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leighbot · 6 years

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fourth day! this is set a few hours after the end of Zinderella part one (and, again, it fits my think written prompt for day 12 so double bonus!)

hello?

Zayn sees the notification pop up on his phone and he frowns, surprised at the time when the clock on the display catches his eye. He looks to his mum’s bed to check that the vibration from the phone hasn’t woken her and smiles when he sees she’s still sleeping undisturbed. Wali’s sleeping in the bed with her, curled carefully around their mum and holding a hand over her chest protectively.

answer me god dammit

Zayn sighs and picks up his phone. He stands from his chair as carefully as he can so the feet don’t squeak against the floors and he steps into the hallway at the exact moment the phone begins ringing in his hand.

“God, Louis, what?” he answers.

“Don’t ‘what’ me,” Louis snaps. “You disappear halfway through the service, Harry misses the speech Simon Cowell made for him, and then Niall says you got a phone call about a family emergency and you didn’t even tell me?”

“It’s not your life, Louis!”

“Fuck that and fuck you: you know how important your mum is to me!”

All of the emotions Zayn has experienced in the last few hours reach the surface in a boil now. “Fuck me?” he asks, not even bothering to keep his voice quiet. “That’s great, Louis, that’s just great.”

Louis hangs up before either of them can say something truly rude and Zayn adds guilt to the medley playing in his chest now. He wants to chuck his mobile to the ground like he’s in a dramatic movie scene but he paid a lot for it and he pockets it instead. Looking up, only realizing just then how loud he had been, he sees his dad and Safaa staring at him. Identical looks of concern are carved across their faces and Zayn feels about the size of a bug.

“I’m sorry,” he says, his eyes burning with a threat of tears. “I’m just… tired and I lost it.”

Safaa is the strongest person he knows and she proves it by marching up to him and pulling him into a hug. He’s a whole head taller than her but that doesn’t matter- he feels warm and completely enveloped and he presses a kiss to her forehead.

“I’m supposed to be the one protecting you, choti behhen,” he tells her.

“Girls can do anything boys can do and we usually do it better, too.” She pulls back with her best attempt at a smile.

“That’s true,” he allows. He’s been outnumbered his entire life and he would never disagree with that, even as a joke. “Thank you, babe.”

“Is mummy awake?” his dad asks, coming up next to them and resting a heavy hand on Zayn’s shoulder.

Zayn shakes his head. “She was still sleeping when I left.”

“Doniya’s ready to get on a plane today but I convinced her to finish her internship. She should be home next week. I hate to ask but…”

“I’ll come home and help,” Zayn says immediately. “Anything you need.”

“You don’t have to,” Yaser says quickly. “It would be a very big help, though. The girls are still in school another few days.”

Zayn lets Safaa go inside with their mum and he stays back with his dad. “I had a big job today and should be getting paid well. You can have all of it.”

Yaser smiles but shakes his head. “That’s yours, beta. We don’t need money, love, just another pair of hands to help while mummy recovers.”

“I need to be doing something, I can’t sit still right now. Maybe I’ll go pack a bag and take it home.”

“Apologize to Louis,” Yaser says, pulling Zayn close for a kiss to his forehead before pushing him away. His eyes are bright. “You only yell at him, you know. Never anyone else.”

“I’ll see him when I stop home.”

~*~

He doesn’t see Louis at first, just the closed door into his bedroom and a middle finger emoji when he texts can we talk while stood outside said bedroom. He shoves his way into the bedroom in time to see Louis lock his mobile and pretend to be sleeping.

“I’m sorry,” Zayn says.

Louis snores.

Laughing, Zayn climbs onto the bed. “I was a git and I’m sorry. It’s been a busy past few hours…”

The fakest snore ever made.

“After we left you and Liam, I kissed Harry Styles.”

Louis’ arm sneaks out over the covers, narrowly missing punching Zayn in the jaw. He yawns. “Oh, Zayn, hi.”

“You’re an arsehole,” Zayn snorts, tugging the covers loose and sliding under them.

“Is he a good kisser?” Louis asks, dropping the facade.

Zayn smirks.

“You dog. Is his dick big?”

Zayn pushes at his shoulder, laughing and burying his head in Louis’ spare pillow. “He was kind.”

They’re quiet together for a moment until Louis’ hand slides over and finds Zayn’s under the duvet. “How is she?”

“Okay,” Zayn says in a whisper. “She’s on some medicine now and sleeping. I’m going to be staying with them to get the girls through their final days of their semester.”

“Do you need me to come?”

