#you're not getting away with this without me posting it for the whole town square to see

[cardinailed0]

Trick or treat?

WRONG

Freddy fazbear

[cheshirecryptid]

Not a hot take at all but “You're on your own kid” by Taylor Swift is the most Steve Harrington song ever.  Not as in he would like it but like it describes so much of his story so well. 

I want to break down how the lyrics fit him:

So the first verse here calls back to seasons 1-2.

Summer went away, still, the yearning stays

I think this line relates to when his relationship starts to go downhill with Nancy following the fight but before he has met Dustin. It's clear at that point in the story that their relationship (paralleling summer in the lyrics) isn't going to work but he still wants it to (seen in the yearning stays).

I play it cool with the best of them I wait patiently, he's gonna notice me It's okay, we're the best of friends Anyway I hear it in your voice, you're smoking with your boys

This matches when he's still hanging out with Tommy and Carol but he has started to change. I play it cool with the best of them calls to how he's still trying to pretend to be who he used to be in order to keep things as they were and (imo) to try to get Nancy back because that's how he ended up with her in the first place. I think that he thinks that if he maintains how he used to be, she'll start to notice him again and things will go back to how they are. Despite this, he can't help but act differently (I hear it in your voice) because he is different and things will never be the same as they were before.

I didn't choose this town, I dream of getting out

I take this lyric to reference how he had to conform because of where he was but he resents that he has to act like that. There's a whole other discussion to be had about why he felt the need to conform, but I personally think that he was seeking attention and approval from his peers in the absence of caring parents.

There's just one who could make me stay

I think that if Steve hadn't met Dustin at that point, he probably would've finished school as he had and left town as soon as he could. Therefore, if we're following this in chronological order, this lyric refers to Dustin, without who he would've reversed his character development and left as soon as he could. If we go outside of the chronological order from this analysis (it will fall apart on its own anyway), this also refers to the rest of the party and especially Robin. I think that Dustin is the first one to make him want to stay though.

I've seen some edits of this song with him that use Nancy as the one who could make him stay but I disagree. I think he probably would've for a while, but I think her words during their fight in season 2 would make it clear to him that they can't go back to the way they were and his leaving after that shows me that he gets that. I do think that she becomes one of the ones to make him stay again later (season 4) but I don't think it will ever be the same and I don't think that (as of right now at least) it would be in a romantic sense despite how the writers want it to seem.

I think the chorus/pre-chorus summarizes his life up until the middle of season 2, specifically episode 6. I think this could be set squarely before he protects the whole party at the junkyard.

I search the party of better bodies Just to learn that you never cared You're on your own, kid You always have been

From sprinkler splashes to fireplace ashes

This line parallels the change from childhood/naivety to the trauma that came with the experience of the upside down.

I waited ages to see you there

I take this to reference his search for someone who cares about him, specifically I take this to be referring to his absent parents, Nancy post-break-up, and his old friends who don't notice that he has changed.

I search the party of better bodies

I actually misunderstood this line and thought it said for (rather than of) and took it to reference his search for someone who will care. As it is written, I think it can be interpreted as jealousy and a feeling of inferiority towards others who have people who love them.

Just to learn that you never cared

This refers to the people referenced in the second line of the chorus and how he comes to terms with their lack of caring.

You're on your own, kid You always have been

This summarizes all of his relationships up to that point, which had always ended with him alone. There's also the implied meaning of the line "You always have been" which can be interpreted as "you always will be," which I feel describes the expectations he has of his future.

I think the 2nd verse lines up very well with his arc in season 3.

I see the great escape So long, Daisy May

To be honest, this line eludes me a bit but it could be argued that it can apply to his escape from and saying goodbye to high school and who he was during that time.

I picked the petals, he loves me not Something different bloomed

You cannot tell me this does not perfectly describe the scene in the bathroom with Robin. With "I picked the petals" referring to his confession and "he loves me not" referring to her rejection and coming out to him. And "something different bloomed" referring to their blossoming friendship which grows stronger than it had ever been. Because, although its different than what he was hoping for, their friendship is as strong or (imo) stronger than a romantic relationship could've been between them.

Writing in my room I play my songs in the parking lot I'll run away

The parts about song writing don't fit anything in his arc but they don't contradict anything either. "I'll run away" is interesting to me because you can interpret it literally as him running from the russians and towards the hawkins crew but you can also interpret it as him running away from his past in the same way the first two lines in this verse do.

The 2nd chorus/pre-chorus summarizes everything from seasons 1-4 (and probably will fit season 5 too but that's not out yet).

From sprinkler splashes to fireplace ashes

This has the same meaning as before, the passage of time between naivety to the trauma of the upside down.

I gave my blood, sweat, and tears for this

I interpret the "this" in this line to refer to someone caring about him, which manifests in him protecting them even at the cost of his well-being. "Blood, sweat, and tears" works with both the common usage of that phrase to convey how hard he worked to get what he wanted, and also literally by referencing all the pain he's taken on behalf of the party and the rest of the hawkins crew.

I hosted parties and starved my body Like I'd be saved by a perfect kiss

This fits with his past of being the "king of hawkins high," with "hosted parties" working on a literal level of how he would attempt to charm the entirety of the school with parties and "starved my body" symbolizing the suppression of his caring personality and putting on a front of being an asshole in order to seek the approval of others. "Like I'd be saved by a perfect kiss" references how he thought that if he fit in, he'd be able to find someone who cares for him and everything would be fixed.

The jokes weren't funny, I took the money

I read this as being about how he regrets how he acted in highschool and how he knows that it was wrong in retrospect.

