#(most liked comment on a Sandra oh interview :

[fideidefenswhore]

If Catherine got pregnant by Arthur, but it was a girl, would it be possible to skip the kid and go straight to Henry VIII? In a way I could see it like the Great Matter 20 years earlier, Henry VII saying he needs a male heir and Catherine and her family backing the kid and maybe some kind of Exeter Conspiracy to get power.

Hm, that would be an interesting AU… tbh, what I find most frustrating about the (seemingly) obstinate refusal to acknowledge the Henrician 1520s as a ‘succession crisis’ (or in the least, why Henry saw it that way) is actually a more immediate precedent: literally no one was backing the claim of EoY as queen regnant when it was a matter of Richard III or the rival claimant of her future spouse, once it became accepted by most that her brothers were murdered and thus no longer options to inherit the throne.

So yeah, there is actually a question of if CoA and Arthur had a daughter, if she would be preferred in the succession before Henry VIII. If they had a son, it’s far less questionable, their son would be heir to the throne and Henry would be second in line (although if they had daughters as well… again, another question mark, far more ambiguous counterfactually…. dramaturgically, even, iyw….)

I think HVIII would have a comparably popular accession; the question of, would a faction form to prefer his royal niece over him, or one with the aim of making her his heir (over perhaps, his own son and/or daughter , if he has them in this scenario with an alternate wife— I’m not sure the Levitical prohibition would be brushed aside so easily by Pope Julius in the scenario of children by COA and Arthur proving consummation, even with the circumstances as they were it wasn’t ‘so easily’, he didn’t give that dispensation for years after it was requested) would really depend on his reign, if he made comparably controversial choices that would lead to enough dissent for factions to form seeking alternate rule revolving around prophecy and international intrigue in the same way, in this specific counterfactual.

[camillelespanayesbtch]

I love how excited some people are that Kathryn has an Instagram account, but you are going to ruin it by behaving the way that you do!

She is not your friend. Stop taking screenshots of things she likes and commenting about it because that's how you guys fucked things up with Jodi and Sandra from Killing Eve. It's the same reason Sarah Paulson turned off dm's and comments on her story because you guys were acting like creeps!

You don't know her relationship with her co-stars. And while we do get a glimpse during interviews and behind the scenes, we still don't actually know them. We will never actually know them because we are not their friends!

She is not your friend. She isn't your mother. She isn't your mommy. She is a human being. Stop treating her like that.

It's one thing to do it through fanfiction with the FICTIONAL character, but to transfer that behavior into her actual social media account? That's disgusting. So is tagging her in those explicit posts.

"Oh but she didn't say she doesn't like being called that." "Her account name has mother in it so-" Okay? And? Since when has it been acceptable to comment those things on STRANGER'S accounts? Would you go up to a random woman on the street and call her mommy? Would you go up to her and call her mother?

If you said yes, be honest because there is a less than zero chance most of you actually would because you know that that's right up there with men catcalling women who are just minding their own business.

NOT TO MENTION SO MANY OF THE PEOPLE DOING THIS ARE MINORS! Minors!!!! Do you know what position that puts her in???? Use your damn brains!!!

Celebrities aren't your friends! Yes they can be kind and sociable, but that doesn't mean you are their friend. It just means they're respectful.

[fangirling-throughlife]

I’ve recently read some very disrespectful and simply offensive comments on Time’s list of most influential people. The article in a Belgian newspaper focused on BTS, Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift, and cited the words of other artists (Shawn Mendes and Halsey being some of them). Well, in the comment section of said article two (I assume middle-aged) men talked about how “it’s not that hard to influence millions of spineless teenagers” and that “filling a stadium with thousands of screaming teenage girls isn’t that much of an achievement”.

First of all, this is an unbelievable disrespect to what they do (Rami Malek, Nancy Pelosi, Sandra Oh and Emilia Clarke are, among others, on the same list). They’re amazing people who are doing the best they can to make the world better, each of them in their own way. We’re not talking about a list of teenage heartthrobs, we’re talking about a list of people who use their voice to make a statement, to fight for what’s right: they fight for feminism, against racism and use their influence to put important causes in the spotlight.

Another thing that bothered me so much were the “spineless teenagers” and “screaming teenage girls” comments. So, you’re telling me that for being female and being young (which makes me think, I’m 20, and when it’s convenient for people, I’m a teen, but at other times I’m a woman. Make up your minds, please) my opinion shouldn’t be considered. So, if Shawn Mendes says in his speech in Youth that “you are the people that have the power to change the world”, and we (the “screaming teenage girls”) take this seriously and do everything in our power to make the world at least a bit better, he’s not influential? He’s not doing something worth to be mentioned? Or does this simply mean that we can’t make a difference, that we shouldn’t be taken seriously and, thus, our “idols” shouldn’t be taken seriously either?

Just to get things straight, we’re the ones that are fighting for our dreams, we’re the ones who are going to be working soon and making the world continue. Who is going to pay taxes, who are going to be the doctors, lawyers, teachers, professors, politicians?

The first thing that came to my mind when I read that comment (after thinking f*** you) was Harry Styles’ interview for Rolling Stone two years ago. I quote what he said: “Who’s to say that young girls who like pop music – short for popular, right? – have worse musical taste than a 30-year-old hipster guy? That’s not up to you to say. Music is something that’s always changing. There’s no goal posts. Young girls like the Beatles. You gonna tell me they’re not serious?” “How can you say young girls don’t get it? They’re our future. Our future doctors, lawyers, mothers, presidents, they kind of keep the world going.” Like, can somebody PLEASE pay attention to this? Really, if your snob ass can’t take a man seriously because his fanbase is mostly formed by teenage girls, forget that for a minute. He’s totally right. Who the heck gives anyone the right to criticize musicians (again, actors, writers… included) based on who their fans are?

And then there are people (the snobs that actually know a bit about arts) who consider that today’s art isn’t “refined enough”. Okay, as a musician (and I studied history of music), people have ALWAYS said that about the music that was being made at the moment. I’m not going to compare pop, rock or hip-hop to Beethoven, but that’s contemporary music. Really, get over it. Art evolves, and you can’t expect people to release a song or piece matching the complexity of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, and that’s it. Others say that music was way better years ago. For example, 20-year-olds who hate contemporary music cause the eighties were so much better. There has always been bad and good music. Do you really expect to hear 1981’s worst song on the radio? No, they’re going to play the hits. And that’s perfectly fine. But don’t say that you refuse to take seriously the opinion of anyone who listens to Shawn Mendes, Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, Drake or Cardi B, because listening to “mainstream” music doesn’t make one’s opinion less valid. Listening to the same 20 songs from decades ago for years definitely makes it way harder to take their opinion on contemporary music seriously.

[zutaralesbian]

Hi! This is like a genuine question, I’m not trying to start discourse like I’m just trying to sort out smth in my head (why I love villaneve but can’t stand hannigram if you’re curious) and I trust your opinion, but would you consider villaneve to be abusive or just mutually destructive with the potential to grow n become more constructive?

Hi. Thank you. I’m glad you trust my opinion lol.

And definitely the latter. For me what makes Villaneve a non-abusive dynamic is that it’s all pretty mutual and has been from the start. Eve is just as obsessed with Villanelle as Villanelle is with Eve. They both seem each other out over and over again. I remember back right before S2 aired Sandra Oh gave an interview where she called the dynamic one where they’re two lions, not a cat and a mouse. And I agreed with it.

Also, a common thing that tends to happen from abusive relationships is that the abused feels trapped and think less of themselves because of the abuse they suffer, and Eve and Villanelle don’t do that to each other at all. They actually make each other feel more seen and understood. Eve is pretty much the only person on the show who sees Villanelle as a complex individual and doesn’t write her off as just a mindless killing machine and in result, Villanelle eventually allowed herself to be more vulnerable around her. In exchange, Villanelle also understands Eve better than anyone and gives her an outlet to unleash the darker parts of herself that she’s been forced to stifle for most of her life. Neither of them feels trapped because of the other. They make each other feel more complete and free. I don’t think their relationship is about Villanelle becoming soft or Eve going completely dark, more like meeting each other in the middle. And yes, as of S3 I do think they have potential to become more constructive. Idk what S4 will end up doing but that’s my reading of their dynamic as of right now lol.

Is it a healthy relationship? No but neither of them are good healthy people. I think they’re both incapable of being in conventionally healthy relationships. Eve was in a “normal” relationship with Niko at the beginning of the show and it bored her. They truly are soulmates and the only person either of them can fit with is each other lol.

I’m not gonna comment on H*nnigram because I haven’t seen the show. But I will say that Hannibal would probably creep me out in a way Villanelle never did simply because he’s a cannibal.

[astrovian]

the official ranking of Claude Becker outfits

the official ranking of Daniel Miller outfits here

the official ranking of Adam Price outfits here

all Claude Becker outfits & rankings under the cut

we all know RA looks good in a suit, blah, blah, blah

after two of these rankings, this outfit is the physical embodiment of a yawn

I do appreciate the patterned tie to change things up a tad even if I’m not into the pattern itself. the intent is there, just not the execution

I will give props to the team for giving Claude a patterned dress shirt here (you have to squint a bit on the second image - more on patterned dress shirts later), but they really should have upped the game a little - change the tie & be less subtle with the shirt pattern

and I ask you, does Claude Becker not strike you as a man who would insist on at least a pocket square with his suits?? dream bigger stylists

3/10

@whoever stores old movie props if these weren’t disposed of immediately after filming i will pay you for a copy of one of these

putting aside the hilarious social commentary and fucking literal writing on this magazine cover done by some poor prop designer at 2am (”How to starve artists and other capitalist things”, as well as ”Claude Becker rolls up his shirtsleeves and unties his tie and puts on a vest and casually hangs his hands from his pockets” etc.), this is a nice change-up that made me question why we don’t have RA in just a waistcoat and dress shirt more often

also that tie pattern? fab. I love it. that is how to do a patterned tie. I hope we all know RA looks good in a suit, blah, blah, blah is paying attention

that being said, minimal points because we don’t actually see Claude wearing it in real life

4/10

where, oh where is my polo shirt? oh look, it’s right there

is there any RA character who is not afflicted with a polo shirt? not recently, apparently

I genuinely thought that it was a dress shirt for a moment which had me disappointed at the banality but then that turned into utter devastation as I realised we actually are looking at a long sleeve zip up polo shirt

the draping of the coat? phenomenal and what really brings this entire thing together

the long/three-quarter sleeves? the zip-up rather than buttons? better than one can normally expect from a polo shirt... and then they went and added stripes to the collar and sleeves?? regret

could be a lot worse but could ultimately also not be a polo shirt as well 4.5/10

could have tried harder during lessons but was a pleasure to have in class

I’m sure you all know my long-sleeve shirt obsession with RA but I made a promise to be honest with myself on these lists. the only feeling this outfit evokes is a ‘eh’

the equivalent of a middle slider 5/10

the Claude you’d actually have a fun day with

there’s something about RA in a hoody that just bangs. good lord I also have a weakness for those forearms

I also thought for a good moment these were dark jeans, but they disappointingly turn out to be sweatpants? however, it has made me think that we need to see RA in some darker denim shades more often 

this Claude is could have tried harder during lessons but was a pleasure to have in class but with just a little more fun and class to boost it *just* outside of the ‘eh’ zone

5.2/10

now this is how we do a long-sleeved shirt

I think it’s been fairly well-established by now that loose, long-sleeved RA is my ultimate weakness, so it’s nice to see that Ocean’s 8 is also making a concerted effort to murder me

also Claude’s obsession with sweatpants is giving me life

this is the Claude you make pasta with. and that pasta would be damn tasty, too

5.9/10

come hither

just-woken-up Claude is made 100x better by the bed head hair and the sleepy gaze

this man needs to get back into bed for a snuggle (preferably with me)

I can’t decide if I’m into the loose boxers or missing the tighter Adam Price undies. either way, it’s definitely not a bad aesthetic. and it reminds me, like dad chic Adam Price, that we don’t get enough of RA in shorts

I feel bad assigning numbers to a a shirtless one BUT Claude does transform into being fully-clothed in this scene so I’m going with it 6.4/10

you can kiss my hand anytime

the blessing of this film is not only the visual assault of attractive actors from all sides and genders, but it also instigates in me the thought that RA is wearing printed dress shirts and I can’t remember the last time I saw this?? I never even realised how much I need to see a lot more of this kind of look on RA until we were blessed with this vision

look at those lil’ elephants!! adorable. I hope Claude has a closet full of these with different animals on them

this outfit was so good, RA even wore it in his behind-the-scenes interview

7/10 for a printed, suited dream

the Claude you take home to mom & dad

god, it’s even better without the suit jacket

this is my honest appeal to the powers that may or may not be to put RA in more printed dress shirts

7.6/10

sometimes I think I should be more ashamed of myself

I feel like I need to preface this one thusly: okay, but like hear me out for real this time