“No, babe,” Zayn shakes his head. “But I want you to visit when she comes home. She’ll be asking about you as soon as she’s awake.”

“I’ll be there with bells on,” Louis promises. He maintains his seriousness for two seconds. “Seriously though,” he says as he lifts his hands above them on the bed and holds them apart to varying degrees. “Tell me when I get to Harry.”

Zayn pinches him in the armpit and cuddles closer for a nap before he’ll head to his parents house and get the spare room ready for him to stay for a few days.

As long as he’s needed.

#zinderella #i'll finish it someday i promise #it's my top priority draft #tied for first with three others #365 prompts #my fic #zarry

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complhexspace · 3 years

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So I completely forgot that I came across the most to range thing I think I’ve ever seen on the Internet the other day. And it also ties in with the most deranged conspiracy theory I’ve ever heard of.

Now I’m completely a fan of conspiracy theories as long as the rational, but what I’m about to tell you is not rational at all.

* I’m gonna make sure to link any information that I find.*

So the other day I was on Twitter and I came across this article by the New York Post

https://twitter.com/nypost/status/1405283316580769792?s=21

It’s pretty obvious that the article is hinting at the racist slurs that’s present in the text. But what’s really interesting is that they completely ignore the rest of the context of the text messages. It’s clear as day that Hunter is exchanging some form of sex trafficking deal within these messages. But because the sex trafficking world is pretty underground and not too many people have information about it except for law enforcement. And what law enforcement knows they want to keep under tight wraps for understandable reasons. So you don’t really see a lot of tabloids/news stations talking about it. So unfortunately a lot of bad people play this up to their advantage. And a lot of people like us who are spectators like to come up with conspiracy guys is surrounding these powerful people within the sex trafficking industry.

So after scrolling through this particular thread about Hunter biting and everyone calling him out for the obvious, I came across this little golden nugget.

https://twitter.com/goddessthemuse/status/1278738419766755329?s=21

Because I’m a fan of conspiracies and opening the mind things that I would’ve never known about unless I was in the inner circle I was really ready to go down that rabbit hole. But then I went down that rabbit hole.

Initially, they start talking about movies that you should see before you read this thread. It immediately that set off the alarm bells for me because the movie industry is so corrupt. Movies and documentaries usually are notorious for using misinformation so it’s just generally not a good idea to go off of movies in the first place. IMO.

https://twitter.com/goddessthemuse/status/1277292473698713600?s=21

Then she starts explaining more in detail about both the movie and the documentaries (if I’m understanding right, there’s a movie and a documentary).

https://twitter.com/goddessthemuse/status/1274800905754423303?s=21

One of the things that she brings up is that Hitler and the Nazis were experimenting with time travel and space travel which is something that I’ve heard before.

I’m not completely in disbelief that Hitler and the Nazis were experimenting with time travel and space travel because why not those are really cool things to experiment with (not that I’m sympathizing with them either). But if that’s the case, once they fled Germany, how wasn’t that information then retrieved and then researched by other governments. Because I’m sorry but if your space traveling and time traveling all over the place, you have an incredibly big machine. Especially since computers back in World War II were enormous. So there was no way that they could just pick that thing up and bring it down there with them to Argentina there’s just no way. But who knows, what if they were time-traveling and space traveling but if so, where is that information? Then why is it not being put to good use, for research's sake?

We’re wasting money putting these big old machines through space when we could just pop in and out and grab whatever we want after we learn how these machines work. Maybe they were working on the idea, like many other researchers, but didn't perfect the idea.

https://twitter.com/goddessthemuse/status/1273700664611405825?s=21

So this was something that I partially agreed with. I do believe in aliens. I personally believe in a Men in Black situation. But the more that I read into this particular thread the more I realize that she’s kind of just bullying people...

https://twitter.com/goddessthemuse/status/1273684367311806466?s=21

First, she starts talking about how she believes particular celebrities look like aliens and how the queen is a shapeshifter. Then she hits on Simon Cowell's struggle with alcoholism and acts like Photoshop doesn’t exist or something.

To me, it just felt like the more and more I read this thread (because I feel like I haven’t even scratched the surface) the more it sounds like bullshit. I am ready to have my eyes open to any conspiracies as long as it’s rational. For example, the elite group of people that kidnaps and hunts people for sport that has been caught several times (looking at you Dick Cheney). But stuff like this that clearly isn’t rational and obviously has a different alternative I can’t get with.

