#number 1 summer hater award goes to me

[littlemisspp]

Lover (TH BLURB)

Summary: You are a famous singer doing your performance at an award show. The song you sing is a love song written about your boyfriend, Tom, who is in the crowd cheering you on.

A/N: The song Lover is by Taylor Swift. I know it’s crazy popular but I figured it worked really well with the plot. I’m also a giant swiftie soooo

_________

Ever since you could remember, you were singing. In fact, you’ve been told by family that you were belting out songs before you were even talking. As true as that may be, singing was your passion in life. So much, you built a career out of it.

After working tirelessly, skipping from label to label, you finally got your chance. Within a few months of your first album, you were one of the biggest names in music. It was concerts, award shows, talk shows, red carpets, magazines, and everything you dreamed of. 

For you, it was paradise. But then you met him.

Tom had been an up and coming actor the same time your first song went number 1. Although you had never met him, you always thought he was handsome, and had heard wonderful things about him through your other celebrity friends. 

Then one magical night under the lights of Hollywood, you met the incredible man you’re with today. He’s been your everything for two years now, and you couldn’t be happier. 

But on this particular day, you weren't so happy. You were nervous. So, so nervous. For today you would be doing your debut performance at the famous Brit awards, Britain’s most popular music award show. It was held in the O2 arena in London, filled with hundreds of stars and fans, and watched by millions around the world. 

It was nerve-racking, to say the least.

The red carpet went swimmingly, Tom wearing his lovely navy blue suit and black framed glasses, the ones you loved on him. You were in a navy blue gown and gold necklace to match, your hair pinned to the side. Cameras flashed and your names were called as Tom held your hand and led you on the carpet, the giant Brit banner behind you. You posed together, his arm securely around your waist as you smiled, even turning and pecking his cheek cutely. Which made the cameras go wild.

After the carpet it was interviews. Microphones shoved in your faces and cameras rolling as you stood along the halls, all the chaos causing your nerves to rise even more. Anything and everything you did was photographed, tweeted about, posted about. Everything. You signed autographs and took photos with fans, smiling as they screamed your name.

The energy in the main arena was incredible, people chatting and catching up before the awards began. You and Tom were led to your table, a bucket of assorted drinks in the middle as your name tags sat neatly on the white cloth. Your table was full, Tom and you side by side, flanked by your manager, parents, and Harrison. 

Within no time the lights clicked on and the camera’s were on, the show finally beginning. Luckily your slot was towards the middle, so you had some time to enjoy the show before you were ushered back stage to get ready. You bit your lip as awards were given out, stomach twisting as Tom reached over and squeezed your hand.

You smiled back, happy he sensed your discomfort. He knew you were on edge, he’d watched you pace back in forth in your room all morning. He’d told you that you would do great, prompting you to breathe. You stopped mid break down, letting him pull you in for a hug. His embrace calmed your beating heart, a kiss landing on the top of your head as you smile.

But of course, that was then, and this is now. And your time to leave was now. At commercial you were led back stage, your parents giving you a quick nod as Tom presses a quick kiss to your lips, wishing you well.

A stage hand tells you your cues, but you just stare in the mirror, trying to focus your breathing as your stylist pins the first layer of your hair back. Your dress was a pale pink, perfect for a love ballad. Without any time wasted, your ear plugs are given to you and you are on your way to the stage.

It was dark, the piano hidden behind a make shift wall blocking you from the audience view. You sat at the shiny black piano, glancing down to make sure your feet knew the paddles. The microphone is placed in the stand, adjusted so it’s in front of your mouth as your stylist does last minute hair spraying.

Stage hands scurry away, meaning your moment had come. You inhale deeply, hearing some famous model announce you from the other side. Applause roars around the arena as the wall is lifted, the white spot light going on you.

You close your eyes, fingers pressing down the keys as the chords of your song begin.

“We could leave the Christmas lights up 'til January This is our place, we make the rules And there's a dazzling haze, a mysterious way about you, dear Have I known you twenty seconds or twenty years?”

The camera swirls around you, the room seemingly silent as you play your song. You take a quick moment to glance up, eyes catching your table filled with loved ones. Tom’s sitting there grinning like a mad man, beyond proud of the woman he’s in love with.

You give him a smile, fingers moving across the keys.

“Can I go where you go? Can we always be this close forever and ever”

As you play, memories flash in your mind, almost acting as a sort of fuel as you play your song. It was titled ‘Lover’ a song you’d written in your house one snowy night, just you, your piano, and Tom.

“And ah, take me out, and take me home You're my, my, my, my lover”

You close your eyes, embracing the moment and adrenaline. You brain plays a make shift movie, moments of you and Tom popping into your head. 

