#but sometimes i get the sense that some people genuinely don't want taylor to do something right so they can have an extra stick to bash her

[sadbeautifutragic]

.

[kineticallyanywhere]

Tell us more about Doodler Normal Kinetic i beg of you

First thing to note: Doodler Boss Normal would not survive contact with Canon Normal

Cause the thing with this version of Normal, I think, is that the situation to create it is so specific; and in a way that I've never thought about before, for a narrative? I'm sure it exists somewhere, because what story framework doesn't already exist somewhere but like.

this version of Normal only happens in a world where all 4 anchors are broken with violence and not a single other person is questioning that decision by the end. (which I don't think is going to happen! for the record!) in this world, Normal presents himself as a last bastion of empathy, but where in any other story that would look like a shining knight with their Chosen One sword and shield and righteous strength, in this story it looks like a kid ready to turn into an eldritch monster because the eldritch monster is the only other creature he can find that makes any sense to him. a character who, written in words, is a paragon hero who's virtues refuse to crumble. but because of the Ao3 CSS skin of the world he's in, he gets all the style and flair and trappings of a villain.

(which, again, I don't have reason at the time of this writing to think that this situation would happen; that there isn't going to be at least one other person on Normal's side. It's all but impossible to predict any of these kids and I think they all have good hearts, even Scary. Link right now is an unsettled weather vane in a storm, Taylor for all his swagger doesn't seem on the side of brutality, and then like... Hermie???)

that said! In a world where sometimes you can't decide if you want to sit in your disappointment or scream at the top of your lungs, there's falling back on your new frienemy-of-the-family monster bro

(anyone with a writing bug and time, feel free to use any, all, or none of these ^^)

for thoughts on where this AU would end up, anyone can obviously take it anywhere but I know the version I would make would have a happy ending (I am allergic to writing tragedies, sue me). I guess it would be a story where finally snapping and letting out some Oak Anger and not apologizing (because while it's not okay to be cruel it is okay to be angry) is what gets characters to come to terms with each other and better understand each other and meet each other in the middle and even come to terms with themselves and what version of expressing themselves makes them happy and comfortable and best able to love themselves and the people around them.

all of that admittedly wrapped in a gift box with the catharsis of a character saying "I'm not okay with how you're treating me" in a very badass fashion, as we all wish to do one day.

also for those of us who would die for Scary but also want to take her by the shoulders and shake vigorously there's the Rule of 3s for swiping the Goth Crown from Scary a THIRD TIME

all of her put-on apathy and tiredness and lashing out but from a genuine place, simultaneously forcing her in front of a mirror and asking her to reach back for the part of herself that started the day of the debate "bright eye-ed and bushy tailed" so that she could even stand a chance at getting through to Normal??? The ways to talk about Scary skyrocket even higher. to be clear, I don't want this as a form of stealing Scary's narrative, I want it as a way of taking Scary's narrative and hitting the NOS. give her just about everything she wants, for everyone to agree with her and listen to her and think she's right and enforce the belief that she has any power over what's going on and then see if she even likes it. See if she likes herself and see how far she's willing to take the identity of goth punk seeker of darkness. ask her where the line is. show her the road she she's taking and ask her where the line is. canon parallels and connections between normal and scary are a whole other post I can have and will drive to work in the morning writing the meta in my head, the way Normal is a previous version of Scary cranked up to 11 and the way Scary makes herself into a person that Normal has every right to be but isn't becausehe'shumanandflawedbutsogoodatheartandnevergivesuponothersnotevenherandAUGH

[tetskuro]

hello! thanks so much for this in advance but if for some reason you don’t feel like doing my matchup feel free to lmk! no hard feelings at all:)

i would love a haikyuu matchup! any gender is fine, i’m bisexual:) i use she/her pronouns & i’d like a romantic matchup if that’s ok!

okay so for my personality i tend to be really shy when meeting new people. i have a tendency to get really quiet & just kind of stand there awkwardly trying to make conversation 😭 but after i’ve gotten to know someone i tend to be more relaxed. i try really hard to be a good listener to my friends. i would consider myself kind, like the giving someone shotgun in the car & offering to bring people things when they’re sick type. with my closest friends i’m very honest and blunt about certain things but i also try to be sensitive to their feelings. i’ve been described as very comforting and warm to be around by my friends:) i have multiple anxiety disorders so sometimes i can come off as unapproachable but it’s not intentional, i just freak & zone out 😭 i guess the best way to describe me is in the type of person to be straight up when necessary but i’ll also be very sensitive and sweet. i get really frustrated when people are mean to my friends. when those around me get hurt physically and/or mentally by someone it makes me really angry, i’m very protective over the people around me. some people would consider me confrontational but in reality i actually despise confrontation 😭 i just put up a strong front when it’s necessary. i have a hard time being super emotionally vulnerable with new people due to past experiences but i also have a really poor tendency to overshare & then overthink every social interaction afterward 😭 i tend to have kind of dry sarcastic humor at times but i’m super willing to change it up if someone doesn’t like it

i love spending time w my friends! we do lots of things like swim, shop, watch movies, play games. i love socializing with my friends & i do really enjoy meeting new people (in small groups)!! i love film, reading, making beaded bracelets, listening to music (lots of pop, im a huge taylor swift fan), & recently i’ve started building miniatures which is cool:) i have a lot of pets including chickens, bunnies, dogs, cats, & a lizard (i’m a huge cat & bunny person!) i love long form tv shows like glee, greys anatomy, gilmore girls, criminal minds, etc.

