chest.

What the hell was that?

“How did it go?” Winnie asked.

“Well,” I started, waving at the bartender for another drink. “apparently Kai and I are coworkers now.”

Hunter went on about how she almost threw up through that entire confrontation as Winnie argued that there was absolutely no confrontation involved whatsoever. I sat in my uncomfortable stool wondering what the hell was going through my brain and why I felt like Harry’s gaze had left permanent marks.

My phone buzzed in my lap.

It was from Kai.

I am so mad at you but you looked so fucking hot pretending to be my coworker.

My eyebrows furrowed together.

I think I felt guilty.

But then again… maybe not.

“I’m only good at being bad.”

part two

[dailytomlinson]

Louis Tomlinson may be one-fifth of one of the biggest boybands in the world, but there's so much more to know about the singer than the fact he was in One Direction. Now that he's getting on with his solo music career - AND just dropped his amazing new single 'Two Of Us', Louis is a major household name across the world.

Here's everything you need to know about Louis Tomlinson:

1) Louis’s middle name is William.

2) Louis Tomlinson was born on Christmas Eve in 1991.

3) Louis is the oldest member of One Direction. He’s 13 months older than second eldest Zayn Malik.

Check out One Direction through the years: View Gallery 11 photos 1 / 11 One Direction © Shutterstock One Direction auditioning on The X Factor One Direction formed on The X Factor in 2010. All five members auditioned as individual contestants and were put together as a group by Simon Cowell.

4) Louis Tomlinson's star sign is Capricorn. Apparently, typical Capricorns live by the motto, ‘Slow, steady and win the race.’

5) Louis was brought up in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Other famous people who hail from the town include Jeremy Clarkson, Kevin Keegan and Brian Blessed!

Jeremy Clarkson JEREMY CLARKSON AND BRIAN BLESSED © SHUTTERSTOCK 6) Louis once said that he is a big fan of girls who eat carrots!

7) If Louis had a superpower, he would be able to fly.

8) Louis’s favourite band is The Fray.

9) Louis’s favourite song of all time is ‘Look After You’ by The Fray.

10) Louis’s celebrity crush is Natalie Portman and his man crush is Robbie Williams - who he recently sat next to on The X Factor judging panel.

11) He also once said that Robbie is his biggest role model, telling Metro Radio "I’ve got a massive musical icon and that’s Robbie Williams. We actually got to sing with him on The X Factor and it was absolutely amazing."

X Factor ROBBIE WILLIAMS, AYDA FIELD, LOUIS TOMLINSON AND SIMON COWELL © SHUTTERSTOCK 12) Louis has approximately 1 minute and 30 seconds of solos on ‘Up All Night’ – the second least behind Niall Horan.

13) Louis auditioned on The X Factor by singing a version of Plain White T’s ‘Hey There Delilah’. He got a clean sweep of yeses from the judges.

14) Louis's parents are Johannah Deakin and Troy Austin. They split up when Louis was young, and he eventually took on his stepfather Mark Tomlinson’s surname. Johannah sadly passed away in 2016, Louis paid tribute to his mum on the anniversary of her passing.

15) Louis has five younger half-sisters - one on his father's side (Georgia), and four on his mother's side (Charlotte, Félicité, and twins Daisy and Phoebe).

16) When he was just 11-years-old, Louis had a role as an extra on ITV drama_**_ Fat Friends. His newborn sisters Daisy and Phoebe starred as babies on the show.

17) Spurred on by his appearance on Fat Friends, Louis attended acting school in his spare time and eventually had small parts in 2006 ITV drama If I Had You! and Waterloo Road.

18) When he first auditioned for The X Factor, Louis was a sixth form student at Hall Cross School in Doncaster.

19) Louis also attended The Hayfield School in Doncaster, but dropped out when he failed his first year of A-levels.

20) Louis had a number of part-time jobs before The X Factor, including working at a local cinema and as a hospitality waiter at Doncaster Rovers Football Club.

21) As a student, Louis played the lead role of Danny Zuko in a high school production of Grease. He says playing the part gave him the confidence to audition for The X Factor.

22) When he was younger, Louis wanted to work on a farm.

23) Louis would love to copy Michael Jackson and have a pet monkey. He said, "I'd like to adopt a chimpanzee and build an eternal friendship, that would be amazing."

24) Louis’s favourite colour is dark red.

25) Louis is a big fan of Las Vegas rockers The Killers. After seeing them perform at V Festival, he tweeted, "Watching Mr Brightside live last night was unbelievable. LOVED The Killers!!"

Louis Tomlinson ✔ @Louis_Tomlinson Watching Mr Brightside live last night was unbelievable. LOVED The Killers !!

