LadyAJ-13

Tea drinker, fanfic writer, food lover. She / Her. Sucker for cuteness, animals, art and books. Check out my fics on AO3

[huariqueje]

The Bridge House - Katy Serra ,  2025.

French , b. 1962 -

Oil on canvas , 55 x 33 cm.

[nature-travel-photography]

Mountains in Uzebekistan - Author: dreampebblie

[chungledown-bimothy]

i genuinely don't think there's much, if anything, hotter than someone clearly having a blast doing something they're really good at. doesn't really matter what it is. the combo of competence and joy is absolutely lethal to me

[chungledown-bimothy]

[Image IDs: four people using the tag '#max at the nurburgring 🥹']

what the FUCK is a nurburgring and why does max have such a good time excelling at it? whoever he is and whatever that means.

[berrystainedsue]

[thememedaddy]

[laurens-german]

“To make something special you just have to believe it's special.”

KUNG FU PANDA (2008) dir. Mark Osborne, John Stevenson

[holymoly63]

[fyeahgraphics]

ROMEO + JULIET (1996) dir. Baz Luhrmann

[manny-jacinto]

THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA  (2006) dir. David Frankel

[lizclimo]

[banhmigoddess]

My one boring tip to anyone in their 20s is to resist the temptation to rot in your room every time you get a free moment. Dismiss any neuroses you have about going outside and "being perceived". Be a dictator about it, plan your hangouts like they are binding commitments. No excuses! Go to the bar with your friends. Be kinda hungover at work. Socializing is like exercise; even if you don't feel like you want to, you should still do it because it's good for you.

[ladyaj-13]

It's not my intention to derail this post, because socialising is key - please prioritise your plans with people. Friendships need maintenance to survive, and that maintenance is giving it your time and effort.

But if there is really no other option - if you know no one in your area, or everyone is busy - make plans with yourself. It's still better to regularly get out there alone than rot inside constantly, and you'll be better equipped to accept plans when they do come if you're used to it.

Treat yourself to a slice of cake at a local café. If nothing else, you'll speak to the server when you order.

Go to an art gallery, museum, or watch a film in theatres. Or even go for a walk in a local nature spot. You can do these things alone and no one will judge, but you'll have shoved enrichment into your enclosure while also having something interesting to talk about when you're next with people.

Or take a weekly class. It's harder to flake when you've pre-paid, and even if its not the kind of class you can talk through, being around the same group of people week in week out, small talk will spring up around the edges (especially if you choose something that appeals to middle aged or older ladies, who in my experience will drag you into their circle because a new face is a chance to be nosey). But if they don't, kick it off yourself! Complain about the weather (sorry, I'm British, it's the default), ask how their day/weekend was, or fall back on talking about the class itself - you already have that in common.

This micro-dosing may not lead to new friendships (although taking classes might!), but it really helps keep the "being out in the world" muscles from atrophying, and makes more intense socialising, when it can happen, so much easier.

[aloneinbrussels]

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) dir. Wes Anderson

Rudeness is merely an expression of fear. People fear they won't get what they want. The most dreadful and unattractive person only needs to be loved, and they will open up like a flower.

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

How would you make a movie about Winston Churchill?

My gut reaction to this was "I wouldn't, fuck him", but then I realised that I do actually have thoughts about this.

Open with a white-text-on-black-screen intro that explains that dialogue in this film has been taken wherever possible from historic recordings. Where it couldn't be, it has been constructed from records of the relevant parliament/private discussions that are on record, even if not word for word. Add that all events depicted are real. And, to reinforce this, a huge load-bearing pillar of the marketing for the film would emphasise that this is extremely limited in artistic interpretation, it's all things the man actually said and did. This, the marketing would stress, is the REAL Churchill, in all his complexity. This is the nuanced and complex and very human guy we don't see in the history books, strengths and flaws and all of it.

The first... half, maybe even two thirds of the film would be pre-WW2. A full account of all his actions in power, painting the picture of the man he was. His belligerence disguised as wit, sending in the army against striking Welsh miners, his initial admiration for fascism and eugenics, all of it. All reproduced from things he actually said and did.