i’d want someone who wouldn’t want to like. use me for my body? if that makes sense? i’ve had many people just go for me physically & then when they realize i’m an actual human being with emotions and feelings they dip 😭 and someone who’s kind and willing to put in the work for me. i want someone who wouldn’t judge me for my feelings and emotions. idk i fear that’s the bare minimum but whatever!

ideal first date / hangout would be something casual but cute like getting milkshakes & watching the sunset on the water & just talking but yknow like you hold hands and lay your head on the others shoulder & then they kiss you at your door. just cute and simple:)

thank you!! sorry this was so long 😭

your matchup is...

iwaizumi hajime

⭑ iwaizumi's honesty is refreshing and he's just a very genuine individual

⭑ he admires your kind and considerate nature and how you're always looking out for your friends

⭑ iwaizumi can also be a pretty blunt person and he admires your straightforwardness as well; he's a big believer of tough love

⭑ he relates to your protectiveness as well

⭑ iwaizumi would enjoy your dry sarcastic humor and you'd get a lot of chuckles and laughs out of him

⭑ your first encounter with him might be a little awkward since i don't think he's the type of person to open up super quickly

⭑ but once you start talking more often, you'd be comfortable with each other in no time

⭑ iwaizumi finds all of your pets so cool and they'd take a liking to him as well

⭑ he thinks your hobby of building miniatures is super interesting and would just watch you put them together

⭑ omg i could see him complaining about how long some shows are but when you catch him watching an episode with you over your shoulder, who's the one invested now?

⭑ iwaizumi seems like someone who'd like a casual first date (because i can see him getting stressed out from the pressure of making it perfect) so getting milkshakes and watching the sunset together sounds wonderful

⭑ he'd have a cute blush on his face if you rested your head on his shoulder and try his hardest not to move so that you can stay in your comfy position

your matchup runner-up is akaashi keiji

[unbotheredalwyn]

Hi. I came across your blog randomly. I used to never listen to Taylor until covid. I started to pay attention during the folklore/evermore era and that was the best. i feel like since everything went downhill. Folklore/Evermore to me are Taylor the person. All others all her the popstar. However TTPD, idk….& the whole drama toxic Swifties created makes me want to back away again. Im good at seperating the art from the artist but goddamn its hard to defend a lot of sht she/her fans do.

I think sometimes it's just impossible to separate the art from the artist

And what's concerning is like some artists genuinely get canceled for stuff Taylor herself is currently doing. I just can't sit by and watch all of it happening that's why I chose to step away.

People are shitty in general and I don't feel like Taylor deserves the pedestal she's being put on if that makes sense

[coldasyou]

Hi! I'm a different anon but I've been kinda curious about your thoughts on this..since you've shared some of your struggles with depression. I've also been suicidal now and especially in the past but I don't feel like she talks about it genuinely in this album compared to past albums. Like there isn't one song about it..it's more like things that happened that made her "crazy" which relates to the asylum imagery. But to me it's all exaggerated I guess and idk how she could dismiss her partners feelings experience with it either. That makes me kinda uncomfortable. Of course songs like Antihero and I Can Do It are allowed to be cuz we have all been there but I don't get the sense she actually wanted to kill herself like she's talked about with some lyrics like about crashing into the rocks everyone is saying...compared to in This is Me Trying, Hoax or Evermore. Idk..we don't get a song here that describes how she actually felt or how bad the depression actually was.Maybe The Black Dog, I Can Do it and I Hate it Here show it the most..and the fame songs. Of course I think she struggles with it generally and definitely with fame. I also think it's a different kind than me,that I don't relate to so maybe it's just me and everyone is different. She also had someone falling in love with her at the worst time of her life lol which is not my experience at all and now that is happening again. So it's hard to believe it most of the time and part of why I have a hard time with this album I think and it's been hard to figure out why. Sorry this is so long..I hope it's okay I sent this.

you're totally fine, I think it's important to have these conversations.

it's just all kind of hard to talk about bc on one hand I don't want to assume things about taylor's mental state that I do not know, but I also want to listen to and discuss what she's portrayed and said in her art. like where does interpretation end and speculation begin? especially with a topic as sensitive as this, so I guess what I would say is I think taylor's made it clear she's struggled with her mental health and I think a lot of it has to do with fame. and like you said it's kinda hard for us to relate to that bc well, we're not famous, and it sometimes feels like "why would you complain about having all this money and success other people would kill for." idk I'm kinda rambling at this point, I wish I had a concise reply but I think at the end of the day I'd rather give taylor the benefit of the doubt that she is using this terms and portraying herself in this way bc it's how she genuinely feels. i'd rather be wrong than say someone can't talk about their own mental health in a way I don't like. we are in an era of people using stuff like intrusive thoughts as a joke so I get why everyone is a bit wary of stuff like this but that's personally how I feel.