Now I can’t complain about somebody trying to grab a bag, but the problem here is she’s feeding into misinformation, Instead of telling people the truth and profiting from it. I noticed in her Twitter bio that she has Patreon, it $11.11 A month and I’m not getting ready to subscribe to it to tell you guys what’s going on in there I’m sorry. But from what I could see it looks like she offers a lot of advice for her subscribers to go to whenever she has more information (wherever she gets that from). I also noticed that she sells a survival guide For $20 that includes tips for living off-grid, preparation, survival, mobility, etc. So knowing a few people personally that live off the grid, my thing is with this particular person is how does she have a phone or Internet at all. If you want to live off the grid you should not have the Internet whatsoever. It seems like she’s more of an influencer that does readings than someone willing to try to warn people of the future. With 9k followers.

I don’t know, this account seems really weird to me and I don’t necessarily think that there’s anything wrong with trying to make a buck or trying to warn people about the future. But I do kind of think it’s crazy to try to brainwash people (like the government has) and profit from it, because then it doesn’t make you any better than the government to begin with.

Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.

No, but seriously I’ve seen a few accounts that are kind of like this, on different platforms. And it’s really crazy to me to watch them kind of blow-up talking straight up out their ass about some conspiracies and literally profit from the misinformation they feed their followers. If you are going to talk about consipracies and shit going on in the world, then lets talk. But dont spew random shit for profit.

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coffeesforfuckers · 7 years

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Our Summers Together Are My Best Kept Secrets And My Biggest Mistakes // Chapter Twelve

Ships: Peterick, Brallon, Ferard, Trohley, Jalex, Zian and others in the background

Description: Summers for most kids are spent going to the beach and on vacations with your family but lots are shipped off to summer camps for the whole summer. But the kids at Hempman Summer Camp actually beg to go! Patrick Stump, Andy Hurley and Joe Trohman all met there, they had all known each other for probably over a decade because of this absolutely amazing stay-away camp for kids from the ages of six to nineteen. All the kids that were there came back until they couldn't and they always had the same kids except a few new, younger, kids every year. That is until the year that the weird kid with the jet-black, dyed, black fringe and the crazy piercings and a couple tattoos comes in like he owns the place. That year also happens to be the same year that Patrick Stump gets gum stuck to the new emo kid's face and hair. It was love at first sight... But hate at first interaction for the blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy and the complete opposite for the new kid, Pete Wentz.

Chapter 12: Twelve - A Kiss You'll Always Remember

Patrick

Pete grabs me by the waist, catching me mid-sprint, “I caught you.” He bites at my ear, leaving a kiss on my jawline.

“Pete!” I break free of his grip, “People have eyes you know.” I mutter, giving him a shove.

“I wish that they didn’t so I could be the only one to observe your beauty.” He coos and I roll my eyes.

“Can you chill with the gay for like ten seconds?” I roll my eyes as I start to walk off.

“Only if you can keep your dick in your pants for that long.” He retorts and my face goes red. I am such a slut for him.

“I hate you.” I grumble.

Pete’s hands rest against my hips, “Love you too, babe.” He smirks against my neck.

“Don’t do that!” I groan and pull his hands off of me, “There are people here, Pete.” I turn to glance at him over my shoulder and he lets out a huff.

“Too bad.” He tries grabbing me again but I dodge his hands.

“Stop that.” I point at him.

“Am I being bad?” He smirks and I roll my eyes.

“Pete I will dump your sorry-ass right here, right now.” I mumble, stepping up to him. He pecks me on the lips with a grin.

“I’m done.” He says and kisses me once more, “I lied, now I’m done.”

I roll my eyes and laugh. I can’t stand him sometimes.

“Come on, the guys are waiting for us.” I tug at his arm, pulling him back to our meeting spot.

Pete laughs the entire time. He’s always so happy.

He makes me so happy.

Brendon

My feet can’t carry me fast enough, I’m stumbling over the various bags hanging down around me. As soon as I exit the flight gate I can see my giraffe man himself standing not too far away. I somehow manage to run even faster, dropping my bags and throwing myself onto Dallon. He kisses me hard, pushing his mouth to mine, his arms holding me desperately close, my legs around his waist. I pull my arms around his neck and hold onto him with a frantic desire for him. I hadn’t seen him in almost four months. I kiss him awkwardly, moving my mouth hurriedly as if I’d never be able to kiss him again. He kisses back, equally as rushed and forceful.

“I missed you so much.” I gasp against his mouth.

“I missed you too.” He mumbles, I break the kiss to catch my breath, burying my face into the crook of his neck. Dallon presses his face into my hair, we stay like this for a while, until Dallon can’t hold me any longer.

“Bren.” Dallon says softly after setting me down, neither of us letting go of the other.

