#tabloids being tabloids

[khruschevshoe]

You know, it's rather interesting to me that Taylor Swift's parasocial relationship with her fans is honestly more akin to a YouTuber than a writer's. When I scroll through her tag on tumblr/Twitter, it's far more regarding the connection to her personal life/relationship developments than the actual metaphors/fictional story she might be telling. Everything comes back to how her songs reflect back on her relationships with Joe/Matty/Travis/Jake/insert ex-boyfriend here. And what fascinates me about it is that even though she complains about it, she leans into that very perception because it strengthens the parasocial bond.

The marketing for TTPD so clearly being about Joe Alwyn and the songs to Matty Healy. The marketing/video for Red TV so CLEARLY being about Jake Gyllenhaal, with so many of the new lines in All Too Well specifically being digs at him (I'll get older but your lovers stay my age, casting an actor that looks like him for the video, specific lines in I Bet You Think About Me). The fact that songs like Getaway Car and Bejeweled and Gorgeous and London Boy and Lavender Haze being picked apart at time of release and long after for signs of relationships crumbling. The way she uses surprise songs in relation to her relationship development with Joe/Matty/Travis. The damn TTPD "stages of grief" playlists where she deliberately undid/changed the meanings of old songs just to keep her audience speculating on her love life.

It's not sexist to point out that her wielding her love life is a marketing tool and that the strongest connection to her audience isn't the strength of her writing/the composition of her music- it's her deliberate crafting of a connection between her music and her personal life, leaving the audience invested in her music as an extension of Taylor the Person/Girlfriend rather than Taylor the Artist.

[strawberryyyenthusiast]

More of my diabetic Steve verse!

Steve, who doesn’t realize that Eddie is super famous and robin who could literally not care any less.

Steve and Eddie exchange numbers and text all of the time. It takes a week for Eddie to crack and send this message:

Eddie: Please for the love of god let me take you on a date I need to wine and dine you so hard I think I might pass out

Steve obviously says yes.

Eddie takes them to a small diner because he doesn’t want to risk being seen by crazy fans who somehow always find out where he is. If Eddie is being honest, he blames twitter.

Eddie gets there to find Steve already sitting at a booth, fiddling with something on his phone. His glasses are sliding down his nose again and he is wearing a Wham! graphic t-shirt and light wash jeans. He stands up once he notices Eddie and flashes a huge grin, which causes Eddie to also smile.

They both sit down on their respective sides of the table and get comfortable, making small talk. It takes a bit, but Eddie notices that Steve has the menu pulled up on his phone and laughs.

“Doing some homework?”

Steve looks confused for a second before glancing down.

“Oh yeah! I always make sure to look at it beforehand whenever I go out to make sure that I have options depending on my blood sugar level.”

“What’s your… number, is that the correct term, now?”

Steve nods enthusiastically. “Yes! And let me check.” Steve pulls out a cute green pouch and takes out a bunch of supplies. “I just changed my CGM—“ At Eddie’s confused look, he says, “My glucose monitor. It’s not completely synced yet so I can’t rely on my pod to tell me what level I’m actually at.”

After he says that, Steve cleans his finger with an alcohol wipe, lets it dry, and then pricks his finger. He squeezes the pad of his ring finger and blood pools to the surface.

“Yikes. I’m gonna have to give myself a correction or two.”

Steve cleans up the space but leaves his pouch out, and then wraps a sparkly bandaid on his finger.

“What’s a correction?”

Eddie feels dumb. He wishes he knew more about diabetes and actually researched it before showing up to the diner with no prior knowledge.

“I just give myself a little extra insulin to make my blood sugar go down. I’m flirting with 250 right now and I really want a burger.”

—

The date passes swimmingly and the two men find themselves sitting in the same booth at the same diner, but on the same side. Their hands are intertwined and Steve wrapped up half of his meal to take home.

“I made this for you!” Steve says suddenly. He grabs a stack of stapled papers and hands them to Eddie. “I made you a ‘diabetes guide!’ Since I plan on our relationship being permanent, it would give me peace of mind if you knew what to do in case of an emergency.”

Steve begins thumbing through the packet and explaining everything, but Eddie can hardly focus.

Not with Steve clutching his hand or with him wanting their relationship to become “permanent.”

“Hey, are you okay?” Steve waves his hand in front of Eddie’s face. “I understand if this is a dealbreaker or whatever, but I just like you so much and I want to be your boyfriend as of two weeks ago.”

Eddie just blinks. Then he smiles. “We only met a week ago, Stevie.”

Steve blushes, tucks some hair behind his ear. “I know that. I just had a feeling that I would meet the one.”

“Yeah?” A pause. “Can I kiss you?”

Steve releases a breath. Puts his hand on Eddie’s cheek.

“I thought you’d never ask. I hope you don’t mind the taste of hamburger.”

Eddie laughs before lunging forward.

—

As they head back to Steve’s apartment hand in hand, Eddie tells him about his more than ordinary job. Explains what might happen when people see them together.

Steve just laughs and says, “I’ve fought literal monsters from hell, I can handle anything.”

Eddie falls more in love than he knew possible.

