by Alice Oseman
She’s been a fan of the show since it started – was she the first to know about it?? Did the Creator tell her about it?
The fact that she’s one of the biggest names in the fandom and now she’s suddenly working for the show?? She clearly has some link to the Creator and the show that she’s not fully telling us.
Her surname is literally French for January?? Coincidence??
Also, these tweets pretty much speak for themselves:
*toulouse* @touloser
I think the letters to february are my favourite part of every show, the creator is a genius!!!
13 Apr 11
*toulouse* @touloser
i wish there were more letters to February, they’re not in the show so much anymore ;_; i miss the crazy mess of words
14 Dec 11
*toulouse* @touloser
Universe City has honestly saved my life <3
29 Aug 11
Idk. When will the government tell us the truth lol. All speculation obviously …
#universe city #universe citizens #radio silence #toulouse #frances janvier #touladio #february friday #letters to february
None of this was surprising to me any more. Aled and I had gone way past the comfortable realm of privacy, just us two sitting in his room and laughing into a microphone in the dark.
Anyway – none of these points were convincing at all. Universe City had started before I met Carys, so I hadn’t even known of Aled back then. So me being February Friday was impossible.
And I already knew that February Friday was Daniel.
It was starting to get a bit annoying, really.
I decided not to show this one to Aled. It wasn’t like he could do anything about it.
I thought I’d better answer at least one, or people wouldn’t stop asking.
Anonymous asked:
Thoughts on the rumours that you’re February Friday? Xx
touloser answered:
I’m not February Friday. The whole point of February Friday is that nobody knows who it is. Why does everyone have to be so obsessed with making it a person in real life? In the Creator’s life?? I thought one of the fandom rules was to respect the Creator’s privacy? They clearly remain anonymous for a reason. And I don’t know why you think I’m friends with the Creator.
There are over fifty messages asking me whether I’m February in my inbox. Stop. Just enjoy the show and stop asking me about this because I don’t have any answers.
I was exhausted. I was always tired by Friday, but this time it was worse. I remember it being worse because I fell asleep on the train to school and had an actual dream. It was about two best friends who lived in an ice cave.
Aled hadn’t texted me and I was worried.
I didn’t know exactly what was stressing me out. It wasn’t one single thing. It was more like a billion tiny things all pulling together to form one giant tidal wave of stress. It felt like I was drowning, sort of.
I checked my asks one more time before the bell went to signal the end of break. And that’s when I saw this message.
Anonymous asked:
You say that you “don’t know why we think you’re friends with the creator” when we literally have proof that the creator is your friend Aled Last?
YOUTUBE FAMOUS
“Do you eat the same thing for lunch every day?”
I looked up from my cheese and ham panini. Raine Sengupta sat down next to me at our usual table in the sixth-form cafeteria. She had a bright orange rucksack hanging off one arm and her phone in the opposite hand. The rest of our friends hadn’t arrived yet.
“I’m very unimaginative,” I said, “and I don’t like change.”
She gave a little nod as if this were a reasonable explanation.
“How did you know that anyway?” I asked.
“You sort of stick out, mate. Sitting here at a table by yourself for like ten minutes before the rest of us get here.”
“Oh.” Great. “That’s completely the opposite of what I was going for.”
“Not your desired lunchtime aesthetic?”
“I was going more for ‘invisible girl just wants to eat her sandwich in peace’.”
She laughed. “The ultimate dream for us all!”
I laughed a little too, and she lifted her bag on to the stool opposite me. It made a noise that suggested it weighed at least half of my body weight.
I’d been trying not to think about the message about Aled. I hadn’t checked Tumblr since break.
Raine leaned on the table with one hand. “Just thought I’d better let you know, there’s some shit happening outside the school gate involving Aled Last.”
“What?”
“Yeah … I think he came to meet Daniel for lunch and he’s been, like … bombarded by children.”
I put down my panini.
“What?” I said.
“They’re asking him Universe City questions. You might wanna skip over there and see what’s up. Like, before they crush him.”
I stood up immediately. “God, yeah, okay— Yeah.”
“I didn’t know you were such good mates,” she said, pulling a lunchbox out of her bag. “It’s surprising.”
“Why’s that?” I asked, but she just shrugged at me.
The Year 7–11 uniform is black and yellow so it looked a bit like Aled was being attacked by a swarm of large bees.
Around fifteen teenagers had cornered him just outside the main school gate and were firing questions at him like he was an actual and legitimate celebrity. An older boy was taking pictures of him on his phone. A group of Year 7 girls were giggling every time he said something. A Year 7 boy was shouting out questions repeatedly without stopping, such as “How d’you get YouTube famous?”, “How do I get more followers on Instagram?” and “Would you follow me on Twitter?”
I stopped a few paces away from the back of the crowd.
How did they know?
How did they know he was Radio Silence?
This wasn’t what we’d wanted to happen.
This wasn’t what he’d wanted to happen.
Aled finally saw us.
He’d had a haircut. It looked kind of normal, now.