I know this is ultimate hipster white-dude look and RA plays into that character so fantastically with Claude here. I mean just look at his expression. something about this whole look makes me want to simultaneously punch this man in the face and also take him home with me

this is a man who you know is a mistake before you make it, but choose to follow through anyway. he’s that last shot of tequila or the 5th glass of wine. you know you would go for him too. don’t even try to deny it

is the high ranking because of the novelty factor? is it because I’ve never seen RA wear a beanie like that and honestly the infamous running Daniel Miller could take notes? is it because I can’t take anyone who wears a beanie like that seriously?

all we do know is that I also can’t believe this is so high on the list

7.8/10

the moment we all learned Claude is 100% a bottom

one of the most iconic Claude moments in the film. RA plays the ‘dumb horny idiot’ character so well in this scene

not so into the pinstriped suit jacket but the hoodie peeking out from underneath combined with the thin scarf makes it for me

8/10

question: how may teeny-weeny scarves does Claude own, exactly?

who could forget the iconic moment when Sandra Bullock nearly shivs RA?

we have another printed dress shirt and I am HERE for it. it even has birds this time!! nice to see that Claude is not just a land mammal sort of man

I will concede that this is the sort of pattern that few men can pull off but RA is making it work and I am living

8.7/10

I’m not sure I can make a comment on this one that is even remotely appropriate except for “I told you Claude is a bottom”

safety first, buy some proper restraints for the bedroom please Claude/10

 modern royalty au Thorin

this is the moment that every single Hobbit fan went “hell yeah, now I have the perfect new aesthetic for my modern royalty Hobbit AU” (as an avid lotr/hobbit fan, I am not joking here)

RA looks like royalty here because he should be. please sign my petition to have RA usurp the British Queen

for real though, that baby blue sash is the 1000% perfect added touch to this suit and we love RA in a baby blue. a decent (and clearly successful) effort to match the faux Met Gala theme: European royalty. however, it is also pretty accurate re: the imaginative effort that most men have with altering their Met Gala outfits to fit that year’s theme

we need more RA in ‘modern royal’ roles for the #aesthetic and also so that he can dress like this more often

9.3/10 for a princely (or dare I say kingly?) figure

James Corden looks so gleeful running after Claude that it makes me happy. I get it, James. I get it

there’s really nothing spectacular about the general outfit here - except for the swagger RA is giving this

pants? shirt? boring, meh

check scarf? a brilliant switch up from Claude’s normal thin scarves. 

the popped coat? now we’re cooking

the sunglasses and wind-ruffled hair that screams “I’m hungover but I still look effortlessly handsome”? delectable

the dogs?? the best set dressing one could ask for

the attitude and ‘I’m too cool for you’ swagger? priceless and what makes this the second-best outfit of the whole film

9.6/10 this man could punch me and I would be grateful

hot diggity dog, someone get me Claude’s handcuffs

from the front view, it could be argued that this outfit (well, technically it may not really be a separate outfit as it’s the undone version of modern royalty au Thorin), while fairly exceptional, does not first place make

however, someone had the idea to shoot RA from a side angle in this and for that I am eternally in their debt

it’s all about the tease with this one. the glimpse of the suspenders (and holy shit, RA in suspenders was not a look I had thought about before). the way the waist coat hangs off Claude’s chest like that, just enough to make its presence obvious. the cufflinks. the delicate pocket watch chain.

if previous outfits on this list have been all sex and swagger, this is the foreplay. the subtle strip tease.

10/10 

[thedannyfinn]

The Story of Absolute Power, Deceit, and Manipulation

This is going to be quite an interesting read for many. I encourage bookmarking and taking breaks. It is out of the request of those involved to bring awareness of the patterns of manipulation, deceit, and absolute power that I delve into my knowledge on this subject as supported by the words of Ashley Purdy, backed by my own experiences and opinions. This will be a very important lesson for many younger musicians as well. This is in part based on my own personal experiences, opinions, and recollection. The sources of the information that will be detailed in this post will be coming from myself alone as an individual and my personal observations with supporting relevant media links.

An Anonymous Warning

This story starts way back in 2012. I remember distinctly researching Black Veil Brides and the making of, when I came across a blog post from a third party detailing the band’s relocation to Los Angeles and its creation from a business perspective. This post which I cannot recall the source platform, nor whom had posted it, to my knowledge had been removed shortly after I had read it. In the post it detailed a young Andy Sixx, around the age of 16, visiting Los Angeles, most likely for acting / modeling where he first met Ashley Purdy. It was said that Andy and Ashley had remained in communication throughout Andy’s return home to Cincinnati, OH. Roughly two years later, shortly after turning 18 and relocating to Los Angeles, Andy had what was said to be a second run in with Ashley Purdy, who was around 31 at the time (yes, nearly twice Andy’s age). The Knives And Pens music video was already out and it had amassed an iconic acclaim overnight. During this time Ashley had used his tactics to manipulate the young Andy into signing away half of the rights to the name Black Veil Brides in a contract that he, and I would presume to be an attorney, had created behind the backs of the others involved. However, in this contract it was said that Ashley had made it so Black Veil were run more so like a business than a band, giving 50% of the creative direction and rights to the band name and brand as a whole to Ashley, but most importantly in this reallocation of power, it had made it near impossible for Andy Biersack to remove Ashley Purdy as a co-business owner for the band, regardless of circumstances. It was also said that this contract had a duration that was indefinite. What this means is that Ashley and Andy were both in equal power meaning no matter what, one could not remove the other and this contract would never expire. This contract were most likely signed by a young and naive Andy with false promises that Ashley had many resources that would help the band grow. At first I had considered this to be some strange fanfic from an anonymous source, nonetheless I had read this post myself and had always kept it in the back of my mind, questioning what level of validity it held.

Intent To Steal

In an interview (2014) with Ashley Purdy, he discusses how Andy Sixx and the Black Veil Brides already had debuted the Knives and Pens music video in 2009 (which had launched Andy and Sandra Alva into international fame nearly overnight) before Ashley had found out about Andy and the Black Veil Brides. Ashley discusses seeing an ad (most likely craigslist) where Andy had listed his influences and was looking to recruit more members. Here Ashley had noticed them being along similar to his and has verbatim said “I was actually looking to STEAL players from there to put in my band, you know?” His intentions most likely had changed into intent to infiltrate once he saw the success tied to Andy as a frontman as he admitted in this interview that he liked Andy as a frontman and was going to continue in the direction Andy and Black Veil Brides were currently on. In a conversation with an outside and anonymous individual whom was living with some of those involved at the time, I personally was told “Ashley didn’t play anything, it was just a given that he were to be in the band someway or another.” Another anonymous individual who was present around this time confirms this to be true.

The Victimizing Narrative of a Manipulator

Let’s fast forward to 2019. At the end of the year we see shockingly that Ashley Purdy and the Black Veil Brides have separated in a mutual agreement. It was said that this was beneficial for both parties and it was a positive thing. However, shortly after in the beginning of 2020 we start to see words from Ashley Purdy in an AltPress article saying “Technically, I didn’t leave; I’m just not in the band anymore. I have to talk in those terms right now” and “Black Veil Brides is a corporate business, and there are legal rules,” he explains. “It’s like a divorce, and we are working it all out.” What we know from this is that the terms of the separation are not yet 100% agreed upon and settled, however implying that there are legal rules and “having to talk in those terms” implies that there is indeed a nondisclosure agreement between the parties of Ashley Purdy and the Black Veil Brides. With that being said, he 100% admittedly shared that he was removed from the group as to be supported from the next time he goes on record with the press.

Following said AltPress article, we had seen a more honest article with the words of Ashley Purdy saying “I guess I can say this because it is the truth. On Feb. 26 [at] 1 p.m., I still currently own half of Black Veil Brides right now. The realization is like it’s a corporate buyout. It’s like me and Andy [Biersack] — 50% each. And they still have to compensate me for them wanting me to depart. But that hasn’t happened yet. And we’re still in negotiations about what that is. I don’t know how to approach it because it’s not finalized yet.” This right here is huge. This 100% backs the warning message that I had come across in 2012 in regards to a 50/50 corporate ownership split between Ashley Purdy and Andy Biersack. Here he also further admits. that not only was he removed from the group, but they actually wanted him to depart which in my opinion implies intent before the 2019 actions. This new narrative is 100% against the initial statements of a mutual parting by both parties and seems to be a direct violation of a rumored NDA as implied by Ashley and it also appears to be a blatant attempt of assuming the role of victim against Black Veil to any interested in the split.

Non-Disclosure / Non-Defamation Clause

During a controversial Crowdcast that Ashley Purdy had done himself on March 26, 2020 titled “Spring Fling” at the minute mark 31:59 Ashley discloses “It’s not like it’s a non-disclosure, it’s just a non-defamation clause..” Which both fall under the non-disparagement umbrella and are similar with a stark exception of non-defamation clauses protecting the entire history of the relationships in any way that could make either party look in any way negative. What this means is that in short, Andy nor anyone else in the band could make a single comment that would in any way show a lack of support of Ashley Purdy at any point in the entire relationship between Ashley Purdy and Black Veil Brides, regardless of validity. I would bet the one whom would want such a clause in place would be Ashley, protecting himself from Black Veil exposing him for his manipulative and deceitful ways which is assumed to have started since his days of first involvement.

At this point the truths according to statements made by Ashley Purdy goes as follows:

There had been a 50/50 split contract between Andy and Ashley

Black Veil had wanted Ashley out of the band

There is a NDA in place regarding the separation

There is a non-defamation clause regarding the relationship

Black Veil Memebers / Crew cannot legally comment in any way that would make Ashley look bad

Breaking The NDA / Non-Defamation Clause

Based on my own knowledge backed by research, in a similar scenario when a NDA or Non-Defamation Clause is broken, one party seeks grounds for lawsuit for the entire capital of the brand of the other party. What this means is that if Black Veil or any member of the Black Veil Brides Brand were to breach the NDA by sharing details of the separation or by making any statements that make Ashley Purdy appear in a negative light, whether true or false, Ashley Purdy would attempt to assume any and all financial capital of the brand and destroy the entire band as an entity. The band would completely cease to exist and Ashley would be in a financially advantages position to ruin the lives of all members under the Black Veil Brides umbrella, suing them for damages and voiding all future gains of profit from each member of involvement as well. This is what happens in cases similar to these where previous business owners insert on separation agreements of non-disclosure / non-defamation and when they are breached it is essentially a “Hail Mary” to reclaim future and previous profits made by the entire brand.

Ashley’s Intent to Manipulate, Groom, Profit

Now, at the time of the contract agreement as supported by the acknowledgement of its existence by Ashley’s statements in the press articles supplied above, it’s safe to assume that this contract were put in place back when the band first started their involvement with Ashley. Ashley would have been 31 years old and Andy would have been 18 at the time where the creative direction of the band would legally rest between two parties for the first time in the band’s history. As proud of a person as Andy is, I can’t help to believe wholeheartedly that Andy as a teen was persuaded and manipulated into signing away half of the rights of the name Black Veil Brides to a man nearly double his age. This is how corporate splits typically occur as to restrict of the brand at its sole genesis, the name. By extension, one could assume that this manipulation had stemmed back from Andy’s first rumored run in with Ashley back at the age of 16 years old. If you had been following this band for awhile, you would have seen an extremely different atmosphere of the band in its early days in regards to the relationship of Andy and Ashley from its later days. I follow this up later with my own personal experiences as I had toured with them multiple times. The TLDR is I never once saw Ashley in the same room as a single other member of the band to my own observation, and it had appeared to me that the majority of the band were not even on speaking terms, nor wanted to associate with Ashley in the slightest and it would not have shocked me if that had been the case for awhile. My first time touring with them was in 2014, which suggests the dichotomy between Andy and Ashley had become apparent in the years prior.

What a 50/50 split means is that no matter what, there would be no way for Andy to remove Ashley at all unless there were some discovered loophole. Andy had committed legally and indefinitely that even if the two parties had hated each other completely, it would be near impossible for Andy to reclaim 100% of the rights to the brand Black Veil Brides and rid the project of Ashley. I strongly speculate based on tonality in interviews, live performances etc that there was a specific time where the manipulation and deceit of a teenaged Andy Biersack had turned into a matrimonial nightmare with no means of an end. It is of my opinion that I trace the flip of naivety to suffering back in 2012. At this time it has become extremely rare to find interviews shared between Andy and Ashley both. Also, this is the time that it had appeared obvious that Andy was severely suffering from a multitude of psychologically destructive antics. Now I by NO means am implying that Andy at this time was a weak person, I am insinuating that he however was another human being who is victim of manipulation, abuse, and with no escape has found himself in a world of suffering.

