#i really like taylor but this is just so hypocritical of her to call herself a feminist and not talk about the crisis of Palestinian women

[lovemeanslife]

see i genuinely love taylor swift's works but ohmygod how can you be an advocate of feminism and yet you dont talk about the struggles of the Palestine crisis and the assault of Palestinian and Arab women?

Your feminism has to be too whitewashed to be literally so oblivious to the sufferings of people after having such a HUGE fanbase and still not uttering a single word about the ongoing genocide.

and people who say that she has a choice to not speak about it and that i am no one to decide what a global popstar does, that's exactly where privilege plays a role.

we have the PRIVILEGE to NOT speak. we have the CHOICE to NOT speak. Palestinians don't even have that choice. They HAVE to resist to exist. and that is why it is necessary for the people who have the privilege of having a choice, to choose to speak up for the ones who don't have the same privilege.

and it's not just her, but several other people who have the privilege to speak up and create awareness. like please. use your privilege wisely at least.

[allamericansbitch]

How do you reason if taylor doesnt speak up about palestine in the near future? Because there’s an air of finality in her silence about this cause. Especially now that we know an israeli supporter (capital one) sponsored her US leg of tour, even her eras tour seems dirty. She is so quick to release new versions of ttpd (31 versions as of now), after billie indirectly called her out.

(Sidebar— yes billie may be a hypocrite to talk about wasteful variants of albums to be produced one after another to supplement chart topping. BUT she wasn’t wrong and not only was taylor in a position to set an example of reducing waste in music industry because of her titan status, she used that position to punch down further on billie’s release week, despite it not affecting ttpd’s #1 rank. Talk about stepping on her gown and taking her crown. Olivia creating a distance from taylor since the royalties incident has left a bad taste in my mouth.)

Also, its not helpful that she dated and defended a racist last year, wrote an album about him.

small tangent before i get to the main point: i've said this before billie isn't a hypocrite for the vinyl thing. i think y'all really need to start looking into the actual articles instead of just reading headlines or hearing out-of-context quotes. the entire article with billie was about sustainability and how she works hard to make her variants out of 100% recycled material so they're less wasteful. she wasn't saying she was against all vinyl variants in general, she was saying she's against people who make a bunch of variants and not put the effort in to make sure it's not wasteful like she does. she was just asking people to be more sustainable with their variants.

now to the main point: i've already made peace a long time ago that she's not a good person. when she doubled down on dating a vocal bigot who says slurs for fun and gets off to black women getting brutalized and tried to make it look empowering for her, releasing a song about anyone who doesn't like bigotry as 'vipers dressed in empath's clothing', and just becoming the embodiment of true white feminism and being a huge hypocrite, fully abandoning her activism and regressing to the generic apolitical 'remember to register to vote' posts that she made before she promised to do more, all that plus she's also been openly ableist with parts of ttpd in terms of using problematic displays of mental hospitals/breakdowns and using them as an 'aesthetic', mocking/invalidating other peoples addiction/depression but then asking for empathy with her own mental issues, working with and befriending multiple abusers, zionists, etc all while remaining silent on a genocide that is dependent on gaining traction and attention so people can raise money to help (also releasing the eras tour movie in Israel actively during the genocide, then later selling it to disney+ which is on the boycott list) but making sure she's still the biggest star in the world, maintaining her platform but never using it for anything important or good, asking for more money for herself and fully showing that charts are more important to her than injustice or helping fellow humans, and showing all the causes she once said she cared about don't really matter to her.

i've fully accepted that she's not gonna talk about the genocide she can easily help. and if by a shocking turn of events she does, we'll all know it's because she was losing fans not because she actually cares (which i know isn't the point, it's not about her, and her speaking up will help the cause so much so she still should; but i'm speaking in terms of how it reflects on her and her intentions). none of this should be surprising, i've seen a lot of people say this might be their last straw with her and that's completely valid, but my last straw was used up about a year ago. none of her new behavior is causing frustration to me because i was already frustrated to begin with. i don't need to reason with it because i did a long time ago.

[jalwyn21]

In her documentary, Taylor talks about how she's always had a need to be seen as "good" and how she's been raised to be fulfilled by other people's approval. The whole documentary is framed in a way to portray her as this young woman who is just always trying to make everyone happy and how she's done with that and she's going to do what she wants. Basically, it focuses on her reputation era. But looking back, the person she portrayed herself as in the documentary and the person we're seeing now feel like completely different people. I don't feel comfortable making a diagnosis because I don't know her personally and I'm not qualified anyway but I do know enough about the subject to say she gives off some very narcissistic vibes with how she constantly and consistently victimizes herself and always turns around the blame to everyone but herself while also trying to make herself come off as this empowered girl boss. That's always bothered me about many celeb documentaries. Even Selena Gomez's one. It's just always framed in a way to make the celeb in question the constant victim and make anyone who ever criticized them for anything feel guilty.