My friends from home don't know what to say

"My friends from home" reference Tommy and Carol with "don't know what to say" describing how they would not/do not recognize the Steve that we know in season 4. This is mostly my own inference as they are never heard from again.

I looked around in a blood-soaked gown And I saw something they can't take away

"I looked around in a blood-soaked gown" can be taken to refer to a specific time that is either the calm before or after the storm. I would specifically place this as either right before or after the battle with Vecna in season 4.

If you interpret it as before the battle with Vecna, the second line refers to his internal thoughts on the Hawkins crew. The "something" refers to the found family that they all have and the "can't take away" refers to the shared trauma and history they all have. The "they" would be referring to any exterior forces with the obvious one being the upside down and the Russians but distance also fits here (especially with Nancy and Robin going off to college soon). The subtextual meaning here refers to how the ties that bind them will be there regardless of what happens, even death, which works with the doubts they have that things might not work out this time.

If you interpret it as after the battle with Vecna, the "something" can be interpreted as referring to how he has changed and grown as a person, changing the meaning of "can't take away" to be about the fact that he can never go back to who he was before and the "they" as the expectations others have of him.

I think that this works best if interpreted as before the final battle but both ways work well imo.

'Cause there were pages turned with the bridges burned

"Pages turned" is pretty common symbolism for the passage of time and that applies here too. "Bridges burned" refers to the way his relationships with those he knew before the upside down have changed (destroyed in reference to Carol and Tommy and changed routes in relation to Jonathan and Nancy).

Everything you lose is a step you take So make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it

This references the relationships he's gained because of the things he lost (his social status, former friends, and former attitude). The "make the friendship bracelets" and "take the moment and taste it" reference how he's now able to truly enjoy the results of the changes he's gone through and encourage him to be happy about what he's gained rather than worrying about what he's lost.

You've got no reason to be afraid

This calls back to what I believe is his fundamental character motivation which is wanting to be loved. As of the end of season 4, he doesn't have to fear being alone and unloved anymore because there are so many people who love him. They might have a lot to fear in terms of the danger of the upside down, but he will never feel alone in that fear and he will never have to face his biggest fear again.

Finally, we come to the concluding verse which sums up all of what I've broken down until this point.

You're on your own, kid

The first line in this verse calls back to the first verse and how he felt up until mid-season 2: that no one cares about him and no one ever will.

Yeah, you can face this

I take this to refer specifically to his thought process during the second half of season 2 when he makes the choice to protect the party from the dangers that they are facing, which contrasts his first encounter with the upside down when he runs away. This feeling also continues through the rest of the horrors in the show.

You're on your own, kid

The second repeat of this line references how he shoulders the burden of protecting Dustin, Erica, and Robin during the events of season 3. Where the first time this line is said in this verse it's against his will that he's alone, this repeat conveys that he is choosing to shoulder this burden alone.

You always have been

The past tense in this line is significant. Steve has always been alone, we never see his parents and his house is always empty, his girlfriend leaves him, and the only friends he has until the start of the series care more about the image he presents and what he represents as the king of the school than about him. He has always been alone, but he is not anymore and he will never be alone again.

[the-fiction-witch]

Bad Day?

TV SHOW GODLESS

COUPLE WHITEY WINN X READER

RATING ADORABLE

REQUESTED :

Could you please do whitey winn fic about him being really tired after working and him and his s/o cuddle (akrosndianfiqndoandian I feel like whitey winn would be a little spoon idk why-)

I stood over the kitchen sink washing up dishes and Cutlery hearing it clatter and splash in the warm water as I did, having to hurry for these last bits as it would be warm much longer. Looking out the small wooden window the light of various coloured glass bottles lined on the windowsill to reflect sweet pleasent light in mornings as the sun rise. But now the sun was setting and was hidden away the other side of the house, the town of labelle darkening as slowly but surely the sun slips below the desert horizon. Suddenly the door opened and I looked over in shock to the wooden door facing out towards town, the small lanky figure in the doorway holding open the door. His boots stepping up onto the wooden floor out of the dusty desert dirt, the boots speckled with some dust, dirt and mud from walks, scuffed slightly from riding his horse, they clacked a little where the tall soul and heel of the boots met the wooden planked floor. His pants tight to his skinny legs tucked into his boots tightly, the pants hugged his non existent curves up to his crotch and hips, them hugging the curves of his butt rather closely. His two gun belts sat posied on his hips crossing over his fly. His once white button down concealed by his grey jumper the glint of his deputy badge on his pocket. His neck sun tanned and covered with thick layers of dirt and dust to stubborn now to remove without a wire brush and patients, his lip and chin graced with messy stubble. His eyes scanned the room momentarily from under the brim of his hat that pulled his loose blonde waves back away from him.

"Good evening Mr Winn" I smiled sweetly to him, he made no response to me he simply stepped inside more shutting the door slipping his hat off putting it squarely on the coat hook beside the door above the brown leather jacket he didn't take today. He stepped over to the bed and went face first into it. "Bad day?" I asked

"I can't even begin to explain to ya darlin'" he mumbled his face in his pillow

"Bullshit?' I asked and he nodded "okay" I smiled going over and forcing him up to his feet not difficult as I think I've had sadles that weight more then whitey does soaking wet. I wrapped his arms around my waist his fingers interwining with his own at the small of my back his head laid on mine where he didn't actually want to stand on his own "how about I put on a little cassarol, Run you a nice hot bath, you can tell me all about it, then a nice Early night?" I suggest "hey? That sound good?"