Andy Black- a Project Born Under Pressured Circumstances

With the assumed unescapable borderline abusive relationship between Andy Biersack and Ashley Purdy, this would be the complete explanation for the existence of the side project, Andy Black and the side projects of the other members of the band. If Andy refused to continue working with Ashley Purdy, he could assume his own project and if the members were reliant on Andy to perform as Black Veil Brides the other members of the band hopefully would share the same ability without conflict of interest. 

Why Was Ashley Not Removed?

This is highly speculative however, with an ownership balance of 50/50 split over the name Black Veil Brides, the only events by which Andy could separate ways from Ashley would be if Andy were to surrender all current and future financial capital of the brand and ownership of the name to Ashley, find a loophole to default ownership back to Andy, or drive the entire brand into bankruptcy along with an indefinite hiatus and find a means of separation. What the last event means is that if there were no current capital (money in the bank) that the band possessed and no speculated future profits by means of indefinite hiatus, Ashley could not sue to take what isn’t there. It’s my guess that this is exactly what had happened and that the band cared so much to remove Ashley that they had driven themselves financially bankrupt. My guess is that the band assumed indefinite hiatus, had absolutely no capital or perhaps was even in debt, had no speculative future profit, and it was on its last leg that a strategy or loophole was discovered that provided means of creating a case for separation where the band would most likely refuse to be active and Ashley would no longer have any income unless he were removed from the band, where the band would then continue and Ashley would be entitled to a cut of profits and for future profits. This is directly supported by Ashley saying “And they still have to compensate me for them wanting me to depart.”

I Am Your Boss

With a 50/50 split of power between Ashley and Andy, this event would then place Ashley and Andy both to be the literal bosses of every single member in the band and every single member of crew as well. Management, Tour Managers, Security Guards, Performing Members, etc all are employed by those in power of the band; Ashley and Andy. What this means is that at any time, Ashley could fire any given member under the Black Veil Brides employment umbrella on the spot at any point with the exception of Andy. This is very important to note as per one of the victim’s case having taken place on the last tour that the band had ever performed in alongside Ashley Purdy. His claims against a proven 17 year old minor walking off of the tour bus late at night that he assumed complete ownership of, were as follows:

There are many issues with this statement. Having toured with them, it is 100% false that Tour Managers and Security guards hold responsibility over band members for checking identification of the guests that the band members bring from the crowd, to back stage, and thusly on to the bus.

Even if in some arrangement Ashley claims that responsibility rests on the shoulders of Mr. Y**** (Andy’s long term personal security from threats of physical harm) and Mr. S******* (The tour manager of the resurrection tour whom held responsibility of resources, travel arrangements, finances etc) The Tour Manager and Security would be in employment positions UNDER Ashley Purdy, meaning they could be fired at any point for any reason and it would be absolutely likely that they would be removed on the spot had there been any confrontation at all for any reason. Based on this, I am absolutely confident that this deranged imposition of power would be held over the heads of all employees under Ashley Purdy which would speak as to the complete avoidance and disassociation that I had personally payed observation to on the multiple tours I had shared with Black Veil.

Another point of error in this statement, is that at this time Andy, head of Security Mr. Y**** and the Tour Manager Mr. S******* had all lived on a completely separate bus from Ashley Purdy at all times during this tour and all tours around this time. It would be extremely unlikely for Ashley Purdy to cross paths with any of these individuals with the exception of the show and sound check alone.

My Experiences

Below are a collection of experiences I had witnessed firsthand along with some backstory on my involvement and where the grounds for my opinions and speculation can be based on. I had only witnessed one event with Ashley that I consider to be inappropriate that took place before 3 years of hiatus from the band before they embarked on one final tour in 2018, the last tour before Ashley was removed from the band.

Black Mass Tour 2014

This is where my personal observations begin take place. I had been touring for a few years in many different roles and in 2014 I was invited to join alongside Black Veil brides mid-tour. When I had joined the tour, I was never approached to sign a NDA because the tour was already in progress, henceforth why I am able to come forth with my own observations. 

During this tour I spent many nights hanging out with various members of Black Veil with the exception of Ashley Purdy. Every night that we had gone out to bars, clubs, restaurants etc several of us would formulate a plan before our early morning bus call (often 4:00 am). Often we would make a group event out of it and invite several other musicians from other bands and/or friends. However, I remember finding it odd that Ashley never once came up in conversation and never was present at a single night out which is why I don’t have many shared experiences between Ashley and myself. Most of the nights I spent socially out at bars with Jinxx and CC heading out with some friends from another band. Some nights Andy had joined us along with a few other crew members where we would sit at a table in a quiet bar or hang out in the front lounge of the bus and often talk about wrestling and/or movies. Or he and I would talk outside the bus late at night, in the venue about Batman, Misfits etc. It was quite clear that Andy was not drinking often at this time and neither was Jake due to health reasons. I remember whenever I were with Jake it was always just for one drink of vodka as it was a “healthier” option to whisky and we never got more than a social buzz to help with out anxiety / social awkwardness. It was also my impression that Ashley would be off doing his own thing away from everybody before the show, and it was almost as if he had vanished after every show until bus call. Honestly, I had never seen anyone in the band talk to or about Ashley at all. It had seemed to me as though no one in the band had associated with him in the slightest bit and they didn’t seem to be on speaking terms at all aside from business obviously. It also would not surprise me if this had been the case for awhile. The only time this tour that I had ever seen Ashley present with any other members was on Thanksgiving day where we had all gone to Hometown Buffet (lol) where Ashley sat away from Andy and Jake near the other end of the table with crew and band members between himself and Andy.

Los Vegas, NV 10/30/14 The first night that I had gone out with other members of Black Veil where Andy, Myself, CC, Jinxx and I believe Jake all went to the Foundation Room with the band’s merchandise manager, various crew members, most other musicians on the tour, and a few friends of the band as well. While we were there, Ashley was somewhere else completely on what he considers to be a “Spring Break” when he tweeted a picture of himself sucking on the chest of a girl at another bar and appeared to be on a multitude of different substances. We had taken an entire group photo where Ashley is not present which I believe was taken on a friend to the band’s phone by another friend whom is a video director. 

Houston, TX 12/11/14 I watched this entire show side-stage. Earlier this Day Ashley was running around in his black boxer brief underwear mid afternoon clearly wasted throwing around a football. I was quite interested in how he were going to be able to perform. As the show were about to start, I stood side stage with Mr R**** (another musician present, not to drag you in my boy) when during the show, Ashley appeared immensely disheveled and sported stubble, no makeup, and a trucker hat and was having troubles walking about the stage. Throughout the show he slowly stumbled around, often missing his own bass when strumming. Early on my parter side stage pointed at Ashley and exclaimed “DUDE HE DOESN’T EVEN LOOK LIKE HE’S PLAYING!” by which I responded with a mere glare out of the corner of my eye. He then responded with “I know, I just wanted to see if you knew.”

Throughout this entire show Andy clearly was frustrated with Ashley and if I remember correctly, at one point Andy brought a barstool from side stage and sat in it during the performance, clearly frustrated. Towards the resolve of the show, Ashley could barely stand up on his own, where Andy held him upright for a moment.

Warped Tour 2015 - Second To Last Black Veil Tour Ever

I had caught a flight out last minute to start Warped Tour and was living with another band at the start. I believe, because of this I had also not been approached to sign an NDA. There was not one night that I recall Andy, Jake or Ashley in attendance to the Warped Tour BBQ, an event that happened every few evenings after the tour was broken down. Later on during the tour, it was 08-02 at the Denver show where the Warped Tour “Prom” was to be held. This is simply another Warped Tour BBQ except with a bit more festivities as usual and having a “date” is somewhat of a normal event.

It was this night where I was on another bus that Ashley was not living on where some important events occurred. I was inside the bathroom on the bus and our singer Zero was in the back lounge. The bus would have appeared empty and quiet to any outsiders. It was extremely unlikely that you would ever see any Black Veil crew member or band members on the bus unless I had brought CC on the bus to hang out with and play Superfight, a card game similar to Cards Against Humanity that Zero and I commonly played with other musicians. I was walking out of the bathroom when I saw Ashley walking on with two girls immediately making a reach for the alcohol on the bus until I had stepped in his way. Zero (whom was quietly working on his Macbook Pro in the back lounge) noticed the event and walked up to the front quickly. Zero who is bigger and older than I had yelled at Ashley to get off the bus and told me to stay back. It is my opinion that Ashley was attempting to sneak behind the backs of his own band and crew at this point.

Later that night I had heard from one of my crew guys that the girls were under the age of 21 and that Ashley had gotten in some serious trouble and the girls were sent home. There were only 4 days remaining on this tour.

This was also the second to last tour that Black Veil Brides had ever done. Between the dates of Warped Tour 2015 and today, Black Veil Brides had only embarked on The Resurrection Tour which had lasted a total of less than 5 months which is where the event’s regarding a minor on Ashley’s bus had taken place, very shortly before his removal from the band.

Closing Statement:

I consider this to be the most complete and detailed composition of relevant events and experiences and I truly believe this has been made in attempt to educate to the best of my ability. I have not posted here besides the typical share from IG in quite some time. This post by no means has been created with any aforementioned dialogue to any involved and is a collective of my sole efforts as an individual and my ability to research and speculate based on my own experiences. I believe with my given perspective, this is most accurate and I hope this can be referred to with intent to answer many questions regarding this troubling subject. I truly wish the best for all parties and victims along with the families affected by this decade long reign of manipulation and abuse. I hope the internal struggle of many that I’m seeing on various socials can be absolved. It is my intent that this will be my last public statement regarding these events and I truly hope I’ve done right by those I am attempting to answer to and have not belittled nor offended any in any way.

Suicide Prevention 800-273-8255

Substance Abuse/Mental Health Helpline 1-800-662-4357

Sexual Assault Hotline 800-656-4673

Domestic Violence Hotline 800−799−7233

Crisis Text Line: Text HELLO to 741741

Thank you kindly for reading my post. Feel free to redirect / share as necessary.

Danny Finn

[thedistantdusk]

Private

Thanks to @floreatcastellumposts for Brit-picking and @el-eye-zee-aye for organizing the Harry/Ginny Discord birthday challenge! This was a lot of fun! T for language/mild sexual humor. 

On AO3

________________________

Being the significant other of the most desirable wizard in Britain doesn’t come without drawbacks. Ginny knew that from the off. Even the earliest days of their raw, rekindled relationship were marked with requests for interviews, a trend that continued throughout the summer of 1998. When she returned to Hogwarts that September, reporters took it upon themselves to sneak onto the platform, capture her and Harry’s final, departing snog… and then reprint it, absolutely everywhere. Without their consent.

Her decision to pursue professional quidditch after Hogwarts made the situation both better and worse. On one hand, the publicity became less random. Less speculative. As soon as she signed with the Harpies, her privacy was protected — at least to some degree. Press events were soon planned and targeted instead of the sporadic, anxiety-inducing sneaks attacks to which she’d become accustomed.

The trade-off, of course, is that when press events do happen, they’re dreadful.

Utterly, completely dreadful.

Ginny sits in the enormous purple armchair and bites the inside of her cheek. She hates interviews like these… ones of the aforementioned dreadful variety. This one is with Sandra Richardson of Witch Weekly, a woman known for her propensity towards twisting words and taking statements out of context. But it’s part of the job, Ginny reminds herself for the thousandth time that morning. She must sit through six of these per year, each before a match. She must be generally pleasant and polite. She must represent her team well.

And above all else, she must not lose her temper. Right.

“Don’t be nervous, dear,” croons a dripping, saccharine voice. Oh. Ginny swallows. Sandra Richardson, here for the interview.

Sandra places the tray on the table between them and shoots Ginny a wink as she begins pouring tea for each of them. A younger, more naive Ginny might have trusted Sandra from her appearance alone. Her gold jewelry and buttoned blouse make her seem more matronly than predatory. But just as she plops down in her armchair, brushing a lock of her coiffed blonde hair from her forehead, Ginny catches a look in her eyes that she’s all too familiar with.

Ambition… red-hot, glowing ambition. The type she’ll chase with everything she has.

Yes. Ginny sits up a bit straighter. The interview hasn’t started, but she already sees it for what it is. The whole thing now reminds of scoldings in Umbridge’s office.

“Sugar?” Sandra gestures towards a polka-dotted dish in front of them.

Ginny forces a smile. “No thanks.” Merlin knows she won’t be drinking it. This is what they do, these reporters; they lull you into a false sense of security with their tea and their biscuits and their grins. Once upon a time, Ginny was thick enough to fall for that — for the manipulation disguised as courtesy. Now, she’s a bit wiser.

“Interesting,” says Sandra, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh?” Ginny can’t fathom why, but she has a feeling she’s about to find out anyway.

Sandra slowly sips her tea before she lifts her quill and notebook. “Are you abstaining from sugar for… any particular health reason?” she asks, her lips curled in a coy smirk.

Ginny gets the unnerving sensation that the interview started long ago. She refuses to give Sandra the satisfaction of a true reply.

