#Ghosts is a brilliant show and deserves all the awards

[captain-rickbond]

since people don’t know how to vote properly-

I’m not saying they should pull a Mia and Vincent stunt from Pulp Fiction… but they REALLY SHOULD

[dark-elf-writes]

Instead of becoming a lame ass cop after the final battle, Harry gets to travel the world.

He looks for magical creatures with Luna and hunts down rare magical plants with Neville. He explores Australia with Ron and Hermione. He hangs out with Charlie in Romania and has Bill show him the sights in Egypt. He sees Narcissa Malfoy in France with a beautiful woman on her arm and the first honest smile he has ever seen on her face. He gets lost in America where no one knows who he is. He goes to museums, art galleries, and music festivals and finally learns about both worlds he was born to.

He changes his style every week, one day with hair that goes down nearly to his ass, braided with charms and beads and whatever else Luna could find, the next its cropped close to his head and dyed a blinding pink. He experiments with leather jackets and ridiculously tight pants. He wears dresses and learns how to do makeup. He gets piercings and finally gets that Horntail tattoo Ginny joked about, along with a sleeve to honor all those that he lost. He learns that putting time into himself isn’t a waste and that he had never deserved what had been done to him as a child.

He has a string of relationships, some good and some bad, none of them for very long. Men, women, neither, both, each of them teaches him something and each of them leave a mark on him in one way or another. He learns how to love in the way adults love instead of the desperate yearning of a child who has never had anyone, clinging onto those around him with ragged nails bitten down to the nub. He learns that he had never been a freak.

And when he finally comes home, changed at the very core of him, he throws himself into learning. He gets a degree on his own time and when he approaches Minerva with his resume and a sheepish smile on his red-painted lips she takes it from his tattooed fingers, runes for protection to go with the lily on the back of his hand that covers a scar full of hate and pain, with a smile and tells him that she expects to see his lesson plans by the end of the week.

Harry’s classroom and office are covered in mementos of his travels. Bits and bobs that his students press him for their stories when they don’t want to finish their lessons. Sometimes he indulges them. Sometimes he doesn’t. Sometimes he wears robes while he lectures at the front of the room. Sometimes he wears a slouchy sweater and a skirt that hits his ankles. Sometimes he is in a band shirt and ripped jeans. All through it, his students adore him. They know he will listen to them when they are having problems understanding or issues with friends. They know he will protect them, standing between them and Peeves’ more cruel pranks. They know he cares for them, every kid that steps through his classroom door, even the ones who spit his name between clenched teeth with hate in their eyes for the ghosts that haunt everyone touched by the war.

As the years go by he, like slughorn, is also known for collecting, but in a different way. It starts with a sad little Slytherin girl, with too thin wrists and eyes surrounded by dark circles. It takes all of a month for him to be officially awarded custody through the new Department of Magical Family Welfare headed by Hermione and funded, in large part, through his own generous donations. His daughter blooms under the positive attention becoming a happy, sweet thing that runs through the halls with a familiar ghost with laughing eyes and mischief in his voice. His son, a fierce little Puff who keeps throwing himself into fights, comes next, tempered under Harry’s careful guidance. He becomes Hogwarts dueling champion by the time he’s a third year. His next child, his clever little Ravenclaw who isn’t great with people or emotions but has a mind more brilliant than anyone he has ever seen. There are others, some that stay and some that move on to other families, but all of them are his children. His kids. Christmas time in the Potter home is a madhouse with owls going in every direction and color coded stacks of presents for each of their family members.

After everything Harry gets to grow, to heal, and gets to change the world in a way that doesn’t include violence and pain and a broken body laying face down in a forest clearing.

[idolskpop]

2PM Taecyeon Reveals Shocking Truth About His ‘Vincenzo’ Role: He Didn’t Know He Was a Villain!

2PM Taecyeon is one of the most versatile idols in the industry, who has successfully transitioned from being a singer to an actor. He recently amazed the viewers with his brilliant performance as a psychopathic killer in the hit drama ‘Vincenzo’. But did you know that he had no idea he was playing a villain when he accepted the role? Read on to find out more about this surprising revelation and his career journey!

From Idol to Actor: 2PM Taecyeon’s Career Highlights

Taecyeon debuted as a member of 2PM, one of the most popular K-pop groups in the second generation, in 2008. He quickly gained recognition for his charismatic rap skills, powerful dance moves, and charming personality. He also participated in various variety shows, such as ‘We Got Married’, ‘Family Outing’, and ‘Running Man’.

(Photo : 51K Official Instagram) However, Taecyeon did not limit himself to music and entertainment. He also pursued his passion for acting, starting from minor roles in dramas like ‘Cinderella’s Sister’ and ‘Dream High’. He gradually improved his acting skills and took on more challenging roles in different genres, such as comedy, romance, thriller, and action. Some of his notable works include: - ‘Who Are You?’ (2013), where he played a detective who falls in love with a woman who can see ghosts. - ‘Wonderful Days’ (2014), where he played a prosecutor who returns to his hometown and reconnects with his childhood friends. - ‘Assembly’ (2015), where he played a bodyguard who helps a former welder become a politician. - ‘Let’s Fight Ghost’ (2016), where he played a college student who can see and fight ghosts. - ‘Save Me’ (2017), where he played a young man who tries to save his childhood friend from a cult. - ‘The Game: Towards Zero’ (2020), where he played a man who can see the moment of death of anyone he looks at.

2PM Taecyeon’s Dream Role: A Villain in ‘Vincenzo’

Taecyeon’s most recent and impressive work was in the 2021 smash hit drama ‘Vincenzo’, where he played the role of Jang Jun Woo/Jang Han Seok, the main antagonist of the story. He was initially introduced as a naive and clumsy intern at a law firm, but later revealed to be a ruthless and cunning serial killer who was behind a series of crimes.

(Photo : tvN) Taecyeon’s portrayal of the character was praised by critics and fans alike, who were impressed by his ability to switch from being cute and funny to being cold and scary. He also received several awards for his role, such as the Best Villain Award at the 12th Korea Drama Awards and the Best Supporting Actor Award at the 8th APAN Star Awards. However, what many people don’t know is that Taecyeon had no clue that he was playing a villain when he accepted the role. In fact, he only found out about his character’s true identity when he received the script for episode 3. He revealed this shocking truth during his Asia solo tour, where he met his fans in different countries. In Hong Kong, he attended a media press conference on September 29, 2023, where he shared his career journey and stories about his profession. He said: Talking about Vincenzo I actually didn’t know the role was an evil character. The scripts that I received were only episodes 1 and 2, and back then I was the kind cute intern Jang Jun Woo. I myself was also surprised to know that I am a villain. He also posted this tweet on his official account: https://twitter.com/only_oktaec/status/1707384587545088309?s=20 This revelation surprised many fans, who wondered how he managed to pull off such a convincing performance without knowing his character’s background and motivation. Some of them commented: - Wow, that’s amazing! How did he do it? He was so good as Jang Han Seok! - I can’t believe he didn’t know! He must have been shocked when he read the script! - He is such a talented actor! He made me hate him so much in Vincenzo! - He deserves all the awards for his role! He nailed it!

2PM Taecyeon’s Next Role: A Physically Demanding Character

After achieving his dream role of playing a villain in ‘Vincenzo’, Taecyeon is not resting on his laurels. He is already looking forward to his next challenge, which is to play a character that requires more physicality and athleticism.

(Photo : tvN's Official Twitter) He revealed his wish during his media press conference in Manila, where he met his fans on October 1, 2023. He said: For my next role, I want to show more of my physique. I want to play a character that is a boxer, a swimmer, or a fighter. I want to challenge myself and immerse myself in the role. He also expressed his gratitude to his fans for their support and love, saying: Thank you for always being there for me. I will work hard to show you more of my skills and charms. I love you!

2PM Taecyeon’s Bright Future as an Actor

2PM Taecyeon is one of the rare idols who can successfully balance his music and acting careers. He has proven his versatility and talent in various roles, especially in his latest drama ‘Vincenzo’, where he surprised everyone with his shocking revelation that he didn’t know he was a villain. He is not afraid to take on new challenges and explore different genres and characters. He is also eager to improve his skills and satisfy his fans with his performances. We can’t wait to see what he has in store for us in the future. We are sure that he will continue to impress us with his acting and charm us with his personality. What do you think of 2PM Taecyeon’s revelation? What role do you want to see him play next? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below. Subscribe to IDOLS KPOP for exclusive updates and captivating content. Read the full article

[theogony]

Sacred Feathers

A/N: yo!!! I am finally back with a contribution to the writing community, and the fact it's soc, something that's so close to my heart is ?? lovely?? not to mention the fact that this was for the grishaverse big bang, something that was such a brilliant experience and was such a wonderful experience (thank you tides!!) And uhh i'll keep this brief but i had the privilege to work with so many wonderful people who brought this to life. Show them some love, they are truly incredible, ily all so much!!!)

Corporalki (Betas!! You deserve an award) : @reapersbarge @queerdisaster9

Materealki (Artists!!! TALENT MUCH??) : @idkchatie x , @amethystnightsky x , @veneziarts x

It is not fair, that for the first time in his many years on Earth, when he is this much fond of someone, they are so unattainable, an entire life standing in between them. And when that life fades away, Inej Ghafa will be gone forever, leaving him stranded like a flightless bird. It is pointless, hopeless, his reason tells him, but his heart is blind and deaf to everything except for what, no, who it wants.

This is irrational, I do not want this, I do not want her.

You do, his heart whispers, you do, you do, you do–

-

Or, where Kaz Brekkar is a crow child, a bird spirit tasked with escorting the dead to their final resting spot, the ghosts around his neck chained back and held at bay, for Kaz Brekkar is no longer a human, numb to emotions, immune to pain.

But when he has a chance encounter with a girl with feathers on her feet, Kaz finds that being human may not be such a bad thing after all.

Read on AO3!

Kaz flies in unseen–the world far too loud and vibrant to notice the shadow that's slipped into the room. The gilded chambers are barely lit and oppressing, and Kaz can't help but arch his brows as he steps through the mess of writhing bodies around each corner. It's been a long time since he's been somewhere so crass, somewhere so human, that he can't help but sniff in barely contained disgust.

If anyone happens to lay their eyes on him (no one will, not yet), they would say that he has beautiful eyes–and he does: dark like the evening sky when the sun hides away, twin pieces of dusk barely hidden under a fringe of straight black hair. But that's not his most noticeable feature, no, that has to be the patches of downy black feathers that stand out so sharply against his alabaster skin. They're everywhere, rippling down his forearms, on the sides of his throat, under his bangs, shimmering with a kind of solemnity in the candlelight.

He watches impassively as the scene in front of him unfolds, clear eyes almost unblinking, waiting patiently for the inevitable to happen. He's had enough experience to know not to meddle–unlike Jesper or Kuwei, who used to try to get a glimpse of the soul they were escorting.

After a certain point, he thinks, there is a certain numbness that surrounds the idea of death, that pervades, haunts it.

His thoughts are interrupted by a long, hacking cough, one that's harsh, that seems to continue on for far too long, the tinny quality of it making it sound less like a cough, and more like someone expelling the last of their life. The coughs continue and the suffocating heat only drives the resounding thoughts in his head into a cacophony, until there's nothing left but a deafening silence.

Kaz steps forward, pushing past the undecorated door into the cramped quarters of the room. He threads his way between the slowly exiting people in the room, invisible and intangible, making his way to the bed as he had done so many times before, looking down at the person in the bed as he had so many times before–

When Kaz first sees her, he's reminded of a dove: white, and peaceful, her eyelashes brushing the ground softly as she lies so softly that had he really not been there, she could have just been sleeping.

Death doesn't discriminate (Kaz knows this better than most) but he can't help but reach a hand to touch the raven-coloured hair that frames her face as despite himself he's struck by wonder. His touch is light on her cheek and he caresses her softly, and from the simple touch, he feels the warmth seep through her skin and pool throughout the floor, and it only confirms what he knows. Death has accompanied her, guiding her through life, kissing her, and snatching her away–a porcelain puppet with it's strings of fate suddenly snapped. Her body is feather-light as he picks it up and moves it gently to the side, her last laughs echoing faintly in his ears as he carefully shrouds the girl in whatever cloth he can find nearby. Her skin is supple, yet still hardened and bruised in places, and Kaz averts his eyes. She simply feels too holy, too light for him to touch.

That's the precise moment when he realises that he's lost her soul.

That's it, he thinks to himself. I've finally done it. It's been 14 years I've been at this job. And a girl my age is the one to do me in. He taps his foot against the waxed wood of the floor, and takes another look around the room to calm the flutters that appear in his chest. He glances at the body and decides to start there. He knows that souls are most likely to go back to their old body. he's reviewed the facts objectively many times, his face a mask of stone as he listened to men and women of all ages, weeping–

"Are you always this angry?"

He takes a step back, his face set into a scowl as though hit, and whirls around. The same girl stands before him, a beatific smile on her face, big eyes warm and animated in consciousness, just a bit more faded than the exact copy on the bed. The same way that Kaz is faded. He feels a strange warmth crawling uncomfortably up his neck and hopes desperately that his feathers hide most of it from sight. He turns away from the other girl's smiling face, embarrassed at being caught off-guard, and he coughs as he smooths the feathers that run up and down his neck.

"Shut up," he sternly replies. The girl seems to hum as she looks around the room, the smile on her face not fading.

"So...I'm guessing I'm the first one to tell you your face looks like that?"

Kaz doesn’t even bother to give her a reply, but she doesn’t seem to mind. She continues to hum softly, her smile growing even wider as she considers him–before her face droops and her eyes are suddenly serious.

"I’m Inej. Inej Ghafa. Not that it matters–you’re here to take me away, aren’t you?" It's a serious question this time, almost a little sad, and Kaz tilts his head slightly to the side as he considers it. He's a little relieved that he doesn't have to break the news to her, a soul so hopeful and vibrant that even he secretly doesn't want to see her dim. He simply nods and walks out of the room, motioning her to follow him through the winding corridors and gilded antechambers.

The perfume that threads through the rooms, heavy and suppressive seems to intoxicate him, and he hears a soft laugh before he sees her - no, Inej, launch herself into a somersault in front of him, and even though he has a job to finish and a desire to get this done as soon as possible, he can't help but let a small smile crinkle on his face. Of course, that's only until he discovers that she's trying to sneak up on him again, and he promptly groans and rubs his face with his hands.

This is what I get for trying to be good to some soul, Kaz miserably thinks as he looks back at her, giggling and smiling with an infectious grin as she swings from the rafters.

There's an inkling of thought scratching at the back of his brain, the main fact being that Inej, no matter how happy she sounds, doesn't seem to have developed a yearning for the beyond yet. Perhaps her body isn't truly dead yet? It's not like such a situation is unheard of, but this is the first time he's had to deal with anything like this. “Humour them”, he remembers Kuwei lecturing both him and Jesper. Let them do what they want until they decide where to go. It's the least trouble for both of us, and who knows? You might just appreciate their company for a little longer. It'll do wonders for your complexion, Kaz.

Needless to say, Kuwei wouldn't stop moaning about the bruise Kaz gave him for an entire week.

Minutes pass and Kaz looks back, cursing softly when he realises that the hallway is empty, the antechambers cool and heavy, the air stale as though touched by death. He doesn't have to go far until he catches a glimpse of the raven-like strands, and he sees Inej standing in front of a small huddle of children–kissing them, murmuring sweet things and smiling, stroking their faces with hands they cannot feel. There is a hollowness, a futility that only comes when one acknowledges one's impending death, and Kaz can see it reflected in Inej's eyes. But then he turns away without making a sound, his eyes shifting as he stares at anything but her.

Kaz has been a harbinger of death for too long to mourn for the souls he reaps.

It is Inej who finally approaches him, her face carefully pinned into one of neutrality as she smiles back at him, soft teardrops rolling down her cheeks. He carefully holds out his hand, and he sees Inej hesitate, a rare show of vulnerability before he softens.

"I need you to hold on to my hand. I promise I won't hurt you." Despite the fact Kaz is still, his motions not sudden, a shadow crosses her face before she places her palm lightly into his. Kaz doesn't say another word, instead choosing to focus on the rippling feathers, and then they both take flight.

-

Kaz doesn't despise flying, but he knows that he's much stronger as a bird than he is as a ghost. He feels the wind ruffling his feathers, and he can't help but breathe into the air and pretend to forget everything. Inej's palm is warm in his hand, and he can feel her wonder at seeing the world from this vantage point–where everything is so small. Where everything is so worthless. Kaz can feel the fear radiating off her, but unlike the other souls he's had to leave, there's something raw in that fear, something that hungers. Destructive and macabre, almost vicious in the way he can feel it overtake her, leaving an almost beautiful bloodbath behind. She hums, and Kaz can't help but look at her face, and he's struck again by how much of a martyr she looks like–a fragile doll. But there's something steely behind her eyes, and Kaz feels a strange twist in his heart for this girl.

Inej Ghafa. What an unusual name.

{{The girl had another name, once. A name given to her by the mother she barely knew; it is a thing she hardly remembers now. The child who answered to that name died long ago. Perhaps she died in the lightless container on the ship to this strange land, waiting for her next meal to be shoved through a slot in the metal walls. Perhaps she died with a rope tied around her wrists as her captors dragged her roughly to stand on a stage: naked and alone in front of a sea of strange faces who looked her up and down with avid interest. Perhaps she died in the filthy room of the "club" that had bought her–under the hands of lecherous men and women, pushing into her into various positions, mocking her very existence until tears gathered at the corners of her eyes, shredding away her innocence until she was left without an inch of skin to call her own . Perhaps she died on the receiving end of a whip–a result of her first 'lesson' in this new life–the pain that made her scream and cry out as the man at the other end bared yellowing teeth, declaring that this is something every child would go through.

