#i'm assuming this was an article from around the time the album was out but before russ's winning album so i put 1975

[lock-my-feelings-in-a-jar]

Russ Ballard producing Daltrey's album

1975 Interview

Russ Ballard has something special. Call it professionalism, the sure touch, luck, talent, a mixture of the lot if you like, but everything he's involved in seems to turn out pretty good, even when it's something completely new to him, like record producing.

When he was fourteen, he wrote his first song and sold it to The Shadows after having had the sense to demo it after their style. Having mastered the guitar and scored quite a bit of acclaim for his playing, he turned to keyboards and now nobody hearing him play would think he hadn't been brought up on them. Argent reached the height of their success when he was with them, he gave Colin Blunstone a monster hit with I Don't Believe In Miracles and now Ride A Rock Horse is enjoying considerable favour. Its producer? Russ Ballard! The man, wearing his customary shades, exudes an air of quiet confidence. He can afford to. He's well respected as a musician and as a writer and he's now in a position many people could envy. After all, a singer of Daltrey's calibre doesn't call up just anybody and say "How about producing my album?"! What is really surprising is that Roger should ignore all the established record producers in favour of Russ, who has only ever produced one album before in his life and that was the solo one he made after leaving Argent.

How did his new role come about? "Well, I worked with Daltrey on his first album, played a little drums and piano on it, but I didn't produce that one, just put in some ideas. He must have liked them because when he was planning his second, he just asked me if I wanted to do it." Russ explained. In an issue of Beat dated April 1966, Daltrey himself described his voice in pretty disparaging terms. "I don't have a good voice, no-one needs to tell me that. I'm a screamer with a group and I'm happy. I'm not worried about my voice, though, it is developing and I can notice the change." He also added "I'd get a real kick if I could have a proper girl vocal group backing." It's taken nine years, but now he's achieved what he hoped for, a voice which no-one can deny is pretty exceptional, and backing singers led by Marsha Hunt, care of Russ Ballard! "I was involved with everything." said Russ. "Going through songs with him, deciding what musicians should be used, who would be good for this and who for that." For a reluctant producer, who admits that "I'm not really into production, even though it's a creative thing, I'd rather be an artist." Russ had some pretty definite ideas as to his treatment of the album. "I deliberately kept his voice well up because in so many recordings I've heard of Roger, he's been immersed in sound. He's got such a powerful and such a good voice which contains many aspects that people haven't heard before. What I set out to do on the album was to expose all those voices for the first time. I don't think it is a good thing for a producer to put his own standpoint on an album, the most important thing is to project the artist." Russ thinks that Daltrey's film work has given a lot more confidence and he also found getting to know him has radically changed the concept he had of The Who. "Many people would imagine Daltrey as an ego tripper, but he's not in the slightest. Before I got to know him well, I was under the impression that The Who were Pete Townshend's baby. But speaking to Roger, listening to his ideas, I think that a hell of a lot of his ideas must have always gone into The Who, a lot more than people think."

It was originally Roger's idea to record an album of his early influences. Then he changed rock horses in mid-stream. "By then we'd already recorded Walking The Dog and that Beachboys sounding song, so we were lumbered with them." The second idea was to project the different sides of Daltrey's voice in a collection of mixed rockers and ballads, including three songs of Russ's, Come And Get Your Love, Proud and Near To Surrender. "We didn't actually discuss the point but I felt he wanted to make a heavier album than the one we'd originally planned. Yet not totally heavy, but a record which would compliment the heavier stuff with lighter stuff. Right from the very first session when he sang the first song I could see his voice was so much better, I feel it's improved tremendously since the early Who days even though I think he had a good voice in 1964."

The next thing to decide on was the overall sound and the arrangements. Ex-Shadows drummer Tony Meehan was the man who worked on these. "I decided to make the sound quite sparse,-" explained Russ, "- rather than over-producing it. Some people just don't know where to stop. I decided that if a song called for piano and nothing else, that's what I was going to do." (Hence Phillip Goodhand Tait's beautiful slow rocker Oceans Away with the composer on piano.) "The most important thing in an arrangement is the song. If it's a good one you should be able to sing it with no backing at all and it should still sound great. If it's not, no matter how many extras you add it won't work." Russ reckons that having been in bands himself definitely helped him as a producer, enabling him to put himself in the artist's shoes. Yet he doesn't think he'd like to produce his own next album entirely alone. "When I was in Argent I found being produced by somebody else was very frustrating because I could tell people were veering away from the original ideas I'd had for my songs. That's why I decided to produce my first solo album, which turned out a bit of a mixture because I had a backlog of work to get out of my system. My next album will be slightly deeper, not so light-hearted. I hope to be co-producing it with Muff Winwood, whom I really admire because he's got such a good ear and can really make a musical point."

At the moment, Russ is doing very well with songs of his which are being covered by other artists. One called Heartbreak, has recently been recorded by Olivia Newton-John and yet another is currently being recorded in L.A. by Stevie Wonder's band. Russ has got a new band together consisting of the ex-drummer from Curly, Alan Wickett, bass player Tony Lester and guitarist Alan Skates- "He really does!" joked Russ. He's got three weeks booked in E.M.I. Studios to get the album done. As for his producing career, it looks like Ride A Rock Horse may be his swansong. What if Roger asks him to produce his third album? "Well… if I want to do what I want to do, that is, sing, play, write and record, I just won't have time to produce anybody." said Russ. There's nothing like getting out when you're on top!

[pancakes4two]

sweet nothings

wc: 2.1k

preview: The rest of the world is so eager to view him like an object, assume that just because he spends his life in the public view, he’s somehow devoid of insecurities. But to you, he’s still the same Harry who cried backstage at Wembley after his voice cracked during a solo. The same shy, innocent boy who vomited backstage after his first show, terrified that he’d messed it all up.

An article criticizing Harry blows up on the internet, and it hits him harder than expected. Luckily, you’re there to help pick up the pieces.

MASTERLIST | READ MY LATEST SERIES

Industry disruptors and soul deconstructers, and smooth-talking hucksters out glad-handing each other

And the voices that implore, "You should be doing more," to you I can admit that I'm just too soft for all of it.

—Sweet Nothing, Taylor Swift

———

The article is released on a Friday afternoon. It's absolutely brutal—rips single every creative project Harry's ever done to shreds and leaves no endeavor unscathed. Every sentence is a biting remark, each paragraph swirled with vile accusations. It starts by criticizing his film roles, the creative direction he took in his third album, then accuses him of extorting his own fans. The author questions not only his artistry but his personhood, digs up unverified claims of rudeness and twists them into a narrative of Harry being an egotistical, ungrateful pop star. Within the hour, almost every major news station has picked the story up. It doesn’t matter how far-fetched it is. The internet takes to the author’s vitriol like wildfire, sharing it across social media platforms and online forums. Everyone wants to be the first to say they always knew something wasn’t quite right about him, that it’s about time someone knocked him off his pedestal.

It’s disgusting in every sense of the word. And it hurts even more because Harry is blissfully unaware. He’s asleep beside you now, the two of you having settled into bed to take a quick nap together three hours earlier, when the internet had yet to point their pitchforks towards him. You know he’s been overextending himself lately, still sleeping off the jet lag from tour but unwilling to slow down his life on account of tiredness. He’s always been like that, so dedicated to his music, because to him, putting less than two-hundred percent into the thing he loves most would be a waste. You can hardly remember the last time he’d slept earlier than two after coming home—even without touring commitments, he’s still found a way to keep himself busy—staying late in the studio and meeting with executives from his record label to review the marketing plan for his next album. He’s always thinking about the future, how he can reinvent himself and make sure he can stay doing what he loves for as long as possible.

It’s why he’d deserved this chance to unwind and relax in the quiet of your home. But now, he’s going to wake up to a rogue journalist completely assassinating his character, when all he’s ever wanted to do is sing and make others happy. The way you see it, it’s not the least bit fair.

You look at Harry and brush his curls away from his face gently so as to not wake him. Your phone is still turned on, the article glaring angrily against your palm as you watch him sleep. He looks so peaceful, his arm curled around your waist and his legs tangled with yours as if he can’t bear to be far away from you even in slumber. You wish everyone else could see him like this: soft and vulnerable, his lips upturned ever-so-slightly like he’s dreaming about something particularly pleasant.

The rest of the world is so eager to view him like an object, assume that just because he spends his life in the public view, he’s somehow devoid of insecurities. But to you, he’s still the same Harry who cried backstage at Wembley after his voice cracked during a solo. The same shy, innocent boy who vomited backstage after his first show, terrified that he’d messed it all up. Ten years down the road and he’s gained confidence, for sure. But when he’s not busy being this glittering, hip-wiggling rockstar who moves like he’s got the whole world in the palm of his hand, he’s just Harry. He still wrings his hands nervously before every performance, burns his tongue on hot tea that’s meant to preserve his voice. You remember what he said to you back in June before his first stadium show: I don’t think I’ll ever be able to be someone who doesn’t care about what others think of them. He cares more than the article’s author and the legions of people criticizing his every move online will ever know.