“Nope,” she replies brightly, clasping her hands in her lap. “Just not my prefere—

“—Mm,” interrupts Sandra. “Because I hear that sugar and caffeine often trigger morning sickness. Did you know that, Ginny?”

Ginny’s forced smile remains in place. In truth, she’d expected something like this. Their wedding is soon — very soon. People have been pestering them about their reproductive plans for months. Sandra certainly isn’t above the masses.

“I didn’t,” Ginny says smoothly. “But let’s discuss quidditch. It’s why I’m here, after all!” She shoots Sandra a knowing wink and hopes that conveys when she can’t say: mind your fucking business, you cow.

Unfortunately, Sandra doesn’t take the hint. “It’s now 6th August, Ginny. Officially in between the birthdays of you and your Chosen One.”

“Well spotted,” Ginny notes, still grinning. “Who needs calendars when we have you?”

There’s a beat.

For just a second, Ginny thinks she’s gone too far… but she soon realizes that with Sandra, there’s no such thing as a boundary.

“We’ve all swooned over those photos of him holding your niece — oh, what’s her name…” Sandra taps her teeth, pretending like she doesn’t know the answer; Ginny’s blood rises to a low simmer. “Victoria?”

“Victoire,” Ginny grits. Little gets her back up faster than bringing oblivious children into things. Especially when they’re used for manipulation tactics.

“Oh yes, that’s right,” Sandra croons. “Victoire!” She places a hand over her heart as if reliving a poignant memory… as if she’s had any bloody involvement in Vic’s life. “She’s such a gorgeous baby, isn’t she?”

Ginny forces a laugh. “You’d know, I reckon, since you’ve seen her! Now.” She clears her throat. “I’ve a game in two weeks against the Falcons. Let’s discuss—”

“In time,” Sandra says, waving a manicured hand. To her left, a fluttering of movement catches Ginny’s eye. Shit. The white feathered end of a Quick Quotes Quill furiously darts through the air as the tip scribbles on a notepad. When did Sandra take that out? She thought for certain that Hermione banned them…

“But for now, let’s focus a bit on you, eh?” Sandra presses, her cloud of blonde hair brushing against her shoulders as she cocks her head. “I’m sure readers would be titillated to hear about how your fiance has been in quarantine for over a month. What’s that been like?”

Ginny snorts. Oh, for the love of -- that’s what she’s getting at?! The complete non-story of Harry being quarantined?

“That’s… not very exciting,” Ginny replies. Because it isn’t. With a bored voice, she begins the thousandth recollection of exactly how and why her fiance hasn’t been able to leave the house for two weeks. “Harry was raised by muggles and wasn’t exposed to Dragon Pox as a child. With the latest outbreak in London, the Auror Department wanted to keep him home until they’re finished with the latest preventative potion.” Ginny picks at a piece of lint on the velvet couch. “It’s quite dull.”

Just like this interview.

The remainder of the sentence remains unspoken in the air, but Ginny hears it resonating in her head so loudly she almost jumps.

Sandra just gives her a knowing smirk; Ginny feels a rush of relief that the woman isn’t a Legilimens. “I don’t know. Sounds like fun, having a man all wrapped up for you, 24/7?”

Ha! This time, Ginny really does laugh. Seriously, what is the media obsession with constant sex? She’s about to launch into an explanation about how it’s thoroughly possible to be too bored to shag, but Sandra cuts her off with an even more horrendous question.

“Remind me,” says Sandra, leaning in close. “How old were your in-laws when their Chosen One was born?”

Oh, for the love of—

Ginny bats her eyelashes fiercely. “I’m sure you know,” she says through gritted teeth, “since you’re asking this question. But seeing as how we can’t bloody ask them, I don’t find it appropriate to—“

“Lily Potter was nineteen when she fell pregnant,” Sandra says through a stage whisper. She claps her hands together as if she finds this a truly revealing statement. As if anyone isn’t capable of reading the bloody gravestones and doing the math.

Ginny clears her throat. “Good to know. So the Harpies only have one more match this year, and—“

“You’re 19,” Sandra adds, continuing the conversation she’s only been having with herself. “The rumors around London are that the quarantine is bogus. Has Harry already quit his job to be a stay at home dad? He’d love to have his own Chosen Ones, Miss Weasley.”

In retrospect, Ginny will realize that this comment is the final fucking straw. She could handle the false flattery. She could see through the batted eyelashes and the singsong lulling into complacency. But she cannot — will not — stand for this complete cow spreading rumors about Harry.

But instead of handling any of it maturely, she rises to her feet, glares at Sandra, and provides a retort so lewd, so scathing, that it rocks the tabloids for months.

And with a triumphant quirk of her eyebrow, Ginny turns on the spot and disapparates, leaving Sandra’s dropped jaw to tremble as the Quick Quotes Quill continues scribbling so fast it scratches the parchment.

Even before her feet touch down, she regrets the whole ordeal.

She doesn’t regret telling Sandra off, mind — but with a wince, Ginny accepts that yes, she does regret how she did it. She regrets that she’s just given the cow enough ammunition to paint her as a true villain. She regrets that she involved Harry and—

Harry.

Ginny shudders. Harry, who values his privacy above everything else. Harry, who won’t discuss anything about her in interviews, but still gets this adorably lovesick grin whenever her name comes up. Harry, who loves her. And trusted her.

Fuck.

Ginny pinches the bridge of her nose, her stomach sinking, and wonders how in hell she’s going to talk her way out of this one.

Unfortunately, she doesn’t have long to ponder how she’ll break the news. In the blink of an eye, Harry’s coming around the corner. Poor bloke. It’s not like he’s got much else to do but await her return. This whole quarantine experience is uncomfortably reminiscent of Sirius' last months of life. She can't ignore the ghostly memory of Dumbledore’s gentle chiding that energetic young men (and women, she supposes) don’t do well cooped up, cut off from the outside world...

“Hey!” says the man in question, flashing her a smile. “That was a quick one! Thought I heard you, but you’re—“

“I fucked up.”

Her whisper echoes in the flat. She stares at her trainers, her face burning.

She blinks up as Harry shifts in place; his smile is nowhere to be seen, replaced with the look she knows and hates. Harry’s jaw is set, his eyes narrowed in concern. He’s doing the whole I’m-strong-for-you-but-I’m-afraid.

“Erm. Ok?” he asks, gesturing towards the couch. “Would you like to...?”

“I’ve said something during the interview I shouldn’t,” Ginny adds, biting the inside of her cheek. “Something I definitely, definitely shouldn’t.”

There’s another pause. Ginny worries, just for a second, that she’s scared him or that he’s somehow already heard.

But she should’ve known him better. Because in a split-second, Harry both senses exactly what she needs... and acts on it.

He wraps her in his arms and rests his chin on the crown of her head. He presses her face to his chest and guides them both to the couch and makes soothing murmurs and brushes the hair away from her jaw.

“Whenever you’re ready,” he says gently. “I’m sure it’s not as bad as you claim, but—”

“It is,” Ginny whispers, miserable.

Harry shrugs. “Well, I can’t possibly know until you tell me, so—”

“She— she mentioned your mother.”

Harry’s chest stiffens as he draws a sharp breath; she gets the impression he’s trying very hard to wait until she’s done to interject with words of support.

“She... Sandra... she mentioned that I’m nearly 19, your mother was 19 when she fell pregnant, and—”

Harry cuts her off with a snort. “And does she think that was on purpose? I mean I’m happy I’m here, but yeah...” He shifts her in his arms, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “I don’t seem entirely intentional, given the circumstances.”

“Well, babies have a tendency of showing up like that,” Ginny replies dryly. “Sandra did raise a good point about making sure we’re... being careful.” She grazes a fingernail up his arm and relishes when his skin erupts in gooseflesh.

For a fleeting, victorious second, Ginny thinks she’s distracted him. She thinks she’s achieved her ultimate goal of turning his attention to the 24/7 sex they’re alleged to be having.

But she should know better, really, that Harry would ever be fooled when it comes to her.

“Whenever you’re ready,” Harry rumbles, his voice gentle but firm. “Not like I’ve got anywhere else to go, after all. We can sit here for the next few weeks if—”

“She asked when we’re having kids. And not just in passing,” Ginny adds, raising a pointer finger. “No, Harry, she pushed. Over and over. She suggested I was already pregnant, she brought up your mother, she asked when I’d function as the vessel for the Chosen One’s offspring…” She trails off with a sigh. “So. Finally, I snapped.”

He takes her still-extended pointer finger and gently pushes it into a fist. “What did you tell her?” he asks, kissing her knuckles. “Because from what I’m hearing, it sounds like she deserves it. Honestly I’m surprised you didn’t—”

“Isaidwhenyoustopfinishingonmytits!”

There’s another pause. “Erm, sorry, what was that? I didn’t quite—”

“I said,” Ginny repeats, her voice strained, “that we’ll have a baby when you stop finishing on my tits!”

Fuck.

She groans, sliding her hands over her face. Recapping this is somehow worse than living it the first time. Speaking it to Harry changes the stakes. It turns the situation from hypothetical to absolute. It solidifies that she fucked up... she really, really fucked up.

And she’s so lost in humiliation, so buzzing with horror, that it takes her a second to realize that Harry isn’t buzzing for the same reasons. Although he’s certainly shaking, isn’t he?

A second later, she dares to peer at him through her fingers. To her delight, Harry’s not furious — he’s laughing!

And when they make eye contact, his silent shaking transforms into full-body laughter. The type that sends tears to his eyes. The type that’s infectious, contagious. The type that makes her want to laugh, too.

“So I take it you’re not… angry?”

Harry wipes his eyes. “Ginny,” he says weakly, “I’m laughing so hard I can’t breathe! Did you actually think I’d be angry over that?” He snorts, pressing her against his chest again. “No. For once and for all, no. She crossed a line, and she got what was coming.”

“But you hate attention,” Ginny moans into his shoulder. “You hate big displays and personal things being public and—”

“But I love you,” he says softly, kissing her temple. He gives a dry chuckle that sends tingled through her body. “And to be honest, you wouldn’t be you if you didn’t go off on people. Especially when they deserve it.”

She sighs, pulling back. She has to see his face to confirm. To reassure herself. As she’d suspected, Harry’s just giving her a wry smirk. His green eyes are flooded with warmth as he peers back at her. Even after all this time, he still looks at her like he can’t believe she’s there. Like he can’t believe she��s his. His smirk grows to a full-on grin, and Ginny bites her lip; she thinks he’s about to provide some sappy, lovesick rebuttal.

Instead, he replies with something that’s simultaneously the absolute best — and the absolute worst.

“Besides,” Harry says casually. “Joke’s on them. We both know I’d never have the self-control or coordination to finish on your tits.”

With that, she laughs... really, truly laughs. She relaxes against his side, letting the soothing rhythm of his voice wash over her. He laces his fingers through hers. He plays with the strands of her hands.

And by the end of the night, she’s thankful for exactly two things: her fiancé in quarantine, and the contraception that will keep them from enacting Sandra’s plan for a long, long time.

[dimitrescus-bitch]

Impressions (Mapi Leon x Reader)

First impressions always made you nervous. You weren’t normally great with first impressions and today you were meeting Maria’s teammates. You had already met Leila, but none of the others. .Leila seemed to like you and Maria had told you that Leila had done quite a job of talking you up to everyone else. You were terrified about meeting them, especially since you were certain that Leila thought your job was way cooler than it actually was.

“Ready?” Maria asked you softly. You looked up from your phone and nodded. Your jaw was nearly on the floor. It wasn’t often that Maria wore dresses, but she had picked something that showed off her tattoos and dipped down to reveal quite a bit of her toned abdomen.

“I’m not sure how far we’ll get with you wearing that,” you muttered under your breath and Mapi rolled her eyes. She was blushing, so you had pretty much accomplished what you needed to.

“Let’s get going,” Mapi said and you followed her out. The two of you were meeting her teammates for an event and there would even be a carpet. You had never been on an event carpet, so you were pretty excited. Mapi introduced you to a couple of people and had you by her side throughout all the interviews.

“Mapi!” Leila yelled, catching your attention. “Everyone, this is Y/n. Y/n, this is Alexia, Jenni, Patri, Caroline, Lieke, and Sandra.”

“Hello,” you said. You shook each of their hands and then Leila went back to talking about you. It seemed like forever before you got to go back inside and take a seat.

“I swear Leila’s your girlfriend, not Mapi,” Jenni joked and you looked confused. “The way that she goes on and on about you. However, seeing Mapi with you, it’s obvious that you two are crazy about each other.”

“Oh, thank you,” you said and most of the girls’ comments were like Jenni’s It was obvious by the end of the night that you had made a great first impression with all of them and they all seemed to like you. However, none of that mattered once you got Mapi home and out of her dress.