[mermaidsirennikita]

ARC REVIEW: Everyone I Kissed Since You Got Famous by Mae Marvel

3.75/5. Releases 6/11/24.

Vibes: second chance (or first chance after you never took the second), figuring out what love actually is, the cult of celebrity

Heat Index: 6.5/10

Wil Greene and Katie Price grew up together--their moms were best friends, after all. Then, in their senior year of high school, they became best friends... and almost more. But Katie went off and become a super successful, internationally famous actress; and more recently, Wil has become known for a viral TikTok account where she kisses new people every week and posts the videos. Katie's seen plenty of them. And now that she's back in Wisconsin for a month, she may be ready to finish what she and Wil almost started all those years ago.

This is an overall lovely (though imperfect) heartfelt, funny, and sexy romance that sort of mashes second chance with friends to lovers, though like--were they ever friends? Or were they finally allowing themselves to be close to each other despite the burgeoning tension? It's hard to say.

Don't worry about the celebrity angle--it's not that sexuality doesn't matter here, but you don't have a lot of "but what will the public think?" angst. Not that that's inherently wrong for queer celebrity romances. But this book is focused on something else, and though I think it sometimes got wrapped up in the characters' heads, it still leaves me wanting to read more from the Mae Marvel team (yes, that's a pen name for two writers!).

Quick Takes:

--Okay, so I want to get something out of the way here, as the back copy mentions 'Tis the Damn Season: how Taylor Swiftian is this? I would say, overall... enough to where, even if you notice a thing here or there, you can overall ignore it. The biggest thing for me was Katie's cats, which she's quite well known for having. And really? That probably wouldn't have come off as Swiftian to me if not for the TtDS comp. So... while I get it, I do wonder if that comp will turn some people off. I hope it doesn't.

--There's actually a really interesting connection between Wil's TikTok videos and Katie. Like, I was initially hesitant about the TikTok aspect, but the way it loops back to this connection between the two of them (beyond Katie being turned on by them... which she is) is clever. I appreciate that degree of thought going into it, the subtle character work.

--What's not subtle is the way that Wil and Katie talk to each other! I was of two minds on this. On the one hand, I kind of like that right out the gate these two are upfront about being into each other. It dodges a lot of the issues I find with friends to lovers stories, because again... are they friends? When they admit that they at minimum want to fuck from the beginning?

On the other, I did feel like these two communicated a little too well. I've seen a lot of reviews celebrating this, and I get it! But there's good communication that feels real, and good communication that's a little too good to be true. This was the latter, though it isn't too big of an issue. It's just that--at some point, I was like "okay we know where we stand, let's get this tied up". It's not because I wanted the story to end... But a huge part of any potential central conflict never happened, because Wil and Katie were on the same wavelength from the jump. Again, for a lot of people that's going to be great. For me, it did slow the book down a bit.

--In the same sense, these two just like each other so much. They're so besotted. And you get that over and over in the narrative. How amazing Wil thinks Katie is, how remarkable Katie thinks Wil is. And I would say that most of the time, that's really cute and genuine and sweet and soft. But it did go a little overboard.

--There's a really compelling backstory on both sides, and both are so real (in often sad ways). And in general, this was something I liked about these characters. Even when the sequence of events isn't that realistic--Katie has done a LOT in her young years, even by super famous actress standards--the leads still feel real. It adds to their love story and the intimacy between them.

The Sex:

The sex in this novel isn't that explicit, though I appreciate the diversity of sex acts and the way in which it was all seen as sex. You get about four-ish scenes. But beyond that, there is SO much sexual tension in this book, and it's hot. I mean, a lot of this novel is about kissing, and the moments before kissing, and knowing you want to kiss someone... It's delicious.

Was this a flawless book? No. I think there are still some things that need to be smoothed out, more of an emphasis put on the things that really leans into the raw and honest moments Marvel writes. But it's a fun read, and if you want to read about two ultimately good women falling in love--this is it.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[lordelmelloi2]

last ask for me; can you recommend an alcoholic beverage for people who hate the taste of alcohol but want to be drunk?

my first genuine advice is to get over it and learn how to drink like everyone else has to and learn to appreciate the notes in a beverage instead of going YUCK! ALCOHOL TASTE! IT BURNS! at everything... GET OVER IT!!!!!

Alcohol is an acquired taste. You must treat it with respect for that fact, but also treat the creation and history and culture behind the beverages with respect as well. I genuinely hate and feel disgust when people tirade about how alcohol tastes bad -- I'm not saying it's a heaven-sent beverage or that it doesn't cause cancer or substance abuse or anything, massive disclaimer, but there is culture and history behind many alcoholic beverages and like any culture and history there must be respect put behind it. Not everyone has had a poor relationship with alcohol. There is, in fact, a way to have a healthy, moderate relationship with alcohol; to not be dependent on it psychologically or physiologically, and to not let it ruin your life. I do believe that having a strong sense of self-discipline is key to this, as well as remembering moderation and temperance as well as humility when it comes to managing one's relationship to alcoholic beverages. I can't stress this enough. I am someone who comes from a DV household where alcoholism was a massive factor. I am well aware of the risks, I am not condoning alcohol abuse. Don't take my words in bad faith. Please god

