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eriquin · 11 months

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The Prophetic D&D Game, Part 16

Start of the 5th session. Time marches on.

(master post)

Part 16

It felt like the home stretch for Eddie’s third and final senior year. He was determined to graduate this time, and putting all his effort into getting his grades up. Well, almost all his effort. He still spared time for his band, his lucrative sales job, and his two epic Dungeons and Dragons games. The Cult of Vecna was going great, and he expected that they would wrap up the Tales of the Cursed after it was done. But other than that, he was focused.

He was going over his notes for what to do next with Vecna when Grant tapped him on the shoulder. “Jeff can’t make it today,” he said. “He broke an arch wire and has to go to the orthodontist. Emergency and all.”

Eddie sighed. “Well, guess I won’t be needing these notes, then,” he said, shoving the Vecna notes into his bag. Grant raised his eyebrows and tried to get a look, but Eddie snapped his fingers in his face and shook his head. “Don’t even try it, Grantham.”

“Just keeping you on your toes, Edwin,” Grant said. “So this means we’re going to find out what happens to Natalia, then?”

“In theory,” Eddie said. He flashed Grant a wicked grin. “I might just kill her off and skip to the next bit of plot.”

Grant pouted. “Don’t be an ass,” he said. “At least give me a chance to save her. It’s been bugging me since the last session.”

“Yeah? You’re enjoying the story, huh?” Eddie shuffled through his notes to make sure he had everything for the Cursed run. “Did you give Jeff something sticky to eat just so he’d break his braces and we’d get to play?”

“No, but I was thinking about it,” Grant said. “We need more hours in the day, man. I want to know what happens with the cult, too.”

“Here, here,” Eddie said. He produced his Cursed notes and rearranged his stuff before heading to the drama room. Grant followed him. “Oh, did you pick up the new Metallica album? I have been listening to it over and over since I got it. It’s mind blowing.”

The rest of the club was running late, and Eddie and Grant got the whole table set up before anyone else showed. Gareth was the first of them to arrive, and he looked confused when he saw the layout that Eddie had put on the battlemap. He quickly figured out that they were playing the Cursed, and rubbed his hands together in excitement. He and Grant started discussing theories about the demon and how Natalia had ended up cursed. Eddie sat back and kept his face neutral as he listened in.

The three freshmen arrived together, arguing about something science related. They dropped it almost as soon as they got in the room and saw Eddie holding up their character sheets. Lucas let out a whoop. He had clearly missed playing Sadie.

As they settled down to play the game, Eddie gave them a quick recap of what had happened so far. It hadn’t been that long, but it was useful to set the stage and get back into character. “So now that you’re all ready to escape the demon realm, Natalia has frozen and gone into a trance. Before I take Grant aside and tell him what’s going on in his character’s head, what are you all doing?”

“We need music, right? Do any of us know her favorite song?” Gareth asked.

Dustin leaned forward. “We’re in Quinn’s house, right? He’s a bard. He probably has plenty of music and instruments around. Either he or I should be able to play something for her.”

“Yeah, sure, but that doesn’t tell us what song to play,” Gareth said. “Mike, wouldn’t Joe know her favorite song?”

Mike snapped his fingers. “Yeah! Sure, definitely.” He looked at Eddie.

Eddie shrugged. “I don’t know, man. You guys broke up a long time ago. Maybe it was for a good reason.” He held his hands out helplessly. “Make me a good intelligence check there, sparky.”

Mike picked up his die and blew on it for luck. He rolled, and got a pathetically bad number. Everyone groaned and started yelling at Mike, who complained about his dice hating him.

Eddie stood and leaned over the table to look at them all, waiting until they quieted down. “Grant, I think it’s time you and I adjourned to my office. Shall we?”

His office was the corner of the drama room, behind a folding screen. Grant brought his dice. He ran through a scenario of Natalia witnessing a young family moving into a sprawling mansion from the point of view of the only son. Grant quickly figured out that this was the Englund mansion that they’d explored, and the boy was the dead son. Grant was great for this, because he loved to sit and gather information before acting. He had Natalia watch as the young boy narrated the events of his life, and developed a twisted set of powers. It quickly became clear that he was responsible for his family’s deaths, and that his father had been unjustly blamed. He showed Natalia the way he had been made into a pawn for the wizard’s guild, just like their psychic sorceress friend.

“Still as a young boy, he is confined to a chair and imbued with a mystical tattoo. It looks much like Millie’s, but while hers a lambda, his is an alpha,” Eddie said.

“The first one,” Grant said.

“Indeed. He was the first psychic they found, and because of him, they started looking for more. But he was just biding his time, and they could not control him.”

“Oh, damn,” Grant said. He grabbed his dice. “Okay, I need to get the hell out of here. Can I run?”

“You can try.”

They went through a short combat, and Natalia ended up with psychic damage, but ultimately, the villain let her go. “He tells you to tell Millie that he’s coming for her, and that he’ll see her again soon,” Eddie said, clapping his hand on Grant’s shoulder. “Now, let’s go let the rest of them know that you survived.”

Taglist: @weirdandabsurd42, @10moonymhrivertam, @blueskiesandstarrynights

#the prophetic d&d game #hellfire club #my writing #stranger things

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iero · 2 years

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So, the new Djo album, huh?

#personal #I said ‘I need a no skips album this year.’ and Joe said ‘I got you but it’s gonna be a little too serious and sad. Is that OK?’#ISSA A BOP THOUGH!!!!#Listened to it three times through already. AOTY for me hands down.#Cried listening to End of Beginning at 4 AM.. What is the matter with me?#Lj sent me the link for the vinyl preorder last night and I woke up and ordered it before even listening to the album.#I’ve never been so quick to order a standard black vinyl release.#Happy Decide Friday though folks. :)

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thebrightsessions · 4 years

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Entertainment Spotlight: Ian McQuown

Ian is an LA based actor and producer known for the YouTube comedy group, Extremely Decent, as well as a voice actor in the popular audio dramas: The Bright Sessions, The AM Archives, StarTripper!! & Deck The Halls! His credits inclue American Housewife, Trial & Error, Better Things, and For All Mankind. Ian took the time to answer some questions for us. Check it out:

You’ve worked on multiple podcasts -- what drew you to the medium?

Well, to be honest, Lauren drew me to it because TBS was my first narrative podcast. We met at a Rocky Horror Picture Show show. Anna Lore is our mutual friend and I think Anna is just talented as all get out, so anything she’s involved I want to be in. And, I don’t know, it was just one of those lucky breaks you get where a door opens and takes you to all these cool places you never anticipated.

On podcasting though, I really appreciate how much more possible it is to tell engaging stories without the boundaries of having to afford a set and a camera and insurance and etc etc etc. Like, I grew up with Star Wars, The Matrix, Cowboy Bebop— so when I imagine the stories I like, I’m usually picturing other worlds, space ships, people with super powers and those types of stories used to have a lot higher barrier to entry to make than they do now, which is just awesome.

If you could give a character from The Bright Sessions a spinoff series, who would you choose and what would the series be called?

I mean, no surprises here, but I’d love to see Damien’s early years. And I’d be super clever and call it something like... Damien: The Early Years. I'm dying for that content a little bit actually: Damien, before he became such a bad guy. Maybe a love story that doesn’t work out and leaves him really scarred? Villains so bad they created a villain instead of a victim— that moment where we see the two roads Damien has to choose between and it totally shreds us when he makes the choice we all know he’s going to make, I mean, come ON you can see that, right? It’d be like the Star Wars prequels but without all the youngling killing and “NOOOOOOOO”’s and I want it.

Can you share a fun story or anecdote from the making of The Bright Sessions?

Haha, ok well it’s not really anything of note BUT: I remember Lauren had this area rug in her room, which as you probably know is where we would record, and it was this really nice, I think, red sort of floral rug that took up pretty much all the floor space because it was covering up the older apartment rug-floor underneath it. And it was, as I said, really cool, except it wasn’t a rug on a wood floor, right? It was a rug on a rug so it was a bit taller than the people who designed the room had planned for— the result of which was that you’d walk in and the room had this really awesome little vibe with this cute rug, and it was all very cozy, unless you looked directly behind you at the corner where the door had just spent ages scraping the surface of it, catching the corner, tearing little pieces out. And I may be getting apocryphal at this point, but I feel like by the time I had started coming around Lauren had straight up duct taped it to the floor, which really didn’t help the problem. And, I don’t know—again it’s not really anything momentous—but I just remember giving Lauren a particular amount of shit about it one day and us all having a really good laugh. And I really love that— there are jobs where you show up, keep your head down, do your work and leave, but then there are jobs like The Bright Sessions where you all get to become friends, and even if you don’t see each other for a while you sort of just get to pick up where you left off. And then those jobs turn into other jobs and you get to keep hanging out with your friends and peers and just making stuff you like— I’m a big fan of that.

If your life was a choose your own adventure, what decisions would viewers have to make on an average day?

OKAY, you wake up...

Water your garden before it gets to be 110 today, you cannot skip this step. You may however:

A) Stay out in the garden for longer if you get inspired and check if the tomatoes and peppers are ripe for picking.

Great! Now let’s make breakfast:

A) Make eggs, toast, fried tomatoes, and hash browns?

B) Make (A) But also with Bacon?

C) Make a smoothie?

D) There’s no time today, run to Whole Foods and get their incredibly priced $6 Egg, Bacon Cheese Breakfast burrito.

Awesome! You’ve eaten and now you can think. What work do you have to do?

A) Prep your audition, dummy! It’s due this afternoon, go fix your hair.

B) You have a zoom meeting with actor friends at 11 to play around with some new material, put on a hat.

C) There is nothing you have to work on so stare at your computer and wonder if there’s new project you could be working on. Try to find that project, leave your hair as it.

Wow! You really had a great (insert previous choice here), let’s get you a coffee and take a TV break. What should we watch?!

A) That new show you haven’t seen yet because you need to watch everything so you know how to work on it should you get an audition for it.

B) Harley Quinn (your favorite new cartoon).

C) Teenage Bounty Hunters.

D) Farscape.

E) Nope, you just got an audition for tomorrow, everything is off the table, start working on it (Level Complete).

Lunch Time!!!

A) Turkey sandwich with pickles from the garden?

B) Trader Joe’s Margherita Pizza with basil and peppers from the garden?

C) Are we going to start another loaf of sourdough you basic mf?

D) Yes we probably are, but also (A) and (B).

Cool! I’ve eaten lunch. Now what?

A) You haven’t finished that work from this morning. Riiiight.

B)…More Harley Quinn…?

C) Let’s make pasta from scratch!

D) Let’s make ribs! From…ribs!

F) You just got an audition for tomorrow, everything is off the table, start working on it. (Level Complete).

Bangarang! You probably chose to start cooking dinner immediately after eating lunch. You ate it (and it rocked), what now?

A) You just got an audition for tomorrow, everything is off the table, start working on it. (Level Complete)

B) DnD with squad.

C) Go on a run, dude— you’re getting a Jaba chin….

D) Bring on the chin! Let’s watch TV until 2am! Here are your options:

A) Harley Quinn (your new favorite cartoon)

B) Teenage Bounty Hunters

C) Farscape

D) Put The Office on in the background and clean your house.

Level Complete.

As you can see I’m a very food-focused person. Also, I’m going to be real, that is truly what most of my days look like and I’m low-key a little mortified that ’taking a shower’ wasn’t a game option...

Can you share your favorite piece of Bright Sessions / AM Archives fan art?

I love all the fan art that people make for my characters but this one from Franartz has always been really special to me. It’s so GQ, I just love it — and some of my favorite early AG moments are with Damien, who looks a little like he stepped out of a Gorrilaz album here— big fan. I’m a little obsessed with fan art actually, I save everything I come across— there’s a freckled red-headed series of Owen by TheFigureInTheCorner that makes me really happy. Seeing that my work has inspired someone else to make something of their own is really what’s up, you know? It makes me think about all the art and entertainment that has touched me over the years and I get a lot of joy from being a part of that cycle.

Thanks for taking the time, Ian! Give I Can Die When I'm Done a relisten right here.

#entertainment spotlight #the bright sessions #the am archives #Ian mcquown

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storiesoftaylor · 2 years

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Holy Ground (Taylor's Version)

Written By: Taylor Swift Produced By: Jeff Bhasker Length: 3:22

HIDDEN MESSAGE IN THE LYRICS: When you came to the show in SD

This song is WIDELY believed to be about Mr. Perfectly Fine. Because he was in fact seen at 2 of her California concerts.

We also know that Taylor wrote this song in February of 2012 according to the Lover Journals

[Verse One] I was reminiscing just the other day While having coffee all alone and Lord it took me away Back to a first glance feeling on New York time Back when you fit in my poems like a perfect rhyme

So it's said that Taylor and Joe were together from June 2008 - October 2008. It is said that they first ever met in New York City back in the summer of 2008. So here she is saying that their first glace was on NY time meaning two things; one that they were literally in New York the first time they locked eyes, and two "New York Time" means fast. It means rushed, just like New York. So shes saying it didn't last long. Took of faster than a green light, go Yeah, you skip the conversation when you already know I left a note on the door with a joke we made And that was the first day This part of the song she is letting us know that the relationship started just as quickly as it ended.

[Chorus] And darling, it was good Never looking down And right there where we stood Was Holy Ground I love that here she is just reminiscing on how good they were in that moment. She's looking at it for what it was, not what it became.

[Verse Two] Spinning like a girl in a brand new dress We had this big, wide city all to ourselves We block the noise with the sound of "I need you" And for the first time I had something to lose So here we know that she is happy. She feels joy, I mean she's spinning around in a brand new dress - not just an old one she found in the back of her closet. A brand new dress - she feels like a million bucks. But, that also means that she had something to lose. When you care about someone that much and love them, it's hard when you lose them. And she was aware that she could lose him, and it scared her. I guess we feel apart in the usual way And the story's got dust on every page But sometimes I wonder how you think about it now And I see your face in every crowd This part is soooooo good. So she's saying they broke up. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary. They fell apart like relationships do - the usual way. Someone probably lost interest, or got bored, or found someone new. The story has dust on every page because at this point when this album came out (for the first time) it had been 4 years since her and Joe dated and broke up. So the story is old, but she still wonders about it. And she wants to know if he does too.

[Chorus] 'Cause darling, it was good Never looking down And right there where we stood Was Holy Ground

[Bridge] Tonight I'm gonna dance For all that we've been through But I don't wanna dance If I'm not dancing with you Tonight I'm gonna dance Like you were in this room But I don't wanna dance If I'm not dancing with you

[Chorus] It was good Never looking down Right there where we stood What Holy Ground

[Outro] Tonight I'm gonna dance For all that we've been through But I don't wanna dance If I'm not dancing with you Tonight I'm gonna dance Like you were in this room But I don't wanna dance If I'm not dancing with you

#red taylor’s version #taylor swift #taylor lyrics #taylorswift #lyrics #writers #taylornation #musicians #swiftie #taylorstans #redtv #red #taylor nation #taylorlurking

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mirkwoodshewolf · 4 years

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Gift of Magi; Brian May x reader

*Author’s note*

Here is yet another little special Christmas fic I have for you all. If you loved my Joe Mazzello one then you guys are REALLY GONNA ROT YOUR TEETH WITH THIS SWEET FIC. As you can see by the title, this is inspired by the beloved Christmas tale of the same name, for a year now since getting into the Queen/BoRhap fandom I’ve wanted to do this fic with one of the members of Queen but I didn’t know which one to do it with. Finally after doing some thinking and planning and realizing I hadn’t really done a solo Brian May fic in a long time, I decided our beloved space poodle DESERVED this story. Enjoy my lovelies :)

Warnings: TOOTH-ROTTING FLUFF, Brian’s sickness (takes place in 1974 so that’s when he had his hepatitis scare along with some other things I had read up that happened during that time), Roger’s chaotic behavior, Freddie being a loving fairy godmother (you’ll see soon enough), and fluff, fluff, and you guessed it EVEN MORE FLUFF!!

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things

@waddles03

@psychosupernatural

@ixchel-9275

@simonedk

@queensdivas

@queen-paladin

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels

@queendeakyy

@geek-and-proud

@wormzteef

_______________________________________________________________

There it was. The perfect gift for Brian. The Refractor telescope, 30 power. Don’t ask me what I just said cause I wouldn’t be able to tell you what all it does. All I can say is that Bri’s been eyeing this bad boy for years and with an empty tripod he’s had since graduating University, he needed something to look up at the stars with (one of his classes he had to rent out a telescope and then return it to the professor once the semester ended).

Yeah dating an astrophysicist Rockstar is one thing, but shopping for said astrophysicist rockstar is another, especially around the holidays and birthdays. Sure he says all he needs is my love but I want to prove myself to him. Plus I want to give him something special after the major health scare he had when he and Queen were touring with Mott the Hoople at the beginning of the year.

It was horrifying but I was there to help Brian recover from his Hepatitis scare and assure him that the band wasn’t going to replace him (bless his little heart, he was so sure the band was gonna abandon him) but they didn’t and they were there whenever they could, also they would send in some demos for me to play for Brian so that he could still have a say in the songs for their Sheer Heart attack album.