You shuffle forward, closing the gap between your bodies and press a soft kiss into Harry’s forehead. You don’t expect him to stir from it, but it seems he was just about to wake up naturally before you disturbed him, so his eyes slowly open and he smiles when his vision focuses on you. You try to school your expression into something relatively normal. Unfortunately, Harry knows you too well and can immediately tell that something’s off. In any other situation, you’d be impressed by how well he can read you. Even with his mind suspended between alertness and sleep, he knows you’re upset and reaches for your hand in concern.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Harry asks, rubbing circles into the back of your hand. He knows the repetitive motion grounds you when you’re anxious, so he continues to graze your skin with his thumb, willing you to relax.

“H—“ you start to say, but you’re cut off by the sound of Harry’s ringtone. He reaches over you to grab his phone from the nightstand, his other hand still clasped with yours. When he falls back into the mattress, you manage to get a glance at his phone screen. It’s displaying an incoming call from Jeff. Fuck.

Harry accepts the call, still ignorant to the situation. His gaze flickers over your face as the line connects—he's clearly still worried about you.

"Hey, H," Jeff says. You can hear him sigh through the phone, "have you been online recently?"

"Been asleep for the past," Harry pauses to check the time, "three hours, so that would be a no."

"Shit," Jeff says, sounding significantly less collected than he usually does. "Okay. Um, do me a favor and stay off of social media for now. I'll call you when it's all been resolved."

"What?" Harry sits up slightly at the sound of Jeff's voice, running a hand through his hair. "I'm confused. Is everything alright?"

"Listen, it's fine. I've got it all under control, just... don't go on Instagram, or Twitter, or anything."

"Jeff," Harry groans, "don't be cryptic. You're obviously dealing with something that's got to do with me, don't you think I have a right to know what's going on?"

There's silence over line for a bit, Jeff clearly ruminating over whether or not to tell Harry the truth. You chew on your lip worriedly, waiting for his voice to come through again.

"There's an article that’s been published online," Jeff starts, "and it's highly critical of you. It's circulating through social media right now, and we're trying to put a stop to it. I've got a meeting with your label's attorneys in a few minutes, but seriously H, for your own good please do not read it. We'll have it taken down by the end of the day."

"Oh," Harry blinks, clearly caught off-guard. You can't blame him for it. People don't normally wake up from naps and find out half the internet has turned against them. "Alright. That's fine. Um, call me if you need anything. Good luck."

"H, I'm serious, don't—" Jeff begins, but Harry hangs up before he can finish his sentence. He's already sat up fully in bed, back leaning against the headboard as he types away furiously on his phone. You don't try to stop him from Googling the article; he deserves to see what's been written. You just sit up next to him and silently run a hand down his arm, tracing where the fabric of his t-shirt ends and the familiar ink on his skin begins. You reach for him and let him know that he has you to lean on.

"You know what they've written isn't true," you whisper, "you know that." It’s all you can say for now.

Harry doesn't respond to that, his eyes too busy scanning through the article. He spends the next seven minutes reading every word silently, taking each criticism and judgement in. When he’s finished, Harry shuts his phone off with a click and sets it down silently on the bedside table. You avert your eyes from him, afraid that if you look up you might be able to see every morsel of hurt on his face.

In the end, Harry’s the first to break the silence.

“Who approved that?” Is what he says, his voice faltering almost imperceptibly at the end. It’s quiet enough that only someone who knows him as well as you do would be able to notice.

“H,�� you respond, splaying your hand across his chest and letting his head fall gently onto your shoulder.

“None of that is real. It’s not a reflection of who you are.” You say that with conviction. He’s got the most beautiful soul, does everything with so much heart. He’s so full of love that at times you worry he might burst from it. It’s completely unfair what he’s been reduced to.

“You can only read shitty things about yourself for so long before you start to believe them,” Harry says brokenly, and his composure gives away then. He takes a trembling breath in and you feel a wetness start to form on the sleeve of your shirt. You don’t have to look at him to know he’s crying.

It’s in moments like these where his façade starts to crumble, and you see him transform back into the boy you once knew, before the whole world knew his name. Spending every day terrified that at any given moment, people wouldn’t want to listen to his voice anymore and the rug would be pulled from under his feet. Fearing that he might wake up one day and have to return to Holmes Chapel, even though he’s always been too big for the small town he grew up in.

“Love,” you say, pressing a hand to his cheek. His skin is flushed and you can see the ghost of a tear falling down the side of his face. “How is anyone meant to believe anything they’ve said is valid, when they don’t know you? I know exactly who you are, and the person they’re talking about in that article is not it.”

Harry sniffles at that, pulling himself closer to you. You see him glance at his phone, so you turn it over facedown and revert your full attention back to him.

“You’re so incredibly special,” you continue, carding your hands soothingly through his hair, “you’ve achieved an immense amount of success in the last ten years. You’ve impacted so many people, used your platform to do so much good. There’s always going to be people who want more from you, who criticize and tell you you’re not doing enough. But you are doing enough, H. Seriously. You’re only human, and it’s not your fault that others expect you to be more than that. And even so, I think you make a pretty exceptional human already. You know how many people walk up to me when I’m alone and ask me to tell you that you’ve changed their lives? There’s so many that I’d lost track of the number about seven years ago.”

Harry opens his mouth to say something in response, but you pat his face gently and give him a smile as if to say, I’m not finished yet.

“And beyond that, who cares about the industry, about what faceless people online have to say about you? At the end of the day, you’re enough. I’m not here for the Harry Styles who fills stadiums or commands attention at movie premieres. I’m here for the Harry who accidentally leaves the coffee pot on for too long because he’s too busy trying to get me to dance with him in the kitchen. For the Harry who keeps movie stubs and pebbles deep inside his pockets because he wants to keep a souvenir to remind him of every little thing we’ve done together. The Harry who’s a huge sentimental sap, who’s got the biggest heart in the world.”

You finish with a sigh, gazing at Harry earnestly and hoping that he can feel the gravity of your words.

“You’re right,” Harry smiles softly, clasping a hand around your wrist, voice slightly raspy still. “I shouldn’t let it get to my head. It’s just hard sometimes, you know? I feel like I might be a little too soft for all of it.”

“I love your softness and vulnerability,” you say, “And getting upset when people are dragging your name through the mud is perfectly normal. I can’t even begin to imagine how overwhelming it is for you. But you’ll always have me right here beside you. And trust me, I’d be going to war for you over Twitter right now if I knew Jeff wouldn’t kill me for doing so.”

Harry laughs at that, loud and open in the way that you love. “My Princess Charming,” he says, wrapping his arms around you in a crushing hug. “Forever prepared to defend my honor.”

True to his word, Jeff and Columbia’s legal team get the article taken down in record time. They say Harry’s allowed to post a response to it, if he wants, but he’s never been one to start fights over the internet so he settles on this instead.

A single picture, posted to his Instagram of your hands, your fingers intertwined like the two of you were built to be extensions of each other. The caption is simple. It reads:

I find myself running home to your sweet nothings

Outside, they’re push and shoving; you’re in the kitchen humming

All that you ever wanted from me was sweet nothing.

He turns the comments off, not wanting to entertain any further commentary. It’s a picture meant for just the two of you, a reminder that all the noise coming from the outside means nothing when you have each other. It’s sweet. It’s nothing. And yet somehow, it’s everything you’ll ever need.

———

reblogs & feedback are highly welcomed and appreciated <3

TAGLIST: @crazygirlinthisworld​ @grapejuice-rry​ @b-reads-things​ @s8tellite @michellekstyles​ @vrittivsanghavi @alienorknight​ @flwrmuse 

[transfem-juice]

Well it's been awhile, how's everyone doing

I've been... Uh...... Same old same old I guess? I can't really remember where I was last time I was here so idk where I am in comparison lol

It seems like it's only been 2 months but feels like longer, in that time I decided that I do want to go ahead and try cutting out all social media long term rather than just migrating from twitter to bluesky and doing the same exhausting yet addicting social media shit there, unfortunately maybe a week ago I thought about how I'd maybe like to get back into the tumblr routine as I feel that I probably like this place best out of any site, but then I read an article trying to realistically judge the risks that trump will have to online trans people/spaces and decided not to get hooked on social media again if the companies are seemingly likely to outright ban trans people for fear that the government cracks down on them hosting what it will try to redefine as grooming material

It was a depressing but fascinating and important to read article btw

I also recommend reading this if you have the spoons, fair warning though that it's 24,000 words and if you download it as a pdf like it suggests then it spans across 88 pages total if you include stuff like table of contents

I did read a bit of it, specifically a bit about creating a trans micro library, as it was linked from this article

So yea now I'm interested in building a trans micro library

If anyone has any suggestions for stuff to add (links would be especially helpful but not strictly necessary if you don't have it off the top of your head) just let me know, I'd be interested in books, pdfs, zines, music, art, games, porn, whatever, also bonus points if it's transfeminine

I haven't started building it yet but off the top of my head there are a few things I plan to add:

- fucking trans women zine that I have favourited on the internet archive

- hardcoded, a transfem visual novel style porn game where you play as a transfem robot

- mp3 and flac formats of black dresses discography, along with ada rooks discography from when the album's were free to download on bandcamp last(?) winter

- some trans porn I have saved (I haven't looked in awhile but I assume I have some downloaded)

Now that I list it I realize how shit my memory is cause I swear there was more I had floating around up there but whatever I'll remember it later

Anyways yea see ya later

[spade-riddles]

Submission: The Bait & Switch Theory

Lately I've been hate-reading a pop culture subreddit. It's not focused on Taylor, but people have been posting about her a lot lately (for obvious reasons). The overall vibe is pretty negative towards Taylor, but I usually skim the comments to see what casual fans are saying.