“We could let our friends crash in the living room This is our place, we make the call”

This made you smile as you sang, memories of you and Tom moving into your apartment together. Painting the walls together and eating pizza on the floor before your furniture arrived. And of course, your third room mate, Tom’s best friend. Harrison always had a habit of sleeping over, but he was always a welcomed guest in your home.

“And I'm highly suspicious that everyone who sees you wants you”

Everyone in the world loved Tom. He was every girl’s dream man. Hell, he was your dream man. Even though your status and popularity was great, it was never enough to cease your ever worrying heart and insecurities. It took him standing in the kitchen one night, both hands on your cheeks and big brown eyes boring into yours that you finally stomped out those demons. It didn’t matter how many gorgeous LA girls Tom came into contact with in his work, he only had eyes for one, and that was you.

“I've loved you three summers now, honey, but I want 'em all”

You look up from the piano again, grinning as you carry the notes. It was true, you’d loved him the moment you met. He wasn’t just another pretty face to you, he was something special, and you learned that instantly.

It was a charity event in Los Angeles. Your label always did events and fundraisers to help those in need, and at this particular event you were raising money for children in need. The party was in full swing when you were at the bar, music playing as the high profile guests mingle. You sat back sipping your cocktail when he came up, ordering himself a beer. You turned, noticing who he was and took the opportunity to say hello. And the rest was history.

“Can I go where you go? Can we always be this close forever and ever? And ah, take me out, and take me home (forever and ever) You're my, my, my, my lover”

The charity event was only the start. Meeting him started your friendship, which blossomed into you both always visiting each other when you were in the same city. You both kept almost constant contact with each other. The friendship was wholesome and true, Tom being your rock when tours got lonely and haters got meaner. 

One night in New York you both were having drinks on the roof, over looking the beautiful skyline. It was starting to get cold out, your cheeks red as the crisp air caused you to huddle close in front of the heaters. It was there, amongst the city lights he confessed his feelings, something you’d been hoping he’d do for a long time. It was the start of something truly beautiful.

“Ladies and gentlemen, will you please stand? With every guitar string scar on my hand I take this magnetic force of a man to be my lover My heart's been borrowed and yours has been blue All's well that ends well to end up with you Swear to be overdramatic and true to my lover And you'll save all your dirtiest jokes for me And at every table, I'll save you a seat, lover”

Memories of you guys goofing around your apartment came to mind, every romantic embrace and every kiss good night. The nights you’d chase each other around the living room, or cuddle close in front of the fireplace. You didn’t know where this relationship was going, but you knew it was going to last.

“Darling, you're my, my, my, my lover”

The finishing chord brought you back to reality, lifting your fingers from the keys as the room erupted in applause. You grinned, bowing your head in gratitude as the audience stands. Your eyes catch Tom’s, his fingers moving to blow you a kiss. 

The lights dim as the show goes into commercial break, crew members helping you off the stage as you’re ushered around. You pass through a corridor and you’re met with Tom, his arms wrapping around you.

“You were amazing” He smiled.

You leaned in to give him a quick kiss, reaching down to wrap your fingers with his.

“Thank you, lover”

A/N: I know that was crazy fluff but I’m kinda into it. I’m also kinda into this scenario so if you guys want me to do more with the famous reader X Tom thing for sure send me some ideas you wanna see!

[greywindys]

It’s that time of year again! I, and possibly a good number of you reading this, just spent the whole of 2018 in the Gorillaz fandom. Congratulations! You made it! Because this year...kinda sucked. Not just for the Gorillaz fandom but, if this Washington Post article is any indication, for the rest of the world too. Maybe on an individual level there were moments of light. Maybe Gorillaz was your moment of light. If it was I’m genuinely happy because that means you probably found a way to avoid or ignore all the chaos that went down this year. But overall? Fandom was rife with disappointments, confusion and conflict with some good parts (for me, at least) sprinkled in here and there. Below is a personal reflection on the top 10 significant events in fandom of 2018.

1. Murdoc Goes to Prison

2018 started out peacefully for fandom. We were just finishing up sharing our scans of G-Magazine and theorizing over the next album when we’re treated with this - a nineteen second mocap of a frantic Murdoc accepting a Brit Award with an “oh by the way I’m going to prison.” We didn’t know why or for how long, and, though fans were confused and Murdoc going to prison is a tired, overplayed storyline at this point, it was cherished as any new Gorillaz content, especially animation, is cherished. Memes were made, most notably the #FreeMurdoc hashtag complete with a petition which was acknowledged by creators and caused the first big outburst in fandom for its messy tag. I did what I always do with Murdoc videos and went through the entire thing frame by frame to collect screenshots. Little did I know that this would be the only time I would get to indulge in this beloved past time. Little did I know that I would be wearing the same expression as Murdoc is in this screencap this entire phase.