Perhaps she once was a girl who smiled with the entire force of the sun. A girl who climbed trees with the same exuberance of a monkey, laughter falling like bittersweet tears as she was dragged, kicking and screaming away from her family. But whoever she was, she had died a long time ago.}}

"Do you want to walk?"

Inej seems to almost startle at the question, before her eyes grow soft and misty. "Alright."

Kaz lights down on a grassy hill in the middle of nowhere. The sunset is warm, and there's a soft breeze through his feathers, and beside Inej, he almost feels like a boy again.

He can feel all of Inej's dejectedness and yearning, all her guilt and indecisiveness, radiating off of her. So this is what it felt like to be caught between life and death–wanting to leave but wanting to stay, being pulled slowly, agonizingly, in two directions. It's said to be a terrible pain. Not that Kaz would know anything about it. Something in his heart softens, because it feels so wrong to see someone as complex as Inej become a pale shadow of what she was.

He holds her hand, not too firmly, yet Inej doesn't let go, and instead smiles back at him. Comfort them, he remembers the familiar lecture being drilled into his head. Kaz usually does, but never in this way. He calms the souls with his quiet presence and gentle words.

But Inej is different. She deserves something more....substantial.

They stand there, two children, one holding onto the other for dear life. After a few moments, Inej is the first to break the silence with a soft note, one from a foreign, long forgotten, nursery rhyme. They wander through the prairie, the grasses long, a sea of blue and violet hues that spanned wide beneath the grey sky.

The night is clean and clear, and Kaz can't help but think that this feels more natural and ordinary than anything he has ever done in his strange half-life.

"Can you...tell me a story?"

Of what? Kaz wonders. There's not been much to his life that's worth mentioning.

Even then, Kaz slowly began to talk. He tells the story of a boy who's loved sparingly, but has lived even less. But this isn't the boy's story, and he instead talks about how each small fraction of every soul has burned into his memory, each one leaving behind little love fragments scattered in everyday life. He tells the story of vivacious Jesper, a bouncy crow child, never not smiling–too loud, too precious. The story of Kuwei, tight lipped and frowning, but when he smiled, it was as though a flower had bloomed–all honey and nectar.

{{He tells the story of a boy full of darkness that had been introduced to the light so many times, yet each time, he shied away from it.}}

All through this, Inej listens, the moonlight contrasting with the black strands of hair that fly out from her bun. Her wide eyes carefully watch this strange bird child who had come to take her away, yet who had still bothered to listen to her, to regale her, to not treat her as a statue to be admired and displayed.

“They sound like wonderful people." Inej finally says, staring at the sky with dreamy eyes. "Like characters from a fantasy book. But what about your story?"

Kaz pointedly ignores her, but allows himself to acknowledge the rush of fondness he felt.

Inej was like a summer day—as quick to shine as she was to rain, but still, beautiful in both.

After a while, Inej gets to her feet, humming the same tune. She helps him up, and they wander to the top of the nearest hill. She's done deciding, Kaz realises with an unwelcome clench in his stomach. It's not his place to hope, it really isn't, but it's the first time he's wanted something like this–to watch over a child with so much life, so much spirit, so much beauty.

"I want to go back," Inej announces clearly, eyes devoid of pain and unsureness.

Kaz won't let himself feel relieved. He nods and realises the familiar warmth of her palm in his hand never truly left him. He flusters, licking his chapped lips as he doesn't allow himself to feel. He takes off into the dusk, wings fluttering, the only reminder of their presence on the hill a raven feather, nestled amongst the hydrangeas, held close, held like a secret.

-

Inej's soul is heavier now with the added weight of definite life, but Kaz's wings are strong and there's even a tailwind, as if the universe is telling him it's the right way to go. Her soul seems to brighten and she can't help but giggle as they creep gently into the original room. Kaz can't help but look at her, so bright and so lifelike, and watch her stare fascinated at her body, who's chest is now moving up and down in a rhythmic beat, her eyes open wide with fascination as Kaz steps away, preparing to leave.

"You can go back now."

He doesn't quite expect it when Inej's lip quivers and her eyes begin to brim with tears. He panics a bit, looking around nervously. Had he done something wrong?

"Wh-why are you crying?" he asks anxiously, not knowing what to do. "You do want to be here, right?"

For the third time today, Kaz feels a luminous warmth in his palm, and he realises that Inej has slipped her hand back into his. But this time it's different, and he can feel the silent pleading, the resignedness of her touch as she looks back at him, eyes shining bright with unspilled tears.

“Thank you," Inej whispers again, in that high sweet voice. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Kaz can't help but look back and wonder if all of his guidance is supposed to be so tearful–and he wonders if he’s done something wrong before, but he’s quick to amend himself. Inej is different. Inej is special; for it was only she who had made him feel so, so much.

Something clenches inside him. "You're welcome." And then, suddenly, before he can stop himself: "You won't forget me when you wake up, will you?" He flinches as he hears these words, feeling like he's crossed an invisible border.

But Inej just keeps holding his hand and smiles. "No, definitely not."

He feels his heart clench again, and he can't stop his half smile from forming and the pale blush on his cheek.

"You have to remember me too," Inej tells him. "You probably meet hundreds of people a day, but that doesn't mean you can forget me."

Kaz mutters, "Of course I'll remember."

Inej can't help but giggle, and Kaz has to resist the urge to reach out for her other hand. "Will I see you again?"

Kaz knows better than to make promises which he knows he can never keep, but he can't help but smile back at this strange child.

What's happening to me?

"Look outside your window for ravens every once in a while. I'll be there."

"But when will I see your angry face?" Inej counters.

Kaz ruefully smiles, and he tugs his hand out of Inej's softly.

Only when you're about to die.

There's the tragedy of it all, an inescapable one that demands that life and death must stay apart, which Kaz knows. But until today, he's never tried to ask for an escape to that cycle.

“Hopefully in a very long time," he says. "Keep living, Inej."

"Okay," she finally replies, a bit downcast, and Kaz has to force himself to walk away. And even though he tells himself this, he can't help but turn around one more time, almost afraid to be caught in the act of staring at her - this fledgling, this girl, this human - only to lock his eyes on hers one last time. His heart clenched as he stares, stuck in that strange moment with her, which she interrupts with a small giggle, before he blinks, and all of a sudden the soul-Inej is gone, the last bells of her laughter still resounding in the air, the real Inej now softly in her sleep, murmuring, breathing, full of life.

Kaz walks out of the menagerie, too stunned to fly, and sits on the bench outside. The night air is pleasantly cool on his burning skin and rubs his face ruefully, trying to forget the dangerous hope that he saw in her eyes, her "You have to remember me too" echoing in his head.

There's a strange feeling in his chest, one that causes a spark of hope in his eyes–momentarily glittering before he vigorously shakes his head, flying off into the inky sky.

"You have to remember me too."

As if he could ever forget.

A/N : Chapters 2 and 3 will be up in a wéèk or so!

//Reblogs, likes and comments always appreciated!//

[swordofpevensie]

Ten Words & Two Sentences (King Edmund The Just)

warnings: fluff. flirting. king edmund is complimented for the first time. y/n is a princette and reffered as they/them.

a/n: hi i just love edmund and think he deserves happiness. pls tell me what you think. english isn't my native language so if there's any mistake, feel free to correct me.♡ requests are open! .｡*♡

word count: 2627

“Edmund stop playing with your hair! It already looks good! Edmund, stop touching it!”

As he was looking at the mirror, Edmund heard Lucy's giggle. Queen Lucy had always enjoyed it when her sister scolded her brothers.

“What? I'm just-”

“Ed!”

When he heard his sister's truly angry voice, King Edmund stopped touching his hair. He knew that if he didn't listen to Queen Susan while using that tone, then he'd be in trouble.

Standing in front of the big mirror with gold and shining frame, King Edmund had been looking at himself for almost fifteen minutes. Today was a big day and he was excited. He was really excited.

Today was the day when Princette Y/N was going to visit Cair Paravel and Edmund had his eyes on them for a very long time. It wasn't official though. He just admired Y/N secretly and kept silent about his feelings. He never told it to his siblings, not even to Queen Lucy. He barely spoke to Y/N. He just liked them and thought that they were unattainable, cool, and brilliant.

It was the first time ever King had a crush on someone, and because he didn't tell anyone about it, he was actually very confused and didn't know what to do. Was he supposed to talk about his feelings with them? Or was he supposed to wait to see if Y/N liked him?

Y/N was a cheerful and talkative person. When they were in Cair Paravel, the place always felt brighter and merrier. When they were around, everyone had a smile on their face and laughter were heard in the castle all the time.

Besides that, they were also talented and would surprise Narnians with their new skills. Every time they visited the castle, they'd come with something new. The last time they were in the castle, they defeated High King in a archery competition. Queen Susan and two other Narnians were juries and all of them were surprised when Y/N was able to shoot the target while riding a horse.

King Edmund admired everything about them, however he never heard or saw anything from them which could imply they had feelings for the King. Maybe that was the reason why he never showed his emotions.

But he knew he had to do something before someone else wanted Princette. It wouldn't be unexpected if someone wanted to marry them soon.

All in all, King Edmund was very excited and was looking forward to see them. But he wanted to make sure he looked good when he finally saw them, which was the reason of the time he'd been spending in front of the mirror and driving Queen Susan crazy.

“Susan!” He said in a panicked voice. “Susan there is a pimple on my chin! How can I get rid of it?”

“Let me see.” Queen Susan said while walking to her brother. She cupped his face and examined it carefully. “Edmund, you are being dramatic. It is impossible to see it unless someone is looking at you that closely.”

‘But,’ King thought. ‘What if they want to kiss me but then see it and do not want to kiss me anymore?’

“I'm not being dramatic!” Edmund defended himself. “It is huge. How can I get rid of it before the ball starts?”

“You can't.” Queen Susan rolled her eyes. “Unless you use magic or something. It won't be seen. Calm down.”

Edmund looked at Lucy, hoping that maybe she'd have a solution but Lucy shrugged her shoulders.

Susan had a big and heart-warming smile on her face. She looked at her brother proudly and fixed his collar.

“You look handsome as always, brother.” She said while giving him his sword. “Here. Now you are perfect. Come on, we need to be in the ballroom immediately. We've spent so much time already! I hope Peter didn't break the chandelier again.”

Susan put her hand to Edmund's arm and they left the room arm to arm, Lucy was following them.

──── .*･｡ﾟ ༘✧. .*･｡ﾟ ༘✧────

When they arrived at the ball hall, the first dancing had already begun. Susan left King alone to find Peter and ask him if everything was alright.

Edmund now was all alone, standing in the middle of the room. His eyes were searching for something and he had to look at so many different faces until he found his favourite one.

There they were. All the beauty in Narnia was now trapped in their existence. Either Y/N was literally shining and glowing or Edmund was just love drunk. He knew just one thing and it was the fact that Y/N was the most lovely person he had ever seen and there was nothing he wouldn't do to belong to them.

While just standing there and looking at them in silence, Edmund was finally noticed by Y/N. They smiled as soon as their and Edmund's eyes met.

Oh, that smile and the things it did to King. As they were getting closer to him, his heart beat faster and faster. He was also getting nervous. What he was going to say? What was he supposed to do? Where should he put his hands? How should he greet them? He wished he'd asked those questions to Susan before coming here.

“Your Highness,” They said as they bowed.

Edmund responded with a smile and gently said “Princette Y/N,” while greeting them. “Just Edmund, please.”

He didn't want them to have those formal addresses. He wanted to be their friend, and if he was lucky enough, more than a friend.

“How are you doing, Edmund?” Y/N asked with a soft voice.

“Better now,” King said, smiling wittily and hoping they'd notice what he meant. “What about you?”

“Pretty good.” Their little smile caused their dimple to show up in their cheek.

While standing in silence for a few seconds, Y/N stared at him. It was a short time but they could see how much Edmund had changed since their last contact. He became taller, his hair grew, his shoulders were broader and he had a pimple, which wasn't there before, on his chin now. Also, that unexplainable darkness that was one of his unique characteristics was still there but, thankfully, his beautiful silver crown shone strong enough to make the darkness disappear.

“You look beautiful, my King,” Y/N said. “Did you change your hairstyle?”

With each word they said and Edmund heard, he felt like he was being stabbed by a sword just being made and was still hot. There was a terrible pain in his stomach, burning and aching. He thought if he touched there now, his hand would burn. However, the pain and the ache turned into some of kind excitement in a few seconds. This wave of excitement climbed up to his windpipe and burnt his throat. He wanted to say something but that feeling didn't let him speak.

Apart from his siblings, Edmund had never been complimented. He always felt like no one cared the way he looked, what he wore, what he did to his hair. Therefore, he felt invisible frequently. All of his siblings received compliments somehow, sometime, somewhere but he was like a ghost people couldn't see.

Susan would always tell him that he was handsome and charming, Lucy would praise his wisdom and knowledge, Peter would proudly smile at him and say that he was proud of him, he'd improved so much.

But King secretly wanted a stranger to see him, notice the change in him, and compliment him, or at least say something. However, for an unknown reason, people never did that.

Therefore when he was praised by Y/N, Edmund was left speechless. First of all, it was them caring and complimenting him. Secondly, they complimented him in a very natural way. It wasn't a forced statement, it was natural and sincere. Thirdly and lastly, in this entire ballroom, the only person King actually cared was them.

The longer he kept quiet, the more this wave spread around his body. Now it was on his cheeks, he felt his skin was becoming hot. Oh no, was he really blushing?

He knew he had to say something because the situation was getting weirder.

“Thank you,” was what he managed to say. “Honestly, thank you so much.” He could add. “In fact, I messed it. My sister Susan was mad at me.”

Y/N laughed. “It doesn't look messy if you ask me, my King.”

“Please call me Edmund,” He said. “I am not a big admirer of those titles.”

“I'm sorry, it's just from force of habit.”

Edmund saw they were playing with their fingers. Were they... Could they be nervous too?

He knew he had to make a move this time. They complimented him, now it was his turn to do something and try to charm them.

“Would you... Would you like to dance, Y/N?”

Upon hearing the question, they smiled. Their lips curved so beautifully that Edmund almost kissed them. The dimple on their cheek was also so kissable and touchable. Edmund thought he could touch with it for hours, without being bored.

“Of course.” They replied.

After getting approval, Edmund put his left hand to their waist, used the right one to take their hand into his. He pulled their body closer; now their chests were so close. Edmund felt afraid because his heartbeats would probably be felt when their chest touched his.

“Do you have any surprises for us?” Edmund asked.

“I learnt how to dance.”

Then it hit him. Was that the reason why she never danced with anyone? Edmund had never asked them to dance before, but he was now glad he didn't because being rejected would probably kill him. However, his patience and also shyness was being awarded with being the first man ever to dance with Y/N. Such a big honour it was. Edmund couldn't stop himself from smiling.

“Why did you learn?”

“To be able to dance with a certain someone.”

Y/N knew they were playing with fire but didn't care because they needed something, some sort of sign from Edmund to see if High King was right about what they said earlier.

Y/N was able to kill a soldier with a scissor, shoot the target while riding a horse, take care of their five siblings at the same time, paint the biggest wall in their kingdom's castle, play piano, beat their big brother in arm wrestling but the hardest thing they ever did was having a crush on King Edmund.

He was silent. To find him in a room, one had to look very carefully and to every corner. It was impossible to contact him unless he wanted to be found or talked to. He was like a sad and melancholic ghost that appeared from time to time when he felt like showing up. He was so silent that sometimes it felt like he was invisible.

Y/N always tried to find him though. Yet his extraordinary effort to avoid everyone and be on his own made it almost impossible. Most of the time he would be in the library and never visit the ballroom. Despite generally being an outgoing person, Y/N still wasn't brave enough to follow him to the library. Because firstly, he had never given any indications, so especially trying to be with him in the same room would be very awkward.

When they arrived at Cair Paravel this noon, King wasn't there as usual. But High King was there to welcome them and say they needed to talk.

Peter absolutely knew Edmund would kill him when he heard what he did but didn't care. He was sick of these two not being together because of their silence and shyness. However, he was still thoughtful enough to not say everything about his brother and his feelings. He just said Edmund was interested in some that Y/N knew very closely. And then he smiled, and winked. He wasn't sure, maybe he couldn't be subtle as he had planned.

But the important thing was that his words gave Y/N courage. Maybe High King was right and Edmund had feelings for them. It was still a mystery, yet now very close to be solved.

“That certain someone must be really lucky,” When they heard Edmund's voice, they could come back to reality. “Lucky enough to capture your attention.”

“I think I am the lucky one.” Y/N replied, looking at his beautiful brown eyes.

“Why?” Edmund looked at his shoes not to step on their feet. He was distracted.

“He is a special person. I think I am lucky enough to give my heart to him.”

Edmund softly smiled. His brown eyes looked like a hot cup of coffee, welcoming and warming.

“Do I know him? You know, for matchmaking purposes.”

“You'll immediately recognize him when you hear about him.”

“I'm listening, then.” While speaking, to catch up with the dance, Edmund held their hand as they twirled.

