#these are like... 90% for katherine specifically

[t4tower-of-t4terror]

Twst horror movie taste hcs

A response to smthn in my ask box! I've actually had this in my drafts for over a year!

Riddle

DEFINITELY was not allowed to watch horror movies

I feel like his dormmates have been easing him into the genre a little

He likes Carrie. He finds Carrie White relatable

I feel like Riddle would also like early horror. Universal monsters and maybe a little Hitchcock

But he can't do gore and he isnt a huge fan of slashers

Trey

Casual horror fan. Pretty decent taste

Like he's seen most of the big franchises (Halloween, NOES, Friday the 13th, Scream, Child's Play, etc.)

He seems like either a 70s horror kinda guy or a 90s-2000s horror kinda guy.

Maybe I'm projecting but. I feel like he'd enjoy Black Christmas

Probably secretly enjoys really fucked up insane movies. Curse of science club

Cater

LOVES schlocky slashers

Definitely watches Dead Meat. I feel it in my bones.

Cater likes campy stuff above all. He HAS done a Jennifer Check Halloween costume.

Probably loves The Lost Boys, The Craft, Jennifer's Body, Bride of Chucky, Rocky Horror, all of that fun stuff

Him and Trey have occasional marathons. Sometimes they invite Riddle

Deuce

LOVES HORROR STUFF

Has a tendency to get spooked by it, though

He absolutely loves the Friday the 13th movies.

Has probably done a Billy and Stu costume w Ace

Ace

He's such a wuss but he pretends he isn't

This fuck chooses the scariest shit during horror movie nights and almost pisses his pants

His fav is probably Fright Night. Idk why

Leona

He "doesn't watch movies"

I think he'd fw Chucky though

Ruggie

Black comedy lover

HUGE fan of b-movie franchises like Leprechaun, Gingerdead Man, Evil Bong, etc

I feel like he watches Troma

Avid $5 movie box enthusiast

Jack

I don't think he'd watch any

He gets too upset

Azul

Hes a coward

He really likes movies where the killer gets revenge on their bullies

Idk why but I think he'd fuck with paranormal horror

He likes The Shining. No clue why

Jade

SCARY TASTE BAD TASTE

He's an extreme horror fan

He's seen it ALL

like. Homie can watch the most fucked up shit with a straight face

He recommends Salo at parties. He also is no longer allowed to go to parties.

Floyd

Like Jade.

Fucko will absolutely be like "we shld watch Slaughtered Vomit Dolls!!! I've heard it's really fun" so he doesn't get invited to Halloween parties.

Kalim

Also doesn't watch horror

He gets emotional when certain characters die

He does fw hocus pocus though

Jamil

Also a really graphic horror fan

He probably likes it as projection

He also likes complex psychological stuff. More of a casual fan but has a morbid curiosity with the genre

Really likes "descent into madness" movies

Vil

ARTHOUSE MOVIES

But I feel like Vil wld adore Black Swan specifically. It's a personal callout

Vil likes the darker, artsier vampire movies. They prioritize aesthetic above all else and WILL critique period-inaccurate costuming

But has one rlly campy guilty pleasure franchise. Idk why but I wanna say Sleepaway Camp. Pretends the ending of the first movie doesn't exist.

Rook made her watch Serial Mom and she kinda fucking loved it

Rook

I'm split here. Because this man is a fucking FREAKAZOID

Either he only watches deeply artsy pretentious horror films for the beauty in it

Or he has a collection of "horror" DVDs that are VERY VERY DUBIOUS. And probably real

Whatever. Rook Hunt I recommend The Hunger with David Bowie and Katherine Deneuve because it suits him. Also Hellraiser for graphic gore and also weird erotica.

Also he's a John Waters girlie. I believe it with my whole fucking soul.

Epel

Why do I wanna say Final Destination or Texas Chainsaw Massacre?

Surprised by how much his dormmates actually enjoy bloody horror movies. Despite that, he handles mainstream horror better than he handles Vil's arthouse horror or Rook's whatever the fuck Rook watches

Idia

Category 5 autisms about Perfect Blue

Genuine diehard horror fan. This is canon btw

He has a canon niche horror franchise he made a detailed Halloween cosplay of. This is a fact.

Also. Re-Animator for obvious reasons

Ortho

He is the horror, if you think about it.

Also he watched Videodrome because of the film club and got really into it

Malleus

I can only imagine him watching black and white horror. And distinctly romantic vampire movies

Bride of Frankenstein girlie

Lilia

All of em

ALL. OF. THEM.

Old weird bat man liked horror movies that only 5 people have ever seen. He has the most insane letterboxd page known to man

Silver

He doesn't have much interest in horror as a genre

But maybe Nightmare on Elm Street. Lilia made him watch it

He liked Dream Warriors.

Sebek

Tried to sit through a horror movie because Lilia likes them but he couldn't do it

[junoshifts]

🪐,🕸️, &🐞!

Answering for my 90s X-Men DR!

shifting ask game here

🪐 … who is your comfort person in your dr? name three specific reasons why.

Katherine (Kitty/Kate) Pryde! Kitty and I have powers that are close in nature, so we get along well and I love spending time with her. She’s kind and compassionate, and has a wonderful sense of humor.

🕸️ … where will you be when you first wake up in your dr? what clothes will you be in?

I have no idea, likely either Xavier’s Institute or my apartment nearby. Knowing myself, I’ll probably be wearing something cute but comfortable (or just pajamas).

🐞 … name three oddly specific things you’re excited to witness in your dr.

1. Using my powers and determining the full extent of them. They have quite a few applications and uses and I’m interested to see how it feels to use and explore these abilities.

2. The Institute. The grounds and architecture are so beautiful, and the hidden X-Men facilities attached are equally as intriguing to me.

3. My friend group. I love them dearly and I looked up to them all quite a bit, especially when I was younger in this reality. Their loyalty and kindness have always stuck by me, and I look forward to learning from them!

[practically-an-x-man]

random ask- what music genres do your OCs listen to, if any?

Thank you!!

Rae: Lots of 80s rock and metal, but she'll listen to pretty much anything

Robin: "Listen" maybe isn't the best word, but she likes songs with heavy bass so she can feel the music without needing to use her mutation to process it. And she enjoys practicing music, particularly showtunes and opera!

Madison: Music isn't really as big of a thing for her! She lived out in the woods for five years, so she's a little out-of-touch when it comes to what's popular. She listens to some 60s-era pop music, though that's mostly through osmosis from others at the X-Mansion

Ophelia: Mainly classic rock, though she'll branch into some alt/indie music as well

Gia: She's a pop girlie for sure!

Jasper: 90s/2000s alt, punk, and emo music all the way! Also spiced up with some older punk and metal music as well, and some softer 80s pop-rock from Kyle

Katherine: She'll genuinely listen to pretty much anything, as long as it's not too heavy. Pop, rock, ballads, country, all sorts of things.

Quinn: All kinds of punk and metal music!! I actually have a LOT of fun coming up with the chapters of her fic (which are each titles/lyrics to those songs), since her taste in music is very similar to my own!

Eris: He doesn't have much of a defined taste in music himself, though he usually ends up listening to a lot of country and classic rock because it reminds them of Rick

Nikoletta: She's not really that big on music! I mean, she doesn't mind it, but spending so much of her life in high-security prison means that she's grown a little distanced from it, just in general.

Jimmy: Not that this is entirely a genre, but he really likes live music! Doesn't matter if it's a busker playing some pop song or a full-scale orchestra doing a symphony, he just loves the energy of live performance.

Spider: Literally anything. And I mean anything. He doesn't listen to much music while he's out and about, since he's usually listening for interesting sounds to record and collect, but in his downtime he's got a very, very adventurous music taste.

(no Kestrel, Vivienne, Terra, or Pluto for this one since I didn't have much of a specific answer for them)

[aimlessgeology]

The Magic of Sisterhood: Panel Presentation

Gliding on the coattails of Buffy, Charmed (1998-2006) follows the lives of three sister witches, navigating their newfound powers and defeating evil from the other side, all while balancing their delicate bonds with one another.

Tensions between the Halliwell sisters are high at the outset of the series, when Prue (Shannon Doughtery) and Piper’s (Holly Marie Combs) youngest sister Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) returns to their inherited home in San Francisco after a long time away. The sisters fill the archetypes of their ages. Prue, the eldest, is responsible and uptight. Piper the middle child is a fantastic mediator in clashes involving little Phoebe’s free-spirited, naive and reckless tendencies. 

The main point of the series is the ever-deepening bond between the sisters (“The power of three will set us free!” S1:E1.). The sisters act as mirrors to one another and ultimately they all provide council to one another in differing but all-important ways. 