Then, the realisation that Hitler included Britain in his fascist plans. The U-turn into hating the guy, all while believing in the same underlying points.

Then, most of the WW2 section would be in montage form. And at this point, the audience sees why he was actually fairly well suited to the task of opposing Hitler, because all those flaws meant he was ego-driven to resist the Nazis or die trying, and that was what was needed at the time. We've set up that ego, that belligerence, that eloquence. Here it is, in context, actually being useful.

But, this would be juxtaposed with all the things we're carefully not told, that are nonetheless historic record. The starving of India to get food to Britain. The lack of bomb shelters in London, and then claiming credit for sending people into the Underground when they thought to do it. The use and abuse of non-British Commonwealth troops in roles kept from the white soldiers. All of that goes in.

And then, once the war was done, the fallout. The rest of the film would cover his fall from power, first of all - the fuck up at the Potsdam Conference, then his continued use of lurid and hyperbolic war rhetoric in the general election campaign that basically made Clement Atlee and let Labour win.

Labour's creation of the NHS, and national parks, and other such things. Churchill's opposition. The fallout to places like India, the Suez, etc.

And then his return for a final term as Prime Minister in which he was unpopular, unsuccessful, and also very unwell; he was 77 and had multiple strokes, which were hidden from the public. He was against the dissolution of the empire, but Labour had already pulled the trigger on it, so his final years were basically a lot of war crimes and whining as countries declared independence; which won't be a surprise to the audience, because we've literally heard his views on eugenics and imperialism already. Of course those didn't go away with WW2. All that congealed ego and imperialist drive, so useful against Hitler while keeping the worst costs away from the UK, made him a fossil unsuited to the role of peacetime leadership in a post-war recovering nation beginning to decolonise.

And finish on how, at the end, he supported the UK's application to join the EEC - the precursor to the EU.

The whole thing would make the Churchill cultists so fucking angry. They'd 100% claim liberal bias and piss themselves. But that's why you'd have to go so hard on stressing in the marketing that all of it is true; he literally said this. He literally did this. It's all real. Even the EU bit. Yeah, you voted against Churchill.

Anyway. All that.

[jordanbolton]

To the Person Who Asked If I Was OK

Pre-order my new book here

[allwaswell16]

A One Direction fic rec of fics that have an important concert moment as requested in this ask. If you enjoy the fics, please leave kudos and comments for the writers! You can find my other recs here. Happy reading!

- Louis / Harry -

🎤 And Then a Bit by @infinitelymint

(E, 158k, canon) Harry and Louis fake a relationship for publicity. Eventually it becomes a lot less fake and a lot more real.

🎤 Love Is A Rebellious Bird by 100percentsassy, gloria_andrews / @gloriaandrews

(E, 134k, hurt/comfort) AU in which the boys still make music. Louis is the concertmaster of the London Symphony Orchestra, Harry is the New! and Exciting! interim conductor/ex-cello prodigy who "has made Mozart cool again" according to Esquire Magazine (Louis hates him immediately, which is definitely why he internet stalked him in his dark bedroom late at night that one time)

🎤 Cameras Flashing by @juliusschmidt

(E, 81k, omegaverse) With his breakout single platinum three times over and his second album still selling out in stores around the world, Louis Tomlinson has made it to the top. However, his position as Pop Heartthrob of the Decade is threatened by the edgier, more artistic Zayn, who happens to be releasing an album a week after Louis’ upcoming third. Louis needs something groundbreaking- scandalous, even- to push past him in the charts. Much to Louis’ dismay, his PR team calls in The Sexpert.

🎤 These Sparks We Light by QuickedWeen / @becomeawendybird

(M, 62k, musicians) When Louis' eyes catch on a beautiful man across a crowded room at The Script concert, he becomes instantly infatuated and announces he wants to marry a guy like that. His date for the evening doesn't take too kindly to his monumental life decision. Harry, on the other hand, is simply enjoying a concert when he sees a man with beautiful blue eyes - on the arm of someone else

🎤 Groupie Love by CuckooTrooke / @larrydoinglaundry

(E, 45k, girl Harry) In other words, Louis is a rock star on a world tour and Harry is a regular attendee. They could never work.