I want to share some recent comments I've seen (no usernames, and I rewrote some parts so they aren't word-for-word). Warning, you will probably get frustrated reading them. I did. But these are theories from casual listeners, non-swifties, who believe that Taylor really dates men, and they see this situation from a totally different angle than we do. While you read them, see if you have any new ideas about where Taylor might be going with this MH thing. I'll share my own thoughts after the comments. Another warning: this is a very long post-- sorry!

(These are all from a thread discussing a DailyMail article about how Taylor and MH are allegedly writing music together for her next album. I'll come back to my thoughts on this.)

On the subject of Midnights and MH, has anyone else gone back and listened to Question…? with him in mind? It all makes a lot of sense. Bejeweled too (the 1975 call themselves “the band”) and Cardigan.

Also “I swear that it was something/ ‘cause I don’t remember who I was/ Before you painted all my nights/ a color I’ve searched for since” from Question sounds a lot like “Look at this godforsaken mess that you made me/You showed me colors/You know I can't see with anyone else” from Illicit Affairs.

^^ Comment 1. Bolded parts from me.

All of it makes sense in context of falling in love with MH.

Anti-hero? She knew this relationship wouldn't be well received.

Midnight Rain? Joe was "sunshine she was midnight rain. He wanted a bride, she was chasing that fame."

Snow on the Beach? "Weird but fucking beautiful, you wanting me tonight feels impossible."

Labyrinth? "Uh-oh, I'm falling in love again. I thought this plane was going down, how'd you turn it right around?"

The entire album was about MH the entire time and we had no idea.

^^ Comment 2. I bolded the last sentence.

I don't understand how Taylor TOLD US Cardigan "was about" MH while on stage, into a microphone, and people are still denying it.

She wasn't trolling. She was revealing.

Cardigan is about him. And it seems like they weren't ON in 2014 and OFF for the next 8 years. Instead it's looking like they've gone back to each other again and again.

^^ Comment 3. This is the one that was most illuminating to me. Bolded part from me.

I think if they break up soon, she will phase him out and never mention him again.

^^ Comment 4. I'll come back to this one too.

Okay. So. Let's consider some hypotheticals.

Let's say Taylor wants to reintroduce Karlie into her public life. 

Let's say they want the public Kaylor narrative to be as close to real life as possible. Let's also assume that they don't want to out anyone and that there are contracts limiting what they can say about their beards.

Let's say there's someone else Taylor has known since about 2014: MH. A dude with an awful reputation, definitely worse than Karlie's.

Let's say the narrative they want people to believe, one day, is that Karlie is the one that got away from Taylor. They were a couple a decade ago, then they were together on and off, having an illicit affair with each other the entire time they were "in relationships" with JA and JK. And after Taylor and JA broke up, she privately reunited with Karlie and they lived happily ever after.

Let's also assume, maybe incorrectly (idk), that Karlie is the real William Bowery, and that Taylor wants people to know that JA didn't write or produce any of her music. Conveniently, MH is ALSO a musician. They're rumored to have written music together in the past, although we've never heard it, and now they're seen at the studio together.

So I wonder if Taylor and Karlie are limited in what they can say or imply, especially when it comes to the Karlie/JK timeline. Instead, Taylor is briefly introducing MH as her boyfriend and letting everyone speculate about how she's been in love with him for ages and how she cheated on JA with MH for years and how they write music together. She spells out the ENTIRE fucking story for everyone, and they finally start to piece it together. The only part that's wrong is that the story has the name MH where it should say KK.

What if this is a bait and switch? Where MH totally disappears from the picture, never to be mentioned again, but only after she uses him to plant a narrative. We don't get any musical collaboration after all. Maybe MH, being a loose canon, even alludes to faking a relationship with Taylor.

And then 5 seconds later, she switches out MH for KK. They do the exact same things together. KK goes to shows, they go out to dinner, maybe she's seen leaving Electric Lady, or she's seen with an LV bag going into Taylor's building. Maybe TS11 doesn't feature any songs with MH, but William Bowery is still credited even though JA is long gone. And maybe they just let people connect the dots over time. Like a folk tale, where no one really knows for sure what happened between Taylor, Karlie, JA, JK, and MH, but it's generally accepted that Taylor and Karlie have loved each other for a long time. Over the years, people forget some of the details and accept the Kaylor folklore as fact.

I'm so curious as to what you all think.

By the way, I know this is long enough already, but I do just want to say that I don't want to minimize MH's disgusting behaviors. I do believe it's morally wrong to prop up people like MH (and JK), because it lends credibility to dangerous ideas and disguises wolves as sheep. I think this is a line T & K are okay with crossing, and they are probably in a very complicated situation, but I'm not trying to excuse them for their roles here.

[aintmyjewelry]

heyy <3 what are the 8 seconds of static?

oh this was FUNNY lmao

we are, fittingly, going back to the 1989 era for this one!!

so, once again, let me set the stage for this one. this peculiar event occurred around late October 2014, i believe just a few days before the actual release of 1989. prior to this event, taylor had released three tracks early: Shake it Off, Out of the Woods, and Welcome to New York. we had already gotten a little taste of 1989 and were just itching for the rest. but it was like right around the corner and you think that would curb the swifties appetite but NO

anyways, before diving into what happened (this is probably the shortest story i've told yet lmao), i need to also give some context for what buying and listening to music was like at this time. In 2014, streaming was beginning to creep it's way on to dominating the music industry, but it wasn't the main way people listened to music. Spotify was around but iTunes (Apple Music wasn't a thing yet) was still the big man on campus and people would actively buy iTunes cards (or use their credit card) to purchase single songs for $1.29 or entire albums (they were usually about $12 or so?) off of iTunes.

i personally can attest to this as I was buying music this way until like 2017. I even purchased the first songs off 1989 from iTunes.

so with all of these components in mind, you will see how the 8 seconds of static became a ludicrous, hilarious event in the Swiftie History Books.

this particular event was localized to Canada! (Shout out canadian swifties, congrats on the rogers center shows!) I actually didn't realize this was just a Canada event because I had heard so much about it but didn't see it for myself I had just assumed I was too late to witness it on iTunes.

but basically what happened was in late October 2014, swifities were just chilling in the late hours of the night when all of a sudden they noticed that a new song from 1989 had hit iTunes. weirdly, though, there was no title. it was just called "Track 3" but it was available to purchase, it was on 1989, and taylor's name was attached to it. so before anyone could blink, the swifties were PURCHASING it. It was $1.29, just like any other single, and they went feral. throwing something out as a surprise hasn't really ever been taylor's thing, like we know at least a few hours before something happens that it's happening but the girlies did not care. they purchase this mysterious track from 1989 title "Track 3"

and it shot to number 1 on the iTunes charts immediately

now i can't remember the way that iTunes was set up back then, especially on cell phones (people were rarely using it on computers anymore), but i don't think people could see the length of this supposed song before purchasing or if they could, it didn't stand out.

so, when the swifties went to play the track, they were greeted by....nothing. absolutely nothing. it was static. 8 seconds of pure static noise.

there was no song. there was nothing. it was actually just a glitch in the iTunes system and thankfully nothing leaked......but also, swifties had shot a song of static to number one within minutes. it was hilarious.

it was hilarious that 1) they even noticed that something had been released and 2) that no one questions anything they just bought it

it was literally called Track 3, nothing else, and the girlies went crazy. they spent $1.29 on it.

i see some article suggest that people thought it was a "snippet" of the album but to spend $1.29 on that is wonderful. perfect comedy. AI couldn't write this!!

anyways, once people realized what it was they took to socials in completely confusion and amazement that the power of swifties and hype of taylor swift was THIS wild. eventually, though, the "song" was removed and neither taylor no iTunes really commented on it. but i'm not sure if people who spent their money were refunded (any Canadian swiftie who did spend their money, please let me know if you were refunded!)

i mean we have clowned and broken ticketmaster but this level of just blind spending is unmatched.

---

source 1 (photo 1)

source 2 (photo 2)

source 3

source 4

[lunaprincipessa]

ENTRY 205

Part One (Continued on 206)

From January on, I've been in an emotional whirlwind as I've learned more about Peter Steele. I've been blogging about it lightly here on Tumblr.

