I may or may not have bought the Shiraito sparkling wine set (no alcohol though!!!!) with Mustang and Hughes on it because I saw it on here and thought “well I live in Japan, so why not”.
It looks really good and I absolutely love the little cups
My Policeman shooting is WRAPPED, for real this time it seems; both the book’s author and Emma Corrin said so, plus Harry was seen leaving Venice. Emma posted some real cute set pics with Harry and others (and edited herself into the end of shoot pics from Venice, HA). As mentioned, Harry was seen wrapping up his stay in Venice, and I do mean SEEN- with a huge crowd of fans on hand there are about one million pics of him loading his bags onto the boat and being motored away. He waved to the crowds and said hi and all that, and took a couple close up fan pics (but how did those particular fans out of so many get so lucky? by breaking into his hotel grounds, that’s how :/) and signed (and dated) some stuff. He looked real cute in white trousers and shoes and a very cool vintage-y shirt with his beloved blue bandana sticking out of the shirt pocket. Also in his hotel (but as paying guests, one assumes), Orlando Bloom and Katy Perry- Harry was seen hanging out in the hotel restaurant with them and playing with their wee tiny baby!
The Lonely Bug NFT sales are also a wrap (I think?? Still vague on the fine details of many parts of this operation…) At the very least we know that the fanciest of Liam’s 6 NFT packages (which included the dinner invite and other things) concluded its auction and it went for $122k! We don’t get to see Liam’s live reaction to the final number though, as that video was one of the things they were selling as an exclusive, but Liam posted a little video thanking everyone for everything throughout the big sale. He seems happy but anticlimactic for us huh? Will the big spenders who now own the art and rights to it show us more or simply hoard it like intangible toilet paper in a theoretical pandemic, I guess only time will tell. Whether or not they share, we certainly haven’t heard the last of the Lonely Bug hype, as they will be adding more extras for the buyers of the tokens they sold and so forth, including possibly selling toys of the bug according to Liam.
A preview of the stripped back version of Our Song (“where it all started”) was posted and much hyping up of the Friday release of it by Niall and Anne Marie is happening, including a contest to win handwritten lyrics to the song (handwritten by WHOM? It does not say; it does say deep in the rules that Anne Marie will sign the 5 copies which I feel like they should have led with but maybe that would spoil the vague-but-unstated-for-legal-reasons suggestion that perhaps, just maybe, her and Niall wrote them. Well let’s hope they’ve found an intern with nice handwriting I guess.)
laurance wasn’t going to let anything stop him now. he had been working up the courage for a week. he was finally going to confess his feelings to aphmau.
he dresses warm, appropriate for the cold, snowy weather outside. he makes his way out the door, phone in hand. he’s texted aphmau to meet him in the park near their neighborhood.
he’s determined, marching his way through the snow like a man on a mission - which he is. the mission is to tell aphmau that he’s in love with her. laurance is so close to doing it, he’s almost there.
making his way through the snow is easy for him, since he’s warm all over, inside and out. his heart pounds in his chest. when he finally gets there, he’s nervous, anxious even, but he doesn’t let it get in the way. he has to do this, he can’t keep it to himself any longer than he already has. it’s now or never.
he sees her, finally, standing in the snow. the white beanie on her head matches the snowflakes in her hair. she’s looking around as the falling snow clings to her purple sweater, gray pants and white scarf. she pauses before bending over to tie up the laces of her left purple boot with white gloved hands. she’s beautiful.
his heart, which was pounding so hard that laurance worried it would pop out of his chest, seemed to skip a few beats. time seemed to slow and then stop, but only for a minute. he really was in love.
laurance was now close enough to call out her name. “aphmau!” he shouts, jogging over, nearly tripping over a pile of the snow on the ground. he manages to catch himself before he falls over.
aphmau giggles at him. that giggle will foever be music to his ears. he’s memorized it, replaying the sound in his head whenever he feels like he needs to. her little laugh brightens up his day.
he laughs now. “hey, i hope i didn’t keep you waiting long,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck. “hi, laurance! don’t worry, i haven’t been here long.” aphmau smiles up at him.
that smile is everything to him. he would do anything to see her smile everyday for the rest of his life. he would do anything for aphmau anyway.
he smiles back at her. “good, good.” he falls silent, wondering how he should tell her. laurance really didn’t have a plan, he just knew it had to happen.
“so, what did you need to talk to me about?” she asks, tilting her head to the side ever so slightly, her beautiful, long black hair falling over her shoulder.
laurance wants to run his fingers through her hair someday. he pictures them sitting on the sofa in her house, watching some romantic comedy on the television together, him running his fingers through soft locks of black hair while she smiles at him rather than watching the actual movie or show.
before he gets too far into his daydream, he reminds himself why he called her out here, why he’s here. snapping out of it, he laughs nervously.
he begins. “aphmau, you’re such a good person. the way you care for others, helping them whenever you can, however you can,” he pauses, taking a deep breath. “you’re so kind. it’s inspiring. you’ve always made me feel like i can do anything.” he takes her gloved hand in his own bare one. “i’m in love with you, aphmau.”
aphmau’s smile drops and she carefully takes her hand from his, eyebrows furrowed in thought as she frowns. laurance knows what’s about to happen, but he has to hear it from her. he needs to hear it.
she sighs, obviously unhappy with having to do this. she speaks slowly, as if that will make his heart hurt any less. “laurance, i- that’s sweet but i’m just not … into you… not like that… i-i’m flattered, but i’m sorry.” she says, looking away. the fact that she’s avoiding eye contact with him makes it all so much worse.