They were now again chest to chest. All King could see, feel, hear was them. No one else, nothing else. Just them. And it felt good. It was as if they were in their own little universe and there was nobody to disturb them.

“He is a good-looking man with a charming smile. It's a shame that he doesn't smile frequently. He also doesn't speak frequently. He is silent most of the time. He doesn't speak when the words are unnecessary. He has this sort of melancholy, which is something unique to him. But I find it beautiful. And, let me add before I forget, he is the King of Narnia and is called the Just.”

Honestly, it was really hard to keep dancing according to the music when your crush just confessed their feelings to you.

Edmund froze. Literally. His whole world stopped turning. It was unexpected. He had thought it was impossible and couldn't believe it now. How on the earth could they have feelings for him? They... And he. They were the joy and Edmund was... He was the melancholy just like Y/N stated.

“I...” Edmund finally managed to speak. “I wasn't expecting that.”

Y/N smiled. “One of us had to do something.”

“Did you... Did you know?” Edmund frowned. “Let me guess, was it Susan? No, Susan wouldn't do it behind my back. Was it Peter?”

“Yes, it was High King.” They laughed while answering. “But he encouraged me and I believe it's a good thing, isn't it?”

With that question, Edmund realized he didn't say anything about his feelings or respond to their confession.

“It is.” He said. “I... I don't know how to express the way I feel about you. First of all, thank you for your generous words.”

They weren't dancing anymore. They were just standing in each other's arm. They forgot about the ball, people, music, dance and anything else. They just focused on each other and it was enough.

“I like you so much. Actually, it is more than liking. I can say that I love you. Strongly and sincerely. You are like a dream and it is hard to believe-”

Edmund was interrupted when the music stopped and everyone began clapping. It was loud and cheerful.

“Would you like to go outside? Maybe to the garden?” Y/N asked.

“You read my mind.”

They left the room, holding hands.

Finally, in the garden, King had the chance to talk about how he felt about them. How it burned, how it hurt, how it made him feel good, how excited he was when they visited the castle, how his heart beat faster when they were around.

With a lot of kisses, by the way. Thankfully, Y/N was kind enough to not mind the pimple on his chin.

[rockislandadultreads]

Criticism & Literary Interpretations

A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life by George Saunders

For the last twenty years, George Saunders has been teaching a class on the Russian short story to his MFA students at Syracuse University. In A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, he shares a version of that class with us, offering some of what he and his students have discovered together over the years. Paired with iconic short stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Gogol, the seven essays in this book are intended for anyone interested in how fiction works and why it’s more relevant than ever in these turbulent times.

In his introduction, Saunders writes, “We’re going to enter seven fastidiously constructed scale models of the world, made for a specific purpose that our time maybe doesn’t fully endorse but that these writers accepted implicitly as the aim of art—namely, to ask the big questions, questions like, How are we supposed to be living down here? What were we put here to accomplish? What should we value? What is truth, anyway, and how might we recognize it?” He approaches the stories technically yet accessibly, and through them explains how narrative functions; why we stay immersed in a story and why we resist it; and the bedrock virtues a writer must foster. The process of writing, Saunders reminds us, is a technical craft, but also a way of training oneself to see the world with new openness and curiosity.

A Swim in a Pond in the Rain is a deep exploration not just of how great writing works but of how the mind itself works while reading, and of how the reading and writing of stories make genuine connection possible.

A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance by Hanif Abdurraqib

A stirring meditation on Black performance in America from the New York Times bestselling author of Go Ahead in the Rain At the March on Washington in 1963, Josephine Baker was fifty-seven years old, well beyond her most prolific days. But in her speech she was in a mood to consider her life, her legacy, her departure from the country she was now triumphantly returning to. “I was a devil in other countries, and I was a little devil in America, too,” she told the crowd. Inspired by these few words, Hanif Abdurraqib has written a profound and lasting reflection on how Black performance is inextricably woven into the fabric of American culture. Each moment in every performance he examines—whether it’s the twenty-seven seconds in “Gimme Shelter” in which Merry Clayton wails the words “rape, murder,” a schoolyard fistfight, a dance marathon, or the instant in a game of spades right after the cards are dealt—has layers of resonance in Black and white cultures, the politics of American empire, and Abdurraqib’s own personal history of love, grief, and performance. Abdurraqib writes prose brimming with jubilation and pain, infused with the lyricism and rhythm of the musicians he loves. With care and generosity, he explains the poignancy of performances big and small, each one feeling intensely familiar and vital, both timeless and desperately urgent. Filled with sharp insight, humor, and heart, A Little Devil in America exalts the Black performance that unfolds in specific moments in time and space—from midcentury Paris to the moon, and back down again to a cramped living room in Columbus, Ohio.

The Dark Side of Alice in Wonderland by Angela Youngman

Although the children's story Alice in Wonderland has been in print for over 150 years, the mysteries and rumors surrounding the story and its creator Lewis Carroll have continued to grow. The Dark Side of Alice in Wonderland is the first time anyone has investigated the vast range of darker, more threatening aspects of this famous story and the way Alice has been transformed over the years. This is the Alice of horror films, Halloween, murder and mystery, spectral ghosts, political satire, mental illnesses, weird feasts, Lolita, Tarot, pornography and steampunk. The Beatles based famous songs such as Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and I am the Walrus on Alice in Wonderland, while she has even attracted the attention of world-famous artists including Salvador Dali. Take a look at why the Japanese version of Lolita is so different to that of novelist Vladimir Nabokov - yet both are based on Alice. This is Alice in Wonderland as you have never seen her before: a dark, sometimes menacing, and threatening character. Was Carroll all that he seemed? The stories of his child friends, nude photographs and sketches affect the way modern audiences look at the writer. Was he just a lonely academic, closet pedophile, brilliant puzzle maker or even Jack the Ripper? For a book that began life as a simple children's story, it has resulted in a vast array of dark concepts, ideas and mysteries. So step inside the world of Alice in Wonderland and discover a dark side you never knew existed!

Huck Finn's America: Mark Twain and the Era That Shaped His Masterpiece by Andrew Levy

A provocative, exuberant, and deeply researched investigation into Mark Twain’s writing of Huckleberry Finn, which turns on its head everything we thought we knew about America’s favorite icon of childhood. In Huck Finn’s America, award-winning biographer Andrew Levy shows how modern readers have been misunderstanding Huckleberry Finn for decades. Twain’s masterpiece, which still sells tens of thousands of copies each year and is taught more than any other American classic, is often discussed either as a carefree adventure story for children or a serious novel about race relations, yet Levy argues convincingly it is neither. Instead, Huck Finn was written at a time when Americans were nervous about youth violence and “uncivilized” bad boys, and a debate was raging about education, popular culture, and responsible parenting — casting Huck’s now-celebrated “freedom” in a very different and very modern light. On issues of race, on the other hand, Twain’s lifelong fascination with minstrel shows and black culture inspired him to write a book not about civil rights, but about race’s role in entertainment and commerce, the same features upon which much of our own modern consumer culture is also grounded. In Levy’s vision, Huck Finn has more to say about contemporary children and race that we have ever imagined—if we are willing to hear it. An eye-opening, groundbreaking exploration of the character and psyche of Mark Twain as he was writing his most famous novel, Huck Finn’s America brings the past to vivid, surprising life, and offers a persuasive—and controversial—argument for why this American classic deserves to be understood anew.

[burtonsdoodles]

Beautiful Ghosts

So another random thought that's popped into my head.... and rant.

I've just rewatched the 2019 film, now with a better understanding of the original musical and the characters, and I think Beautiful Ghosts would actually be an interesting fit for Demeter. (Stage Demeter, not film Demeter.) Maybe not perfectly - but when I hear it - I think of her and can believe the emotion/pain being released. I do not feel this way with Victoria.

Personally, I think it’s a nice song, but it doesn’t fit the story well enough to be needed - especially with the way it’s filmed and directed. It’s an internal monologue song, so it should be shown as her singing to herself, unaware of anyone that may be around/listening (like in Santa Fe in the 1991 film version of NEWSIES). Yet the way it’s filmed, she’s directing it at people. First at Grizabella, which devalidates her pain to say victoria has even less than her but is still making an effort to find what she’s never had. I don't like this.

Then she starts singing at the camera in the direction of Old Deut - but she doesn't know Old Deuts watching - so is she singing to the audience -- but she’s supposed to represent the audience - so she can’t be singing to them --- so then who is she singing this to!? It should be no one but that’s not how it comes across on film - if it did - I don’t think it would feel as out of place as it does. Though I really wish they’d stop adding these original songs just to get award nominations. They are fine in the credits but not in the actual story - unless they genuinely benefit it - which they usually don’t.

Also, other than her being abandoned, the film doesn't actually do anything to show/tell the audience more about this tragic past Victoria is supposed to have had which makes this song valid. Why was she abandoned? Was she treated badly? What was her relationship to her owners? Was it a shock to be abandoned? or did she fear something like this might happen? How old is she supposed to be?! Because I can’t unsee the fact that she is a kitten in the musical - but I know she isn't one in this, because other than Dench and Mckellen, everyone looks the same age.

None of this is answered or even vaguely implied - which leads to the conclusion that Victoria does not deserve to go up against Grizabella in the tortured souls and tragic past competition... but you know who does - Demeter. She would have been a way better character to construct a adapted plot around - instead of just making stuff up for Victoria. Also if they really wanted a romance subplot putting in - as films love to do - then they could have played with the Munkustrap and Demeter relationship, also there's a bit of angst there with her and Macavity’s relationship, and then there's the added bonus of an opening for conflict between Munkustrap and Macavity which lead to that brilliant fight scene which they DIDN’T PUT IN THE FILM! (That fight is my absolute favourite bit - I love it so much -- and it physically hurts me that they put that music over the barge 'fight' scene.)

Anyway...

This turned into something I didn’t intend it to be, but thoughts just popped into my head as I wrote so it mutated into a rant — sorry about that. It may make sense - it may not. Also I just wanna add that anything negative I say about the 2019 film isn’t intended to hurt/insult anyone who does like it. We all like what we like. My mind just like thinking of ways things could be changed in pretty much everything I see - and I can’t always turn it off - so it can be kinda exhausting. I have a lot of things I can say about it - both positive and negative - so I might do more of these opinion/rant posts - but we’ll see.

If you read this - thanks... or maybe I should say sorry. It’s late and I don’t know anymore.

[paths-of-my-childhood-candid]

Lover Conquers All

By: Mark Sutherland for Music Week Date: November 4th 2019 issue (published online on December 13th 2019)

She’s the world’s biggest pop star, but despite her global success, Taylor Swift is also the music industry’s greatest advocate for artists’ and songwriters’ rights. And, with a ground-breaking new record deal and a bold new album, Lover, she’s not about to stop now. Music Week meets her to talk music and business...

Around this time of year, the Taylor Swift anniversaries come at you thick and fast. Nine years since her third album, Speak Now, every note of which was written entirely by Swift, hit the shelves. Five years since she released her mould-breaking pop album, 1989, and went from the world’s biggest country star to the world’s biggest pop star overnight. Two years since her Reputation record saw her become the only musician to post four successive million-plus debut sales weeks in the United States. And so on.

But today, Swift’s mind is drawn further back, to the 13th anniversary of her debut, self-titled record, and the days when her album releases weren’t automatically accompanied by mountains of hype and enough think-pieces to sink a battleship. Her journal entries from the time - helpfully reprinted as part of the deluxe editions of her new album, Lover - reveal her as an excited, optimistic teenager, but also one with a grasp of marketing strategies and label politics way beyond her years, even if she was reluctant to actually take credit for her ideas.

“It always was and it always will be an interesting dance being a young woman in the music industry,” she smiles ruefully. “We don’t have a lot of female executives, we’re working on getting more female engineers and producers but, while we are such a drastic gender minority, it’s interesting to try and figure out how to be.”

And, of course, when Swift started out she was, as she points out, “an actual kid”.

“I was planning the release of my first album when I was 15 years old,” she reminisces. “And I was a fully gangly 15, I reminded everyone of their niece! I was in this industry in Nashville and country music, where I was making album marketing calls, but I never wanted to stand up and say, ‘Yeah, that promotions plan you just complimented my label on, I thought of that! Me and my Mom thought of that!’

“When you’re a new artist you wonder how much space you can take up and, as a woman, you wonder how much space you can take up pretty much your whole period of growing up,” she continues. “For me, growing up and knowing that I was an adult was realising that I was allowed to take up space from a marketing perspective, from a business perspective, from an opinionated perspective. And that feels a lot better than constantly trying to wonder if I’m allowed to be here.”

In the intervening years, Taylor Swift has released six further, brilliant albums, growing from country starlet to all-conquering pop behemoth along the way. She takes up “more space”, as she would put it, than any other musician on the planet: a sales and now - having belatedly embraced the format with Lover - streaming phenomenon; a powerhouse stadium performer; an award-garlanded songwriter for herself and others; and a social media giant with a combined 278 million followers across Instagram, Twitter and Facebook (which would make the Taylor Nation the fourth most populous one on earth, after China, India and the US).

But her influence on music and the music industry doesn’t end there. Because, over the years, Swift has also become a leading advocate for artists’ and songwriters’ rights, in a digital landscape that doesn’t always have such matters as a priority.

In 2015, she stood up to Apple Music over its plans to not pay artist royalties during subscribers’ three-month free trials (Apple backed down immediately). She pulled her entire catalogue from Spotify in 2014 in protest that its free tier was devaluing music, sending Daniel Ek scrambling to justify his business model. When she returned in 2017, it was a crucial fillip for the streaming service’s IPO plans.

More recently, her ground-breaking new record deal with Republic Records contained clauses not only guaranteeing her ownership of her future masters, but also ensuring Universal Music will share the spoils of its Spotify shares with its artists, without any payments counting against unrecouped balances. And when her long-time former label boss Scott Borchetta sold Big Machine to Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings, taking Swift’s first six albums with him, the star publicly called out what she saw as her “worst-case scenario” and stressed: “You deserve to own the art you make”. She may yet re-record her old songs in protest.

In short, Swift has, for a long time now, been unafraid to use her voice on industry matters, whether they pertain to her own stellar career or the thousands of other artists out there struggling to make a living.

All of which makes Swift not just the greatest star of our age, but perhaps the most important to the future development of the industry as a more artist-centric, songwriter-friendly business. Hers is still the life of the pop phenomenon - she spent today in Los Angeles doing promotion and photoshoots (or, in her words, “having people put make-up on me”) as Lover continues to build on huge critical acclaim and even huger initial sales. But now, she’s kicking back with her cats - one of whom seems determined to disrupt Music Week’s interview by “stampeding” through at every opportunity - and ready to talk business.

And for Swift, business is good. The impact of her joining streaming, and the decline of traditional album sales, may have prevented her from posting a fifth successive one million-plus sales debut, but Lover still sold more US copies (867,000) in its first week than any record since her own Reputation. It’s sold 117,513 copies to date in the UK, according to the Official Charts Company.

Even better, while Reputation - a record forged in the white heat of a social media snakestorm over her on-going feud with Kanye West - was plenty of show and rather less grow, Lover continues to reveal hidden depths. Reputation struck a sometimes curious contrast between the unrepentant warrior Swift she was showing to the outside world and the love story with British actor Joe Aiwyn that was quietly developing behind closed doors, but Lover is the sort of versatile, cohesive album that the streaming age was supposed to kill off.

It contains more than its fair share of pop bangers (You Need To Calm Down, Me!), but also some gorgeously-crafted acoustic tracks (Lover, Cornelia Street), some pithy political commentary (The Man, Miss America & The Heartbreak Prince) and the sort of musical diversions (Paper Rings’ irresistible rockabilly stomp, the childlike oddity of It’s Nice To Have A Friend) that no other pop superstar would have the sheer musical chops to attempt, let alone pull off.

“Taylor’s creative instincts as an artist and songwriter are brilliant,” says Monte Lipman, founder and CEO of Swift’s US label, Republic. “Our partnership represents a strategic alliance built on mutual respect, trust, and complete transparency. Her vision is extraordinary as she sets the tone for every campaign and initiative.”

No wonder David Joseph, chairman/CEO of her long-time UK label Virgin EMI’s parent company Universal Music UK, is thrilled with how things are going.

“Love Story was a fitting first single release for Taylor here - she’s loved the UK from day one and has engaged so much with her fans and teams,” says Joseph. “She really respects and values what’s going on here creatively. To see her go from playing the Students’ Union at King’s College to Wembley Stadium has been extraordinary. Taylor is an artist constantly striving for perfection, and with Lover - from my personal point of view, her most accomplished work to date adore working with her and whilst it’s been more than 10 years this still feels like the start.”

And today, Swift is keen to concentrate on the present and future. She has a starring role in Cats coming up (and a new song on the soundtrack, Beautiful Ghosts, co-written with Andrew Lloyd Webber) and, after a spectacularly intimate Paris launch show in September, festival dates and her own LoverFest to plan (UK shows will be revealed soon). Time, then, to tell the cats to calm down and sit down with Music Week to talk streaming, contracts and why she’s “obsessed” with the music industry...