First, the fun stuff.

❎ Entry 169 - Meme

❎ Entry 175 and 181 - Pics

❎ Entry 194 - Fan Art

❎ Entry 204 - Type O Eyeshadow

❎ Entry 208 - Meme

❎ Entry 214 - Intro w/ Singers

❎ Entry 222 - Introducing Myself to Both of Carnivore's Albums

❎ Entry 250 - October Rust Mentioned

❎ Entry 264 - Pete Loved His Fans

❎ Entry 307 - Gifs of Steele

Then, the others.

❎ Entry 74 - Learning for the first time about who he was as a person after research inspired by comments from fellow fans.

❎ Entry 170 - Experiencing the first death anniversary since having a better understanding of who he was as a person.

The fun stuff is pretty much just a vague, visual representation of my middle-aged self rediscovering Peter Steele, seeing him in a new light, and appreciating him in different ways than I did before. The others are a light walk through of what I started seeing and how I started reacting. There was so much I didn't know. And once I thought I got the jist of it, there was more.

Entry 74, I see comments on Instagram prior to deleting my profile, accusing his last gf of negligence. Seriously disturbed due to the shock of it from the lack of knowledge, I tried looking it up to see if it was true. Couldn't find any info on that but found lots of info on Peter himself.

This is when I found out Peter Steele was the full package. Men that have beautiful faces like that often accompany them with cruel tongues and empty minds. Not Peter.

Intelligent, wise, kind, and humble to name a few. The full package. Making him one of the most gorgeous men to ever exist. A rare find indeed. Combine that with his voice, talent, style, and presence, and you'll soon see why women everywhere would fall to their knees in love and lust for him.

Unfortunately, that full package came alongside an ample amount of heartbreak.

It bothered me to my core to think about a man like Peter suffering so much at the hands of any toxic women he may have given his heart to in the wake of everything.

I took temporary comfort in assuming he was surrounded by friends that would help lift him up if ever he was down, especially his band mates whom I heard he grew up with. I assumed, and life continued on as normal for a time.

The 14-year death anniversary rolls around and as I said in Entry 170, I'm feeling it more than ever before because now, I have a better understanding of who died, making his loss that much more deeper and tragic.

Not only was a kind heart lost, but a pure soul that suffered greatly, making the pain of the anniversary rival even the death itself.

You see, I'm heavily reliant on what I hear, read, and watch because of the obvious fact that I didn't know Peter Steele personally and I wasn't there when certain things were taking place.

I learned more about him and started to favor him above all other singers, including Trent Reznor who I've worshipped since the teen days. I started looking up more pics and performances (eventually inspiring a blog consisting of nothing but pictures of Peter, telling myself to stop lol).

All bittersweet and intriguing but then, a recent article and an older vid that I ended up coming across paved the way for that dreadful feeling at the beginning of the year to return.

This is why I said earlier that I took "temporary comfort." But at that time, I didn't know it was temporary and I didn't know what else was about to cross my path.

My heart broke for him all over again. I'm suddenly reminded of those scary pictures circulating on Facebook with a caption that reads, "the longer you stare at it, the worse it gets."

I'll start with the article, which was released on May 6th of this year (2024), featuring an interview with Sal Abruscato, Type O Negative's original drummer. Word for word, this is what he said and mind you, I'm reading this for the first time while still learning about Peter.

"He was a good guy. He was a sweet guy. He had a good heart. At the end of the day, he had a good heart, but he was also very vulnerable. He was vulnerable. He knew deep down inside becoming successful was gonna be his demise, because I'll tell you, one thing I did see from being on the outside of Type O Negative, watching the deterioration that happened over the years, people used him. He was a nice guy, he was generous, they fucking used him. And everybody was using him, even his own band members were using him, because he was a workhorse. And everybody tried the best they could. He had a very bad problem, and I know everybody tried the best they could, but it was too little too late."

That wasn't easy to read. Neither was the next part. 💔

"I remember talking to him literally two weeks before he passed, and he told me that all he had left was $3,500 bucks to his name. So he died basically in Pennsylvania alone, in a way. Yeah, he had his girlfriend, yeah, whatever, but all the way out there. Everybody dissipated when the drugs were over, 'cause he had to be sober and clean. He was clean for nine months when he died. And when he told me that, it was like... And he told me people that I'll never name. He told me that he lent money to people, that people never paid him back because he had a good heart. Friends took advantage of him. And it's a shame that it ended like that for him. Had he maybe went to the doctor's on a regular basis too, maybe he could have... But again, the damage was done. But that was the side of Pete was that he was a good guy and a prophetic artist, a prophetic lyricist. Had a vision that went three steps ahead of everyone else. A brilliant guy, very smart, very smart guy in a lot of different ways. Not like 'doctor book smart,' but smart in other ways, artistically and the way he saw things. He was very intelligent."

Vulnerability; pain and love can do that to a person. The thought of this gentle giant who was generous and a hard worker being surrounded by snakes literally makes my stomach turn. "They used him," it said.

"Deterioration that happened over the years," oh my heart. Is that part of the reason why he deteriorated? Were people just taking pieces of him until there was nothing left to take? I despise the thought of the people he was counting on attempting to drain him. Imagine if his millions of fans knew he was being hurt. There would've been an unholy uprising. His fans love him.

I want to ask if Peter Steele would've been around the right people, would success still have been his demise? If he was surrounded by protectors and healers, would the outcome have been the same? I said it in my 74th blog about Peter when I first started learning about him. Men like this, regardless of how big and tall and strong they are, need to be protected. Their bodies are hard but their hearts are fragile.

The creator of something timeless, original, and legendary had $3,500.00 left to his name. Simply criminal after everything Peter had created throughout the course of his career. I was wondering about his income though. I saw a brief home vid of him and one of his cats and I couldn't help but notice his surroundings. It wasn't what I assumed. It just didn't look like a place where an accomplished and famous singer and musician should be living. I was unknowingly soon to get detail on that.

I saw another quick vid of him talking about building a nice, big house in a beautiful wooded area a while back. I looked it up given the home vid I just saw, "that can't be the place he wanted to build." Come to find out he lived in a duplex before he died and that $3,500 would not have afforded the house he wanted to build.

I saw it when I googled where he lived before passing. I thought the entire house was his at first sight and then my jaw dropped to the floor when I read that he lived "on the right side." Peter deserved a monstrous Victorian mansion with beautiful gothic interior, with millions more in the bank to build and decorate with. Criminal and unfair to say the very least.

Aside from this article, I read that Peter was a little awkward growing up, as was I. You grow up knowing friends are often hard to come by. It probably felt good to him in adulthood to be around people and to form connections and to do good things for them, but some of those people were the wrong ones to be that kind of person with.

I can't imagine how disappointed and heartbroken he must've felt finding out many of those people were merely around for drugs and money. Just more loss and abandonment for a good heart and a pure soul. He deserved better.

Sal called him a "prophetic lyricist." Prophetic! In considering the meaning of that word, it makes the lyrics, "life is killing me" gut-wrenchingly sad.

"The way he saw things," that statement was regarding his creativity and intelligence but how did he see his life? How dark were things for him? And the million dollar question, was Peter Steele safe anywhere?

Sal said even his band mates took advantage of him. I wondered about the dynamic between them and Sal. I also wondered if perhaps that's why his last gf didn't want them talking to him before he passed. Although, I did continue to wonder if people were still accusing her of neglecting Peter. There's a lot to wonder and there's a lot of angles to wonder from too.

Wonder, wondered, wondering; it's all speculation. I wasn't there. Lots of questions are gonna accompany me to my grave, unanswered, and I better make my peace with that asap but it's hard. Not like it would change anything, but I still want to know what happened to this man and who was around him.

Who truly had his best interest at heart? Anybody? That's something else I may wonder forever. Who was fighting for him? Who was fighting for his health? Who was fighting for his life?

The whole process did leave me a little suspicious that perhaps nearly everyone around him dropped the ball at some point, in some form or fashion, maybe even when he needed them the most.

People obviously wanted things from him, but who wanted him? Who wanted him to be well? Who cared for him outside of the celebrity? Who cared for him as Peter and not the singer of Type O Negative?

I mentioned the older vid alongside the article I just responded to, but I think I'm gonna break this up into two parts because this already turned out to be quite lengthy.

All in all, his story is weighing on me and I cannot believe that I've loved his music for so long but never knew any of this, and I mean any of it. I just never knew.

And finding this out for the first time makes me wish in such a childish way that either I, or the army of his fans could just somehow go back in time and scoop him up, getting him to safety but as Sal said, "too little too late." He's gone. Still here through music and memory but physically gone, and we can never get him back to fix things for him.

He would be 62 years old if he were alive today. And if he were, I would hope he would have everything his heart could ever desire, especially true love, reverence, happiness, and inner peace.