But for Taylor, anytime she has had criticism for anything, she has always had more than 2x the amount of people defending her. And there is so much self-congratulation literally as she's talking about what a victim she's been. Like how can people justify the contradictions of her entire persona. And it really angers me on a personal level that Taylor gets to maintain this flawless goddess image where she claims the music industry has done her dirty while getting every award and the same people that love to talk about how corrupt the music industry is (which it totally is) will celebrate and act like Taylor deserves an award for winning an award. I'm just legitimately angry and sick to my stomach watching this phenomenon and seeing even otherwise reasonable people lose their minds and become hypocrites over her. Her fans are literally out there body shaming her ex and making the exact comments about him as she has always said hurt her.

I also hate this narrative that she built about being an "unhinged woman" where she is calling herself a nice girl who is "fucked in the head" because she is literally fetishizing mental illness. She'll complain about being accused of victimizing herself while victimizing herself and encouraging her fans to do the same. She literally talks about playing narcissists like a violin which is not something you can do. She's literally parroting something a narcissist would say to hype themselves up. The parts where she's talking about Joe make me so angry now because she's done such a 180 since then. And the fact that she had the nerve to show Harry and Tom in the scenes where she's talking about her love life and there's a whole scene of her recording and performing Getaway Car. Just seeing her face now is disturbing to me yet I can't look away either

[bisluthq]

Re Swifties being a menace, this is why I really vibe with y'alI bisluts lol. Idk why Swifties gotta take the fun out of everything by talking about engagement/marriage/bebés when we're 4 months in like😭 it's very invasive and Taylor herself has made it clear that she HATES that type of discourse. Tree went off on DeuxMoi in a manner that we'd only seen twice before (Kimye snakegate shit and masters fiasco) and Swifties STILL can't take the fucking hint?! She really really hates having that kind of stuff discussed on main and the more "fans" do it, the more the media picks up on it and then you see "fans" complaining about the media being invasive but like that's the pot calling the kettle black ☠️ and look, I'm not gonna be a hypocrite bc I too am a nosy bitch and I'm obviously gonna make conclusions from the info available right like it's evident that Taylor and Travis are not messing around and have been very ~intentional with laying the groundwork for the rs and everything but idk keep that discourse in the groupchats or blogs like this one then?? Don't tweet about it or make TikToks or shit on main bc then it blows up like😭 it's very simple logic idk. And also the ppl saying they're getting engaged and married this spring clearly don't know a thing about Taylor, no matter how smitten she is she wouldn't rush onto something that to her is clearly Very Serious shit (and should be for everyone tbh like that's a fucking legal binding of your life idk). Again obviously those milestones are in both of their minds and have probably even been discussed at this point to make sure they're on the same page and shit but like as fans let's just allow them to go at their pace?? Every stage is fun and that seems to be their mentality right, they're very into each other and know they're very compatible but they imo also seem committed to making the best out of every moment and not rush things. Like you said, they're in the honeymoon stage and clearly having a great time in it and Taylor is loving being Girlfriend™ right now so like let's not force other denominations onto her?? Anyways short version is Swifties should fucking listen to Lavender Haze and actually understand and interiorize its meaning (unfortunately the bulk of them seem to be illiterate and therefore unable to do that though)

100% queen 👸🏻

[zot3-flopped]

Letdown's anons have really turned against her. I just went on there and 70% of her asks are hostile and calling her out for allowing unlimited hate against Olivia but protecting Taylor.

In my opinion - good!! She can't foster an environment of hating everything and everyone surrounding Harry including his family and girlfriends and then be a hypocrite and tell people not to hate on Taylor. She fed into this, so she should deal with it. She only defends Taylor because she is a poc like herself and thinks she has a chance to date him now too.

If his next girlfriend is white it'll be business as usual on there.