22.8K 6:09 PM - Aug 20, 2012 Twitter Ads info and privacy 30.4K people are talking about this 26) Louis suffers from a ringing noise in his right ear. Although yet to be officially diagnosed it’s thought it could be tinnitus which can lead to deafness if untreated. He once said, "I am going slightly deaf in my right ear. It’s tinnitus, something like that," before joking that it was because of screaming fans.

27) According to his bandmates, Louis has the smelliest feet in One Direction! Niall once said, "Louis wears plimsolls with no socks so his feet get very sweaty and the sweat is captured. If we are on a bus or something and he takes them off we all pretty much start gagging."

28) Louis was given a telling off by police when filming the ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ video Los Angeles in July 2011 for his erratic driving. Afterwards, he explained, "I got pulled over by the US police. They thought I was all over the place. The officer goes, 'Listen, man, I can shut this thing down if you carry on driving like this. You're driving like a maniac.' And I was like, 'Man, put the gun down. I don't want no trouble.'"

WATCH: One Direction - What Makes You Beautiful (Official Video)

29) Louis says that he and his 1D bandmates are like brothers. Admitting that they occasionally bicker, Louis told Digital Spy, "Because we're around each other so often it's like arguing with your siblings. You fall out with them, go away and have a bit of a paddy, then come back and get over it."

30) Just like Zayn and Harry Styles, Louis supports Manchester United Football Club.

31) Louis’s favourite track on ‘Up All Night’ is the Ed Sheeran-penned track ‘Moments’. The track appears on the deluxe version of the record.

32) If Louis could give anyone a tip when auditioning for The X Factor it would be "just be yourself and really try and get your personality through in your song choice and interview."

33) Louis once owned a Porsche Boxster and sold it on eBay in 2012 for £30,000.

34) When Zayn’s ex-girlfriend Rebecca Ferguson took to Twitter to complain about being overworked by her management, Louis had very little sympathy! He wrote in a now-deleted tweet, '@RebeccaFMusic Success is impossible without proper hard work.'

Rebecca Ferguson REBECCA FERGUSON © SHUTTERSTOCK 35) Louis loves to party! He once told TOTP magazine, "To be honest, I’m sure the majority of 20-year-olds go out and party. I’m not going to feel oppressed."

36) Louis is a giver and not a taker. In fact, there’s nothing he enjoys more than giving his friends and family presents. His late mum Johannah once told Sugarscape, "He’s not a materialistic person himself, but he likes to give people things. He spoils me and the girls and he's happiest doing that."

37) Louis once said that he likes snuggling up in bed with one of the One Directioners... HARRY! He said, "A few weeks ago I made a cup of tea, then went and got in bed with Harry and we watched a show called something like The Top 50 Boybands Of All Time." Nice!

38) Apparently, Louis has revealed that his least favourite food is baked beans.

39) Louis once said his favourite country is France.

40) Louis is an avid fan of surfing. In fact, he loves the beach so much he says he’d like to get married on one.

41) It takes over 30 minutes for Louis to get his hair ready in the morning.

42) Louis admits he’s a really bad cook. Despite this, he appeared alongside Harry in a cooking segment on This Morning in September 2011.

Louis Tomlinson HARRY AND LOUIS WITH THIS MORNING PRESENTER RUTH LANGSFORD IN 2011 © 

43) One of Louis's favourite mottos is, "Live life for the moment because everything else is uncertain."

44) The two traits Louis looks for in a girl are confidence and a good sense of humour.

45) In 2011, his mum Johannah and stepdad Mark split up. Speaking about his mum, Louis said, "It must be so much harder for her because I’m living this fantastic life and being so busy every day whereas she’s still in the old life I was in but without me... It must be really difficult for her not to get upset."

46) Louis’s pet hate is when people chew their food too loudly.

47) Louis has size 10 feet.

48) A man who works in the music industry once tried to have a snog with Louis! "It was a press guy.... he just started going in for a kiss!" said Louis.

49) Louis loves Marmite and has big dollops of it on his toast.

50) Louis admits that he’s a messy person. In fact, he hasn’t met anyone who’s messier than him!

51) Louis is pretty decent on the piano and he loves to play ‘Mr Brightside’ by The Killers.

52) Louis says he’ll "never get used to" the adoration he receives from fans. He once said, "At the end of the day we’re doing something that we really love and to be appreciated for that is really nice."

53) Louis’s favourite TV shows are Misfits and One Tree Hill.

54) If Louis wasn’t a multi-million selling pop megastar, he reckons he’d be training to be a drama teacher.

55) If Louis could visit any planet it would be... Narnia. Erm, it’s a fictional place Louis!!