[transmechanicus]

If a band’s members haven’t revealed their identities on purpose i don’t FUCKING wanna know them, the modern obsession with parasocial connection is a disease and i have nothing but respect for artists trying to ward that shit off.

[sunwyrms]

May we have more Loopdile please?

(typically i dont do requests, but i suppose i can humor you since you were so polite~)

They do this every morning. Nobody has any idea why. Bonnie is sick of it.

[id in alt]

[diokiraceo]

so I've already seen a few ships for Reca being thrown around, but have we considered

[mariemariemaria]

the way christopher eccleston was right about rtd lmao

[littlefankingdom]

Bruce Wayne: It has come to my attention that people think Wayne Enterprises are profiting of the LGBTQ+ people during pride month.

Bruce Wayne: All year around, WE finance LGBTQ+ programs not just in Gotham, but all around the world, to support LGBTQ+ people and their loved ones through their journey.

Bruce Wayne: As a proud father of multiple queer children, this is the least I can do.

Bruce Wayne: I'm also not straight.

[luxen-r]

How do men claim that beauty standards are female-enforced and that they “don’t care about stuff like that” and claim women are the vain and vapid bitches who blame them and the patriarchy instead of themselves.

But then claim women hit the wall at 25.

But then they make up 80 percent of all plastic surgeons while women make up 90 percent of “patients”.

But then make thousands of podcasts about how 16 yr olds are in their “prime for reproduction”.

But then abandon their kids and wife because she gains 5 pounds after pregnancy.

But then whine that women who don’t shave are man haters.

But then are the owners of most makeup and fashion brands that push their shitty trends on women.

The day pigs fly is the day men gain an ounce of critical thinking and hold themselves accountable.

Fucking clowns.

[dollypopup]

the audacity of this fandom to call Colin an idiot and then immediately believe a Sun UK article smdh

[dalt0nyc0]

TvNotas Magazine featuring Ana de la Reguera y Tony Dalton. November 19th, 2019.

This is a tabloid filled with gossip however it is a magazine I own that features Tony so I figured I’d post it. It’s about their breakup and Tony not ready to get married.

[petruchio]

thinking about. midnight you come and pick me up no headlights and if you like midnight driving with the windows down and if you like causing trouble up in hotel rooms and they don’t know about the night at the hotel and remember the day we were giving up when you told me i didn’t give you enough and remember when we couldn’t take the heat i walked out and said im setting you free and you still don’t know what i never said and we don’t say what we really mean and you’re still all over me like a wine stained dress i can’t wear anymore and this isn’t the stain of a red wine i’m bleeding love and you’re making me bleed woman and if you never bleed you’re never gonna grow and it’s another day waking up alone and i don’t wanna be alone and you got a new life and i’m doing good i’m on some new shit and do you wanna talk and i just may like to have a conversation and i wish you were right here and don’t you know that i am right here?

[seaofreverie]

Sparkstember Day 16: Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins (When Do I Get To Sing "My Way")

So, well, what an era this was, right. Comeback of the century! Gratsax just has that certain *something*. It's brilliant! One of the best albums ever made if you ask me. The fully electronic style is so perfect for Sparks and they just do it here like it's nothing and like they've been at it for many years. Of course there's the hiatus that took place in the years before it to keep in mind but even then, this album is a HUGE accomplishment and an incredible standout in a catalog of releases that's already full of standouts of all sorts. And it's definitely a personal standout for me too, thinking about how it's been almost a year since I first heard it really freaks me out! It was such a different time for me I feel like, but many things are also exactly the same as back then. It's weird to feel nostalgic about it now but there's really no better word to describe what this feeling is like exactly.

I think this album is meant for vinyl listening in a way. It just fits it so well!! And it's not just the quality to the sound that it has this way (and I don't mean that it sounds necessarily "better", more like just, different and that somehow complements the music even more), but also the ability to have an actual good view of this wonderful album cover that's among my top favourite Sparks things ever. So cool looking! So funny and memorable! One of the finest instances of the music sounding exactly like what the cover looks like. (and learning that the cover is a homage to a SPECIFIC magazine rather than just tabloids in general, that only made it more amazing because it really does look so alike, stuff like this is really cool to me for whatever reason lol)

Also I like the fact that I bought this silly little "disco" lamp around this time last year, so plugging it in for extra vibes during listening makes it all just kind of perfect. And another thing on the visual aspect of it all: this is such a good era for music videos, they're all SO GOOD! Some of my very big favourites for sure and the My Way video might really be one of the best music videos EVER MADE.

But ok, let's get to the point now. Something that stood out to me right away is that every song here is so unique but they fit together so well anyway (not first instance of such thing happening either). There's really lots of variety! I also remember this album fondly because of how it was the first one I listened to with my parents and when my Sparks obsession truly started to become one of the most noticeable things about me to other people, lol. But finally feeling more free and confident with sharing my favourite things that mean so much to me with others is such a wonderful thing anyway, I'd even argue that it helped me live my life more fully than before! And yeah, it's mostly a remark they (my parents) made, that this album nails the balance between keeping to a certain style and offering something new with each song. It's such a wonderful journey!