He nodded and mumbled something incoherent into my hair so I smiled giving his nose a little kiss letting him sit back in the bed as I went to heat up some cassarol and put the water on for him to have a bath. As they both simmered I sat beside him moving his head to my shoulder

"So? You Wanna tell me about it?" I smiled

"Bill headed off about nine to go see his children, then had some boys in the bar kickin' up a fuss 'bout nothin'" he explained "then dam leapold came in the office whinin' 'bout the fuckin' kids in his shop again, and I told him for the nineth fuckin' time this week there ain't shit I can do 'bout it, he's got that much of a soddin' problem talk to there Mamma's" he explained "then all this dam mr ward business, been lookin' after him all day, dam ladies can't get enough of him. Then bill came back ridin' my ass 'bout somethin' I don't even know what I think he just had an ass" he explained "then I cleaned up and came on home to ya y/n"

"Aww whitey, my poor baby" I said kissing his head playing with his hair a moment before the water was done so I dragged out the tub and filled it up letting it cool a moment "come on whitey, you gonna cane have your bath?"

He sighed and got up taking off his gun belts wrapping them around the bed post, he kicked off his boots across the room then pulling off his jumper and somehow his shirt in one tug throwing them towards the laundry he rubbed his eyes as he came over checking the water

"Do I have to?" He asks

"When did you last bathe whitey?'

"Few days ago..." He lied

"Whitey Winn don't you dare lie to me, it was last week you dirty bugger now go on else no cuddles" I warn him gathering up his various things

"Fine" he sighed pealing his pants off him and climbing into the bath, he let out a rather happy sigh the moment he sat in the hot steamy water

"That better?" I asked

"Umm" he nods his eyes closed a little

"Good boy," I smiled taking what was left of the hot water and filling my Bucket grabbing as much cleaner as I could to wash his clothes from today "I think you work to much" I said

"I've always worked this much" he answered as he actually began to wash

"Yes but maybe that's not a good thing" I explain "whitey you've been working your little butt off as long as I've known you, maybe you won't be so tried and stressed if you just slowed down ever once and awhile"

"I know y/n, it just ain't that easy darlin'"

"Whitey I'm not asking the world, I just ask you slow down a little, you work too much you'll end up working your dam self into the ground" I explain hanging up his pants as I was done washing them leaving them on the clothes horse to dry by the fire for tomorrow "you'll keep working and working and before you know it you'll look up and they'll be shoveling the dirt on you" I laughed

"I can't slow down y/n I'm the deputy, and with bill wonderin' off and all" he explained "it's all I've worked for my whole life"

"Alright, when you're sheriff then? Will you slow down then?" I asked

"Y/n I'll be sherrifs of labelle I can't slow down or back off like bill does I couldn't leave my deputy to that, let alone if I'd even have one with the boys around here" he explained as he was all done so he climbed out the bath got dry and sat on the bed in his cosy PJs

"Then when whitey? Not now, now then so... When?"

"I don't know y/n," he says I sighed finishing up with his clothes and leaving them by the fire giving him a little dinner and sitting beside him

"Whitey... I just worry about you, you're working yourself way to hard." I told him as he finished up his food as he was very hungry so I took the bowel back to the sink "if you don't slow down... You might not find time for other things"

"Other things?" He asked

"Whitey you've been labelle's deputy as long as I remember." I laughed leaning on the sink "if you don't slow down you'll end up like bill whitey. Distant, distracted, tried, working day after day until they dig you a grave" I explain "that's not what you want, is it?"

"Of course not y/n" he says getting up to hold my hands

"But if you keep working so hard, and being so tried all the time then, you won't have time for the... Other things. You know" I smiled "kisses, and cuddles, and long walks by the river" I encouraged between kisses "or even little ones of our own?"

"Of course I want all that darlin', I wouldn't have married ya if I didn't. Just... A little more. Then I'll slow down a little I promise, and we can get workin' on our little family" he smiled kissing my lips softly and sweetly

"When?"

"Until bill retires. I'll slow down until then I promise" he says kissing my head "now I was promised a cuddle"

"Alright" I smiled getting changed into my nightie as he got tucked up in bed so I turned out the light and climbed in beside him into our little bed "we should probably invest in a bigger bed"

"Why?" He asks

"I don't know how well we'll do making babies in this crappy thing" I laughed

"True, maybe we should... Move house? Somewhere bigger. With sperate rooms so that whitey jr won't hear us makin' his little sister" he suggested

"Maybe" I smiled

"Y/n..."

"Yes Whitey?"

"Could ya... Do that thing ya do for me sometimes, when I'm tired?" He asks "since I had a bad day and all?"

"Alright" I giggled moving my hand towards his

"Ohh no, not that darlin'" he laughs grabbing my wrist

"Oh sorry" I blushed

"It's okay, I meant the other thing"

"Of course whitey" I smiled kissing his lips gently he smiled as I did when we pulled away he turned to face the wall and I went close to him nuzzling in his skin wrapping my arms around his chest kissing his shoulder, I wrapped my legs up with his own gently spooning him, I could see his smile and his cosy he was. Whitey always liked to be a little spoon when he's sleepy or it's been a rough day or so.

"Goodnight darlin'" he yawned

"Goodnight whitey" I smiled pulling him closer "love ya" I Whispered in his ear

"Love ya too" he smiled

[lilflowerpot]

You're posting loz e_e botw au keitor, keith as the awkward gremlin hero and lotor and the sciencing royal. Only applicable if Lotor didn't have such a tragic backstory. Or they could just play the game and lose quintents to it. Like someone finds a switch botw pack at an earth store and shenanigans happen?

Playing the game is good, but the AU is better, yesyesyes let me have this.