56) Louis hates rumours, especially when they involve Harry and himself. In a Tumblr interview he explained, "Me and Harry are best friends, people look into our every move. It is actually affecting the way me and Harry are in public, We want to joke around but there seems to be a different rumour every time we do anything."

Louis Tomlinson LOUIS AND HARRY SINGING TOGETHER IN 2015 

57) Louis is prone to sleepwalking and once tried to get into Niall’s bed!

58) Louis once said that if a movie was made about his life, he’d like Leonardo DiCaprio to play him.

59) The first time Louis ever spoke to Harry was in the toilet at The X Factor auditions in Manchester.

60) Louis is a big fan of silly string! He’s sprayed it on stage at gigs, press conferences and even at a security guard who refused to let him speak to fans.

61) When he was 14, Louis played lead guitar in a band called The Rogue with his schoolmates.

62) When One Direction formed, Louis’s big ambition was to go "straight to the top." Proof that dreams come true!

63) In August 2012, Tulisa prank called Louis during a live webchat. When Louis answered she spoke to him in a Donald Duck voice in front of thousands of viewers. The N-Dubz star tweeted afterwards, 'soz babe we had 2 get ya! Thanks 4 being a laugh n entertaining us!'

Tulisa ✔ @officialtulisa @Louis_Tomlinson soz babe we had 2 get ya! Thanks 4 being a laugh n entertaining us!

266 8:23 PM - Aug 5, 2012 Twitter Ads info and privacy 579 people are talking about this 64) Louis was fined £80 for speeding on the way to V Festival in 2012. It’s reported that he was going 48mph in a 40mph zone. He’ll also get three points on his licence. Ouch!

65) Despite having smelly feet, Louis is a big fan of shoes! His favourite types are chinos and Toms.

66) Another of his favourite mottos is "live fast, have fun & be a bit mischievous."

67) If Louis was Simon Cowell for the day, he says he’d go on a date with Susan Boyle.

After his successful stint on last year's The X Factor, Louis delighted his fans in March when he dropped his amazing new single 'Two Of Us'.

The song, which is adored by fans, is a tribute to Louis' late mum Johannah Deakin. Johannah left behind seven children, including Louis, at the end of 2016, when she lost her battle with an aggressive form of leukaemia at the age of just 42.

Louis' track 'Two Of Us' features the lyrics, "I know you'll be looking down, swear I'm gonna make you proud. I'll be living one life for the two of us."

The article was followed by a tweet:

[aquaburst3]

Well, I bought another book after work in two months. This time it was The Cruel Prince by Holly Black. Reason why I did was because I saw some posts saying that Jude was a badass and painted the novel as if it was some Game of Thrones revenge fantasy with fae. Was it worth it? Honestly, no. 

Like my other review, gonna divide this up into the good and the bad. 

Bad

-The pacing in this novel felt extremely off. In my anime fandoms, I joke around with my friends that some animes have what I like to call “Second Half Syndrome”. This is where the first 12 episodes of 24 series are amazing, but it loses some of that luster in the second half. This novel, strangely enough, has that in reverse. The first half is extremely dull. Nothing happens outside of high school mean girl antics and petty fae drama. Around half way through the book things picked up a lot more and I was pretty into it. 

--While Jude was a decent enough as a lead, and I liked her in the second half a lot since she reminded me of a Game of Thrones character there, her character felt inconsistent and poorly constructed to me.   

The development she undergoes here is odd. In the first half, she was an average, timid girl.  Out of nowhere, she became a badass spy, who wasn’t afraid to murder and kidnap people. That was jarring to me. To use Game of Thrones comparisons, it’s like if Arya went from being a timid girl like she was like before Ned Stark died to being a badass assassin spy who baked her enemies into a pie like how she was in the later seasons in the matter of a quarter of an episode.  People don’t change that directly in that short of a time span unless something super traumatic happens to them, so seeing that happen in that little time made no sense. (I feel like I needed to either seen this transformation happen over the course of the whole series instead of one book or just had her start off as this fae spy girl from the very start and scrapped the first half completely.)   

Some of choices she made were rather odd and came out of nowhere. At one point, Jude randomly decides to save a human girl, despite being indifferent to humans in the fae realm beforehand. This sort of thing often happens throughout the book. 