2. Murdoc hate

Murdoc hate has always existed. It’s also generally accepted. However, when it was confirmed that Murdoc was going to be in prison for an undetermined amount of time and that he may not even speak this phase (thanks a lot, phase 5 plot!) it reached unprecedented levels of viciousness. Some fans took every opportunity to drag him in the main tag, start debates with anyone who might mention one positive thing about him and expressed how they genuinely wanted him to die and/or never come back. It kinda reminded me of this season of MTV’s The Challenge when everyone ganged up on Johnny Bananas. Like, yes he’s an asshole and yes this was probably long overdue but also omg when is there and end point? Is there an end point? It was like some people hated Murdoc more than they liked Gorillaz. For some additional context - this tense environment was born out of an astoundingly severe conflict that happened in spring where three separate fandom storms that had been brewing since late 2017 collided into one huge mess. Discords were raided, friendships were lost, the police were called (I’m not even exaggerating). I won’t go into it more but if you were there, you know what i’m talking about. Murdoc wasn’t the cause of this, but his character was at the center of one of those storms and the canon sending him to prison only reignited the ire towards him. For awhile Murdoc fans weren’t sure were exactly they stood with the greater fandom, and new fans were confused as to why this one green character was the source of so much grief for haters and fans alike. This continued for most of the year (and still continues today), hence why it’s getting a mention now.

3. Ace

Believe it or not Murdoc and Ace are confirmed #friends. You wouldn’t know that from all the Murdoc vs Ace content that sprung out of this year but Ace was the one who joined Murdoc for hot chocolate after he got out of prison, “they go way back” etc etc. Ace was a big deal because it was probably the only time the fandom guessed something correctly this entire year. Jamie began posting cryptic pictures of Noodle with this unidentified man, then another with only the Ace card visible. “It a Powerpuff Girls crossover!” Some people claimed. But that seemed so random? Really? A B-list cartoon villain from a cartoon targeting an entirely different demographic? More likely than you think! Ace never spoke a word and he wasn’t allowed to smoke or have sex. People obsessed over him anyways. To this day I still have no idea who he is or what kind of personality he has or really anything. But he wasn’t a bad guy (more on that later) and he was Murdoc’s friend so he’s alright with me.

4. Messaging Denholm

By now the fandom was fraught with distress on so many levels. We were lost. We needed someone to guide us, to show us the way, to show us the #truth. I don’t know exactly who started this trend but it soon spread around Reddit and other social media sites that Jamie’s son Denholm was replying to dm’s on Instagram and soon, he was graced with a deluge of of inquiries from casual fans and Murdoc stans alike. The thing is though - he actually *did* answer them. Many of us had spoilers re: Murdoc and Ace’s friendship, Murdoc getting out of prison, etc. MONTHS before they happened. I believe he even told us that 2D was fine back in like, June or something. Denholm knew! Eventually we pissed him off but it didn’t stop him from answering. He just answered angrier. It also caused fans to argue more because people started accusing others of photoshopping his responses and nothing can ever be done peacefully here. I haven’t followed up on this story singe the end of summer but I think fans have finally scaled back on the messaging. But I hear he’s working on a Gorillaz documentary for 2019 so...I’m sure we’ll be talking again soon.

5. Noodle

I want to take a moment here to also acknowledge the struggle AMA Gorillaz hosted on, of all places, Youtube. Thankfully, diligent redditors compiled a google doc of all the answers otherwise they would lost thanks to Youtube’s confusing interface. ANYHOW. The answer that stirred up the biggest milieu of debate and confusion came from Noodle. This isn’t exactly my lane - I don’t wade into Noodle issues and I don’t id as part of the LGBT community - so I’m not going to say much here other than, at the very least, this was the second or third time she has officially denied any interest in dating her bandmates.

6. 2D’s journal/2Doc

Okay first of all: 2DOC...jk, jk...jk? But no, honestly, this actually did become a big story this year, much bigger than expected. The release of 2D’s journal was the catalyst here, revealing a number of drawings and images of Murdoc. “Souk Eye,” a song that came with visuals featuring close ups of Murdoc’s face and vaguely romantic lyrics was depicted in 2D’s journal next to yet another drawing of Murdoc. We were confused! 2D didn’t care that Murdoc was gone, right? 2Doc shippers were intrigued. I was hesitant. We were all called delusional. However, “Souk Eye” was later confirmed to be a love song by Damon Albarn, and Murdoc and 2D have both claimed their relationship is “better” since the end of phase 5 (hhMmMmM). Obvi, take this with a grain of salt because it’s Gorillaz but the journal was instrumental in confirming how closely The Now Now (and the entire plot of phase 5, really) was tied to Murdoc and 2D’s relationship, particularly what 2D thinks of Murdoc. Think of it as platonic if you want but they share a closeness on SOME level and the content of 2018, from interviews to the Murdoc chats to the album itself, supports this. I rest my case.