Now that Queen was slowly now getting recognized for their talents after “Killer Queen” made the top 10 in the charts, scratch that the entire album was going up the charts I wanted Brian to have something special to go with his tripod.

I took out my wallet and counted up my tips that I had been saving all year to buy this telescope. I was still a few pounds short but after today I should finally have enough to buy the telescope for my guy.

“Don’t you worry Bri. You’ll see the stars once again.” I put the money back in the side pouch of my purse and looked down at my watch. “Shit I’m gonna be late for work!” I exclaimed and quickly raced down the block towards the tree shop. I had taken a second job at the Christmas tree shop to help with getting better tips for Brian’s telescope.

When I finally arrived, I walked into the open tree lot and punched in my timecard before the loud exclamation of my boss’ voice cried out.

“YOU’RE LATE!!”

“I’m sorry sir, I was……”

“Doesn’t matter! Now get out there and get those papers organized we’ve got customers out there who need trees!” I nodded and quickly went over to my desk and took out some of the reserved papers that some people filled out to confirm their tree orders.

The day was long and cold but every little penny counted. I filled out the paperwork, helped the customer’s find their tree and even bypassed the boys at the shop and helped put the trees on top of the customer’s cars.

“Welcome to Mad Pete’s Tree shop how may I help you?”

“Yeah see my mate here is looking for a pretty cute tree, around (y/h), (h/c) and has two of the star glistening eyes he’s ever seen.” I looked up and low and behold there stood Roger and Brian.

“Really Rog? Did you have to go and say all that?”

“Hey bout time you got a taste of your own medicine of what we’ve had to deal with everytime you miss (n/n)!” I shook my head softly chuckling.

“So you guys really here to shop for a tree or are you trying to get me into trouble with the boss again?”

“Hey Fred and I did not cause that fire!” Roger defended himself.

“You guys were the only ones smoking at the time, you’re lucky I didn’t get fired from that little stunt.” I sassed him. Brian gave him a disapproving look while Roger tried to brush it off, but as soon as he saw my scowl, he submitted and put on that puppy dog face of his.

“Sorry lovie. Can you forgive me?” I went up to him and embraced him.

“Of course I do yah big puppy dog.” I ruffled his long golden locks which made him exclaim as he tried to fix his hair back to normal.

“Oi! Do you know how long it takes for me to get my hair like this? It’s called a miracle darling.”

“Now you didn’t answer my question, what are you guys really doing here?”

“We figured we’d go and get us a tree since we couldn’t get one last year. Since we got some money now instead of hardly anything.” Brian said.

“Ahh I see. Well let’s see what I can help you with. Follow me gentlemen.” I guided them towards the back and there were some of the smaller trees that hadn’t been reserved and that could be affordable for Bri and Rog. “I know it’s not much but I know you guys can afford these trees. Pete’s been trying to skyrocket the prices, especially for his prized 10 footers.”

“It’s perfect love, thank you.” He kissed me softly on my lips. I slowly wrapped my arms around him when I felt him take my string necklace revealing my great grandmother’s diamond encrusted locket. “You know, that locket deserves a beautiful golden chain.”

“Brian.” I took his hand in mine and held it against my cheek. “You know you don’t have to.”

“But I want to. Just imagine in, that scared locket chained up to a beautiful chain around that pretty neck of yours.” I blushed and pressed my head against his chest.

“You flatterer. You may not know your way around the dance floor but you have a way with words. No wonder you’re an astrophysicist. Speaking of which, you still got that tripod right?”

“Yeah. I still keep it cleaned, even though I’ll never be able to afford a telescope of my own for years if I’m lucky.” Oh little does he know.

“Well you never know. Santa has his ways.”

“You know love, it’s kinda weird how you still believe in Santa Clause even at your age.” Brian said. I let out a dramatic gasp.

“How dare you! You are never told old to believe in Father Christmas. Right Rog?”

“Damn straight! Just ignore your boyfriend (n/n), he thinks he’s too clever for Christmas.” Rog said as he took me away from Brian and wrapped an arm around my neck.

“Now hold on I didn’t—” a throat cleared and that’s when I saw a middle aged couple with their two small children. The father who had a greying beard and wore some prescription circular glasses.

“Excuse me, we—we’re looking for a tree.” He said shyly.

“Oh did I hear you folks looking for a tree? Well step right over here and I’ll show you the best trees I’ve got!” Pete soon came in saying and guided the parents away from the smaller trees, right towards his prized 10ft. I glared at him and turned to the guys.

“Think you both can find a tree yourselves?”

“No worries love. Do what you’ve got to do. I’ll see you tonight though right?”

“Of course. I’ll be over at your flat by 6pm on the dot. At least I’ll be on time unlike you are, yah scatterbrain.” He gave me that disapproving scowl (you know where he tilts his head down and his brow raises up and a deep frown crosses his lips). I giggled and pecked his lips and said, “You know I love you right?”

“With those insults I’m starting to doubt it.” He mocked. I playfully swatted his arm which made him chuckle then I proceeded to follow the family to get them a more affordable tree.

After looking and looking through the very back of the lot, I had found the perfect tree that would suit the family just right. I took it around to where Pete had his 10 footers displayed.

“I really am sorry madam but the rest of my trees have been reserved, these are the only ones I’ve got. You don’t want these kids going without a tree this year do you?” I narrowed my eyes at him.

“We are gonna get a tree? Aren’t we daddy?” the little girl around 5 years old said.

“But—this is all we have.” The father said as he took out what looked like one pound and threepenny pieces.

“Then that’s just enough for a down payment.” Mr. Pete said as he readied the contract. Okay that’s it.

“Ugg excuse me!” I made myself known. “I’m sorry to interrupt but uhh—I managed to find this out back. It hasn’t been reserved or anything, maybe you and your family would like this.” I walked up with the tree and set it down.

The kids all ooed and awed at it, it was just slightly bigger than the two of them were. The father shoved the contract back into Mr. Pete’s hands and he said to me joyously.

“We’ll take it! Oh thank you so much miss.”

“No problem, let me help you get this tree set up onto your car.” I took the father’s money for the tree and walked with them back to their car.

As they drove away waving and thanking me for the help, I waved goodbye back to them and wished them a Merry Christmas. I counted up my tips and felt my heart skip a beat.

“I did it. I—I actually did it! Oh it’s finally enough to get Brian that telescope!” I cheered as I jumped up and down until a shadow came over me. I stopped and slowly turned around and saw Mr. Pete seething down at me, his cigar bit between his yellow teeth.

“I HAD THEM HOOKED ONTO BUYING ONE OF MY TEN FOOTERS!!” he yelled in my face which made me slip and fall flat on my back in the snow. “And I’ve decided to take what I would’ve made out of your payment!” he snatched my bag of tips out of my hand.

“No let go of that! I need it for someone special’s Christmas gift!” I exclaimed as I tugged on the other end of it trying to take it back.

“Not. My. Problem!” he said. With one final good yank, I was once again back in the snow as Mr. Pete pocketed my tip bag. “And just for the record. YOU’RE FIRED!!” he walked away from me with my bag of tips. Not just from working at his lot but my waitressing job tips as well.

Of course I wasn’t upset about getting fired from the Christmas tree lot, I was just upset that all my hard work was now for nothing. Guess I’ll be going to Brian’s empty handed. I stood up, brushed the snow off my pants and walked away solemnly from the lot.

Thinking just how in the hell I’m gonna get Brian that telescope now. There’s no way I could come up with the money by 4 o’clock today.

*Brian’s POV*

After picking out the perfect tree from the lot, Roger and I drove down back to the flat. As we drove down the road I quickly said to Roger.

“Pull over.”

“What?”

“Just pull over Rog!” I snapped. He muttered angrily and pulled the car into the pawnshop parking lot and I quickly stepped out and went up to the window and saw it. The gold chain I’ve had my eyes on to give to (Y/n) to go with her locket.

“Forget it Bri, you’ll never afford it!” I heard Roger exclaim from the car. I glared down and turned towards him.

“You underestimate me Rog.”

“All I’m saying is that we barely had enough to buy this tree. Trident is really screwing us over with our payment. John’s trying his best but he can’t seem to prove it legally. Yet.” He said to me.

“I know. It’s just I want to give (Y/n) the perfect gift this year. After everything that’s happened especially with my health, I want to show her just how much she’s meant to me. Without her I—I doubt I would even be standing here right now.”

“Now don’t go getting sappy on me now mate. (N/n) is a diamond in the rough, but you know she’s never wanted any riches or fame. All she ever says she needs in the world is you. God now you got me talking sappy! I hate you both sometimes!”

“Oh what? Mr. Hard-rocker can’t take a little sweetness in his life?” I teased as I got back in the car.

“Shut up or I’ll run your arse over.” He threatened. I softly chuckled as Roger pulled away from the pawnshop.

Soon. I’ll get that gold chain soon enough. I just need to figure out a plan, but I only have 6 hours left so I need to think fast.

*My POV*

GRRRRR!!! Why can’t life be like a fairytale sometimes? I sure could use a fairy godmother right about now to give me enough money for Brian’s telescope. I sat down at a nearby park bench and fiddled with my locket.

“(Y/n)?” I perked up my head. “(Y/n) darling is that you?” I looked up and there I saw Freddie with row upon row of shopping bags.

“Freddie? Wha…..what are you doing here?”

“Doing some last minute Christmas shopping. Of course shopping for that man of yours is a nightmare! Okay a living hell! No offense.”

“None taken. He—can be difficult to shop for at times.” I said solemnly. Freddie cocked his head curiously like one of his cats and he asked me.

“You okay dear? No offense but you look like someone threw you in a dumpster and the dumpster spat you back out.”

“I could be better.” He came over and set his bags down at our feet and he said as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

“C’mon. You tell ol’ Freddie what happened darling? Why are you so down at this festive time of the year?”

“To put it bluntly, I got fired from Pete’s tree lot.”

“What?! Alright that’s it I am going to march straight down there and have a little chat with Mr. Pete.” I grabbed Fred’s arm and said.

“That’s not what’s bothering me though Fred. Honestly, I could care less whether or not I worked there next year or not.”

“Then what else happened that made you so sad?”

“If I tell you, will you promise not to tell Brian?” he gasped.

“Please tell me you’re pregnant.”

“What no! No! Fred that’s not it at all. You see, you know how Brian always has that empty tripod at yall’s flat?” he nodded. “Well I did some digging and found the perfect telescope that can go with his tripod. Since the start of the year I’ve been saving up all my tips just to get him that telescope. The tree lot’s really been helping my tips grow compared to my waitressing job. And today I managed to reach my goal.”

“Well that’s great so—”

“But that’s when Pete took my tip bag away. All of it.”

“What!? Why the fuck would he do something like that!?”

“Because I stopped him from selling this sweet family an expensive 10ft. tree. They knew they couldn’t afford it yet Pete was pressuring them. So I sold them a small and affordable tree and they were excited about what I showed them and took it. Pete said he was gonna take what he would’ve made off the tree out of my pay. So he took everything. My entire bag of tips that have been saved since this year.”

“That low-life…..you sure you don’t need me to go ‘speak’ to him?”

“It doesn’t matter anymore Fred. I only have 2 hours till the shop closes and no way of paying for that telescope. Now Brian will never be able to look up at the stars the way he dreams of doing.” I leaned my head against Fred’s shoulder and he wrapped his arms around me, gently rubbing my arm and pressed a soft kiss on top of my head.

“You know what I always found to be the cure for a sour face?” he asked me.

“What?”

“Trying on new clothes. C’mon let’s go down to BIBA and pick you something nice to wear for the party. My treat.”

“No, no Fred I can’t do that. Plus what about your shopping?”

“Ahhh I was done with it anyways. Now c’mon. Maybe taking your mind off of your sad morning will help you come up with a plan. And here why don’t you take this?” he reached down and grabbed one of his shopping bags. “It’s something I was planning on giving to that space man of yours, but it seems you need it more than I do.”

“Freddie I—I don’t know what to say.”

“Say you’ll take it. That way you can at least not feel guilty of coming to our flat empty handed. And maybe give me a sneak peek of what to expect from you for my Christmas present.”

“In your dreams Mercury. I never spill Christmas secrets.”

“Damn it!” he pouted.

“C’mon you, I was promised a shopping trip so I expect you to deliver.”

“Darling have you met me?” he stood up and I helped him with some of his bags and the two of us walked towards BIBA.

After finally getting into a warm store, I shivered and rubbed my arms frantically trying to get some friction on them and warm myself up. Freddie and I then proceeded to try out some clothes.

Freddie was right. After awhile of trying out various types of clothing and giving Fred my personal opinion on what he could possibly wear for a future concert, I was starting to feel better. Currently I was trying on a winter hat and looking at myself in the mirror.

“Hold everything (Y/n) darling! I’ve found the perfect thing for you!” I heard Freddie exclaim all the way from the other side of the store. I buried my face under the hat as people looked towards me. Fred came racing over to me and he held up a cute red Christmas shawl with little snowflakes on it.

“Oh my god this is cute!” Fred then tied it around my neck but tied it in a fashion knot, making sure my locket was the key feature showing above my shawl.

“Figured this could go great with your great-grammy’s locket. That thing is worth millions.”

“Yeah. Pure diamond encrusted and……” I trailed off. “That’s it. THAT’S IT!! Fred what time is it?!” I asked him urgently.

“Uhh it’s uhh…..10 till 4.”

“Uggh! There’ll be no time to get there by the road. Nevermind I’ll just run. Yeah run as fast as I can to the shop and get Brian’s telescope! Thanks Fred you’re the best but you can take Brian’s gift back I think I’ve found the perfect way to get Brian that telescope!” I ripped the shawl off my neck and handed it back to Fred and raced out of BIBA and ran as fast as I could.

Now running and snow are not a good combination but I couldn’t stop now. Not even as I was slipping and sliding along the crosswalks, all that mattered to me was getting to that shop on time. I would look up towards Big Ben to see how much time I had left and time was running short.

I still had about six blocks till I got to the shop and I was down to my final 3 minutes on the clock. I soon spotted some teenager boys sledding up along some railings and bus benches. I walked up to one of them and quickly asked them if I could borrow his sled for a moment.

At first he pondered on the though till finally he agreed to let me have it. I told him where he could come collect it in the next five minutes and I proceeded to sled the rest of the way to the shop.

Now gaining some speed, I could see the shop just down the hill. I took a deep breath and proceeded to slid down the street towards the shop but as I got halfway that’s when Big Ben began to gong out the next hour. GONG……GONG…..GONG…..GONG!

Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! As I got to the bottom I saw the shop starting to close up, the lights went off and soon the old shopkeeper came out and locked up. I stood up and ran towards him.

“Wait sir wait!” he turned to me. He was an elderly man roughly around his mid-60s, he wore prescription glasses and his hair was white and thinning, he also was growing out a small white beard. “I—I was wondering if you’d be willing to make a trade?” I took my great-grandmother’s locket off my rope chain. “I was hoping to trade in this locket for that telescope you have on display. The 30 power Refractor one. It’s for my guy.”

He took the locket from my hands and observed it closely. He hummed sadly and said.

“Sorry ma’am. That there is a pretty locket but it won’t do much in my shop.” He handed me back the locket and pocketed his keys. “Well, Merry Christmas.” He told as he began to walk away.

“Please sir this locket was a family heirloom. It belong to my great grandmother back in the early 1890’s. It’s diamond encrusted and pure gold you can see if for yourself.” I said walking alongside him, showing him the locket once again. He sighed and told me.

“I know love but—what I sell in my shop is stuff people actually use in their lives. And as I said before as pretty and as valuable as that locket is, no one will want it in my shop.” I stopped and looked down heartbroken. He hummed sympathetically and continued as he placed a comforting hand on my shoulder “Tell you what, why not go down to the pawnshop across town and you can sell it there? Then once you got the money, come back here the day after Christmas and then we’ll discuss about that Refractor 30 power telescope.”

“But I need it by tonight. This was my last chance to get my Brian something special after the horrid year he’s had. I would give anything in the world to get him that telescope, even if it’s a precious family heirloom.”

“Anything?” he asked quizzically. “Tell me poppet what else are you planning on giving for that there telescope?” he said with his arms crossed.

“I’d give all my love if I could. As sappy as that sounds but it’s true. Brian he’s—” I looked towards the sky and could already see the first star in the sky. “He’s my shining star.” I heard the shopkeeper chuckle.

“Now that’s how you make a sale. Sure wish there were more young compassionate lovers like you and this man of yours. Reminds me of me and my wife Gertrude. God rest her soul. C’mon in come on in and we’ll discuss that trade.” I smiled and in my adrenaline of pure joy, I hugged the old man and heard him softly chuckle.

Later that night, I arrived at the boy’s flat ready for the Queen Christmas party. The boys along with Mary, Veronica, and Roger’s girlfriend Jo were all there by the time I arrived. We had a warm and delicious Christmas eve dinner and exchanged the gifts. First the guys gave out gifts to each other, then us girls proceeded to give our gifts to each other.