--  This plays into the previous point, but I found Jude’s backstory just bizarre. Her parents were murdered by a fae noble, and she and her sisters were taken in by him. Initially, I thought the novel would be a Game of Thrones/Kill Bill style revenge story where Jude and her sisters would kill off those who wronged them and rip the fae realm apart for what they did to her parents and how they treat humanity. But, nope. Instead of any of that, she figures that she must try to love the man that murdered her mother. Despite being treated like dogshit, she loves the fae realm and wants to become a fae herself. She excuses it by saying that she was small child at the time and is just more used to that world, but according to the wiki page, she would’ve been seven or eight when that happened. Jude should’ve had some pretty vivid memories of the mortal world and PTSD of what happened that night. So why is she so indifferent to any of this?  How does that make any sense?! (Honestly, I think this whole backstory should’ve been scrapped and she was just a changeling or something. Again, that’s just me.) 

--  Cardan’s reasoning for how he treated Jude felt pretty weak. He says that the reason why he bullied her was because he had a crush on her. (Abridging that, obviously, but still...)   But that sounds like something that a small child would say about their first crush instead of someone in their late teens.   

--Parts of the world building were rather confusing to me. For instance, Jude and her sisters go to the mortal world a few times like it was in another place. Another time she talked about the fae realm as if it was alongside the mortal realm like in Harry Potter.  So I was like, “Okay, is this in another dimension? Our world behind a vale? Or what?” The novel never really explained any of that, or at least in a way that was very clear. 

Good 

-- Finally, some fae that stay true to folklore! But seriously, if you know me well, you know that I love mythology and fae folklore. I found that type of stuff fascinating since I was a kid. A lot of time, at least in the fiction I’ve read, they either come across as sexy humans with a layer of body glitter and a pair of butterfly wings that you would find in a Halloween store (looking at you ACOTAR) or innocent Tinkerbell sort. Both of these are far from the truth. Fae can come in all shapes and sizes. While there are some helpful and kind fae, some of them can be dark, ruthless and outright terrifying. There were even some more obscure ones like the Red Caps and Selkies that made an appearance, which was a welcome addition in my book.  

--The second half was an entertaining read. It felt more like I was reading a manuscript to a Game of Thrones episodes before that series dipped in the second half. I liked the betrayals and politics in The High Court. All the bloodshed, arguments, and the fight for the crown was pretty cool. 

--I enjoyed her depiction of the fae and their world - wicked, magical, and dangerous. 

--Her twin Taryn was great in a love to hate her sort of way. 

-- Liked Cardan. He reminded me of Gen from Dr Stone in terms of personality for some reason. I felt sorry for him due his past. 

--The complicated family dynamic that Jude has with her family was interesting, even if parts of it made no sense. 

--Vivi was a cool character. She was the most grounded and believable character in this book. Instead of being completely indifferent to what happened, she wants to get out of the fae realm and feels bad for what has happened. (To be honest, I wish that she was the protagonist instead of Jude.)   She’s also bisexual, and has a girlfriend, which is awesome. 

Over all

I was rather disappointed with this. The second half was great, but the first half, the bad pacing and poor writing decisions brought this down for me. I’ll probably read Wicked King and Queen of Nothing if I check them out from the library if I’m bored or something. Too much missed potential. 

[theydontknowaboutusimagines]

Yes - Harry Styles Mini Series (Part 41)

Part 40

You and Harry had been through a lot over the last few weeks. You were still in the midst of finding out who was the person on your team behind this whole fucked up situation. Since Mac was no longer sick, Harry decided it was time for a family holiday. Between the drama of everything, you were glad for the getaway and distraction. 

Harry scratched his head in confusion as he looked at the list you had made to pack for Mac. 

“Do we really need all of this?” He asked. “It seems... a little bit much.” 

“Well, we’re going to the beach,” you said. “Which means we need swimming gear and wear, sunscreen, hats, an umbrella, and toys. Then for night time, we need the bassinet for him to sleep in, the sound machine for him to sleep, pajamas, diapers, wipes, baby powder, clothes, extra clothes, snacks, bottles, the pump, yes, we need it all.” 

“Now, I know why people say babies weigh you down,” he joked. 

You shook your head with a laugh, “Once he’s packed and ready to go, I’ll just need to pack myself and then we’ll be ready for our flight in the morning.” 

“I’m so fucking ready to be out of this house and the city,” he groaned. “I need sunshine... the salty air... you in a tiny bikini,” he smirked. 

“Yeah, no, the latter is not happening,” you laughed. “One piece only.” 

“What? Why?” He pouted. 

“Um, because I just had a baby a few months ago and my body isn’t exactly where I want it to be to be in a tiny bikini,” you mumbled. 

Harry sighed walking over to you, “I understand if you’re not comfortable, but I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable because you think everyone else is going to say shit about your body.” 

You sighed sitting down on the bed, “It’s partly to do with that... but I’m not comfortable because I know I’m not where I want to be yet. I’ve accepted my body’s never going to be where it was before I got pregnant, but I’m just not ready to put it on display...” 