[jewishbarbies]

re: the actors respecting Taylor, I would not be surprised at all if she's put systems in place that make praising her an intiation to make one's career in the entertainment industry. like when Olivia Rodrigo debuted most articles were more about how she loved Taylor and just gushing over her rather than Olivia herself. it all seemed very "kiss the ring" to me

yeah that was really weird to me. and then after all that, allegedly she contacted taylor and taylor was a bitch to her so they’re not friends. like?? taylor doesn’t have any non white celebrity friends that aren’t incredibly problematic, and half the white ones are people are her “friends” just because they’ve worked with her. like that’s how the industry works? you work with people and collab on projects? they act like she’s the russo brothers of her own mcu when she’s literally just a celebrity doing her job. she’s not special. yet if dylan o’brian (whom I dislike for my own reasons anyway) were to say ANYTHING negative about her, it would be open fucking season. he would be labeled a misogynist white male and dragged for years. sadie would be called a “pick me” and swifties would boycott stranger things for taylor and make it a hashtag. no one makes it anywhere after working with her unless they kiss her ass, because swifties will make sure they’re torn to shreds.

the clip of her getting pushed in front of a car in that new david o russell movie has been on a loop lately. don’t get me started on how hypocritical she is for choosing to be in that movie

[ktinastrikesback]

i came across the clip of taylor saying that buck is intimidated by strong women and like. there’s just so much about it that rubs me the wrong way.

like the implication is that taylor is strong (or at least, we’re supposed to see here that way), right? but here she in petty and immature and just down right mean. none of those things make someone a strong woman. and she’s supposed to be his friend, she’s supposed to know him to some extent (hell, she told buck that his life is nothing but meaningful relationships), so are we supposed to imply that she sees athena as weak? hen? maddie?

like obviously she didn’t think that deeply about it (or maybe she did, who knows), but i still cannot get over how rude it was. i get she was hurt by buck, but this woman is supposed to be in her late twenties/early thirties, and she still said that. isn’t she embarrassed for herself for how she acted? (i’m certainly embarrassed for her. i want to turn off the clip every time it comes up)

and then she went and called buck needy after he said he needed a friend. just to rub salt in the wound.

Anon, I love you for this because I’ve been thinking about it recently bc it came up elsewhere and…I will never ever understand this line. Buck was raised by a strong woman and works alongside them daily, so the statement makes zero sense. But…I don’t think it was ever meant to make sense, it was just used to be hurtful when Taylor herself was feeling hurt (which…lashing out is not the way to sort out our feelings but I can’t tell her what to do🤷🏻‍♀️).

Now, I won’t say Taylor isn’t a strong woman. Because she is. I don’t like the execution of her backstory, but it certainly demonstrates that she is a strong person; I can’t imagine what it would be like to grow up with that kind of trauma and conflict. Her independent demeanor is certainly attributed to that. But…Buck inviting her to a double date doesn’t negate her power or strength as a woman. Should he have mentioned it was a double date? Yeah probably. But this reaction is so unwarranted in my opinion. She talks down the way he saved her life, she throws shade at the other woman in the room (which feels extremely hypocritical), and then she brings out this horrid line.

It saddens me a lot because this line mixed together with the “you’re so needy” and “you can’t deal with people not liking you” are things that Buck still internalizes…and he takes these comments so personally that he thinks he’s a bad friend throughout the rest of the episode…when we have proof of what a good friend he is right there with Eddie and Chris! He watches Chris for Eddie while he’s on his date, and Chris comes to him for advice. Chris isn’t lying when he says Buck is a good friend, and Buck doubting that because of what Taylor said to him? Oh it hurts. And it especially hurts that her hurtful comments are let go (because a. he places all the blame on himself and b. neither one of them bring them up again) and that he pines after and eventually dates her.

Taylor has never once apologized for her actions. Dosed? Didn’t apologize. Ditches Buck in a parking lot? Doesn’t apologize. Says horrible things (when it sounds like he just shared his feelings about therapy and everything with her at that call???) to his face? Doesn’t apologize. Friendzones him then kisses him and runs away and then comes back later? Makes an excuse but still doesn’t apologize. Using his phone to do work stuff? Doesn’t apologize. Tries to leave without telling him where she’s going or why (when she’s seen the ramifications Maddie and Chim leaving have had on him)? Doesn’t apologize. It just never ends. If anyone is a bad friend, girlfriend, what have you….it’s her.

So yes, exactly as you mentioned, it’s sad that Buck has pursued a relationship with someone who just…doesn’t see or understand him. And it’s becoming more and more evident as time goes on just how ill-suited they are for one another. Do I think Taylor really loves Buck? Yeah. But she will never be able to love him the way he needs to be loved. She can’t even really be a good friend to him (as evidenced by all this), let alone be his lifelong partner.