I had gotten Ronnie some baby clothes (yes she was a couple of months pregnant at the time and had given us the big announcement just a month ago). I gave Jo a copy of her favorite Jimi Hendrix album, and as for Mary I got her some new makeup from the latest designer line.

I had gotten some winter hats and scarves from Mary, a copy of my favorite Shakespeare play from Ronnie, and Jo got me the new Beatles album.

After most of the gifts had been exchanged, I quickly went to the back of the tree and pulled out my gift for Brian. I groaned and heaved it up.

“Jesus (n/n) what did you get him a pool table?” Roger asked as he lit up his cigarette.

“Ha-ha you’re hilarious Taylor.” I sassed sarcastically. I then turned to Brian and I said to him, “Hey Bri, why don’t you go get that tripod out from your room?” he chuckled nervously and fiddled around with his shirt collar nervously as he said.

“Actually….why don’t you open yours first? And maybe even let us see that locket of yours. I don’t think Jo’s ever seen it before.” Now I started getting nervous.

“Oh she wouldn’t be interested in that old thing. Here, why don’t we open our gifts together?”

“At least do something!” Freddie and John both slapped Roger over the head making him exclaim in pain. Brian handed me my gift, a small but beautiful wrapped box with a gorgeous red bow, while I carefully handed him my giant box.

The two of us unwrapped our gifts and opened up the tops and my eyes widened as I let out a soft gasp.

“A—a gold chain to go with my……locket.”

“Oh my god (Y/n)! You got me the Refractor 30 power telescope for my—tripod.” Wait why did he trail off at the end? I turned to him and saw that he had a sorrow-filled expression on his face.

“What’s wrong? Don’t you like it?”

“Oh (Y/n) I love it. I really do, I’ve always wanted my own telescope it’s just—” he sighed heavily. “I just had to trade that old tripod to get you that gold chain.”

“What?”

“Pawnshop’s son was into space and he needed a tripod for his telescope. So I told the pawnshop owner that I had one since that one was practically collected dust instead of stars.” Oh Brian.

“And I traded my locket to get you that telescope.” Brian and everyone else softly gasped.

“Oh (Y/n), I can’t believe you would trade away a family heirloom for me.” Brian said.

“I would’ve given anything Brian. After—everything that’s happened this year. From your hepatitis scare, to the ulcer and even fear of losing your arm I—wanted to give you something special. I don’t care if it costed me an arm, leg or even my own heart. I would’ve done anything to at least see you smile that real Brian May smile I’ve come to love.”

He cupped the side of my face and brought me closer to him, our lips joining together in a soft, delicate, loving kiss. Of course Roger and Fred just had to make it embarrassing by telling Bri to give me more tongue.

“Come with me.” He silently said urgently as he guided me out to the small backyard behind their flat. “There now we got some privacy away from the pests that is Freddie and Roger. I swear those two are mentally 5 years old 24/7.”

“Well Fred is, Rog is more like 3 years old.” He snorted out a soft laugh.

“Anyways what I wanted to bring you out here to tell you is that while I appreciate what you did to get me the telescope, you didn’t have to trade your locket. I know how much it meant to you.”

“I know but like I said earlier, I would’ve given anything to see you smile again.”

“Just being by my side is enough to make me smile.” He said as he cupped each side of my face, his calloused thumbs caressed my cheeks. I smiled and he pressed his forehead against mine, our noses gently nuzzling against one another’s before he captured my lips in another kiss.

For the rest of the night, we all sang some Christmas songs, watched some Christmas films and when it got late we all decided to turn in for the night. I was in Brian’s room, the two of us cuddled up close on his bed.

“I just hope by next Christmas we’ll have ourselves a house.” He said.

“Let’s take it one step at a time my love.” I said as I tucked my hand into his unbuttoned t-shirt softly stroking his collarbone and gave the junction between his neck and shoulder a kiss. “For now I’m content to how this Christmas turned out.”

“Me too. Even though we basically recreated the gift of Magi tale.” I smiled and felt Brian kiss the top of my head which his fingers slowly stroked up and down my spine. “Happy Christmas my stardust.”

“Happy Christmas my space man.” Brian covered the two of us with his duvet and we fell into a peaceful slumber in his arms.

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kyotakumrau · 4 years

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2020.09.27 Rolling Stone Japan - interview with SUGIZO - translation (selection)

SUGIZO talkes about how he met his friends and why was it important to him now to release a live album

Original text: Joe Yokomizo

Photos by Keiko Tanabe

Translation: kyotaku

SUGIZO is releasing the first live album in his solo career, 'LIVE IN TOKYO', on September 30th. This work delivers the two day birthday performance 'SUGIZO 聖誕半世紀祭～HALF CENTURY ANNIVERSARY FES.～' that was held last year on July 7th and August 2nd at Nakano Sunplaza, giving you a chance to not only enjoy the live atmosphere but also the magnificent collaboration with his sworn musician friends.

It's a masterpiece I'd love many people to listen to, but it might be surprising to people who only know SUGIZO from LUNA SEA and X JAPAN and not his solo work.

In this interview we will get to the bottom of it, discussing the live album, the foundations of SUGIZO's solo work and his music, and the history with the artists who joined the project.

ー It's the first time in your career you're releasing a live album, which is very unusual now that the video releases are so common. You were that happy with how those 2 days turned out?

I was planning to release a live album from before. I heard from my staff they wanted to release the material from this half century celebration, but because I've released live video works so many times I thought it's time to change my approach.

I feel that young people nowadays are not really familiar with live albums. These times we can easily watch live videos everywhere including YouTube. But back in our childhood the live album from the artist we were indulging in was a real prize. For me it was YMO, JAPAN and PiL. Miles Davids or Frank Zappa also had quite a few live releases. And, Deep Purple or Peter Framptom also had famous live albums, even as I wasn't influenced by them. With such artists, live albums in 70s and 80s were treated as extremely valuable. I have a lot of admiration for those times, so I was hoping to eventually be able do it myself.

－ I see. Before we talk about the content, I wanted to ask you when did you encounter the so called psychodelic trance music that is the foundation of your solo music?

In the mid 90s. First, I was really into hardcore techno or minimal techno in early 90s, speaking of the ambient world like The Orb or 808 STATE, I really love the scene of that time. And few years later, at the same time when I started my solo activity, European drum n bass or abstract hip hop were very popular, I was quite influenced by the club culture and music around then, and then naturally I gave myself to trance.

The first rave I went to see was Vision Quest in 2001, and from then I got even more into it. The feeling of life in the perfectly linked music and the flow of universe, like dancing with the rising sun and chilling in the afternoon, my instincts were telling me that people had a connection with this kind of music from the ancient times. Not the music from the cities, the music with roots in nature. Kind of primitive music. I found great value for music there.

◆Then they discuss JUNO REACTOR, learning what kind of rhythm feels good, how working with a South African percussion team Amampondo helped them grow spiritually, especially thanks to the drummer Mabi, SUGIZO's chase of the 'black groove' to finally understand East has its own good points; he can be proud as Japanese and SUGIZO's solo activity reflects everything he's learnt.

Next, Joe asks SUGIZO for a primer of his solo work, SUGIZO lists 'Misogi', 'FATIMA', 'DO-FUNK DANCE' and 'Lux Aeterna'◆

meeting Kyo（DIR EN GREY/sukekiyo)

－ Remarkably for each of two days you invited guest vocalists. All of them are musicians you're very familiar with, could you tell us first about how you got to know Kyo (from DIR EN GREY/sukekiyo)?

From the start I was close with some people they know and their staff members. So I went to see their show and we were introduced. It was surprisingly recently, like around 2005 or 2006.

－ What was your impression when you saw DIR EN GREY for the first time?

It was the first time I felt threatened by a younger band. I'm sorry for saying this, but I haven't felt threatened or impacted by any of the younger artists, within this genre. That's why I was quite surprised with how great they are. What they're expressing, their worldview are incredible. At that time I could feel that their performance or sound are not there yet, but I could already feel the intensity of what was pouring out of them, the endless possibilities.

I was especially looking at Kyo thinking 'he's a genius'. There's no theory or detailed reasoning with him. He's just doing things by instinct. But he's good with words, good at drawing, as an artist he can express himself in so many different ways. Then, when I met him in person he was just so pure and innocent, doesn't it seem like he's not greedy at all? So it was a shock of 'a genius like this exists?'.

－ It was Kyo who wrote the lyrics for your collaboration song 'Zessai', was it a request from you?

Yes. Thinking to sing the best it'd be better if that person writes the lyrics, and when I asked [Kyo] he happily did. When I sent him a 2nd stage Mix demo asking 'it will be like this, what do you think?', he already had the singing (melody) put in. And the lyrics have been done too, when I asked 'woah, that's the actual thing?', he replied 'yup, I've done them'. It's the same with DIR. Thus, he's a genius. When an image comes to his mind he cannot wait. It all felt so fast. He's really a phenomenal creator.

－ How was the performance at the Half Century Anniversary?

I felt he definitely is someone who follows his instincts. When you stand on the stage and things get serious it totally doesn't matter if you're younger or older (as in how long you've been working in a music business). Of course there was no stage fright, I felt as a performer he's just huge, and at the same time it felt like there was mutual respect. It felt like it would be a waste to let it just finish like that. That's why I'm very happy that we can release the collaboration from the stage [on the live album].

◆Next, they talk about TERU and TAKURO (from GLAY), followed by Kiyoharu (I'm skipping here a lot)◆

－Kiyoharu said 'I've performed on various stages so I can't imagine myself losing, but when playing together with SUGIZO the pressure is very different'. Often when two different performers stand on stage together sparks will fly.

The same thing can be said about RYUICHI and SUGIZO, the spark/heat of the collision of a guitarist and a vocalist is often very attractive. In a way there's also the aesthetics of traditional rock, that the combination of Kiyoharu and SUGIZO might be able to embody this spark's attractiveness. That's why the collision on the stage makes me shudder, but also it's possible to blend together. With [the combination of] Kyo and SUGIZO there's no blending together, it feels different. And with TAKURO・TERU we're different type of people. When Kiyoharu is on stage I feel he's the same species as me.

－ It's interesting that the character of all those three groups of musicians is totally different.

That's true. I think it's amazing I could have a line-up like that, it's really by chance that they are my good friends coming from the same genre.

◆they finish the interview talking about the sound and working with Dub Master X, sound mixing for the album, SUGIZO wants the live sound to have intimate, close feeling◆

一 So how was it to complete a live album without compromising on anything?

It's a live album, but it it makes me feel like I was able to create a 'SUGIZO's Best Album'. 2 years I go I released what was meant to be my biggest compilation, but obviously the sound from the studio and from the concert have totally different types of energy. As someone who's been performing on the stage for a very long time, I'm really glad to able to pack that energy for the first time officially on an album. Of course live performance has less precision than the studio album, but performance has way more energy.

Another thing is that as you know it is difficult now to perform due to the pandemic. I haven't played live for half a year, when thinking about it, it's the first time in my music career to not play any shows for this long. That's why I'm really yearning for the stage performance, the live show. When I was still doing them it was something obvious, but now that I can't, making this album made me keenly aware how important concerts are in my life and how much I need them; and to tell the truth working on this live album was like saving myself in a way. Obviously a live album can't rival the real thing. Not even a live dvd nor a live stream can match the excitement of being there [at the show], but I worked on this album hoping to let you feel at least some percent of that feeling. At any rate, I'm really grateful to be able to create a work like a live album that inspired me so much as a child.

Btw 絶彩 feat. 京 [LIVE IN TOKYO] available here

#sukekiyo #kyo #京 #sugizo #interview #translation #kinda #絶彩 #dir en grey #sugizo half century anniversary fes

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erineliz · 4 years

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I spent a lot of time thinking about and writing about my favorite Taylor Swift albums of all time and ranking them. It was a lot of work but I’d love to see other fans rankings and read why. Here’s mine:

1.folklore

2.fearless

3.reputation

4.taylor Swift

5.speak now

6.Red

7.lover

8.1989

So now that folklore has been out awhile, I’ve listened to it, memorized it, loved it. I’ve been reminiscing on old albums now, as you do. My album ranking opinion is probably a super unpopular one in the t-swift fandom that I follow but, I’m a different kind of swiftie I suppose. So I’ll try to further explain my opinions on these albums.

Starting from the bottom,

1989: this is last for me but in no way means it’s a bad album, I mean something has to be last but this one just was not my wildest dream lol. It started off with the release of shake it off before the rest of the album and this was the beginning of Taylor releasing my least favorite song first on quite a few albums (followed by LWYMMD and YNTCD, but we’ll get to those later) I love, love,love blank space and it was a huge bop for a long time after I first heard it. Prob the only thing that made me even want to listen to the rest of the album. Because, as you can see red didn’t fall very high on my list so to follow it up with just shake it off made me kind of feel like, am I over t Swift? 😯 shocking, I know. I was a senior in college when this was released, blank space was played loudly at a few house parties and I loved that everyone loved it too, not just me; a long time lover of swift. It always feels like an I told you so moment when people who aren’t swifties like one of her songs. I never bought this album, and didn’t have Apple Music at the time so I feel like I never really gave it the time and appreciation it deserved. Almost every song on it became a single and I did like a lot of them. The first time I heard New Romantics was when my sister was playing the deluxe cd in her car and I was like, what is this? I loved that song. I think I then looked into the album more and listened to the rest. It was ok, I liked clean because I was going through a breakup. I liked how you get the girl, I thought it was creative and also kind of related to my break up. Out of the woods was too repetitive for me, the rest of the songs were played on the radio so much that they just became overplayed and annoying to me. So yeah, although this was her most successful album by far, I think it was just too mainstream, over played and not for me! But still good overall, you know, because, it’s Taylor Swift.

Lover: it was hard for me to put this this low, because again, not a bad album. It started off by Releasing YNTCD and Me! Before the rest of the album and again I was just like meh... but I knew better in my career as a swiftie that these two singles meant nothing for what the rest of album would be. I really like a lot of the songs on this album, London boy, daylight, false god, cruel summer, the man..all really good! But just nothing that went down as a favorite swift song of all time. I love the aesthetic of this album, probably one of my faves. I love that it’s about love, it came out last year, right when I bought a house with my lover, and I listened to it many hours while painting our walls before we moved in. I feel like Taylor and I have gone through it all together, and lover was the epitome of where my relationship was with my fiancé, just like her and joe 💕 we made it through all the heartbreaks and this was the purple pink sky at the end of the tunnel! But still, she has made way better music IMO.

Red: This is the swift album that everyone thinks got snubbed by the Grammy’s. Most swifties would scoff at this ranking as well. But..again not a bad album, this album has some of her BEST songs/lyrics. But..also it has, and it hurts me to say this, some of her worst as well. Red is good, but if we’re taking albums as a WHOLE, that you can listen too without any skips, this is not that one for me. This album does have some of my favorite of all time songs: all too well(give me the 8 minute version,damnit), red, state of grace, treacherous. But then it also has..stay,stay,stay which I really think is just like, so corny and fake, you can tell it’s not about her life, it’s like a little country twangy but still like bubble gum pop. It just rubs me the wrong way and gets a skip when listening. This album was a huge turning point in her country to pop timeline and it has a good mix of her pop bops along with her pretty little guitar poetry. The pop singles on this album were not my fave. 22 is fun, I was 20-21 when this came out and everyone was jamming 22 on their 22nd b-days. IKYWT got sooo overplayed and annoying. Same with WANEEGBT. I love my t-swift deep cut, sad songs but some of these were just trying too hard at that, like sad beautiful tragic and the moment I knew. They were just tooo dramatic for me. But idk, maybe it’s just because I wasn’t going through heartbreak when this came out, I was about 3 years into a 6 year relationship so heartbreak hadn’t been relatable for awhile and wasn’t going to be for awhile longer. I loved the duets with Ed and Gary, so glad we got that again on folklore! I also think that this album appeals way more to a younger audience. I think I grew up a little by 2012 compared to when I was crying over boys listening to the first albums, not just in a sense of heartbreak but also like just the parts of red that are a little corny to me. I think she was still aiming for the young teeny bopper pop and I was kind of growing out of that stage in music, broadening my horizons if you will. I started listening to swift when I was like 15. I think I just was a little ahead of the target generation that this album was made for: But I still just wasn’t done with her or this album due to the minor cheesy parts. Because then she puts shit on there like the fucking bridge of all too well and I’m like ok she is still the greatest writer of all time. This was a long explanation for red, but I have so many feelings about it. And also, yeah.. it didn’t deserve a Grammy, all things considered. All too well could have had one for song of the year, but whatever.