“Dal.” I speak, hugging him tighter. I didn't want to let go, I wanted to stay like this forever.

“I love you.” He says to me, everything about him screams the words louder than his voice ever could.

“I love you too.” My voice bleeds emotion.

He moves his hands to take mine, “You ready?” He smiles at me.

“Always.” I grin back. He let's go of my hands and picks up a couple of my bags and I take the others, his hand links with mine again as we walk to his car.

Alex

Jack tries to distract me as I drive, kissing my neck, biting at my ear, grabbing at my thighs. I shrug off all of his attempts to make me pull over and fuck him. (No matter how tempting that sounded).

“Baby.” He coos, kissing at my jawline, “Hey, baby, pay attention to me.” He whines like a small child.

“Sorry, sex with a two year old is illegal, Jack. Come back when you're older.” I tease and he giggles into my neck.

“Come on, with all the space up here we could fuck so quick.” He says.

“With all this room and you still insist on practically being on top of me.” I glance at him as he stifles a laugh. I had a 1953 Chevrolet Bel Air that was handed down to me from my grandfather, Jack had what I categorized under a kink, for fucking in it.

“Well yeah, you’re my favorite place to sit.” He winks and I fake gag.

“You are so gross.” I laugh and so does Jack.

We finally get to the parking lot and pull up next to Zach’s car. Him and Rian seem to be pretty happy together if I’m honest, I’m assuming they came together.

“Let’s go find our friends.” I chuckle and Jack sighs.

“You owe me a blowjob.” Jack mutters as he fumbles over me and out of the car. I laugh at him for being so lazy that he couldn’t slide over to his door and get out.

“It’s a no from me.” I reply, that was something we did a lot. Simon Cowell and Gordon Ramsay quotes were our one passion.

“Ass.” He rolls his eyes with a grin, I really did love him.

“Let’s go, dumbass.” I get out of the car and he grabs my hand.

“I love you, stupid.”

“I love you too.”

Andy

I sit, playing on my phone, waiting for Joe to get to our place. My phone buzzes and I check the new notification.

New Message From: Dallon Weekend Hey, dinner with the gang tonight at…

I smile, it was always great to see everybody after being away for so long. I really was going to miss this place, this might be my last summer depending on what happens with Joe and I and if I’m moving, it just depends on life.

I open the message and read the whole thing.

Hey, dinner with the gang tonight at some pizza place on main and then karaoke! Or we can go to a karaoke restaurant? Just going out to have fun in general since we all haven’t seen each other in almost a decade. If you have plans elsewhere, cancel them cause you’re coming no matter what! (Sent to all in a huge group chat).

I’m excited about it but at the same time I really want to just be with Joe tonight, I haven’t seen him in like forever.

I’ll see him every day, all summer. We should see our friends for once.

“Andy!” Joe calls and I jump to my feet, “Babe!” He shouts as he throws himself onto me. I hold him up with ease, his scrawny frame was lighter than what I bench press on a daily basis, “Your hair!” He gasps seeing it almost all gone, “And jesus, you’ve been working out a lot.” Joe is honestly shocked by my appearance change.

“Yep! Trying to look my best for you, Baby.” I kiss him softly and he smiles, bringing his hands up to the sides of my face.

“Your voice just doesn’t match what you look like anymore, damn.” He chuckles, “It’s cute.”

“Thank’s babe, I like your haircut too.” I say, his hair was just a curly bush on the top of his head, “I still am partial to the long hair and beard though.” I smile.

“I like your hair short, I can see your face better.” He kisses my cheek, “Oh my god! Your snakebites!” He pokes at the little empty and barely noticeable holes under my bottom lip.

“Yeah, I got bored of those, plus they’re annoying when we kiss.” I say, “And suck your dick but that’s a different story.”

Joe starts to laugh, his head falling onto my shoulder, “Did you get that text about tonight?” Joe asks, still giggling.

“Yeah, do you want to go?” I question and feel him nod.

“It’ll be nice to see our friends.” He picks his head up to looks at me, his face red and eyes watery.

“I agree, and karaoke seems fun, you’re a great singer.” I grin, kissing him again.

“No, hush.” His cheeks get an even deeper shade of red.

“Never.” I say as I brush our lips. I just couldn’t help but keep kissing him, being away from him for almost six months does shit to me.

Joe smirks, “I’ll make you then.” He kisses me over and over. My chest hurt from how hard my heart was pounding. I missed him too much.

I don’t think I can last six months without him again.

Zach

“You said this was only for a little while, Zach.” Rian snaps at me.

“I thought it was!” That was until I actually did fall in love with you.