he has to get out of here. he’s holding back his tears, trying not to cry infront of her. he has his reasons for this. he’s quick to say something before he leaves. “oh, um, it’s fine, don’t worry about it. i’ll, uh, i’ll see you around?” he forces himself to smile for her. she looks concerned but just nods.
he turns on his heel, walking as fast as he can to get away from the situation, to get away from her. it’s not because he wants to, he really wants to stay, but he’s too emotional to do that right now. he waits until he’s out of her sight, or at least until he can’t see her when he turns to look over his shoulder, and then wipes the tears that are already falling.
laurance’s face is warm from the tears when they begin to stream down his cheeks, but then his face is cold from the winter wind blowing in his face. he’s crying in the snow, and he feels awful. he has to make it to his house as soon as possible.
when he gets to his own place, he’s already taking off his scarf, jacket, and sweater off at the door. his body is hot but his heart feels cold. he’s still crying, vision blurred from the tears in his eyes. he holds onto the railing as he climbs up the stairs.
he goes to the bathroom, taking off the short sleeved shirt that’s over his long sleeved shirt. he feels like he’s suffocating. he feels like he can’t breathe. he takes off the long sleeved shirt too.
“oh, irene…” laurance sobs, looking at himself in the bathroom mirror. he runs a hand through his short brown hair, which is slightly damp due to the melted snowflakes in it. he turns on the sink and splashes some water into his face, trying to calm down.
it doesn’t work. he can’t stop thinking about the conversation. aphmau’s expression after his confession is still fresh in his mind. he doesn’t know what to do.
laurance stands infront of the mirror for a minute, leaning on the bathroom counter, listening to the water run. he turns off the faucet, deciding he’s just going to put on his pajamas and go to sleep for as long as he can.
he knows he’s only avoiding the problem by doing so, but he doesn’t care about that at all right now. laurance shuffles to his bedroom and sits on the bed. he kicks off his shoes after he unties the laces, not caring where they land in his room. he shoves off his pants in favor of some fuzzy green pajama pants and slips on a white oversized shirt with some random artist’s name on it - he stole it from garroth.
his eyes hurt from crying, and the tears have stopped coming even though he still feels like he has to cry more. laurance thinks he’s cried all his tears for the time being. he falls back onto his bed, a sigh escaping him.
laurance ends up staying at home in his room for almost a week. people have tried to text him, call him, and even stop by. he doesn’t answer his phone or the door. he can’t bring himself to face anyone.
he listens to the same few sad songs on repeat, singing along with them as they play at full volume. he mumbles the lyrics to stay with me by sam smith. “why am i so emotional,” he sings the lyric and then sighs. he’s quiet for a minute before picking up again. “oh, won’t you stay with me, ‘cause you’re all i need…” he hums the next part of the chorus, and then falls silent once more.
this is going to be the hardest rejection of his life. he’s been rejected before, but it’s never hurt this bad. he really is in love with aphmau, which is why he feels this way. he’s going to do his best to get through this though. laurance just needs some time.
“How could you not see this is obviously a troll?” “Lmao _____ is clearly joking. I can’t believe how many people are taking this seriously.” “The fact that people are using obvious bait as evidence just shows-“
WE ARE ON THE INTERNET. EVERYTHING IS THROUGH TEXT. TONE IS DEAD. SOCIAL CONSTRUCTS ARE FALLING APART. NO ONE YOU ARE TALKING TO IS REAL.
this time around’s no different, i’ve played with chance like you. i’ve loved to toy with fate, but, oh, i didn’t have a clue—
THAT I WOULD LOSE! oh, i would LOSE! between my left and right, one day i’d have to choose! “you’re not like me, i’m not like you, i’m not who these things happen to!”
I think an important instinct you have to build up when you read/watch sci-fi is discerning which things are givens. If Arrival tells you that the alien language is atemporal, it is, that’s not a puzzle for you to pick apart, it’s a prerequisite to getting the rest of the story. When I talk sci-fi with people who don’t consume a lot of it this seems to be a thing they get hung up on.
“But why—“ because it make story go. “But I don’t understand what—“ because that’s how the society works. I told you the important parts, the parts that are relevant to the story. I’m not interested in writing a 200-page speculative history Re the entire course of galactic civilization to explain why it’s rude at dinner time to eat before the ambassador eats. “But I don’t understand how (whatever) works—“ it works because it’s science fiction and that’s how it works. The propulsion systems work because the story requires interstellar travel.
I am more interested in the people and the events and the weird ideas. The weird ideas are just weird ideas, this made up fiction story isn’t a thesis statement predicting why cockroaches will be skilled surgeons 10,000 years in the future.
I think this is really important for writers, too. I know I get hung up on worldbuilding details and it’s good to have a reminder that I don’t need to reinvent DNA just for an alien to have green skin.
this is honestly why stories like good omens and hitchiker’s guide to the galaxy work SO well across such a wide range of people tbh. shit happens because the story requires it to happen and you just have to accept that and keep going - and if your story is compelling enough, you will naturally do exactly that.
Yes. Naruto does hip hop and Sasuke does ballet. Sakura’s Tsunade’s protege.
Tsunade is the only one who knows Kakashi’s background in ballet and why he quit, which is why she can’t stand when Sakura starts talking smack about Kakashi’s class.
![[still] better than The Sun](https://64.media.tumblr.com/e55cc30daea381012b1a063315415a48/2c6fbf055a1b0c03-3c/s30x30u_c1/659fd832526afd5b74c77344644ffdcf4b6ab166.jpg){kind=small}