Speak Now: this was a good album, I think it was very similar to fearless but not quite as iconic. fearless has kept its high rank over the years so because this was so similar, I can’t put it too low. It was exactly what I wanted after fearless, also I think it kind of explains too why red was a bit of a let down..it was a huge change from fearless and speak now. I guess I’m just slow to adapt to change? But anyways speak now has some of the best deep cuts, dear john, last kiss both so beautifully written. Real, raw. We all knew who they were about and the drama of these relationships was exciting because these were the days that’d we’d all hear stuff about who she was dating but never get the full story. then later hear about it in her albums..it was nice to get that kind of honesty from a celebrity, made us feel like we really knew her. Sparks fly is up there as favorite song of all time. Mean was such a clap back to her critics and had the country vibe and twang from her first album. Also, this album had songs about John Mayer, joe Jonas, Taylor lautner..and Kanye west? All huge names at the time. I have to admit, the Kanye west innocent song was a huggeee let down at the time. I know this bitch had worse thing to say than “you’re still an innocent” but..she was very deep into playing her nice girl role at the time. So thank god there was a rep era later on down the road! I was a freshman in college when this came out. Living in dorm rooms, listening to music on my laptop late at night with the lights out.

Taylor Swift: this is up there, because it just has to be. This is where it all started. Listening to country radio, hearing Tim McGraw for the first time. I myself being a huge Tim McGraw fan thinking, I hope someone does think of me when they think of Tim McGraw lol. And then, just on a whim somehow, looking up other songs by her..just to see. Now in 2006, looking up songs by an artist wasn’t as easy a task as it is now. I illegally downloaded music on limewire still at this point. And would then burn it to cds. And would later get my first iPod and transfer everything to that, because who wants to pay a dollar per song on iTunes? I’m sorry Taylor, but Not my mother. So, being 14-15, I had to find my own ways. Stay beautiful, our song, cold as you, picture to burn, should’ve said no..these songs were the words I was looking for in high school, going through teenage love and heart ache. Feeling the exact same way as her and wanting to just write these words on a paper and fucking send it to all these boys who made me sad. Wanting to be a famous singer just so these people could see how I feel and how they ruined everything. Pretending that Mary’s song was the story of my lover and I in an imaginary world. Like, for real. This album did something to me, because of this album no matter what happens in this life, if Taylor puts out music, I’m going to listen to it..just to see.

Reputation: this album was a huge turning point for her. And for me, as her fan. It was after 1989, so I wasn’t like, obsessively waiting to see what would be next. The whole cancel tswift thing happened and I heard about it, but it wasn’t like a huge deal. I was on her side, she didn’t do anything wrong and people were so quick to jump down her throat. but musically after 1989, I was not a hardcore swiftie, I still hadn’t adapted to the all pop era. I needed my Taylor swift on a guitar, pouring her heart out in her lyrics. And then, this happened and it was, for me, way better pop than anything on 1989 or red, by far. I was back to my obsessive swiftie ways, but in a whole new way. Every song on the album was a jam, she was speaking her mind, finally saying wayy more about kanye (and kim, ugh) than what we got on speak now.(ironic, because to me this album is when she really started to speak and didn’t play the nice girl anymore) not only that but, this was a love album and I related to it in so many ways. I was finally out of that 6 year relationship, and had a bit of a “reputation” (not really, but some bridges were burned and people talk a lot about things they no nothing about when you end something that lasted 6 years) and I had met someone new. I related to every love song on this album so much and it meant so much because, like Taylor, after all the bullshit that happened, finding the right person is everything. She had never been more relatable. I feel like her pop music finally grew up enough for me. She was doing pop in a new way and I was here for it.

Fearless: this one has stood the test of time. A classic. No skip album. Country, but her first intro to pop crossover with love story, but unlike a lot of her early pop hits, love story didn’t get old and overplayed for me. It’s not like my favorite song now, but when it blew up, I was about it. Beautiful writing on this whole album. It was the first album I bought. The physical cd. It came out when I was just learning to drive. Driving on my own and blasting this album singing at the top of my lungs along with it with no one to tell me to turn it down or change the song solidified the love story I had with fearless. Blasting you’re not sorry over and over again, (a top 5 song of all time) it made me want to learn to play piano (I didn’t). White horse playing on grays anatomy (my fave show at the time). Listening to fifteen at age 16 for the first time thinking, yes this is so true and I’m so much older and wiser now 🤣 . I was a colbie caillat fan before I knew who Taylor was. Hey Stephen was cute AF. Wished that I had the courage to say things like that to my crushes. Forever and always after my first breakup. It just hit so hard. I can always go back to this album, and have, over the years. My first tswift concert with my only other friend that liked her. It was before any of the drama that came out in the news about her. It’s when She started to blow up in popularity, I’d start to religiously follow things she was doing, interviews, videos on tour, and fell in love with her personality. This girl was talented and hilarious and pretty and smart. I wanted to be her so bad.

Folklore: although it’s still new and fresh, I really think it’s the best yet. For me it’s Taylor swift come full circle. It has the writing, some of her best lyrics yet. It has the age and wisdom that we have watched her gracefully acquire over the years. It’s not pop but it still has the catchy tunes that get stuck in your head, but in a quieter, simpler way. It takes loads more talent to get these songs on the charts than it did with her tried and true formula that she has used in the past for a pop song. She perfected that art, but this is a new level now. It’s not trying too hard, it’s honest. It’s still about love and how far she (and I 😭) have come in that journey. Yet it still has the heartbreak, teenage angst that only she can describe so beautifully. Cardigan might be best of all time. Betty takes me back to something on fearless. Mirror ball and August are light, airy, upbeat and just unique. TLGAD is her storytelling at its finest, yet also a quick fuck you to those who think she’s “ruined” anything. She had a marvelous time. It’s also that personal level, we’ve seen the photos of her and all her friends at this house and it just makes you feel like you’ve been there or something. Exile takes me back to red and I love this duet so much. Invisible string is so.well.written. The concept, so beautiful. The story of her and joe. Details we’ve never heard before. The lakes really ties it all together for me. It’s everything. We’re all isolated right now, but this song speaks to me so much. I’m not a big social media person, I like the simple things in life. I like to read, to write, my circle of friends is dwindling as we all get older and that’s ok because I have the love of my life and that’s all I need. It also speaks to how isolated I feel as a t swift fan, not that there is any shortage of swifties out there, but all the people I am close with are not fans of hers. And that’s fine, we have different tastes in music, whatever. But to me the best thing about Taylor has always been her writing, her poetry. I like the sad sappy songs, I want the auroras and sad prose (I also love the concept of not moving for years) this song has it all, even another subtle fuck you to her critics again. Who are you to tell her what her words are worth? They are better than any other artists’ out there. So many other dumb ass musicians out there that don’t even write any of their music who want to say Taylor isn’t “that great”. To me her words are everything. Folklore is everything. And it’s all hers! That’s huge. I feel like with her owning more of her shit now she can also be free to do whatever the fuck she wants. There’s no pressure for a tour on this album, (fucking covid 🙄) which may have influenced how she wrote it..no fancy dance numbers needed here. Without a big record label down her throat too she may have had more freedom, maybe to not have a hit single (although she still does) there’s no super mainstream straight pop BOP like every other album has had. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for her and her music. Oh and you want to talk about Grammys? GIVE IT TO FOLKLORE.

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har-rison-s · 6 years

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back home

A/N: Not requested and totally at the top of my head, this one. I watched the Pacific and am now rewatching it, and I love it, and I love Eugene. Wow. Joe is truly one masterpiece of an actor. I admire him so much. And I love the Pacific, it’s such a good mini-series. Eugene’s character is very complex and I like those kinds of characters with many hidden characteristics you really find out if you look close enough. I really analysed him bit by bit so I could write something about him, and so here it goes. This is pure fiction, and I do not own any of the actors, plotlines or the mini-series in general. I wanted to write this, and there’s so little content of Eugene Sledge here, I hope there’ll be more. This will have a part two, I promise. Happy reading!

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Eugene was always that one kid who was quiet out of the whole class. The one who knew all the answers, aced his tests, but didn't raise his hand when the teacher asked questions. Never really talked to anyone, was the last to get chosen for teams in P.E. and sat alone at lunch. Sidney could crack him up half-way, and he was a shy and reserved person. Only I was the one who he really opened up around.

Deep down inside, Gene was witty, sarcastic and emotional. He even secluded from his parents, his ma more than his father. Although they saw quite enough of his emotional side and weaknesses. But when he came back from serving in Japan, he isolated himself even more than before. Even from me.

I have known Eugene since around third grade, when I started going to public school. My parents didn't want me to, but my grandparents talked some sense into them to let me out in the world and socialise. It did me quite a good job cause, look at me now - talkin' and chattin' with anyone interesting I see. That's how me and Gene became friends. I ain't afraid to talk to anyone, even if they're afraid of talkin' to me. Gene was, at first, but then he discovered I'm reliable and a true person to the very core. And he let himself loose around me.

Eugene is jealous, caring, empathetic, kind, passionate and friendly. He's all those things and more, feeling every emotion any person could. Even though he's like the rest of us, he's unique. One of a kind. Ain't no one like him in the entire world, and I'm very sure of that. He makes me smile with the weirdest things and most interesting words, makes me laugh with his dark-humored jokes and picks my interest with every minute that I spend with him.

I didn't really know the right things I was feelin' towards him until he left for the Pacific War. My ma riddled it out for me finally, and at first I was denying, of course. I didn't believe that Eugene was responsible for the butterflies in my stomach or the slight jealousy I felt towards any girl he'd accidentally had a conversation with. For all I knew, it could've been because of Sid, but it wasn't. Sid was a catch for the eye for other girls in our school, and he really ain't my type at all. I've known that for a very long time.

Four years, I think, I spent in waiting, longing and a head full of doubts. Waiting for Eugene to return. I volunteered at any job that could bring me closer to him, but there weren't any slots open for women at the time. At least, not on the islands surrounding Japan. I visited his parents very often, went with Deacon outside for walks and playing. His ma even said it felt like a part of him was at home when I came over. It made me feel quite special.

Now, it's a summer afternoon at the Sledge's residence, and I'm sitting in Eugene's bed, going through his photo albums. There are pictures of us two, pictures of him younger, of him and Sid, his parents in their younger years, and many, many more. Being so caught up in all the memories and reminiscing, I don't even hear a car drive by. Or a closing of the front door or the happy cries of his ma downstairs. The only thing that brings me out of my nostalgic trance is the bedroom door opening. I turn around, expecting to see Dr. Sledge or Mary, but... my jaw drops once I see who it is. It's Gene. Alive and breathing, standing in the doorway in a uniform and his suitcase in hand.

At first, I smile wide at him and immediately drop the album on the nightstand, hurrying around the bed to walk towards Eugene. His face shows shock and gladness he never thought he'd experience again. It's me. In his room. Probably waiting for him, he guesses.

He drops his case and I slowly put my arms around him, afraid of how he'll react. Anything could have happened during his serving days, and I don't want to cause an uproar of a buried trauma by doing something wrong. I rest my cheek on his shoulder, hugging him tight to me. An embrace I thought I'd never feel again, and I can tell he felt the same way. His arms are around my frame, as well, and we hold each other like that for a long, long time.

Then, my tears come, and I don't really want them to, but I can't help it. They're tears of joy and they're tears of weeping for what he must have been through, what he had to go through in War. I sob against him while smiling and he just keeps on holding tight to me, knowing how I feel.

I hold onto Gene's arms and pull back a little so I can see his face. My hand traces over his cheek, making sure that he's really here, it's really him. I smile wider and my cheeks start to hurt from doing that already. Gene gives me his true smile that I always seem to pull out of him, and I'm ever so glad to see him. Our eyes lock and I sigh shakily.

“Eugene...” I whisper his name and he nods, closing his eyes. A deep sigh leaves his lips, and I can tell he feels exactly as he says next.

“You can't imagine how tired I am.” He tells me and I chuckle. “But I'm more glad to see you.” He admits and I smile. He leans his forehead against mine and we both close our eyes. “So glad.” I nod.

“I waited for ages.” I say and exhale. “I thought you'd never come back.” I tear up again, sobbing, and Eugene tightens his grip on my waist, feeling many emotions in one moment. “But I ain't gonna spend the day crying, now am I?”

Eugene nods and I laugh. “Can we lay down?” He suggests and I nod, moving away from him. I take his suitcase and put it on the window sill, opening it. I turn back to Eugene and smile. He's laying in his bed, and the photo album I went through just a mere two minutes ago is in his hands and he glances at me. At first, there's this curious look in his eyes and a mischiveous raise of an eyebrow, but then he pats the other side of the bed next to him, signalling for me to lay with him. And I do, oh, I do. I've wanted nothing more for years.

I skip over to his bed and bunch the down part of my dress in my hand, holding it around my legs as I lay down. I sigh once my back is on the soft mattress. It hasn't been used since Eugene left. And it will definitely need some welcome-back using.

I look over at Eugene and he's got the most tired of all tired smiles on his face, and it makes me feel warm. He's glad I'm here, and he's glad to be back home. He closes the photo album and puts it back on the nightstand before settling back down on his back next to me and taking my hand between his.

There's a conversation between us that actually lasts for hours, and I tell him everything that he's missed here. My family's summer parties, Deacon's last days and his funeral and tributes, school, applying for works, lake in the summer and winter. I tell him everything. Because I know he needs a big distraction from where he's just come and doesn't want to talk about what he's done or seen or where he's been. I know that, and I can feel it from him because he's so close to me.

During the conversation, he mentioned about Mary Frank making a welcome-home dinner for him and his brother. And though we'd rather stay here all day and night, his family needs him and they're my family, as well. So we joined them downstairs.

I hesitate to tell him my true feelings. It'd be too much for him today. Maybe some other day... I don't want to excite or worry him more than he already is. It's overwhelming—everyone is happy for him to be home and wants to tell him what he's missed, it's his first day home, in a real bed and he's met his best friend again. Well, two of them, actually. He told me Sid waited for him at the station. At that, I groaned and grumbled “traitor” and Gene laughed, telling me I can tell that to Sid when I meet him soon. I'll have to tell Eugene about my feelings soon, I know I need to. Sid has suspected something's up with me, we've been meeting up occasionally since he got home. And he knew that I was at the Sledges' house today, so I guess he wanted to give me and Eugene quite the pleasant surprise.

Eugene might reject me, he might not feel the same way, or he actually might do the opposite. I know how he feels about relationships, I know him very well. I might as well freak him out with my feelings, and I don't really want to. But, whatever the aftermath may be, I ought to tell him. I can't live the rest of my life without him knowing the truest truth. It would kill me.

We sit beside each other at the dinner, shy smiles on both our faces as his relatives ask questions and tell stories. He's overwhelmed, I can feel that from him and I take his hand in mine underneath the table. Just a comforting gesture I can offer him at a time like this. He smiles at me, appreciating the hand holding and squeezing my hand ever so slightly. It makes me feel flutters in my stomach and I try to hide the blush, turning my face away from him. It confuses Eugene a little, so I look back. His eyes seem to be asking the question that burns hot in his mind, but I shake my head, a way of telling him that it's nothing. Eugene nods, but he'll be sure to ask me about it later.

When the dinner's over and I've helped Mary clean everything up, I head upstairs to join Eugene in his bedroom. His eyes skim over the pages of his small bible, he sits on the window sill. He has unpacked his clothes, and his suitcase now lies empty on the top of his wardrobe. Gene looks so peaceful there, the moonlight perfectly shining down on him and casting a painting-like shadow on the wooden floor. I smile.

My feet carry me over to where he sits and and I lean against the wide window's frame. Gene looks up at me. “What have you got there?” I ask, nodding at his bible. He sighs and closes it, throwing it over on his bed.

“Just my notes.” He answers. “I counted days at our locations. Wrote down some other things, as well.”

“Hmm.” I respond and then take his hand in mine again.

“What happened at the dinner table?” He asks me and I furrow my eyebrows, trying to catch onto what he's talking about. Then I remember.

“Ah,” I say once I realise, “nothing, hon.” I say to him, shaking my head with a smile on my face. “Do you want me to leave you? Go to bed?” I ask and Eugene's eyes travel to mine and there's a nervous glimmer in them.

He shakes his head suddenly. “No,” he responds, “no, please stay.” His grip on my hand tightens and it takes me a bit by surprise. I nod, understanding that he wants me to spend the night. Here.

“Alright, I will.” I say, still nodding. I lean closer to Eugene, noticing his nervous facial expression hasn't gone away, and caress his cheek. “I will, sweetheart. I'll stay with you.” Forever, I want to add, but I don't, fearing what he might say to that. Or maybe it'd give him comfort. “I'll stay with you for however long you want me to.” Eugene nods and closes his eyes, the anxiety-filled brown orbs invisible to me now. “I promise.” I say and our foreheads touch. I pull him towards me in a warm embrace, and he grips my sides, needing the comfort I give, craving it.

Soon, I feel my dress wetting in spots just next to his cheeks and I sigh. Those are tears. I caress my fingers through his brown locks and I feel his figure contorting in gasps and sobs now and then. “I'm here, I'm here.” I whisper to him over and over, hoping it'd sooth him.

After I told the Sledges that I'm staying the night and Mary Frank gave me a robe for sleeping and a robe to wrap around myself if it gets cold. We're both worried about Eugene's first night here, but she's glad I'm here. She always has been, and we both have the same worries about Eugene.

We're peacefully sleeping under his covers, hands still faintly holding on to the other's. When we sleep in the same place, our hands are always intertwined, and most times they even stay locked until the morning. Now's the occasion that the grip has loosened due to sleeping, but at one point, I feel a horribly tight grasp around my knuckles. It's so intense that I think my bones are gonna break any second if the holder keeps holding on.