I find it so interesting that Buck was reading that love languages book shortly before Taylor returned, and I would love to get inside his brain and see what love languages he thinks are at work in this relationship. I do think Buck knows it isn’t working, and I think he’s eventually going to have to take his own advice about not being all the way in. I just wish he could have figured all this out right after Taylor was so awful in Breaking Point, but like Albert said, every dating experience is a lesson. So I guess we have to wait and see what Buck learns from this.

Thank you for this brilliant ask, I enjoyed answering it!! Feel free to send a follow up or any other thoughts 🥰

[karliesbuzzcut]

I know it’s not the 25th just yet but this lousy year deserves an early Christmas. So grab some coffee, wine or snacks and sit around the fireplace with me.

By now we all know that TTB is a bit angry. She doesn’t know who to be angry at, and she’s definitely not going going to be angry at herself, so she’s doing the next best thing: writing angry emails to people she doesn’t like.

Unfortunately I’m not one of those lucky recipients 🤷‍♀️ She knows that the best way to truly hurt me is to pretend I do not exist, and that is my curse. But I still managed to get my little goblin hands on one of these emails, and just call me Inez because you bet your ass I’m going to tell you all about it.

I propose a personal goal for all of us in 2021: to develop the level of self-confidence that allows you to write an email referring to yourself in the 3rd person.

I’m particularly a fan of the last line “your posts continue to be monitored”. I know she means it as a threat of sorts, but since I’m an attention whore I’d just be thrilled knowing there’s at least one person who will always read my nonsense.

At this point, I’m sure we’re all thinking the same thing: “well that’s an impressive resumé” - but ALSO “a death threat?! HOW? WHEN?”

You might even be wondering if you missed something - you always suspected that silly job of yours was distracting you from what’s really important.

Don’t you worry, TTB has receipts. So, if you’re feeling raunchy, let’s take a look at this ~unlawful behaviour~.

TTB, sweetheart, where’s the spoiler alert? I was only half a chapter away from that bit!

I’m going through an overload of thoughts, let me bring back my always helpful bullet points.

It’s quite wholesome that the “embarrassing efforts to delve into [TTB’s] personal life” turned out to be just someone saying “I heard she’s straight and married” and then making a Harry Potter reference.

It’s quite cute that TTB thinks she can threaten legal action on people who told her to “fuck off” on the internet.

You guys know I’m not the nitpicky kinda gal but... for the sake of the argument, okay? Technically Bellatrix was never mention in that ~death threat~. For all we know, going “full Molly Weasley” could mean “settling down and having 7 kids with a handsome ginger lad”, “help an unaccompanied orphan walk through a wall” or “knit very nice Christmas jumpers that her children won’t appreciate.” Molly Weasley did a lot more than killing Bellatrix. Justice for Molly, is what I’m saying.

It is now when TTB starts getting her (what I can only imagine) perfectly manicured claws out, “you’ve been a bad Jew and I’m going to report you to the Jew police”.

Guys, a little bit of a PSA here: right now TTB is feeling cornered, so she’s at her most dangerous. She’s doing her best to find ‘dirt’ on people who have criticised her, and then is using that dirt to humiliate them somehow – or maybe even get them fired? So, if you think you could be one of these people and there’s an embarrassing fanfic you wouldn’t like your postman to see, it might be a good idea to do something about it.

OOF! The last line is magnificently evil. Big fan, TTB, seriously. It reminds me of those times when nudes are leaked online and people start saying “wEll iF sHE DidN’t wANt thOsE pICtuREs tO Be SeEN shE sHOulDn’T hAVe TAkEn ThEM”... but that’s a straw man argument on my part, and I can recognise that.

However. There is something poetic about TTB calling out someone for “attempting to delve into her personal life” and then going through a lot of trouble to find out where and for whom that person works. Some people would call that hypocritical. I call it poetic because I’m a romantic.

TTB threatening someone to take them to “the proper law enforcement authorities” for “wrecking TTB’s shit” is the equivalent of me buying a cheap ‘sexy police officer’ Halloween costume, and going around telling people to compliment my hair or they’ll be taken to polyester jail.

(Spoiler alert: this email is from the 17th of this month, this person hasn’t taken down a single thing, and nothing has happened.)

I bet you thought this email couldn’t get any better. But that’s what you get when you underestimate TTB. You get Taylor Doe.

Anyway, TTB babe, I extend my hand to you once again. Would you consider taking me to the proper law enforcement authorities? I’ve been a very unlawful girl. I can be behaviourally out of control, if that’s what you’re into. If you’re having trouble getting my contact details, don’t sweat it! Have Theprologues DM me and I’ll give you my email address. I can even give you my mum’s email, maybe you’ll have better luck than me explaining to her why I spend so much time staring at my phone. You tell me whose email you need and I can even find you some drunk pictures of me and a list of people I’ve hooked up with - let’s go big, TTB, we can do this!