[animalwhispererr]

Great interview with Jodie Comer for Glamour UK

Some of my favorite parts:

“We’ve got a girls’ group chat,” says Jodie. “It’s called ‘Hoes in Different Area Codes’ because we are never in the same place at the same time… so that’s always very lively.”

As a very ‘lively’ Jodie continues, it’s evident that just like Villanelle, you never know what she’s going to say next. “WhatsApp’s got us all by the balls, though! It’s like these are all private chats, but are they though?” Jodie questions before asking me, seriously: “Do you cover your webcam with a sticker? I’m so paranoid! I always have a sticker over it. My first one was an alien but if you peel a sticker off too many times, you can’t use them anymore. So now I have a pink heart that says ‘ladies’ on it.” Jodie has taken tips from Eve’s MI5 handbook, then.

“I don’t know if it’s through turning 25 or playing Villanelle, but I feel like I’m more honest with myself and with my relationships, work relationships, personal relationships, just everything,” she says. “I find myself being a bit more honest with people. I’m a lot clearer minded. Villanelle just says what she thinks.”

“When I look back at the time, I really lost interest in my acting because I was so obsessed with how I looked. I don’t remember wanting to go to auditions or being passionate about doing it. It’s so hard when you’re a teen. We used to have Piczo and people would have pages of ‘rate the girl’ and they’d have a picture of one girl and a picture of the other and there would be a comment box and you’d have to pick which girl was the fittest. Isn’t that disgusting? It blows my mind.”

What is the ultimate lesson Jodie has taken from the show about womanhood? “Freedom,” she says without hesitation. “These women are doing whatever the f*ck they want to do without consequence – within reason. It’s hard because I know Villanelle is a bad person, but there’s also something so free in her as she does what she wants to do and stands by it. Take away the killing people, just doing something and standing by it and not apologising for anything, that’s what I’ve learnt through these women. Neither character is black or white, good or bad. There’s times when you’re on Villanelle’s side and times when you go, ‘Oh that wasn’t a great move.’”

“But ultimately, I hate people calling me names! You know when someone’s scooting past you on the train and there’s a touch or a name like, ‘Hey darlin!’ I’m like, ‘Urrrgghh! Dude, put it away. Put it on the shelf!’ I’ve just been really lucky with who I’ve been surrounded with, like Sandra, Phoebe and Fiona [Shaw, her Killing Eve co-star]. “

“For one scene I had to eat pasta all day for nine hours and I literally didn’t go to the toilet for two weeks,” she says. “It was the most excruciating pain I’ve been in. It was thick tagliatelle. It was my close up and it slipped down the back of my throat and was stuck,” she reenacts the scene with her hands around her throat.

“I full on couldn’t breathe and the actor in front of me thought I was making a really weird acting face, but I couldn’t breathe. The medic had to come in and I was crying. I loved the fact that of all the things that could have killed Villanelle, it was pasta. That was terrifying. We have a laugh about it now because I’m alive and kicking.”

[msbeccieboo]

Arrow 8x03 Brain Dump

ASDADGHSADFSAF!! Back on form this week, with more returning guests, massive sibling feels and concentration on characters that we love, AND THE COLLISION OF FUTURE AND PRESENT TIMELINES IN THAT EPIC ENDINGGGG!!!!!!!!! YAAAASSSS!!! I’m still spiralling now!!!

Oliver and Thea

Welcome back Thea Queen!! Oliver had missed his Speedy 😍

So following on from last week, Oliver travelled to Nanda Parbat (which looked suspiciously like Lian Yu...the S8 Budget was clearly too used up on guest stars to recreate the outdoor Nanda Parbat scenery we saw in S3 😂), where he hoped to find some answers about The Monitor. I’m not actually sure if he intended on visiting Thea, or if her appearance was just a happy coincidence! But either way he was able to tell her about Mia and show her the picture of his new little family GAJKFSDGHFHDSGFS!!!

Source: oliverxfelicity

More below the cut...

In a shock move for Oliver Queen, he is open and honest with Thea straight away about his prophesied and imminent death. Thea wasn’t buying it, and Oliver even made a little sarcastic comment to “take as much time as you like to be upset” 😂😂 I’ve seen a few people say that they wanted to see more emotion from Thea here, and in later scenes. My take is that Thea/Willa’s nonchalant air is just classic Thea Queen Swagger™, but did feel like Willa maybe wasn’t really all that present in all of the scenes (mainly the LoA stuff though really). I however loved her total chill at the prospect of Oliver dying...not dissimilar to us...we know what's what! Our boy will be okay in the end!

Oliver seeks out Talia Al Ghul to use the Leagues archives (?) to find out more about The Monitor, because she owes him one. I love the idea of Oliver collecting his debts for once...this could fill the rest of the season to be honest; he’s racked up rather a few favours over the years. Talia’s help comes in the form of an Indiana Jones-esque scavenger hunt to uncover an ancient League book, and some special Demon’s head sword (?), with interruptions by the pesky Thanatos Guild from last season, who Thea is at war with. Honestly, plot-wise, I struggled a bit this week; even on rewatch I found it hard to concentrate😂 . I just zoned in on the character moments to get me through. But luckily, there were lots of those! 

One such beautiful character moment with the Queen siblings was on the side of a mountain, and reminded me a little bit of the Will/Mia scene up the Glades wall back in 7x16, I think? Oliver getting all emotional about missing his family and doubting his decisions every single day just punched me right in the feels 😭😭

Source: feilcityqueen

Then his explanation for trying to find answers before the Crisis: “My sacrifice, my death will protect the people I love. I need my family to be safe.” MURDERER!! 😭😭😭😭😭😭

Thea reassures him with some sage Queen family words, that their parents also made some questionable choices regarding them (that’s putting it lightly), but it ultimately made them heroes because of them. I think this scene was one of my favourites this episode, if not the season so far. Love me some Queen siblings 💗

The upshot of this random adventure with Talia was that Oliver read that the upcoming Crisis will actually be caused by The Monitor (dun dun DUUUNNN!!), complete with a lovely drawing of him 😂😂 But what Oliver doesn’t know, cos The Monitor doesn’t tell him anything is that there is also an Anti-Monitor, who will be the big bad of Crisis...so this may be a bit of a red herring for now!

Oliver ends his time in Nanda Parbat by saying one final (in his mind) goodbye to Thea, which actually made me sob like a baby out of nowhere, and has done every time I’ve rewatched the clip haha! Thea didn’t see it as a goodbye (cos Oliver dying? Pass!), but Oliver just cracks and won’t let go of her, and now I’m tearing up again 😭😭😭

Source: smoakmonster

I think by the way the goodbye scene played out that that will be the last we see of Thea, and ugh it’s such a shame because she has always brought out something special in Oliver, but we know she’ll be with him the whole time...😭😭😭

Stray thoughts:

They had Thea acknowledge Moira as her namesake (still think it’s a stretch, Moira-Mia? No.) but also had a callback to Thea’s Corto Maltese alias, which made me lol, and frankly, I find a better reference 😂

“All beings burn but a Phoenix rises from the ashes”. The Phoenix references this week were as subtle as a sledgehammer...Oliver is the Phoenix, and he will rise from the ashes following his death!

The Guild calling Oliver and Speedy ‘outsiders’ 🙄🙄 Oliver was Ras al Ghul and Thea is heir to the demon; get your facts right, biatch!!

Thea was a total badass this week, taking down Talia was sooo cool, and shows how far she has come as a fighter/hero.

Nice drop-in that Felicity gave the hozen to William!

Thea and Talia joining forces to raise a female ‘League of Heroes’; better than any faux-feminist Canary bullshit!!

The guest stars are fantastic, but their novelty and distraction is wearing off...I MISS FELICITY SMOAK 😫😫 Next week should hopefully tide us over, though!!

Dyla

Dyla had their own little adventure this week, that  echoed their suicide squad mission in Season 2. Bronze Tiger killed a bad guy whilst working for Lyla, and in revenge, that bad guy’s son kidnaps Sandra and little Connor Hawke, then also tries to kill Lyla, but obviously she’s a total badass so that doesn’t happen! Anyway, all’s well that ends well and Dig rescues Connor and his Mum, and that’s about all I can remember plot-wise 😂😂

What we got character-wise, though was really cool! We got the first hint of JJ’s story of being 'neglected' by Dyla...with Dig and Lyla being increasingly away on missions and unable to call him, and in turn finding Connor and obviously starting to fall in love with him because he is the softest little bean 😍 When ickle Connor said “thank you Mr Diggles” I was a goner 😂😂

We saw Dig having a crisis of faith (pun intended) after seeing Earth 2 disintegrate before him, but ultimately he realises (after some Lyla wisdom) that they just have to hold on to each other and do their best. Lyla made a few comments and pulled some ‘I’m keeping secrets’ faces, asking Dig to remember the good times no matter what happens, and I need to know what Lyla knows dammit!! I still believe that she is on the good side, and her appearing to double-cross Dig and Oliver with The Monitor last week is a little bit of a red herring. I need to believe, ok!!!

Flash-forwards

Plot-wise, I actually think the flash-forwards were the strongest storyline this week. Following on from last week we had the team rushing back to the bunker to check on William, after JJ threatened him. This scene brought us another “frack” from Mia 😍, and a mention of Felicity as “Mom” from William 😭, as he managed to electrocute the bad guys all by himself! Will being a techy little badass is a forever mood and is yet another reminder of our Felicity. She is never really gone.

With the Deathstrokes now targeting William and other members of the Star City Unification Movement (SCUM, really?? LOL), William offers himself up as bait. As Oliver’s daughter, you can imagine how that went down with Mia. Badly. Big nope from Mia, who decides on a more direct approach of going to their HQ and kicking all of the ass 😂. Zoe is very much against this, but Mia is all “I know best, we’ll just storm in and take them all out myself” (S1 Oliver anyone?). Said storming in leads to this absolute beauty of a moment:

I LOVE HIM SO MUCH!!!

Prior to kicking all of the asses, Mia and William have a heart-to-heart, with Will still angry at Mia for not trusting him to go into dangerous situations. Will thinks it’s because he’s not a fighter, but Mia comes back with “it’s because you’re my brother” 😭 😭 😭

Source: olicitygifs

In another Felicity-worthy pep-talk, William tells Mia that operating out of fear is not the way to go, and that they need to trust each other to survive. I’m really gonna need a Mia/Will hug soon, please and thank you. Honestly, Will is the perfect balance/offset to Mia with his easy humour and quick wit, but he ALWAYS brings the feels as well. He reminds me so much of Emily’s portrayal of Felicity, and not just in the way that his character has been written, but just by what he brings to the role. Ben is a wonderful actor; I adore him and he and William must be protected at all costs!

In the final confrontation, Mia, Zoe and JJ storm JJ and the Deathstrokes, but JJ gets Mia by the throat in an awesome 3x23 Felicity/Slade parallel. Mia couldn’t save herself like Felicity did in this instance, but we must remember that this is just the beginning of Mia’s journey. She has time. Unlike Zoe, who saves Mia, but is then fatally stabbed by JJ 😬 Poor Zoe dies in Mia’s arms. Kat’s acting here was perfection. I may have shed a tear. They had kept Zoe pretty much in the background in the FFs, so I wasn’t particularly attached; if one of FTA needed to die, then I’m good with her. Sorry Zo. But in all honesty, this fridging trope really needs to end. Another female character didn’t need to die in order to elevate JJ’s evil-factor, or to spur on Mia’s hero journey, or Connor’s struggle with his conscience. Enough now. Hopefully, being a bird, Zoe will be back from the dead soon enough anyway 😂

Source: 1-crazy-dreamer 💗

Connor sees Zoe die and goes after JJ. Hard. Tries to kill him. Between 2 generations of Queens and Diggles, the sibling parallels were so strong this week, and I’m loving it! I wrote a little meta here about it. But does Connor have the guts to actually kill JJ? JJ taunts that he doesn’t, Connor disagrees, but then the bright light comes for all of FTA and so we come to…

THAT ENDING

OH MY GOD ALL OF FTA IN THE BUNKER IN 2019!!!!!!!!!!!!

So most people following any kind of interviews or spoilers had a pretty firm idea that Mia would come back in time at the end of the episode. We were expecting it. What the show did was really quite clever...they allowed these pretty big spoilery-type interviews and tweets to be released, heavily implying that Mia would rock up in the last 30 seconds. They let us think we were all clever and had figured it out then BOOM! EVERYONE CAME BACK (minus Zoe 😬)! 

I am so pleased with this!! All the paparazzi pics etc that we’d seen of Mia in the crossover etc had made me so happy, but equal parts sad that William couldn’t go back and see Oliver too, but now he can!!!

Uggghhhh it was so fucking goooood!! Oliver’s initial confusion of being beamed back to the bunker, stunned Dig, Dinah and Rene (I can live with their 5-second appearances this season 😂😂), then the camera and Oliver pan around to Mia, William and Connor just stood there!! Mia still had tears running down her face from seeing Zoe die, and she has her Arrow suit on and is covered in blood and she sees her Daddy for the first time in her memory!!!!!!! Just one word is delivered in those last few seconds and it was still one of the best moments of the season so far!!