Unlike with Reputation, most of the discussion around Lover seems to have been focused on the music... Absolutely! One of the ideas I had about this record, and something I’ve implemented into my life in the last couple of years is that I don’t like distractions. And, for a while, it felt like my life had to come with distractions from the music, whether it was tabloid fascination with my personal life or my friendships or what I was wearing. I realised in the last couple of years that, if I don’t give a window into distraction, people can’t try to look in and see something other than the music. I love that, if you really pour yourself into the idea that an album is still important and try really hard to make something that is worth people’s attention span, time and energy, that can still come across. Because we are living in an industry right now where everyone’s rushing towards taking us into a singles industry and, in some cases, it has become that. But there are still some cases where clearly the album is important to people.

Does it matter that some new artists won’t get to make albums the way you always have? It’s interesting. Five years ago I wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal and said, maybe in the next five years, we would see artists releasing music the way that they want to. I thought that each artist would start to curate what is important to them, not just from an artistic standpoint but from a marketing standpoint. It’s really interesting to see different release plans, if you look at what Drake did and then what Beyoncé does, incredible artists who have really curated what it is to drop music in their own way. We all do it differently, which is cool. As long as people dropping just singles want to be doing that, then I’m fine with it, but if it feels like a big general wave that’s being pressured by people in power, their teams or their labels, that’s not cool. But I do really hope that in the future artists have more of a say over strategy. We’re not just supposed to make art and then hand it to a team that masterminds it.

Were you worried about putting an album on streaming on release day for the first time? Well, there are ways that streaming services could really promote the [whole] album in a more incentivised way. We could have album charts on streaming. The industry follows where they can get prizes. So you have a singles chart on streaming services which is great but, if you split things up into genre charts for example, that would really incentivise people. It’s important that we keep trying to strive to make the experience better for users but also make it more interesting for artists to keep wanting to achieve. But I really did love the experience of putting the album on streaming. I loved the immediacy, I loved that people who maybe weren’t a huge diehard fan were curious and saying, ‘I wonder what this is like’ and listening to it and deciding that they liked it.

You’d resisted streaming for a long time. Have you changed your mind about the format now? I always knew that I would enjoy the aspects of streaming that make [your music] so immediately available to so many people. That’s the part of it that I unequivocally always felt really sad I was missing out on. There wasn’t ever a day when I woke up and I was like, ‘Oh, I’m really glad that multitudes of people don’t have access to my music!’ So I always knew that streaming was an incredible mechanism and model for the future but I still don’t think we have the royalties and compensation system worked out. That’s between the labels and their artists and I realised that me, to use a gross word, ‘leveraging’ what I can bring to cut a better deal for the artists at my record label was really important for me.

How big a factor were things like that in you signing to Republic/Universal? That’s important to me because that means they’re adopting some of my ideas. If they take me on as an artist that means they really thought it through. Because with me, come opinions about how we can better our industry. I’m one of the only people in the artist realm who can be loud about it. People who are on their fifth, sixth or seventh album, we’re the only ones who can speak out, because new artists and producers and writers need to work. They need to be endearing and likeable and available to their labels and streaming services at all times. It’s up to the artists who have been around for a second to say, ‘Hey guys, the producers and the writers and the artists are the ones who are making music what it is’. And we’re in a great place in music right now thanks to them. They should be going to their mailbox and feeling like they’ve got a pension plan, rather than feeling like, ‘Oh yay, I can pay half my rent this month after this No.1 song’.

Did you have more creative freedom making Lover than on your previous albums? In my previous situation, there were creative constraints, issues that we had over the years. I’ve always given 100% to projects, I always over-delivered, thinking that that generosity would be returned to me. But I ended up finding that generosity in a new situation with a new label that understands that I deserve to own what I make. That meant so much to me because it was given over to me so freely. When someone just looks at you and says ‘Yes, you deserve what you want’, after a decade or more of being told, ‘I’m not sure you deserve what you want’ - there’s a freedom that comes with that. It’s like when people find ‘the one’ they’re like, ‘It was easy, I just knew and I felt free’. All of a sudden you’re being told you’re worth exactly, no, more than what you thought you were worth. And that made me feel I could make an album that was exactly what I wanted to make. There’s an eclectic side to Lover, a confessional side, it varies from acoustic to really poppy pop, but that’s what I like to do. And, while you would never make something artistic based on something so unromantic as a contract, it was more than that. It was a group of people saying, ‘We believe in what you’re making, go make what you want to make and you deserve to own it too’.

You’re obviously not happy about what’s happened at Big Machine since you left. But will the attention mean artists don’t find themselves in this situation in the future? I hope so. That’s the only reason that I speak out about things. The fans don’t understand these things, the public isn’t being made aware. This generation has so much information available to them so I thought it was important that the fans knew what I was going through, because I knew it was going to affect every aspect of my life and I wanted them to be the first to know. And in and amongst that group, I know there are people that want to make music some day. It involves every new artist that is reading that and going, ‘Wait, that’s what I’m signing?’ They don’t have to sign stuff that’s unfair to them. If you don’t ask the right questions and you sit in front of the wrong desk in front of the wrong person, they can take everything from you.

Songwriters are in dispute with Spotify in the US over its decision to appeal the Copyright Board decision to boost songwriting royalties. Do writers need more respect? Absolutely. In terms of the power structure, the songwriters, the producers, the engineers, the people who are breathing magic into our industry, need to be listened to. They’re not being greedy. This is legitimately an industry where people are having trouble paying their bills and they’re the most talented people we have. This isn’t them sitting in their mansions going, ‘I wish this mansion was bigger and I would like a yacht please’. This is actually people who are going to work every single day. I got into writing when I was in Nashville and it was very much like what I read about the Brill Building. You would write every day, whether you were inspired or not, and in the process I met artists and writers. Somebody would walk in and someone would say, ‘Oh, he’s still getting mailbox money from that Faith Hill cut a couple of years ago, he’s set’. That’s not a thing anymore. Mailbox money is a thing of the past and we need to remember that these are the people that create the heartbeat that we’re all dancing to or crying to.

You were clearly aware of music industry machinations from a young age... Reading back on the journal entries, I forgot how obsessed I was with the industry as a teenager. I was so fascinated by how it works and how it was changing. Every part of it was interesting to me. I had drawn the stages for most of my tours a year before I went on them. That really was fun for me as a teenager! A lot of people who start out very young in music, either don’t have a say or don’t have the will to do the business side of it, but weirdly that was so much fun for me to try and learn. I had a lot of energy when I was 16!

Are you doing similar drawings for next year’s LoverFest? Definitely. And that’s why it’s still fun for me to take on a challenge like, ‘Oh, let’s just plan our own festival’. Let’s create a bill of artists and try and make it as fun as possible for the fans. I’m so intrigued by what that’s going to be like.

Finally, when we last did an interview in 2015, you said in five years’ time you wanted to be “finding complexity in happiness”. How has that worked out? That’s exactly what’s happened with this album! I think a lot of writers have the fear of stability, emotional health and happiness. Our whole careers, people make jokes about how, ‘Just wait until you meet someone nice, you’ll run out of stuff to write about’. I was talking to [Cats director] Tom Hooper about this because he said one thing his mother taught him was, ‘Don’t ever let people tell you that you can’t make art if you’re happy’. I thought that was so amazing. He’s a creator in a completely different medium but he has been subjected to that same joke over and over again that we must be miserable to create. Lover is important to me in so many ways, but it’s so imperative for me as a human being that songwriting is not tied to my own personal misery. It’s good to know that, it really is!

[wearevillaneve]

Killing Eve Gets Shut-Out the Emmy’s (but is that a reason to be happy?)

One of the wild things about being a part of the Killing Eve fandom is it NEVER gets boring.  The last episode aired over three months ago, but fresh new drama and beef and controversy swirls around like a spritz of La Villanelle. This particular one was interesting to me because of the passion inflamed and the players involved. 

Shit. Got.  Real.

One one side there is V-for-Villanelle, a splendid (and underappreciated writer) whom is a passionate defender of both the third season of Killing Eve and its head writer, Suzanne Heathcote.  On the other is villanelle_bridge, whom I follow as well, but don’t know at all (In full disclosure V-for-Villanelle is a frequent beta reader/editor for most of my Ao3 works and I, for hers  I consider her a friend and an ally).

villanelle_bridge’s position that the show’s eight Emmy nominations and no wins was something it had coming due to Heathcote dropping the ball is a bit harsh, but not entirely wrong.  Now Season 3 isn’t my favorite, but any success it has is shared from the top down, not the bottom up.

If Heathcote deserves credit for what she got right, she deserves blame for what she got wrong.  To be sure, villanelle_bridge was far from alone in thinkingght KES3 got exactly what it had coming.  

Exactly nothing.

V-for-Villanelle sharply disagreed and owes no explanation to anyone for taking  villanelle_bridge to task for dragging the show, but it applies to villanelle_bridge, as well.   No explanations and no apologies expected or needed. This is what the phrase, “I said what I said” means.  

For my part, V-for-Villanelle brought up a few thought-provoking points I want to delve further into.  Her remarks are in italics.      

Did Suzanne Heathcote rescue Killing Eve from a creative slump or did she deepen it?

All this fandom has done is blame and attack Suzanne for perceived failures, now the latest example being the 2020 Emmys. Personally, I think Suzzanne is brilliant and she rejuvenated a show  that was in a very bad place after Season 2. Besides that Suzanne Heathcote is an incredibly accomplished writer and showrunner (along with the cast, crew, producers, and co writers). Trust me, she knows what she’s doing.

That’s a pretty declarative remark but it is based upon...what?  Suzanne Heathcote was a producer and writer on the fourth season of a Walking Dead spin-off,  Fear the Walking Dead, that wasn’t very good, See and a short film. As a writer and/or producer, Heathcote’s only nominated TV work is for Killing Eve.

We know how that turned out for her.  

What is this rejuvenation Heathcote supposedly accomplished?   I am on record as being one of the harshest of the harsh when it comes to how much I detested how insufferably awful Eve became in the second season.   It takes a lot to make a murderer of multiple women, men and children worth cheering for more than the supposed “hero”, but Eve was such a miserable bitch to even an extra-soft Villanelle, that by the time they got to the ruins, more than a few fans were happy to see her get shot.

Eve became undeserving of our sympathy after committing multiple self-destructive acts of betrayal, selfishness, bad judgment and worse decisions, but it wasn’t a betrayal of her character.  Eve was moving headlong into the Dark Side and the process was unpleasant to watch, but justifiable to move her where she had to go.  

 There were too many scenes of Villanelle being threatened and throttled by misogynist men like Julian and Raymond who choked her out not once, but twice.  Yet her emotional evolution from the cocky smart-ass who boasted how amazing she was to the heartsick, but still highly dangerous assassin she became also felt naturalistic.  We saw the steps Villanelle took and the pain she experienced waking up to her long dormant humanity.

Fennell dropped The Twelve from their position of looming threat for a decidedly less interesting pair of villains.   The Ghost gave Eve a new killer to chase after for a few episodes (and several moments of Eve’s viciousness when she warned the Ghost to come quietly or get shot in the head and then enlisted Villanelle to extract information from the silent assassin in what likely included some physical torture). 

Aaron Peel was another misogynist, albeit a richer and a more controlling one, but as a threat he was quickly dismissed by Villanelle as if Fennell had simply lost interest in him.

When Phoebe Waller-Bridge departed the show in 2019,  she tapped the veteran actress/writer/producer Fennell to carry on where she left off and from the perspective of critics and audiences as calculated by Rotten Tomatoes, PWB was going to be a tough act to follow and it was, but not that tough.

Fennell began the second season minutes after the shocking twist ending where Villanelle flees after being stabbed by an angry and treacherous Eve.  Whatever creative cliff KE went over with the Ghost and Aaron Peel plotlines, it didn’t signal a huge fall of the premiere season.

Dropping four points with notoriously hard-to-please professional critics and only two with fickle audiences is not a reason to push the panic button.  Losing six points overall from Killing Eve Season 1 is no reason to not pop the champagne.

Season 3 debuted with a seemingly arbitrary six-month fast-forward with zero explanation of what Villanelle and Eve had done all that time.  The show dropped an ugly 12 points with critics who yawned with ”been-there-bored-with-that” disinterest and eight points with audiences.  Meaning between Fennell and Heathcote, Killing Eve dropped 20 points between the two groups and 26 points since the PWB glory days.

Those are not impressive numbers to support a description of Heathcote as “an incredibly accomplished writer and showrunner.”   To the contrary, any BBCAmerica executive who notices Killing Eve fared well under Fennell, but  cratered under Heathcote would insist she be replaced as the showrunner if the one-and-done mandate laid down by Waller-Bridge wasn’t being followed.

The ruins are not where Fennell left the show for Heathcote to rescue as the numbers from Rotten Tomatoes illustrate it was under her guidance that the bloom began to fade from Killing Eve’s roses of success.

What Happened to All the Winning?

We’re here due to a snarky response to Killing Eve getting curb-stomped at the 2020 Emmy’s.  Whether or not what villanelle_bridge said rude or simply sarcastic rests in the eye of the beholder, and V-for-Villanelle clearly sees it as rude.  That’s her prerogative, but we all should know by now that award shows aren’t important and what they really mean are bragging rights and some perks in somebody’s contact kicking in.

The British Academy of Film and Television Awards (BAFTA), the Emmy’s, Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild (SAG) are the Big Four for television talent to receive recognition as they play dress up and smile pretty as they walk the red carpet in designer duds.  In three seasons, Killing Eve has enjoyed a slew of nominations for its producers, actors and technicians.  

The big difference is under Waller-Bridge and Fennell many of those nominations translated into actual wins.   No more.  With Heathcote in charge KE was blanked at the BAFTA’s and erased from the Emmy’s, despite being up for eight nominations.   With the minor exception of Jodie Comer winning a second Best Actress from the TV Choice Awards, her show’s third season has received the Willy Wonka treatment from its peers.

If numbers matter, Suzanne Heathcote shrunk the approval of Killing Eve with both audiences and critics and received a chilly receptions from the entertainment establishment despite the award-bait “Are You From Pinner” episode.  Emphasizing the White co-lead and supporting characters as its Asian lead recedes in the background was a choice and as the lead writer/showrunner, Suzanne Heathcote was in position to reap the benefits had it worked.

It didn’t, and Heathcote’s bad calls have led to a split in the fandom, complaints from its lead actress about a lack of racial diversity in front and behind the camera, and an embarrassing shut-out at the major awards shows.   If that isn’t dismal failure, it can’t be characterized as a raging success.

KE is running out of gas and is nearly on fumes.  Season 2 was no prize, but Season 3 literally has won no prizes.

[last-of-the-jaded]

After having willingly given the last month of my life over to MDZS and it’s Live Action counterpart I wanted to compile a list of my favorite aspects of both (including spoilers). Both the original Chinese Novel and it’s stunning 2019 Summer Release counterpart are breathtaking in different manners, but if you are looking for a quick recommendation, I do recommend going for the drama first as it will simplify the further consumption of content if you decide you want to partake in more.

What I love about THE UNTAMED:

The symbolism of the cliff at Nightless City, and how that entire scene marks a clear shift in Wuxian’s mental state as well as the overarching story. Similarly, how in the end it is Wuxian who throws himself off that precipice to sure death. This detail provides a direct comparison between his mental state at this moments and Cheng’s after his core was squashed, while also touching on an unique level of disparity and regret that is unrealized in the novel at this point (considering how this isn’t how Wuxian dies in the written version)

Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo. I’ve made posts about this already so I’ll spare you another essay (Here and Here)

Jiang Cheng’s entire character arc. Seeing him fully fleshed out, utilized, and properly human within the drama made it hard for me to swallow how shallow he often felt on paper, especially in the early chapters. I get that this is partially due to the youth sequences in the book being written completely from Wuxian’s POV, but for me there is something incredibly human and genuine just lacking from the version of Cheng on paper that stood out so gorgeously for me in terms of his drama counterpart. Wang Zhou Cheng did an amazing job bringing out his raw emotion and anger on screen, lines were delivered in a manner that truly solidified this characters growth and vulnerability to me. For such a new actor within his field he did a brilliant job, and is the reason I have so many damn emotions concerning Jiang Cheng’s character arc. (I have a million analysis pieces typed up on my blog if that interests you)

The sequential order for the flashbacks was incredibly easy to consume. It helped to keep events and motivations clear. I understand why the book was able to skip around in a more winding mysterious manner, but from a drama standpoint I massively appreciated being able to consume the events leading up to Wuxian’s demise in consecutive order. The first few episodes were initially extremely confusing to me as a new watcher, and it’s only when the flashbacks hit that the plot-line solidified as well.

The female leads! Yanli, Qing, and Mianmian having larger roles and development was absolutely a plus. Everyone had the same intentions and feel as they did in the original, just more fully fleshed out since they were given time to interact within the world. As a bonus note seeing Madam Yu and hearing her bullshit on screen, said out-loud in the bitchy tone her actress gave her, made her 10X worse and from an antagonist perspective I massively appreciate that they were able to make me despise her so damn much.

Everyone important to the past storyline being involved in the Gusulan Study Sessions under Lan Qiren. This was a simple and effective manner of introducing everyone and having characters feel involved and interactive from the get-go. I was honestly a little disappointed that not everyone was included when I went on to read the novel.

Ning and Wuxian’s interactions early on. Their dynamic in the show was given life, and felt genuine in how it shifted over the course of Wuxian’s trails and misfortune. I love how they included Ning in the early on portions of the series, especially the Caiyi Town waterborn abyss debacle where Wuxian saved his life. It just added more layers to an already intriguing dynamic that plays a massive role overall.