“What the fuck does that mean, Zach!? Huh!? Tell me what the fuck is going on here!” He demands, “I’m straight Zach, stop making me play pretend!” He yells and I can feel my heart sinking.

“Because! Everybody thinks we’re happy together! Everybody thinks we're couple goals! I don’t want to disappoint!” I insist. In no way could it because I love him…

Idiot.

If he couldn’t see it then it was no use. I should just give up.

“That’s no excuse!” He yells at me.

“Please! Just… I don’t want to let people down! A little longer.” I beg, I just want to call him mine for as long as I can. Before I have to give up.

“Fine, Zach, fucking fine.” He snaps.

“Thank you.” I mumble and he just shrugs, “Are you going to the thing tonight?”

“Yeah. Are you?”

“Yeah.” I nod as I kick my bag under my bed. I sigh and flop onto it, “I’m gonna sleep first though.”

Frank

I sat in the grass, waiting for my friends. And Gerard… He hadn’t talked to me since Sleeping With Sirens. I still love him, I think I always have really. He makes me happy, well, made me happy. Now it just hurts to even think about him.

Remembering Gerard is so painful, everything about him is still so vivid even after not seeing him for about nine months.

I sigh and pull at the blades of grass before me. The sun is blocked out and I’m covered by shade suddenly.

“Hey loser, here all by yourself?” Chuckles Mikey as he sits in front of me.

“Yeah.” I say, shrugging glancing at him.

“Have you seen Ray?” He asks.

“Nope, haven’t seen anybody.” I shrug yet again, “I’ve been waiting for you guys, mostly you and Ray really though.” I move my full attention to Mikey now.

“What about Gerard?” His brow furrowed, “I thought you two were like… Best friends?”

“He hates me right now.” I pretend like the words don’t hurt to say.

“What? Why? He never told me this.” Mikey seems frustrated that his brother didn’t tell him anything. I’m kind of happy Gerard didn’t say anything.

“We had a disagreement last summer and never resolved it.” I inform as though it was nothing.

“Oh.” He shrugs.

“Mikey!” Gerard calls, “Stop running off to fuck your man, pay attention to me.” He whines like a needy girlfriend, “Oh-... Frank…” He notices me.

“Gee.” I nod and Mikey can feel the tension bouncing off of us. I could too, I just couldn’t figure out what kind of tension it was.

“Frank, can we go somewhere… Alone?”

Mikey winks as I stand.

“Okay. Where to?”

***

Small talk was made on our woodland adventure. It was awkward, bitter tension between us. Gerard is barely there, off in his own head and it’s pissing me off. He’d not listening to me, nor is he paying any attention to the fact I’m right besides him.

“If you’re just going to ignore me then why the fuck did you-”

Gerard kisses me, his soft but clammy hands cup my face. He kisses me so hard we both end up on the ground, “Just shut utp already. You’re giving me a headache.” He speaks in a heavy tone as he pulls back. I’m trembling. Gerard is straddling me, leaned over me as I lay flat on my back on the ground.

“I-... You-... You what?” I stammer and he rolls his eyes at me.

“I said to shut up, Frank. Stop jabbering about shit neither of us want to hear about, stop yammering on and on about nothing when that’s not why we’re even here.” My head was spinning, “Just fucking kiss me already.” He demands.

I was wrong about the bitter tension.

I kiss him hard, my hands behind his head and his holding my face still.

It was sexual.

Rian

Dinner was fun. Gerard and Frank didn’t show so it was just the fourteen of us, Ryan (Ross) didn’t show up either but I get a bitter vibe from Dallon and Brendon when he’s around.

Zach’s hanging off of me like a drunk girlfriend at a frat party, which he is none of those. I promised him a while longer because he truly is desperate for the acceptance of everybody else. He seems to be ignored a lot and I guess I can understand why he wants this to go on for a bit longer. Just so he has somebody to pay attention to him, even though I always do anyway.

He giggles at something that Pete had said and I smile. It’s nice to see him happy.

“You know, I just realized that I’ve never seen you two do anything very… Couple-ish.” Comments Brendon, “Like, you’re always touching but I mean, so are Patrick and Pete but they aren’t a couple, and Joe and Andy do that too.” He says and I can feel Zach’s sudden panic.

“We like to keep to ourselves because we know it can be annoying to some people.” Zach lies with a shaky voice. He stays slumped over in the booth with his head on my shoulder, my arm kind of wrapped around him.

“Yeah but, you don’t even hold hands or anything, like ever.” He continues to push and I sigh to myself.