Sincerely,

Karlie Incognito

[berlinnelity]

MY CHARACTERS' FACE CLAIMS:

ever since i learned what FCs were, i sided, sided and decided, to do this post. therefore, as i want to include all my characters in this, expect this post to be quite long:

— CILLIAN: Ramy Moharam Fouad.

Ramy... he has Cillian's vibe. the hollow, lean cheekbones; the dead fish eyes; the oblong, somewhat round nose; everything, everything in him reminds me of Cillian. the only think he doesn't has that Cillian does, are the green eyes and freckles. other than that, he's Cillian spat-image.

— OLIVER: Aaron Taylor-Johnson.

yesterday, i watched Anna Karenina (2012) for the second time and, when i tell you the moment i laid eyes on Aaron Taylor Johsnon's Vronsky, i had an ephipany, i am not exaggerating. EVERYTHING, even the character's mannerisms, remind me of Oliver. even the little, admittedly ridiculous mustache.

(however, i must admit that Dacre Montgomery also reminds me of Oliver. here:

he has a lot of manslut, malewhore vibes—very important traits of Oliver's character, i tell you. EDIT: i think that Dacre Montgomery reminds me even more of Oliver than Aaron Taylor-Johnson... interesting).

— CHARLIZE: Jessica Clark.

as i watched the third season of Versailles, i, again, had an epiphany. about Jessica Clark—the only thing i would change about her, so she could suit Charlize better, is the hair. you put this woman in a deep, brown, curly, long wig and bam, there's Charlize.

— OCTAVIA: Keke Palmer.

now. Octavia has had many face claims, Keke Palmer is the one that seemed to suit her the most; especially, Keke Palmer has such a glamorous, fancy feel to herself that makes me associate Octavia with her—that is the type of feeling Octavia seems to have, you see.

— ELLIOT: Dev Patel.

listen. beside this white-ass name, Elliot is, indeed, indian and was born in Deli, India. in any case, everytime i heard about Dev Patel i thought "well, he would suit some character of mine". Elliot's the one; there's nothing i would change about him to make him suit Elliot, as i would with Charlize's or Cillian's face claims, truly nothing.

— INDIRA: Indira Varma.

i was looking for a face claim for Indira for quite a while now and really, Indira Varma plays the part very well. again, as for her, there's nothing i would change to make her suit Indira; she's the spat portrait of Indira (or Franz, as she's publicly known—there's lore about that, yes).

— VINCENT: Oscar Isaac.

my justifications for this one are: first, Oscar Isaac in the movie In Secret simply exhales Vincent's energy. second... Vincent is an utterly corrupt, unhinged motherfucker; the bastard (and he is a bastard in more ways than one, trust me) is just insane in the brain—a part that Oscar Isaac should, in my head, play very well.

— ALASTAIR: Daryl McCormack.

now, this one is most likely because, by the time i was thinking on (and i say "thinking on" as oppossed to "creating" because, well; Alastair is not complete yet, i still have to do a lot more on his character, what should be his usage in the book's plot, etc) i was OBSESSED with Daryl McCormack, so... you get the reason why.

— CHRISTOPHE: Mads Mikkelsen.

(my friends, if they ever see this post, will call me a hypocrite for incluiding Mads Mikkelsen as a FC for a character. oh well) i don't quite know what to say about this one, other than i associate him with Christophe and that's all. "oh well" indeed.

FINALLY, there is, yes, another character i would like to add to this post; but he is not important to the plot anyways, and I've already reached Tumblr's limit of images.

in any case, thank you for your time. it's going to get worse.

[caspianjames]

BONUS Up And Coming: Julie and the Phantoms

Up and Coming: Julie and the Phantoms Jennifer McCreedy, Junior Correspondent 

On this month’s issue of Up and Coming I had the privilege of sitting down with one of America’s biggest up and coming bands, Julie and the Phantoms. Julie Molina (17), Reggie Peters (18), Alex Mercer (17), and Luke Patterson (17) began rapidly gaining popularity as YouTube stars last fall. They created music videos for songs they wrote themselves, editing them to appear as if the band were ghosts “popping in” behind Julie. Don’t understand what I mean? You can click here to check it out for yourself!