Katherine Whitehurst wrote the piece “Growing Up in Magical Time” dissecting the female development in the magical fantasy world of the ABC series Once Upon a Time (2011-2016), specifically discussing “what ‘ideal’ female development looks like, framing the ideal female as self-sacrificial and benevolent” (11) and the show’s complex structure that includes both episodic and non chronological storytelling which assists in the complex development of female characters. 

As a product of the 1990s, Charmed is not, so far as I’ve seen it, super complex or boundary-breaking when it comes to female character development or any other issue for that matter; it’s a fairly white-bread fantasy romance comedy show, starring three attractive white women, who date a rotating cast of square-faced men, as they fight evil beings and then go home after the battle to their impossibly whimsical three-story manor in San Francisco.

That being said, there is some interesting character development and relationship dynamism at play in the series. Whitehurst’s point about the effects of ‘magical time’ in Once Upon a Time, where happenings in the magic realm lead to unpredictable, nonlinear change for the characters, applies to Charmed as well. 

The Halliwell Sisters’ change into witches marks a transition into magical time where their characters and relationships develop rapidly. They are given emotional depth because they’re grieving the recent death of their mother. The introduction of magic intensifies their lives.

The Halliwell Sisters have it all AND THEN SOME… They are magical witches, specifically “the most powerful good witches of all time,” which seems like a big thing to just… Become. 

Appropriately, all the sisters struggle with some form of imposter syndrome, though they don’t suffer equally. By the 2nd episode, Prue, the eldest, has implored Phoebe, the youngest, to not use her powers under any circumstances (even though none of them can control it).

In the 2nd episode, Prue has a fun night with square-faced man and afterwards her sisters slut-shame her (in an "empowering" way?), suggesting judgement about ideal female sexuality and what's socially acceptable for Prue, a well-to-do white lady in the 90s.

Not only does this scene reveal some of the values of the time concerning women and casual dating, but it also shows the tension that surrounds the sisters’ newfound powers. Here, their powers divide them. They can’t even agree on how to talk about it. They’re judgemental towards one another about their magic and their sex lives; typical catty ladies, amIRight?

By the end of the episode, however, Piper and Phoebe strike a different tone. Phoebe, generally the naive one, offers some sound and comforting advice to her older sister, who is struggling with the transition into being a witch. It’s kind of like the Halliwell sisters enter a sort of puberty all at the same time, which is different then the way they would have experienced such a profound change in their human lives, as they all occupy different ages, and therefore different roles.

To Whitehurst’s point that the flashback structure of Once Upon a Time shows “how the past and present resonate in unison when considered beyond a linear and ordered temporality” (9), despite Charmed being entirely episodic and mostly chronological thus far (not including the premonitions experienced by Phoebe), the text develops a language of nonlinear development by having the sisters operate as a system, whose different parts and actions influence each other in nuanced ways. The sisters experience growth together that they wouldn’t be able to separately. It is also explained that their powers continue to grow and change. For eight seasons!

CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS:

What does a piece’s character development writ large say about the message of a text? Are there good and bad kinds of development? Does a narrative benefit from development in one direction or another, or is a balance necessary?

What does the protagonists’ positionality as privileged women contribute to their character development? Does their privileged status have a connection to the assertion that they are “good” witches? 

Charmed doesn’t do very much in the way of challenging the status quo. What components of the show do you think would be different if it was interested in exploring an ideology different from the dominant white and western perspective it represents?

--Melissa (aimlessgeology)

@theuncannyprofessoro

[thisweekinfandomhistory]

Hello, I was listening to your podcast about the Xena/Ares fandom on Xena. I found it deeply frustrating that you refer to Xena/Ares as being the "canon" ship of Xena Warrior Princess. I understand that you have not watched the show, but this statement is simply false. By the strictest logic, both Xena/Ares and Xena/Gabrielle are equally "non-canon", as Xena is never explicitly shown within the show as being in a romantic/sexual relationship with EITHER Ares OR Gabrielle. It is also never made explicit that Xena has romantic/sexual feelings for either.

While Xena and Ares do kiss on the show, it was always intentionally in a manner that didn't confirm a romantic/sexual relationship (i.e. being part of a larger plan like in the episodes "Amphipolis Under Siege" or "Livia", being a dream sequence like in the episode "Eternal Bonds", or being a "gratitude/goodbye kiss" like in the Season 6 opening episode "Coming Home" which is the last time Xena and Ares kiss on the show.) The producers/writers intentionally "played both sides" but never took a concrete stance.

Different writers also "pushed" different pairings, for example writers like Steven L. Sears and Katherine Fugate been very open that they wrote Xena and Gabrielle as being in love with each other, while writer Chris Manheim has been open about pushing the Xena/Ares pairing in her Season 5 episodes.

I am unsure where this notion that Xena/Ares being the "canon" pairing came from, as the Fanlore pages for both Xena/Gabrielle and Xena/Ares state that they are not completely canon. I was curious about the fandom history aspects of the podcast episode, but the repeated false statement that Xena/Ares was the "canon" ship of the show in the discussion made it difficult to listen to.

At the time of the research, the Wikipedia page and the Xena wikia (fandom.com, whatever they call themselves now) stated that Ares/Xena was considered a canon pairing -- and that Xena/Gabrielle was, pointedly, not considered canon and could not have been canon within the context of the time and network of the show's airing. Unfortunately, for all extents and purposes, "canonically do physically unambiguous kissing" = "this ship is afloat because casual fans will see a kiss and be like 'ok so this is the relationship that's happening'," so Ares/Xena was a textually canon pairing. Definitely not "THE" pairing -- apologies if we phrased it that way during the episode, bc you're right, they were never "THE" pairing in an OTP sense!

You're also ofc absolutely right that certain writers of the show intended Xena/Gabrielle to be read as romantically in love and as literal soulmates! Literal soulmates omg! Like! If the show were made now, there would be NO ambiguity about it!

But to retroactively say that Xena/Gabrielle were the canon ship kind of feels like misrepresenting what it was to be a queer (especially WLW) fan watching TV in the '90s and never actually getting to be the canon ship. Like. Xena was pretty damn revolutionary and the distance they DID go to show romantic, sexual love between Xena and Gabrielle made Xena into the icon it is today. For sure. And for queer fans who had never even gotten to be POSITIVE subtext before... hot damn!

But it was still subtext. A LOT OF SUBTEXT. But... like. There are a LOT of queer ships that have all the subtext in the world and STILL aren't canon. Because subtext depends on the audience picking up what they're putting down, and if you can deny what's being put down... then... bleh.

There were also articles that we talked about in the episode (iirc! It's been a long time! I don't have the links anymore, sadly, but they were prooooobably in the citations on Fanlore) that were specifically about how Xena/Gabrielle was mostly allowed to be as open as it WAS allowed to be (literal soulmates!!) because of the fact that mainstream heterosexual audiences and executives didn't register it as romantic or sexual at all, again because of the context of the time period. Relegating Xena/Gabrielle to subtext and elevating Ares/Xena to text is what allowed Xena/Gabrielle to be as in love as they were because straight people didn't have to see it or acknowledge it. Like, Ares/Xena IS ABSOLUTELY canonically one-sided. It's not, like, a GOOD SHIP (sorry, Ares/Xena fans) in terms of being, like, healthy or swoony or anything. But it's also... canonical that Ares loves her, and they canonically kiss. They were the beard, basically, that let the show do as much with Xena/Gabrielle as they did. And to be that beard, they had to be more explicitly a textual (canon) romantic or, at least, sexual, pairing than Xena/Gabrielle.

For what it's worth, I see Xena/Gabrielle as the canon pairing because I think it's the only way the entire schema of the show makes sense and I think it's obvious... but I'm also a lesbian in 2024, with all of the cultural shift and personal perspective that allow me to do that. We are super lucky to have progressed enough, generally speaking, that MOST people would watch Xena/Gabrielle and understand their bond as validly (and pretty clearly) romantic and/or sexual, and that if Xena were being made today, they would get to kiss without having to be giving mouth-to-mouth to excuse it. Xena/Gabrielle just straight-up would be the OTP canon endgame pairing of the show.

But. That doesn't change the fact that it wasn't. Unless they reboot the show and make it text, it will always only have been subtext. And that sucks! It sucks so hard!!!! But it's also part of queer history that for MOST of TV's existence, we've only been allowed to be subtext.

And again: THAT SUCKS SO HARD. But it feels icky to pretend like that isn't true just because we can look back at older media and ascribe queerness onto it that was not actually allowed to be there.

Which again, THAT SUCKS SO HARD.