The wolf torture scene. This added a whole new layer to Wuxian’s fear of dogs, while still completing its job of giving Ning and Wuxian a reason to interact and grow. Not to mention the example of Wen Sect Torture Tactics really added to the inhumanity of the sect while sparking our main character’s growth and self-sacrificing nature.

The symbolism behind Yanli’s and Cheng’s dreams. These dream sequences give a glimpse into the heads of two complex character’s and honestly added so much background motivation to their storylines. I loved these details and how much analysis us all as viewers can put into them.

The rain scene. Wuxian telling Wangji he would prefer to die by his hands. The first tears watchers see from an incredibly strong and willful young man who has always appeared stoic. (I cannot express to you enough how sad I was that this scene didn’t take place in the novel)

Wuxian’s mask. I understand logistically why they had to do this from a filming perspective (I mean if you have someone as good looking and Xiao Zhan, damnit you are going to let him look like him as much as you can) but I honestly really enjoyed the smaller details they included to make it work plot-wise. I also appreciate how it was designed as a prop considering it actually altered Wuxian’s features in a manner that made him harder to recognize due to its bulky and carved nature.

The secret underground cave in Cloud Recess under the bathing pool. The whole meeting between Wangxian and the female sect leader. I enjoyed this detail and how they expanded upon it when it came to the burning of their sect home and the survival of their people.

Wangxian’s relationship. Their subtle, trusting, gentle way of showing love. On an additional note I appreciate how it never once felt like I needed to discuss consent with the characters (coughNOVELcough) because everything between them was healthy and playful.

The soundtrack, costuming, and bts. I understand that this was a low budget production (compared to the majority of traditional dramas) and honestly I appreciate what we were given taking that into account. They stayed true to the essence and message of the story. I love the manner in which the costumes became a part of the characters and everyone had a clear style. The soundtrack flowed amazingly well with the scene and tone shifts (this is disregarding how fake their instrument playing looked because I’m still not over how off the finger movements appeared at points). The behind the scenes content on its own could win an award - it made completing the show a million times more satisfying because I do believe that the people working on set had fun (somehow even while filming during the hottest time of the year)

The name of the drama. When you reach that moment when you understand why it is called such - it’s a tale of the rise and fall of Wuxian.

The ending scene. I know it’s not the ‘stereotypical happy ending’ fans wanted, but it perfectly fit the tone and message of the piece as a whole. I love the ending. It felt right.

What I love about MDZS (NOVEL):

The Yi City Arc. It’s worth reading for this part alone. Motivations, logic, and everything just hit so much harder. I do appreciate what the drama gave us, but like, once you’ve tasted this version it’s really hard to go back.

Empathy. In general seeing Wuxian use empathy within the novel just works so much smoother. His little anecdotes and analysis while in stasis reliving ghost’s lives gives it a realism that it’s lacking on camera.

Second Siege of the Burial Mounds. The way the novel sets up this part and actually makes it feel scary with hoard mentality makes it work so much better. It feels like there is a weight to this moment. The waves of corpses are terrifying, and the exhaustion of fighting for hours gives it a level of humanity that makes what Wuxian and Wangji selflessly do stand out even more. Not to mention, the leftovers of the Wen Sect fucked me up. I bawled. This is another detail that I would legitimately read the entire novel over for just to experience.

Wuxian being fucking terrifying at points. Playing with demonic energy and losing control is supposed to be scary. In the novel it honestly felt that way. Seeing him slowly get worse was heartbreaking. Watching how people’s opinions on him skewed, and how he dealt with looks, pressure, and weight on his shoulders, took this arc to a whole new level. The way demons and ghosts flocked to and around him in public added a level of horror that was unsettling and necessary.

Wuxian actually losing control. In the drama they added another flute player to sort of work around Wuxian having to accept the result of his failure. In the novel, there is no such thing -  and I love it. It’s another dowsing to the pain and suffering Wuxian has to accept and learn to overcome.  It makes him coming back a decade later - to live and achieve and get revenge - feel different.

Action scenes and gore. If something is called “The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation” you expect some blood, and damn do I appreciate that the author made stuff have impact. I wish the drama had a bigger budget so they could have done the wounds and cgi more justice.

Wangji rescuing Wuxian after the first raid on yiling, and choosing to suffer together, hated by the world, rather than lose the love of his life. I love the use of the cliff in the drama, especially the imagery of Wangji trying to hold Wei Ying up before ultimately falling, but the route the author took in the novel is so much fucking worse. Like I cannot even imagine the pain Wangji went through.

Lan Xichen opening Wuxian’s oblivious eyes. Best brother ever. This entire scene, leading up to the final battle, is like downing a shot and waiting for it to hit. It deserves a standing ovation.

The details in the Xuanyu of Slaughter cave sequence. Every little tell that Wangji gave - he really did fall in love young.

Mingjue’s corpse. The separated limbs, angry spirit, holding bags, and everything made sense because of description.

Wangji explaining how he got the brand mark over his heart. All of his scars. Fuck. There’s inferring, and then there is having it described to you from the person directly and feeling as your own heart dies.

Lan Zhan’s insane arm strength. This is a detail that deserves recognition.

Wuxian’s inner analysis of Nei Huaisang at the end. This was fully formed and actually had some payoff.

The clear comparisons between Mengyao’s fate and what happened to Wuxian himself. Once again you can infer in the drama, but having it clearly implied in the book hits different because when someone becomes a public pariah it’s easier to go with the public outcry than try and defend them. “Nobody knew with more clarity than Wei WuXian that nobody would care and nobody would believe”

Ning protecting Jin Ling and Jiang Cheng in a manner directly parallel to how he killed the people they cared for.

Jin Ling’s realization about being unable to hate anyone in the end. You feel for this kid. You want to see him grow up well.

The beginning set up chapter. Hearing what happened in the past vaguely through spreading rumors and small talk without seeing it for yourself adds a level of intrigue. It has greater mystery than just seeing the scene play-out and cutting away.

Everything making sense in general with no plot holes. It’s one of those things where in television no matter how well you do, you can’t possibly include all the needed details. With the drama you have to infer a lot, and sometimes you will get it wrong. In the novel it really is just much easier to make sense of. This also included the pacing as well. Timeskips make sense.

Kissing. Smut. Damn, it’s so nice to have actual payoff for the slow burn.

[bananaofswifts]

Around this time of year, the Taylor Swift anniversaries come at you thick and fast.

Nine years since her third album, Speak Now, every note of which was written entirely by Swift, hit the shelves. Five years since she released her mould-breaking pop album, 1989, and went from the world’s biggest country star to the world’s biggest pop star overnight. Two years since her Reputation record saw her become the only musician to post four successive million-plus debut sales weeks in the United States. And so on.

But today, Swift’s mind is drawn further back, to the 13th anniversary of her debut, self-titled record, and the days when her album releases weren’t automatically accompanied by mountains of hype and enough think-pieces to sink a battleship. Her journal entries from the time – helpfully reprinted as part of the deluxe editions of her new album, Lover – reveal her as an excited, optimistic teenager, but also one with a grasp of marketing strategies and label politics way beyond her years, even if she was reluctant to actually take credit for her ideas.

“It always was and it always will be an interesting dance being a young woman in the music industry,” she smiles ruefully. “We don’t have a lot of female executives, we’re working on getting more female engineers and producers but, while we are such a drastic gender minority, it’s interesting to try and figure out how to be.”

And, of course, when Swift started out she was, as she points out, “an actual kid”.

“I was planning the release of my first album when I was 15 years old,” she reminisces. “And I was a fully gangly 15, I reminded everyone of their niece! I was in this industry in Nashville and country music, where I was making album marketing calls, but I never wanted to stand up and say, ‘Yeah, that promotions plan you just complimented my label on, I thought of that! Me and my Mom thought of that!’

“When you’re a new artist you wonder how much space you can take up and, as a woman, you wonder how much space you can take up pretty much your whole period of growing up,” she continues. “For me, growing up and knowing that I was an adult was realising that I was allowed to take up space from a marketing perspective, from a business perspective, from an opinionated perspective. And that feels a lot better than constantly trying to wonder if I’m allowed to be here.”

In the intervening years, Taylor Swift has released six further, brilliant albums, growing from country starlet to all-conquering pop behemoth along the way. She takes up “more space”, as she would put it, than any other musician on the planet: a sales and now – having belatedly embraced the format with Lover – streaming phenomenon; a powerhouse stadium performer; an award-garlanded songwriter for herself and others; and a social media giant with a combined 278 million followers across Instagram, Twitter and Facebook (which would make the Taylor Nation the fourth most populous one on earth, after China, India and the US).

But her influence on music and the music industry doesn’t end there. Because, over the years, Swift has also become a leading advocate for artists’ and songwriters’ rights, in a digital landscape that doesn’t always have such matters as a priority.

In 2015, she stood up to Apple Music over its plans to not pay artist royalties during subscribers’ three-month free trials (Apple backed down immediately). She pulled her entire catalogue from Spotify in 2014 in protest that its free tier was devaluing music, sending Daniel Ek scrambling to justify his business model. When she returned in 2017, it was a crucial fillip for the streaming service’s IPO plans.

More recently, her ground-breaking new record deal with Republic Records contained clauses not only guaranteeing her ownership of her future masters, but also ensuring Universal Music will share the spoils of its Spotify shares with its artists, without any payments counting against unrecouped balances. And when her long-time former label boss Scott Borchetta sold Big Machine to Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings, taking Swift’s first six albums with him, the star publicly called out what she saw as her “worst-case scenario” and stressed: “You deserve to own the art you make”. She may yet re-record her old songs in protest.

In short, Swift has, for a long time now, been unafraid to use her voice on industry matters, whether they pertain to her own stellar career or the thousands of other artists out there struggling to make a living.

All of which makes Swift not just the greatest star of our age, but perhaps the most important to the future development of the industry as a more artist-centric, songwriter-friendly business. Hers is still the life of the pop phenomenon – she spent today in Los Angeles doing promotion and photoshoots (or, in her words, “having people put make-up on me”) as Lover continues to build on huge critical acclaim and even huger initial sales. But now, she’s kicking back with her cats – one of whom seems determined to disrupt Music Week’s interview by “stampeding” through at every opportunity – and ready to talk business.

And for Swift, business is good. The impact of her joining streaming, and the decline of traditional album sales, may have prevented her from posting a fifth successive one million-plus sales debut, but Lover still sold more US copies (867,000) in its first week than any record since her own Reputation. It’s sold 117,513 copies to date in the UK, according to the Official Charts Company.

Even better, while Reputation – a record forged in the white heat of a social media snakestorm over her on-going feud with Kanye West – was plenty of show and rather less grow, Lover continues to reveal hidden depths. Reputation struck a sometimes curious contrast between the unrepentant warrior Swift she was showing to the outside world and the love story with British actor Joe Alwyn that was quietly developing behind closed doors, but Lover is the sort of versatile, cohesive album that the streaming age was supposed to kill off.

It contains more than its fair share of pop bangers (You Need To Calm Down, Me!), but also some gorgeously-crafted acoustic tracks (Lover, Cornelia Street), some pithy political commentary (The Man, Miss America & The Heartbreak Prince) and the sort of musical diversions (Paper Rings’ irresistible rockabilly stomp, the childlike oddity of It’s Nice To Have A Friend) that no other pop superstar would have the sheer musical chops to attempt, let alone pull off.

“Taylor’s creative instincts as an artist and songwriter are brilliant,” says Monte Lipman, founder and CEO of Swift’s US label, Republic. “Our partnership represents a strategic alliance built on mutual respect, trust, and complete transparency. Her vision is extraordinary as she sets the tone for every campaign and initiative.”

No wonder David Joseph, chairman/CEO of her long-time UK label Virgin EMI’s parent company Universal Music UK, is thrilled with how things are going.

“Love Story was a fitting first single release for Taylor here – she’s loved the UK from day one and has engaged so much with her fans and teams,” says Joseph. “She really respects and values what’s going on here creatively. To see her go from playing the Students’ Union at King’s College to Wembley Stadium has been extraordinary. Taylor is an artist constantly striving for perfection, and with Lover – from my personal point of view, her most accomplished work to date – her songwriting has gone to a new level. I adore working with her and whilst it’s been more than 10 years this still feels like the start.”

And today, Swift is keen to concentrate on the present and future. She has a starring role in Cats coming up (and a new song on the soundtrack, Beautiful Ghosts, co-written with Andrew Lloyd Webber) and, after a spectacularly intimate Paris launch show in September, festival dates and her own LoverFest to plan (UK shows will be revealed soon). Time, then, to tell the cats to calm down and sit down with Music Week to talk streaming, contracts and why she’s “obsessed” with the music industry…

Unlike with Reputation, most of the discussion around Lover seems to have been focused on the music…

“Absolutely! One of the ideas I had about this record, and something I’ve implemented into my life in the last couple of years is that I don’t like distractions. And, for a while, it felt like my life had to come with distractions from the music, whether it was tabloid fascination with my personal life or my friendships or what I was wearing. I realised in the last couple of years that, if I don’t give a window into distraction, people can’t try to look in and see something other than the music. I love that, if you really pour yourself into the idea that an album is still important and try really hard to make something that is worth people’s attention span, time and energy, that can still come across. Because we are living in an industry right now where everyone’s rushing towards taking us into a singles industry and, in some cases, it has become that. But there are still some cases where clearly the album is important to people.”

Does it matter that some new artists won’t get to make albums the way you always have?

“It’s interesting. Five years ago I wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal and said, maybe in the next five years, we would see artists releasing music the way that they want to. I thought that each artist would start to curate what is important to them, not just from an artistic standpoint but from a marketing standpoint. It’s really interesting to see different release plans, if you look at what Drake did and then what Beyoncé does, incredible artists who have really curated what it is to drop music in their own way. We all do it differently, which is cool. As long as people dropping just singles want to be doing that, then I’m fine with it, but if it feels like a big general wave that’s being pressured by people in power, their teams or their labels, that’s not cool. But I do really hope that in the future artists have more of a say over strategy. We’re not just supposed to make art and then hand it to a team that masterminds it.”

Were you worried about putting an album on streaming on release day for the first time?

“Well, there are ways that streaming services could really promote the [whole] album in a more incentivised way. We could have album charts on streaming. The industry follows where they can get prizes. So you have a singles chart on streaming services which is great but, if you split things up into genre charts for example, that would really incentivise people. It’s important that we keep trying to strive to make the experience better for users but also make it more interesting for artists to keep wanting to achieve. But I really did love the experience of putting the album on streaming. I loved the immediacy, I loved that people who maybe weren’t a huge diehard fan were curious and saying, ‘I wonder what this is like’ and listening to it and deciding that they liked it.”

You’d resisted streaming for a long time. Have you changed your mind about the format now?

“I always knew that I would enjoy the aspects of streaming that make [your music] so immediately available to so many people. That’s the part of it that I unequivocally always felt really sad I was missing out on. There wasn’t ever a day when I woke up and I was like, ‘Oh, I’m really glad that multitudes of people don’t have access to my music!’ So I always knew that streaming was an incredible mechanism and model for the future but I still don’t think we have the royalties and compensation system worked out. That’s between the labels and their artists and I realised that me, to use a gross word, ‘leveraging’ what I can bring to cut a better deal for the artists at my record label was really important for me.”

How big a factor were things like that in you signing to Republic/Universal?

“That’s important to me because that means they’re adopting some of my ideas. If they take me on as an artist that means they really thought it through. Because with me, come opinions about how we can better our industry. I’m one of the only people in the artist realm who can be loud about it. People who are on their fifth, sixth or seventh album, we’re the only ones who can speak out, because new artists and producers and writers need to work. They need to be endearing and likeable and available to their labels and streaming services at all times. It’s up to the artists who have been around for a second to say, ‘Hey guys, the producers and the writers and the artists are the ones who are making music what it is’. And we’re in a great place in music right now thanks to them. They should be going to their mailbox and feeling like they’ve got a pension plan, rather than feeling like, ‘Oh yay, I can pay half my rent this month after this No.1 song’.”

Did you have more creative freedom making Lover than on your previous albums?

“In my previous situation, there were creative constraints, issues that we had over the years. I’ve always given 100% to projects, I always over-delivered, thinking that that generosity would be returned to me. But I ended up finding that generosity in a new situation with a new label that understands that I deserve to own what I make. That meant so much to me because it was given over to me so freely. When someone just looks at you and says ‘Yes, you deserve what you want’, after a decade or more of being told, ‘I’m not sure you deserve what you want’ – there’s a freedom that comes with that. It’s like when people find ‘the one’ they’re like, ‘It was easy, I just knew and I felt free’. All of a sudden you’re being told you’re worth exactly, no, more than what you thought you were worth. And that made me feel I could make an album that was exactly what I wanted to make. There’s an eclectic side to Lover, a confessional side, it varies from acoustic to really poppy pop, but that’s what I like to do. And, while you would never make something artistic based on something so unromantic as a contract, it was more than that. It was a group of people saying, ‘We believe in what you’re making, go make what you want to make and you deserve to own it too’.”

You’re obviously not happy about what’s happened at Big Machine since you left. But will the attention mean artists don’t find themselves in this situation in the future?

“I hope so. That’s the only reason that I speak out about things. The fans don’t understand these things, the public isn’t being made aware. This generation has so much information available to them so I thought it was important that the fans knew what I was going through, because I knew it was going to affect every aspect of my life and I wanted them to be the first to know. And in and amongst that group, I know there are people that want to make music some day. It involves every new artist that is reading that and going, ‘Wait, that’s what I’m signing?’ They don’t have to sign stuff that’s unfair to them. If you don’t ask the right questions and you sit in front of the wrong desk in front of the wrong person, they can take everything from you.”