I snap my eyes open and hear tossing in the dark. I look at Eugene and he's moaning and whimpering, thrashing around next to me. I struggle to get my hand out of his grasp and stand up on the floor after getting out of bed next to him. He has his eyes squeezed shut and turns from side to side, muttering words and names and pleas, whimpering. My heart breaks at the sight, and I can't bear watching him suffer. He's obviously having a nightmare, a very intense and horrible one. I have to tell his parents.

I wrap the robe for cold occasions around myself and jag out his bedroom door. I turn on the light in the hallway and run down to his parents' room, but I notice their light is already on. They're awake. I lean against the doorframe, seeing they're sitting up in their bed, and try to calm my breaths down. His father already gets up from the bed and I can't help the tears that gather in my eyes or the sob that gets past my lips.

“He-He's—“ I start to say, but I can't finish my sentence, “he's having a... a nightmare.” I look at his father as he's standing in front of me. He gives me an embrace and I relax against his chest. He's like a second father to me.

“We heard.” He says and I nod. My sobs truly break out and I can't control them. Mr Sledge pets my hair as I cry, and I feel so hopeless.

I sit against the wall of the hallway that borders his bedroom, knees against my chest and my chin rested on my folded arms, until I can't keep myself awake anymore. I settle for the guest room's bed in the early morning hours, exhausted from not sleeping, and have a deep slumber there until the next day.

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#eugene sledge #the pacific #sledge #eugene #joe mazzello #joe mazzello imagine #joe mazzello imagines #joe mazzello fic #joe mazzello x oc #eugene sledge imagine #eugene sledge imagines #eugene sledge x reader #eugene sledge x oc #eugene sledge fic

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thepropertylovers · 5 years

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A Definitive (And Totally Biased) Ranking of Every Song on 'Lover'

Have you listened to Taylor Swift’s new album yet? It’s already 2019 biggest selling record and we can see why. When T. Swift releases an album, it’s pretty much all you hear about for the next few months (and the few months beforehand, to be honest). So why don’t we count down the best songs on ‘Lover’?

Thomas is a huge Taylor Swift fan, and now that her new album ‘Lover’ has been out for over a week (and he’s listened to it approximately 113 times), he thought it would be fun to rank the songs in order from worst to best. You may agree with some of the choices and you may not, but we can probably all agree that the first half of the album is infinitely better than the second half, which is typically what you get with Swift.

Red may be her best album lyrically, but this album is probably her most fun. Even PJ (who isn’t a huge TS fan by any means) turned to me the other day and said he thinks this is his favorite album she’s ever put out, and is particularly loving ‘Afterglow’. On this album, she’s giving us HAIM, she’s giving us Lana Del Rey, she’s giving us Postal Service, she’s giving us country (?!). Are there too many songs on this album? Probably. Are some of them skippable? Most definitely. But when Taylor Swift blesses us with a new album every few years, it’s an event, and like any event, we need to make a big deal of it. So without further ado, here are the best and worst songs from ‘Lover’:

18. False God

Taylor doing R&B? I knew from the first listen of this song that it would be my least favorite on the album. I appreciate the lyrics, and she’s the sexiest she’s ever been, even more so than ‘Dress’, but it still feels off for her to be doing R&B. It’s not a bad song (does Taylor make bad songs?) but it’s not my favorite.

Best lyric: Staring out the window like I’m not your favorite town, I’m New York City, I still do it for you, babe.

17. Daylight

This is a beautiful closer, and not a bad song in the least (the words are gorgeous), but this is no ‘New Year’s Day’ or ‘Clean’ for me. It took me a couple of listens to find the melody, but overall it’s a solid closing song that wraps up everything she’s feeling very nicely. I think I just prefer the songs on the first half of the album so much more that this song never really stood a chance for me.

Best lyric: I wanna be defined by the things that I love, not the things I hate, not the things I’m afraid of…I just think that you are what you love.

16. You Need To Calm Down

What could I say about this song that hasn’t already been said? It was supposed to be the LGBTQ+ anthem (maybe it still is?) of the summer, but I think it missed a few of the points of what it means to be an ally. Still, Swift is the only big, heterosexual superstar actively coming out and supporting LGBTQ+ rights in her songs, and the fact that she’s trying so hard to pass the Equality Act is amazing. Plus, it’s catchy as hell.

Best lyric: And I ain’t trying to mess with your self-expression but I’ve learned the lesson that stressing and obsessing about somebody else is no fun. And snakes and stones never broke my bones, so.

15. ME!

Where do we even begin with this song? As the first single from ‘Lover’, it was polarizing to a lot of people. PJ and I stayed up until midnight when it was released and we were in bed watching the music video on our laptop and just kept going what? what….? WHAT?! Over and over again with each verse and chorus, and then when the “Hey kids! Spelling is FUN!” line happened, we almost shut our computer down. Thankfully they removed that line from the album version and it instantly made the song better. I think at the end of the day this is a fun, positive, and uplifting song that I actually enjoy, it just surprised me that a person of Swift’s talents was the one who wrote it. But I guess not every song has to be at an ‘All Too Well’ level, and this song is so damn catchy, does it really matter that it’s mot as good as the others?

Best lyric: I know that I went psycho on the phone, I never leave well enough alone, and trouble’s gonna follow where I go.

14. Soon You’ll Get Better

This song, y’all. It’s so beautifully heartbreaking. It’s similar to ‘The Best Day’ in the fact that it’s about her mom, but it couldn’t be more different in tone and feel. The lyrics are so beautiful and honest and raw and real, and the addition of The Dixie Chicks in the background (who I’m pretty sure were put on this earth to harmonize melodies to perfection) absolutely complete the song for me.

Best lyric: And I hate to make this all about me, but then who am I supposed to talk to? What am I supposed to do, if there’s no you?

13. Death By A Thousand Cuts

I don’t know what it is about this song, but this is one that I always skip whenever it comes on, even though I technically don’t have a problem with it. I guess it’s just I would rather listen to the other songs more than this one, which is why it’s lower on the list. It’s not a bad song, though, and I sing along to it whenever it’s on, but it’s not one of my favorites.

Best lyric: I look through the windows of this love even though we boarded them up.

12. It’s Nice To Have A Friend

This is probably the weirdest song on the album, but I absolutely love it. It gives me major Postal Service vibes, but it’s quirky and fun and playful. I love the innocence of it and the feel it evokes, even if I don’t entirely know what it’s about or what she’s trying to say/the point of the song is. But she is right, it is nice to have a friend. Mr. Rogers would be proud.

Best lyric: Lost my gloves, you give me one, wanna hang out? Yeah, sounds like fun.

11. The Archer

I really like this song, and the only reason it’s on the lower half of this list is because I love her fun, more up-beat songs on the album so much. But I love the words and the angle she’s coming from on this one. And I will casually find myself singing, “All the kinds horses and all the kings men, couldn’t put me together again.” over and over randomly throughout the day. Even when she doesn’t write the words, Swift has an ear for catchy rhymes.

Best lyric: Easy they come, easy they go, I jump from the train, I ride off alone, I never grew up, it’s getting so old.

10. I Forgot That You Existed

I think as an opener it’s a pretty solid song. The title is a little trite, but the words are clever and I like the point of view/outlook she’s coming from when she matter-of-factly states that she doesn’t love the person or hate them, she just doesn’t really think about them at all. Which, to me, is the definition of moving on and is a lot easier said than done, but is so worth it when you finally get to that state of mind.

Best lyric: I forgot that you existed. It isn’t love, it isn’t hate, it’s just indifference.

9. London Boy

Sure this song is silly and has a very questionable opening line, but it’s also one of the most fun on the album. Having never been to London before, I really got a sense of what it’s like by Swift listing all of the things she loves so much about her boyfriend’s hometown. Plus listening to her list everything she loves about Joe is adorable, even if she doesn’t do the best British accent. Bonus points for mentioning Tennessee AND for an intro by Idris Elba. Swoon.

Best lyric: But something happened, I heard him laughing, I saw the dimples first and then I heard the accent. They say home is where the heart is, but that’s not where mine is.

8. Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince

Taylor at her most Lana-like, almost even more so than ‘Wildest Dreams’. The melody and the beat and the lyrics and the way she enunciates (and the fact that it has the word Americana in it, which is LDR’s favorite topic to sing about) reminds me so much of Lana Del Rey that I almost wonder if this should have been a duet between the two queens. I like this song because it’s interesting and the metaphors are killer. The lyrics are creative, clever, and put to good use, too.

Best lyric: Boys will be boys then, where are the wise men?

7. Paper Rings

Another fun one! I told my sister that I kind of wish she would have put this type of song out about 10 years ago because it seems a little juvenile for a 30 year old to be singing, but it’s a cute love song that is almost impossible not to dance to. It also reminds me of one of my favorite movies of all time, Clueless. Can’t you just picture Cher riding around in her Jeep with her friends listening to this song and living her best life?

Best lyric: I like shiny things but I’d marry you with paper rings uh-huh, that’s right, darling, you’re the one I want.

6. Afterglow

This is a song that grew on me, mostly because this is PJ’s favorite song on the album and I somehow always end up loving whatever song PJ likes in the end. I love how she frames a very common topic in relationships, though: that your head can make up some messed up shit sometimes and you will say or do things you don’t mean in the moment because you’re so upset. But acknowledging that you’ve made a mistake, that it’s all your fault and they didn’t do anything wrong, is the best thing you can do to correct the situation. And it really shows Swift’s maturity as a person and as a songwriter to include a song like this on her album. Also, this is PJ’s favorite song on the album, so I feel like I should have included it a little higher on the list. Sorry, baby!

Best lyric: Fighting with a true love is boxing with no gloves.

5. Lover

The most atmospheric song on the album. I wanted to not like this song because it’s so heavy and schmalzy, but I really do love it. Y’all know I’m sappy lovey-dovey, and this song is one big love letter to love, which is what she said her album is all about, so naturally I’m placing it high on the list. Me and PJ listened to this song the other night while we were in bed talking and it was the perfect background song to just be with him.

Best lyric: Can I go where you go? Can we always be this close? Forever and ever.

4. I Think He Knows

This song is SO MUCH FUN. It’s cute and poppy and boppy and I love the confidence she’s giving us. This album has a lot of 80’s sounding songs, almost more so than ‘1989’, and this is one of the best examples of it. The part right before the last chorus when the music really picks up and she belts, “I think he knooooooows!” gives me major Mariah Carey vibes and I am so here for it. Chills, every time.

Best lyric: I got that uhh, I mean, want to see what’s under that attitude. I want you, bless my soul.

3. Cornelia Street

I always think she’s at her best when it’s just her penning the songs, and this is a prime example. It’s sweet and a little melancholy, but the lyrics are so strong and you can’t help but sing along to the chorus when she sings, “And I hope I never lose you, hope this never ends.” And to be honest, I didn’t want the song to end, either.

Best lyric: Years ago we were just inside, barefoot in the kitchen, sacred new beginnings that became my religion, listen.

2. The Man

This. Song. Is. So. Good. She’s been extremely vocal the last few years about feminism, and this song wraps everything up in a big bow and delivers it with all of the Haim-inspired gusto it can muster. The beat and music is full on Haim, but the smart and sharp lyrics are all Swift. So many good points made and I love the Leo reference in Saint Tropez. Also, I didn’t know how to pronounce Saint Tropez until this song, so I really owe her a lot for this one.

Best lyrics: If I was out flashing my dollars I’d be a bitch, not a baller, they paint me out to be bad, so it’s okay that I’m mad.

1. Cruel Summer

For me, this song rivals Blank Space in how good of a song it is, which is a big claim to make, and the reason it comes in at number 1. The tempo, the picture it paints, how you feel when you listen to the song. The lyrics and the melody, it all just fits and makes me feel like I’m driving in a convertible with the top down, cruising down the California highway as the sun is setting. Not that I’ve ever done that, but that’s how powerful this song is! It paints such a vivid picture and is easily one of her best songs to date.

Best lyric: He looks up grinning like a devil!

There you have it! Have you listened to the whole thing yet? What are your favorite songs on the album?

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readingthelastpage · 5 years

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Calvin, Tom and Joe in the context of Gaylor

so the consensus in the Kaylor fandom is that all of these were purely PR relationships made up to hide her gayness, and the proof was that Taylor is a lesbian in a long-term monogamous endgame relationship with another lesbian, Karlie. I don’t share this opinion, and yet when I prod at these relationships, my overwhelming conclusion is that they are conducted for the public. Gaylor Swift (Taylor being fluid or bi or gay) and songs inspired by her love of women (like Karlie) factor a little bit into that, but the reason why I have this feeling is the reality of Taylor’s image at the time she was publicly linked to each of these men, and the things I assume about Taylor’s creative process.

here’s the deal about 1989: Taylor’s glossy pop single gal makeover is celebrated, but she is still mocked. the love songs aren’t super sad breakup songs, but they aren’t happy love songs either. she says she would love to write an album about a love that shines golden if she ever finds it - it’s obvious that, for Taylor to shed her image of kinda sexless and mildly immature young woman, being a single feminist with a girl squad won’t work as a public image - and it super stops working when the media publishes images of her and Karlie snuggling at a concert. she needs to date someone who is kinda older (but not innapropriately so), not a teenybopper but considered hot by Taylor’s generation, both respected in his field (that has to be different than the typical Taylor date of either actor or pop singer) and up-and-coming in popularity. Someone kinda worldly, maybe foreign.

If it sounds like I just described Calvin, I did! Honestly, dating him for longer than a year was the best thing Taylor did for her public image, for her overwhelmingly hetero audience who want to see her succeeding in her love life. She can now “”””keep a man””””, and a cool man at that, someone who hasn’t been seen as a star-chaser and who hasn’t been involved in PR-relationships. But Calvin wasn’t the best person, he publicly embarrassed Taylor several times and is generally volatile and her fanbase begins to dislike him. He’s not the way to go.

Except Taylor still wants to write about her golden love. TS6. Lover. (Karlie). The good stuff, the good feelings. Someone hot by her side she has cocktails with on a private beach, so handsome they make her jealous and high above the whole scene.

Here’s something controversial: I don’t think Taylor’s albums are a perfect diary of her private life. Anyone trying to “prove” any theory or timeline via them will have a very difficult time. I do think she writes about the real feelings she has experienced (with maybe some artifice in the specifics), but the songs she will put on her album will connect to the story about herself she wants to tell that era, just like her different image each era will communicate different things.

In other words: it’s not that Taylor writes a bunch of isolated happy love songs about Karlie or a bunch of isolated on-and-off again songs about Dianna and conceptualizes her next era around that batch of songs and picks a public muse based on that, to cover up for the real inspiration. Rather, the real inspiration is her life and feelings, she picks the songs and the concepts based on the story she wants to spend a few years performing and telling in the next era, the image and the boyfriends follow.

I don’t have any concrete evidence for this. It’s just my feeling based around being around musicians, being a fan of musicians and investigating into their creative processes, and being a creative type myself and seeing different things about Taylor’s journey. REP is about a very isolated incident in Taylor’s life, but also giving the middle finger to the haters (and, as it turns out, her crappy label) because she has a hot lover and real friends. We know Taylor went through a lot more shit at the time she wrote about these things, but this is the story she wanted to keep telling, possibly to pick herself up, keep herself strong, and for an image benefit. There’s nothing the public loves more than someone owning their mistakes, rising from the ashes and at the same time living a good life. Putting other songs on REP would have muddied the message.

Here’s how I think it went down: Taylor goes through her storm. It becomes clear to her that she will address the storm on the next album. She also will not give the next album to her crappy label, and will have to leave all the old Taylors in the past so she can break free with Reputation and then have the Lover Paradise Butterfly concept. The LWYMMD video is pretty clear as a retelling of that. However, Taylor still has happy love songs in mind and will not spend the next era single - she wants a public partner, not just to cover for the “paternity test” because she doesn’t want the songs tied to Calvin (or Karlie), but because that’s the right PR move to pull in light of the Tayvin breakup.

Enter someone also handsome, enviably so, worldly, funny, broad-shouldered and supportive and - key difference from Calvin - a good sport and agreeable and fun. She attempts to create a whirlwind romance fast with Tom and really there’s no reason why it would go wrong... except they go overboard and it does go wrong. It works on paper but the way they captured all of that looks freakin’ silly, that silly shirt appears, and people go nuts. Taylor gets rid of him very fast. Now she has two romances she doesn’t want her love songs tied to. I don’t think it’s a coincidence she spread the word of Joe on her secret sessions and specifically said all songs are about him, because some of these details really bring me back to specific Hiddleswift and Tayvin public moments she has created. Not a great start for a new era. She would definitely want to go away for a while, regardless of whether or not she is creating space for another public romance or not. Maybe the realization Karlie and her aren’t the endgame she was writing about or thinking about happens right then and there when she disappears, maybe it’s earlier or later.

