Jade Thirlwall at The Brit Awards 2025
The Brits Tribute to Liam Payne at the 2025 Brit Awards. (03/01/25) creds. Steffirenz
A One Direction fic rec of fics that have a bad boy Louis character 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 -
đź–¤ What Really Matters by @lovemylarry
(M, 116k, uni) After finishing school, Harry Styles starts studying at Manchester University. Harry is a nice, innocent boy who has his heart in the right place. In contrary, Louis Tomlinson doesn't have anything in common with Harry.
đź–¤ Strawberries & Cigarettes by dimpled_halo / @comebackassholes
(E, 76k, omegaverse) Two stories, eleven years, and the two boys that never stopped loving each other.
đź–¤ The First Year by @parmahamlarrie
(E, 46k, uni) When Louis Tomlinson was assigned a first year student to be his roommate for his final year at the University of Manchester, his expectations were low. All he needed was a cheap place to sleep and keep his stuff amidst his nights out, willing his brain to forget his past.
đź–¤ Buried Like Treasure by QuickedWeen / @becomeawendybird
(E, 40k, royal) Semi-retired thief Louis Tomlinson has been pulled in for one last job: steal a painting from an uninhabited mansion.
đź–¤ Want It Flowing Through My Streams by screwstyles
(E, 30k, omegaverse) Harry has just qualified for his first Grand Slam, and he’s prepared to make the most of it – that is, until his heat unexpectedly hits him only a few days before his first match.
🖤 i’d burn this city down to show you the light by you_explode / @nobodymoves
(E, 23k, strangers to lovers) Harry's a sheltered rich kid and Louis's a punk with a heart of gold. They meet when Louis breaks into Harry's house, Harry obtains an instant and all-encompassing crush, and they spend the summer falling into a whirlwind romance.
🖤 taken by lust’s strange inhumanity by CuckooTrooke / @larrydoinglaundry
(E, 20k, omegaverse) One of the reasons Harry said 'yes' in the first place was because he believed Louis Tomlinson, the campus’ most notorious “bad boy”, would be here.
đź–¤ For You, I Will (I Don't Believe in Magic, but) by theweightofmywords / @lil0
(E, 17k, criminal Louis) Louis leads two lives, when all he wants is a simple one with Harry.
đź–¤ Saturday Detention by @fallinglikethis
(NR, 15k, The Breakfast Club au) Five boys with nothing in common end up together in Saturday detention. Maybe if they can get past their first impressions, they’ll realize they're not as different as they thought.
đź–¤ Wild by LarryUniverse
(G, 10k, boarding school) the au where louis is forced to go to boarding school and hates it from the minute he looked at it but a curly haired, frenchy, photography obsessed stunner changes his mind.
đź–¤ Canny With The Flow by thinlines / @thinlinez
(E, 9k, omegaverse) Omega Harry brews a plan to bag his crush and executes it. Period.
đź–¤ Sun-kissed Hurricane, Perfect Storm by iwillpaintasongforlou / @canonlarry
(T, 7k, high school) Harry is the quiet kid in the back of his statistics class who writes a lot and dreams about Louis’ cheekbones . Louis needs a statistics tutor ASAP before he flunks and the quiet kid in the back of the class seems like a good choice.
đź–¤ If You Could See Him Like I Do by BornOnABeach
(T, 7k, getting together) The gossip came from everyone. But the people who talked didn't know Louis like Harry knew Louis.
(E, 4k, pwp) PWP with shy nerdy Harry and Bad Boy™ Louis
đź–¤ We can wait 'til tomorrow by fallenflowercrowns / @headband-husbands
(T, 3k, neighbors) Harry pines hoplessly after his best friend who he thinks rejected him, Louis turns up under his window one night. They go on an adventure.
đź–¤ we're swimming with the sharks until we drown by velvetnoodle
(T, 3k, casino) There’s only one thing that makes Harry’s job on the casino floor bearable, and that’s a chance to grab the attention of the mysterious man who frequents the establishment often.
đź–¤ dark dark nights and violent things by StarryDay13 / @daydreaming-sunflower
(T, 695 words, rich Harry) Harry's friends are rich assholes and Louis just wants to go home and cuddle (and maybe get high).
- Rare Pairs -
đź–¤ To Catch a Thief by StormDancer
(E, 49k, Zayn/Louis) There are some rules even thieves have trouble breaking. Marriage vows, for instance.
UNSEEN FOOTAGE: Louis and Harry’s Paris interview
congratulations to all haters and philadelphians
Louis' Instagram Story of Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl Halftime Show
shout out to I will follow you into the dark for being the song of all time. death cab for cutie just nailed it. there's never been a song as much as I will follow you into the dark. it's so song. like?? hello?? if heaven and hell decide that they both are satisfied, illuminate the no's on their vacancy signs, if there's no one beside you when your soul embarks, I will follow you into the dark. that's all there is to it.
girl on club dancefloor has her feet cooled by a friend pouring smirnoff ice over them (2000)
Mary Magdalene washing Christ's feet
I love how every time I log on, this site attains new levels of heresy. I can't wait to see what is next.