Lotor, who is being raised by his father to become the next Monarch of a warring state, trained in all forms of combat (at which he’s not bad) and strategy (at which he’s better), but whose first love is science. His mother was Sheikah, her work revolutionary, but upon her death her people broke a thousand years of tradition and refused to serve the royal family while Zarkon stood at its head, and so he ordered their collective execution. Nobody’s heard from them since, but Lotor has a sneaking suspicion that the numbers don’t add up, that the body count’s too small, that somewhere out there - hidden in the far reaches of Hyrule - the village of his maternal ancestors continues to thrive with both life and technology beyond even his father’s most feavoured imaginings.

Keith, who insists he comes from nowhere, no one, nothing: a feral little thing who’s as Hylian as Lotor is - which is to say not enough to appease the people around him, many of whom turn their noses up at the bronzed flesh stretched taught over sinew and muscle, or the way dark hair seems to smoulder like wildfire in the right light. He cloaks himself and hides his face, and this suits him just fine because the climate here is cooler than what he’s used to when the sun has carved its blistering heat into his shoulders like a brand. Keith belongs to the desert - always has, always will - but there’s a lot of pressure there to be something he’s not, and when he leaves he makes sure to wrap the bindings of his fists just a little tighter.

So Keith heads to the heart of Hyrule; for curiosity’s sake, or so he tells himself, because he’s heard great things about the capital and wants to see it for himself, but halfway there with the great spires of Hyrule Castle looming on the horizon, the eager tug in his gut alters course and Keith finds himself stumbling down grassy banks until he’s turned his back on his original destination altogether, and stands instead before a great stone wall, seemingly older than time itself.

Keith is many things, but a quitter isn’t one of them.

It’s a challenge, certainly, but no more so than scaling the sheer Highland cliffs north of home, and he’s done that so many times that Kolivan has run out of reprimands. Once he gets into the rhythm of it, the regular placement of carved stone one on top of the other becomes almost like second nature, even if the excessive rain they get in these parts has worn it down into something smooth as bone. He climbs and climbs and climbs - through the mists and fogs that seem almost as if they’re reaching to tear him from his precarious perch only to curl away at the last second - until finally he’s able to drag himself up onto the parapets, cresting them along with the sunrise, his whole body heaving with exhaustion.

Still… he made it.

Made it where is the next logical question, and not one Keith has an exact answer to, but this - this - is always the best part, and he scrambles to his feet, adrenaline replacing fatigue to flood his veins with a sparking excitement. It’s a plateau, by the looks of it, a great swathe of untamed greenery growing tall and tangled as far as the eye can see. Though he’d climbed up for a good quarter of an hour, the internal drop is scarcely the height of a man, and Keith leaps down into the into the underbrush with an almost primal urge to explore his new territory.

Meanwhile, Lotor is minding his own business in the ruins of Old Castle Town, having snuck away in the night through a tunnel he found months ago that coils through the bowels of the earth from North to South, a single thread of kinship between the new world and the old. He’s picking apart the carvings at Hylia’s base in the temple of his ancestors when he hears it, the howling rage of a bokoblin-hoard scorned, and draws his royal claymore only to find that their beady little eyes aren’t focused on him, but rather a young woman in the decrepit market square below, who twists around her assailants with grace and strikes them down without mercy.

Her hair shines white, her weapon glows blue, and with his heart in his throat Lotor realises she’s Sheikah.

He must move or make a noise or something, because she spins on her heel from where she’s stood in a cicle of bokoblin corpses, and launches her weapon in a swooping arc straight towards Lotor.

It’s hard to say what happens first, but three things do, and in very quick succession: one, the Sheikah woman realises her mistake, recognising Lotor as not a bokoblin but a person, and quite probably as one of her own ilk if the choice of her panicked warning cry being shouted out in the Sheikah tongue rather than common Hylian is deliberate. Two, Lotor draws up his claymore to deflect the projectile, royal insignia glinting in the golden light of morning, but even as he does so distantly recognises that whatever energy the head of the spear is composed of might well cleave right through his blade as if it were still molten. Three, a boy cloaked in red drops out of absolutely fucking nowhere, and intercepts the spear mid-flight, pinning it to the ground between the twin prongs of his of his scimitar’s forked tongue.

There’s a moment of true stillness, all three frozen as if carved from ice, and then the boy looks up with a curl to his lips that pierces Lotor’s heart more completely than the Sheikah girl’s spear could ever have hoped to do.

“Hi,” he breathes, all tousled hair and sun-kissed skin, “I’m Keith.”

[domestic-harry]

Hi Lis! I know you used to do fic recs based on playlists/albums and I know this is a big request buuuut could you do one based off of your H&L Playlist? You're the best!

My H&L Playlist Fic Rec

God Only Knows by The Beach Boys

If you should ever leave meThough life would still go on, believe meThe world could show nothing to meSo what good would livin’ do meGod only knows what I’d be without you

These Inconvenient Fireworks : Future AU in which nobody tries out for X Factor but the boys end up finding one other eventually anyway. Louis is a jaded bastard who owns a cat named Duchess and teaches drama to teenagers, Harry is an idealistic aspiring photographer/part-time footy coach, Zayn teaches English lit and wears leather jackets, Liam saves people from burning buildings, and Niall is Niall. 

Pretty Boy by Young Galaxy 

When we were lostWe found each otherAnd headed sightless for the cityWe had no wayMisfit and stray

Atlas At Last : He doesn’t know what he had been expecting out of the road trip itself besides burping contests and too much shitty gas station food with Oli and Stan, but in the brief moment before Harry ambles up his driveway, Louis idly wonders if this is about to become some sort of Gay Coming of Age story.Maine to California in ten days. In which Zayn’s an open-shirt hippie they meet somewhere in Ohio, Liam’s the pastor’s son running away from home, and Niall’s the number they call on the bathroom wall.It’s 1978. Harry and Louis are just trying to get to San Fran in time for the Queen concert. 