“Well, whether it’s a tiny bikini or a full body suit, you’re going to look fucking amazing to me,” he smiled kissing your head. 

“Thank you,” you smiled. “But it won’t be a body suit, so don’t worry about that.” 

He laughed and you two went back to getting everything packed, while Mac was still sleeping. 

**

The next day you were all packed and ready to go. Luckily, Harry arranged for a private plane so it would be easier and safer for Mac instead of being around tons of strangers with germs. During the flight, Mac stared out the window with wide eyes as he sat in Harry’s lap. 

He babbled pointing to the sky and clouds and then looking at Harry. 

Harry laughed, ”Isn’t it pretty? 

Mac nodded and clapped with a huge smile on his face. You smiled grabbing your phone and taking some photos of the two of them. As you watched Mac and Harry together, you couldn’t help but think about everything you and Harry had gone through. It was weird to think about how when the photo first was shown to you, you thought you were losing your family. That you and Harry weren’t going to be together anymore because he had lied to you... but now... now that everything, well almost everything, had come to light, you felt stronger. 

Plus, you both needed each other during the time Mac was sick. 

“What’s Mummy doing, huh?” Harry whispered to Mac. “She’s staring into space.” 

“I can hear you,” you laughed. “I was just thinking...” 

“About me?” He smirked. 

“Actually, yes,” you smiled. 

Harry smiled, “Aww, Mummy’s sweet.” 

“Mmm a,” Mac babbled. 

You gasped, “Was that?” 

“No, no way,” Harry said. 

“Say it again,” you gasped walking over to him and Mac. 

Mac giggled and reached out for you. 

‘See! He didn’t say it,” Harry smirked. 

“Oh, hush! It was close enough!” You said. “I bet if he said Da, you’d be saying he said, Daddy.”

“Hmm, let’s see,” he smirked. “Mac, can you say Da-da? Say Da-da?” 

Mac babbled, but it wasn’t anything close to Dada causing Harry to whine. 

“Ah!” you smirked. 

Harry rolled his eyes, “Doesn’t matter, I know he still loves me, don’t you?” 

Mac clapped his hands and put his hand to his mouth. 

“Is he trying to blow kisses?” Harry laughed putting his own hand to his mouth and blowing a kiss to Mac. 

He giggled and tries to do the same thing, but his little arm doesn’t move. 

“We’ll get you there,” Harry laughed. 

You smiled kissing his little head as he snuggled up with you, letting out a huge yawn. You rub Mac’s back as his eyes start to close. Harry smiled wrapping his arm around you and holding you close to him. Somehow his eyes start to close and then yours and you all take a nap as a family for the rest of the flight. 

**

By the time you got to the beach house, Mac was wide awake and getting antsy to play. He still wasn’t crawling yet, so it was hard for him to get out all of his energy. Harry was bringing the bags inside from the car, while you put Mac on the floor and opened his bag with his toys. He whined reaching out for them and you laughed. 

‘Gimme a minute,” you said. 

He whined and fake little tears rolled down his cheeks. “Just like Daddy when he doesn’t get his way.” 

“Excuse you, Y/N!” He scoffed walking in behind you, just as you said that. 

“What? It’s true,” you smirked. 

“Keep telling yourself that,” he said. “I know and Mac knows that I don’t whine when I don’t get my way. That’s you.” 

“Oh, piss off!” You rolled your eyes. “When have I ever done that!” 

“Hm, do you really want to list them?” He smirked. 

“You’re such a smartass, you know,” you mumbled. 

“But you love me!” He smirked. 

“Unfornately!” You joked. 

“Rude! I can’t believe you!” He said dramatically. 

Mac sat up on the floor watching the two of you with your playful banter with wide, toothless grin. He bounced on the floor, clapping his hands, babbling away. 

“I think he thinks we’re entertaining,” Harry laughed. 

“I think so too,” you giggled. 

You and Harry both sat down on the floor in front of Mac, who leaned over a bit, holding himself up with his arms. He kept pushing down on them, almost like he was trying to push himself to crawl, but of course, nothing happened quite yet. 

“Don’t worry, little man,” Harry said picking him up and placing him in his lap. “You’ll be crawling soon enough and then Mummy and I will be chasing you around the house like crazy.” 

“Hey, at least we won’t need to pay for those personal trainers at the gym anymore,” you joked. 

He laughed, “Yeah, because of that and another form of cardio...” 

You rolled your eyes, “It always has to come back to sex, doesn’t it,” you laughed. 

“Hey! Watch your language, Y/N!” Harry gasped putting his hands over Mac’s tiny little ears. “We have innocent ears here.” 