Mia’s “Dad”, followed by Oliver’s confusion, realisation, then shock was just gaaahhhh!! But my absolute favourite reaction (I decided after multiple rewatches, for science, haha) was William’s 😍😭😍 His eyes full of tears, and utter gobsmacked-ness was fucking sublime!!  

Source for all 3 reaction gifs: tylerposey

Next week is going to be so epic!! We have Mia, who has never met Oliver and who has built him up so much in her head and heart from Felicity and William’s stories, and also the tainted Star City archives, getting to finally come face-to-face with him. Then conversely, there is William, who got a few years to know his father, but then left him and eventually believed to have been abandoned by him and Felicity, and has had to live for 20 years until very recently still believing that, and now he gets to see him again, only a few months after little William left! Then there’s Connor, who Dig barely even knows in 2019 and he’s gonna call him Dad and then have to tell him that he nearly just killed JJ, who just killed Zoe, and Rene is right there and I AM HERE FOR ALL OF ITTTTTT!!!! 

There’s so much content coming in next weeks episode it’s going to be so beautiful!!  I wrote a post of things I really hope to see here, and I’m pretty confident we’ll get most of them and so much more!

Then there’s the implications of what FTA being in the present means for the future!! I had a bit of a spec meltdown here about how this could end up saving Oliver, and I think that’s pretty much just wishful thinking, but either way, them coming back to the present to help with the Crisis and to try and stop future Star City turning so bleak is going to make my head hurt and my heart sing in equal measure, I’m sure! After all, what is the point in having the multiverse, time travel, super powers etc in Arrow if we can’t reap some benefits from it somehow? The ending to this episode, and hopefully next week will be our reward for the fuckery we’ve had to endure with the more sci-fi-esque elements since Larry rocked up and the Arrowverse was extended. And I. cannot. wait.

Thank you to the beautiful, talented, and super speedy gifmakers for blessing us with all the amazing gifsets from this episode!! Mwah! 😘😘 (Uncredited gifs are mine)

💗💗💗

[sueboohscorner]

72nd Primetime Emmy Awards Nominations: #Netflix Leads in Nod: #Watchman Leads Top Nomination

The 72nd Primetime Emmy nominations were announced on Tuesday and leading out the nominations is HBO's Watchman with 26 nominations that include Outstanding Limited Series and Regina King and Jeremy Irons getting nominations. Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel comes in second with 20 nominations followed by Netflix's Ozak and HBO's Succession with 18. 

But after coming in second place in the nominations last year, Netflix regained the top spot with the most nominations with 160! HBO got 107 followed by NBC with 47, ABC with 36, and FX with 33. Disney+ racked up 19 with Apple TV+ getting 18. 

Both The Good Place, Modern Family and Schitt's Creek score nominations for their final season. Fred Willard earns a posthumous nominated for Modern Family.

While there are the usual suspects to get the nominations there were some first-time individual nominees like Cate Blanchett, D'Arcy Caden, Billy Crudup, William Jackson Harper, Annie Murphy, Octavia Spencer, Cecily Strong, Kaitlin Olsen, and Zendaya. 

Here's the list of the nominations:

Outstanding Comedy Series

Curb Your Enthusiasm, HBO

Dead to Me, Netflix

The Good Place, NBC

Insecure, HBO

The Kominsky Method, Netflix

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Prime Video

Schitt's Creek, Pop TV

What We Do In The Shadows, FX

Outstanding Drama Series

Better Call Saul, AMC

The Crown, Netflix

The Handmaid's Tale, Hulu

Killing Eve, BBC America

The Mandalorian, Disney+

Ozark, Netflix

Stranger Things, Netflix

Succession, HBO

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Don Cheadle, Black Monday, Showtime

Anthony Anderson, black-ish, ABC

Ted Danson, The Good Place, NBC

Michael Douglas, The Kominsky Methody, Netflix

Ramy Youssef, Ramy, Hulu

Eugene Levy, Schitt's Creek, Pop TV

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Tracee Ellis Ross, black-ish, ABC

Christina Applegate, Dead to Me, Netflix

Linda Cardellini, Dead to Me, Netflix

Issa Rae, Insecure, HBO

Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Prime Video

Catherine O'Hara, Schitt's Creek, Pop TV

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

Steve Carell, The Morning Show, Apple TV+

Jason Bateman, Ozark, Netflix

Billy Porter, Pose, FX

Brian Cox, Succession, HBO

Jeremy Strong, Succession, HBO

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

Olivia Coleman, The Crown, Netflix

Zendaya, Euphoria, HBO

Jodie Corner, Killing Eve, BBC America

Sandra Oh, Killing Eve, BBC America

Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show, Apple TV+

Laura Linney, Ozark, Netflix

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie

Hugh Jackman, Bad Education, HBO

Jeremy Pope, Hollywood, Netflix

Mark Ruffalo, I Know This Much is True, HBO

Paul Mescal, Normal People, Hulu

Jeremy Irons, Watchman, HBO

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie

Kerry Washington, Little Fires Everywhere, Hulu

Cate Blanchett, Mrs. America, FX

Octavia Spencer, Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker, Netflix

Shira Haas, Unorthodox, Netflix

Regina King, Watchman, HBO

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Andra Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, NBC

William Jackson Harper, The Good Place, NBC

Alan Arkin, The Kominsky Method, Netflix 

Sterling K. Brown, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Prime Video

Tony Shalhoub, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Prime Video

Mahershaia Ali, Ramy, Netflix

Kenan Thompson, Saturday Night Live, NBC

Daniel Levy, Schitt's Creek, Pop TV

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Laura Dern, Big Little Lies, HBO

Meryl Streep, Big Little Lies, HBO

Helena Bonham Carter, The Crown, Netflix

Samira Wiley, The Handmaid's Tale, Hulu

Fiona Shaw, Killing Eve, BBC America

Julia Garner, Ozark, Netflix

Sarah Snook, Succession, HBO

Thandie Newton, Westworld, HBO

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Giancarlo Esposito, Better Call Saul, AMC

Bradley Whitford, The Handmaid's Tale, Hulu

Billy Crudup, The Morning Show, Apple TV+

Mark Duplass, The Morning Show, Apple TV+

Nichola Braun, Succession, HBO

Kieran Culkin, Succession, HBO

Matthew Macfadyen, Succession, HBO

Jeffery Wright, Westwold, HBO

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Betty Gilpin, GLOW, Netflix

D'Arcy Carden, The Good Place, NBC

Yvonne Orji, Insecure, HBO

Alex Borstein, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Prime Video

Marin Hinkle, The Marvelous Mrs. Masiel, Prime Video

Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live, NBC

Cecily Strong, Saturday Night Live, NBC

Annie Murphy, Schitt's Creek, Pop TV

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie

Dylan McDermott, Hollywood, Netflix

Jim Parsons, Hollywood, Netflix

Tituss Burgess, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. The Reverend, Netflix

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Watchman, HBO

Jovan Adepo, Watchman, HBO

Louis Gossett, Jr, Watchman, HBO

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie

Holland Taylor, Hollywood, Netflix

Uzo Adubla, Mrs. America, FX

Margo Martindale, Mrs. America, FX

Tracey Ullman, Mrs. America, FX

Toni Collette, Unbelievable, Netflix

Jean Smart, Watchman, HBO

Guest Actress in Comedy

Angela Bassett, A Black Lady Sketch Show, HBO

Maya Rudolph, The Good Place, NBC

Wanda Sykes, The Marvelous Mrs. Masiel, Prime Video

Bette Midler, The Politician, Netflix

Maya Rudolph, Saturday Night Live, NBC

Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Saturday Night Live, NBC

Guest Actor in Comedy

Luke Kirby, The Marvelous Mrs. Masiel, Prime Video

Fred Willard, Modern Family, ABC

Dev Patel, Modern Love, Prime Video

Adam Driver, Saturday Night Live, NBC

Eddie Murphy, Saturday Night Live, NBC

Brad Pitt, Saturday Night Live, NBC

Guest Actor in Drama

Andrew Scott, Black Mirror, Netflix

Giancarlo Esposito, The Mandalorian, Disney+

Martin Short, The Morning Show, Apple TV+

Jason Bateman, The Outsider, HBO

James Cronwell, Succession, HBO

Ron Cephas Jones, This Is Is, NBC

Guest Actress in a Drama

Alexis Bledel, The Handmaid's Tale, Hulu

Cicely Tyson, How to Get Away With Murder, ABC

Laverne Cox, Orange Is the New Black, Netflix

Harriet Walter, Succession, HBO

Cherry Jones, Succession, HBO

Phylicia Rashad, This Is Us, NBC

Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series

Matt Shakman, The Great, "Pilot",  Hulu

Amy Sherman-Palladino, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, "It's Comedy or Cabbage", Prime Video

Daniel Palladino, The Marvelous Mrs. Masiel, "Marvelous Radio," Hulu

Gail Mancuso, Modern Family, "Finale Part 2," ABC

Ramy Youssef, Ramy, "Miakhalifia," Hulu

Andre Cividino and Daniel Levy, Schitt's Creek "Happy Ending" Pop TV

James Burrows, Will & Grace "We Love Lucy" NBC

Outstanding Directing for a Drama

Benjamin Caron, The Crown, "Aberfan" Netflix

Jessica Hobbs, The Crown, "Cri de Coeur" Netflix

Lesli Linka Glatter, Homeland, "Prisoners of Wars" Showtime

Mimi Leder, The Morning Show, "The Interview" Apple TV+

Alik Sakharov, Ozark, "Fire Pink" Netflix

Ben Semanoff, Ozark, "Su Casa Es Mi Casa" Netflix

Andrij Parekh, Succession, "Hunting", HBO

Mark Mylod, Succession, "This Is Not For Tears" HBO

Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series

Micheal Schur, The Good Place, "Whenever You're Ready" NBC

Tony McNamara, The Great, "The Great" Hulu

Daniel Levy, Schitt's Creek, "Happy Ending" Pop TV

David West Read, Schitt's Creek, "The Presidential Suite" Pop TV

Sam Johnson and Chris Marcil, What We Do In The Shadows "Collaboration" FX

Paul Simms, What We Do In The Shadows, "Ghosts" FX

Stefani Robinson, What We Do in The Shadows "On The Run" FX

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series

Thomas Schnauz, Better Call Saul, "Bad Choice Road" AMC

Gorden Smith, Better Call Saul, "Bagman" AMC

Peter Morgan, The Crown, "Aberfan" Netflix

Chris Mundy, Ozark, All In" Netflix

John Shiban, Ozark, "Boss Fight" Netflix

Miki Johnson, Ozark, "Fire Pink" Netflix

Jesse Armstrong, Succession, "This Is Not For Tears" HBO 

Outstanding Variety Talk Series

The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Comedy Central

Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, TBS

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, HBO

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, CBS

Jimmy Kimmel Live!, ABC

Outstanding Variety Sketch Series

A Black Lady Sketch Show, HBO

Drunk History, Comedy Central

Saturday Night Live, NBC

Outstanding Limited Series

Little Fires Everywhere, Hulu

Mrs. America, FX

Unbelievable, Netflix

Unorthodox, Netflix

Watchman, HBO

Outstanding Television Movie

American Son, Netflix

Bad Education, HBO

Dolly Parton's Heartstrings: These Old Bones

El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, Netflix

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs The Reverend, Netflix

Outstanding Reality-Competition Program

The Masked Singer, FOX

Nailed It, Netflix

RuPaul's Drag Race, VH1

Top Chef, Bravo

The Voice, NBC

What are your thoughts on the nominations? Was your favorite nominated? Leave a comment and tell us your thoughts!

The 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards will air September 20th on ABC hosting by Jimmy Kimmel.

[migleefulmoments]

Cassie: "Nonnie, I do get where you're coming from. I think C just realizes D is worth it and I do believe, in my heart of hearts, it won't always be this way." If your bf is choosing to live a fake life and expects you to just go along with it for X number of years, he is not worth it. I don't care if he is Darren Criss or any other attractive famous man, no person on Earth is worth the heartache that ccChris has probably been through whilst watching his "hubby" constantly choose fame over him.

Cassie’s answer really blew me away. She’s has chugged down all of Abby’s Kool-Aid and she’s fully buying into Abby’s juvenile ideas about relationships, sacrificing for love, and the power of love. THE 5 have clearly read Twilight one too many times! Everything they know about love, they learned from Bella and Edward who taught them with the idea that love is all-consuming, that there is no sacrifice that is too much as long as he loves you, and that in the end, happily ever will save the day. 