He was back in a jumper and jeans too.
He looked miserable.
“Did you do this?” he said to me, except I couldn’t hear him at all, I could just see his lips move. I couldn’t hear him and I felt so annoyed about it that I wanted to push into the crowd and shout at all the people and make them leave him alone.
“Did you tell them!?”
He looked angry.
And disappointed.
It didn’t take a lot for me to believe that I was disappointing, even though I hadn’t done it. I wasn’t the one who’d outed his biggest secret.
“ALL RIGHT, EVERYONE.”
I was shouting before I could stop myself.
The teens turned round to look at me, quietening a little.
“I don’t know what you all think you’re doing, but you’re not allowed outside of school during lunch unless you’re in the sixth form, and seeing as none of you are, I suggest you get back inside school grounds.”
Everyone just sort of stared at me.
I produced a sharp look that attempted to meet every single crowd member in the eye. “Like, now. I might not be head girl any more, but I can still make a pretty good case to Afolayan.”
And it worked. It actually worked.
I don’t know if you know, but when you are a student it’s a very difficult thing to get other students to obey you.
The teenagers scuttled away, leaving Aled and me standing alone outside the gate. Aled was staring at me like he didn’t even know me.
I suppose I must have hardly looked like myself, in my sixth-form suit, shouting at other students.
He started shaking his head. He looked stunned more than anything.
“What’s going on?” Daniel’s voice broke our silence, and I turned to find him walking out of t
he school gate towards us.
“They …” I could feel my voice breaking a little. “They found out that Aled’s the Creator. Everyone.”
“Was this you?” Aled asked me again, as if Daniel wasn’t even here.
“No, Aled, I swear—”
“I don’t understand,” said Aled, who almost looked like he was about to start crying. “It— I needed it to be a secret. Are you sure you didn’t tell them? You must have done it by accident …”
“No, they asked me, but I didn’t— I didn’t say anything, I swear.”
Aled just shook his head again, but he didn’t seem to be doing it at me.
“This is it,” he said.
“What?” I said.
“This is the end. My mum’s going to find out, and then she’s going to make me stop.”
“Wait, what? Why would she do that?”
“This is the end,” he said, as if he hadn’t heard me at all, and then his eyes misted over. “I’m going home.” He turned round and walked away, Daniel in tow, and I had no idea whether he believed me or not.
LYING IS EASIER ON THE INTERNET
Lying is easier on the Internet.
touloser
look guys … the Creator is not Aled Last. Yes Aled Last is my friend in real life but that doesn’t mean shit. the Creator is just someone I know online. and once again – no, i’m not February Friday.
stop stalking Aled, stop posting pictures of him. stop sending the Creator annoying messages about him. Aled is a very good friend of mine and you’re really not doing him any favours.
thank you bye
#i’m so done with these rumours #like can y’all calm down pls #i wish you’d never found out who I was tbh #universe city #universe citizens #radio silence #touloser
I don’t know why I hadn’t been able to say this to Jess, or anyone, earlier.
I was immediately flooded with messages all claiming I was lying.
Anonymous said:
lol we know ur lying
Anonymous said:
What even was the point of that post lmao??
Anonymous said:
NOW you decide you’re a good liar.
I didn’t have any idea how they knew I was lying until I messaged Aled with a link to the post.
He messaged me back almost immediately.
Aled Last
that’s no good they know it was me
Frances Janvier
How??? They have no proof???
And then he sent me a link to a different Tumblr post.
universe-city-analysis-blog
Aled Last = The Creator?
There’s been a lot of talk in the UC tag today about whether a teenage boy named ‘Aled Last’ from Kent, England, is the voice and Creator of Universe City. I thought I’d do everyone a favour by compiling what evidence we have, most of it from the UC artist Frances Janvier (touloser) and I think the conclusion is quite strongly supported.
• Those who know of Frances touloser (aka the UC artist and voice of Toulouse) have confirmed that she has grown closer to Aled Last over the summer – they have been spotted together in their hometown and are in photos together on their personal Facebooks. This is where the speculation around Aled Last began.
• When confronted in real life with the suggestion that Aled Last is the Creator, Frances reportedly responded “I’m not allowed to say” [source – obviously we have to take this person’s word]. If Aled Last wasn’t the Creator, where would be the harm in confirming that he wasn’t?
• Similarly, Frances has not answered any questions about Aled Last on her Tumblr or her Twitter, despite people claiming to have sent her messages about it. Again – why would Frances not just confirm that Aled Last isn’t the Creator?
Granted, none of this is solid proof that Aled Last is the Creator. The convincing piece of evidence comes from last month:
• On the night of the now infamous ‘ghost school’ episode, Frances’s Twitter account, @touloser, posted a blurry picture of a pair of lime green shoes, captioned ‘Radio revealed’ [link]. Aled Last can be seen to be wearing these shoes in various photos on his personal Facebook:
° [photo]
° [photo]
° [photo]
• These shoes are an old design of classic Vans that haven’t been made for several years [source]. Aled’s personal Facebook suggests that he has owned them for three or four years. They’re obviously very rare shoes since most people would have thrown them away by now – very few people wear the same single pair of shoes continuously for several years.