Baby I’m Yours by Arctic Monkeys

And I’ll be yours until the stars fall from the sky

Through Struggles, To The Stars : Louis is a Starfleet captain trying to find his place in the universe. Harry is a prince just trying to do what’s right. A Star Trek-inspired AU.

Here Comes The Sun by The Beatles

Little darling, it’s been a long cold lonely winterLittle darling, it feels like years since it’s been hereHere comes the sun, here comes the sunAnd I say it’s all right

Turning Page : Harry Styles tries to get lost in a place he’s never been.  Louis Tomlinson has been perfecting the art of being lost for years. What they don’t expect to find is each other.

This Magic Moment by The Drifters 

And then it happened, it took me by surprise

Hiding Place : Louis never wanted a soulmate, didn’t really care for the whole Bonding thing at all, really. Enter Harry Styles, who’s wanted to be Bonded for as long as he could remember. With one fateful meeting in an X Factor bathroom, Louis gets a dagger on his arm and the realization that just because Harry is his soulmate doesn’t mean it’s mutual.From the X Factor house to Madison Square Garden, from the Fountain Studios stage to stadiums across the world, Louis has to learn to love without losing himself completely, because someday his best friend will Bond to someone and replace Louis as the center of his universe.

Wouldn’t It Be Nice by The Beach Boys

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could wake upIn the morning when the day is new?And after having spent the day togetherHold each other close the whole night through

My Heart Is Beating For This Moment In Time : When Louis first saw Harry at the 2010 X Factor Auditions, he thought he was watching a peculiarly special stranger. But Harry has known Louis ever since he was five years old.Because Louis has a rare genetic disorder that causes him to Time Travel to important moments in his past and in his future - and to Harry, always to Harry. When they’re put into a band together, it seems like everything Harry has been waiting and wishing for has finally come true. Except for the small fact that Louis doesn’t know that Harry is in love with him- that Harry’s always been in love with him. Fate, it would seem, is just getting started.A story about growing up and growing together, and the impossible love that makes it all worthwhile. 

I’m A King Bee by The Rolling Stones

Well I’m a king bee Buzzing around your hive

Wear It Like A Crown : AU. As part of a team of fixers hired to handle a gay scandal in Buckingham Palace, Louis expects Prince Harry to be a lot of things—most notably a royally spoilt brat. Never mind that the very same Prince Harry used to star in quite a number of Louis’ teenage fantasies. 

Satellite by Gustar

Always the first star that I find

Relief Next To Me : AU. What happens when a baker and a graphic designer meet via a very specific Craigslist post? Fate, friendship, food, and maybe more.  

Leather And Lace by Stevie Nicks, Don Henley 

Give to me your leatherTake from me my lace

Baby Heaven’s In Your Eyes : Or a sixth form!AU where Harry is the fucked up bad boy with too many problems, Louis is the perfect rich boy with too much money and their schools are right across from each other. They meet at a party and that’s the last (and maybe the only) thing they need. 

You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away by The Beatles 

And I hear them sayHey you’ve got to hide your love away

Butterfly Gun : Harry has never been much of a fighter, but—as always—where Louis Tomlinson is concerned, a lot of things stop being true.1940’s AU. Even after six years apart, they can’t forget their shared wartime childhood. 

Flightless Bird, American Mouth by Iron & Wine

Stole me a dog eared mapAnd called for you everywhere

Have I found you?Flightless bird, jealous, weepingOr lost you?

Finding Lou : Louis is the nomadic stranger who wanders into Harry’s bookstore. Harry is the skeptic who falls for him. 

See You Again by Elle King 

You were standing thereFire in your eyesAs you held me inSaid, “Sorry, I didn’t write”

The Melody You Never Heard : The one where Harry gets roped into a four-day camping trip with the boy who kissed him and never called back. 

I Wanna Be Yours by Arctic Monkeys 

Secrets I have held in my heartAre harder to hide than I thoughtMaybe I just wanna be yours

Like an Endless Summer : Louis is a riding instructor at a summer camp, and Harry is a fellow counselor who he’s been successfully managing his crush on for the last two summers. That is, until Harry shows up this year leveled up and lethal, and all Louis’s formerly perfected veneer of nonchalance melts like a popsicle in the sun. 

Can’t Help Falling In Love by Elvis Presley 

Wise men say only fools rush inBut I can’t help falling in love with you

The Afterlife Fic : After dying in an accident, Louis Tomlinson arrives in the Afterlife. Not Heaven and not Hell, Louis finds himself in Judgment City UK: a pristine city where the food and entertainment are divine and the newly departed must undergo a Review of their life on Earth to determine if they have lived a life worthy of advancement in the universe, or if they must be returned to Earth to be born again in a new body.On his first full day in the Afterlife, Louis meets Harry Styles, and the two have an instant connection. Over the course of their Reviews, they fall in love and begin to find that even though they didn’t know each other on Earth, they are nonetheless linked to one another in perfect ways. Both are hoping to move ahead in the universe together, but they are challenged with the threat of separation if one or both of them is sent back to Earth to be born again.

Work Song by Hozier

Boys workin’ on emptyIs that the kind'a way to face the burning heat?I just think about my babyI’m so full of love I could barely eat

Been Together Since Way Back When : Louis Tomlinson is a law student with a simple but effective four step plan: 1. Finish law school. 2. Get hired somewhere awesome. 3. Marry his best friend and boyfriend of two years, Harry. 4. Live happily ever after. Harry Styles doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life, where he wants to go, who he wants to be, or if he even wants the college degree he’s almost completed.  All he does know is who he’ll be with forever, as long as Louis wants to keep him around. Or: the painfully realistic college au where everyone’s poor, lovesick, tired of school, terrified of the future, and still having the greatest times of their lives. 