🎤 My Sweetest Downfall by kiwikero / @icanhazzalou

(M, 42k, guardian angel Louis) Louis is a retired guardian angel. After the death of his last charge, he became jaded. Humans die—what use is prolonging the inevitable? He's more than happy to forget about humanity altogether until one day, when Louis is pulled from his desk job for a new assignment: protect One Direction's Harry Styles.

🎤 yeah, he's a looker (but i really think it's guts that matter most) by devilinmybrain / @thedevilinmybrain

(E, 40k, Oli pov) Five times Oli was asked to do something that was outside of his job description, and the one time he didn't have to be asked.

🎤 Compass to my Soul by LadyLondonderry / @londonfoginacup

(T, 31k, omegaverse) Harry Styles, alpha, is 1/4 of the perfect pack, and 1/5 of world famous boy band One Direction. He spends his time touring the world with his best friends and family. Louis Tomlinson, omega, is 1/5 of world famous boy band One Direction. He spends his time hoping his bandmates don’t notice him.

🎤 Rewriting the Melody by LadyAJ_13 / @ladyaj-13

(T, 26k, canon divergence) Louis doesn’t get put in One Direction. This time, the path to true love takes the long way round, including singing in toilet cubicles, fruit baskets, and long distance band counselling from someone who really doesn’t know what he’s doing, he just wants to keep talking to Harry.

🎤 Strong Enough by jacaranda_bloom / @jacaranda-bloom

(E, 20k, exes) Five years after Vertigo goes on hiatus, the band comes back together for a benefit concert. Can Louis and Harry work through their complicated past, or are some wounds too deep to be healed?

🎤 My English Love Affair by @isthatyoularry

(E, 19k, famous Harry) The thing about sleeping with a member of a famous indie band is that the inevitability of having a song written about you is most likely a hundred percent. The second thing is that in the end, nobody's supposed to find out it's about you. 

🎤 Just Hold On (series) by @silverstuff50

(E, 14k, security guard Harry) “Harry, I’m fine.” Louis says soothingly. “I know I’m safe because you and Joni are there. As long as I can feel you holding me I know I’ll be ok.” Harry flushes again and can’t stop himself thinking about his hands on Louis' warm skin. He shakes his head stubbornly, half to protest and half to clear his head of the thought.

🎤 Be Mine? by @softfonds

(E, 11k, famous Louis) Getting dumped the week before Valentine's Day wasn't in Harry's plans, and neither was being dragged to a concert to forget about it. But a sign Zayn brings manages to turn his night around in more ways than he hoped for.

🎤 More Than a Mic Drop by @haztobegood

(E, 7k, bdsm) “You dropped the mic last night.” “Oh, yeah. I did.” Louis gives a little shrug. He tucks his hands into the pockets of his baggy grey sweatpants. “That was really careless.” His tone is very stern, unlike his usual bubbly and helpful voice when he suggests Louis try singing a chorus for the third time as he adjusts the sound mix again. Harry levels him a serious look and suddenly the room feels too hot. “You could have broken the mic and we don’t have a lot of spares.”

🎤 Lost in your Paradise by @sadaveniren

(E, 6k, omegaverse) “To the alpha I fucked at the Ziam concert, I think this is yours.” aka Harry and Louis have a one night stand.

🎤 (your smile is) on every face by @justanothershadeofblue

(T, 5k, live streamer Harry) Harry streams the whole thing, too overwhelmed to sing along, clutching his phone above his head as Louis whips the fans into a frenzy, playing both sides of the stage before staking a claim to the middle.

🎤 You Got That Somethin' by @styleandsin

(NR, 5k, famous Harry) the one where Louis attends a Harry Styles concert and makes an absolute fool of himself.