Eating healthy and staying sober to keep himself going, maybe even a solo project so he could call the shots and have a schedule he's comfortable with. He could hire people that respect him, that will listen to him.

He might've even started a family with a good woman who loves him outside of the celebrity and will take good care of him and his children. That's what I would've advocated for, but who knows.

We can all daydream on what might have been out of desperation for comfort and solace. Comfort and solace from a grueling reality that none of us can change no matter how badly we miss him.

If it was that hard to read about, I couldn't imagine what it was like to go through.

For what it's worth, I'm so sorry Peter. RIP

Part Two and more thoughts later.

[fromtenthousandfeet]

Was MHJ Getting Too Big for Her Britches?

I'm still doing my best to keep a neutral stance on Godzilla vs. Kong (PBD vs. MHJ), but a few more questions and thoughts come to mind.

What's with the timing? Why would HYBE risk blowing up NewJeans right before they release new music? Doesn't the company want and need the profit they generate?

Why did they make this situation so public rather than dealing with the matter swiftly and privately? Did HYBE assume there would be no backlash?

Is it true that MHJ has a non-compete clause in her contract and that it's indefinite, meaning she would never be able to work in the same capacity in the Korean music industry ever again? If so, it's pretty clear why she called herself a slave to HYBE.

Now for some observations.

Min Hee Jin is cooked. As soon as a shareholders' meeting is called, whether forced by the SK courts or simply when the next meeting arrives, there's no way she will survive as CEO given HYBE owns an 80% stake in ADOR, and they will certainly vote her out. She's done for.

I don't think HYBE will continue to support NewJeans. They will no doubt release the 4 songs the group has ready to go, but beyond that, they will likely focus on Illit and other GG within the corporation. If NJ does manage to survive, will the level of care and investment into their success be the same? Who knows.

Love her or hate her, so much of what she says in this interview resonates with me as a life-long music lover. I hope you'll take the time to read it, because it's pretty clear why she and Bang PD probably don't see eye-to-eye on much of anything, at least with the way he moves these days. Here's my favorite quote from this interview: "Some BTS fans want to compare how well one member’s album does over another member’s. BTS is a group that’s been around for 10 years now. They did their duty, basically. So I think it’s time to focus less on the stats and just enjoy their music—[let them] do what they want to do." A million times this!!!!!!!

https://www.fastcompany.com/91113146/k-pops-leading-company-has-declared-war-on-itself-this-never-seen-interview-profiles-the-creative-legend-at-the-center-of-it

Did you see how high NewJeans placed on all those Forbes Korea lists? I wonder if Mr. Bang got wind of the lists ahead of time and blew a fuse? I have this nagging sense that NewJeans and MHJ are getting the same treatment Jimin is getting. BPD just can't deal with anyone who is more successful than he is, especially if they don't use his precious methods, strategies, partnerships. But he needs BTS and he needs Jimin to keep the money flowing. Maybe MHJ and NJ are disposable?

Lastly, I saw the original rumors about the potential cult connection on X/Twitter (before the ALLKPOP article) and the suggestion that MHJ was shading BPD in the OMG video. Despite not being a fan of girl groups, I checked out the full video, and truthfully, I loved it. It's arty, clever, and entertaining. I have no comment on the cult imagery because that's not my area of expertise and I don't really care, tbh. But MHJ, after your music career is destroyed, please come here to the US to make music videos or movies.

Here's the video just for funsies.

[rubdown]

is boyd a bruce springsteen or a billy joel fan? (assuming there can be only one) what about raylan.

Ok complete and total honesty... I am not familiar with Billy Joel's music (except the mega hits and even then) or his lore (except that he was married to Katie Lee from Food Network's horrendous talk show THE KITCHEN) to either confirm or deny if Boyd OR Raylan would be a fan of his. I like the idea of both of them NOT liking him... they're like not this New York City yank...

Whereas BRUCE is a respectable yankee from New Jersey. I feel like Boyd and Raylan are both huge Springsteenheads and perhaps even connected over that early in their tenuous friendship, but they come at their interest in him and his music from different angles. For instance, they would've been about 14 years old when Born in the U.S.A. dropped. The first time Boyd saw the album art, with Bruce Springsteen's hot n sexy butt in his blue jeans and white t-shirt - it was very affirming for him like, yeah, that's what I thought. Meanwhile it scared Raylan, that sort of masculine sexuality on display, terrified that somebody might think it was for his gaze. At this point, too, it probably blasted Boyd's mind wide open about like his poor, working class identity and how he's already set up to fail as his daddy failed as his daddy's daddy failed. He's only a boy!!!!!!!! Raylan gets horny to I'm On Fire but tries to fight it off. He's only a boy!!!!!!

But still, maybe when teen Boyd gives teen Raylan a lift to and from school for the first time - it was a last resort for Raylan to ask Boyd Crowder of all people, but he'd gone through his very short list of reliable possibilities and gotten turned down by all of them. Except one. Johnny Crowder's weird little all black wearing cousin, who'd just acquired his own truck a few weeks ago, about the same time Raylan's junked out on him. The ride to school is quiet, awkward in a way Raylan doesn't normally feel around people he knows. Not that he knows Boyd well, at this point, but he's on a first name basis with him. Then Boyd fiddles with the dials, and the radio's playing Hungry Heart. He hesitates, like Raylan is gonna be judgmental if he keeps it on. But then Raylan says, "fuckin love Springsteen." And Boyd's face lights up, crooked teeth showing, says, "yeah, me too."

AND THEN TUNNEL OF LOVE COMES OUT WHEN THEY'RE 17??????? It's over for them... they're young in love and Springsteenpilled within an inch of their lives!!!

Another thing. From this article: The butchness Springsteen wears covers up hurt and vulnerability like a soft t-shirt under a leather jacket. Boyd and Raylan both do this, in their ways. Raylan more obviously with his hat and his entire cowboysona, hiding under that to keep away the feelings about his past and his trauma and the hurt he's done and the hurt that's been done to him. Boyd joined the army AFTER he and Raylan dug coal together at 19!!!!!! He was sort of forced into it, wearing a persona that others kept placing on his shoulders for him, telling him he's a bad man and he'll never be better. Both of them put on this masculinity to protect themselves from different things, and ultimately, those things boil down to - each other, and how they feel about one another, and how they could feel if they could slough it off and be vulnerable. They will and must fuck again!!!!!!!!

[officialtayley]

now for god's sake i can't find any good article about midnights causing this delay in vinyl pressings for smaller artists. but here is a decent one: euronews. com/culture/2022/10/21/taylor-swifts-midnights-and-why-artists-cant-just-release-an-album-normally-anymore i also saw somewhere on twitter that basically not only did she have a crazy amount of midnights vinyls to press but also that speak now (her version) was being pressed around the same time? so yeah it messed everything up. i think paramore's fall tour was initially supposed to be probably normal North American tour, no? that would make more sense instead of basically doing a small after laughter tour with some deep cuts from other albums like HWGA…. also even their festivals appearances from that time suggested that they were to promote their newest album but in the end they couldn't even release it

yeah that all makes sense. i assume this is why (song) was maybe meant to be released earlier just like what happened with AL where hard times dropped w tour dates and then AL came out a month later before tour started. god taylor's ass rlly messed everything up i'm cryianwnsjwwjs

[omegalomania]

highlights from the podcast that came out with that new rolling stone article about joe's book today, because i see some people out there are Worried(tm) and i listened to this whole thing and it was actually very lovely cause the article took the worst pull quotes lmao

joe's lit manager was like "you should write a book" and joe was like "oh i don't think i can write a book" and then his lit manager said "yeah you probably can't." to which joe went "YES I CAN." we love a man motivated by spite big mood joe

joe was very adamant that he wasn't publishing this book to dish dirt on his bandmates because he likes them and they're his friends. he didn't set out to sell secret fucked up stories about them or anything. this is not a tell-all, he likes his friends.

he talks about how his insecurities and imposter syndrome lead him to forget and downplay his contributions to the music in general: "it took talking to patrick to remember what i had contributed to this song or that song."

joe was diagnosed with bipolar type 2 and had no idea until his psychiatrist mentioned it to him

he talks about growing up with my chem and feeling a sense of camaraderie there since they exploded into the mainstream at the same time

he talks a bit about his back surgeries and the like and says that during more recent tours he's been able to move around a lot more. he thinks that fans think it might still look boring but for him it was huge because it's more than he's been able to!

re: new music, "i don't know if it's an album, we're just working on songs. [...] we're never not working on music."

"i'm proud of the majority of what we've done, even if i objected to some of it at the time and kicked and screamed through it, i'm still proud because we've continued to look forward rather than go back and say 'let's just make cork tree again'"

"if you haven't been hate-mongered, i recommend it. it makes you feel nice on the inside." joe??

"and then we got the emo moniker and i wear it as a badge of honor at this point" thank you joe for being the only member of fall out boy to say this ldfjlkdjfdfd

when mania was first conceptualized, patrick rented a studio in burbank for a month-long session and he and joe worked on a lot of stuff there together. a lot of the ideas got scrapped unfortunately.