(I wish that I did not have to take this stance. *I* like subtext and *I* think it 1000% counts and I also don't personally think a kiss = a canon ship! Sometimes you just kiss a dude bc he saved your life or whatever! But. Alas. The '90s said that lesbians were not allowed to be canon, so... canonical, we all were not.)

(Sorry this is so long. I hope it makes some semblance of sense.)

[flutter2deceive]

Rules: Answer and tag 9 people you want to get to know better and/or catch up with!

Tagged by @thecryptidbard 😊 thanks for the tag!!

Last song you listened to: Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl by Chappell Roan

Favorite color: also also purple!! lol. Color combos i love are purple and green (cuz of a really old post on livejournal about Casey Novak/Diane Neal's fashion sense lol), and purple and teal (and yes i had a hornets starter jacket in the 90s lol)

Currently watching: At this exact moment, The Pit Stop review of last night's Drag Race. I am also rewatching Ghosts and marking down timestamps for several fanvids i wanna make, and very slowly watching Devious Maids for the first time and this show is fucking BONKERS lmao

Sweet/savory/spicy: Savory!

Relationship status: happily single for the past 14 years! Altho someone i had a crush on several years ago recently became single and made a comment that briefly had me like 👀 so i did what any useless lesbian would do and pulled up my "feelin some kinda way" playlist i made at the height of said crush and listened to the whole 2 hrs of music to see if i still felt that kinda way and am proud to report back that the closing song "rabbit hole" by jenny lewis still stands! Lol

Current obsession: also CBS Ghosts, Rebecca Wisocky, Chappell Roan, decorating my guest bedroom into a 90s nostalgia den

Last thing you googled: "when did topanga cut her hair" because i was quoting a friend's standup joke in a comment i left on a bree/katherine desperate housewives fic and i am nothing if not very specific 😂

Tagging: @bwayfan25 @mearcatsreturns @wonderwanda @verin2000 @chainofclovers @singinprincess @everybodyknows-everybodydies @wonderofasunrise @evolutionarypsyche

[thesinglesjukebox]

babyMINT - "Hellokittybalahcurri3 hellokitty美味しい"

We head into week two of Amnesty, and Crystal introduces us to Taiwanese reality TV...

[7.59]

Crystal Leww: Sixteen is now nearly nine years old and it finally feels like we've achieved peak competition show in Asian pop, with three of the big four labels in K-pop coming out with their own versions this last year and increasingly more depressing formats. It's unlikely that any group from NEXTGIRLZ will become the next TWICE (or even I.O.I... or even Kep1er...) but one of the joys of operating out of a smaller market in Taiwan is that it's possible to get wilder. It's possible that TPOP Entertainment and Wildfire Entertainment actually wanted a commercially viable group to debut but handing over control for babyMINT to producer AF resulted in something way funnier and something actually thrilling. "Hellokittybalahcurri3 hellokitty美味しい" is stuffed full of like twenty different ideas -- like after the endless debates of "what is hyperpop," AF said "fuck it, let's put them all into one song." This is like video game music, cheerleading music, meme music, regular pop music, idol music, rage music, and rave music all in one. Every moment in this is absolute nonsense (my favorite is the babytalk rapper in the 2nd (?) verse (?) imploring you to eat your green vegetables), a maximalist embrace that maybe nothing that is "good" matters, and yet, more than once this year, I have found myself singing along to "baby, please don't 放开手!" babyMINT makes me feel young again. [9]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: I broke down in tears when I first heard this song. The only way to explain my reaction is that it's similar to when you reflect on a relationship you have with someone you love, and how beautiful it is that you've come to understand who they are over many years and in many circumstances. They've remained inspiring, their presence indelible, and you know that there's still more you'll come to appreciate. This song is like that but with the past decade-plus of idol music. [10]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: One of those weird cases where getting too specific about any particular aspect of this would ruin the fun of experiencing "hellokittybalahcurri3 hellokitty美味しい" live for the first time -- it's the best time I've had listening to a pop song in... maybe ever? [9]

Will Adams: The first 90 seconds was some the most exhilarating music I've heard this year -- MAKE. IT. FASTER. -- and then it switched into some alternate universe Ariana Grande x Iggy Azalea song. They went back to the hyper-tempo, but by then the momentum was fully killed. [5]

Katherine St Asaph: I'm not sure what to make of this as a whole track, and I'm not sure I'm meant to. So, by parts: The part of this that sounds like the OST to Yoshi's Cookie

Michelle Myers: Judging idol pop as music, in isolation from its visual elements, will always feel a little wrong to me. The live stage of this track is a [10] for me. From the bored flossing that starts this performance to the headbanging chaos at the end, the choreo is even more delightful than the music supporting it. Listening to this on my headphones, I can't help but hear the seams between the disparate sections of this song. Linlin's rap, which feels deft on stage, sounds rushed and sloppy here. I'm nitpicking, but only because this song absolutely slaps. [9]

Rachel Saywitz: I could care less about the memeability of "hellokitty" -- it's too sincere to be a parody, and while I do find the earnestness preferable, the initial excitement I had for this ridiculously conceived track went away when I realized this wasn't a full-on girl group concept, but a costume of sorts as babyMINT attempts various musical styles to win a competition show, wherein supposedly, their official concept is still not self-determined. But I also think that performativity makes it possible to fully sink into the track's asinine lyrics and abrupt shift changes: these are girls playing a role, and doing so with a sprightly wink. There's no joke to be in on, just a part to play. [6]

Taylor Alatorre: Hmm... come to think of it, being in the beginning stages of a relationship is sort of like being initiated into a new and unfamiliar subculture, whether that be otaku maid cafés, retro arcade games, idol groups themselves, or... boba tea, I guess. Why has no one ever thought to put it like that before? Bonus point for the "ohmygah!" shout actually being transcribed as "omega," which adds a theological tinge to what must be the sweetest-sounding memento mori ever committed to record. [9]

Brad Shoup: A few years ago I wrote a career overview of Dave Matthews Band, because I do not back down from a challenge. In putting it together, I gained an appreciation for just how haunted their music is by death. Not loss, necessarily -- though that's a symptom -- but the sense that a lifespan is short, so eat, drink, etc. For them, it's a bittersweet realization, not something to rage against like some of their arena-filling elders. babyMINT spend more time on the eating and drinking, and I do appreciate them vocallzing a thought ("I will die, you will die") I've had about 10 to 20 times a day for the past three years. But it's cheap heat. [5]

Alfred Soto: This deejay set/Stars on 45 approach to tempos and modes is fun for all ages, as I demonstrated last night by keeping it in the background while my nieces opened gifts. [7]

Ian Mathers: Hmm. I might need to up the amount of shitposting I consume. [7]

Kayla Beardslee: You know some shit's about to go down when the girl groups hit you with "Are you ready for this?" and then introduce a silly-sounding phrase over deceptively chirpy synths. Brace yourself for brain melting; you didn't need those thoughts anyway. [8]

Micha Cavaseno: A manic sugar-rush of getting pranked, viciously blending periods of pop in a way that puts the "hyper" back in "hyperpop." I lost count of genre-jumps at a certain point, spotting at least five different songs where my review and consideration would be skewed only to get confronted with another one, so my sense of trying to provide an average based on any of these things is utterly overwhelmed. I'll never figure out which of them locked me on target and killed me at this rate. [8]

Nortey Dowuona: The first refrain is sped up. For what purpose I can't really ascertain. For one, unless you have good breath control, you can't keep and you might even fall off the rhythm, especially once it speeds up during the chorus. The pre chorus is as direct as one could be, with "I will die, you will die, baby/What a life, what a life/Why don't we just right now/Step out to the balcony and put everything aside? Never mind," ending with a reminder to not worry but to instead eat curry and drink boba instead. But the song completely splits apart, mixing up what it's supposed to be done with curry and boba until it shatters completely and comes to a stop. Guess I'll drink this curry? [7]

Dorian Sinclair: This fall, many reviews of Super Mario Bros. Wonder made the same basic point: there are multiple mechanical ideas in that game that could sustain an entire platformer on their own, but in the context of Wonder are picked up and cast aside within a single level. That kind of creative "wastefulness" is in some ways the ultimate flex -- you don't need to explore the full potential of every good idea you have, because there's always another one right around the corner. "hellokittybalahcurri3 hellokitty美味しい" has something similar going on: there are at least three killer melodic hooks, and that's without considering other standout elements (that guitar skitter! the rhythmic use of the title phrase!), any one of which could be developed into a whole other song. There's something thrilling about the speed and profligacy with which babyMINT chew through motifs here; I just hope they're holding some back for future releases. [8]