“Zach, baby.” I say and he looks up at me, shock in his eyes at my words, I place my finger under his chin and lean down, gently kissing him and pulling away. I run a hand over his cheek for extra effect.

Zach looks so shocked and it’s hilarious. I just start to laugh at his expression, everybody seems confused by my outburst. I place my head on the table as I choke and sputter, laughing so hard that I couldn’t catch my breath. Zach snaps out of his shock after a bit, rubbing at my back to try and calm me down but I just laugh even harder. Why it was so funny to me? No clue at all, it just was.

“Okay then…” Brendon hums and nods, everybody loses interest in my fit after a moment or two, only Zach’s attention is still on me when I calm myself to only the extent of some hysterical wheezing.

“Sorry.” I giggle as I look over at him and he smiles at me.

“Don’t apologize.”

“Okay.”

***

We’re sitting in Zach’s car on the way back to camp. I’m pretty tired from the action packed night. He put some music on softly and we don’t really talk, I’m just too tired to make conversation.

“Hey, Rian.” Zach says when we’re pulling into the twenty-minute long dirt road to the parking lot.

“Mmh, yeah?” I hum.

“You kissed me.” He says, “Why-... Why’d you do that?”

Now that he asks, I actually have no idea how to answer. I don’t know.

“Uh, I just felt bad cause you really want this to be believable.” I say, I think that’s right? I hope that’s right.

“But it was so caring.” He hums, almost as if he were swooning.

“I-... I mean, that’s how I kiss?” I mumble, my eyebrows furrowed.

“Okay, I was just asking.” He shakes his head but something about him tells me he’s lying.

Something in me tells me that I’m lying.

Chapter Masterlist ~

Previous -

One - The Gum Habit Gone Bad

Two - On the Rooftop with You

Three - I Have a Forehead Texting Me and He’s Kind of Cute?

Four - Memories I Keep Locked Away for Times Like This

Five - Crying into the Void That is You

Six - A New Year and a New Us and Some New Friends

Seven - Abandoning You Was My Worst Mistake but Somehow You’re Still There For Me

Eight - A Meal For Two, A Car Ride For The Damned and A Love To Fool Them All.

Nine - Falling For You

Ten - The Indescribable Word That Is True Love

Eleven - It’s Always So Hard To Say Goodbye

Next -

Thirteen - And A Night You’ll Never Forget

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kingsofeverything · 7 years

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i love that everyone’s tags for simon are like “fuck you asshole” or “burn in hell motherfucker” or “simon is a bag of dicks” or “simon is a piece of shit” like not one person on my dash tags him as “simon cowell”

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socialattractionuk · 4 years

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The rise of turbo relationships: How life in lockdown has helped people find love

Even with the loneliness of lockdown, some have managed to find love amid the pandemic (Picture: Ella Byworth for Metro.co.uk)

Amid the sourdough starters, banana breads and PE with Joe workouts, lockdown has seen love blossom.

Despite the crushing isolation and stagnant social environment most of us found ourselves living with, new relationships escalated, Tinder dates turned into serious situations and broken hearts miraculously mended. You probably have a mate who met a bloke on Bumble in January and is now discussing potential dog names after being holed up together for four months.

But why is that? Why should such a distressing time have led to solid relationships rather than, say, an increase in breakups?

According to research by the relationships charity Relate and dating website Eharmony, lockdown has led to a wave of ‘turbo relationships’, in which relatively young relationships now feel like umpteen years of marriage.

In study of over 2,000 British adults, 58% said they now knew that they wanted to be with their partner forever after living together during lockdown and a similar number felt more committed in their relationship after weathering the pandemic storm together.

Visit our live blog for the latest updates: Coronavirus news live

Nurse Allie met her partner on Tinder in December and at the start of lockdown, decided to move in with him.

‘Now we’re basically a married couple,’ she says.

‘I think we kind of knew it was going to work early on but lockdown was almost a test to confirm that. It definitely made things more serious and made us into a more “real couple” than if we’d just seen each other a few times a week as we did before.’

Sam, on the other hand, matched with his girlfriend on the app at the start of February and had to wait lockdown out to be reunited. They’ve now moved in with each other.

We’ve been able to form connections despite the distance (Picture: Ella Byworth for Metro.co.uk)

‘We matched in February and then boom, lockdown happened,’ he tells Metro.co.uk. ‘I moved back in with my parents the day after we met up for the first time and spent eight weeks on FaceTime.’

He says: ‘Lockdown has been a full-on blessing for me, sad as that sounds’.

‘You know that your relationship can survive if you spent three months of it on the phone and the only alone time was one walk in the countryside.’