"you have no idea the amount of unreleased music this band has. albums' worth of unreleased music. [...] at least 60-80 ideas i'd record on my own and that's LESS than patrick does. far less."

he talks about how it'd be fun to do a box set with old unreleased stuff but also says they have no idea where a lot of that stuff went. stuff that goes back to cork tree era that is probably "sitting on a hard drive somewhere"

"there is no album right now. there is nothing being made right now. we're just doing what we're usually doing, which is writing."

someone on the fob subreddit with an advance copy of his book says, "but in his book he explicitly says that the band (Patrick/Pete I’m assuming) has been very receptive to him having more input. He mentioned also this new album being delayed because he recently had back surgery and needed to just rest for a few weeks. He called up Patrick and they immediately postponed working on more music because they value Joe’s ideas."

"i don't see an end. i think as long as we still want to do it. [...] as long as we're continuing to make music that we like and we have fun playing the shows, we'll keep doing it. [...] if there's good music to tour on and we enjoy being around each other, we'll keep doing it. [...] we're so lucky, i don't think we're doing it for the money anymore. so what's the point anymore? the point has to be for good music and good times."

[luminous-letters]

Henlo Lumen. Can I request Sebek with a fem! reader who's an expert in medical works especially in giving first aid. They're the most gentle person out there when giving first aid or any medical help to other people but they're reckless when it comes to themselves (I'm a child of a doctor and the amount of scars I have on my legs from tripping throughout my childhood is... a bit interesting)

man, anon, i feel u 😭

"It hurts...!"

"Not so tough now?"

Sebek was hissing nonstop as you applied ointment to his blistered arms— the result of an uncontrolled fire blast with a damaged pen.

It hadn't been a while since you took your new role as Sebek's personal nurse, much go his chagrin if you may add, you felt as if you hurt his pride with your frequent scolding.

What started off as a few bruises and cuts now escalated to something like this— burns and sometimes even broken bones. You weren't a miracle worker nor are you capable of healing him with magic, so you had to make do with what you had and would send him off to get treatment after first aid.

Before your unwarranted 'transfer' to NRC, you helped out at the nurse's office for some time. So you could say you were adept with the practice.

"Please don't overwork yourself this time. It might get worse, I already asked Lilia to let you off for a while until you heal."

"YOU WHAT?" Sebek boomed, startling you, causing the assortment of bandages and alcohol to come crashing down the floor.

"At least try to be a bit more gentle."

"NO! First of all, how bold of you to underestimate my healing capabilities. And second of all, how dare you make me look so useless! And to Master Lilia of all people?!" He huffed, crossing his arms with a wince. "I've been through many trials and have braved all of them! So this is nothing to me."

You sighed, realizing that your words won't be able to get through him. "Just rest a bit, at least," you turned to face him, before busying yourself with cleaning up.

He handed you a stray box of band-aids, "I don't need it," he looked at you dead in the eye. He stood up proud, and marched back out as if he wasn't hissing in pain just a few minutes ago.

Dumb and obnoxious. That was Sebek at that moment, and prideful and so infuriatingly ignorant. He was many things, sure, but those were what you felt he was right then.

"I just hope that he'll take my advice this time..."

The next morning, just as the darks of the night before faded into the fresh golden glow of sunrise, just when dew rested upon the blades of grass that littered your lawn, Sebek came knocking on the shabby oaken door.

"On it," you yawned, rubbing the sleep off your eyes.

He was standing on the porch, his hair down, and wearing a light green t-shirt and a pair of camouflage shorts. Not necessarily the best choice of clothes, but it fit his pallet— green, green and more green.

"I assume Malleus told you to take a break?"

"...Yes... We're both excused from classes today. And I was told to come here and... And spend some time here until I've healed..." the last sentence became hushed.

"Come in, I need to change those," you pointed at the thickly wrapped gauze around his arms.

You made sure to thoroughly clean it first, lathering it up with antibacterial soap, then another gentle application of burn ointments, and finally finishing it with another handsome wrapping of fresh bandages.

"It looks better than yesterday. Did you use magic?"

"No, I just heal fast. I would've recovered much faster if only..."

You were satisfied with your work, confident that it would hold until the next time you had to change it. Sebek, meanwhile, was pouting and complaining the whole time.

"I rented an album from that artist you like on the way here," he handed you a C.D. case. The black and white cover's notable features were the repeating texts to make it look like news articles.

"Rep?"

"I honestly have no idea," he shrugged.

It was a good thing that Deuce was kind enough to lend you his player last Thursday. You had to get it back to him sometime soon.

"We can rest here until class ends," you popped the disc into the player, waiting a few seconds before the first song was queued.

"...Are you ready for it?"

Some time passed by.

"And all at once you are the one I have been waiting for— King of my heart, body and soul. And all at once you are the one, I'll never let you go— King of my heart, body and soul."

By the time the last song came to an end, you were lightly dozing off on Sebek's chest, deaf to the annoyed grumbles of the freshman.

"Get off me."

"You know I can't push you off."

"Come on."

"If you can't beat them, join them, I guess," you felt him relax, and it wasn't long before his head rested above yours.

[stormblessed95]

Hi Storm!! This has been on my mind so I thought I would send in an ask. Idk if you are a swiftie, but I am. Taylor has a new album coming out next month (crossing my fingers that PJM1 doesn’t drop the same weekend because I want Jimin to have his own moment) but onto my point…

There was a major uproar from fans after the speculated that this album would have even more queer undertones and a possible “coming out” from her with Midnights. And there was even a Rolling Stone article talking about her rumored queerness which brought a huge twitter controversy and a shit ton of homophobia. I hate that people are assuming that she will come out with this album release or pressuring her too, I really hated even more that people were so homophobic adamant that Taylor is straight. The homophobia and heteronormativity extends beyond the BTS fandom into other huge fandoms too. It really made me mad and sad. And I’m sure Taylor is aware of both sides of her fandom.

Idk what my real point to this is other than this is a huge patriarchal society problem clearly. The way some swifties dismiss any possibility of her being apart of the LGBTQIA+ community is giving the same energy that the members of BTS receives when someone speculates that *cough Jikook* could be in a romantic relationship and it’s disgusting. This is why pressuring anyone, especially those in the spotlight, to come out is never okay.

Hi! So I do really enjoy lots of Taylor's Music. But I am generally not involved in the fandom nor do I keep track of what goes on with her. I just enjoy the music when it drops. I do have friends who are Swifties though and you best believe my bestie will be getting a call asking why they didn't share their fandom drama with me this time. Lol

Honestly though, I did go look this all up and read through some threads and see reactions to things etc and wow. Yeah, there is a lot of uncomfy discourse happening. I don't know Taylor enough or about everything to honestly give my own opinions over it all though. I don't feel informed enough. Sorry!

I will say that the Bi colors show up alot around Taylor though that I've seen. Her lyrics has raised my own eyebrows here and there on occasion but can also be easily brushed off at times too. So again, I don't know enough. I know she writes all her own stuff though I'm pretty sure and is huge on Easter eggs and clues and hints etc. And there are so many queer coded hints that I've seen and I wouldn't even consider myself part of her fandom. But again, who knows. This music video DOES exist though lol

And yeah, hardcore ally all day. I love it. But the gay song during pride month and she did it with Bi colored hair? 🤷🏻‍♀️😂

I don't know anything about her upcoming album release though honestly. But no one can force someone out and no one can assume someone's sexuality. So the people insisting she has to be straight aren't in the right. She has the right to her own privacy though as well. She doesn't HAVE to say anything to anyone about anything either. I do think there is a difference between assuming she might be coming out vs pressuring her to come out too. Talking about the queer undertones in her music and gay fans being excited about it, relating to it and wondering if this means she might say something diffinitive about it now. Isn't the same as insisting she say something about it or come out. I'm sure there are people doing both because fandoms can suck sometimes, but don't downplay every queer fan for hoping for a more queer album or maybe a coming out as them insisting she do so either.

But again, I don't know enough so Idk how much I can really say! All I know is that she seems happy in her relationship, my hardcore swiftie bestie tells me she is and that she has been throwing herself into these latest albums. So I just hope she stays happy and enjoys her life to the fullest and if nothing else, I hope she is a good ally.

Sorry fandom drama and homophobia is everywhere anon. That's nothing new 🥺

[twopoppies]

https://twopoppies.tumblr.com/post/677266584719507456/re-some-of-your-recent-asks-theres-a-difference

I'm confused, what do you mean by saying their reality? Like they may have broken up or something or cheating or anything "real"?

Hi honey. TBH I really don’t get why this conversation is still going on.

What I meant is that none of us can begin to imagine what it’s like to fall in love with your band mate and have literally everyone around you telling you that your relationship is going to ruin everyone’s chances of having a successful career. On top of this, imagine that every article and social media post that mentions your partner is focused on sowing doubt about who you know them to be. Imagine constantly having to see people throwing themselves at your partner, having to see your partner out pretending to date someone who isn’t you, having to know your partner is on another continent because you can’t be seen together, having to constantly pretend you not only aren’t dating but actually hate each other.