Songwriters are in dispute with Spotify in the US over its decision to appeal the Copyright Board decision to boost songwriting royalties. Do writers need more respect?

“Absolutely. In terms of the power structure, the songwriters, the producers, the engineers, the people who are breathing magic into our industry, need to be listened to. They’re not being greedy. This is legitimately an industry where people are having trouble paying their bills and they’re the most talented people we have. This isn’t them sitting in their mansions going, ‘I wish this mansion was bigger and I would like a yacht please’. This is actually people who are going to work every single day. I got into writing when I was in Nashville and it was very much like what I read about the Brill Building. You would write every day, whether you were inspired or not, and in the process I met artists and writers. Somebody would walk in and someone would say, ‘Oh, he’s still getting mailbox money from that Faith Hill cut a couple of years ago, he’s set’. That’s not a thing anymore. Mailbox money is a thing of the past and we need to remember that these are the people that create the heartbeat that we’re all dancing to or crying to.”

You were clearly aware of music industry machinations from a young age…

“Reading back on the journal entries, I forgot how obsessed I was with the industry as a teenager. I was so fascinated by how it works and how it was changing. Every part of it was interesting to me. I had drawn the stages for most of my tours a year before I went on them. That really was fun for me as a teenager! A lot of people who start out very young in music, either don’t have a say or don’t have the will to do the business side of it, but weirdly that was so much fun for me to try and learn. I had a lot of energy when I was 16!”

Are you doing similar drawings for next year’s LoverFest?

“Definitely. And that’s why it’s still fun for me to take on a challenge like, ‘Oh, let’s just plan our own festival’. Let’s create a bill of artists and try and make it as fun as possible for the fans. I’m so intrigued by what that’s going to be like.”

Finally, when we last did an interview in 2015, you said in five years’ time you wanted to be “finding complexity in happiness”. How has that worked out?

“That’s exactly what’s happened with this album! I think a lot of writers have the fear of stability, emotional health and happiness. Our whole careers, people make jokes about how, ‘Just wait until you meet someone nice, you’ll run out of stuff to write about’. I was talking to [Cats director] Tom Hooper about this because he said one thing his mother taught him was, ‘Don’t ever let people tell you that you can’t make art if you’re happy’. I thought that was so amazing. He’s a creator in a completely different medium but he has been subjected to that same joke over and over again that we must be miserable to create. Lover is important to me in so many ways, but it’s so imperative for me as a human being that songwriting is not tied to my own personal misery. It’s good to know that, it really is!”

[bthenoise]

We’re Starting To Lose It So We Made A Fake Music Award Show To Remember The Quarantine By

We are losing our minds and we aren’t talking figuratively like The Pixies. Every morning waking up in quarantine feels like an episode of Punk’d. 

Where is Aston Kutcher -- oh right, it’s 2020 -- Where is Chance The Rapper? we ask ourselves as we peel ourselves out of bed for what feels like the millionth time.   

Seriously, though. We know you guys are feeling the same way too. We read the tweets. We see the TikToks. Ya’ll are losing your goddamn minds just like us. 

The good thing is, to help with this sense of craziness as best as we possibly can (which isn’t saying much, we aren’t doctors after all -- shout out to all the amazing medical teams out there!) we have constructed the first and hopefully last 2020 Noise Quarantine Awards.

Featuring highly coveted awards such as Best Soundtrack To Fuel Your Hatred For The Government and Best Song To Steal Toilet Paper To, the awards below are meant to shine a light on all the positive things to come out of 2020. 

We know it sounds like an impossible task to put “2020″ and “postive” in the same sentence but somehow we did it. 

Check out the awards below.   

Fantastic Features Award

Silverstein - A Beautiful Place To Drown

Honestly, there are probably about ten different awards we could give Silverstein’s sensational LP A Beautiful Place To Drown. From start to finish, this is hands down one of the band’s best albums yet. However, for the sake of this very serious and very made-up award show, we are happy to present the scene staples with the Fantastic Features Award. 

Not only did the band include familiar favorites such as Beartooth’s Caleb Shomo, Simple Plan’s Pierre Bouvier and Underoath’s Aaron Gillespie, but they also went out of their way to include other artists such as emerging rapper Princess Nokia and Intervals’ guitarist Aaron Marshall. Now if that doesn’t deserve an award, we don’t know what does.  

Back Off Pit Daddies Cause This Song Slaps Award

A Day To Remember - “Mindreader”

But there’s no breakdown! How am I supposed to mosh to this? Would you quit your whining? It’s pretty much impossible for A Day To Remember to write a bad song. And sorry to break it to you pit warriors, they definitely didn’t start with their newest track “Mindreader.

Best Album To Eventually Soundtrack The Next Matrix Movie

Code Orange - Underneath 

Does this one really come as a surprise? Essentially creating their own genre of technology-influenced metalcore (computer core, maybe?), Code Orange’s Underneath is the perfect soundtrack to any type of action-packed, dark web-based, sci-fi thriller like The Matrix trilogy. Now would you like the red pill or the blue pill?  

The Welcome Back, We Fuckin’ Missed You Award

The Ghost Inside - “Aftermath”

A world without new music from The Ghost Inside is a world we don’t want any part of. Thankfully, for the first time since their tragic bus crash back in 2015, the metalcore maestros have returned with the hard-hitting and incredibly emotional track “Aftermath” taken from their soon-to-be-released self-titled album. So for that, the least we could do is present the band with the Welcome Back, We Fuckin’ Missed You Award.  

Honorable Mention: D.R.U.G.S (aka Craig Owens) - “King I Am”

Best Song To Listen To On Repeat And Realize You Successfully Killed Two And A Half Hours Of Your Quarantine

Loathe - “Screaming”

There is nothing made up about this whatsoever. We seriously thank Loathe for creating mind-altering music that transports you to a new dimension.  “Screaming” is a gem and the band deserves to be awarded for it. Oh, and also, I Let It In And It Took Everything is an amazing record everyone needs to hear ASAP.

Best Album To Get Drunk And Talk About Your Feelings To

Violent Soho - Everything Is A-OK

We’re not sure exactly what it is about Australia’s Violent Soho but they always seem to bring the deepest and darkest emotions out of us. Their latest LP Everything Is A-OK is no different. From track one to track ten, the band’s first new album since 2016 is an emotional magnet attracting feeling after feeling leaving us desperate for a drinking buddy and a good cry.

The If It Ain’t Broke Don’t Fix It Award

August Burns Red - Guardians

August Burns Red has been a prominent staple of the heavy music scene for years. Since bursting out of Lancaster, PA with 2005′s Thrill Seeker, the two-time Grammy-nominated act has been a constant source of inspiration with their bruising, top-notch musicianship. Fifteen years later, with the release of their ninth studio album Guardians, the metalcore vets are still as heavy and hard-hitting as ever deserving of our If It Ain’t Broke Don’t Fix It Award.   

Best Album To Eventually Soundtrack The Next Season Of Black Mirror

Enter Shikari - Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible

Enter Shikari is easily one of the most unpredictable bands in our scene. One minute you think you have them and their eclectic sound pinned down, then the next they release their genre-shattering LP Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible. With cinematic twists and turns from the rock-oriented opener “THE GREAT UNKNOWN” to the cosmic tornado that is “{ The Dreamer’s Hotel }” and circus-themed “Waltzing Off The Face Of The Earth,” Enter Shikari’s spellbinding LP is a perfect fit for something just as fascinating as the next season of Netflix’s Black Mirror.

Best Album To Get Your Medical Degree To

Vermicide Violence - The Praxis Of Prophylaxis 

We understand it’s not easy to comprehend deathcore lyrics. However, if you’re in need of a good study buddy while you prepare for the boards, look no further than Jarrod Alonge’s new parody album The Praxis Of Prophylaxis. Covering high-end medical topics such as vaccines, gingivitis, asthma and more, Vermicide Violence’s new LP is sure to help a lot more than those Grey’s Anatomy re-runs.    

The Tasmanian Devil Award

Rotting Out - Ronin

The Tasmanian Devil award is a highly coveted prize (possibly one of our most coveted) given to the album with hands down the most circle-pit-inducing tracks. While there have been some pretty good options this year, the record that stands out the most is Rotting Out’s first new album in over seven years, Ronin. Without going too far into detail -- because honestly, it’s pretty obvious why we picked this record -- if you’re able to stand still while listening to these fiery ass songs, you’re probably a cop.

Best Album To Get Drunk And Talk About Your Feelings To Part Two

Spanish Love Songs - Brave Faces, Everyone

Really? You’re gonna complain we used the same category twice in a made-up award show only created cause we’re stuck living fucking Groundhog Day over and over again? Instead, how about you put that same energy into enjoying Spanish Love Songs’ brilliant, tear-jerking album Brave Faces, Everyone. You won’t regret it.

Best Soundtrack To Fuel Your Hatred For The Government

Anti-Flag - 20/20 Vision

Regardless of if you’re really into politics or not, it’s practically impossible at this point to not swear at our so-called “leaders” up in Washington DC. So if you’re looking for the best album to fuel your hatred for the Head Cheeto In Charge and all his helpless minions, look no further than Anti-Flag’s powerful 20/20 Vision.

Honorable Mention: The Homeless Gospel Choir - This Land Is Your Landfill

The Album Most Likely To Get You Out Of Mosh Pit Retirement

Polaris - The Death Of Me

This record is the definition of “slaps.” From beginning to end, Polaris’ punishing new album The Death Of Me is a heavy-duty rollercoaster ride that will leave you with a melted off face and an endless desire to jump back in the pit and crack a few skulls.  

Best Album To Rip A Phat Riff To

Hot Mulligan - You’ll Be Fine

Hot Mulligan are a bunch of jokesters but there’s nothing funny about their new album You’ll Be Fine -- alright, maybe a few of the song titles are a little silly. The band’s latest release is a guitarist’s delight with ringing mathcore-like riffs that will leave you both jubilant and jealous. Case in point, give the infectious opener “OG Bule Sky” a spin and get back to us.   

Honestly, Fight Us, This Song Is A Bop Award

All Time Low feat Blackbear - “Monsters”

We know what some of you cool cats and kittens are thinking: But this isn’t pop-punk!? Since when does Blackbear get a scene pass? Listen up. No, this song isn’t “Dear Maria, Count Me In” but who cares? It’s 2020 and musical genres are dead. Enjoy the good music while you can before we’re all dead too, okay?

Honorable mention: PVRIS - “Deadweight”

Best Song To Steal Toilet Paper To

The Chats - “Drunk N Disorderly”

If you haven’t had the fear of potentially wiping your ass with a washcloth over the last few months, this award probably isn’t for you and your 30 extra rolls of toilet paper. However, for us regular folk who have a limited supply of TP, The Chats’ fast-paced High Risk Behavior track “Drunk N Disorderly” is the perfect song for stumbling into someone’s home and swiping a roll or two.  

Wow We Didn’t See That Coming Award

Falling In Reverse - “The Drug In Me Is Reimagined”

Ronnie Radke has never been afraid to push boundaries musically. Whether it’s rapping on a track or dropping an upbeat, synth-laced single like “Bad Girls Club,” the former Escape The Fate frontman always seems to have something new up his sleeve. This year, to help celebrate 2011′s The Drug In Me Is You becoming gold-certified, Radke and Co. released an epic piano-lead version of their fan-favorite title track. The results? A majestic dream-like experience worth repeating over and over again.

If You Hurt Mother Earth One More Time We Swear You’re Dead Award 

In Hearts Wake - “Worldwide Suicide”

There’s been a lot of talk about global warming over the past few years. Recently, while we’ve all been stuck at home, skies have become clearer than ever as wild animals roam the barren streets. This is a dream come true for earth-friendly metalcore act In Hearts Wake. 

Now as some cities start to reopen, let us remind you: If you even think about going back to your wasteful, pollution-heavy ways, we and In Hearts Wake will come for you with the same force and brutality as heard on their newest track “Worldwide Suicide.” Watch your back.

Sure It’s Different But Still Kicks Ass Award

The Used - Heartwork

This isn’t The Used you knew in junior high. Bert McCrackin and Co. have returned with a fresh-faced 2020 LP that is sure to make you feel some type of way. Featuring guest appearances from members of Blink-182, FEVER 333 and Beartooth, The Used’s latest is a heavy-yet-dancy addition to their beloved-and-never-stale catalog.  

Better Not Sleep On This Record Award

Charmer - Ivy

Look, you literally have nothing but time on your hands. Why not spend it discovering new music from bands who deserve your attention? Seriously, turn off Love Is Blind and Too Hot To Handle and give Charmer’s moody 11-track release Ivy a try. You can thank us later.

Honorable Mention: Big Loser - Love You, Barely Living

Holy Shit We Can’t Believe That Just Happened Award

Dance Gavin Dance - “Calentamiento Global”

Four words we’ve all been thinking since Dance Gavin Dance dropped their highly anticipated album Afterburner: Tilian can speak Spanish!?

Giving the entire Swancore community a jaw-dropping moment with their new experimental track “Calentamiento Global,” in the song, DGD’s brawny frontman shows a little latin flavor with lyrics like “Te adoro, mi reina. Eres la única que veo.” Unsurprisingly, like most Dance Gavin Dance (or should we say Baile Gavin Baile) experiments, the post-hardcore act totally nailed it. 

The Back To Basics Award

The Amity Affliction - Everyone Loves You... Once You Leave Them

The Amity Affliction caught a lot of flack for their experimental 2018 release Misery. While entirely unwarranted as the metalcore vets were just looking to expand their sound, for their 2020 LP Everyone Loves You... Once You Leave Them, the Aussie outfit returned to form with their breakdown-heavy musicianship and brooding lyricism. Still have doubts? How about you give “All My Friends Are Dead” a spin or two.  

Skankin’ Pickle Award

Skatune Network - Ska Goes Emo, Vol. 1

Here’s a fun one. Adding to the list of things we never thought we’d see in 2020, go ahead and add a ska record covering some of your emo favs like My Chemical Romance, Paramore and Blink-182. Already known for his creative covers, Skatune Network really outdid himself this time around with his Ska Goes Emo LP. Who would have guessed you could skank so well to “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)?” 

The 2020 Glow-Up Award

The Word Alive - Monomania

The Word Alive has seen a lot of change over the course of their ten-year career. From 2010′s hard-hitting album Deceiver to this year’s impressive LP Monomania, the band has really grown into who they are today. For the first time, instead of putting out the music they’re expected to release, the Arizona act really stepped out of their comfort zone and dropped the music they wanted to make resulting in one of this year’s freshest and best so far.

Chocolate Covered Cranberries Award

Four Year Strong - Brain Games

For five long grueling years, we went without new music from easycore noisemakers Four Year Strong. This February, that all changed with the release of the band’s killer seventh studio album Brain Pain. Bringing the guitar-lead heaviness fans have come to love over the years along with their infectious pop-punk-leaning songwriting, Four Year Strong’s new record is the perfect balance of sour and sweet -- like chocolate covered cranberries! Who’s hungry?    

[howtotrainyouragents]

30AOS Catch Up!

I’m not able to participate in the 30-Day AOS Challenge, but I wanted to jot down all of my answers for my own memories. Guys, we are almost there!! I’m not ready!! But I love you guys and you have made these last years and the last 30 days so wonderful!! Thank you!! 

Day 1- Favorite Season: Season 4! It was tight and well-constructed, and I just adored the A-B-C arc breakdown and how smoothly they tied together

Day 2- Favorite Episode: “Self-Control”. Truly an amazing showcase of Iain, Liz, and Chloe’s acting + plus incredible fight scenes + top notch tension and suspense. I don’t get tired of it. 

Day 3-Favorite Storyline: The Framework arc because I am a SUCKER for AUs, and it was so wonderful to see Ward be good, Mace be a superhero, Coulson be normal, Fitz and May be evil, and Tripp be alive. And the references to the current political climate were just a cherry on top 

Day 4-Favorite Male Character: Mack, he is the definition of a good man, and he deserves a break haha

Day 5- Favorite Female Character: My girlfriend, my hero, Daisy Johnson, of course :) 

Day 6- Favorite Friendship: Ugh, you’re gonna make me choose?? Coulson-Fitz-Hunter team up in Season 2. It was the Father-Older Son-Younger Son relationship none of them asked for :D 

Day 7- Favorite Ship: Philinda. The way they trust! Love! Defend! They are a SoulTP.

Day 8- Favorite Noncanon Ship: Ugh, you’re gonna make me choose again?? Skimmons or Fitzdaisy. No I will not be choosing between the two. The perfect union is Fitzskimmons, obviously 

Day 9- Favorite Guest Star: Am I allowed to say Stan Lee? :(  I miss him, and it was such a great scene 

Day 10- Favorite Recurring Character: Ghost Rider. Robbie was so powerful and complicated and understandable and good and deserved so much, and Gabriel Luna deserves his own TV show. Honorable mention to Cal, whose arc was amazing and I love and miss him. 

Day 11- Favorite Villain: John Garrett. He was a nutjob at the end, but leading up to it, he was so damn charismatic and brilliant in the way he played SHIELD the way he did. And no one could chew a scene the way Bill Paxton could. RIP.