Michael Hong: babyMINT were fascinating on arrival: it wasn't just the stylized fashion of their name, or that they were under HIM International Music -- the company that formed Mandopop's only great girl group, S.H.E -- their debut stage saw five members, including former Cherry Bullet member LinLin (cannot think about this fucking group without thinking about Bora being villain edited on Queendom Puzzle -- compliment] -- singing in a mixture of Mandarin, English, and Spanish in a manner that was both prim and tipsy over a Brazilian funk beat. Tuning in weekly yielded more rewarding thrills: "R!ng R!ng R!ng" is cursed doll drum 'n' bass and their Jersey club remix of "Nobody Loves U :(" dials up the jejune silliness of Karencici's original. By this point, I was already all-in on babyMINT, a group helmed by a producer A.F who was weird as hell -- he donned the alias of DJ Banana Hammock for their "R!ng R!ng R!ng" performance and committed to the bit each week -- but had admittedly forgotten to check out "hellokittybalahcurri3 hellokitty美味しい" until two in the morning. I conked out with no recollection of the track -- it's pure sensory overload, impossible to retain any feeling on your first listen other than "Cool Japan!" and that this AF guy should seek help -- the only evidence that I heard it was a series of texts that said, "oh my god... the new babyMINT song is so... i'm crying they are so good. i'm obsessed." I've written about how all of it is primed for memeability -- how the "now, speed up" sets my heart aflame, how the final screams of "drink curry, eat boba" are one of the few things in music that could ever elicit a laugh from me, how LinLin is perfectly charming on her silly little nonsensical rap -- but the best part is that all of this is directed towards this lust for life. "I will die, you will die baby, what a life, what a life, why don't we seize the moment?" ponders Lyu Hsi-yan, what should be nihilistic transforming into something celebratory. "I want to stay cute everyday!" she cheers earlier in the track. The two lines work hand-in-hand, as if each searching for some form of optimism. It's an idol version of AF's song for some competition show and hearing them side-by-side is just proof that this guy knows exactly how to make music for idols. This week, I've been giggling to myself over the line "每天多吃一點蔬菜... 這才是我的菜," the latter part of which is just such an absolutely, unbelievably dumb pun. I play it in the car, to elicit groans, to cheer myself up. I catch myself muttering things from this damn song every day. babyMINT continued to offer surprises after this one. There's this disgusting way one member from the group CRIMZON sings her line "be my bae honey, I can be your bunny" (compliment) on "DAAAAAMMMN" (and the way it builds to some club breakdown just to go nowhere is so funny), "GrAb Me If U CaN" is the last shred of hyperpop I'll ever need to hear, "Ocean Bomb" is a delightfully cute post-NewJeans two-step number until LinLin raps about "Spongebob on her back," and grand finale "2023: BBMeme Odyssey" is so delightfully weird and stupid and fun that it sent me into hysterics on first watch (please just click on the video and watch it, I don't know how to describe what happens here; also Crystal asked me if they cut the one girl's hair just so she could be the prince and it makes me laugh every time I watch this fucking performance). They're the Mandopop artist who define the year, a group who were exactly as game as they needed to be to their producer's weirdest antics, who knew exactly how weird to be to be memeable without playing themselves down. [10]

Iain Mew: When I think of the most successful several-songs-in-one hits ("Biology", "I Got a Boy"), I think of density of hooks and dizzying switches in style. I also think of how they have one melodic hook sweet enough to be first among equals, a unifying glow cast by those highs with "The way that we walk/The way that we talk..." and "I got a boy meotjin/I got a boy chakan". Babymint take things further in the stylistic clashes, with some aggressive bosh and forceful rapping, not to mention ending in pretty much the same full-on fashion as The Knife's "Full of Fire." They do have a hook of more than equivalent sweetness, the "I will never let you go" section like "Super Shy" minus the shyness. That can't take on the same role for the song though, because there just isn't room to, not with the title section drilled in so hard before it even gets that far. So they play a very different game, seeding that phrase throughout but making it fit in with every different section anew. It's audacious enough to make for a spectacular first listen, which makes sense in the context that it's made for performance, and that they are not stars at the top of their game but a new group trying to grab attention. It works better than I expected for further listens because there's a thematic trick to match the musical one. They say up front that they're going to teach us a secret, and so it follows us through however far we go, presented like a universal cheat code. Everything dies, but babyMINT have taken these words and scattered them in time and space and maybe they will lead us through. [7]

[Read and comment on The Singles Jukebox ]

[kiss-my-freckle]

Ethereal, 1x19 is my #3

Several reasons why I favor this dance. 

Elena took part in honor of her mother.

This was made clear with repetition, having been mentioned five times in the episode. The answer to Jenna's question "What is she doing with Damon?" is that simple. According to Elena, it's the "legacy" her mother left for her. I'm 90% sure Damon knows this dance isn't for Elena in knowing she's not this person anymore. I'm talking about the same brother that accepts the fact that Caroline is a cheerleader, but doesn't view Elena as one. Damon was the better choice to escort her to this particular dance. 

Reeducation vs punishment.

Reeducation is the only way to get Damon to act human because he's been living as a vampire for 145 years. Best by treating him like he's human in order to make him feel like one. Thus, "And you made him feel human." Locking him away in a cellar while claiming to protect Mystic Falls from what Damon referred to as the animal, the mountain lion they captured is no way to make him feel human. What Stefan did to Damon was punishment. It didn't work in 1994 and it wouldn't work now. In this case, making Damon feel human is one of the biggest reasons he fell in love with Elena. What Stefan literally expected to feel with her, and so much as entered her life for the sake of feeling... Damon felt without intending to. That's why he didn't understand Stefan's relationship with Elena until he fell in love with her himself. He’s a vampire that eats humans, so we’re talking about an unexpected surprise here. Elena presents the council with a human Damon just in dancing with him, but that’s not why he falls. 

imo, this dance is Damon's signature moment.

While Elena was there to honor her mother, it's clear to me that Damon got more from it than she did, and I've come to this conclusion according to his response. I’ll have a separate gif post that’s signature-specific. If my followers want to know where I place his fall... I'd say he fell for Elena right after their left hand around. I fully believe he fell before they embraced, and fell because of the way she looked at him. It’s one thing to present the council with a human Damon, quite another to look at him as she does. To put it bluntly, no woman would find an animal sexy, and Damon can sense her attraction just by the way she looks at him. I believe that’s why he states as much in 6x7. “I stepped in, sexy as hell...” He knows Elena felt it, “How sexy he was.” It wasn’t just that he got her mind off Stefan, he got her eyes off him as well. I believe he had her the moment he did that thing with his eyes, which she so mentions in 1x22. “I'd never let myself notice until then. I mean, obviously I knew he was attractive, but I didn't want to see him that way.” Damon would’ve felt her seeing him that way in that moment because she allowed herself to see him that way. I believe he stops flirting with his eyes because he’s under. By this, I’m saying she has the power to get him to do whatever she wants because he’s in love with her. I also believe it’s the reason he approaches her the way he does when it’s time for them to embrace. Appealing to her attraction so she’ll continue looking at him the way she does. It feels good when someone notices.  

Damon is all-in. 

By this, I mean that he’s fully honoring Elena. The simple intimacy of his near touch. Flirting with his eyes. I'm all but guessing he remembered this from 1864 when he hoped Katherine would choose him to escort her. He’s all-in, not to seduce her, but to give her every bit what the experience was meant to be. The last thing he’d do, is make a mockery of or go in halfway on something she clearly cares a great deal for. He does this because he cares about her.

It drops more than once. 

I see this dance in 2x8. Elena stands at the top of the staircase, then runs into Stefan’s arms. Damon disappointed because Stefan gets the very embrace he got on the dance floor. If not for Stefan’s conversation with him in the episode, I believe his scene with the vervain necklace would’ve played out differently, as I believe Damon would’ve kept his feelings to himself. Again in 4x7, 6x2, 6x7, and 8x9. Enough references to matter, and all the more reason to believe it’s Damon’s signature moment. 

Personal opinions while I’m at it...

It wasn’t just Elena worrying about Stefan, but Damon worrying about Katherine. For both, the world fell away and it was just the two of them. 

Damon cared that Stefan wasn’t there to dance with Elena. He was looking around for Stefan when Elena’s name got called because he thought they worked things out after he left them to talk.  

Damon very much meant WE when he said, “Right now, we just have to get through this.” 

Damon saw Elena’s path to humiliation. As she’s descending, there’s a moment when she gets a look at the bottom of the staircase. Stefan isn’t there to escort her, and she throws off this look that Damon would’ve been able to see. Damon referred to it as humiliation, Elena referred to it as embarrassment.  