You’re right, there are a lot of scenarios where love is not enough and you have to walk away for your own mental or emotional well being. Sometimes it is an abusive partner making bad ccchoices and sometimes it is a wonderful partner whose future no longer looks like yours. One of my favorite Youtubers just announced she split with her husband 2 years ago and kept it a secret- even wearing her rings in the first half of this video! They broke up simply because they reached a point where they realized there was a fundamental difference in what they each wanted in life and the relationship couldn’t go forward (she wouldn’t say what that was). My husband’s cousin got divorced after her husband realized he wanted to be a dad and she wasn’t interested in children. Another YouTuber I watch called off their engagement after they realized she wanted a picket fence on a cul-de-sac and he wanted to a cave in the middle of nowhere (he was dead serious).  Their goals were incompatible and asking one to compromise wasn’t fair or healthy. ccDarren chose fame over ccChris and their relationship. ccDarren is unwilling to risk his position in Hollywood in order to openly love ccChris. He is so caught up in being THE actor, musician, and executive producer Darren Criss, that he married a woman he despises and spends all his time with her. She enjoys the lifestyle his fame has provided for him while ccChris has to hide in the rafters and scurry around ccDarren’s life completely unseen. ccDarren is incapable -or unwilling -to rid himself of his toxic team whose main goal is to “ccruin him” and by extension, ccChris. I don’t believe that the same man who gave this interview would choose to stay in a relationship where his feelings and needs always come second to ccDarren’s career.  Spending 1:00 am-7:00 am spooning the night away is hardly compensation for having to keep their relationship hidden and standing by while his lover lives his life with another person. Scurring in the dark and in disguise certainly isn’t enough to keep a relationship alive and healthy for 10 years.

(My comments are in italics below)

************************************************************************************************ 

Anonymous asked: I love Cc, but I just can’t imagine C agreeing with all this and if he did, my heart still hurts for him.

cassie1022 answered: Nonnie, you’re more than entitled to your opinion. I, respectfully, disagree. C is not a victim in all of this. He made a conscious and willing decision to stand with D. He’s just as culpable in all of this as D is and he’s tried to show that on more than one occasion. I’m not heartbroken for C and I don’t think he would want us to be. At the end of the day, he has a love most people only dream about. Many people perceive C as being the more fragile of the two, and I think that’s a grave mistake. C’s the glue that holds them together. He’s always had to fend for himself and the world wasn’t always kind to him. D grew up in this seemingly perfect little world where he trusted everyone and thought people were mostly good and that’s part of why he’s in this situation. (Cassie et. al believe that love makes it all ok and that ccChris chose to stay so making him as culpable as ccDarren. It’s an interesting theory- basically, she’s saying that anyone who is an abusive relationship is culpable for the abuse because they chose to stay in the relationship. This is a dangerous and harmful belief because it ignores all of the barriers that keep people in abusive relationships- lack of money, lack of a safe place to go, fearing for their lives if they leave, low self-esteem from the abuse-to name just a few. I realize that Cassie is just turning ccChris staying in an abusive relationship into ccconfirmation bias, but she’s speaking to a lot of young people who don’t understand that and are learning that they should always stay because love makes everything ok.  “At the end of the day, he has a love most people only dream about.” Besides the fact that that kind of love exists in fanfiction and Twilight, I am gobsmacked that a middle-aged adult would imagine she knows this about Chris Colfer’s love life. The most Chris has ever said about his love life is to say tell a young fan that his dedication was to his boyfriend, to acknowledge to Andy Cohen that he had a boyfriend, and to acknowledge to Sandra Bernhart that Will was his boyfriend. Oh, and he said several times that he was not in a relationship with Darren. To believe he has a “love that most people only dream about” she would have to fabricate every detail single details she thinks she knows.  That is not the behavior of a healthy adult.   Big strong ccChris who went through hell and came out so strong that nothing touches him now. He’s the “glue that holds them together” and the “Captain of the ship” even though he’s literally being ignored while ccDarren lives a very full life with Mia by his side. Poor widdle, innocent ccDarren who grew up wealthy and since wealthy people live perfect lives and everyone around them is kind, he never learned who to trust. Gag)  

flowersintheattic254 You only have to watch the impact theory interview to see what drives C. C is strong and he stands up for those who are marginalized. C is tough and stronger than people give home credit for and he’s loyal too. (See the video and my transcript below. Notice that Chris never mentions his love life in any of the statements that Flowers believes are 100% about his relationships) 

notes-from-nowhere:

I agree with @flowersintheattic254. This is such a good interview

Anonymous asked: I guess it makes sense that C’s the rock. I guess it’s just me thinking that since C’s out and proud, he deserves the same from his partner. But as you said, D was too trusting and I guess C is his strength, keeping him from giving up on everything shitty he’s going through. (Such a good little minion, repeating everything she’s groomed to believe) 

Cassie: Nonnie, I do get where you’re coming from. I think C just realizes D is worth it and I do believe, in my heart of hearts, it won’t always be this way.

**************************************************

I listened to Chris’s interview and he was asked about ambition:

Chris: ... I was really good at playing that character (Kurt).  People really do think I was playing myself and although we were experiencing very very similar things, I was very different from that character.  I was much more cynical than that character.

Tom: In fact, I am glad you brought that up. I heard in an interview someone asked you if you were a character in Game of Thrones and you said ‘I want to say that I would be the Mother of Dragons but I think I am actually Cersei’. 

Chris: I‘m sorry but she is a woman who knows what she wants and she goes out and she gets it. Her methods-her strategy- is a little questionable but I just love any woman with a drive. I remember when I was in my senior year of high school I was chosen to put on my own show. It’s called the senior show.  Every year one senior in the drama class got selected to basically put on whatever they want and usually they would put on an SNL-type variety sketch kind of show, but I was like “Nope I’m writing a musical” and I gender-reversed Sweeny Todd and called it Shirley Todd so I could be Mrs. Lovett so I was Mr. Lovett.  Because we were all seniors, no one wanted to do it and I ended up blackmailing all of them to be in it.  It was a great show. 

Tom: Walk me through how that drive and ambition has manifested in your life. Is that something you value in yourself? Is that something that you’re skeptical of in yourself because when you answer that question- and I fully understand that was a little tongue-in-cheek, but when you say “I fear that I’m actually Cersei” is there part of you that is very cognizant that there is a line that you can cross with drive and ambition or...

Chris: Oh I think so, I think that ambition is so much a part of who I am-maybe to a fault- but I’ve never got to the point where I was so ambitions that I was causing harm. I think growing up, ambition and hope and goals and dreams was literally all that I had. My family didn’t have money and I wasn’t good looking and I wasn’t athletic, I could act and I could sing, I could write but there aren’t many areas for you to do that when you are a young person- at least when I was a young person they weren’t. So I think my ambition sort of just became my imaginary friend. It was a survival tool, it wasn’t narcissism, it was survival. 

Tom: In that, I can be somewhere else, I can be bigger than this, I can go places was that the sort of your savor mechanism?

Chris: Yeah, I think it was  Making a treasure map to a life that was better than what the life I was in currently. That is what it was for me.  Hence, why I also identify so much with fantasy and superheroes and Greek mythology and literature it was all part of ...yeah, I always use fictitious people as my examples of getting somewhere.

---------

Chris: To go back to what you said about bullying, I’m in a weird place right now because I played a bullied kid on national television, you know for 20 million people a week watched me get pushed into lockers and thrown on floors and called “a faggot” called “queer”... all these negative things and I experienced all that myself in real life.  I really let people know that was one of the reasons why people connected to my performance because it was coming from such a real place and I let people know i was bullied horribly when I was a kid. I was bullied so horribly in middle school that my mom pulled me out of school and homeschooled me because the harassment got so severe.  But I’m at his weird place right now that I feel like I’m so not a victim anymore ...that I kind of- maybe it’s my ego- I don’t know, but I get tired of being associated with someone who is bullied because I don’t allow that to happen anymore. At all! I’m proud of where I’m at now because the minute I see someone who tries to take advantage of me or isn’t kind... I have the option to walk away now- which I didn't when I was a kid. But I feel like I have to stop talking about it because I’ve told millions and millions of kids around the world that it is something you get to leave behind.  Because of my circumstances, I don’t get to leave it behind because I’m always asked about it and it’s a good thing to talk about because it’s still going on but as a certain point, I feel like I’m doing the kids who look up to me a disservice when I keep talking about it becuase it does-maybe for them-  seem like it doesn’t leave me. Does that make sense?

Tom: If this was the last words that you speak on the subject of being bullied what would you say that was your process to close that chapter.. to feel good about yourself.  I’m definitely putting words in your mouth, being born in some way where that is not who you are anymore? 

Chris: It is really about just knowing that you get to move on from it. That is the thing... adolescence is the toughest time in your life because you have no freedom but you have all this responsibility. You are expected to make adult decision but you don’t get the benefits of being an adult and you’re literally trapped in an environment- high school- unless you are homeschooled. You have no control of who you are around and probably the lesson or the bridge that I crossed in my life that has given me the most relief is knowing that I don’t have to be in any environment that I do not want to be in. I think that would be the message that I would give to kids who are being bullied. But also the world is full of assholes. Bullies, they do go away at a certain point, but there will always be people in your life that you don’t like, that are mean and rude and when you do go through a period of harassment- especially when you are young- you do learn how to overcome that and how to maybe have inner peace but you can’t ever control the world around you but you do learn a lot of good communications skills. I think. 

Chris makes it very clear that he is NOT Kurt

Chris identifies with a character who knows what she wants and goes out and gets it. That is very different from ccChris who is sitting back and accepting that he is not a priority for 10 years and counting. 

Ambition and drive are very important to Chris- ccChris is allowing Darren to drive the relationship.  Darren is getting everything he wants while Chris continues to make all of the sacrifices.  

Chris is adamant that he will not be bullied every again and that he will wake away from anyone taking advantage of him. The cc fandom heard this and saw it as confirmation bias because he is still in a ccrelationship with ccDarren aka he doesn’t see the relationship as being abusive or that he’s being taken advantage of therefore ccChris just confirmed CrissCofler is real and that ccChris is in control. 

The final paragraph is once again confirmation bias- Chris no longer has to be in an environment he doesn’t want to be in- hence he’s happy with ccDarren. By saying that people are still assholes, he confirmed that Ryan Murphy, Mia and Darren’s team are all assholes but he’s in control now and it doesn’t let them ruin his life.. 

[fangirling-throughlife]

I really needed to get this off my chest

I’ve recently read some very disrespectful and simply offensive comments on Time’s list of most influential people. The article in a Belgian newspaper focused on BTS, Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift, and cited the words of other artists (Shawn Mendes and Halsey being some of them). Well, in the comment section of said article two (I assume middle-aged) men talked about how “it’s not that hard to influence millions of spineless teenagers” and that “filling a stadium with thousands of screaming teenage girls isn’t that much of an achievement”.

First of all, this is an unbelievable disrespect to what they do (Rami Malek, Nancy Pelosi, Sandra Oh and Emilia Clarke are, among others, in the same list). They’re amazing people who are doing the best they can to make the world better, each of them in their own way. We’re not talking about a list of teenage heartthrobs, we’re talking about a list of people who use their voice to make a statement, to fight for what’s right: they fight for feminism, against racism and use their influence to put important causes in the spotlight.  

Another thing that bothered me so much were the “spineless teenagers” and “screaming teenage girls” comments. So, you’re telling me that for being female and being young (which makes me think, I’m 20, and when it’s convenient for people, I’m a teen, but at other times I’m a woman. Make up your minds, please) my opinion shouldn’t be considered. So, if Shawn Mendes says in his speech in Youth that “you are the people that have the power to change the world”, and we (the “screaming teenage girls”) take this seriously and do everything in our power to make the world at least a bit better, he’s not influential? He’s not doing something worth to be mentioned? Or does this simply mean that we can’t make a difference, that we shouldn’t be taken seriously and, thus, our “idols” shouldn’t be taken seriously either?

Just to get things straight, we’re the ones that are fighting for our dreams, we’re the ones who are going to be working soon and making the world continue. Who are going to pay taxes, who are going to be the doctors, lawyers, teachers, professors, politicians?

The first thing that came to my mind when I read that comment (after thinking f*** you) was Harry Styles’ interview for Rolling Stone two years ago. I quote what he said: “Who’s to say that young girls who like pop music – short for popular, right? – have worse musical taste than a 30-year-old hipster guy? That’s not up to you to say. Music is something that’s always changing. There’s no goal posts. Young girls like the Beatles. You gonna tell me they’re not serious?” “How can you say young girls don’t get it? They’re our future. Our future doctors, lawyers, mothers, presidents, they kind of keep the world going.” Like, can somebody PLEASE pay attention to this? Really, if your snob ass can’t take a man seriously because his fanbase is mostly formed by teenage girls, forget that for a minute. He’s totally right. Who the heck gives anyone the right to criticize musicians (again, actors, writers… included) based on who their fans are?