The band has a strong air of camaraderie, and it’s the first thing I notice when I walk into the room with them. They’re all piled on our big interview couch, Molina and Mercer are pressed together whispering. Patterson is bantering with Peters and flicks him in the forehead. They’re like any group of teenagers bordering on adulthood, excited and eager to please. It’s immediately apparent that to all of them, the band has a deep meaning of friendship and support. 

Of course, the first topic of conversation was about the band - what inspired the structure of their music videos, how they got their name, and which came first - the ghost music videos or the ghost band! 

“Since my mom died, my brother has really been into ghosts,” Molina explained to me. “It was actually his idea for the band to pop in like that. My dad does videography as his job, so he was able to help us film and edit. My best friend, Flynn Taylor, came up with the band name.”

The boys all laugh when I ask if they liked the name right away or if there were discussions before they went public with it. “Flynn doesn’t do discussions,” Mercer smiles at Julie like there’s an inside joke there. There probably is, seeing how close these four are. “They came up with the name and made us posters, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter before even asking us what we thought.”

“We loved it,” Peters is quick to jump in. “And we love Flynn. She knew we’d like it, or they wouldn’t have gone ahead with everything.”

Flynn Taylor, Julie’s best friend, doubles as the band manager - she is on tour with them, but opted not to be present for the interview. 

Since beginning their tour with Panic! At the Disco, all their videos have amassed over one million views each on YouTube and their music has been released on Spotify with startlingly quick success. Molina, I discovered, is actually the newest member of the band, although I would never have known from watching the four bandmates interact. She is also the youngest by a year, having just had her seventeenth birthday as the boys are all turning eighteen, but she holds herself with a quiet confidence that all the boys seem to look to. Even this early into the interview they defer to her to answer questions and look to her for reactions to their own answers. 

This made it especially surprising to find out that the band existed before Julie joined it, just under a different name. Sunset Curve. Clearly, it did not have the popularity that Julie and the Phantoms has even a few months into their creation. “We played a couple school shows and stuff,” Patterson told me, “but nothing clicked until we met Julie.” Luke Patterson carries a humming energy with him that comes across in his words. In true rocker fashion, he struggles to sit still, tapping his fingers on his thighs and softly bouncing on the couch. 

Unsurprisingly, Molina used similar words to describe the band’s first meeting. “The first time I sang with them at school we just clicked,” she says, smiling at Luke. 

Of course, given their success, I had to ask the question everyone wants to know. How did they end up opening for Panic! At the Disco, despite being relatively unknown outside the Los Angeles music scene previous to their debut at The Orpheum?

“We’ve seen some wild theories,” Mercer confides to me with a small smile on his face. He is arguably the most subdued of the group and generally seems content to watch his bandmates answer my questions. Don’t be fooled, though - not only is he a phenomenal drummer, he also sings backup vocals for Julie and the Phantoms. “My favouirte theory was one that caught a lot of steam on Twitter about us using ‘ghost powers’,” he adds air quotes with his hands and laughs, “to hide the scheduled opener’s tour bus and then pop into the venue in their place at the time they were supposed to perform.”

The whole band laughs at this - clearly it is a favourite theory amongst them. Peters adds, though, that it was clearly an unfounded theory given that “Julie doesn’t have any ghost powers, anyways. That’s why it’s Julie and the Phantoms. But I’d kill for ghost powers in real life.” When I ask what he’d use them for, though, he seems stumped. “I think it would just be cool to walk through walls.” We’re with you on that one, Reggie!

But what actually did happen to get them into the coveted opening spot at The Orpheum? Molina gives me a modest smile when I ask. “We were honestly just in the right place at the right time,” she explains. 

Patterson picks up the story from there with a little bit more flair, telling me that the opening band had actually gotten food poisoning - “from a street dog vendor, believe it or not” - and the manager of the Orpheum happened to be familiar with the Julie and the Phantoms YouTube page. 

“Since we were local,” Peters explains, “It was just a phone call. And then suddenly we were on stage doing a proper professional soundcheck for the first time in our lives.”

“Everything moved so fast after that,” Patterson adds. Each of his bandmates nod in agreement as he speaks. “We blinked and we were on a tour bus, suddenly.”

It seems that the band is handling the change well, though. 

“It’s definitely different,” Molina tells me. “We have to be responsible for our own school and make sure we’re turning in assignments on time. There’s a lot of driving and a lot of time to kill. We can get on each other’s nerves quite a bit, but there’s always a lot of time for songwriting, too.”

When I prompt her about who gets on who’s nerves, the whole band turns in tandem to look at Luke. He laughs and shrugs at me. “I’m an early riser,” he explains. “I like music in my hands twenty-four seven. I always have my guitar, but it isn’t always appreciated.”