Alright, once again getting carried away a bit here even though I had no ideas earlier for what to say today. Highlights time then, which is also a bit of a problem because besides one special favourite this album has no spectacularly outstanding highs or any lows, it's all just equally amazing. But I'll try anyway, as I always do.

Favourite songs (and other highlights):

When Do I Get To Sing "My Way": my parents absolutely love this song and well, I do too. No suprise that it's among their most beloved and well-known songs, it really has it all, and it's one of Ron's very best when it comes to lyrics, without a doubt

Frankly, Scarlett, I Don't Give A Damn: so so atmospheric and special, I really like the vocal filter of sorts that's used here, it's just, so cool sounding all around!!

I Thought I Told You To Wait In The Car: this was my LEAST favourite at first but I grew to really like its unhingedness and the part with all "the CAR!!"s on top of each other is just peak of it all and funny as heck

Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil: one of my favourite of Russell's vocal performances! This one and Scarlett are a bit of a duo to me, both simply beautiful songs

Tsui Hark: I LOVE the sound of this one, the piano plus the synth and the spoken word lyrics make this kind of combo that makes it feel like I've already known this one for years and it's just... always existed (which is a term that will apply to a lot of 21st Sparks material anyway, so, that's something to look forward to)

The Ghost Of Liberace: such a big comfort listen to me, I just love this one, makes me feel so at home!!

Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins: shoutout to these too because I feel like they might be easy to overlook as these very brief pieces, but they're that extra element that just, really cements this album as a wonderful whole with something to unify all of it into this package of wonder of all sorts

...And then there's the many bonus tracks also, which I'll just mention briefly since I almost forgot about them and because, yeah. I love them all, but the closest to my heart are Love Can Conquer All, She's An Anchorman, She's Beautiful (So What), Mid-Atlantic & This Angry Young Man (Ain't Angry No More) ((and the RON VOCAL VERSIONS OF THEM)) and Katherine Hepburn (love the whole Christi Haydon EP (and Christi is so cool and awesome I need to say that too today) and I should listen to it more, the Boris The Spider cover is fun as heck also)

And now bonus video for no reason from (almost) a year ago, because again, the nostalgiaaaa. (Back when I didn't have a shelf for my record player yet so it took up half of the space on my desk lol)

[sunflowerius]

oh what I would give to experience aftg as an in universe fan. you thought it was a roller coaster being there right alongside Neil ?imagine seeing all that shit go down on early 2000s Facebook.

[gay-edwardian]

Incredibly insulted that they weren’t even asked to cameo. What’s with the history of Mamma Mia and not consulting the women???

[statementlou]

.

[isfjmel-phleg]

Despite his short tenure and the relatively small impact that the narrative allowed him to have, Ray was in fact a "real" member of YJ, not just a temp, and here's why.

He is specifically recruited as a replacement for two full-fledged members who recently left. This is a major plot of an entire issue, and his addition was significant enough to be the focal point of the cover. No one makes any suggestion that this is meant to be a temporary appointment (although Cassie does intend to try to use him to lure Bart back).

(Young Justice 1998 #41)

Once Tim returns, the team tries to dismiss Ray. He seems insulted by this and makes it clear that his understanding was that the position was a long-term one.

(#46)

There's a whole argument about this. The original members are suddenly less keen on adding new people (this wasn't a problem for them when Anita or Lobo came on board, though) and try to dismiss Ray as too old. He argues that they need him more than he needs them. Tim tries to offer putting him on reserve.

But after Ray intervenes in a fight between Kon and Cassie and puts Kon in his place, there's no further question of his belonging on the team, and he runs in the election for team leader alongside the others.

This is all very different from, say, the team that fills in for Young Justice when they briefly take a hiatus during #24 (Batgirl, CM3, Lagoon Boy, Flamebird, and Beast Boy). There's no storyline about seeking these people out, they stick around for only one issue, and there's no expectation from either them or the regular team that they will do more than fill in. These characters are definitely temps. So is the large crowd that comes to help out Anita invade a country in #49-51.

But Ray continues with the team even after Bart and Tim return, and there's no further discussion of dismissing him. When the whole team is pictured together, he's there. When Greta polls her teammates about helping her break her father out of prison, she asks Ray too. He's involved in all major missions, and although he's not very developed or prominently featured, he does have his moments to shine (...often literally. sorry).

(#47, 48, 49, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55)

He is among the team in the climactic battle with Secret and pictured in the panel in which the team welcomes her back when she is restored to life. He is standing some distance away watching, but so is Anita. They're both on this team, but they don't have the long-standing friendship with Greta that the original team does.

(#55)

Is Ray particularly significant to the narrative as a whole? No.

Did he get to establish meaningful bonds with the others? No.

Was he a good fit for the team overall? Also no. (I maintain that they should have brought in someone like Grant Emerson, who is closer in age to the others, has previous experience working with Bart and with other teenagers, and would have been unaffiliated by that time, rather than nineteen-year-old JLA-er Ray, who has much less in common with these kids.)

But as weird and random as his addition was, he absolutely was a full-fledged member of Young Justice. And come on...have you read his series? There's so much that could have been made of his working with this new team. Why don't we play with that more?