Lay Me Down by Sam Smith

Yes I do, I believeThat one day I will be, where I wasRight there, right next to you

Emperor’s New Clothes : Harry’s a pop star and Louis isn’t, and there’s a non-disclosure agreement where there used to be a relationship. 

Like A Prayer by Madonna 

When you call my nameIt’s like a little prayerI’m down on my kneesI want to take you thereIn the midnight hourI can feel your powerJust like a prayerYou know I’ll take you there

Shake Me Down : Harry’s new to college, fresh out of Catholic school and conversion therapy camp, and Louis runs the campus LGBTQIA organization. 

You Make Loving Fun by Fleetwood Mac

I never did believe in miraclesBut I’ve a feeling it’s time to try

This Wicked Game : An AU in which The Bachelor is gay, Louis is a contestant, Harry is the bachelor, everyone drinks a lot of champagne, the entire world gets to watch them fall in love, and no one plays by the rules.

English Rose by Ed Sheeran 

I spend my daysJust travelling and playing showsBut my heart still beats For my home and my English rose

Never Be : The one where Harry Styles moves to Connecticut from England for nine months as a part of a study abroad program, and he just so happens to move in with Louis Tomlinson and family. 

Gone, Gone, Gone by Phillip Phillips 

Baby I’m not moving onI love you long after you’re gone

Through Eerie Chaos : For as long as anyone can remember, Old Hillsbridge Manor has always been believed to be haunted. Everyone in the village agrees and keeps a respectful, fearful, distance. New in town after a bad breakup and an internship that led to disappointment rather than a permanent job, Harry Styles figures taking pictures of the decrepit building could be a great new creative project. Or at least a much-needed distraction while he searches for a job and crashes at his parents’ new house. No one warned him about the apparitions though; about the music, the laughter, the people who flicker and vanish when you call after them, the echoes of a past that should be long gone… Harry has never believed in spirits but even he can admit that there’s something weird going on. What starts as mere curiosity evolves into a full-blown investigation and soon enough, Harry finds himself making friends with an aristocrat from the 1920s and struggling with finding the best way to tell him that he’s dead. 

Sweetest Devotion by Adele 

The way I’m running with you honeyMeans we can break every lawI find it funny that you’re the onlyOne I never looked for

The King of Spades : Undercover Metropolitan Police officer DC Louis Tomlinson has worked his way up the ranks of a prominent London crime family without raising suspicion, but when he finds himself pitted against a rising crime boss with a police background and a favoured employee by the name of Harry Styles, everything starts to unravel. Finding himself in the middle of an escalating war between two bosses whose bad blood runs deep into a violent past, Louis has to be even more careful where he steps in case his big secret catches up to him – and if it does, he knows he won’t survive it.Not to mention he’s falling for someone he can’t have – whose earnestness and honesty is a bright spot in a dark world – he can’t sleep because his nightmares haunt him and he’s in way over his head, but it’s just a game, always just a game, and if Louis plays his cards right he might just make it out alive. 

Dear Prudence by The Beatles 

The wind is low the birds will singThat you are part of everythingDear Prudence won’t you open up your eyes?

Young & Beautiful : Louis, to his horror, attends an elitist university in which the name Zayn Malik means something, Niall Horan doesn’t stop talking, there are pianos everywhere, and Harry Styles, only son of a drug-addled, clinically insane ex-rocker, has a perfect smile and empty eyes. 

Tiny Dancer by Elton John 

But oh how it feels so realLying here with no one near

Never Gonna Dance Again : Louis is a spy and Harry is a dancer. The only real thing they know is each other.

Just A Little Bit Of Your Heart by Ariana Grande 

I know I’m not your onlyBut I’ll still be a fool‘Cause I’m a fool for you

Red Brick Heart : Uni AU. Harry had turned up at the halls of residence expecting fun, new friends, and maybe a life experience or two. What he doesn’t expect is a surprise roommate who’s loud and dramatic and obsessed with tea and is maybe, actually, all he’s ever wanted.

Secret Love Song, Pt. II by Little Mix

We keep behind closed doorsEvery time I see you, I die a little more

Don’t Look Down : AU. In which Louis is a solicitor at one of London’s most prestigious law firms and Harry happens to apply for the position as his trainee. And everyone else is around, too. 

Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want by The Smiths

Good time for a changeSee, the luck I’ve hadCan make a good manTurn bad

Hush : Au where small towns suck, Louis is losing it, and Harry’s just too perfect. 

Rubik’s Cube by Athlete

The world is too heavyToo big for my shouldersCome take this weight off me now

Where Your Heart Is: Louis is ready for his brand new adventure. So what if he suffers from a genetic condition that prevents him from being touched? College is going to be awesome. It has to. Karma kind of owes him right now. Forget about his overprotective mother, or Liam– his entirely too chipper step brother– or his mess of a roommate. Forget about the gloves he has to wear at all times. He’s here to expand his knowledge, write and drown himself in books – No matter how distracting ‘Hallway Boy’ may be– The obnoxious, flirty frat wannabe determined to become the bane of Louis’ existence.

Running Back To You by For The Foxes

Hey, old lover, when you fall asleepThere’s a piece of you in every song I singWhere your childhood runs wild and freeWithout me 

Empty Skies : For three years, Harry has been running from his past. Now, he is moving to London and pledges to fulfil his only dream – making it big in the music industry. Not everyone has a place, though, and the competition is tough. As is his past catching up on him.Louis is part of the biggest boy band of the world, and getting there had meant a lot of hard work, as well as sacrificing parts of his heart and soul. He’s still happy. Maybe not as happy as he could be, but who is he to complain? 