Joe is a bit of a mystery just because he is such a ghost. There’s no question that not all of the time Taylor spends in London is for work, and there’s no question that at least some of that time is spent with Joe. Sometimes I wonder if she is with someone in his particular inner circle (though there is no need for that really), and sometimes I wonder if she is really with him. But one thing is absolutely clear: in him, she has found her ideal public relationship. A blank canvas, he could be made into anything her team wanted. She could write any future love songs “about him” and no one would question it. It corrects for all things in her previous public relationships (especially Hiddleswift) and it’s perfectly stable and allows her to have the pop star life that’s more in tune with her sensibilities: both glamorous and lowkey, both cool and kinda boring. It would be a big coincidence if she happened to find the perfect boyfriend for her golden love album and mature pop star era. It’s especially suspicious that he was projected to be the next big serious yet mysterious leading man right around the time they hooked up, and then, purely by chance, his career just didn’t blow up like it was expected to. I’m not saying it’s impossible that they are real. But so far... I’m going with PR because it’s a little too perfect.

People constantly question the benefit of Joe for Taylor. With him, she is so private and boring and gets no publicity, and he doesn’t get much either! I’d argue that’s the exact point. Taylor wants to be a little boring. Not too much, but romantically. She doesn’t want her private life pried into so hardcore. She still plays the game, but a bare minimum of it, and it shows. If you go on popular swiftie ask blogs, you’ll constantly get seasoned bloggers saying there’s no point in following her so closely because she “feeds us” so irregularly and then flits off to London for a week right after. “She only does one thing a week and not every week”. The lowering of expectations is working. She only has to “work” in this way when it most benefits her and her public life isn’t such a spectacle anymore because there is nothing juicy to discover.

So. The thing about this fandom is that, when you want to see if something is true or not, you have to start believing it is true and then finding something palpable to debunk it. But with her past few boyfriends, people abandoned that method and went from the assumption that they were fake and let every tiny thing confirm this. I wanna go back to the original way. Overall, even when I debunk Kaylor as an overwhelming long lasting and still ongoing monogamous romance, Calvin, Tom and Joe still don’t quite check out as real boyfriends to me. Thems my thoughts. Maybe Lover will debunk some of them, but I definitely expect some golden love songs like those we got on Rep, some sad songs about other events she skipped depicting on Rep and - maybe another Karlie breakup song or two. (I say another because I connect GC to Karlie and DWOHT and NYD to breaking up). Maybe a song about reconciling after something bitter that people will attribute to Katy but that will be about her feelings about reconciling with Karlie. Maybe a song about a friendship breakup.

#gaylor swift

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evilwickedme · 5 years

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gail!! what are your thoughts on tswift’s new album? tbh, i’m not a super huge fan of hers (when i was younger i listened to a lot of her stuff, my fav album is Red, but i skipped reputation), but i’m super loving Lover. paper rings might be my favorite song on the album rn, it’s just.. so much fun!!! so, thoughts?

OH MY GOD I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS YOU HAVE NO IDEA jganeqrlnlkenal

The Saturday after it came out I ranted about it for like an hour to @theorangedeath it was intense

ok so here in no particular order are my thoughts about the album gkqengleln

Afterglow is hands down the best song on the album!! the lyrics, the melody, the vocals, the execution, all of it is absolutely *chef’s kiss*

it’s sad that it’s sandwiched between THE WORST SONGS ON THE ALBUM WHAT THE FUCK TAYLOR

yes I think YNTCD and Me! are the worst songs on the album no I won’t be accepting any criticisms at this time

I actually have a ranking of the songs I’ll add it at the bottom

I don’t understand It’s Nice To Have A Friend it’s baffling to me. what is it about. almost everything taylor writes is directly inspired by her life or someone in her life (see You Are In Love for example which is about the relationship of two of her friends) but I have no fuckin clue what this is about and it’s such a pointless song???

except for Cruel Summer, any song on this album that was less than three minutes long was significantly worse

I mean if Taylor can’t even fill three minutes with material there’s something wrong imo

Cruel Summer is a Bop tho I’m enrblkanbeaklnalk it’s obviously about the summer of 2016 when she was suffering all around but being in the new relationship with Joe was somehow the worst and also I saw a theory that they were friends with benefits first and I think it makes sense!!!!! so that’s where I am right now

just. the “save rock and roll” vibes in “HE LOOKS UP GRINNING LIKE THE DEVIL” I’m -

The Man is her best political song there I said it

not that she gets political often but on this album alone there are three songs to pick from and The Man beats them all by a mile

ShE sAiD bItChEs

paper rings is EXCELLENT as you said but honestly I’ve been playing it on the piano and I think it could’ve done with the occasional melody replacing the fun spoken/childish yelling part, like the “aha”s could have definitely been sung

emotional whiplash??? all over this album?? like taylor at no point sticks with one mood from song to song this album would’ve been so much easier to listen to if like, Cruel Summer was immediately followed by The Man or Cornelia Street followed another quiet song like Afterglow

Cornelia Street should’ve been track five and that’s the tea 🤷

It’s one of the saddest she’s ever written, really, and if it had been track five it might’ve finally dethroned All Too Well as the best track five (even though I have a weak spot for White Horse cause that’s the song that got me into her in the first place)

the Layers™ in Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince…………… poetic cinema.png

I Think He Knows is Dress but upbeat change my mind

Like. what a thirst song

also Taylor the things that turn you on about Joe make no sense chill

“his hands around a cold glass make me wanna that body like it’s mine” are you Ronan Lynch cause it sounds like you have a hand fetish

who said the rising tension in The Archer was ok because the fact that the base never drops at any point hurts me and I think Taylor owes me money for emotional trauma

I get the narrative of starting with I Forgot That You Existed (and Cruel Summer too tbh) in order to close off the Rep chapter but like. was it really necessary? New Year’s Day was a better lead-in to Lover than IFTYE was a send-off to Rep

Lover is. such a sweet song. my heart is going to explode

Death By A Thousand Cuts is just I Wish You Would but earlier in the relationship change my mind

London Boy is silly but fun and I refuse to listen to any trash talk about it y’all are just spoil sports who can’t handle a bit of silliness every once in a while. it’s good for the soul

Soon You’ll Get Better made me cry in public the first time I listened to it and is genuinely the saddest song she’s ever written, period, so I just plain excluded it from my ranking. I didn’t have the heart to quantify it

False God was a little pointless, honestly? It was just Don’t Blame Me but less Intense and more grounded. it felt like it belonged on Rep

Daylight is. so good. I don’t even have the words

so to sum up: Lover is Taylor’s best (officially) pop album, but not because it’s a perfect album, just because the quality of her song writing has just soared in comparison to Rep and even 1989. Although Me! and YNTCD are awful, they still beat Look What You Made Me Do by a mile, and are pretty much on the same footing as the worst songs on 1989; meanwhile songs like Daylight, The Man, Cruel Summer, Lover, and especially Afterglow raise the quality of the songwriting so much higher than the best tracks on 1989 or Rep (New Year’s Day, Style, New Romantics, I Did Something Bad). It’s a little all over the place in execution - just restructuring the song order to be less whiplash-y would’ve been really great - but I stand by what I said: Taylor’s best pop album. If she keeps going in the direction the best songs on the album take her she might finally beat Speak Now and Red as her best albums, but she’s not quite there yet.

And now, my Official™ Lover tracklist ranking:

Afterglow

The Man

Daylight

Cruel Summer

Cornelia Street

Lover

The Archer

Paper Rings

I Think He Knows

Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince

London Boy

I Forgot That You Existed

False God

Death By A Thousand Cuts

You Need To Calm Down

It’s Nice To Have A Friend

Me!

Soon You’ll Get Better, again, was left off the list because it was too sad to rank

#those well-versed in sheisawonder Deep Lore might recall my url used to be books-tv-swiftie #people never seemed to get that swiftie meant taylor swift fan even though I never tried to hide it #anyway I love taylor she's fantastic #t swizzle #lover #rep #1989 #anonymous #ask #this turned out long but not as long as I expected

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a-toast-to-my-real-friends · 5 years

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LOVER RANKINGS

Alright, y’all may or may not know, I’m a Taylor Swift fan. Chad Willard posted his Rankings and Reasons for her newest album, Lover, and it inspired me to do the same. So, for the two of you who care about my personal Taylor opinions: here they are.

I haven’t sat with Lover long enough yet to really figure out where I am with it. Speak Now is my peak Taylor Swift album. I love the honesty and vulnerability on all those songs. My emotions oftentimes seem overwhelming, irrational, and illogical, and I feel like a crazy person because I tell myself, “Johnathan, you shouldn’t feel this way, so and so hasn’t done anything wrong, if anybody knew you were THIS upset about THIS situation, they’d all laugh and tell you to relax and calm down and that you were acting crazy.” And oh buddy, if I weren’t acting crazy before, best believe I’d act crazy after.

Speak Now makes me feel like it’s OK to be overwhelmed by my feelings, and Taylor does such a great job of saying exactly how I feel.

So I say all that to say, I’ll probably compare every Taylor album to Speak Now. Does Lover make me feel the same way Speak Now does? Yes and no.

I like Lover a lot. To be fair, I have listened more to the first half than the last, only because by the time I get to “Death By a Thousand Cuts” I want to go back and listen to “I Forgot that You Existed” again. I’m going to agree with what Chad said that Hannah said: “our enjoyment of her songs oftentimes stems from where our current relationship status is.” I’m so happy that Taylor is in such a healthy, great place emotionally, and that she’s so deeply in love – and the songs she’s made are SO GOOD; but I think I’m having a difficult time enjoying them the way I would if I were in a solid, committed, tried and true relationship. I listen to “I think he knows” and “Paper Rings” and “Lover” and instead of being all glowy and glittery I just feel – sad, I guess. Which maybe explains why I like Speak Now so much, because a lot of those are sad and Overwhelmingly Emotional.

Anyway, TO THE RANKINGS!

18: False God. I just think it’s sonically boring. It’s not fun to sing along to, and the lyrics don’t do enough for me to raise it any higher. I’m gonna give it a little bit longer, maybe it’ll eventually grow on me, but it’s dangerously close to becoming a skip.

17: Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince. I’m going to get dragged for this, but it’s got the same chord progression as “So it Goes” from REPUTATION, and tbh, that one is a skip for me too. Maybe I’m not deep enough or politically educated enough to see all the brilliance behind it, but I’ll give it points for the line “It’s you and me, that’s my whole world,” though.

16: It’s Nice To Have a Friend: Meh. This just seems like a list of unrelated things she’s done with Joe. Again, maybe I’m not deep enough to understand the brilliance, but what is she trying to say? And the song is so repetitive, it doesn’t keep my interest. All this snow, ya know?

15: The Man. It’s a fun song, good beats, fun to sing along to. But as a white male, the content is unrelatable to me. Which is the point, I suppose. The song isn’t meant for me. I appreciate it, for sure, and I think it’s important, but I just don’t feel the way she feels, so it’s just strange to sing along to it. I don’t wonder if I’d get there faster if I was a man, because I am a man.

14: Soon You’ll Get Better. OK, I LOVE this song, to be clear. It’s so sad, so relatable, so pretty to listen to. Hello Dixie Chicks, glad to have you back. I cried the first time I heard it, because I’ve followed along with her mom’s struggle with cancer, and I’ve two really close friends who have lost parents recently to sickness, and the thought of them feeling this way just breaks my heart. The only reason it’s so low on my list is because I like the other songs so much. Here’s where it starts to get difficult for me.

13: London Boy. This one is a lot of fun, it’s fun to sing along to, and I like the fast rappy bridge. Gotta work on getting those lyrics down. I also like the small details about the steps that we all take in relationships, specifically meeting all of his best mates and listening to his stories from uni.

12: ME!. Brendon Urie come through with those vocals. I think I’m a little biased towards this one, just because of the video, and the excitement that always surrounds a new Taylor era. It was the first thing we saw post REPUTATION era, snakes into butterflies, all the bright colors in the video, the peppy catchy chorus. I also strongly relate to “I know that I’m a handful baby…but I promise that nobody’s gonna love you like me.”

11: Daylight. Highly relatable content here. I always say Taylor knows exactly where I am and what I’m going through. Speak Now, I was living in New York, struggling in every aspect, and spent a lot of that era feeling pretty lonely and crazy, broken, losing friends and missing them but not knowing how to say any of that to them. Red was a carry-over. 1989 I had moved to Orlando, was living in the Wolf Den with a bunch of doods that I loved, everything felt neon and electric and exciting. Reputation I had been kicked out of my house and betrayed and felt very snake like, unforgiving, and hard-hearted. And February of this year, I moved into a house I had found, picked amazing people to move in with, and felt in control of my life again. And if you happen to follow Taylor culture, that’s the same month she posted the picture with the seven palm trees to her instagam, which kicked off the whole Lover era. I say all that to say, it was time for me to step into the daylight and let it all go. To be defined by the things that I love, not the things I hate, or haunt me in the middle of the night. I only want to see daylight and think of that that special person, you know?

10: Afterglow. Hello Speak Now. It’s all me, in my head. I’m the one that burned us down, but it’s not what I meant. I don’t want to do this to you, and I don’t want to lose this with you. It’s the perfect example, IMHO, of unconditional love. Here’s all my crazy. Here’s all my insecurities. They’re going to rear their ugly head, will you please love me even with those? Here’s what I need from you in those moments of temporary emotional insanity: Tell me that you're still mine, tell me that we'll be just fine, even when I lose my mind. Tell me that I'm all you want even when I break your heart. And when you do that, I’ll say “I’m sorry that I hurt you.” What a beautiful picture of loving and being loved in return.

9: You Need To Calm Down. I dunno how closely y’all follow my antics on Facebook, but when this video dropped, I casually posted it because I liked the message. As a believer in Christ, I feel the Christian community has done a HORRIFIC job of loving the LBGTQ community, and my simple post BLEW UP, proving my point. Sidebar, I also link the first listen of this song to being in Toy Story Land with Topher, Jessica, and Leslie, huddling around my phone under the giant Christmas lights for our second dive into New Taylor.

8: Paper Rings. Ok now it’s starting to get super hard narrowing it down. We’ve entered my True Jams™ section. The only reason this is at the bottom of my True Jams™ section is because I ain’t in love like this, so where I want to feel like glitter is exploding inside of me, I just feel like dried glue the glitter was meant to stick to. I love how deeply personal it is, I love the specificity, and the song is a BOP. Standout lyrics: “I’m with you even if it makes me blue,” and “I want your complications too, I want your dreary Mondays…”

7: I Think He Knows. A Bop. Fun. Sexy. Coy and flirtatious, while also owning her power. The rappy bits. I’ve never felt a longing for somebody’s body just by the way they hold a cold glass, but boy, does this song make me want to. What specifics, what detail. Also – “I want you, bless my soul.” HONESTLY. BLESS IT LORD.

6: The Archer. Giving me those Speak Now vibes. All my heroes die alone – I jumped from the train, I ride off alone. The LONGING. The wanting to be wanted. Knowing you’re good enough, knowing you have a lot to offer – but also knowing that it’s so much that maybe nobody can handle it all. I’ve got so much to offer, who could ever leave me? I’m too much to handle – god, who could put up with all of it?

5: Cornelia Street. My God can I relate to this. I’m ALWAYS looking for the ending, for someone I love to tell me they’re leaving because being with me is too much. I always prepare for the worst case scenario. And only recently have I started to believe that maybe the worst case won’t always happen? Maybe somebody will stay? But man, my natural impulse, my knee-jerk reaction, will always be to get as far away from any and all memories of the good times. I don’t want to be reminded of the beauty and joy and greatness because it will just keep reminding me that I don’t have it anymore, and there’s nothing I could do to get it back.

4: Death by a Thousand Cuts. Ahhh, yesss, Taylor. Speak to me of being left and of the heartbreak that brings. Also, make it a bop. I constantly find myself looking through the boarded up windows of past relationships, and I see the chandelier still flickering and see all the beautiful moments, though they may have lost the radiance they once had. Saying goodbye is the worst, endings are the worst, new beginnings mean something else ended stale. Also being given up like I was a bad drug – reminds me of a line from “Better Man”: “You pushed my love away like it was some kind of loaded gun.” Pure Taylor and I’m here for it.

3: I Forgot that You Existed. On repeat. Will dance and sing to this endlessly. Also always here for a good snarky twist of the kinfe.

2: Lover. Again, the longing. The vulnerability. Asking the questions that are scary to ask, that people would think you are insane for asking someone. Loving somebody so much that you put everything else aside, and all you want is to ask, “Can I go where you go?” Clingy. Needy. Co-dependent. As brave as it would be to ask a question like that, the fear of being seen as any of these things will keep most from doing it. Which probably hinders more than it helps, because if somebody loves us, truly loves us, we should be able to ask that without any fear of anyone or anything. But I’ll sing it and pretend.

1: Cruel Summer. SO. SINGABLE. I love the chorus. It gets stuck in my head. I love the lyrics. The frailty. A relationship that started as friends with benefits, her saying “it’s cool, no rules,” when secretly she’s falling in love and fears saying it, because she thinks it’d be the worst thing he’s ever heard. Yeah, OK, please stop reading my diary, girl. But the best part is, IMHO, he feels the same way about her, and also has feared speaking up, which is why he’s grinning like a devil, because he’s so happy because he feels the same way. 10/10 cant’ stop listening.