This is in no way an absolutely comprehensive list but I get really intensely focused about this topic so this is where I am going to start.

beginner alcohol suggestions for those who are weaning into alcoholic beverages generally start sweet or mellow. You are going to stick to regions and grape varietals (varietal = the name of the grape used in the wine i.e. cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, moscato, riesling) that are sweeter or milder/mellower/softer. Thus it usually goes like:

Moscatos

Sangrias

White Zinfandel

White Merlot

Ports (VERY high in ABV, proceed with caution)

Chocolate Wine

Icewine

Sauternes

Meads

(Sweet, not Dry) Rieslings

Sweet Red Blends

Spumantes/Off-dry Cuvees

Vinho Verde

for what wines people generally try first. For beers, I would suggest Fruit Beers, Wheat Ales, chocolate Stouts/Porters and the like -- things that have flavors added to them. Or inoffensive beers like Lagers and Cerveza styles (which translated literally just means Beer Styles, but generally refers to Mexican lagers). Sours are another one that people start with but I hate sours, so...

For liquor there's no real good starting point I think. people who aren't used to drinking alcohol are going to taste it in everything.

Flavored whiskies (not Fireball. stop fucking drinking Fireball)

Irish Cream Liqueurs

Liqueurs in general, in particular Amarettos, Orange liqueuers, Schnapps of any kind (lower proof), Limoncellos

Aged Tequilas (i.e. reposados and anejos/extra anejos as those are smoother and tend to have a sweeter taste in some regards, these are meant to be Sipped)

Cocktails in fucking general ...

If trying to get into whiskies, usually people start with Bourbon and such because the high amount of corn (51%+) in the mash bill means that it will have a corn-syrupy sweetness to the body (known sometimes as caramel). Do not fall to the Mental Illness of Trying To Seem Cool And Knowledgable About Bourbon. I'm sick of coming into work to be on the floor helping customers and having to watch people stand in front of the bourbon section for 15-30 minutes just staring and poising and being like "I don't need any help" only to come grab a merchandiser later and be like "Where's your Pappy Van Winkle/Blanton's/E.H. Taylor/Buffalo Trace" fuck you.

And another thing about getting into Bourbon -- Wheated styles are going to be softer than High Ryes, Cask Strengths, Bottled-in-Bond etc. those are not very beginner friendly for people trying to acclimate to the taste of alcohol. Wheated styles are friendlier in general. Maker's Mark is a very common one, but I personally am fond of Larceny. If you can get a chance to do Redemption Wheated I also recommend that. Redemption is a great beginner bourbon in general, very reliable all-purpose bourbon, great to sip and mix.

A lot of people also choose Vodka because it is supposed to be distilled to be as inoffensive as possible. But you don't usually drink Vodka straight. especially not if you're a beginner. most beginner drinkers just make screwdrivers (vodka+OJ) or cape codder's (also known as a vodka cran) or anything like that. Try experimenting with adding different liqueurs and juices into Vodka (like i.e. making White Russians or Cosmopolitans)

If you're starting to acclimate to these sweeter, milder types, and you're ready to start foraying into drier and more complex/refined styles, you're ready to start to move onto other types of wine and spirits and beers. So these are decent transition wines. So that looks like, for wine:

Off-dry/Dry Rieslings

Pinot Grigio/Gris/whatever

Vouvray/Loire Valley French Wines/Alsace French Wines

Southern Italian White Wines (i.e. Pecorino, Falerio, Puglian wines, Campanian wines are my absolute favorite)

Chardonnay (oaked and unoaked), Chablis

Sauvignon Blanc/Sancerres

Prosecco, Cava, Champagne, other Sparkling wines in general (which tend to be made with majoritively Chardonnay grapes, along with Pinot Noir grapes in those same styles ALTHOUGH there are Sparkling Sauv Blancs & Sparkling Rieslings in existence and a ton of other grapes people use too)

Rosés (try Gamay grape Rosés/French Rosés)

For red wines: try Merlots

Zinfandels

Red Blends

Fruit-forward Pinot Noirs (ask somebody about these -- in general, with wines, if you do prefer vaguely sweeter styles, ask somebody about which wines are more "fruit-forward" for whichever varietal you're shopping)

Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignons (due to them being very fruit-forward). Of note -- the tannins can tend to be just as firm in Cab Sauvs, so if you really can't handle dry wines yet, wait before getting into Cabs unless you really want to jump into learning how they taste.

And then similarly for beers, try:

More lagers. just do it fuck all life

Ales in general. any kind of ale. Amber ale also

Hazy IPAs are pretty good to start with IMO because they're a little fruitier and softer than regular IPAs due to the lack of filtering

Porters

Bocks

Tripels

Stouts

For liquors, try:

Silver/Blanco Tequila

Gin

Irish Whisky

Speyside Scotch Whisky (tends to be the softest style of scotch and is easy for beginners to acclimate to)

if you're used to Bourbon, try Rye Whiskies, or other styles of American Whiskey

Aperitifs (think Campari and Aperol, but there are other styles of apertif as well)

When you think you've acclimated to drier styles of wine there are a quite a few dry styles of red wine that are worth taking a look at. I touched a bit earlier about dry red wines like Bordeauxs. Bordeauxs are usually varying blends of Cabernet Sauvignons & Merlots depending on which riverbank side of the region they are located on. LCRM is an acronym describing it - Left, Cab, Right, Merlot.