The scene and its soundtrack has a spiritual vibe. The way Damon looks up to the top, as if hoping to see an angel. Elena in blue, an angel descending a stairway to heaven. They’ve got it wrapped in pink fabric and white Christmas lights. In this moment, Damon wouldn’t tell Elena she looks like an angel. But as he dances with her, he’ll ask that she make his heart a better place. 

I view 8x9 as full-circle writing for Damon’s character. What was made possible because he fell in love with Elena in 1x19. Not just that he fell in love, but who he fell in love with. She’s human. 

[crowned-ladybug]

I forgot I typed up all this a while ago. Have some thoughts re: Jack vs literacy

newsies in general can read bc i mean they kinda Have To. meaning Jack can read pretty alright as well

he starts struggling if text is longer than like two paragraphs bc at that point it gets tiring and easy to be distracted from. to counteract this and also just save time in general, he's really good at skimming front page/other interesting articles so that he actually knows what he's selling

there becomes One single exception to the skim-reading and that is Anything Katherine Writes, which can go one of two ways:

either Jack puts aside time to read her newest article word for word when having lunch or after work is done, at subpar lamplight, no matter how long it takes (- sidenote: he saves a copy of every edition Katherine has an article published in and soon enough realises that that's a whole lot of space for stuff to be taking up. from then on he just starts tearing out her articles specifically and filing them away in the back of a sketchbook. it's Months later still when Katherine finds out about it)

OR sometimes Jack will show Les that hey look Kathy has had an article published again, with full knowledge that it'll end with Les begging Davey to read the article out loud to them both. This is 100% on purpose but don't tell anyone bc Jack Kelly does Not get Read To. Most definitely does Not end up dozing against Davey's shoulder either on warm days when all three of them sit down and let him read

there's a few books kicking around in the Lodging House that are falling apart and are generally no one's and everyone's, which are sometimes employed for bedtime story reasons by the older kids when the littles ask for it. Most of them including Jack don't read so well over long periods of time so it's a lot less "reading bedtime stories" and a lot more "doing their best to recall the story with the book in hand, making up details as they go, and occasionally remembering to flip the page to keep up the illusion." The littles ofc know it's not Actual Reading but they don't say anything to break the illusion either

writing on the other hand goes a lot less well

Jack's handwriting is a mix of clumsy, childish cursive (from what little he did get to go to school, years and years ago) and equally clumsy print picked up mostly from newspaper font since that's the letters he's looking at 90% of the time

he's slow at writing, it feels clumsy and wrong, his spelling sucks (bc reading is not the same thing as paying attention to grammar and internalising it) and overall he fuckin hates it bc it makes him feel stupid so he avoids it at all costs. He also very specifically is of the opinion that it's unfair that being good at drawing doesn't also make him good at writing nicely

honestly unless it comes up very specifically and gets pinned against him, Jack doesn't really feel bothered by any of this. Or at least not until Davey, Les, and Katherine all happen themselves into his life

Davey and Les start bringing homework to Jacobi's or the Lodging House, and Katherine's whole Job is about reading and writing, and she has her notepad and pretty cursive, and Les' clumsy childish handwriting is still better than anything Jack can manage, and Davey practically speeds through books for fun and he can Actually Read To People

Jack does not enjoy this and is entirely silently fuming about it

he Also does not enjoy how susceptible he is to gravitating over and settling down when Davey gets roped into Actually Reading Bedtime Stories at the Lodging House. or that Katherine keeps leaving little handwritten notes with the boys if she wants to talk to Jack about something specific but they keep not running into each other bc they're both in random places all the time, like it's a wholly normal thing to do. can't these ppl just leave him alone (affectionate)

idk where this whole line of thoughts goes if anywhere tbh i just know that Jack hates feeling dumb and he isn't good at seeing that he is Not That when he silently gets caught up on not being good at something

[doamarierose-honoka]

DC Comics Publish "Nothing Butt Nightwing", Vertically, For DC GO!

DC Comics Publish "Nothing Butt Nightwing" Vertically, for DC GO!, launching new webtoon line launching this year and at NYCC

Article Summary

DC Comics launches DC GO! for mobile, featuring new vertical webcomics like "Nothing Butt Nightwing".

Launch titles include Nightwing, Raven, and Harley Quinn, crafted by fan-favorite creators for genre variety.

Explore new DC Comics with exclusive stories and vertically reformatted classics for immersive mobile reading.

Readers can enjoy a mix of drama, romance, action, and fantasy in fresh stories available on DC Universe Infinite.

Today DC Comics announced DC GO!, a new line of webcomics publishing exclusively on DC Universe Infinite, in a vertical form as popularised by webtoons for mobile devices. DC is running aoreview of two new series free today. The DC GO! collection will include a mix of original webcomic content plus vertically reformatted DC and Mad Magazine stories and will be launching on the 20th of November 20, 2024. And, yes, basically, it's what Marvel Unlimited has been doing for some time.

"DC has the largest library of comics on the planet, going back nearly 90 years, and with the addition of DC GO! to DC UNIVERSE INFINITE there's now a new collection of webcomics for fans to read," said DC general manager Anne DePies. "Our goal with the DC GO! collection is to create fun, compelling, reader-friendly, mobile DC stories that readers will enjoy on the go. Like DC Compact Comics and DC Finest, this is another example of our commitment to finding new ways to engage with fans and readers."

"The DC GO! original comics are brand-new, weekly stories for mobile readers, with the launch titles told by seasoned, fan-favorite creators," said Katie Kubert, Global Publishing Innovation group editor. "The first three DC GO! launch stories can only be found on DCUI on November 20th, starring Nightwing, Raven, and Harley Quinn, and will feature fun DC cameos and new characters. We know fans love webcomics like Batman: Wayne Family Adventures, so the titles launching in the new DC GO! collection were created to appeal to readers of specific genres—drama, fantasy, comedy, mystery, action, romance, slice-of-life, and more—so that there's a type of story for everyone to enjoy."

The DC GO! original launch titles include Harley Quinn in Paradise by CRC Payne, Siobhan Chiffon, and Cathy Le; Nothing Butt Nightwing by Patrick R. Young and Moy R. Marco; and Renaissance of Raven by Sina Grace, Nico Bascuñan, Katherine Lobo, and Carola Borelli.

Harley Quinn in Paradise by CRC Payne, Siobhan Chiffon, and Cathy Le. Harley Quinn is rarely lucky in love—and after her recent breakup with The Joker, has been feeling particularly chaotic. Ivy advises Harley to lay low for a while—maybe a little R&R (recklessness and robbery) would be good for her! Good advice, right? True to character, Harley decides the best way to lay low is to plaster her face across every television in America and find true love on TV's hottest reality dating show. Harley heads for the show's island setting, ready to be the best contestant the program has ever seen…because she's playing to win by any means necessary! And can she help it if she accidentally falls in love along the way?

Nothing Butt Nightwing by Patrick R. Young and Moy R. Marco. Dick Grayson, the first Robin, has made a name for himself as the hero Nightwing. But after several failed civilian-identity career attempts (a bar, a gym, etc.), he lands his biggest deep-cover operation yet—as an international supermodel! He's got the eyes of the audience, the other models, and even a few agents. But he only has eyes for one thing…the Poison Ivy protégé on the hunt to steal the expensive (and environmentally harmful) jewels around the models' necks…and perhaps the models themselves! But can he serve justice, and serve lewks, while traveling the globe? The spotlight is on Dick Grayson in Nothing Butt Nightwing…because his first gig is an underwear print campaign!

Renaissance of Raven by Sina Grace, Nico Bascuñan, Katherine Lobo, and Carola Borelli. Raven needs an escape. Her fellow Titans won't leave her alone, she just had a fight with Beast Boy, and to top it off, it's the anniversary of her mom's death. We find her trying to live life beyond the curse of her father. She's over it! Raven is more than her trauma! When a strange girl in a graveyard proclaims that Raven is some kind of destined hero, she's ready to walk away…until suddenly, she's pulled through an enchanted portal…to the kingdom of Galonia. Raven is sent hundreds of years into the past, where she must contend with a cabal of witches and the difficult choice of helping those in need or returning home!

Batman: Hush by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee will be also be cut up vertically and can be previewed for free beginning from the 17th of October, which might just be when DC Comics will announce that Jeph and Jim are returning to the Batman comic. As well as All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow by Tom King and Bilquis Evely, ahead of the movie adaptations.