“We’ve had to compromise,” Mercer says with a long-suffering sigh. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was the oldest of the group. “Luke isn’t allowed to start playing music until eleven in the morning the day after a show.”

As for being on tour with Panic!, none of them seem all too bothered by the fame of the headliners. “They’re really cool,” Peters explains to me. “They’ve been doing this a long time and they always have advice for us which I think we really value right now.”

Otherwise, though, the band seems to keep to themselves. When asked about their favouirte hobbies, Peters speaks at length about Star Wars. “I can’t watch the prequels before bed,” he says. His bandmates groan and shake their heads, although he seems unbothered. “Jar-Jar gives me nightmares.”

Other than Star Wars, “We try to make sure we get time and space for ourselves every day,” Molina says. “It’s a lot of us in a small space, and if we don’t get away from each other for a bit we argue a lot more.”

When I ask each of them who their favourite bandmate is to live with, all the boys say Julie and then turn expectantly for her answer. “I suppose Flynn doesn’t count as a bandmate,” she said with a sigh. “Probably Alex, but we live together normally so it’s not something that’s new.”

Mercer confirms this piece of information with a nod and a smile. “I prefer sharing a room with your brother to sharing a bus with you, though,” he says to Julie. She just rolls her eyes. 

When pushed, Mercer elaborates a little bit. “I’ve been living with Julie’s family for my senior year. It’s a better environment for me and is much closer to our school than where I lived. My parents are happy that it gives me more time to focus on school.”

Since I have Mercer’s attention now, I ask him a question I’ve been dying to know the answer to. Does he know what a role model he is to gay and questioning children and teens that get to see him be himself so publicly? 

As all the boys have been doing, he looks to Julie before answering. “I don’t think about it much, to be honest,” he says candidly. “If people think I’m a role model then I’m glad, but I’m just me. And being gay is part of me, a part of me that’s always been completely accepted by my band, just like my drumming or my singing.”

There was no tension, the band members explain, upon finding out about Alex’s sexuality. “No one was surprised when Alex came out,” Patterson adds. “We were only, like, twelve when he came out to us, anyway. It’s just a fact about who he is. Like, Alex is gay and hates mornings and I play the guitar and love mornings and we’re best friends.”

“Plus, I’m bisexual,” Peters adds, “So it would be hypocritical to have a problem with Alex.”

“I’m pansexual,” Patterson pipes up again. “And Alex being himself helped me figure out that part of myself.”

Molina doesn’t seem to have much to add. “Alex was already out when I met him,” she says. “It was never a surprise and someone’s sexuality shouldn’t be something that causes tension or makes people upset anyways.”

When I point out that it has seemed to cause some tension among fans, they all sigh. For unaware readers, the band has been stirring up quite the debate on Twitter and Instagram amongst fans and haters alike as to who is dating who. Patterson and Molina confirmed their relationship before going on tour and have been dating since before their band became popular. Recently, a Twitter user attending a Julie and the Phantoms meet and greet noted the closeness between Molina and Peters, causing fans to speculate that Molina is cheating on Patterson with Peters. When I ask if they'd like to address it, however, they all nod. 

“Luke and I have been dating for a few months,” Julie says, “very happily. Neither of us have cheated on each other, nor would we ever. But we’re both also dating Reggie.”

When I ask for clarification, Peters adds, “I’m dating Luke and Julie, just like Julie is dating me and Luke and Luke is dating Julie and me.” Although it doesn’t sound clear, it does seem to be clear for them. 

“We’d like people to give us our privacy, although we know that probably won’t happen,” Molina says. “We’re allowed to define our own relationships in the way that works for us, we don’t have to hold them up to anyone else’s expectations or preconceived notions of what a relationship should look like.”

When I ask if there’s anything they’d like to add before we wrap up, Patterson pipes up with a confident “Yes.” 

“We’re Julie and the Phantoms,” he says, prompting Peters to follow up with “Tell your friends!”

Tell your friends, indeed. You can find Julie and the Phantoms everywhere that Panic! At the Disco is playing for the next four weeks. 

masterpost

read on AO3

taglist under teh cut (ask to be added or removed!!)