Take that, and then remember this is happening to you between the ages of 16 and 23 years old while you are trying to cope with an unimaginable amount of pressure (plus constant gaslighting).

That’s what I mean about their reality. The fact that so many of us genuinely believe that they made it through that sort of pressure not only together, but as psychologically intact as they are, it’s a testament to who H/L are as human beings and as a couple.

But it doesn’t mean that they never struggled, that they never thought maybe they should break up, that they never fought, that they never needed time away from each other, that they didn’t need to grow up and mature in order to know what they had. I just think it’s dangerous to your own sense of how relationships work to assume that it’s been an absolute fairytale.

But because it seems like I can’t say anything without being misinterpreted, let me be very clear:

This doesn’t mean I think they cheated on each other.

This doesn’t mean I think they had some huge break up and dated other people.

This doesn’t mean I think their albums are break up albums.

This doesn’t mean I’m a solo Harrie/Louie.

This doesn’t mean I think they’re not together.

This doesn’t mean I think they’re in an open relationship

I don’t know how to be any more clear with all the hand wringers in my inbox.

[2ynjns]

enhypen with an idol s/o

pairings: ot7 x gn!reader

word count:

notes: fluff!

request states “Could you did Enhypen with an idol S/O pls ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ your writing is so good! And crazy accurate <3"

a/n: i took sooo long so post this but im finally out and done with my first year of college ><

heeseung

he met you because you trained together

after he joined i-land, he also suggested that you join the supposedly newer (girl or buy ofc) version of i-land

and you did!

as a trainee you both were the aces of the group

a whole power couple

started dating after heeseung debuted, so he was rooting for you during your competition...

but then when he won and became an enhypen member, you were the proudest

and when you also won and became an idol, he was your number one supporter

your group concept is pretty similar to enhypen's given you're both from be:lift

enhypen is a vampire concept, your group is a witch concept

that man is totally whipped for you

you once covered apple by gfriend and you were wearing an all black outfit with dark make up (even tho assuming you're in a boy group or girl group ofc)

heeseung: SHEESH

no forreal he could NOT stop admiring you

he would practice songs with you

and practice choreos with you as well

he loves your group's choreo and he would learn it and show off

"look y/n," *cues the music*

"oh lawd, you sure you're not supposed to be in my group instead?"

jay

you met during a convention

your groups were sent to new york to perform at kcon

you were shocked that you clicked well so fast

your group leader were also suspicious of whatever what was going on HDBHSDBH

anyways

you started dating almost a year later,

your relationship was very discreet,

yet it doesnt at the same time hdjhsdjhJJDH

like you would wear his clothes in public

some fans will pick up hints

but most of them are like "give them privacy!!!"

which is so sweet of them

anyways

secret relationship or not, you would always wear couple fits

matching necklace, shoes, bracelets

hats, shirts, pants

name it, you have everything matching together

one time dispatch made an article about you and jay

but all fans were raging and demanding them to delete the article

bc of privacy or what not

but regardless, fans still supports you and jay whether youre actually dating or not

jake

consists of indoor dates!

a lot of them!

you both like baking and indoor activities so it works well

indoor dates consist of movies, song writings and learning choreos together

there was this time you and jake just sat in front of the table and wrote songs together

you both are so in love its so cute </3

one of the lyrics you wrote was

"you're my healing, this wonderful love starts with you."

HELLO JDBHFBDHFBDH

WHIPPED AS HECK

and when jake saw that

little baby teared up a little

"i'm your healing???" -jake with a puppy face

and you're just

"stfu jake stop being giddy"

no bc this babie was sooo giddy the next few days

yes DAYS

then you were honored enough to release your song in your group's newest album

but ofc the fans may or may not know its about jakey

but that song is all what jakey listened to for the whole month

the streaming counts 80% came from him

supportive bf af

sunghoon

consist of either park dates or skating dates

he would take you skating time to time since it will be the most private bonding activity you can achieve

you're not mad at it tho because it's actually fun

but other than skating dates

that one unforgettable moment you had with him was your group and enhypen had a stage collab

and all you and sunghoon did was fool around

well you fooled around

and he just played with you

you were purposely messing up the choreography to piss sunghoon

because sunghoon is next to you and everyone would be like

"sunghoon! keep y/n in place!!"

sunghoon : (> _>)

you: :D

no seriosuly now sunghoon had to 'seriously talk to you'

but yall nailed the actual stage

many fans did not really speculate your relationship

many just assumed you were friends

but you had a late night date after the performance

which is cute because he took you to eat your favorite food.

sunoo

okay hear me out

your group concept is cute concept right

one time you were wearing the cutest hairstyle (little pigtails :c)

sunoo was sooo like

ヽ(♡‿♡)ノ

"that's my baby!!!"

records your performance btw

then backstage he would play with your pigtails

he took a lot of pictures of you as well

to ofc, set as his homescreen

while you were performing he was singing along and dancing along too.

then watches your fan cams gloriously

24/7

any fan cams existed of you he already watched it before you

maybe 5x more than you did

practices your group choreographies

then shows it off

"looh y/n!" *shows off*

you just giggled and hugged him

"are you sure you're supposed to be in my group instead?"

cutie baby with a cutie idol s/o :<

jungwon

competitions 24/7

but he HATES it

but you LOVE it

hybe and your company set you up and would always collide your comeback dates

so whenever during music show awarding you both would get anxious

because he wants you to win but he also wants his group to win

and vice versa to you

one time his group won and they won by 2 points

it was a TIE but that 2 point extra bumped their win

so he was just like

(︶︹︺) " i feel bad,,,,"

you were just like ┐(￣ヮ￣)┌

"its not a big deal bubba, it's just an award"

"no bubba >:( its not just an award, its THE award and we won it and you didn't"

hes so hypersensitive about it

and you were just like

(-_-;)・・・

"well, ill take the trophy then,,, THANKS WONIE HAHAHA"

"w-wait y/n no! THATS MINE!"

niki

he met you as a special mc in an variety show

during the send he was like (<.<)

and you were like :) mcing HAHA

but after the boys pushed him to ask for your info because he wants to be friends

and you were like "are you sure just friends? hahaha"

and mf BLUSHED

cutest ever istg

anyways

you gave him your info ofc

because you want to be 'friends'

yall fools because yall ended up dating after 2-4 months FJSDHFJSDH

but he would always have impulsive and compulsively have dance competitions

just the two of you

sometimes you win

most of the time he wins

and he gets SOOO cocky

but then he'd feel bad if you get sad :(

so he lets you win JSHDJFHSDJF

[calvin-af-crone]

Does "calvinamerika" still post her theories to you?

The Woman-of-Infinite-IDs never went away. She invented new ID's to follow me & likes my posts. But she has stayed out of my Inbox until today...possibly. I'm guessing you are her because this morning I found a long chat message from her & you want me to share it.

Here it is:

Don’t attack for this I have zero idea if it’s true but I trust them . Friends of mine went to Vegas last weekend and a couple of important about Calvin Harris and Vegas shows . They told them he is done w/ playing in Nightclubs and only playing a couple of festivals as a goodbye because he wanted taking a break and focusing on his private life and spending more time in Europe. They are surprised that he is working on an album bc he didn’t changed his mind back in January. Like I said no idea if it’s true but I trust them and it makes sense . I figured out that his siblings and mom unliked him on FB around January, i assume they knew about his original plan. I think Calvin has not a studio in Ibiza and that would confirming that he planned a break . I think it’s obvious that Calvin changed his mind after the Sun article and it took Aarika by surprise . That makes sense too because she deleted everything about his career .Something like that can cause a huge strain and could be a major issue for a RS when both want the same things but at different times . If Aarika really stopped modeling for Calvin maybe is expecting the same from Calvin w/ taking a break . ( greatest example Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen they almost broke up because of his career 3 years ago because he was all about Football.) I think and it’s obvious that they are taking a break or broken up for now because 5 years is a long time and they are working on their issue in the next months . That would make sense with using his Jet because they are probably staying in touch and probably have some rules for their taking a break thing like how long 2-6 months or so. I highly doubt it’s lack on love that they are on a break . The only people who know the truth are friends ( like Laura ) and their families. tbh deleting pics is not so deep because some people deleting pics after every fight or changing their FB status And it would be so weird when has not at least one pic of Calvin on her private account or at least an arm I think not that Calvins team spoke w/ the Sun, he confirms things on via Twitter or randomly in Interviews. If they said it in a way that nobody would be shocked if/ when they are back together. Nobody said that his Team leaked the Farm thing or nobody gonna say his Team released a statement if/ when they are back together or when he/ they are getting married and having a baby . I hope they are not one of those couples who taking a break or so every couple of years. I went to Ibiza twice and people know everything there , they are telling tourists where to find celebrities and some are tipping off paparazzis . Other thing at some point we always fing out when he bought a new home in the US and somewhere else . I think he maybe bought something under a trustee or rented something as a back up because nobody know how fast u sales a home , maybe Aarika stays there right now til they resolved their issue . Please don’t leave we all want celebrate if/ when they are getting back Calvin starts his own family w / Aarika or someone else I know we are all confused a bit because 5 years together and 4 years living together are long Don’t know if u r agree or not . Feel free to tell

Naturally, I want to believe Calika isn't irreparably broken. But others have plausible theories about him starting a relationship w/ Dua Lipa! I promise you, dear readers, if that happens, I will unleash a fucking epic rant!