[blank-and-ocs]

R.C: we have a problem Yuu: speak R.C: so i was showing the racoons their positions for the race and some of them have gone missing. specifically near where we pass the chamber of mirrors thing. and i can't go search for them because i have 90 other racoons to watch and make sure they don't escape Yuu: they just...........disappeared? R.C: either snuck into the mirrors chamber and went through the mirrors or someone yoinked them up Yuu: okay do you know any featured that make them different that me and Grim might be able to use to tell they're one of your racoons? R.C: they all have a pink kazoo tied around their neck like a whistle, two of them are wearing mini shirts -Discord is the melanistic one and Pixie is the albino -, one wearing sunglasses -Loki-, one has a flower crown of daisies -Mischief-, one of the others is very attached to this small plush cat -Fidget-, one has a bow around it's neck -Katherine Howard- and the last one is a piebald with a white face and a bandana -Ivor- Grim: how'd ya' remember all that?! R.C: i know them by heart. they're also the oddest and most mischievous group racoons i take care of

Yuu: i'll ask around if anyones seen them

[ripper-royalty]

This is my western AU verse write up

this is a serious rp blog I promise

This alternate universe plays heavily off of and with @malka-lisitsa's fox spirit AU that can be found [here] and takes Stefan entirely outside canon, although we love to keep in those parallels. Even though it was written in conjunction with Novi's Fox-Spirit-Katherine - this is not a private verse, let me know if you want to plot in it with me!

Main Verse Background:

This AU is set in semi-modern era, around the 90s and/or early 2000s. Stefan grew up in rural Montana on a small family own ranch, he and his brother were homeschooled and incredibly sheltered. He worked with horses and cattle by the time he could walk, and that's honestly all his parents seemed to think him and his brother were good for. Their father Giuseppe is a strict and very controlling man, most of the physical abuse was taken out on Stefan's older brother Damon, he tried to protect him as much as possible - but when Stefan was 16 Damon just had to get the fuck out. Without his big brother around, Stefan started to take the brunt of his father's foul moods.

Their mother wasn't much better, cold and aloof, she never made a maternal connection with either of their sons and left Giuseppe to do most of the parenting.

Stefan likes the work he does, spending as much time as possible out in the land with the animals, but growing up the way he did took a heavy toll on his psyche. Stefan can't handle himself around small animals - due to some pre-serial killer behvaiors that he doesn't understand. Stefan has no idea why he does it, but some parts of him turn off and he almost disassociates, watching himself perform these awful acts from a third party perspective. Once the deed is done and he comes back to himself, he experiences extreme remorse and shame. Going to great lengths to hide what he's done.

Sometimes, when it's time to kill and skin a chicken for dinner, he does it with his bare hands - wishing it were his father's neck between his fists.

Specific to the story written with @malka-lisitsa

Katerina (now Katherine) was the first of herself and does not have any doppelgangers. Stefan however is still a doppelganger of Silas, directly as part of Katerina's involvement with Silas and Qetsiyah.

I may add more verse specific stuff here later

[angelichd]

ImmortalHD stream 26/07/2019 - oh, it’s popping?

[everwisteria]

Dr. Taylor Alison Swift (Full NYU speech)

Hi, I'm Taylor!

Last time I was in a stadium this size, I was dancing in heels and wearing a glittery leotard. This outfit is much more comfortable.

I’d like to say a huge thank you to NYU‘s Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Bill Berkeley and all the trustees and members of the board, NYU’s President Andrew Hamilton, Provost Katherine Fleming, and the faculty and alumni here today who have made this day possible. I feel so proud to share this day with my fellow honorees Susan Hockfield and Felix Matos Rodriguez, who humble me with the ways they improve our world with their work. As for me, I’m 90% sure the main reason I’m here is because I have a song called ‘22’. And let me just say, I am elated to be here with you today as we celebrate and graduate New York University’s Class of 2022.

Not a single one of us here today has done it alone. We are each a patchwork quilt of those who have loved us, those who have believed in our futures, those who showed us empathy and kindness or told us the truth even when it wasn’t easy to hear. Those who told us we could do it when there was absolutely no proof of that. Someone read stories to you and taught you to dream and offered up some moral code of right and wrong for you to try and live by. Someone tried their best to explain every concept in this insanely complex world to the child that was you, as you asked a bazillion questions like ‘how does the moon work?’ and ‘why can we eat salad but not grass?’ And maybe they didn’t do it perfectly. No one ever can. Maybe they aren’t with us anymore, and in that case I hope you’ll remember them today. If they are here in this stadium, I hope you’ll find your own way to express your gratitude for all the steps and missteps that have led us to this common destination.

I know that words are supposed to be my ‘thing’, but I will never be able to find the words to thank my mom and my dad, and my brother, Austin, for the sacrifices they made every day so that I could go from singing in coffee houses to standing up here with you all today because no words would ever be enough. To all the incredible parents, family members, mentors, teachers, allies, friends and loved ones here today who have supported these students in their pursuit of educational enrichment, let me say to you now: Welcome to New York. It’s been waiting for you.

I’d like to thank NYU for making me, technically, on paper at least, a doctor. Not the type of doctor you would want around in the case of an emergency, unless your specific emergency was that you desperately needed to hear a song with a catchy hook and an intensely cathartic bridge section. Or if your emergency was that you needed a person who can name over 50 breeds of cats in one minute.

I never got to have the normal college experience, per se. I went to public high school until tenth grade and finished my education doing homeschool work on the floors of airport terminals. Then I went out on the road for a radio tour, which sounds incredibly glamorous but in reality it consisted of a rental car, motels, and my mom and I pretending to have loud mother daughter fights with each other during boarding so no one would want the empty seat between us on Southwest.

As a kid, I always thought I would go away to college, imagining the posters I’d hang on the wall of my freshmen dorm. I even said the ending of my music video for my song “Love Story” at my fantasy imaginary college, where I meet a male model reading a book on the grass and with one single glance, we realize we had been in love in our past lives. Which is exactly what you guys all experienced at some point in the last 4 years, right?

But I, really can’t complain about not having a normal college experience to you because you went to NYU during a global pandemic, being essentially locked into your dorms and having to do classes over Zoom. Everyone in college during normal times stresses about test scores, but on top of that you also had to pass like a thousand COVID tests. I imagine the idea of a normal college experience was all you wanted too. But in this case you and I both learned that you don’t always get all the things in the bag that you selected from the menu in the delivery service, that is life. You get what you get. And as I would like to say to you wholeheartedly, you should be very proud of what you’ve done with it. Today you leave New York University and then go out into the world searching for what’s next. And so will I.

So as a rule, I try not to give anyone unsolicited advice unless they ask for it. I’ll go into this more later. I guess I have been officially solicited in this situation, to impart whatever wisdom I might have to tell you things that have helped me, so far, in my life. Please bear in mind that I, in no way, feel qualified to tell you what to do. You’ve worked and struggled and sacrificed and studied and dreamed your way here today and so, you know what you’re doing. You’ll do things differently than I did them and for different reasons.

So I won’t tell you what to do because no one likes that. I will, however, give you some life hacks I wish I knew when I was starting out my dreams of a career, and navigating life, love, pressure, choices, shame, hope and friendship.

The first of which is -- life can be heavy, especially if you try to carry it all at once. Part of growing up and moving into new chapters of your life is about catch and release. What I mean by that is, knowing what things to keep, and what things to release. You can’t carry all things, all grudges, all updates on your ex, all enviable promotions your school bully got at the hedge fund his uncle started. Decide what is yours to hold and let the rest go. Oftentimes the good things in your life are lighter anyway, so there’s more room for them. One toxic relationship can outweigh so many wonderful, simple joys. You get to pick what your life has time and room for. Be discerning.

Secondly, learn to live alongside cringe. No matter how hard you try to avoid being cringe, you will look back on your life and cringe retrospectively. Cringe is unavoidable over a lifetime. Even the term ‘cringe’ might someday be deemed ‘cringe.’

I promise you, you’re probably doing or wearing something right now that you will look back on later and find revolting and hilarious. You can’t avoid it, so don’t try to. For example, I had a phase where, for the entirety of 2012, I dressed like a 1950s housewife. But you know what? I was having fun. Trends and phases are fun. Looking back and laughing is fun.

And while we’re talking about things that make us squirm but really shouldn’t, I’d like to say that I’m a big advocate for not hiding your enthusiasm for things. It seems to me that there is a false stigma around eagerness in our culture of ‘unbothered ambivalence.’ This outlook perpetuates the idea that it’s not cool to ‘want it.’ That people who don’t try hard are fundamentally more chic than people who do. And I wouldn’t know because I have been a lot of things but I’ve never been an expert on ‘chic.’ But I’m the one who’s up here so you have to listen to me when I say this: "Never be ashamed of trying. Effortlessness is a myth." The people who wanted it the least were the ones I wanted to date and be friends with in high school. The people who want it most are the people I now hire to work for my company.