🎤 That’s the way love goes by bella28 

(T, 4k, famous Louis)  In a world, where soulmate geese are sent to the people who can't figure out who their soulmate is, Harry finds himself stuck with a goose when he is attending a concert of his favourite artist Louis Tomlinson.

🎤 HOT TO GO! by @allwaswell16

(T, 2k, humor) When Harry does something weird at the barricade, he leaves Louis’ show devastated and hoping he can somehow make things right. Or the accidental pervert fic

🎤 I Hope You Choke (on those words) by Imogenlee / @imogenleewriter

(E, 2k, pwp) Harry Styles had been head of security for concert venues for over eight years. Never in his career had he seen a musician as reckless when it came to personal safety as Louis Tomlinson.

- Rare Pairs -

🎤 To start again by @loretheloner

(E, 27k, Louis/Michael Blackwell) Louis finds himself slowly falling for a bandmate again, despite Oli's warnings against it. Michael finds himself slowly falling for his boss and fighting against the ghost of Louis' past relationship. They find a way to start again.

[ladyaj-13]

I really don’t mind if Carlos ever apologises or takes responsibility for crashing into Oscar. I think he’s made himself look pretty bad by not doing either, but that’s whatever.

What I do care about is the penalty applied: five seconds. Even Carlos (I think) has said that made no difference, given where he was running.

You can make an argument about how bad the incident was, and I think Carlos actually got incredibly lucky with the outcome - Oscar caught the car, then DNF’d from another issue (although I’ve not seen confirmation it wasn’t contributed to by the shunt) so what does it matter in the end, really? 

(cut because this is long)

Well, okay. This was blue flags. And I’m sorry but I don’t think anyone is buying the “didn’t notice” argument now that more info has come out post-race with the onboards. If you genuinely didn’t notice eight blue flags, a radio message and an orange car in your mirrors then you’re not safe to be on track at all, and let’s talk about who’s filling in your seat for the second half of the season.

So Carlos did know Oscar was there. Now, I don’t think it was malicious. I don’t think he was trying to take Oscar out because of personal beef, or to help Lando, or whatever. I think he was just so dialled in to his own race with Alonso that he didn’t care. He made a choice to ignore the flags because right then, he cared more about his own battle than following the rules of the race. The fact that it was over last place doesn’t really matter, although it makes it far less comprehensible.

He cared more about personal glory than track safety.

In the plainest of terms, he knowingly caused a crash. Oscar could have lost control of the car, and it could have gone badly. Racing is dangerous; that is always there, always a possibility. And that makes this kind of thing absolutely not okay.

Take Max shunting George at the 2025 Spanish GP. Absolutely unacceptable. Ten second penalty, which dropped him five grid places. That’s a punishment. Impossible to predict at the time, but it ended up costing him the championship.

My real worry here is what this five second penalty says to midfielders and backmarkers. Five seconds for disregarding safety, which has absolutely no implications when you’re running at the back. Why not try similar tactics again another time? There’s nothing to lose, potentially everything to gain. Ignore blue flags? What about yellow flags? The decision Carlos made already put both himself and Oscar at risk, next time there could be a stopped car, a marshall on the track, another car or two or three in ricochet distance, we could have a pile up.

I know this is a long rant, but five seconds is a joke. Lewis got five seconds for being .1kph over the pit lane speed limit. And I don’t disagree with that - it’s a miniscule amount, yes, but it’s a hard limit for a reason and if a .1 is let go then next time a .3 will be and then it’s only 1kph over and so on. But you can’t argue that wilfully and repeatedly ignoring track signals designed to improve race safety is equal to that, and Lewis lost a position by it as well.

Even after the contact, he continued to block Oscar for another few corners. There was zero remorse, in either his on-track actions (which in my opinion, matter much more) or in his later comments.

Carlos simply should have been given a penalty which impacted him, and sent a message that such tactics will be harshly punished. It should have been a grid-drop at the next race, or a penalty point, or a hefty fine, or all three.

[sophie-baek]

JOHN TUCKER MUST DIE (2006) dir. Betty Thomas