And there you have it, folks. Time may change my rankings, relationships may change my rankings, but from where I sit, 10 days in, these are my thoughts. If you made it this far, I’d love to know what you think of the album, and your rankings!!! As if I’ll ever pass up a chance to talk about/listen to someone talking about Taylor Swift. Sound off!

#TAYLOR SWIFT #lover #swiftes #swifty #taylurking

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rgr-pop · 5 years

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I need an ENTIRE afternoon wall of noise. 4/3 music library on shuffle until I hit a killdozer song.

the thermals - “god and country” reset - "double cross" nirvana - "polly" (1986-88 home recording) nirvana - "radio friendly unit shifter" (2013 mix) peterbuilt - "sateliteyes" the dickies - "got it at the store" apocalypse hoboken - "box of pills" fiona apple - "slow like honey" tex & the horseheads - "big boss man" everclear - "the drama king" anti-flag - "america got it right" neil young - "tonight's the night, pt. ii" everclear - "brown-eyed girl" noooooooooo oh my god no please millencolin - “israelites" listen you know that i'm p tolerant when it comes to this subject but why specifically did you boys do this. specifically you useless id - "note" never accuse me of pop punk nationalism again! that's three of global pop punk the selecter - "selling out your future" built to spill - "some things last a long time" holidays - "proof" let's wrestle - "bad mammaries" radhos - "one breath" ween - "boing" bracket - "g-vibe" local h - "'cha!' said the kitty" sublime - "40oz to freedom" failure - "saturday saviour" blink-182 - "don't leave me" (tmtts live take) why did they make this live album, they were so bad live shrimp boat - "melon song" interpol - "not even jail" the ataris - "angry nerd rock" 50 million - "superhero" skankin pickle - "violent love" the breeders - "put on a side" all - "honey peeps" the commandos (suicide commandos) - "weekend warrior" suicide machines - "friends are hard to find" the eclectics - "laura" good ska block! love this band pansy division - "jack u off" rocket from the tombs - "ain't it fun" dynamite boy - "devoted" young pioneers - "downtown tragedy" the breeders - "so sad about us" fenix tx - "jean claude trans am" fuck i love this song nofx - "bob" hickey - "happily ever after" bob dylan - "tangled up in blue" (bootlegs vol. 2) gas huffer - "king of hubcaps" tullycraft - "crush this town" atom and his package - "goalie" faith no more - "the real thing" carly rae jepsen - "tell me" bis - "listen up" one direction - "still the one" mtx - "she's no rocket scientist" eugene chadbourne - "roger miller medley" grouvie ghoulies - "carly simon" white town - "thursday at the blue note" gas huffer - "moon mission" rx bandits - "sleepy tyme" everclear - "rocket for the girl" failure - "kindred" blood on the saddle - "johnny's at the fair" the distillers - "red carpet and rebellion" cruiserweight - "dearest drew" stp - "plush" everclear - "wonderful" (live, from the closure ep) (don't hate it) new found glory - "sonny" everclear - "otis redding" (impure white evil demo) (BEST song) stp - "adhesive" incubus - "have you ever" cub - "tell me now" everclear - "short blonde hair" i simply do not hate it letters to cleo - "happy ever after" amazing transparent man - “the ocean is a fuck of a long way to swim” nerf herder - “(stand by your) manatee” kitty kitty - “ab tokeless” osker - “the mistakes you made” perfume genius - “hood” radhos - “shut up & deal” (welcome to the jungle take) osker - “the body” gas huffer - “the sin of sloth” the fall - “bombast” excuse 17 - “code red” mad season - “lifeless dead” unwritten law - “differences” hanson - “two tears” the eyeliners - “anywhere but here” moby grape - “lazy me” brian wilson - “wonderful” 88 fingers louie - “something i don’t know” sicko - “wisdom tooth weekend” the replacements - “love you till friday” suicide machines - “green world” midtown - “another boy” hickey - “cool kids attacked by flying monkeys” the roman invasion suite - “carnations” the beat - “tears of a clown” local h - “24 hour break up session” okay i’m awake i want to end this now toots & the maytals - “funky kingston” local h - “strict-9″ his name is alive - “her eyes were huge things” nirvana - “frances farmer will have her revenge on seattle” slapstick - “almost punk enough” urge overkill - “bionic revolution” janet jackson - “you want this” piebald - “long nights” small brown bike - “now i’m a shadow” the story so far - “left unsaid” crj - “more than a memory” tracy + the plastics - “my friends end parties” liz phair - “6′1″“ fastbacks - “555, pt. 1″ this mix is feminist now swindle - “one track” shockabilly - “burma shave” temple of the dog - “say hello to heaven” amazing transparent man - “shove” cool soul asylum cover from dekalb illinois :)) the vindictives “eating me alive” midwests only!! the judys - “radiation squirm” gulfs only!! frogpond - “sleep” flipp - “rock-n-roll star” throwing muses - “red shoes” everclear - “santa monica” throwing muses on summerland??? mekons - “atone & forsaken” holidays - “take me home country roads” this is a good tone to lead up to killdozer... true believers - “all mixed up again” prince - “adore” beulah - “queen of the populists” eveclear - “rocky mountain high” (99x live acoustic--I don’t have a date for this actually) of montreal - “dustin hoffman thinks about eating the soap” heatmiser - “stray” rickie lee jones - “woody and dutch on the slow train to peking” tar - “viaduct removal” common rider - “carry on” the frogs - “u bastards” mudhoney - “this gift” hammerbox - “outside” fuck my mom would have loved this song if it had gotten the airplay it deserved in 1993... hammerbox on summerland!!!! letters to cleo - “little rosa” kay hanley on summerland!! nine pound hammer “wrongside of the road” hanson - “with you in your dreams” (3cg demo) hamson on summerland!!! fastbacks - “555, pt. 1″ again... fastbacks on summerland!!! face to face - “sensible” soul asylum - “happy” soul asylum on summerland!!!! television - “see no evil” pinq - “careful not to mention the obvious” the dickies - “nights in white satin” tar - “mel’s” truly - “chlorine” babes in toyland - “deep song” hole - “berry” hellbender - “half driven” hammerhead - “new york? ...alone?” everclear - “malevolent” guzzard - “last” archers of loaf - “tatyana” hum - “stars” hum on summerland die kreuzen - “don’t say please” this is not fair joanna newsom - “sadie” down by law - “peace, love and understanding” nirvana - “aneurysm” (1990 demo) hovercraft - “endoradiosonde” modest mouse - “cowboy dan” rage against the machine - “born of a broken man” skatalites - “scandal ska” pylon - “driving school” the vindictives - “babysitter” jimmy eat world - “ten” the get up kids - “lowercase west thomas” oh we’re doing this now? hot rod circuit - “knees” fine triple fast action - “the rescue” FINE full disclosure i do skip emo diaries tracks at my discretion the amps - “bragging party” everclear - “am radio” this is not fair mxpx - “middlename” MXPX ON SUMMERLAND chokebore - “your let down” bob dylan - “you’re a big girl now” helmet - “primitive” pond - “filterless” blink-182 - “all the small things” local h - “ralph” tar - “over and out” pearl jam - “black” the gits - “sniveling little rat faced git” local h - “eddie vedder” >:) tar - “flow plow” i always misremember this as a subpop single so i’m like “i’m not amphetamine reptile biased?” but it was an a/r release, lol. brad wood produced it. lake michigan as hell unicorns - “jellybones” this song makes me sad ever since i didn’t get to adopt the jellybones cat oblivion - “clark” desmond dekker - “jeserene” veruca salt - “one last time” veruca salt on summerland!!!! dead moon - “dead moon night” extremely dead moon on summerland fishbone - “i like to hide behind my glasses” dead moon - “on my own” paw - “sleeping bag” tar - “goethe” doc dart - “casket with flowers” smashing pumpkins - “zero” i don’t want billy corgan on summerland and i am sorry for that kicking giant - “&” kicking giant on summerland lmao shockabilly - “pile up all architecture” ween - “sorry charlie” sublime - “april 29, 1992 (miami)” heatmiser - “blackout” the clash - “pressure drop” hellbender - “pissant’s retrospective” the queers - “i won’t be” the vindictives - “circles” the beat farmers - “selfish heart” screaming trees - “end of the universe” 7 year bitch - “second hand” bourgeois filth - “above” nirvana - “scoff” the breeders - “cannonball” saturday looks good to me - “save my life” cara beth satalino - “good ones” communique - “dagger version” soul asylum - “sometime to return” sublime - “jailhouse” tullycraft - “twee” nuns - “wild” beyonce - “countdown” the replacements - “sixteen blue” living colour - “what’s your favorite color” britney - “why should i be sad” mdc - “church and state” alice in chains - “junkhead” rage against the machine - “mic check” everclear - “nervous and weird” soundgarden - “fresh tendrils” helmet - “army of me” the gits - “it all dies anyway” pansy division - “smells like queer spirit” mtx - “i’d do anything for you” 5 year sentence - “just a punk” pennywise - “nothing” mudhoney - “thirteenth floor opening” yesterday’s kids - “eighteen” mxpx - “punk rawk show” small brown bike - “zerosum” incubus - “trouble in 421″ hanson - “speechless” incubus - “circles” dead moon - “my time has come” (!!!!) first of all is this killdozer blink-182 - “here’s your letter” everclear - “electra made me blind” (nervous & weird take) saves the day - “through being cool” groovie ghoulies - “don’t go out into the rain (you’re gonna melt)” babes in toyland - “never” husker du - “target” guzzard - “biro” fairweather - “next day flight” mcr - “house of wolves” broadcast - “until then” liz phair - “never said” the dicks - “rich daddy” quasi - “the iron worm” mustard plug - “not again” janitor joe - “boyfriend” snapcase - “new academy” neil young - “someday” blindsided - “spaceman” placebo - “without you i’m nothing” the creeps - “lakeside cabin” solomon grundy - “time is not your own” the clash - “the card cheat” silversun pickups - “common reactor” lagwagon - “leave the light on” denali - “where i landed” system of a down - “highway song” sprinkler - “personality doll” the vindictives - “structure and function” unplugged” the queers - “ursula finally has tits” we’re entering no repeats territory buffalo springfield - “expecting to fly” hit squad - “pictures of matchstick men” cows - “almost a god” hop along - “young and happy” pixies - “i’ve been tired” the fall - “spoilt victorian child” camper van chadbourne - “knock on the door” queens of the stone age - “tension head” choking victim - “war story” cool that we have gotten to drop by the greatest song ever recorded :) guttermount - “happy loving couples” audio karate - “nintendo 89″ tad - “pork chop” the kelley deal 6000 - “where did the home team go” colorfinger - “hateful” :} man or astroman - “evil plans of planet spectra” pere ubu - “arabian nights” accepting repeats for new found glory - “my friends over you” cool moving on american steel - “optimist” tom petty & the heartbreakers - “even the losers” meat puppets - “another moon” black cat music - “wine in a box” wallside - “ready” crucifucks - “pig in a blanket” the bananas - “my charmed life”

KILLDOZER - “EARL SCHEIB,” UNCOMPROMISING WAR ON ART UNDER THE DICTATORSHIP OF THE PROLETARIAT, 1994. KILLDOZER ON SUMMERLAND

#music

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xswestallen · 6 years

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The Rest of Forever

WestAllen fanfiction

Rated G

Summary: On the eve of their 1st wedding anniversary, Barry finds out how much having their ruined bothered Iris. So, he arranges a surprise vow renewal with their family and friends, and no interruptions.

A/N: This fic was requested by @angelfireeast on tumblr, who donated to my Girls Inc fundraiser. I’m fundraising for Girls Inc. as part of the #IStandWithCandicePatton campaign. Please support the campaign.

Donate here: https://give.girlsinc.org/fundraiser/1493317

A clear night sky hovered over Central City on a chilly November night. Christmas garlands were already adorning the lamp posts that lit the road to a tall, brick apartment building. Most of its windows were dark, as their residents were already asleep. But, the window to the loft on the top floor still glowed with candlelight.

It’s occupance, Barry Allen and Iris West-Allen, were still awake, awaiting the clock to strike midnight, so they could officially wish each other a happy 1st wedding anniversary. They sat on the window seat in their living room, with candles providing just enough light for them to look through their wedding photo album.

The album was only half filled. Due to fascists crashing the wedding and attempting to kill everyone in attendance, the wedding photographer never finished taking pictures.

Iris stretched her legs over Barry’s lap and rested her head on his shoulder. He flipped to the next page in the album, with photos of the bridal party. In one, they held up balloons of the numbers 11 and 2017, symbolizing the month and year of the wedding date.

“I can’t believe it’s been a whole year already.” Iris sighed. “It feels like everything has been moving so fast.”

“So much has happened in one year.” Barry pointed out.

“True. I mean, our daughter who hasn’t been born yet is already full grown.”

Barry snickered. “It’s like what everyone says about kids growing up in the blink of an eye.”

“It feels like just a few months ago I wasn’t pregnant and had no idea she’d exist.”

“That’s because it was.” Barry laughed.

Iris turned to the next page in the album, which was entirely taken up by a portrait of Barry and Iris embracing under the arch of red and yellow flowers they were supposed to be married under. They’d opted to do a first look and take some pictures before the ceremony, after Barry insisted seeing Iris walk down the aisle would already be emotional enough without it being the first time he saw her in her dress.

The picture showed a happy couple on what looked like a fairytale wedding day. Their smiles were bright, their eyes eager. The possibility of the ceremony ending in gunfire rather than wedded bliss never having crossed their minds.

Iris smiled at first, but the more she looked at the photo, the more it bothered her. The battle in the church had destroyed all the decorations, so Iris wasn’t able to keep any of the flowers and press them in remembrance of the day like she’d wanted to. The discussion of who the mysterious archer and flying woman were were the topic of conversation afterwards, when Iris had been excited to tell her friends and family about Barry’s reaction when he first saw her in her gown.

On the next page were family pictures. One of Joe and Cecile, one of Barry and Wally, one of Iris and Joe. But, none of all of them together. They didn’t have time to take that one before the ceremony, so they’d planned on doing it afterwards. They never got the chance.

Iris tried to think if they’d ever taken a picture of all of them together, and realized they hadn’t. With Wally exploring the world, and her father and Cecile now preoccupied with baby Jenna, it seemed difficult to imagine how they’d schedule a time when they would all be free to take a nice family picture. The wedding was their chance, and it was gone.

Barry sensed Iris’ melancholy. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Iris lied. She didn’t want to tell him how upset she’d been about their disaster of a wedding. It felt selfish, to complain about superficial things like flowers or photographs when all of them had escaped with their lives.

“Iris,” Barry beseeched.

She let her guard down and admitted the only secret she’d ever kept from her husband. “Thinking about our wedding makes me sad.”

Barry looked empathetic. “It makes me sad too. We spent so much time planning it and practically our entire lives dreaming about it, and we came so close, but we never got to actually have the wedding.”

Iris relaxed under comfort of Barry’s understanding. He rubbed her shoulder and kissed the top of her head.

“I wish I could have given you everything you wanted.” Barry whispered.

Her heart breaking at seeing Barry guilt stricken, Iris assured him, “You did, baby. All I really wanted is to be your wife.”

“I mean the wedding day you wanted.” Barry said with a sad grimace.

He turned to the last page in the wedding album that had a photo. It was a stunning black and white picture of Iris in her dress.

Iris smiled, remembering how beautiful she felt in that dress.

“You looked like a princess.” Barry told her.

“You make me feel like one.” Iris said. She jokingly added, “And so does a $6,000 Monique Lullihier.”

Barry laughed. “Worth every penny.”

Iris gave him a peck on the lips. She nuzzled her nose against his cheek, smiling against his skin. She was so close to his face that all of his freckles blurred together.

“It wasn’t the kind of dress I thought you would pick.” Barry said. “Didn’t you say that you hated big, poofy princess dresses?”

“I did, and I use to.” Iris admitted. “But, I liked that one. It was elegant and romantic. Plus, the bigger the skirt, the more room to move my legs. That’s very important for dancing.”

“I was so nervous about our first dance.”

Iris laughed. She remembered how Barry was always awkward at school dances. He had the irrational fear that he’d step on the girl’s foot, despite the fact that he was a good dancer.

“I would have been even more nervous if I knew you’d bring up that ballet from when we were nine.” Barry continued. “That would have hyped up my dance moves way too much. I would never be able to live to expectations.”

Iris laughed. “You’re good on your feet.”

Barry rolled his eyes.

“I was hoping we’d never stop dancing all night. You and me, twirling around the ballroom floor, holding each other, and just…..” Iris breathed. “Just taking each other in.”

Barry and Iris looked into each other’s eyes. It was intimate. Until, Iris’ gaze fell to the ground as she lamented, “We never even got one dance.”

“We could have another wedding.” Barry offered. “A redo.”