Miss You by The Rolling Stones

I’ve been holding out so longI’ve been sleeping all alone

Here In The Afterglow : 1970’s AU. In a tiny town in Idaho, Louis’ life is changed forever by the arrival of a curious stranger. 

I’ve Just Seen A Face by Jim Sturgess 

I’ve just seen a face,I can’t forget the time or placeWhere we just met

Nameless Night : For their 18th birthday, every person receives a letter that reads a simple date. That is the date you’ll meet your soulmate. Harry and Louis have different beliefs, live in different worlds and have different dreams, hopes and fears. Yet, they’re not so different from each other when it comes to love. When their paths cross, there is no doubt they belong together. Except for that one, essential difference: they didn’t receive the same date.

I Melt With You by Modern English 

I’ll stop the world and melt with you You’ve seen the difference and it’s getting better all the time There’s nothing you and I won’t do

Outwit, Outplay, Outlast : A Survivor All-Stars AU in which Harry and Louis are just in this game to win the million dollars, but they end up with something better.  

Sweet Disposition by Temper Trap

So stay there'Cause I’ll be coming overAnd while our blood’s still youngIt’s so young, it runsAnd won’t stop 'til it’s overWon’t stop to surrender

Soft Hands, Fast Feet, Can’t Lose : American Uni AU. Harry Styles is a frat boy football star from the wealthy Styles Family athletic dynasty. A celebrity among football fans, he knows how to play, he knows how to party, and he knows how to fuck (all of which is well known among his legion of admirers).Louis Tomlinson is a student and an athlete, but his similarities to Harry end there. Intelligent, focused, independent, and completely uninterested in Harry’s charms, Louis is an anomaly in a world ruled by football. A bet about the pair, who might be more similar than they originally thought, brings them together. Shakespeare, ballet, Disney, football, library chats, running, accidental spooning, Daredevil and Domino’s Pizza all blend into one big friendship Frappucino, but who will win in the end? 

Personal Jesus by Depeche Mode

Someone to hear your prayersSomeone who caresYour own personal Jesus

Escapade : In the grand scheme of things, finding a date for a wedding should be no problem for Louis Tomlinson. He’s rich. He’s handsome. He’s reasonably well behaved. But when the wedding is for his lifelong best friend (and former boyfriend), and is happening in under a month, finding a date for the ceremony and accompanying festivities becomes more of an adventure than he ever could have planned for. 

Take On Me by A-ha 

Take me on, (take on me)I’ll be goneIn a day or two

Wild and Unruly: Harry is a cowboy sitting on the biggest oil reservoir in Wyoming, and Louis is the paralegal assigned to pressure him into selling his land.

Bloodstream by Transviolet 

Outlaw love, make you lose control

Wanted Most : Louis Tomlinson is a thief, and a damn good one at that. Most have heard of him. Most don’t understand him. And Harry Styles is the FBI agent who can never seem to catch him. 

Boys by Charli XCX

Head is spinning thinking 'bout boys

Wings to Break Your Fall : Strip club AU. Harry’s work and family are keeping him busy. He really isn’t looking for a relationship, doesn’t want one. He just wants Louis. Problem is, Louis has other plans. 

Closer by Tegan and Sara

Here comes the breath before we get a little bit closerHere comes the rush before we touch, come a little closer

The Night Sky is Changing Overhead : Harry is a tattoo artist, Louis is a drama professor, and they meet during an argument at a café.

Electric Love by BORNS

Baby you’re like lightning in a bottleI can’t let you go now that I got it

Pillow Talk : When Harry starts having confusing feelings for a male classmate, his sister’s best friend, Louis, helps him figure himself out. Cue lots of kissing, sex, and falling in love. 

Safe And Sound by Capital Cities 

I could show you loveIn a tidal wave of mysteryYou’ll still be standing next to me

Adore You : Against his wishes, Harry spends the holidays at his family’s summer estate, and is reluctantly pulled into a courtship he didn’t ask for. Harry doesn’t want to get married, but Louis does. They don’t fit, but then again they really, really do. Vaguely set in the 1920’s. Headpieces, jazz, fashionable canes, and flapper dresses, and that. 

Fashion by The Royal Concept 

'Cause I love the way you wear on meAnd your fashion is so wild and freeHoney, lovin’ you ain’t easy,But I’m not gonna leave you, no, noSo, baby, put your dope-ass crazy fashion on me

A Million Roses (Bathed In Rock N Roll) : Harry sings in smoky dive bars; Louis misses his flight home. they go to coney island in the morning. 

What I Like About You by The Romantics

What I like about you, you really know how to danceWhen you go up, down, jump around, think about true romance, yea

Hold Me Closer : Louis Tomlinson is one of the most promising dancers of the English National Ballet, on track to become the youngest principal dancer in the company’s history. That is, until forces conspire to significantly complicate his life, including: a surprise ballet, an unfairly attractive guest choreographer, and being pushed into a rivalry with his best mate. Featuring lots of wine, dancing, pining, and a happy ending.

Feel Like Makin Love by Bad Company

And if I had the sun and moonAnd they were shinin’I would give you both night and dayLove satisfying

Loving You Is Free : Louis is a workaholic record label CEO who hasn’t been on a date in nearly a year. Niall and Liam make an account for him on a sugar dating website as a joke. And then Louis meets Harry. 