“You’ve said way worse around him! In fact, I’m positive his first word is going to be fuck, damn, or shit!” You said. 

“At least it’d be memorable and entertaining,” he joked. 

“Not when he’s still saying it at five and getting in trouble at school,” you laughed. 

“Weelll, who says those are bad words anyway,” he smirked. 

“Everyone,” you stated. 

“Yeah, we’ll I’m not everyone,” he said. “Right, Mac? We Styles don’t worry about everyone else.” 

Mac giggled staring up at Harry with his big green eyes. 

You weren’t sure what it was going on inside of you, but the moment Harry referred to him and Mac as Styles, you felt your heart fall into your stomach a bit. You knew you weren’t feeling that way because you had given Harry’s last name to Mac instead of yours, but for some reason at that moment, hearing Harry say what he said, made you realize something. 

Even though you, Harry, and Mac were a family, you were still almost sort of like an outsider. It was weird because the fact that you didn’t share a last name with Mac didn’t really dawn on you before. It was just his name. The name you and Harry agreed upon, but now, you wished to share the same last name. 

But now your last name. 

Harry’s. 

You wanted to be a Styles too. 

Which was something you had considered during one of your many times being in a relationship with Harry, but sitting there, watching them interact, you felt it in your heart that you wanted something more. You didn’t just want to be the mother of Harry’s child or his girlfriend. You wanted to be his wife. 

But you knew none of that could happen until you found the person responsible for trying to ruin your family, and once you made them pay, then you, Harry, and Mac could have your happily ever after. 

[littledreamybeth]

Can you feel my love?

I usually didn’t plan to write anything for a while but then this concept popped up :D Hope you enjoy it! Please, leave feedbacks behind! It’s not that difficult to write one little sentence. Tell me if you liked it or not, that’s already enough for me :) Thx <3 (both pictures are not mine!!!)

Nothing better could ever describe the feeling of coming home to the person you love the most and letting yourself being wrapped in their arms, drowning yourself in the warmth of their body after a long day at work.

Once Harry unlocks his front door and steps into the safety and security of his apartment, he lets out a relieved sigh. Spotting his girlfriend sitting cosily on his couch, wearing one of his sweaters and munching on a crisp from the package in her hand while watching another episode of Friends, a smile makes its way on his lips. Throughout the day he has missed her so much. His day has started by waking up early in the morning and not being able to say goodbye to his love who still was sleeping by that time he had to leave to the studio, staying there till the late hours of the day. Of course, Harry couldn’t bring himself to wake her up- she looks very cute when she sleeps- so he let her dwell longer in the land of dreams, giving her a kiss on her forehead before he went off.

“Welcome back!” He hears her voice calling from the living room.

Striping off his boots from his feet, he strolls to his girlfriend who still has her eyes glued on the TV screen. With an exhausted sigh, he lets himself falling smoothly onto her body, being already awaited by the longing arms of Y/N. She catches him and presses his head gently against her chest.

“Hey, love,” Harry mumbles, enjoying the sensation that her fingers leave behind when they brush through the long strands of his hair. He hums contently, burying his face closer into her chest. The soft beating of her heart hitting his ear is enough to lull him to sleep.

“How was work?” Y/N inquires.

“Tiring. Had a meeting in which we settled the tour days, interviews and stuff.  Sat in this conversation hall for hours.”

“Awww, my poor baby,” Y/N remarks with a giggle.

“The boys say hello. Niall’s invited us for barbecue for some time. Thinks we all need to get together before tour starts again. Would be lovely to hang out, I think.”

“It definitely would. I have some leftovers in the fridge and if you’d like I can warm them up.”

Harry shakes his head. “Had something to eat already. Went out with ma pals once I finally got out of that hell of studio.”

“Drama queen.”

Harry lifts up his head and rolls his eyes at her. “What were you up to all day? Sorry I couldn’t text you that much. Like I’ve said, I was trapped between those four walls.”

“It’s okay,“ Y/N says, petting his hair. “Nothing much actually. I’ve gone shopping with Ella and we had lunch together at some restaurant. Came back home and haven’t left the couch since.”

Y/N has been busy with college and studying that she had no chance to relax properly. Now that she has finally finished all her exams, she thought she rewarded herself with a lazy afternoon on the couch while watching her favourite series.

She earns a nod from him. “Missed you...”

“I missed you too, Harry.” Her lips meet his forehead. She feels his body getting heavier on hers and notices that he’s at the verge of falling asleep on her. Not that she would ever complain, she actually loves to watch him a lot when he sleeps but Harry seems so tired and fatigued from his day, it would be better for him to go to bed right now.