“No.” Iris shook her head. “Not anytime soon, at least. With helping Nora, you going back to work at CCPD, and me trying to get the Central City Citizen started, there just isn’t time.”

Tears swam in her eyes. Iris hid her face in Barry’s neck so he would see them. But, the wetness gave her away.

“Hey,” Barry smoothed his hand up and down Iris’ back. “How about tomorrow, you put on your dress and I’ll put on my tux, and we’ll have our first dance right here in the living room.”

Iris’ breathed hitched. “Really?”

“Mmm hmm.” Barry hummed. “We’ll dance all night. It might be a year late, but it will be the night you wanted.”

“That sounds perfect.”

The couple sealed the deal with a kiss. When their lips parted, Iris saw the clock out of the corner of her eye, reading, 12:00.

“Happy anniversary.” She whispered.

“Happy anniversary.” Barry repeated, leaning in for another kiss.

The sun had just set on Central City. Strings of multicolor Christmas lights hung over the streets, were bustling with people on their way home. Iris was one of those people. It had been a busy day. She knew when she decided to start her own newspaper that it would be no easy endeavor, but she’d still underestimated the amount of work. Linda Park, who’d also left CCPN, was helping Iris with the startup and providing a much needed companion in what could have been a lonely office.

On the elevator ride up to her loft, Iris’ mind was running numbers of business expenditures, considering applicants for journalist positions, and fretting over the public’s reaction to their first publication in the new year. She’d forgotten the significance of the day’s date in her hectic workday. That’s why, when she entered her home and saw her husband standing before her in a suit and tie, she was surprised.

“Welcome home.” He greeted her. “And happy anniversary.”

Not only was Barry dressed up, he’d moved the furniture out of the living room so that the space was an empty dance floor. Soft, romantic music was playing on the radio.

“Barry!” Iris gasped. She ran up to him and threw her arms around him.

“We’re not newlyweds anymore.” Barry mumbled into Iris’ hair as they hugged.

“I guess we’re not.”

“Too bad. I liked being newlyweds.”

Iris smiled up at her husband. She moved to kiss his cheek, but Barry turned his head to capture her lips with his. Iris felt happy enough to float away into the night sky. They were both breathless when the kiss ended.

“You want to go put on your wedding dress?” Barry asked.

Iris giggled. “I think I’m even more excited to put it on tonight then I was a year ago.”

She skipped up the stairs to their bedroom. In the back of her closet, kept in pristine condition in a garment bag, was her wedding dress. She took it out and laid it on the bed, admiring its beauty. In the past year, she’d almost forgotten how pretty it is. Photographs didn’t do it justice. The delicate lace, light blush undertones in the tulle, and flowing train were magnificent.

Iris put on the dress with shaking hands. She slipped on the pearl necklace she’d inherited from her grandmother, a treasured heirloom she only took out of the jewelry box on special occasions. The last time it was worn was last year on this day.

Iris tried to walk down the steps into the living room slowly and gracefully, like a bride walking down the aisle. But, the thought of Barry waiting for her at the bottom was too exciting. She rushed down, but came to an abrupt stop when she saw that her loft was full of people.

Joe, Cecile, Wally, baby Jenna, Cisco, Caitlin, Harry, Linda, Julian, and Nora were all dressed in formal attire and standing in a two lines, facing Iris with smiles. There was an arch of red and yellow flowers behind them, nearly identical to the one from her and Barry’s wedding.

“What’s going on?” Iris asked.

Barry emerged from behind the group. “I don’t want to stop being newlyweds.” He announced. “So,” He got down on one knee.

The sight caused Iris to burst into tears of joy. Barry took her hand.

“Iris Ann West-Allen, will you marry me again?”

Iris was too elated to speak. She nodded and collapsed into Barry’s arms where he knelt. Their friends and family cheered.

“How did all of you get here?” Iris asked.

“I ran them here while you were changing.” Barry explained. “They wanted to be part of it too.”

“We never miss a dinner with West family cooking.” Cisco chimed in, earning him an elbow to the rib from Caitlin.

“Now I get to crash your wedding twice.” Nora said. “And this time I don’t have to steal a waiter’s outfit.”

Iris looked around the room at all the people she was closest to. Her heart swelled.

“All of you came here for us?” She squeaked, overcome with emotion.

“Of course.” Cecile said. “There is nowhere we’d rather be.”

“You’re wedding is going to be an annual tradition.” Cisco told her.

“Even you, Wally? You came all the way from….” Iris racked her brain trying to remember. “Where was it you were last? Thailand?”

“The Maldives, actually.” Wally answered. “That giant starfish I told you guys about was causing trouble again.”

“And you, Julian, you came from London?”

Julian smirked. “Well, after being snubbed last year,”

Barry pulled a face. Everyone else laughed.

Caitlin handed Iris a bouquet of flowers. “It meant a lot to me to be your maid of honor last year. But, this year I think someone else deserves it.” She looked at Nora.

“And you have a flower girl!” Wally said, gesturing to Jenna, who was playfully tossing flower petals into the air.

“It’s perfect.” Iris cried.

A whoosh of wind and Barry was on the other side of the room, under the floral arch.

Joe walked up to Iris and took her arm. “I promise I’m not going to cry this time.”

“Wait!” Cecile shouted. “We needed someone to sing their song.”

“Want me to go get Kara off Earth-38?” Cisco offered.

Nora spoke up. “Um, actually, you don’t have to.” She looked at her mother with pride. “I know the words.”

Barry and Iris both beamed. Nora went over to the radio and switched the music to the instrumental recording Barry made of “Running Home to You”.

“Can’t say how the days will unfold

Can’t change what the future may hold”

Nora’s voice was a sweet soprano. Joe and Iris slowly walked across the living room as she sang. Jenna threw a fistful of flower petals at them. Iris felt like she was in a dream.

“Every hour

Every minute”

Nora finished singing as Barry and Iris reunited under the arch. They joined hands. Joe, who’d broken his promise, wiped away the tears streaming down his face as he walked back to Cecile.

Harry stepped up to the altar and proceeded to officiate.

“We have all known Barry and Iris for a long time. But, not as long as Barry and Iris have known each other, and known they love each other. Time can be a strange and confusing thing. A person from 30 years in the future might end up at her parents wedding, twice. A tidal wave that might have landed everyone here in watery graves might be stopped by locking up a vengeful brother. But, no matter what weird things happen in this timeline, or any other, there is at least one constant. That is Barry and Iris. No matter what day, month, or year, or timeline, or Earth you go to, if there’s a Barry, he loves an Iris. If there’s an Iris, she loves a Barry. No matter what, they always find each other.”

The speech made Iris cry harder. She shook where she stood, but Barry rubbed his thumbs over her hands to calm her.

“Now,” Harry transitioned. “If you two would like to make any of your own vows, you may do so.”

Barry raised his eyebrows, silently asking if Iris wanted to go first. She did.

“Barry, this first year of our marriage has been one of the hardest years of our lives. We were put in situations I never thought would happen, even in my nightmares.” Iris gulped as she prepared to say the next part of her impromptu vows. “I remember the first time I visited you in Iron Heights. I was a mess. Walking down the dreary grey hallways and sitting on one side of a bulletproof window in the cold prison made me feel so alone and so scared. But then, you came to the window. And you were smiling this big, happy, dorky smile. One look at that smile and I felt safe again, strong again. Whenever I’m hurting, you have a way of making things alright. In my saddest moments, you bring me joy. Even though I’ve been kidnapped by evil supervillains, those are the times I needed saving the most. That’s why you’re my hero, Barry.”

Everyone in the room was tearing up. Harry was sobbing and Cisco was passing him tissues. Nora was silently crying into the skirt of her dress.

“When you wrote a song for me, you called me your light in the dark. But, Barry, you are my light in the dark.” Iris finished.

Harry, who was a sobbing emotional wreck, just waved his hand to indicate it was Barry’s turn.

He took a deep breath before starting.

“Iris, I have been in awe of you since the day I met you. But, as amazing as I’ve always known you are, you somehow amazed me even more this past year. Your strength, determination, love, compassion, leadership, devotion, bravery, and intelligence are what inspires me. From leading the team to starting your own paper, you keep finding ways to help people with your talents. You’re a superhero without any powers. I’ve told you a million times how I couldn’t be The Flash without you. But, what I don’t think I’ve ever told you is that I couldn’t be Barry Allen without you. You are a part of me, the best part. Encouraging me, guiding me, teaching me, healing me, and making me the best version of myself. I’ve been able to do a lot of good things. Solving crimes as a CSI, saving people as The Flash, but there is nothing I’ve ever done that makes me more proud than being your best friend and now your husband.”

Barry brushed a tear of his bride’s cheek. He cupped her face as he made the rest of his vows.

“Despite all the chaos of the past year, its been the best year of my life. That’s because we started our forever as husband and wife. And I can’t wait for the rest of forever.”

Through his tears, Harry choked, “I now pronounce you, husband and wife one year later. You may kiss the bride.”

Iris practically leaped into Barry’s arms and kissed him. The attendees cheered.

Nora threw her hands up and yelled “Wooo!”

Cisco and Joe clapped. Cecile guided Jenna’s hand to the basket of flower petals and showered them over Barry and Iris.

“Now, let’s eat some cake!” Wally cheered.

“Yes!” Cisco enthusiastically agreed.

“Oh, we don’t have any-” Iris said, but stopped when she Linda walk out of the kitchen carrying a wedding cake. It had white frosting and real flowers decorating its three teris.

“Sorry I couldn’t do seven tiers on such short notice.” Linda apologized. “But, it is raspberry chocolate, just like you wanted.”

Iris’ mouth was watering just looking at the cake.

Linda put it on the table and held out the knife to Barry and Iris. “The bride and groom cut the first piece.”

Barry and Iris each held onto the knife’s handle and cut into the cake.

“Do we make a wish, like when you cut into your birthday cake?” Iris asked Barry.

“It doesn’t matter.” He shrugged. “I already have everything I’d wish for.”

“Awwwwww!” Iris swooned. She grab a handful of cake shoved it in Barry’s face, covering him in frosting. “You’re too sweet.”

Barry retaliated by grabbing some more cake and shoving it in Iris’ face. Jenna hoisted herself out of her high chair and onto the table, crawled over to the took, took a handful, and shoved it into her own face. Everyone laughed hysterically.

Caitlin popped a bottle of champagne and passed out flutes.

Barry raised his glass and made toast, “To the rest of forever.”

“To the rest of forever.” Iris repeated, clinking her glass on his.

“To the rest of forever.” Their guests said in unison.

The celebration lasted hours. Cisco DJed, playing all of Barry and Iris’ favorite songs (and a few oldies that Joe requested). Everyone made speeches that caused Barry and Iris varying degrees of embarrassment. Julian took enough photos to fill two wedding albums.

Iris’ favorite part was dancing with Barry. They swayed to every slow song and grooved to every pop song. One by one, the guests filed out. Eventually, leaving Barry and Iris alone on their dance floor.

“Iris,” Barry said. “It’s past midnight.”

“I don’t care.” Iris sighed sleepily. “I could keep dancing with you for the rest of forever.”

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thevampslyssa-blog · 6 years

Text

Stay-C14

{December 26th, 2009 Jonas Residence Wyckoff, NJ Nick- 17|Mel-15}

Everything was okay now between the two teens, they seemed more in love now, then they had ever been. That night, while Melissa slept softly in Nick's bed beside him. He was sitting against the headboard, and a pen in hand as he was trying to clear his head.

"It's hard to believe Where we are now Your hand in mine, babe Feels right somehow The night is so still So don't make a sound Cause it's almost perfect So, promise you'll never look down."

He scribbled the lyrics down, and every once in a while peeked at his girlfriend, making sure she was okay, and still asleep.

It amazed him how much he loved the girl beside him, it amazed him that he has known her practically their whole lives.

"We've had our past (I know) Let's leave that behind, Cause none of it lasts, All that we have is tonight.

Cause you're not the only one, Who's ever felt this way. Don't let the world cave in, Just tell me that you'll stay

Now that the pain is done, There's no need to be afraid. We don't have time to waste, Just tell me that you'll stay."

Nick finished the song that night, already knowing what type of direction he wanted to take the song. Even if he just finished writing it, it already meant the world to him... kinda like Melissa. ———- {January 7th, 2010 Wyckoff, NJ Nick-17|Mel-15}

It had been hard without Nick, she had seen him off on New Year's Day as he flew to Dallas with Uncle Kevin. She knew in her heart that this time apart would either put a strain on their relationship... or make them stronger.

She was sitting in her room after she had gotten home from school, bored out of her mind. She knew that she wouldn't be able to see Nick until Friday, which was killing her.

DING

Melissa's head shot up, hearing her laptop go off, she must've gotten an email.

"From: Joe To: Melissa

Hey Popstar, So Nick sent me the audio of a song he recorded last night... just thought you might want to hear it. Let me know what you think.

{the link is here}

Love you, Your Superstar"

She wasn't expecting an email like that whatsoever, when did Nick find time to write a new song other than the one he wrote after their fight?!

She really didn't know what to expect from the audio she was about to listen to, Nick was always full of surprises. Once she found her headphones, she grabbed her laptop and laid back against her bed, as the song began, she gasped as it definitely was a different sound coming from the middle Jonas.

Nick was very secretive when it came to new music, he hadn't let Melissa hear any of the songs from the Administration album, well... except for Who I Am.

She listened to the song about 3 times before she really sat there and listened to the lyrics, the verse after the first chorus made her blush beyond belief.

"Beautiful, one of a kind, You're something special baby. And don't even realize, That you're my heart's desire.

All that I needed and more, I know you're scared, But I promise, babe, I'm not who I was before."

She gasped, knowing that he must've definitely written this after their fight before Christmas. She was at a loss for words totally, she didn't know really what to think.

She jumped slightly as she heard her phone going off, and Superstar🌠 was on her screen.

"Yes, Joseph?" she asked, a big grin on her face as she answered the phone.

"So, what did ya think?" Joe questioned, she heard him driving and she took in a deep breath.

"I honestly don't know... it's an amazing song, don't get me wrong. Anything he makes, is beautiful and perfect. But when do you think he wrote it?" she mumbled, looking back at the email opened on her screen.

"I think he wrote it a few days after Christmas, it's the only time that makes sense." he analyzed the situation. "But are you ready to go to NY with me tonight? He's on his way now."

She had totally forgotten about the fact that she was skipping the last two days of the school for the week and a few days the next week to go with Joe to be on Nick's tour... Nick had no idea she was coming.

"Shit... I forgot. When are you coming?" she asked, getting up to get her duffel bag out of the closet and began to pack as quickly as she could.

"I'm on my way now." he said softly, chuckling.

"Shit, shit, shit. Okay I'm gonna go let my mom know you're almost here, I'm gotta shower." she giggled, and stuffed the last bit of clothes in her bag, and grabbed the necessities she needed. "See you soon Superstar." she smiled.

An hour went by, and they were on the road, it wasn't that long of drive, just about an hour if they were lucky.

They soon were pulling up in the parking garage of the hotel, and Joe grinned over at his honorary little sister, "ready to surprise the shit outta him?"

Her eyes went wide, "he doesn't know I'm here?" she asked, looking down at her phone as it lit up, he had been texting her nonstop saying how much he loved her, and missed and all that cute shit.

"No idea." Joe laughed, and got out of the car, grabbing the young girl's duffel bag. "He just thinks Kev and I are coming to come perform at one of the shows."

She pushed the older boy gently, "Joseph!" she exclaimed as they made their way to the elevator. Melissa's phone went off again, Nick's name brightening the screen. "Shit, he's calling me." she groaned, and stuffed the silent phone back in her pocket.

They soon were standing in front of Nick's door, and Joe went in first, "Hey bro, so I have a surprise for ya." Joe smirked, and as Nick looked up, he seen his girlfriend walk through the door.

"H-Hey babe." Melissa waved at him, and slowly walked in, setting her things to the side and hurried over to him. "I-I missed you." she whispered as soon as she was in his arms.

"I'm so happy you're here... so is this why you've been ignoring me since you got home from school?" he exclaimed, holding her on his lap tightly.

Melissa giggled, her hands resting on his curls, playing with a few stray pieces. "yup... I didn't know we were surprising you though.." she chewed on her lip as she leaned back to look in his eyes.

"I hate being apart from you... it feels like my heart isn't whole when I'm not with you." she mumbled, as Joe left the room, greeting his older brother and his wife.

"I feel the same way Angel, you make me who I am. You are the reason I'm even here today." he told her sincerely, his calloused hands running up and down her back under the hoodie she was wearing.

They sat there after that silent for a little while, the two teens just loving one another's company before Nick has to go get ready for the show.

"Nicky...?" she whispered, her head now resting against his chest.

"Yes, princess?" he asked, peeking down at her, and pressed a soft, but loving kiss against her forehead.

"I will always stay." she whispered, smiling up at him, their brown eyes meeting each other's, the love between them radiating even more.

"Good, cause I can't live without you." he replied, his hand moving her head up to press his heart shaped lips against hers.

#Nick jonas fanfiction #nick jonas #nick jonas imagine #jonas brothers #jonas brothers fanfiction

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