Day 12- Funniest character: LANCE HUNTER. He brought a perfect, sincere dry wit that has yet to be replicated in the show 

Day 13- Character you wish would return: I’ve said this a thousand times: Joey Gutierrez. A good soul too good for SHIELD, but I would just like to know he’s doing good. Also Vijay Nadeer  (Come on, @writers, you have one more season! Tie up that plotline!)  

Day 14-Underrated character: Elena “Yoyo” Rodriguez! She deserve so much love. She’s strong and passionate and smart and justice-driven and unafraid to be confident and cheeky. She inspires so much of my own self-confidence 

Day 15- Saddest Death: I know what is the saddest death. You know the one. The one at the end of S5. But we do not speak of it. It has been two years. We do not rewatch that scene. We do not acknowledge it. We yell at Iain for being too good at his job. We cry. That is it. Hahaha, okay, real answer: Tripp’s! The way that he went in there and destroyed the crystal to save his friend, and it was totally useless, and she wakes up just as he crumbles. DEVASTATING. 

Day 16-Best Season Premiere: I was gonna say Season 1′s because it was fun and cheeky and had me hooked from the start, but... Iain stole this award for Season 3. The suit!! The confession of love!! His devastation at “Maveth”! THE SCREAMING AT THE ROCK. 

Day 17-Best Season Finale: Season 5. It revealed itself and wrapped itself up so beautifully. Daisy’s fight with Graviton was truly worthy of the MCU big screen (And yes, I still think want to see Daisy vs Thanos)

Day 18-Favorite Season 1 Moment: Too many to choose from, so I’m not gonna even try. Simmons’ “Laws of Thermodynamics” Speech. Coulson and Mike Peterson’s showdown at the station in episode 1. Skye’s “God is love”. Ward’s HYDRA reveal to the team. All of Nick Fury.  All of “T.R.A.C.K.S.”  (my favorite episode)

Day 19-Favorite Season 2 Moment: Skye’s transformation. Favorite episode  “Melinda” 

Day 20-Favorite Season 3 Moment: Again, FITZ SCREAMING AT THE ROCK. Favorite episode “Purpose in the Machine” 

Day 21- Favorite Season 4 Moment: The Skimmons hug in “Self-Control”. Favorite episode again is “Self-Control”

Day 22- Favorite Season 5 Moment: Daisy’s fight with Graviton, especially when she discovers the serum. Favorite episode “Fun & Games”, but dang if “The Devil Complex” isn’t a ride and deserves a shoutout on this list. 

Day 23- Favorite Season 6 Moment: The ladies night fight :D Favorite episode “Fear and Loathing on the Planet of Kitson” 

That’s all for now, folks! 

[doof-doofblog]

“I’m Fine!”

Monday 1st June 2020

Good Morning/Afternoon folks! Once again, I apologise that this post is a little late, I unfortunately missed out on watching EastEnders last night, but I have watched it instead this morning and will cover it today, as well as posting later tonight following tonight's episode. So there will be two posts today! I know last night was the episode everyone has been waiting for, it's been teased as one of the most exciting and different episodes EastEnders have ever done.  

Wow! Just Wow! What an incredible episode! I don't think I've seen anything like this portrayed on TV, ever! I want to applaud everyone involved in this episode for making it so iconic and memorable! I'm sure this episode will go down as one of EastEnders most epic and memorable moments. EastEnders have been known to do episodes where it all focuses on just the one character, Dot did it once with a huge monologue that lasted the whole episode, Stacey had one where she was suffering from bipolar and postpartum psychosis, Bobby had one when he returned and was seeing the ghost of Lucy everywhere. This time it was all about Ben and focusing on his hearing loss, giving the viewers an insight to what it may be like for a person living without their hearing.

I was a little bit confused to what was happening right at the beginning, but of course it all makes sense. At first, I thought Ben might've been dreaming, but obviously it was all revealed later on in the episode. I thought it was wonderful how Lexi was using sign language to communicate with Ben, giving him his breakfast and asking him to tuck her up into bed at night, little Lexi is a beautiful little actress. Even when Ben and Lexi were walking through the Square, it was incredible how they did it. Ben not being able to hear exactly what's being said by everyone. He could see lips moving and people talking but not being able to hear just the sound of voices chattering. Even when Jean approached him and greeted him very briefly, he couldn't even make out what was being said to him! When he saw Lola and Peter talking from a distance, he knew something was going on, I thought it was very clever the way it was portrayed. He was so focused on something so far away, he didn't even see the van coming towards him and he nearly stepped out in front of it. Realising what he had done, he realised he might've scared Lexi and told her not to worry, what Lexi said then really touched me ... "Don't die Daddy, I need you. Even if your ears don't work!" - what a truly inspirational little girl!

Then the scene between him and Phil when they were in the house talking about the plans going forward with the job they were being involved in with Danny. Realising that Ben could only make out certain words Phil was saying, he kinda was getting some form of understanding at how the job would go. When Phil was explaining it and showing him the map, you just know that you're going to worry for Ben. Would he be able to go through with it? Even when Ben asked to him to slow down a little so he could lip read, even Phil was a little unsure as to whether Ben should take part. When he told Ben that perhaps he should stay away due to the state he was in with his hearing, Ben was clearly hurt. He was so desperate to prove to his Dad that he could help, regardless of his disability. He's said countless times that he is still the same. He is still the same lad who could help him, but he is very vulnerable, he doesn't want to believe it, but he is.

Oooooh and then he decided to approach Lola, after seeing her and Peter from a distance he needed to know what was going on between them. Even though he knew something was going on, he jumped to conclusions about Lola having an affair with Peter, this clearly and understandably upset Lola and she walked way, while Jay saw everything from afar. Later on Jay approached Ben asking what his issue with Lola was, it was only then Jay revealed to Ben that Lola aborted his baby due to Ben's current situation. To be honest, I kinda forgot that Lola didn't really tell anyone, I didn't realise it was just her and Jay who knew about the abortion. But that just made Ben even more angry, had she really blamed Ben as a cover up? Now, that scene between Lola and Ben in the Arches, I found was very powerful. Both of them shouting and pleading to each other, trying to understand each other, was incredible, especially due to the fact that Ben could only make out certain words that Lola was saying. Lola did admit to him that she only slept with Peter the once, only because she thought that they had split up and weren't getting back together. She also did make clear that the reason for her abortion was because of Ben, how would she have been able to cope with a newborn baby, Lexi and having to look after Ben because of his hearing loss. I hoped Ben would understand where she was coming from, but the question is now, what is Ben going to do with the information about her and Peter? He's clearly disappointed with her, surely he wouldn't tell Jay what she's revealed to him and upset his brother? Will he end up confronting Peter and warn him to stay away?! To be honest, it looked as if he was about to approach the Car Lot when he saw Peter inside, but then he got distracted by the cars arriving to pick Phil up for the job.

Realising he had missed the opportunity to sneak into the cars, he jumped into another car and followed. He arrived at what looked like a deserted building, slowly he made his way through trying to find where his Dad and Danny would be. I thought it was so clever that all you could hear was Ben's breathing and the odd sound of metal rumbling. When he found that liquid on the wall - was that blood?! Whatever it was, it scared him and he felt the need to grab his gun. I was a little concerned as I thought he would be getting himself into danger the more he walked through the building. Only then, what happened? His phone went off didn't it! Poor Callum was texting him asking him when he would be home, little did he know what his boyfriend was really getting up to! Then, he was found, a gun pointed in his back, all you could hear were the shakes and nerves in Ben's voice as he was eventually found, only to be led to a room where his Dad and Phil were.

Both of them looked so shocked to see him there, but it also looked as if Phil had been hit. I am right in saying that Phil had a mark on his forehead? Could that be where the blood on the wall had come from? What had they done to him? For a moment, I did think either Ben or Phil were going to be seriously hurt, only what happened next really shook me! Danny didn't want Ben there in the first place, he was angry that he had shown up and even said to Phil that he wouldn't take the risk. Danny knew Ben had hearing problems, but then what he did next really shocked me! He grabbed Ben, shouting at him "You can't hear me, can you?!" - "Is this your good ear? Is it?!" - and then BANG! ... For a moment, I wasn't too sure whether he had actually shot Ben in his good ear, or whether he had just shot the gun so close to his ear that it caused Ben to screech in pain, as the sound could've easily affected his hearing ability. Even when Danny turned around to Phil and said to him "Say goodbye to your son!" - you could see that Phil didn't want to put his son's life in danger. I don't know why, but I loved it when Ben and Phil were looking at each other and Phil was gesturing to Ben to actually do something, as if to say "C'mon! Get up and fight!" ... was Phil using sign language? Was that how Ben knew what to do? Whatever it was, I thought it was brilliant! Ben and Phil - The Mitchell's back to how they were! When they were battling their way through the gang members, I was like "Yeah!!! Go on boys!" HAHA!

However, they now needed to get away. Now, I don't know about you, but I was more worried for Phil at this moment, when I saw them running away, I didn't think Phil would get that far, but I'm happy and surprised to say that he did! Ben was clearly struggling behind him though, after being shot either in his ear or so close to his ear, the sound was ear-piercing and there was constant ringing in his ears, as much as he was trying to focus on his hearing loss, he was trying to focus on following his Dad. For a moment, I did think he was going to get lost, thankfully Phil came back for him and dragged him away before Danny and his gang could catch up. Phil got them to the van which had all the money inside and quickly drove it away before Danny could reach them. I'm happy to see that they both got away and Phil managed to get his money, but then - did anyone else notice? Complete silence! Ben could no longer hear what his Dad was saying, has he lost his hearing completely? Could this mean that Ben's permanently deaf? Could he still have his operation? There are so many questions to ask, the episode ended on such a cliffhanger! Is Danny going to come back for them and get his revenge? I don't think we've seen the last of Danny, after what happened in that episode, nah ... he's going to want to get to get revenge and I don't think he'll stop until he does. Does this mean that someone close to the Mitchell could get involved, as in like, kidnapped or hurt? What does this mean for Phil now also? Does he have enough money to buy Sharon the Vic? Will he realise what's happened with Ben's hearing? Is Callum going to find out what's happened to his boyfriend and where he was? SO MANY QUESTIONS!

Overall, I thought the episode was incredible! It really was an eye-opener and it gave an insight to what being deaf is really like. Everyone involved in this episode and story-line have been fantastic, Max Bowden really deserves an award for his performance in this episode. Steve McFadden, once again, nothing but greatness! In my opinion this has been one of the best episodes ever. I don't know where they're going to go from here regarding Ben, but i'm looking forward to seeing what happens next. We know this new character, Frankie, has been introduced. After what has happened with Ben and realising he's lost his hearing completely, will he take her up on her offer of introducing him to the deaf community and seeing how they carry on with their lives? It'll be a big insight for Ben and for viewers I believe. I'm really looking forward to seeing what's going to happen next, I am really excited.

Before I leave you, I'm aware that more spoilers have been released for next week's episodes, so I'll leave them here for you to look at. I'll try not to spoil too much for you but, due to a tracking device on his car, Gray finds out his car was driven to Stratford - it was Gray's car Ben used to go to the job - But will Gray jump to conclusions and accuse Chantelle of having an affair? Also Whitney is still clearly struggling, things get a bit awkward after she tries to kiss Gray. Then Keegan and Tiffany are still coming to blows with each other, could things be nearing the end for them? And lastly, Sharon has a difficult day ahead as Ian puts together a memorial for Dennis, what could she and Phil be talking about?

Thank you everyone for taking your time to read my blog! I hope you've all enjoyed it. What an amazing episode right? And we haven't got long to wait to see what happens next. I'll be back tonight with another blog following tonight's episode! Thanks again everyone! Stay safe! Love you all xXx

[toomanystoriessolittletime]

The thrill of it all (4/9)

Summary: Rose and Tom have been together for 7 years when he breaks up with her. She has no idea why. Tom regrets it almost immediately but still moves on. Until he realized what a huge mistake he has made.

Pairing: Tom Hiddleston / OFC

Warnings: angst

can also be found on AO3

Masterlist

On December 12th of that year Tom woke up late. He’d been out having dinner with both his sisters and it got rather late. He had his first appointment today and he didn’t want to be late. It was 9 am and he had to get ready. Grabbing his phone, he went to the bathroom to have a quick shower before.

While waiting for the water to boil in the kitchen a little later, he finally checked his phone which had numerous notifications but the one on the top made him hold his breath.

 “Congratulations on your Golden Globe nomination. You truly deserve it. Rose”

It had been 3 weeks since he had sent her a text message. And she hadn’t responded. He couldn’t blame her. If she had left him the way he left her he wouldn’t want to talk to him either. Still. He couldn’t stop the little smile that made it’s way to his face.

On Christmas day Tom found himself in the house he grew up in, surrounded by his whole family. Still he couldn’t enjoy it as much as he would have.

“You know you could just call her.” His mother sat down next to him.

“I know.”

“Then why aren’t you doing it?”

“I want to talk to her in person. I don’t even know where to start to apologize.” He admitted.

“Oh Thomas.” Diana hugged her son.

“I know you will find a way. But you should hurry before you’re too late.”

“Dad. Oh my god don’t.” Rose put her arm over her eyes, trying to hide from the world. Yet laughing.

“Why?” Her father chuckled.

“Because it’s embarrassing.”

“It’s not. All of us had to start somewhere.” Ryan said, trying to keep a straight face.

“But you didn’t start with a rhyme of how much you loved banana ice-cream, didn’t you?” She asked.

“Nope.” He laughed and Rose joined. It was the day after Christmas. She had planned to go to London for the holidays, but her father surprised her in New York just on the day she was supposed to fly out to the UK.

Every concern she had regarding this Christmas where washed away as soon as she saw her father.

Okay. James probably also had to be a reason.

After going out with him a couple of times, they had decided to just date. As it turned out James was a music producer and even worked with some of the same artists as Rose. He couldn’t believe she was the one who wrote the latest Number 1 song of the billboard top 100. He was complementing her so much, and she had been blushing so hard in that moment, that she just kissed him just to shut him up. That was on her last day in New York 2 weeks ago.

You could imagine Rose’s surprise when she opened Ryan’s door this morning back in San Francisco as the doorbell ringed and found James standing there.

“We have a mutual friend here who invited me. I hope that’s okay.” He had said

“I’m going to kill Ryan.” Rose had answered, shaking her head.

“Okay…  I can just leave again?” James had suggested slowly.

“No. No. You stay. Hey.” Rose had to stretch to hug him.

“Merry Christmas.” James had whispered and kissed her lightly.

And that’s how she found herself on the couch, James arm around her shoulders, while her father was telling embarrassing childhood stories about herself.

“Can we stop now with the stories about me and focus on something else?” Rose asked.

“Yes. Let’s focus on James who has been nominated for a golden globe.” Ryan suggested and Rose shot him a dangerous look.

“It’s nothing.” James took a sip from his whiskey.

“Oh please. You probably will win the Oscar also. The music and movie are brilliant.” Andrea chipped in.

“Which movie?” Rose’s father asked.

“La La Land.” SheI answered and her father looked impressed at James.

“Well. Congratulations. I saw it back in London on screen and loved it. I even bought the soundtrack on itunes.”

“Thank you so much.” James smiled at Rose’s father.

“You know I still don’t have someone to accompany to the Golden Globes.” It was way past midnight and Rose was laying with her back on James’ chest outside on the balcony under a big blanket.

“You don’t?”

“Nope. Haven’t found the right person to ask.”

Rose nodded.

“You know where I’m going with this conversation, don’t you?” James leaned down, close to Rose’s ear.

“I know.” Rose whispered and turned around so she was facing him.

“I can’t go with you and I’m going to tell you exactly why.”

“I’m listening.”

“Well first, we only know each other for 7 weeks. You don’t take your…” I was searching for the right word. “Girlfriend?” he suggested. I smiled at him.

“Was that a question? Because it sounded like that.”

“Do I have to ask you to be my girlfriend like we are in the second grade?”

“Who has girlfriends in the second grade?” Rose asked surprised.

“I don’t know.” James laughed and put his arms around Rose to lay her down on his chest. Sure they only knew each other for a short time but he was pretty sure he loved her.

“So…” She started again after a while. “You don’t take your girlfriend for 7 weeks on a red carpet of one of the biggest award ceremonies on the planet.

“I would.” James interrupted her.

Rose laughed and punched him lightly on his chest.

“Let me finish, won’t you?” She kissed his chest through his shirt.

“Okay maybe YOU take your girlfriend of 7 weeks on the red carpet. But…” She kneeled between his legs on the lounger.

“But maybe I don’t want to go because there is a high chance I will run into my Ex that I don’t want to take.” Rose confessed.

“The one who ghosted you?” He asked. She nodded.

“I know I don’t talk about it very much. He really did hurt me and I’m not sure what I’ll do if I see him. So I rather would let it happen anywhere but on a red carpet.”

“Understandable. Why would he be there?” James asked interested. He really knew nothing about this mysterious guy who broke her heart. More than once he imagined having a talk with him, to ask him what on earth was wrong with him to let a woman like Rose go.

“He is nominated as best leading actor in a mini series. You actually told me you loved the series when we talked about the globe nominations.”

“Your Ex is Tom Hiddleston?” James asked rather surprised.

“He is. We had been together for 7 years when he broke up with me.” A sad smile came to her face. James sat up and hugged her tightly. He knew that she was hurt badly. He was also pretty certain that she still loved him. And with this new information about how long they had been together, he needed time to process.