I started writing songs when I was twelve and since then, it’s been the compass guiding my life, and in turn, my life guided my writing. Everything I do is just an extension of my writing, whether it’s directing videos or a short film, creating the visuals for a tour, or standing on stage performing. Everything is connected by my love of the craft, the thrill of working through ideas and narrowing them down and polishing it all up in the end. Editing. Waking up in the middle of the night and throwing out the old idea because you just thought of a newer, better one. A plot device that ties the whole thing together. There’s a reason they call it a hook. Sometimes a string of words just ensnares me and I can’t focus on anything until it’s been recorded or written down.

As a songwriter I’ve never been able to sit still, or stay in one creative place for too long. I’ve made and released 11 albums and in the process, I’ve switched genres from country to pop to alternative to folk and this might sound like a very songwriter-centric line of discussion but in a way, I really do think we are all writers. And most of us write in a different voice for different situations. You write differently in your Instagram stories than you do your senior thesis. You send a different type of email to your boss than you do your best friend from home. We are all literary chameleons and I think it’s fascinating. It’s just a continuation of the idea that we are so many things, all the time. And I know it can be really overwhelming figuring out who to be, and when. Who you are now and how to act in order to get where you want to go. I have some good news: It’s totally up to you. I also have some terrifying news: It’s totally up to you.

I said to you earlier that I don’t ever offer advice unless someone asks me for it, and now I’ll tell you why. As a person who started my very public career at the age of 15, it came with a price. And that price was years of unsolicited advice. Being the youngest person in every room for over a decade meant that I was constantly being issued warnings from older members of the music industry, the media, interviewers, executives. And this advice often presented itself as thinly veiled warnings. See, I was a teenager at a time when our society was absolutely obsessed with the idea of having perfect young female role models. It felt like every interview I did included slight barbs by the interviewer about me one day ‘running off the rails.’ and that meant a different thing to every person said it me. So I became a young adult while being fed the message that if I didn’t make any mistakes, all the children of America would grow up to be perfect angels. However, if I did slip up, the entire earth would fall off its axis and it would be entirely my fault and I would go to pop star jail forever and ever. It was all centered around the idea that mistakes equal failure and ultimately, the loss of any chance at a happy or rewarding life. -- This has not been my experience. My experience has been that my mistakes led to the best things in my life.

And being embarrassed when you mess up is part of the human experience. Getting back up, dusting yourself off and seeing who still wants to hang out with you afterward and laugh about it? That’s a gift.

The times I was told no or wasn’t included, wasn’t chosen, didn’t win, didn’t make the cut, looking back, it really feels like those moments were as important, if not more crucial, than the moments I was told ‘yes.’

Not being invited to the parties and sleepovers in my hometown made me feel hopelessly lonely, but because I felt alone, I would sit in my room and write the songs that would get me a ticket somewhere else. Having label executives in Nashville tell me that only 35-year-old housewives listen to country music and there was no place for a 13-year-old on their roster made me cry in the car on the way home. But then I’d post my songs on my MySpace and yes, MySpace, and I would message with other teenagers like me who loved country music, but just didn’t have anyone singing from their perspective. Having journalists write in-depth, oftentimes critical, pieces about who they perceive me to be made me feel like I was living in some weird simulation, but it also made me look inward to learn about who I actually am. Having the world treat my love life like a spectator sport in which I lose every single game was not a great way to date in my teens and twenties, but it taught me to protect my private life fiercely. Being publicly humiliated over and over again at a young age was excruciatingly painful but it forced me to devalue the ridiculous notion of minute by minute, ever fluctuating social relevance and likability. Getting canceled on the internet and nearly losing my career gave me an excellent knowledge of all the types of wine.

I know I sound like a consummate optimist, but I’m really not. I lose perspective all the time. Sometimes everything just feels completely pointless. I know the pressure of living your life through the lens of perfectionism. And I know that I’m talking to a group of perfectionists because you are here today graduating from NYU. So this may be hard for you to hear: In your life, you will inevitably misspeak, trust the wrong person, under-react, overreact, hurt the people who didn’t deserve it, overthink, not think at all, self sabotage, create a reality where only your experience exists, ruin perfectly good moments for yourself and others, deny any wrongdoing, not take the steps to make it right, feel very guilty, let the guilt eat at you, hit rock bottom, finally address the pain you caused, try to do better next time, rinse, repeat. And I’m not gonna lie, these mistakes will cause you to lose things.

I’m trying to tell you that losing things doesn’t just mean losing. A lot of the time, when we lose things, we gain things too.

Now you leave the structure and framework of school and chart your own path. Every choice you make leads to the next choice which leads to the next, and I know it’s hard to know, which path to take. There will be times in life where you need to stand up for yourself. Times when the right thing is actually to back down and apologize. Times when the right thing is to fight, times when the right thing is to turn and run. Times to hold on with all you have and times to let go with grace. Sometimes the right thing to do is to throw out the old schools of thought in the name of progress and reform. Sometimes the right thing to do is to sit and listen to the wisdom of those who have come before us. How will you know what the right choice is in these crucial moments? You won’t.

How do I give advice to this many people about their life choices? I won’t.

The scary news is: You’re on your own now.

But the Cool news is: You’re on your own now!

I leave you with this: We are led by our gut instincts, our intuition, our desires and fears, our scars and our dreams. And you will screw it up sometimes. So will I. And when I do, you will most likely read about it on the internet. Anyway, hard things will happen to us. We will recover. We will learn from it. We will grow more resilient because of it.

As long as we are fortunate enough to be breathing, we will breathe in, breathe through, breathe deep, breathe out. And I’m a doctor now, so I know how breathing works.

I hope you know how proud I am to share this day with you. We’re doing this together. So let’s just keep dancing like we’re…

… the class of ’22.

© Taylor Swift. (2022)

Doctor of Fine Arts

(Singer, Songwriter, Musician, Producer, and Director)

@taylorswift @taylornation

[nathalycarv]

“Hi, I’m Taylor.

Last time I was in a stadium this size, I was dancing in heels and wearing a glittery leotard. This outfit is much more comfortable. 

I’d like to say a huge thank you to NYU‘s Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Bill Berkeley and all the trustees and members of the board, NYU’s President Andrew Hamilton, Provost Katherine Fleming, and the faculty and alumni here today who have made this day possible. I feel so proud to share this day with my fellow honorees Susan Hockfield and Felix Matos Rodriguez, who humble me with the ways they improve our world with their work. As for me, I’m…90% sure the main reason I’m here is because I have a song called ‘22’. And let me just say, I am elated to be here with you today as we celebrate and graduate New York University’s Class of 2022.

Not a single one of us here today has done it alone. We are each a patchwork quilt of those who have loved us, those who have believed in our futures, those who showed us empathy and kindness or told us the truth even when it wasn’t easy to hear. Those who told us we could do it when there was absolutely no proof of that. Someone read stories to you and taught you to dream and offered up some moral code of right and wrong for you to try and live by. Someone tried their best to explain every concept in this insanely complex world to the child that was you, as you asked a bazillion questions like, ‘how does the moon work’ and ‘why can we eat salad but not grass.’ And maybe they didn’t do it perfectly. No one ever can. Maybe they aren’t with us anymore, and in that case I hope you’ll remember them today. If they are here in this stadium, I hope you’ll find your own way to express your gratitude for all the steps and missteps that have led us to this common destination. 

I know that words are supposed to be my “thing,” but I will never be able to find the words to thank my mom and my dad, and my brother, Austin, for the sacrifices they made every day so that I could go from singing in coffee houses to standing up here with you all today because no words would ever be enough. To all the incredible parents, family members, mentors, teachers, allies, friends and loved ones here today who have supported these students in their pursuit of educational enrichment, let me say to you now: Welcome to New York. It’s been waiting for you. 

I’d like to thank NYU for making me technically, on paper at least, a doctor. Not the type of doctor you would want around in the case of an emergency, unless your specific emergency was that you desperately needed to hear a song with a catchy hook and an intensely cathartic bridge section. Or if your emergency was that you needed a person who can name over 50 breeds of cats in one minute.

I never got to have the normal college experience, per se. I went to public high school until tenth grade and finished my education doing homeschool work on the floors of airport terminals. Then I went out on the road on a radio tour, which sounds incredibly glamorous but in reality it consisted of a rental car, motels, and my mom and I pretending to have loud mother-daughter fights with each other during boarding so no one would want the empty seat between us on Southwest. 

As a kid, I always thought I would go away to college, imagining the posters I’d hang on the wall of my freshmen dorm. I even set the ending of my music video for my song “Love Story” at my fantasy imaginary college, where I meet a male model reading a book on the grass and with one single glance, we realize we had been in love in our past lives. Which is exactly what you guys all experienced at some point in the last four years, right?