I might then continue this blog just to mock & criticize his every move! But, ya'know, I will eventually attain indifference. I've started packing to stage my house for sale. Then, I'll move Westward to start a new chapter in my life, probably the last one, & I do so hope I find something better to do w/ my mind.

[breakfast-cereal]

Stupid For You (2) -Johnlock

← ← MAIN MASTERLIST

← PART ONE

PART THREE

!¡Trigger Warning¡! DO NOT IGNORE!: mentions to drugs and addiction, alcohol use, vomiting, hints to declining/poor mental health.

Rosie's hair was in a slightly dishevelled braid that reached just above her shoulder blades

"Youtube seems to be helpful for tutorials. Slightly inaccurate, though." Sherlock looked as if he was about to write down notes.

"It's YouTube, Sherlock." John looked at Rosie who had a massive grin on her face

Rosie rushed to Sherlock and wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you, daddy!"

Sherlock didn't seem to protest and accepted the role of a father figure to Rosie. John was confused by this. If Sherlock was a father figure to Rosie wouldn't that insinuate that he and John were together? Does that not bother Sherlock?

"No problem." Sherlock ushered Rosie back to her room and then sat back down to work on the case.

John sat on the couch, sneaking glances at Sherlock while watching some sports game on the telly. He reached for his phone on the table and scrolled through it while watching the telly and concentrating on Sherlock. John was hoping this would have some distraction from his headache. The light from his phone just seemed to make the headache worse. John had opened google and was staring down at it. His headache was horrible and those confusing feelings had returned to plague his thoughts. Without thinking, John entered "John Watson and Sherlock Holmes" into the search bar and entered it. He looked around anxiously as if someone was going to pop out of any corner and catch him looking at this. The worst would be Sherlock. Results popped up raging from "Johnlock" blogs to articles describing their relationship. John clicked on the first article and skimmed it until reaching a part that specifically piqued his interest.

Sherlock Holmes and his partner John Watson's relationship is obviously less than platonic. Relationship expert, Tiffany Laines has confirmed multiple theories with her video "Debunking 'Johnlock'." Laines stated in her video that "Holmes and Watson are very close for just roommates. It seems it's Holmes&Watson rather than just Holmes and Watson. Based on body language queues, like the leaning in from Watson, and the way Holmes' colleagues described him as brash whereas it seems John does not find him that way. Can this mean Holmes treats Watson differently? Of course, we can never be sure with their limited interaction, but my speculation is something is going on."

John read over that paragraph multiple times. He read it for what felt like hours. He stared and analyzed it wanting to know what they meant. What the secret meaning could be even though the truth stared back at him. He wanted to throw his phone. Launch it across the room. Find whoever wrote that article and beat them. Instead, John put his phone down and made his way up to make some tea.

"Tea?" He asked into the air, hoping Sherlock would maybe answer.

"Yes, that'd be nice."

John prepared two cups and watched while the water boiled in the kettle. He listened to it fizz and at some moments John wondered if it would boil over. John could be compared to a kettle. He would fizz and bubble until he reached a point where he would just stop or boil over completely. John believed he was a calm individual, though he wasn't. It's hard being calm when you're rather vigilant all the time.

"I've got it!" John spun to see Sherlock pacing around the house frantically. "It was so obvious how could I have not gotten it!",

"What?",

"It's objects! The numbers were words and the words were objects. I've got a lead, John.",

"How did you manage to get that out of a sheet of numbers?" John was impressed. Well, not impressed, because Sherlock could solve a murder with his eyes closed and hands tied, but his skills were always impressive.

"It became quite obvious with hints. The necklace the woman had is a precious object so at first, I thought it could be something expensive, but there's nothing expensive in our flat. Yes, I'm assuming it is in our flat, as the woman left these papers in our flat rather than taking them to Mrs. Hudson, or some other person. Of course, maybe it's just because she was one to visit us, but with the pieces of paper originally the coordinates seemed to also have directions that were rather similar to the way to get into our flat. To sum it down simply, there's clues in certain objects in our flat." Sherlock seemed so animated when he talked about these things. He always strived for perfection and clarity on his cases and when he got it, it's like it sent him into a high. "Don't drink the tea, by the way.",

"What's wrong with the tea?" John felt overwhelmed with this information. There were hidden messages all over the flat. What if he stepped on one? Or got it wet?

"You added milk to yours. It's expired. Strange you pour the milk before the water." John looked at the milk in his cup that had small chunks in it and dumped it down the sink, sugar swirling down with it.

The kettle finished as John was there and he poured it into Sherlock's cup. He waddled over to Sherlock's desk and placed the tea, noticing the messy state of affairs. Sherlock's desk had papers all over it. The papers in the centre focus were the ones from the most recent case. One paper had computer, Jane Eyre, heart, written on it, while all the others remained blank.

"Heart?" John felt a strange feeling when Sherlock looked panicked. Sherlock looked like that word wasn't supposed to be written.

"Likely mistake. I don't know why that word is there. Stupid mistake." Sherlock quickly flipped over the paper and overemphasized the grab of the cup. "Go watch telly or something. I'm busy." John hated the way Sherlock would brush him off so easily. Even with living with him all these years he still couldn't brush off the hurt it caused. He wanted to get his mind off this, but his mind immediately went to drinks. With what John remembered happened last night, drinking was the last thing he wanted to do. So instead, John left the flat.

He walked the opposite way from the pub. His mind thought of one thing and one thing only; Sherlock. He felt like one of those articles as he speculated what heart could be. Does Sherlock have a secret photo album of Irene Adler? John was sure that Sherlock didn't have any human organs (they had cleaned all those out after John screamed at Sherlock over the fact that if Rosie ever found them she'd be terrified.) Was heart meaning that Sherlock's heart had been taken? Was he in love with someone? John felt a spike of jealousy and resent for whoever this person was. How dare they have Sherlock's heart. Why can't it be John? John paused internally. Why was John so jealous? He didn't like Sherlock. He never liked Sherlock. Sherlock was a friend, but friends don't get jealous over their friend's relationship because they want it to be them. Maybe John wanted Sherlock as a little more than a friend, but he only liked women. His brain was just being weird again. It's because he hadn't been with any women in a while. He just missed Mary, and Sherlock was the only person around that he could be with, so his brain was just skipping to conclusions. John needed to meet someone. There was one person that came to mind, the woman he had met on the bus. He had always wanted more and now was the time for that. He could unblock her number and text her. It would be something that has no strings attached. It will help John get his mind off Sherlock. He'll be able to realize his feelings were stupid.

When John was back at the flat he felt strange guilt. Like sending a text to this woman would be cheating on Sherlock. Sherlock wasn't romantically interested in John at all. John stared at his phone and the text that was sitting and waiting to be sent

Would you maybe want to meet up sometime this week?

John shut off his phone, he needed time to consider. He wasn't sure what he wanted. He wanted something. He wanted someone, but this just didn't feel right to him. She didn't feel right for him. He felt like he would be using her. He would use her to distract himself from his own problems. He didn't need a distraction he needed advice. He really needed advice. Who was he supposed to get advice from?

John sat at a small table with a pink linen table cloth on it. The chairs were rickety and felt as if they were going to fall apart any moment, whereas the table cloth looked pricey and was clearly good quality. It had ballerinas dancing on it, and could definitely be used as a small blanket.

"What are you here for, John?" Mrs. Hudson asked,

"I need some advice." John expected Mrs. Hudson to be the last person he went to, but there he was, sitting in her flat.

"Aw, did something go down between you and Sherlock?",

"No, no, that's not it. Well, I mean. I don't know." John wanted to smack his head into the desk. "I need advice on feelings."

"Oh, John," Mrs. Hudson sounded genuinely caring. Or maybe John just wanted her to care.

"I'm not in love, before you think I am. I'm just confused and I want advice.",

"Is it Sherlock?" Mrs. Hudson knew before John. The articles knew before John. John realized with those words, that he was indeed stupid for Sherlock. He had to admit it to himself. He can't deny it all.

"I don't like men." Denial, denial, denial. All he did was deny. He had realized, but he wasn't going to acknowledge it. He may know, but if he ignores it, it's not real.

"I may be your landlady, but that doesn't make me oblivious." ,

"But I'm not-"

Mrs. Hudson interrupted him, "my advice is to stop denying it."

John pushed up from the table, shocked the chair didn't crumble. "I think that's enough advice for today." He hissed as he left the flat.

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