“It’s okay. Maybe you can join me on the after party? I can ask who is on the guest list, so you don’t run into him?” He asked. Rose looked at him and smiled, before she leant forward and kissed him. Giving him the answer he wanted to hear.

Rose wanted to send him something. Hell. She wanted to hug him and tell him how proud she was. And she wanted to punch him for his poorly chosen words. She could see that he was nervous.

“You should call him.” Ryan said.

“I can’t.” She watched as he stumbled over his words, while accepting his first Golden Globe for his role in “The night manager”.

“Then write him. Or write something.” He kissed her forehead and left.

She looked at herself in the mirror. The now red hair was curly around her head. The green floor long dress she chose fitted perfectly and the shoes made her at least 3 inches taller.

The applause on TV brought her back and she saw Tom waving to the crowd before he left the stage. Her phone already in her hand she went through her contacts.

“Oh my God please tell me it wasn’t that bad.” Were the first words she heard after the call connected.

She laughed. “Well it wasn’t that good either.”

“I really hate you, Stevens.”

“I love you too, Luke. How is he?” Rose had been in contact with Luke constantly in the last months. In the past years he had become a close friend.

“He’s doing interviews right now. I gave him a tequila after he came back from stage.”

“Like a good Publicist would do.”

“Are we still on for tomorrow?” He asked.

“I’ll pick you up around noon. I will call you before I’m on my way.”

“Good.”, she heard Tom asking who’s on the phone. Her stomach clenched hearing his voice so close.

“That’s Tom. I have to go.”

“Tell him congratulations.”

“I will. See you Rose.”

“You look absolutely beautiful.” James told her as soon as she exited the car.

“Why thank you Mr. Golden Globe winner.” She kissed him.

“Congratulations.” She kissed him again.

“Thank you. Should we go in?”

“We should.” Rose took his hand and smiled at him.

What she didn’t know was that only 2 cars away Tom had spotted her and had a hard time controlling his expression, when he saw the woman he loved was kissing another man.

She hadn’t expected for the meeting with Luke on the next day to be so awkward.

Usually they had no problems talking to each other. They had been friends from the beginning of Rose and Tom dating. But both of them where not sure how to proceed this friendship, now that Tom was out of the picture.

“Long night?” Luke asked as they were seated and looking through the menu.

“I actually haven’t slept at all. I was on a after show party of the golden globes.”

“I know. Tom saw you.”

Rose looked at Luke over the menu.

“He did?”

Luke nodded. “He was supposed to be at the same party but left as soon as he saw you with James Miller. He was quite upset.”

“And that should concern me?” Rose put the menu down and raised her eyebrows at Luke.

Luke became uneasy.

“No. Yes. God, this is awkward. I don’t want to be put in the middle of all this.”

“There is no middle, Luke.”

“He wants to make things right, you know?”

Rose leant back in her chair, shaking her head rolling her eyes.

“Then he should have made more of a effort instead of a text message. How would you feel if Laura left you without any real explanation, because we both know Taylor wasn’t the real reason. He waited too long. I have James now. And he’s perfect. I really want to try with him.”

“Do you love him?” Luke asked.

“I always will. But I don’t think I can get over the way he treated me.”

“I was talking about James.” Luke said after a while. Rose looked at him breathing in deep.

“I like him.” Rose answered. “You can’t love somebody after 2 months.” As soon as these words left her mouth and saw the look Luke gave her she, suddenly exhausted, rubbed the bridge of her nose.

 “Jesus Benedict. We won’t be late. Who goes to watch a Shakespeare piece in the middle of the week?”

 “Excuse you. Don’t underestimate the Shakespeare loving population of London.”

 “Ugh.” Rose rolled her eyes and followed her friend. She and Benedict Cumberbatch had been childhood neighbours. Sure he was 10 years older than her but he had been her brothers friend. After he died he tried to be the big brother for Rose, David would have been.

 Benedict had made it his purpose to take her to the theatre once a month. If he was available. His career really was starting to take off. That’s how she found herself sitting in the first row at the Donmar Warehouse about to see Shakespeare’s “Othello”.

 “Do you think Ewan McGregor somewhere suddenly during this piece will stop and wholeheartedly sing the Elephant love song medley from the Moulin rouge movie? Because if that happens it might be worth leaving my flat the day before Christmas.” Rose had asked Benedict quietly before the lights went out.

 Benedict had chuckled and whispered. “What am I going to do with you?”

2 hours later she joined in the standing ovation. She never liked Shakespeare. But if everything would have been performed like that, she would reconsider. When Ben told her Ewan McGregor would be in that play, she was sure she could survive 2 hours, subtle looking at him without actually paying real attention to the theatre. She hadn’t put in consideration the curly haired Gentleman that would also be there.

 “So. How upset are you that there was no singing?” Ben asked, when the applause had slowed.

 “Surprisingly I rather liked it.” Rose answered honestly.

 “Oh?”

 “This was the first time I really followed the story, so Congratulations Cumberbatch.” Rose looked at him. The cast came out for their final bow and she looked on stage again and swore she saw the Curly haired Man winking at her.

   They were standing outside 30 minutes later, waiting for one of Benedict’s friends to have a drink with.

 “I really want to go home Ben.” Rose whined for the third time.

 “It’s Friday and it’s not even 11 pm. How old are you?”

 “Right now I feel too old to even argue with you.”

 “I’m taking you home on our way to the pub, all right?” Ben put his arm around her shoulder.

 “Thank you. Adoptive brother.”

 “Oh Tom. There you are.” Benedict suddenly took his arm away from Rose’s shoulder to greet the man who just stepped out with a hug.

 “Glad you could make it. I hope you liked it?” As soon as she heard that voice, she knew that she so would go to the pub with Ben and his friend that night.

 “Loved it. Rose here even liked it, and she is a though crowd.” Benedict stepped away from him and made a gesture to where Rose was standing.

 “Though crowd? Why is that?” Tom looked at here interested.

 “Oh she hates Shakespeare.” Ben provided and Rose could nothing but laugh at the shocked expression on Tom’s face.

 “How… Why…” Where the only words that left his mouth while him and Ben where making their way over to Rose.

 “I guess I just never really understood the fascination. Ben here tried very hard to make me like him. And the only piece I really ever liked way Henry V.”

 “So there is hope.” Tom was now standing in front of Rose with a hopeful look on his face. So Rose was the name of the woman he had spotted first as he stepped on stage only a couple of hours ago. She was even more beautiful as she was standing right in front of him now.

 “There is always hope, Tom…” She held her hand out for him to shake his.

 “Thomas Hiddleston. But friends can call me Tom” He took her hand to shake it.

 “And you are?”

 “Rose Amelia Stevens. Nice to meet you Tom.”

   When he brought her home that night, because Ben had left them by themselves after getting no word in, they were surprised to find out they lived only 5 minutes apart.

 She was standing in her door, searching for the keys in her purse in the early morning hours of Christmas day. The sun about to come out. They had talked for 6 hours before the pub closed and they made their way home through Regents Park.

 “So…” Rose finally had found her keys.

 “So…” He repeated, smiling.

 “We can agree that not everybody has to like Shakespeare?” Rose asked.

 “We could do that.” He answered thoughtfully. “Or I could pursue you as long as possible with the outcome of you loving Shakespeare as much as I do.”

 “I don’t think Shakespeare even loved himself as much as you love him, Tom.” She laughed. He joined.

 “You might be right but I would like to try.”

 “And how would you do that?”

 “We could start by going to the theatre together?”

 “I already do that, if I you remember.”

 “Well yes but you haven’t been to the theatre with me.” He grinned.

 “True.” Rose smiled.

 Tom grabbed her hand and kissed the inside of her wrist.

 “Merry Christmas Rose.” He had smiled.

 “Merry Christmas, Tom.” She had smiled back and watched him leave her, going down the street.

 As soon as she entered her apartment, still smiling like a lunatic her phone beeped, signalling a new message.

  > She’s beautiful, and therefore to be wooed; She is woman, and therefore to be won. Henry VI Part 1 - Act 5, Scene 2 >

Right in that moment she had fallen in love with Tom. After meeting him only a couple hours earlier.

She looked at Luke. She had to leave.

“I can’t. I really want to. But I can’t.” Rose stood and put a hand on her friends shoulder.

“I have to find out if I can grow to love James.”

“But that’s not fair to either one of you.”

“I know. But sometimes you have to put yourself first. Like Tom did.” And with these word she left Luke alone at the Restaurant and made her way home.

>> Chapter 5

[ayankun]

real quick before I get into season 6

So this is my second time watching Season 6 and I’m p. excited.  This last week or so I’ve been dredging up bits and pieces, but most of it is a blur.  It seems the memories that lasted this whole year were mostly of the huge armored truck and the nonbinary character who works at *spoilers*’s tech startup.

I’m curious to see if the second time through it’ll settle in like it belongs.  I remember Season 5 really didn’t make any sense to me until I saw it again.

But really I’m just excited that in 11 hours I can watch the new stuff?!

But first, before I forget, here’s my last thoughts on Season 5.

So remember how I was surprised at Season 1′s structure, that it folded up nicely down the middle with some pretty tidy symmetry?

None of the other seasons do that.

Instead, I remember particularly strongly how jarring the end of the Ghost Rider arc was in the middle of Season 4.  And then again when the (what I’m calling) Kasius arc also wrapped up mid-season.

I’m not sure when I read about it, but it probably was circa Ghost Rider, that they’d intentionally decided on what I’m pretty sure they called “pods” of episodes, these seasons-within-a-season sort of narratives.

Season 2 sort of kicks it off, what with the race to Terragenesis taking eps 1-10 and the Afterlife/splinter SHIELD stories filling 11-22.  Then Season 3 has the monolith/Maveth mystery to start, followed by Hive & the Inhumans for the second half.  S4 is super poddy, obviously branded as Ghost Rider/Agents of Hydra, and S5 also splits neatly into future!Lighthouse and present day!Lighthouse.

Two points to make on this:

Kasius is such a rockstar villain that I feel really bad for Hale/Ruby/Talbot.  They’re so apples and oranges but having the highlight come first allows for unfavorable comparisons to be made.  It’s like asking any well-to-do Kree to compare Xandarian snail to oops all berries.

Good thing they’d had all this practice writing complete stories in 12 eps, since I’m hoping Season 6 (and obvs Season 7) will still feel as fully formed as their longer antecedents.

Anyway, that first point is my major point for S5.

S3 already feels like the second half of S2, and its internal halves are the most similar to each other as any of the other “pods,” so it’s not like people have a reason to go around saying “I liked the first half of the season waaay better than the second.”

(although I might.  I might say that, actually.  but not because the halves were branded separately from one another)

And S4, though the two halves are barely identifiable as coming from the same show much less the same season, they’re both good.  Robbie Reyes is perfect.  The effort to incorporate new MCU topics/aesthetic from Doctor Strange is great.  Robots who just want to be a real girl is my JAM.  All the Framework cameos really make my day!  And then Robbie Reyes comes back all deus ex machina (ironic) and saves the day, and

it makes sense that he does because the function and nature of the Darkhold was well established in part 1 and

it’s GREAT that he does because he’s perfect and we miss him.

Then here comes S5.  I really really respect so much about the creative decisions that took the story where it went (ie, outside Papa MCU’s sphere of interference), and getting to reuse the same set in a different context while minimizing “on-location” shoots is just technical and financial genius, okay. 

But there’s so much about the first half, in the future, that compels me waaaaaaay more than the gritty anger of the second half. 

Kasius, WOW what a villain.  Dominic Rains, everyone.  I have nothing unkind to say about the performance, the character, anything.  Impeccable.  Spectacular.  Perfection.

The mystery of the season opener!  We had the tag scene where Coulson’s “in space” and plenty of time to ruminate on the how and why, especially with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 coming out right as S4 ended and Thor: Ragnarok literally sizzling in the theaters at the same time as this season started.  They answer the question by the end of the episode, but not before several characters come up with and pursue several different theories, and that’s fun.

What a way to capitalize on the Inhuman storyline your show’s been about for years now, without forcing Papa MCU to contend with all this good work you’ve been doing.  Just go somewhere he can’t reach you (the future), and then un-write all of it anyway.  V. tidy.  Extra style points will be awarded.

LEITMOTIFS.  If y’all’ve seen BSG, then you know Bear McCreary is a master of the art.  But this season has so many good themes, my friends.  The Daisy/Quake theme that’s been knocking around for a season is here in full force, and Sinara’s is the best bad guy theme you could have wanted, and dearest sweetest Flint has the best great guy theme you ever heard.

Just, while we’re here.  Sinara.  She says nothing for episodes (it feels like, I wasn’t counting) and her first line is a scornfully growled “compassion.”  Give it up for Florence Faivre !!!  She hardly has any lines but you always know exactly what she’s thinking and what she’s about.  Sinara and Kasius have the richest on-screen chemistry of anybody on any show from any era fight me on this I dare you.

Mack’s coming down from his second life in the Framework, and that suuuuucks that these folks never have a moment to rest before barreling into their next story.  But he gets to be a father to Flint!  And Yo-Yo gets to be a mother!!!  UGH why couldn’t they have brought Flint instead of Deke lololol oh well.

I think I know another reason why Lincoln seems overhyped to me.  That other Inhuman, Ben I think his name is?  He’s in like two episodes, serves a narrative purpose, and is disposed.  I know Lincoln’s in like 18 times as many episodes but they have the same exact overall impact on my brain-hole.  Imagine if it was Ben that came back with them instead of Deke.  That’s how I feel about Lincoln.  Like, how did this obviously disposable character make it this far?

Then you have Deke.  You love to hate him.  He’s a very well-fashioned character who is flawless in making you feel the way the showrunners want you to feel.  That’s the kind of character that gets killed off twice and still comes back, and it doesn’t surprise you.

So, Enoch.  Enoch is everyone’s favorite character, right?  Right.  Give me genderless robots with a soft spot for humanity ANY DAY.  PLEASE where are they I need them.  (I’m un-repressing memories of S6 and I feel like somehow I should be careful what I wish for)  Man I remember with 1000% clarity the absolute glee I felt sitting down for the opening montage of S5 the first time, how ballsy weird it was, just watching this freaky bald alien of a man go swimming with some fun electro pop number playing in the background.  100/10 please make more television like this

 More monoliths!!  The time one is so pretty!

(remember when there were more monoliths and no one knew where they came from or what they did but then it didn’t matter because they got instantly exploded?)

The low-key obvious answers to the season’s questions, what with the Inhumans running all over the shop, Quake there to tear everything down and Flint there to put the pieces back together I’m not crying you’re crying

Oh man, and Simmons getting to mentor not one but two Inhuman youths to be confident and trust in themselves and their powers.  What a ways from the fear-panic response to Daisy when she turned.

Also, yeah, it has to be said, this show’s blatant “you’re different and that’s okay” agenda sits very well with me.  Agents of SHIELD says LGBTQ+ rights!

So anyway, part 2 falls a little flat for me because its strength is its themes, but I’m not really compelled by the stakes and definitely not by the villains and not really even by the intra-team drama.

Obviously S2 touched on parenthood, but it was pretty specific.  S5 digs in and brings us a lot more on the topic.

Kasius desperately desires his father’s approval but very deeply despises the methods and the people who earn it.

Hale was indoctrinated by Hydra and was very earnest in wanting to uphold the values of the organization, until the organization (and Whitehall) shared with her their narrow appreciation of the gift of her loyalty.  Even then, she struggles to make sense of this loyalty, only realizing too late that being a good Hydra pawn and a good parent are categorically mutually exclusive.

Ruby, obviously, is like a mini-Kasius, the brave-faced rebel who wears her mother’s disappointment on her sleeve like a badge of honor to pretend that it isn’t crippling her.

The Von Strucker kid, boy is he messed up (and his Hydra dad had something to do with it)

((echos of Ward are still heard even this far after his demise, and we know what his father figures were like))

Poor Talbot, got some brain damage and some Hydra conditioning on top of that, cracked that noggin wide open.  He just wanted to do good by his family.  Just wanted his son to know he loves him.

Polly and Robin.  The daughter who needs constant special care because she’s stuck inside her own mind and the mother who’s been through hell and back and still manages to do her best.  Even when she knows she won’t always be there for her daughter.  Even when she knows she’ll be replaced.

May getting a glimpse at the life she and Andrew once talked about.  Getting a chance to do right by that little girl.

Mack recovering from getting that same glimpse, from the echoing memories of a life time spent with his greatest regret erased.  Being roped into being a thug and threatening that dad without knowing the meaning behind his threat -- being told that people like him don’t deserve the privilege of parenthood.  But then getting to know Flint, and having Yo-Yo at his side while they fast track this kid through all the things he’s gonna need to know in order to be the Big Damn Hero the world needs him to be.

The timey-wimey promise that FitzSimmons will one day be parents to a brilliant daughter who will unfortunately give birth to a Deke.

Coulson and Daisy.  Another parent placing enormous expectations on his daughter, desperate that she be ready for his responsibilities because his time is running out.  A daughter who mishandles these expectations and refuses to stop fighting a losing battle, not because she’s not ready to step up, but because she doesn’t want to face the fact that she’s losing the man who raised her.

Anyway, aside from all this good Theme work, part 2 wades perfunctorily through musty remnants of the previous season, from The Doctor to The Russian.  Which makes sense, because that season ended in a way that left so many loose threads -- but then this season comes along and summarily ties them up, all cute little bows, the lot of them.  Dusts its hands.  Nothing to see here.  Move along now.  Time’s up.