And then there are people (the snobs that actually know a bit about arts) who consider that today’s art isn’t “refined enough”. Okay, as a musician (and I studied history of music), people have ALWAYS said that about the music that was being made at the moment. I’m not going to compare pop, rock or hip-hop to Beethoven, but that’s contemporary music. Really, get over it. Art evolves, and you can’t expect people to release a song or piece matching the complexity of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, and that’s it. Others say that music was way better years ago. For example, 20-year-olds who hate contemporary music cause the eighties were so much better. There has always been bad and good music. Do you really expect to hear 1981’s worst song on the radio? No, they’re going to play the hits. And that’s perfectly fine. But don’t say that you refuse to take seriously the opinion of anyone who listens to Shawn Mendes, Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, Drake or Cardi B, because listening to “mainstream” music doesn’t make one’s opinion less valid. Listening to the same 20 songs from decades ago for years definitely makes it way harder to take their opinion on contemporary music seriously.

[the-boy-tm]

Okay y’all so my gf is asleep next to me in bed and all I can think about is KE so time for a rant!!!

I think the people who are calling the show queer baiting 1) dont understand that term (obviously) and 2) didn’t read the article in the gay times. I don’t know exactly what Sandra was thinking when she made those comments, but I have some other thoughts.

1) Sandra didn’t say that any chance of romance was off the table, a reporter did. To say that any chance of romance is off the table ignores the explicit romance that has already happened. I’m sorry, but expensive gifts, phone sex, countless worried phone calls, and agreeing to escape together to Alaska doesn’t constitute “no romance”, and that shit has all already been aired.

2) Sandra did say in the interview that she knows that there is a questioning of sexuality within Eve. I interpret that statement as Sandra saying Eve is bicurious. As a lesbian person, I deeply believe that questioning of sexuality most often doesn’t happen without a romantic prompt, whether or not it is reciprocated. When I was 11 and madly in love with Emily Van Camp, that was romantic and a romance to me, even though Van Camp had never even heard of my existence. Eve’s newfound questioning is prompted by romantic inclination towards Villainelle, and, lucky for Eve, the romance is reciprocated in this instance. Sandra admitting that Eve is bicurious contradicts the notion that there is no romantic path between Eve and Villainelle, because AGAIN! We’ve already seen it happen.

3) the interview with Sandra was conducted over the phone between her in NYC and the Gay Times in the UK. Not only was the interviewer unable to see Sandra, there was a difference in dialect that could potentially cause misunderstandings on the part of the journalist about Sandra’s full intent with her words, or misunderstanding on Sandra’s part about what questions the journalist was asking. Miscommunications can happen. Things can be misquoted. Weird questions can be asked, and those questions are very rarely printed in the resulting article after the interview. The point of view presented by Sandra about Villaineve in this interview is a complete departure from canon, the books, and the most recent advertising campaign. As others have mentioned, Sandra said it, not the show creators, and we don’t know the circumstances under which she made that comment other than what I have listed above. I’m choosing to have compassion for this circumstance because of the sheer amount of information I don’t have about the interview.

4) the “trying to make this into something it just isn’t” comment is remarkably vague. We don’t know what “this” is supposed to be (though everyone has assumed it’s the relationship between Eve and Villainelle), and we don’t know what she thinks we’re making it into. Personally, I think Sandra Oh was likely referring to the idea of Villainelle and Eve being some domestic partnership that is all love and all rainbows all the time. Or potentially, Villainelle being some lovesick puppy that only thinks about Eve and never her own selfish desires and they will happily settle down once Eve accepts her love (a viewpoint I’ve seen repeatedly around the fandom by people who probably don’t understand a thing about socio/psychopaths). It’s even possible that Sandra meant that we’re making this into something it just isn’t right now (such as healthy committed girlfriends?), but will be in the future. The audience is not making “this” into a romance. The show is doing that. The books kinda did that. The fucking ad campaigns are doing that. If “you guys” are us, “this” is Villaineve, and “something it’s just not” is a romantic relationship, then Sandra’s never read her own scripts. She didn’t hear Villainelle confess her love at the end of the S2. She missed the masturbation comment in S1, and blacked out when they filmed the phone sex scene. That’s the only explanation I can fathom as to Sandra meaning what many have interpreted her comments to say. It just does not make sense to me for that to have been her intentions with her words.

5) I recently watched an interview with Jodie (I believe it was the one where she rewatched the S1 finale) and she mentioned in the interview that she knew a lot of people wanted Villaineve to smooch. She said they were trying to figure out “how close they would get” but that they knew it wouldn’t happen in the episode. I deduce a couple things from those comments. First, the show creators and actresses are highly aware of how the audience wants these two characters to interact (romantically) and are trying to tease us by giving little gifts of interaction at a time. Second, Villaineve will smooch eventually. Especially after watching this interview, I took a second to compare Villaineve to the other well written slow burn romances I’ve seen on TV. Jim and Pam didn’t get together until season 4. Neither did Damon and Elena. Do you remember Ted and Robin? I’m not even totally sure when they got together but I do remember that it took FOREVER. All the foundation stones of a romantic relationship were laid long ago, and the ending of season 2 was a step forward in their relationship towards being girlfriends or whatever the hell the audience wants them to be. Everything that happened was in character, and they took a huge step forward just as we’d expect in a season finale (Eve agreeing to go to Alaska and Villainelle admitting she loves Eve), but they also didn’t go all the way in head first because the storyline isn’t ready for that.

I think the S2 finale was excellent. I don’t think the show is queer baiting. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a wlw relationship written with the amount of careful consideration and thought as Villaineve is, and I’ve watched/read a lot of wlw love stories. I don’t know what Sandra meant, but I’m not allowing it to alter my love for this show.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk. 😜

[newwavefeminism]

This happened almost two weeks ago and I meant to blog my reaction to it whenever I got back on this website.

I just wanted to note that, unlike most of the people I saw on social media- I didn’t find this moment particularly cute or funny. 

The mea culpa was spurred after Oh praised Crazy Rich Asians, noting that that blockbuster rom-com (nominated for two Globes) was “the first studio film with an Asian-American lead since Ghost in the Shell and Aloha.”

“I’m sorry!” Stone was heard shouting from the audience.

Granted, I don’t recall Sandra Oh having a problem with it - I just feel like her outburst centered Emma Stone at a moment when Oh was trying to highlight actual asians. 

It might benefit me to read into Stone’s further comments and and reflections on this - but this moment and her past apology on the topic sort of sound like she’s annoyed with being held accountable for her part in white-washing a role. Like “geeze I get it already” in ways that, again, center her and whiteness as oppose to the main point.

She was swiftly accused of whitewashing, and later apologized after becoming “the butt of many jokes,” she said in a later interview.

“I’ve learned on a macro level about the insane history of whitewashing in Hollywood and how prevalent the problem truly is,” she said that year. “It’s ignited a conversation that’s very important.”

Maybe I expect to much from celebrities when it comes to having actual though provoking reflections - but what did her statement actually accomplish. “this ignited a conversation that’s very important” ok, and??? Were you actually a part of that conversation? What did you have to say? What did you actually learn? Why did you think it was okay in the first place and what has changed since?

[polaloca7]

My mash-up of the Lady Gaga compilation and tymú’s “walk with me” amplify the intersections of sound, identity, and thought of both pieces due to the parallels found between them in sound and genre. Regarding the sound of the piece; the repetitive nature of Gaga’s words play into the repetitive nature of the beat found in “walk with me”. This repetition of words coupled with the repetitive beat create a consistency in the piece which borders on an almost comedic experience for the listener. This was intentional as I wanted to render a comedic feeling onto the audience as the backstory for the viral video of Lady Gaga’s repetitive anecdote was a comical moment for online users. I purposefully tried to place Lady Gaga’s voice in sections where only strings were heard, and it was right before the beat came in. I did this purposefully, so the attention of the listener was solely on Lady Gaga’s words and it would highlight their repetitive nature. Additionally, this gave the impression that the generic repetitious beat could just as easily be replaced by the generic and repetitive words of Lady Gaga. Therefore, furthering the compare and contrast element of the piece’s listening experience. The identity and thought behind this mash-up go hand in hand. The identity of this song is that of a generic Lo-fi song which fits all the stereotypes; like it is a mash-up, has online culture references, and is low quality production. The low production amplifies both the meme comical aspect of the viral video and it contains the Lo-fi stigma through its low-quality and mash-up aesthetic. Essentially, what I mean is that those familiar with the Lo-fi and the Lady Gaga meme will understand immediately how much the two elements lend themselves to each other. As meme’s are also low quality, often reference internet culture, and create a collage of elements (sound, text, music, etc) to better display a meaning. The fusing of Lo-fi and a viral video serves to highlight their shared characteristics to the listener.  

The artistic inspiration behind this song was the Lo-fi giant Elijah who. Elijah who is a well-known Lo-fi creator whose songs mostly include dialogue from movies, series, or internet videos. His songs are sometimes are as simple as Lo-fi versions of popular songs. Elijah who is known for his consistency and his creation of narratives in a song by means of dialogue inserted into the Lo-fi tracks. A good example of this technique is elijah who’s “this girl”. And one of his most popular tracks is the Lo-fi version of “Bad and Boujee” appropriately named “sad and boujee”. Moreover, one criticism found in Lo-fi, which is also found in many other remix heavy genres, is that Lo-fi is repetitive and redundant to a fault. Mash-ups and remixes “responds to this criticism with a counterintuitive move. Instead of using digital media and computer technology to provide for new and dynamic forms of interactivity where media content can change and continually adapt to user requirements, by which [remix] accelerates and exploits repetition” (Gunkel, pg xxix). And this is exactly what my Lo-fi track is doing with the Lady Gaga’s interviews, it is accelerating and exploiting repetition. I am taking a counterintuitive approach to highlighting the repetitive nature of Gaga’s words by paring it with a genre which is known for the same annoying trait of heavy redundant repetition. Additionally, this overextension of repetitive traits is what gives the track it’s comedic effect which was my original intention all along.

The lack of originality in paring Lady Gaga’s dialogue with a Lo-fi beat is essentially making a statement to Lady Gaga expressing that her words are not original. Because as Gunkel explains “strictly speaking, [there is] nothing original in or about remix” (Gunkel, pg xxvii). Furthermore, to better understand why Lady Gaga’s words are just as unoriginal as a remix one has to know their backstory in becoming a pop culture reference.

In early 2017 Lady Gaga’s career seemed to have entered its stage of maturity. The stage where all pop-stars end up when their sales growth have peaked and their relevancy starts to decline. Moreover, the reception to her past creative choices seemed to have cemented this sentiment. Lady Gaga was becoming more synonymous to a past era rather than a thriving popstar at the top of her game. However, this all changed with the release of the A Star is Born and its inclusion of “Shallow”. This song seemed to single-handedly resurrect mainstream interest in Lady Gaga’s music and give A Star Is Born international appeal. The consequent success of A Star Is Born and acclaim for Gaga’s talent created a resurgence in the power of ‘Little Monsters’ influence on online culture. The ‘Little Monsters’ are Lady Gaga’s dedicated self-proclaimed fandom who are recognized as a thriving community and are especially active online. As ‘Mother Monster’ herself, Gaga plays an active part in this thriving online community. As Melissa A Click explains, “the felt reciprocity of the relationship is a key component of Little Monsters’ identification with Lady Gaga and that social media encourages and facilitates the give-and-take between Mother and Little Monsters.” (A Click pg 374).

To Little Monsters Lady Gaga represents more than just a celebrity, she is a guiding role model much like a mother. “Her Little Monsters decided to name her ‘Mother Monster’ because she’s the one that pretty much ... ‘birthed’ the Little Monster fan base” (A Click, pg 371). And so, like children the Little Monsters’ poked fun at their mother’s expense. On October 8th, 2018 a member of the Little Monsters fandom doted by the username “The Fab Teacher” had created a compilation of Lady Gaga telling the same story which had become an ongoing gag online. Various iterations of “There can be a hundred people in the room and 99 don’t believe in you, but just one does, and it can change your life” was Gaga’s only way of parsing Bradley Cooper’s support. And so ensued the memes. The video went viral and had celebrities and fans alike commenting on it. The fan video had become such a trending topic online that it even reached the Golden Globes. At said award show presenter Sandra Oh poked fun at the repetitive anecdote with Lady Gaga present in the room. This was the first time Lady Gaga was seen commenting on it besides liking a post about it on Twitter. She yelled out from the crowd “It’s true!” standing behind her repetitive words. This reciprocity by Lady Gaga of a fan video on television and Twitter further strengthened the relationship between Mother Monster and her created community of Little Monsters.

Her words became a punch-line and so much of a cultural reference that placing them onto a Lo-Fi track seemed like the correct choice for me. It highlights the intersection of sound, identity, and thought of Memes and Lo-fi as genres. But it is also just ironically funny as an inside joke to anyone well-versed on internet culture.