Before she can address her thoughts to him, Harry gets up and kisses her lips gently.

“I’m off to bed, love,“ he informs her. “Don’t stay awake for long, okay?”

“Will do. Let me just watch this episode and then I’ll join you.”

She watches him passing the corner of the hall and after turning left he’s out of her sight.

Not an hour later, she silently opens the door to their bedroom, only to catch her angel lying in between the comfy white sheets of their bed.

(Note: Imagine Harry with long hair)

Her hear melts to the sight. Every day she falls more in love with this man and there are even times in which she really questions if he’s real or just a product of her imagination. But he’s real than a human could ever be. He’s a blessing to this world, she’s figured this out long time ago.

She strips out of her clothes and slips next to Harry.

His hair is sprawled all across the pillow, even masking a little bit of his face and soft snores escape his slightly open lips. What a true honour it is to witness him in this vulnerable state. After one year of dating, Y/N still can’t believe that the Harry Styles from One Direction has chosen to love her, and only her. She’s no one famous with no special reputation, just a normal girl from London but with a personality as golden and pure as it ever could be- enough to attract Harry’s attention.

She brushes his curls from his face and observes his features. Her heart doing flips while she watches him.

“My sleeping beauty,” she whispers softly in his ear. Harry doesn’t stiff at all. He sleeps hard like a stone. One of her hand glides around his bare stomach, tightening its hold on him while her other hand caresses his messy hair. Her face bents forward, letting her lips meeting the base of his jaw where she puckers tiny little kisses on the soft skin.  

“I love you so much,” she tells him. She really loves to murmur sweet nothings in his ear while he sleeps. By this way, she often gets the courage to tell him unspeakable things which she would never say to him out of embarrassment even though there is nothing she has to feel uncomfortable about. What she doesn’t know is that Harry sometimes-if he isn’t tired enough- pretends to be falling asleep just because he absolutely adores listening to the wonderful things she says that build him up.

Harry mostly radiates self-confidence but even he has his insecurities as well.

“You’ve worked so hard on your dreams and I’m so proud how far you’ve come. Despite all the media attacks, all the fame and all the stress you go through every day, you still manage to keep your feet on the ground and I really admire that. I love how you try to make people happy, I love how you try to make up your time for sick children and teenagers only to put a smile on their faces. I love how you try to make their wishes to meet you come true. You support so many communities and charities, Harry, people like you rarely exist in this world. They try to break you but you reach out to them with kindness. You have such a large fan base that’s got your back, even elder people do like you Harry, I really adore this. I recently saw a post on Instagram in which a girl describes how much her father likes you and your music and I kind of had to laugh about it. It’s adorable.”

She nuzzles her face on his shoulder blade. “I love your freaky side, the way you try to entertain people and make them laugh. I love your serious side and how you always put the ones you love first, also when it comes to their safety. But I also love your vulnerable side, you may think that it’s not normal for men to cry but it is. It is okay to feel down at times. We’re all human beings. Even Harry Styles.”

Kissing the skin of his shoulder, she continues.

“Thank you for everything you do for me. I’ve never fell for somebody as hard as I fell for you. You make me feel so special and so loved. You showed me the wonderful side of this world. I owe you for a lifetime. There is no place I ever want to be except by your side.”

Being slightly overwhelmed by her emotions, Y/N suppresses the tears in her eyes.

“I’ll see you in the morning, H,” she yawns, feeling her limbs slowly getting heavier, cuddling closer against him, her front meeting his back.

“Goodnight, my shining star.”

[toldnews-blog]

New Post has been published on https://toldnews.com/technology/entertainment/critics-notebook-broadway-on-race-still-more-likely-to-comfort-than-confront/

Critic’s Notebook: Broadway on Race: Still More Likely to Comfort Than Confront

I had attended the two shows — a Broadway musical and an Off Broadway play — on successive nights in early winter, and my head was spinning hard. It was as if in the lobby of each theater, I had been handed a different set of custom-made spectacles with which to view the evening’s entertainment.

That first metaphoric pair of glasses rendered me more or less colorblind for a contented few hours. The second heightened the differences between black and white in such high, irreconcilable contrast that my eyes felt both unscaled and scalded long before the end.

Both “The Prom,” currently at the Longacre Theater on Broadway, and “Slave Play,” which was staged at the New York Theater Workshop in the East Village, are on their own terms thorough successes. And they are so unlike in their form and aspiration that normally I wouldn’t think of comparing them.

But seeing them in such proximity, I couldn’t help trying to merge them in my mind, and wondering what would happen if the leading adult lovers in “The Prom” — who seem headed for a very happy life together, in the tradition of old-style musicals — attended the sex therapy workshop for interracial couples portrayed in “Slave Play.” My guess is that this intersection of worlds would surely end it tears, if not blows.