Cabernet Sauvignon

Syrah

Malbec

Bordeaux AOC

Cotes du Rhone AOC

Tuscan DOCG

Piedmont DOCG

Sangiovese of really any location in Italy but whatever

Chianti/Chianti Classico DOCG

Italian dry red wines of any kind fuck it

Rioja

Ribeira del Duero

there's so many Portuguese wines too. I can't remember all these okay just try to do European red wines whenever you can. They do Pinot Noir in Germany too. God there's so much my brain hoirts

I'm afraid Tumblr's going to kill my document at this point so I'm just going to say when you've really reached the point that you feel comfortable drinking most of those transition wines or spirits or drinks and have a feel for what you do and don't like, you can pretty much try anything and have some degree of enjoyment of it without being put off by an alcohol taste. Learning to drink alcoholic beverages without reflexing from the taste of alcohol is an acquired skill and will not come overnight. But there is a lot of fun culture and history to explore in alcoholic beverages -- learning how to taste and discover notes in wines and spirits and beers, as well as learning how people make different alcoholic beverages, the creation of cocktails, craft beers, craft spirits, new wines, different styles of wines ETC. ETC. there's a big world here and I think it's worthy of being elaborated on.

[dakota-schuck]

Journal Entry | Dec 2023

Pixel 7 | tumblr

Fuck Around → Find Out

I didn't like where I was.

I very much didn't like where I was.

Geographically, emotionally, interpersonally, etc.

I realized something. I realized that I could change things. I could allow things to change by no longer holding tight to where I was for fear that any change would lead to something worse.

If things were already bad, then perhaps change could lead to something better.

That might seem obvious when plainly written out, but to a pessimistic worldview it's a catastrophic epiphany.

I started to view life as a pool of probabilities, of interlocking systems, of experiences bundled together in bouquets of pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral aspects.

This has been astonishingly helpful, but also strange.

I realized I wouldn't be able to choose a direction in life with much specificity if I didn't have a broad enough collection of experiences.

Some things are worth avoiding even if learning what they're like could be informative. Sometimes experiences are worth avoiding because they clearly suck and aren't worth the information possibly gained (let's not try to taste lava, just in case). Some things are worth avoiding, or at least delaying, because they are absorbing states, once you're in there's no getting out. (Don't do stuff that kills me, don't get charged with felonies, that sort of thing.)

Even if I try something and I don't like it, that's still good information to have. Learning that I don't care to keep any particular life path open, the more I can freely move in a direction that isn't compatible with that closed path.

Make sense?

So, the thing is, I dove right in. I've met a lot of kinds of people in a lot of kinds of places, and it's led to a genuinely interesting life.

Also, my life is so much better than it was when I felt like I needed to get out of where I was, I've successfully broken a lot of cycles, and that's a huge win. I could die now and be proud of that success. I did it.

But I'm not dead, I'm doing rather well actually. But I'm still in try-stuff-and-see mode, and I think I need to pour some intentionality onto figuring out what happens next. I already have a menu full of things I can order in the restaurant of life, maybe I can stop trying everything and figure out what I actually want to order.

Fuck Around, Find Out is great science, but there's more to life than learning. It's time to lean back into meaning, into purpose.

What does that mean exactly? What is my next step on that path?

At the moment it's sitting on my leather recliner, sipping coffee, listening to a YouTube video on Category Theory, split pea soup cooking in my pressure cooker, Taylor Swift playing in the background, while I write this journal entry. I think this small step of putting this intent out there, especially under my own name, I think that's plenty for the moment. No need to drastically pivot, I can meander.

Cheers,

Dakota Schuck

Journal Entry | Dec 2023

[natromanxoff]

Queen live at The Forum in Inglewood, CA, USA - September 15, 1982

Photos supplied by: Bill Cordero

(x)

This is the final concert Queen would ever play in North America. The tour was ultimately not nearly as successful as previous outings. Four nights at the LA Forum had become two. In a 1999 interview with Mojo magazine Roger Taylor recalled, "I remember suddenly realising that we weren't packing them in quite as much as we used to."

According to this review, Staying Power was played on the last night.

Billy Squier, who has opened for Queen at every show on this tour, joins them in the encore during a one-off version of Jailhouse Rock, adding vocals. Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting is also played before Bohemian Rhapsody for the last night's sake.

A bit of video from this show exists. The band are seen going through the corridor to the stage to begin the concert, and Michael Jackson is with them (thanks to Julien Cohen for the link).

Currently, recordings commonly labelled as being from one or both of these Los Angeles dates are from one of the umpteen bootlegs of the Fukuoka '82 shows. Genuine audience tapes and even an 8mm film are rumoured to exist (most likely due to the historic nature of this show), but have never been confirmed.