So what happens now? Lockdown is ending and life is slowly returning back to normal. Doesn’t that pose new challenges for a relationship defined by the ‘unprecidented times’ it was founded in?

‘There was definitely a wobble moment when we were like, “what happened to our honeymoon period? Are we ever going to have one or have we just skipped straight into an intense relationship?”,’ Sam explains.

‘But if I’m honest, I struggled enough with somethings during lockdown and without my girlfriend, I genuinely don’t know how I could have got through it. Lockdown definitely intensified things but we’ve weathered the storm and managed to level out.

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‘The moment we could see each other, I came straight back home to spend as much time with her properly as a couple out of lockdown as I could.’

And then, of course, there are the pre-existing relationships that lockdowns pushed to the next level.

Suzie has been with her partner since April 2019. On 22 March 2020, the day before lockdown began, they got engaged.

‘We got engaged in hope of marrying that week,’ says Suzie. ‘We knew we wanted to marry each other and were nervous about what was ahead so wanted to make it official in case anything bad happened!

‘Of course, all weddings were cancelled so that didn’t happen. We’re now booked to get married on 11 December at Chelsea Town Hall (the day before Sebastian’s 50th birthday!).’

Lockdown has provoked a trend of turbo-relationships (Picture: Ella Byworth)

We asked Match’s dating expert, Hayley Quinn, how lockdown had impacted on new relationships and she explained that one of the biggest changes Covid-19 had presented was the need to have ’emotionally intimate’ conversations super early on.

‘In order to stay safe, people have had to have candid conversations about their health that may usually be brushed aside,’ Hayley explains. ‘Likewise, asking to be in one another’s social bubble has become the new stepping stone towards “going steady” – and that implies a gear shift in the significance of the relationship.’

Such has been the rush to move forward that one wonders what might become of these relationships once society returns to normal. Just how real or stable can these turbo romances be?

While Hayley admits that for some, getting into serious situations will have been their way of finding a distraction, she’s more prone to believing that these relationships may be the real deal.

‘I’d argue that our circumstances, in terms of commitment, haven’t really changed,’ she says. ‘There will always be some people out there who are looking for fair weather relationships, and others who are looking for something longer term.

‘The best advice here is to be candid about what you’re looking for and to avoid reaching out to old flames for a distraction.

‘That being said, recent research from Match has shown that over half of singles are more committed to finding a relationship due to Covid-19 as the virus has caused people to reflect on what is really important to them.’

If you want to work towards a committed, stable relationship, Hayley says that you want to move away from the word ‘intense’.

But speedily formed relationships have the potential to flourish (Picture: Ella Byworth for Metro.co.uk)

She tells us: ‘While it can be very flattering and exhilarating going headfirst into a romance, there’s some truth in the phrase “the flame that burns twice as strong burns half as long”.

‘If you’re looking for a real relationship, prioritise the slow build; get to know one another on video dates, and daytime dates (think walks in the park, and ice cream) and take your time evaluating your connection. Shift your focus from looking for immediate excitement to growing a connection if you want to build a lasting relationship.’

Of course, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. We know that lockdown saw a rise in domestic violence. Unhappy relationships have been strained to breaking point because of the lack of physical distance. There must have been plenty of couples who found themselves weighing up the pros and cons of moving into together at the start of their relationship – well before they were ready to take that step.

But back in June, Eharmony relationship expert Rachael Lloyd said that while the pandemic had ‘seriously tested’ relationships, many new couples were coping well.

‘What’s really interesting is the creation of so-called turbo relationships whereby couples who’d never usually move at such speed may have found themselves living together within weeks of meeting – and largely thriving,’ she notes.

So how can couples ensure that they carry on being just as strong after we get back to ‘normal’?

‘There’s never any guarantee that a relationship will carry on (coronavirus, or no coronavirus!) as this always requires the ongoing commitment to work on it from both parties,’ Hayley says.

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‘However, you can do your best to create the right foundations for it by making sure you take time getting to know someone. Go for normal day dates over last-minute meetings and be open about what you’re looking for in the long run.’

For Sam, this post-lockdown period has given him and his girlfriend a chance to experience life as an ‘actual couple’ – including moving in together.

‘She decided that she wanted to move to London and we agreed that it was a waste of time having two flats. Then we decided to visit Ikea for a day off and honestly, it was the best day ever. I’ve never felt more comfortable and I’ve never considered a day at Ikea with anyone before.’

And that’s when you know you’ve bagged The One.

Dating terms and trends, defined

Blue-stalling: When two people are dating and acting like a couple, but one person in the partnership states they're unready for any sort of label or commitment (despite acting in a different manner).