[A Radical Moment in American Theater and Beyond]

“The Prom” follows what happens when a group of fading New York showbiz pros, looking for some positive press, descend upon a middle-American high school. Their goal is to help a lesbian student fulfill her dream of taking her girlfriend to that hoariest and most sacred of teenage social rituals, the prom.

Yes, homophobia apparently still runs rife in this Indiana town. Racism, on the other hand, would appear to be no problem. The gay-baiting popular crowd comes in all, easily mixed colors here. And when the Broadway diva Dee Dee (Beth Leavel), who is white, falls for the school principal, Mr. Hawkins (Michael Potts), who is black, the only obstacle to their future bliss would seem to be her outsize ego.

The interracial couples in Jeremy O. Harris’s “Slave Play,” a dazzling mix of satire and psychodrama, know that their partnerships are in trouble, and that the roots of that trouble are centuries-deep. That’s why they’ve entered a therapy program that has them acting out slave-master scenarios from the pre-Civil War era.

“The Prom” concludes in a rousing, singing rainbow of inclusivity, in which even the most tenacious homophobes have learned the error of their ways. “Slave Play” ends in a devastating dialogue in which a black wife and a white husband realize that they will probably never be able to relate to each other outside of the onerous, razor-edged context of American racial history.

I know, I know. Musicals, hardly a realistic genre to begin with, always require a certain suspension of disbelief. Yet the differences between “The Prom” and “Slave Play” point to a greater disparity in the approaches to race as practiced on and off Broadway.

[How These Black Playwrights Are Challenging American Theater]

I can’t remember a more electrifying run of new, innovative plays during my 25-year tenure as a New York theater critic than the heady spate of works by African-American playwrights that have opened Off Broadway during the past two seasons, and present the gap between the races in this country as tragically unbridgeable.

In contrast, the high-ticket productions on Broadway more often than not aim to cosset.

Yes, Broadway’s institutional theaters did present worthy works from playwrights of color, including Tarell Alvin McCraney’s inspirational “Choir Boy” and Young Jean Lee’s deliberately abrasive “Straight White Men.”

But this season also saw the production of “American Son,” a schematic, movie-of-the-week-style drama by Christopher Demos-Brown (for the record, a white man). In that work, an estranged black wife (Kerry Washington) and white husband (Steven Pasquale) confront their cultural differences while waiting in a South Florida police station to hear news about their missing son.

Currently running — and likely to be with us for a long time — is Aaron Sorkin’s smash-hit adaptation of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Harper Lee’s beloved 1960 novel about doing the right thing in the segregated South of the early 1930s. There’s no way that this courtroom drama, centered on a black man on trial for a rape he did not commit, couldn’t be about race.

Yet when I saw Bartlett Sher’s production — at a matinee with an almost entirely white audience, mostly middle-aged or older — it felt like ingeniously rearranged comfort food for people who had loved the book in their youths and had grown up to be, in their own eyes, right-thinking liberals.

The white bigots portrayed here came across as so sneeringly ignorant and dastardly that there was no chance that anyone watching the show might identify with them. And as played by the excellent Jeff Daniels with just enough glimmers of conflict to make him human, the wise and stoical defense lawyer Atticus Finch embodied the promise of a future beyond prejudice. (In Mr. Sorkin’s version, Atticus is challenged, a bit too cutely, by his wise and stoical African-American housekeeper, played by LaTanya Richardson Jackson.)

Many of the theatergoers who rose to their feet at the end of the matinee I saw were both smiling and crying. You suspected that this gratifying emotional response was in part based in the affirmation of their inner Atticuses.

I should say that, as a boy who grew up in a North Carolina college community where “Mockingbird” was a sort of bible, I felt a tender nostalgia for innocence lost as I watched Mr. Sorkin’s play. And I shall always love the utopia of classic feel-good musicals, in which it is possible to pretend that a talent for song and dance can always overcome that which divides us.

But I would feel undernourished, intellectually and morally, if I weren’t also able to be challenged — and possibly shamed — by a work like “Slave Play,” or like Suzan-Lori Parks’s “White Noise,” currently Off Broadway at the Public Theater.

The script for “White Noise,” a portrait of two interracial couples who have reached a dangerous crossroads, includes a prefatory quote from James Baldwin, who wrote: “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”

At a time when a brave new school of dramatists is living up to this dictum, with a depth and breadth that the American stage hasn’t seen in years, audiences who stick exclusively to Broadway are denying themselves the chance to explore Baldwin’s demand to see clearly — along with the most powerful and relevant theater being written today.