The concert pictures, snapped by Robert Matheu, are from Phil Sutcliffe's excellent book, The Ultimate Illustrated History of the Crown Kings of Rock.

Here are a few more pro pics: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Reflecting on this tour, Squier had some kind things to say about Freddie Mercury. "He loved to perform. I think all the words about how great a performer he was have been used up. I just used to stand and watch him every night thinking, 'How do you do that? Just how do you get away with it?' It was the onstage Freddie that was most fearless. He believed in what he and the band were doing so much. He never projected the slightest fear or self-doubt and that just swept the audience along with him. He just knew that the show was going to work. He was made for the stage. His sense of theatricality was the key, and it was a key which so very few other rock performers have at their disposal."

About a week after this show, Brian May was interviewed for the January 1983 issue of Guitar Player magazine. Here are some excerpts:

"We used to do the song 'Son and Daughter' on stage, and the solo section in the middle of that became what was in 'Brighton Rock'. After 'Brighton Rock' was recorded, that solo evolved a lot more. One facet of it was the way it is on the live album, but it's changed a lot since then. Sometimes we've dropped it because I felt I got stale. I don't like to do exactly the same thing two nights running. That should be a time when you can do something different. Now we don't do "Brighton Rock" anymore, so it's gone full circle. In the beginning, the solo was there and the song was around it. And now the song's gone and the solo's there.

"It's just a delay machine set on one delay rather than a multiple, so it's not a sort of echo effect. It's one line coming back at you. I have two delay machines, so I can do three-part harmonies with that: I can play alone - maybe two or three notes - and then it comes back and I can play along with it. And then it comes back again and there are three parts. The delays are mostly about one and a half seconds. A lot of things can happen: You can play in synch with what comes back and make the harmonies, or you can play chords and then single notes on top to get a playing-in-rhythm effect. You can also do various kind of counterpoints. Sometimes they work. It all depends on whether I can hear myself well. If it's a good night and I can really hear well, I can do things that demand very close timing. On this tour I've been experimenting with steps which are not exactly on the beat: so when it comes back at you, they are in a different place each time. I found I could do all sorts of strange things with that, just making them mesh in a different way.

"I've thought it was obsolete many times. We've thrown it out. We haven't done it every night on this tour. But somehow it seems to creep back in there. It's weird. I did it for years, and nobody would talk about it. And then when I threw it out, people said, "Hey! How could you do that?" On this tour we did some special things with the lights. We had t hose pods which can fly about, and I used to do a little battle with those. That gave it a new lease on life. People would tend to notice that. As opposed to not saying anything, they would say, "I like the lights in the solo [laughs]." I've found that people seem to appreciate long solos more on this tour than they did before. I think a lot of people thought our material was veering too far away from the heavy side, and they thought the solo stuff redressed the balance to a certain extent.

"I didn't feel that this tour was making me very happy. I've often felt that in the studio, but that's the first time I felt it on tour. I didn't feel happy until the last concert. The last night in L.A. I felt quite cheered up. I was prepared to think, "Well, I don't really want to do this anymore." Somehow when it got to the last one, Freddie was really on form and giving a million precent, and I felt that it was going well. So the end of the tour finished on a good note for me. I felt like I did want to be out there doing it again sometime. But we are going to have a long rest." [Of course, after the six shows in Japan next month.]

Back in 1977 Brian was quoted saying, "We've always thought it was wrong to regard a tour purely as a promotional exercise, because some people have done that, and gone out and slogged away at the hits and the new album, and I don't think that makes for good touring." Maybe that's at least partly the reason why he didn't enjoy himself this time around.

(x)

[chaotichedonist]

Tharunka (Kensington, NSW : 1953 - 2010)

Wednesday 9 June 1976, page 14

   Some funny moments to tease you into reading:

Press: Roger, you're noted for your amazing screams.

Freddie: It's a controlled scream. I'd rather call it art.

/

Freddie: You're joking dear. I'm just a singer, dear.

/

It’s been a struggle, because in the beginning nobody knew what we were doing. We were the only people who believed in ourselves.

  back at the hotel sleazy

  For all those fans who were misled by the media, Queen did not spend a couple of days-relaxing on sunny Perth beaches - it rained the whole bloody time they were there. (In Melbourne the hotel was 'besiged' by fans, who to quote Pete Brown — Queen's personal manager — seemed to be emerging from the wood work). Not to be put off however, by the Australian conditions Freddie Mercury (lead vocals and keyboards) attended the press conference in white pants and a simply sumptuous summer synthetic top with delicate butterfly sleeves curling gently over his shoulders. He was even more beautiful than Sophia Loren.

  They were all quite chatty only Roger (Meadows-Taylor, the drummer) would keep interjecting, usually over John Deacon (bass) who said not an audible word.

Press: Would you describe your music as mock opera? 

Freddie: They call it cock-opera back home. 

Roger: I suppose because the vocals are in the 'grand style'. 

Press: When is your next album coming out? 

Freddie: We'll have a rest and think about it.. 

Roger: We just don't bung'em together. 

Brian: We don't sort of write sitting in hotel rooms you know. 

Freddie: We gather influences. 

Press: Your music has been described as snob rock. What do you think? 