But I really can’t complain about not having a normal college experience to you because you went to NYU during a global pandemic, being essentially locked into your dorms or having to do classes over Zoom. Everyone in college during normal times stresses about test scores, but on top of that you also had to pass like 1,000 COVID tests. I imagine the idea of a normal college experience was all you wanted too. But in this case, you and I both learned that you don’t always get all the things in the bag that you selected from the menu in the delivery service that is life. You get what you get. And as I would like to say to you, you should be very proud of what you’ve done with it. Today, you leave New York University and then you go out into the world searching for what’s next.  And so will I.

So as a rule, I try not to give anyone unsolicited advice unless they ask for it. I’ll go into this more later. I guess I have been officially solicited in this situation, to impart whatever wisdom I might have and tell you the things that helped me in my life so far. Please bear in mind that I, in no way, feel qualified to tell you what to do. You’ve worked and struggled and sacrificed and studied and dreamed your way here today and so, you know what you’re doing. You’ll do things differently than I did them and for different reasons. 

So I won’t tell you what to do because no one likes that. I will, however, give you some life hacks I wish I knew when I was starting out my dreams of a career, and navigating life, love, pressure, choices, shame, hope and friendship.

The first of which is…life can be heavy, especially if you try to carry it all at once. Part of growing up and moving into new chapters of your life is about catch and release. What I mean by that is, knowing what things to keep, and what things to release. You can’t carry all things, all grudges, all updates on your ex, all enviable promotions your school bully got at the hedge fund his uncle started. Decide what is yours to hold and let the rest go. Oftentimes the good things in your life are lighter anyway, so there’s more room for them. One toxic relationship can outweigh so many wonderful, simple joys. You get to pick what your life has time and room for. Be discerning.

Secondly, learn to live alongside cringe. No matter how hard you try to avoid being cringe, you will look back on your life and cringe retrospectively. Cringe is unavoidable over a lifetime. Even the term “cringe” might someday be deemed “cringe.”

I promise you, you’re probably doing or wearing something right now that you will look back on later and find revolting and hilarious. You can’t avoid it, so don’t try to. For example, I had a phase where, for the entirety of 2012, I dressed like a 1950s housewife. But you know what? I was having fun. Trends and phases are fun. Looking back and laughing is fun. 

And while we’re talking about things that make us squirm but really shouldn’t, I’d like to say that I’m a big advocate for not hiding your enthusiasm for things. It seems to me that there is a false stigma around eagerness in our culture of “unbothered ambivalence.” This outlook perpetuates the idea that it’s not cool to “want it.” That people who don’t try hard are fundamentally more chic than people who do. And I wouldn’t know because I have been a lot of things but I’ve never been an expert on “chic.” But I’m the one who’s up here so you have to listen to me when I say this: Never be ashamed of trying. Effortlessness is a myth. The people who wanted it the least were the ones I wanted to date and be friends with in high school. The people who want it most are the people I now hire to work for my company. 

I started writing songs when I was 12 and since then, it’s been the compass guiding my life, and in turn, my life guided my writing. Everything I do is just an extension of my writing, whether it’s directing videos or a short film, creating the visuals for a tour, or standing on stage performing. Everything is connected by my love of the craft, the thrill of working through ideas and narrowing them down and polishing it all up in the end. Editing. Waking up in the middle of the night and throwing out the old idea because you just thought of a newer, better one. A plot device that ties the whole thing together. There’s a reason they call it a hook. Sometimes a string of words just ensnares me and I can’t focus on anything until it’s been recorded or written down. 

As a songwriter, I’ve never been able to sit still, or stay in one creative place for too long. I’ve made and released 11 albums and in the process, I’ve switched genres from country to pop to alternative to folk. This might sound like a very songwriter-centric line of discussion but in a way, I really do think we are all writers. And most of us write in a different voice for different situations. You write differently in your Instagram stories than you do your senior thesis. You send a different type of email to your boss than you do your best friend from home.

We are all literary chameleons and I think it’s fascinating. It’s just a continuation of the idea that we are so many things, all the time. And I know it can be really overwhelming figuring out who to be, and when. Who you are now and how to act in order to get where you want to go. I have some good news: it’s totally up to you. I also have some terrifying news: it’s totally up to you.

I said to you earlier that I don’t ever offer advice unless someone asks me for it, and now I’ll tell you why: As a person who started my very public career at the age of 15, it came with a price. And that price was years of unsolicited advice. Being the youngest person in every room for over a decade meant that I was constantly being issued warnings from older members of the music industry, the media, interviewers, executives. This advice often presented itself as thinly veiled warnings. See, I was a teenager in the public eye at a time when our society was absolutely obsessed with the idea of having perfect young female role models. It felt like every interview I did included slight barbs by the interviewer about me one day “running off the rails.”

That meant a different thing to everyone person said it me. So I became a young adult while being fed the message that if I didn’t make any mistakes, all the children of America would grow up to be perfect angels. However, if I did slip up, the entire earth would fall off its axis and it would be entirely my fault and I would go to pop star jail forever and ever. It was all centered around the idea that mistakes equal failure and ultimately, the loss of any chance at a happy or rewarding life. 

This has not been my experience. My experience has been that my mistakes led to the best things in my life. 

And being embarrassed when you mess up is part of the human experience. Getting back up, dusting yourself off and seeing who still wants to hang out with you afterward and laugh about it? That’s a gift.

The times I was told no or wasn’t included, wasn’t chosen, didn’t win, didn’t make the cut…looking back, it really feels like those moments were as important, if not more crucial, than the moments I was told “yes.”

Not being invited to the parties and sleepovers in my hometown made me feel hopelessly lonely, but because I felt alone, I would sit in my room and write the songs that would get me a ticket somewhere else. Having label executives in Nashville tell me that only 35-year-old housewives listen to country music and there was no place for a 13-year-old on their roster made me cry in the car on the way home.

But then I’d post my songs on my MySpace — yes, MySpace — and would message with other teenagers like me who loved country music, but just didn’t have anyone singing from their perspective. Having journalists write in-depth, oftentimes critical, pieces about who they perceive me to be made me feel like I was living in some weird simulation, but it also made me look inward to learn about who I actually am. Having the world treat my love life like a spectator sport in which I lose every single game was not a great way to date in my teens and twenties, but it taught me to protect my private life fiercely. Being publicly humiliated over and over again at a young age was excruciatingly painful but it forced me to devalue the ridiculous notion of minute by minute, ever-fluctuating social relevance and likability. Getting canceled on the internet and nearly losing my career gave me an excellent knowledge of all the types of wine. 

I know I sound like a consummate optimist, but I’m really not. I lose perspective all the time. Sometimes everything just feels completely pointless. I know the pressure of living your life through the lens of perfectionism. And I know that I’m talking to a group of perfectionists because you are here today graduating from NYU. And so this may be hard for you to hear: In your life, you will inevitably misspeak, trust the wrong people, under-react, overreact, hurt the people who didn’t deserve it, overthink, not think at all, self-sabotage, create a reality where only your experience exists, ruin perfectly good moments for yourself and others, deny any wrongdoing, not take the steps to make it right, feel very guilty, let the guilt eat at you, hit rock bottom, finally address the pain you caused, try to do better next time, rinse, repeat.  And I’m not gonna lie, these mistakes will cause you to lose things.

I’m trying to tell you that losing things doesn’t just mean losing. A lot of the time, when we lose things, we gain things too. 

Now you leave the structure and framework of school and chart your own path. Every choice you make leads to the next choice which leads to the next, and I know it’s hard to know sometimes which path to take. There will be times in life when you need to stand up for yourself. Times when the right thing is to back down and apologize. Times when the right thing is to fight, times when the right thing is to turn and run. Times to hold on with all you have and times to let go with grace. Sometimes the right thing to do is to throw out the old schools of thought in the name of progress and reform. Sometimes the right thing to do is to listen to the wisdom of those who have come before us. How will you know what the right choice is in these crucial moments? You won’t.

How do I give advice to this many people about their life choices? I won’t.

Scary news is: you’re on your own now.

Cool news is: You’re on your own now.

I leave you with this: We are led by our gut instincts, our intuition, our desires and fears, our scars and our dreams. And you will screw it up sometimes. So will I. And when I do, you will most likely read about on the internet. Anyway…hard things will happen to us. We will recover. We will learn from it. We will grow more resilient because of it. 

As long as we are fortunate enough to be breathing, we will breathe in, breathe through, breathe deep, breathe out. And I’m a doctor now, so I know how breathing works. 

I hope you know how proud I am to share this day with you. We’re doing this together. So let’s just keep dancing like we’re… The class of 22.”

- Taylor Swift

@taylorswift