A Crash Course to Kendrick's Super Bowl Performance, from a Black Woman
Note: this does NOT go in depth into all of the song's lyrics. I don't have time to recount two decades of his discography. This is just a summary of the performance itself.
Let's start with the first visual we get:
UNCLE SAM - most notably recognized from WWII American wartime propaganda, Uncle Sam is the personification of American patriotism and freedom. The term "uncle" is also evocative of Uncle Tom from Uncle Tom's Cabin, an abolitionist book that aided in inciting the Civil War. Uncle is also a very common term (both endearment and derogatory) towards Black men (eg. "unc"). Samuel L Jackson was fantastic.
Uncle Sam also resembles a circus ringleader, notable for my next point:
THE GREAT AMERICAN GAME - no, not Super Bowl. The GAG is us the people being pitted against each other: through late-stage capitalism, through the culture war, through class warfare, through being built of the backs of slaves. We are all players in the GAG because none of us on this site were the oligarchs seated at the inauguration.
This is also seen as Kendrick's stage was a Play Station controller. Not only did it remind of circus rings visually, but it was a game battle stage. The Great American Game is a battle royale of the commoners for the amusement of the rich whites.
Remember the foods / Them color was tin and brown / But now they 100 and blue - For this I'll just say, look what the last election said about lowering the price of eggs... and look at the prices now.
The revolution about to be televised / You picked the right time / But the wrong guy - Election 2024 once more.
THE FLAG DANCERS - yes, the dancers formed the US flag... off of the backs of Black people. Not a single white person in sight, and that's true of the cotton pickers in the fields. Plantations are part of how the US came to economic prominence after being a "backwater" colony. Remember tobacco? Cotton? Our bloodlines do.
The red and blue dancers are also notable for representing the Crips and Bloods, two infamous street gangs. The dance in Not Like Us is the Crip Walk. I recommend researching more on your own time about them, but just know they are a large part of the stereotype of Black people being "ghetto."
TOO LOUD, TOO RECKLESS, TOO GHETTO. Do you really know how to play the game? - This is exactly what Black people, especially Black men, get told all the time. It's why we change our names on resumes if they sound "too Black." It's why we codeswitch in non-Black company. This is especially rich considering how non-Black people love our culture and love to make money off of us, as the latter part of the quote points to. And it's even more profound during the Super Bowl-- the NFL is majority Black players.
STREET LIGHT A CAPELLA -- "thug" stereotype dancers to counteract the a capella connotations, with Uncle Sam then saying that Kendrick figured out "bringing other street guys around being a culture cheat code." Yes, this is a direct hit at Drake (listen to "Not Like Us") but also politically. Look up "model minority". Notably I would point to Candace Owens, or the Miami Venezuelan political group that's been in the news recently, especially as this directly led to Kendrick being surrounded by...
DANCERS IN WHITE -- it's white America. That's... that's the allegory.
NOT LIKE US TEASER -- Kendrick says "Not Like Us" is "their favorite song." -> he means white people specifically here. It comes after he's surrounded by all white dancers, the women around him who are his call and response are also in white (my opinion, they represent the industry). He's saying "Not Like Us" is the favorite of yts because it is about BLACK MEN FIGHTING. This again is reflected in the video game stage and ringleader Uncle Sam.
SZA -- instead of giving what they want, we see SZA. She's one of Drake's exes and Kendrick has always supported her.
ALL THE STARS -- This was in the first Black Panther movie, which I recommend you watch. Rest in Power Chadwick. Notably, this movie was incredibly mainstream as a major Marvel movie, and then we have Uncle Sam say...
"THAT'S WHAT AMERICA WANTS: NICE AND CALM. DON'T MESS THIS UP" -- translation: Marvel (the industry, America, etc.) wanted a safe, semi-pop song because white American likes safe pop songs, not Kendrick's usual heavy rap style about his life as a Black man! Don't mess up what you've got going mainstream for having this "Black rap feud" with Drake, who is an R&B model minority to white people because he's safe.
So what does Kendrick say?
IT'S A CULTURAL DIVIDE / IMMA GET IT ON THE FLOOR -- He was warned not to be political or apologetically Black for this Super Bowl performance, but he is using this big stage opportunity to speak out.
40 ACRES AND A MULE / THIS IS BIGGER THAN THE MUSIC -- 40 acres and a mule are what the freed slaves were promised. Instead, this land went to white sharecroppers. Research Jim Crow laws.
THEY TRIED TO RIG THE GAME / BUT YOU CAN'T FAKE INFLUENCE -- rig the election, rig the industry like with model minority Drake, rig the Great American Game with culture war to distract from active class warfare.
NOT LIKE US -- the only thing I'll mention because it made me holler is Serena Williams crip walking on Drake's metaphorical grave. She's another one of his exes.
TURN THE TV OFF -- exactly like he said! The TV is a distraction, the Super Bowl is a distraction, the mainstream news is often a distraction. Turn it off and get with your people!
GAME OVER — could not see this on my stream but at the end of the performance, the lights in the stadium spelled this out. The world is watching, America…
In conclusion, Kendrick Lamar is a visionary and thank you for coming to my TED Talk.