Freddie: I couldn't describe our music as anything. We certainly don't put across that this it intelligent music that is on a completely differenrt level to the people who come to it. 

Roger: It's written for the people. That's what it's all about. 

Press: The theme of death recurs on your albums. Why this preoccupation?

Roger: Freddie's morbid mind.

Press to Freddie: Do you consider yourself a sex-symbol?

Freddie: You're joking dear. I'm just a singer, dear.

Press to Roger: Do you consider yourself a superstar? 

Roger: As meaningless, (blows kisses).

Roger on the media - absurd for a magazine combine rock and politics. 

Press: Roger, you're noted for your amazing screams. 

Freddie: It's a controlled scream. I'd rather call it art. 

Undauted by the fearless Australians they continued talking about their lyrics and the esoteric implication.

Roger: Freddie just loves the word 'Beelzebub'. 

Freddie: Yes, well, Brian's got a taste for unusual words. 

Roger: You talking about dandling on your knee and things? 

All four of them write songs and each has at least one song on 'A Night At The Opera'. 

Brian: It's very difficult to talk about our songs as a group because we all have different ideas of what the songs are about. 

Roger: No we don't. 

Freddie: Roger's the sensitive one. 'I'm in love with my car' is the most sensitive song on the album (Night At The Opera). 

Roger did tend to sit there pouting at the bows on his pink lame gym-boots. One hardly noticed the dark roots in this gold angelic hair. We did ask, but unfortunately Roger didn't have a pic of himself in the gymboots. Roger was later accosted by David Essex fans in the foyer of the hotel, who wished to know if he was a popstar, girls now have Roger's autograph. Back to the lyrics..

Freddie: Every song is written by one of us and means something special to each one of us. Certain songs have a very literal meaning and can be understood straight away. Then there are some songs that can be taken on a lot of different levels.

He describes a lot of his songs as fantasies. 'We want to consciously lose ourselves. There are certain things we want to escape from in our lives or whatever.' He feels that people should create their own private fantasies from the images in his songs and so doesn't like to talk about what they mean to him. 'I'd hate to shatter someone's illusion. If I listen to somebody's songs I conjure up a fantasy of what its about and I like to keep it that way.'

He elaborated further.. 'Lyrically it is helpful to use certain words. You see it depends.. sometimes I want to use words that are phonetically useful. In the beginning they're surface words but you entwine them into the meaning of a song. That's what I mean about different levels.' 

Brian May has a different approach to his songs, 'There's usually something serious behind them, but I feel a big responsibility not to over-indulge in idealogies. In 'White Queen' I was very interested in the significance of Queens and White Ladies in English folk lore. The song started off as a personal experience, the frustration of not being able to communicate, I was thinking about Robert Graves' ' White Goddess' and that became involved in the song.' 

Roger: Romantic slush.

Brian: Our 'Now I'm Here' song is really about our first American tour. A big experience for anybody. It's a conglomeration of all the experiences we had on that tour. We had a great time with Mott the Hoople. I suppose they taught us to be a touring band.

We're very critical about each other and very cynical. We don't get deeply into meanings because you're living with it all the time. You have to be a bit light-hearted about it.

With four individual writers the albums were not done with a specific concept in mind. The 'White Queen' was written four years before the 'Black Queen'.

Brian: I don’t think that Freddie’s 'Black Queen' was a reaction to the 'White Queen'. We just discovered that we had these songs and the rest of the album seemed to fit around it.

Freddie: It probably subconsciously coheres.

Similarly ‘A night At The Opera’ has no overall concept though the name of the album is related to Freddie’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.

As Brian puts it ‘We are four very different people with four very different directions, but there is a musical development that does make some kind of sense. Queen is very much an independent thing. We are always bouncing ideas off each other. We are very aware that we need each other.’

The rapport between them onstage bears out this statement. They work off each other in a carefully intergrated show thatt creates an atmosphere of spontaneity for the audience.

At the opening of their set there is a flash of fire and smoke as Queen emerge on stage. While music winds up they launch into ‘Orge Battle’. Like a Greek God or a simister Mephistopheles Freddie's powerful vocals cut through the smoke and flames. 

With the stage show the band is doing something different to stimulating their records. Brian: "You don't get up there and behave like you do in the street. You go up there to entertain people and give them some kind of excitement". They have rearranged some of their songs especially for stage performance, including a medley of 'Bohemian Rhapsody', 'Killer Queen', 'Black Queen' and 'Leyroy Brown', which grinds down into 'March of the Black Queen' and then skips out on a lighter note which features Brian on genuine Japanese ukalele. 

The brilliant solo Brian performs in 'Brighton Rock', with sweet high Paginini frills and harmonies, stimulating two or three guitars on stage, is in a style he has evolved himself. He got the idea the first time he was in a recording studio. Says Brian: "It was my first experience of doing multi-tracking. It happened to be in the cannon-things which repeat themselves. You play one, then you play the same over the top of it after a time interval. Later we started to do those things on stage but there was the problem of how to do it. We started having a single delay and then another one over the top of it. Then afterwards you do another repeat on the second. You can then do three part harmonies with yourself. We started to base it all on ten second solos and it grew and grew. There's a lot of other people doing it now and I'm glad because it’s a thing you can play around with.' 