• Also, from some screenshots of the ‘ghost school’ episode, you can see a blond figure with long-ish hair, which look similar to some photos of Aled:
° [photo]
° [screenshot]
° [screenshot]
Feel free to make your own conclusions, of course. But in my eyes, it is almost definite that Aled Last is the Creator of Universe City.
The post had over ten thousand notes.
It was disgusting. People who knew Aled in real life had taken stuff from his private Facebook. They’d listened in on my conversation with Jess and quoted me. What was this? Who did they think I was? A celebrity?
What was worse was that it was right.
Aled Last was the Creator. They’d put the evidence together and they’d found out.
And it was entirely my fault.
Frances Janvier
Fuck … I’m so sorry aled I can’t tell you how sorry I am
Aled Last
it’s fine
TIME VORTEX
It was 6pm when I received a Facebook message from Raine.
(18:01) Lorraine Sengupta
Hey what happened in the end with aled?? Was everything ok??
(18:03) Frances Janvier
Everyone knows he’s the creator. People on tumblr found out
:
(18:04) Lorraine Sengupta
And he’s upset about it??
(18:04) Frances Janvier
Very
(18:05) Lorraine Sengupta
Why??
Isn’t he just complaining about getting a load of internet followers lol?
Kinda wanna say ‘check your privilege’ tbh …
(18:07) Frances Janvier
I think he really wanted it to be private though
You’d understand if you listened to the show, it’s really personal to him
(18:09) Lorraine Sengupta
Yeh but there are worse things than getting internet famous lmao
I wanted to tell her that it wasn’t really about that.
What had Aled said? That his mum would make him stop?
Had that just been an exaggeration? Or would that really happen?
Why would she do that?
(18:14) Lorraine Sengupta
Why you so obsessed with that white boy anyway lol
(18:15) Frances Janvier
I’m not obsessed with him haha
I just like him a lot I guess
(18:16) Lorraine Sengupta
Like you wanna bang him??
(18:16) Frances Janvier
NO omg
Can’t I like a guy without wanting to get with him?
(18:17) Lorraine Sengupta
Yeh you can lol!!! I just wanted to check :D
Why dyou like him so much then??
(18:18) Frances Janvier
He just makes me feel a bit less weird I guess
(18:18) Lorraine Sengupta
Bc he’s weird as well?
(18:19) Frances Janvier
Yep haha
(18:20) Lorraine Sengupta
Aw that’s kinda nice
Well I think you’re being a pretty good friend, anyway, so props to you
But I don’t think aled has any right to be upset … he’s literally upset about being famous
Not to mention he’s like one of the smartest people in his school!! What uni’s he going to? Like the one just
below Oxbridge in the league tables? I mean, screw that!!!
He has no right to complain about anything. He’s literally living the perfect life. Top uni, got a successful YouTube channel, what’s he moping about?? Just because some kids want to ask him some questions? Literally the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. I’d kill to be him, tbh, his life is perfect
I didn’t know what to say again and honestly I just wanted this conversation to end. I wanted to fly into the sky and grab on to an aeroplane and fade away into the distance.
(18:24) Lorraine Sengupta
Your fave is problematic lmao
(18:24) Frances Janvier
Haha I guess
(18:27) Lorraine Sengupta
P.s. You going to the thing at spoons tonight??
(18:29) Frances Janvier
Thing?
(18:30) Lorraine Sengupta
Yeah, mostly people from the year above. It’s the last night before most people go off to uni
(18:32) Frances Janvier
I don’t really know anyone
I’d just be sitting in the corner with some crisps or something
(18:32) Lorraine Sengupta
You know me!! And aled might be there??
(18:33) Frances Janvier
Will he?
(18:33) Lorraine Sengupta
Well … maybe … but I’ll definitely be there!!
I really didn’t want to go. I wanted to stay home and order pizza and watch seven episodes of Parks and Recreation and text Aled seventy times.
But by this point it was too awkward to say no and I really wanted her to like me because not many people do. I’m weak and weird and lonely and an idiot.
“Oh my God, Frances, your jacket.”
Raine was sitting in her car – a purple Ford Ka that looked dangerously close to spontaneous combustion – outside my house at 9pm, watching me walk towards her. My jacket was black denim and said ‘tomboy’ in white on the sleeves. I looked excellent (ridiculous). Usually when going out with my friends I tried to dress a bit more normally, but I was in a horrible mood and struggling to care about anything except what I’d done to Aled. Clothes are a window to the soul.
“Is that an ‘Oh my God you look absolutely ridiculous’?” I said, getting into the passenger seat, “because that’s an understandable reaction.”
“No, I mean I didn’t know you were so … pop punk. I thought I was gonna have to corrupt the nerdy one, but … you’re not actually a nerd, are you?”