Flowers In The Window by Travis 

When I first held you I was coldA melting snowman I was toldBut there was no-one there to hold beforeI swore that I would be alone for ever more

Into The Blue : AU. In which Louis is Harry’s scuba instructor and quite happy to provide the requested special treatment, pun fully intended. It can’t be all that difficult to convince Harry that they’re on the same page, right? Also, Niall and Liam may or may not be dating, and Zayn is surrounded by emotionally stunted idiots. He bears it with dignity. 

Yellow by Coldplay

Look at the starsLook how they shine for youAnd everything you doYeah they were all yellow

Strawberry Milk Series : An au where Harry paints his nails and drinks strawberry milk and is too nervous for it to be nothing and Louis’ just trying to figure out whats wrong with him 

I’d Rather Be With You by Joshua Radin 

Finally see you were naturallyThe one to make it so easy when you show me the truthYeah, yeah I’d rather be with youSay you want the same thing too

Speaking of Marvels : AU. Louis is a nanny in suburban New Jersey, and the neighbors’ son is home from college for the summer. It was supposed to be a fling. 

Friends by Ed Sheeran 

And if you know me like I know youYou should love me, you should know

You Are The Blood : A seventh-year Hogwarts AU in which Niall gets all the girls, Liam goes on a journey of self-discovery, Zayn falls in love, Harry wants something more, and Louis tries to figure out once and for all why he, a Muggleborn, was sorted into Slytherin. 

Fallingforyou by The 1975

According to your heartMy place is not deliberateFeeling of your armsI don’t want to be your friend, I want to kiss your neck

Unbelievers : It’s Louis’ senior year, and he’s dead set on doing it right. However, along with his pair of cleats, a healthy dose of sarcasm and his ridiculous best friend, he’s also got a complicated family, a terrifyingly uncertain future, and a mortal enemy making his life just that much worse. Mortal enemies “with benefits” was not exactly the plan. Or: The one where Louis and Harry definitely aren’t friends, and football is everything. 

Stand By Me by Florence + The Machine

No I won’t be afraidJust as long as you stand, stand by me

Give Me Truths : Louis is a psychology student with a tattoo count as high as his genius IQ. Harry is in a (sort-of) relationship with a homophobic man and hates himself a little more every day. Things fall apart and Louis puts him back together.Or, the one in which Louis falls in love with a fragile boy and tells him every beautiful truth in the world, as long as it makes him happy. 

Love On Top by Beyonce

Now everybody ask me why I’m smiling out from ear to earBut I know Nothing’s perfect but it’s worth it

Bloodline : Louis doesn’t know how to feel when his best friend, Liam, finds out about a brother that he never knew, who was placed for adoption before he was born and is bursting into his life at twenty-four years old. Louis is very wary of the man who might replace him. He has always thought of Liam as his own brother. What if Liam doesn’t need him anymore? What if there’s no room for Louis? After all, blood runs thicker than water. Louis doesn’t like Liam’s new brother and he doesn’t even know him. That’s irrelevant, though. He doesn’t like him. He doesn’t trust him. He doesn’t want him hanging around. He doesn’t want anything to do with him.That is, until he meets him. 

Perfect by Ed Sheeran

I found a love to carry more than just my secrets 

Dance to the Distortion : Louis accidentally breaks Harry’s camera lens and in order to get it fixed, they decide to participate in a romantic couples study. The only issue is that they are not actually couple. Well that and the fact they cannot stand each other. 

Look After You by The Fray

When I’m losing my control, the city spins aroundYou’re the only one who knows, you slow it down

Gods & Monsters : The instructions were simple: seduce and destroy Harry Styles. Not once did they discuss the option of Louis actually falling in love. So, naturally, that’s exactly what he did.

Flowers In Your Hair by The Lumineers

And romanticized the time I sawFlowers in your hair

Your Name Is Tattooed On My Heart : Louis is ready to find the love of his life, but first he has to stop falling for the punk rocker next door.

So Easy

Like a rainbow in a rainstorm makes the flowers growYou’re the reason, I believe in, something I don’t know

When We Were Younger : Sixteen year old Harry Styles’ world turns upside down when he logs on to gay teen chat to discover somebody has stolen his photos and used them as their own.

Ho Hey

I belong with you, you belong with me, you’re my sweetheart

California Sold : Notoriously closeted boyband member Harry Styles is famous on a global scale, meanwhile Louis, as his best friend, is back home in Manchester, living the typical life of a 24 year old. When Harry needs Louis with him in LA, a publicity stunt gone wrong changes their friendship forever. A fake-relationship AU between two lifelong best friends. 

Me And You by Jake Bugg

All of these people want us to failI won’t let that happen noJust you believe meI’ll hide you discreetlyDiscreetly from this cold world

Cupid’s Defense : In which Harry is Cupid, Louis and Liam own a law firm, and they’re all getting sued.

Fire And The Flood by Vance Joy

Since we met I feel a lightness in my stepYou’re miles away but I still feel youAnywhere I go there you are

Chasing Empty Spaces : The year is 1934 and Harry Styles was to inherent the largest tobacco firm in the south. His parents have picked out the “perfect” girl for him to marry and he has the privilege of receiving the highest education possible. The problem was, Harry hadn’t realized he didn’t actually want any part of that future until he met a mechanic named, Louis Tomlinson.

I Will Wait by Mumford & Sons

You forgave and I won’t forget

Feels Like Coming Home : The last thing Harry Styles expects when he’s hanging out at the Someday Cafe in Somerville one rainy October day is for his ex, Louis Tomlinson to walk through the door, but that’s exactly what happens. After a spectacularly ugly break-up three years prior, Harry hasn’t heard one word from Louis, and he’s moved on. Gotten over him. But having Louis back in his life, not to mention working at the restaurant where he’s a chef, isn’t easy, and the feelings that Harry thought he’d left turn out to be not so easily forgotten.