In the stage arrangement of "Prophet's Song' Freddie uses a similar echo feedback system which multiplies his voice into a celestial choir. His voice floats as a vision - "Listen to the madman' - while Brian plays some beautiful guitar.

encore amore

Brian describes their encore performance as the time when the band really unwinds. "It's nice at the encore to just completely unbend and make a fool of yourself. It gets rid of the tension between the band and the audience. I used to get a kick out of going to concerts to see rock groups like the 'Who' and feeling involved, like the group knew you were there. WE go by the kinds of things we think people would like at an encore. It's at a very basic level really, an energy level, a physical level. Rock and Roll is kind of a body music. I get as much satisfaction out of basic rock'n'roll like Status Quo as the most sophisticated music I know.' 

The audience certainly enjoyed it and really let loose their energy. Roger (who claimed the most female screams) in rainbow mop-wig opened the encore with slow heavy rock-beat as Freddie did a dramatic entrance in a silk kimino. As he eased into 'Big Spender', he peeled off to striped hot pants for an outrageous version of 'Jailhouse Rock' - simple hard-driving rock'n'roll that had everybody out of their sets.

gettin' feelin' thru th' transistors

Brian was rather upset that the Australian Press should braiid them as a manufactured band. If 'Bohmeian ,hapsody' can be seen as incorporating the spectrum of s talent - mood changes, heavy stuff, the soft ballad - it is not because they (men of letters from universities) have developed a magic 'X' formula. Rather the song can be seen as a musical progression, a reworking of motifs off their other albums. 

Brian can only say that, 'They obviously didn't see us in the earlier days. I can understand why they'd say that over here. Big impact. Overnight success. It must have been all calculated. If you’d seen the way it happened in England, you wouldn’t think that. I’ve had years playing pubs in England where people were drinking beer and discussing what other people were doing and not listening to the music. I want to build up this thing where people do want to go to a concert. While it begins to look like the commercial side, it;s what it’s all about. I want knock it because I want people to come and hear what we do. 

It’s been a struggle, because in the beginning nobody knew what we were doing. We were the only people who believed in ourselves. We started playing because we had some kind of vision that we thought was worthwhile. For over a year and a half we were playing to ourselves. Gradually you gather people around who believe and that’s the way it happened.

Nobody is going to tell us to play what is commercial. What we play comes from us. We’re very lucky really in that we have a kind of audience who are attentive to whatever direction we choose to follow. One of us will come up with a song and we'll say, 'Yeah, it needs that kind of treatment and maybe that turns out to be something you call heavy and sometimes something which is light.' 

To get back to the charge that they are a manufactured band, while he doesn't like it, he can only take it as a compliment that they think the band is so good. He doesn't consider himself a technician "technically I've stayed the same for the last six or seven years. Progress is what you feel and what you are putting across. That's what playing is about for us.' 

Freddie: There's a lot of music there too.

Roger: A bit of music, yeah.

low key queen

By Anne Finnegan

Wednesday 9 June 1976

If you save, do not forget to leave a link to this, coz i kinda found it by myself and made and transcipt. Thanks :)

[bybdolan]

I saw your post about the ATW SNL performance and yesss it takes me out so much. Also idk if it’s just me but the gestures she does with her hands and arms also take me out because it all feels very “staged” (which like yeah duh I know it’s staged and there’s nothing wrong with it but I guess my style is just more spontaneous performing hahah), though I think that’s just her style of performing in general (and a style that fits her music style and pop in general)

Tee bee h I think the SNL stage doesn't work in her favor much bc it's so small and you can't walk around much so if you want to move you either have to play an instrument or do the standing-dancing Taylor does. And it's hard to keep yourself entertaining with that limitation for 10 minutes. But I agree with you, it does feel very staged at times, though her face acting (I call it acting but I think a bunch of the emotions are genuine – that's what a good song does) is SO good. Except for – again – the smiles because those serve as a reminder that she is Performing A Song and not just. Feeling the emotion. It's just such a Taylor thing to do this at the lines she KNOWS people will "omg" at, even though they are not that great (Taylor loves a Corny line ... "I come back stronger than a 90s trend" says hi). I am being nitpicky, I admit, but it's just a tad jarring and really pulls me out of the song. It also, unfortunately, strengthens the theory that some lines were added later for perspective/shock value (?). I'm an ATW10 is organic truther but her being all smug about the "yas queen!" lines is not helping that.

And I'd usually put this addition in the tags but I am using my browser on mobile so. That doesn't work. But I don't generally think being proud of a lyric and showing it is bad at all!!! I love when Taylor owns her songwriting skill. I just sometimes feel like she highlights lines that will grab public attention instead of being actually... Good? A line can be a gut punch and shocking in a way that doesn't feel forced, e.g. the "I'm a soldier who's returning half her weight" or the famous "I hate you for what you did and I miss you like a little kid". But with the patriarchy line Taylor's smugness just feels so. Strange. But it is the line that gets the loudest fan response so it makes sense she plays to that. She's a mirrorball etc etc