7. Lost theories

Pour one out for all the lost theories. If you were a new fan this year you probably came up with a theory, or you got really invested in a theory. Some examples: HIM from PPG orchestrating the destruction of Gorillaz by possessing 2D and getting Murdoc framed with Ace as a double agent, or Murdoc’s imprisonment being tied to his trouble with EMI from phase 4, or phase 5 being about time travel, or Murdoc crashing Demon Dayz fest and fighting El Mierda on stage, or 2D being the one to frame Murdoc or Murdoc’s inmate number (24602) being a Les Mis reference implying that he’d get a character arc similar to Jean Valjean...you get the idea. But there are dreams that cannot beeee, and there are storms we cannot weather. You can argue about the budget or G-Shock or whatever but the truth is Gorillaz is just disorganized. This is their Brand™.

8. The Murdoc Chatbot

Gorillaz did an interesting thing this year - it let us talk to Murdoc! Sometime around June, he writers decided that the plot of phase 5 would be best spent, not on exploring the band’s dynamic with Murdoc gone or developing Ace’s personality, but on Murdoc! Fandom spent most of the summer following Murdoc’s experience in prison and helping to “free” him via a chatbot you could access through Kik, Instagram or Facebook. Basically, Murdoc was Paddington from Paddington 2, and we the fans were supposed to be the Browns trying to break him out and prove his innocence. Other fans begrudgingly used the chatbot to make fun of him or tell him to die and follow along with the story (it was the only place you could get plot updates). It was a neat idea as well as a funny experience to pretend to be talking to him, and the plot was very engaging at times. It was the chatbot that revealed the very dissatisfying (albeit happy) conclusion that Murdoc is no Paddington and had lied about everything - being framed, El Mierda etc. - but felt really bad about it. His apology was basically this. I’m going to also tag the #FreeMurdoc merchandise debacle, how overpriced it was and how it ended up being pointless anyways because Murdoc wasn’t framed and didn’t need to be “freed” onto this, because it all falls under the same event. Oh, and you got to talk to Noodle sometimes, too. 

9. G-shock ends phase 5

I put “ends phase 5″ in strikethrough because G-Shock on its own is actually pretty cool, and made up for the lack of videos (2 in total) that were released this year. The now Murdoc inclusive band goes to space and starts an alien war! That’s fun! Completely removed from whatever phase 5 was, but fun! (And I say that genuinely) What was messy about G-shock was that it came out of nowhere. The final Murdoc chat, that was SUPPOSED to reveal the ending to the prison arc, hadn’t even happened but suddenly, Murdoc was back to sell watches to aliens with the rest of the band and Ace was gone. But the final chat was delayed by a month and G-Shock came out anyways. Out of this came memes about how phase 5 ended so Gorillaz could try to sell us watches.

10. Cass Browne Tells us the True Plastic Beach Ending

We ended 2018 with not one but two major interviews from the fancast, Hallelujah Monkeyz but I’m choosing to cover their latest interview with Cass Browne, writer of Rise of the Ogre. If you were new this year you probably heard older fans mention ad nauseam how much they missed this guy name Cass. Well, Cass came back and dropped actual bombs about the true ending of phase 3, Murdoc’s lost backstory and the Plastic Beach book he found AND that a sequel to ROTO was planned and dropped. Understandably, this sparked a lot of discussion and also revealed just how important Cass was to the continuity of the Gorillaz storyline. Back then, we had ROTO and Plastic Beach. Today, we have “Murdoc drowns in poop and reunites with the band offscreen”

And that’s the year! And look I’m not saying this because I’m a stan but this was a Murdoc year. He was at the center of like, at least 80% of the angst and joy of fandom and I could make separate “top 10 Murdoc moments” or  “top 10 2Doc moments.” I guess for me, on an individual level, it was an alright year. For one, I actually talked to more people this year and met some really great friends (something I don’t typically do in fandom). I also get to check “write a fanfic” off my bucket list (it’s still a WIP but it’s the first WIP I’ve ever had so I’m counting it). And personally, my life has changed and without getting into too many details I’ve overcome a lot, grown professionally and...I think I can be kinda proud of myself for that. I expect 2019 to be a slower year than this one, and, I think the fandom needs that. Hopefully I’ll still see some of you around because I’m going to be here for at least the next few months while I finish up you know what. 

Honorable mentions: 2D “Dies” of Ligma and other 2D memes, 2D writes The Now Now, Benjamin Clementine says he regrets working with Gorillaz, Noodles old VA confirms Jamie ghosted her and recast Noodle without telling her, Gorillaz delay the final Murdoc chat by a month, Demon Dayz doesn’t get streamed, Music video releases - “Humilty” and “Tranz”, Cyborg Noodle returns with boobs and causes debate, the “Let Ace Speak” petition,