Breadcrumbing: Leaving ‘breadcrumbs’ of interest – random noncommittal messages and notifications that seem to lead on forever, but don’t actually end up taking you anywhere worthwhile Breadcrumbing is all about piquing someone’s interest without the payoff of a date or a relationship.

Caspering: Being a friendly ghost - meaning yes, you ghost, but you offer an explanation beforehand. Caspering is all about being a nice human being with common decency. A novel idea.

Catfish: Someone who uses a fake identity to lure dates online.

Clearing: Clearing season happens in January. It’s when we’re so miserable thanks to Christmas being over, the cold weather, and general seasonal dreariness, that we will hook up with anyone just so we don’t feel completely unattractive. You might bang an ex, or give that creepy guy who you don’t really fancy a chance, or put up with truly awful sex just so you can feel human touch. It’s a tough time. Stay strong.

Cloutlighting: Cloutlighting is the combo of gaslighting and chasing social media clout. Someone will bait the person they’re dating on camera with the intention of getting them upset or angry, or making them look stupid, then share the video for everyone to laugh at.

Cockfishing: Also known as catcocking. When someone sending dick pics uses photo editing software or other methods to change the look of their penis, usually making it look bigger than it really is.

Cuffing season: The chilly autumn and winter months when you are struck by a desire to be coupled up, or cuffed.

Firedooring: Being firedoored is when the access is entirely on one side, so you're always waiting for them to call or text and your efforts are shot down.

Fishing: When someone will send out messages to a bunch of people to see who’d be interested in hooking up, wait to see who responds, then take their pick of who they want to get with. It’s called fishing because the fisher loads up on bait, waits for one fish to bite, then ignores all the others.

Flashpanner: Someone who’s addicted to that warm, fuzzy, and exciting start bit of a relationship, but can’t handle the hard bits that might come after – such as having to make a firm commitment, or meeting their parents, or posting an Instagram photo with them captioned as ‘this one’.

Freckling: Freckling is when someone pops into your dating life when the weather’s nice… and then vanishes once it’s a little chillier.

Gatsbying: To post a video, picture or selfie to public social media purely for a love interest to see it.

Ghosting: Cutting off all communication without explanation.

Grande-ing: Being grateful, rather than resentful, for your exes, just like Ariana Grande.

Hatfishing: When someone who looks better when wearing a hat has pics on their dating profile that exclusively show them wearing hats.

Kittenfishing: Using images that are of you, but are flattering to a point that it might be deceptive. So using really old or heavily edited photos, for example. Kittenfishes can also wildly exaggerate their height, age, interests, or accomplishments.

Lovebombing: Showering someone with attention, gifts, gestures of affection, and promises for your future relationship, only to distract them from your not-so-great bits. In extreme cases this can form the basis for an abusive relationship.

Microcheating: Cheating without physically crossing the line. So stuff like emotional cheating, sexting, confiding in someone other than your partner, that sort of thing.

Mountaineering: Reaching for people who might be out of your league, or reaching for the absolute top of the mountain.

Obligaswiping: The act of endlessly swiping on dating apps and flirt-chatting away with no legitimate intention of meeting up, so you can tell yourself you're doing *something* to put yourself out there.

Orbiting: The act of watching someone's Instagram stories or liking their tweets or generally staying in their 'orbit' after a breakup.

Paperclipping: When someone sporadically pops up to remind you of their existence, to prevent you from ever fully moving on.

Preating: Pre-cheating - laying the groundwork and putting out feelers for cheating, by sending flirty messages or getting closer to a work crush.

Prowling: Going hot and cold when it comes to expressing romantic interest.

R-bombing: Not responding to your messages but reading them all, so you see the 'delivered' and 'read' signs and feel like throwing your phone across the room.

Scroogeing: Dumping someone right before Christmas so you don't have to buy them a present.

Shadowing: Posing with a hot friend in all your dating app photos, knowing people will assume you're the attractive one and will be too polite to ask.

Shaveducking: Feeling deeply confused over whether you're really attracted to a person or if they just have great facial hair.

Sneating:When you go on dates just for a free meal.

Stashing: The act of hiding someone you're dating from your friends, family, and social media.

Submarineing: When someone ghosts, then suddenly returns and acts like nothing happened.

V-lationshipping:When someone you used to date reappears just around Valentine's Day, usually out of loneliness and desperation.

You-turning: Falling head over heels for someone, only to suddenly change your mind and dip.

Zombieing: Ghosting then returning from the dead. Different from submarineing because at least a zombie will acknowledge their distance.

Do you have a story to share?

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