@screamin-amuseum​ @angelwiththeblue-box​ @defultuser​ @peter-parkerson​ @willex-molina​ @thedepthsofhell​ @themongosianhorse​ @theamd426​ @k-padfoot39​ @wholitzukoonfire​ @invisibleraven​ @williesskateboard​ @leodolphin​ @moss-on-a-tree15​

[allamericansbitch]

i think it’s really ironic how swifties talk about things like how taylor was treated by the media when she was 18-20, like people speculating about what/who the songs were about, calling her a bad songwriter, and journalists not taking her seriously because of her age.

and then they turn around to do the same thing to olivia or arguably, something that’s even worse. i would argue that olivia is more saturated than taylor was at her age and this is partly because of social media, which makes everyone feel like they deserve to know all this information about olivia. but at the end of the day they are treating olivia almost exactly like how the public treated taylor which is just embarrassing for them. it shows that they’re not actually serious about how young women in the industry are treated by their peers and press and really only care about taylor. honestly that’s kind of like taylor herself 😂 she only really speaks out about some issue when it affects her

Yep 100%. Swifties are very hypocritical for lots of reasons and this is one of the most blatantly obvious one. They love to pull out the ‘we see you on the internet comparing all the girls who are killing it’ nonsense, until they think one of the girls doesn’t like Taylor. They’re blatantly dismissing Olivia’s work and art, criticizing her and accusing her of so much…. and act like Taylor hasn’t spoken out about all the things they’re doing. It shouldn’t even matter what Taylor says about it because it’s just fucked up in general, but we all they don’t really have minds of their own.

Olivia is definitely more saturated because of social media than Taylor was at her age, 20 was fearless era and I’m pretty sure only MySpace was around. Olivia has way more to deal with than Taylor did back then, yet she’s allowed even less grace and patience.

[athenagrantnash]

You know when you have so many words you want to say and don’t know how to start and so you just kind of... jump in?

Yeah... Imma just jump in.

But I am so SICK AND TIRED of certain shippers in this fandom going out of their way to attack Madney shippers (specifically @maddieandchimney) for no goddamn reason.

The spreading of lies, the disgusting misogyny, the misuse of progressive language... it needs to stop! You do not get negate the importance of characters like Maddie Buckley to people just because she happens to be white.

To write hit-pieces on Madney shippers and call them “annoying” for having the audacity to like a well-written, beautifully performed, and all-around excellent canon ship is childish to a level that is barely comprehensible. To spread lies about Maddie (the blogger) being racist just because her favorite character happens to be white is disgusting. To call Maddie (the character) weak just because she still can laugh and cry and feel and hasn’t closed herself off completely after surviving YEARS of abuse is disgusting.

And the fact that a lot of this hatred is coming from Buddie shippers/Buck stans says something really terrible.

Now I want to clarify that (obviously) not all Buddies are awful, and not all Buck stans are awful. But when the stans of the white boy are trying to act superior over the fans of the white woman, and saying that said fans are awful because their fave character is white... there’s something extremely hypocritical going on!!!

And I can’t help but think that a lot of this is happening because blogger!Maddie, while being primarily a character!Maddie fan, also will not tolerate it when Buddie shippers demean the female characters in Buck or Eddie’s lives just for getting in the way of their ship. And because blogger!Maddie does this, they decide to turn on her favorite character in ways that will hurt the real life human person the most. They turn on character!Maddie in ways that invalidates real life issues that so many people identify with.

And honestly? As a somewhat side note, but I am tired of all the hit-pieces Buddie shippers write about... anything and everything they think might possibly get in the way of their ship or prevent them from infantilizing Buck to a disgusting degree.

Maddie is a terrible sister because she “abandoned” Buck after getting beaten half to death by her abusive husband for giving him her truck/money.

Shannon is a terrible mother for breaking under the strain of not having a proper support system, and not knowing how to come back to that unhealthy environment when originally she just left to take care of her mom.

Ana is suddenly ableist for saying that the child with CP who got very badly hurt when trying to ride a skateboard probably shouldn’t ride a skateboard.

Taylor is emotionally abusive because she recognized her real feelings for Buck when she was afraid she might lose him.

There is a pattern here, and it’s absolutely disgusting. (Also the fact that these people constantly feel the need to trigger tag these ladies names says everything!)

It seems the only women who have truly escaped this are Hen and Athena. The former of whom would never be a threat to the ship anyway (and that’s how she escapes it) and the latter of whom is just “the mom”, and that helps stans fetishize Buck into nothing but a poor little baby so she gets to stay too apparently. And frankly, as an Athena fan, I’d almost rather the hatred that’s a lie I’m definitely glad I don’t have to deal with it because it’s a lot easier to explain why comments like “Maddie is weak and pathetic” are so terrible to have to come across than to explain why constant comments about Athena being Buck’s mom are so annoying to have to deal with.

And again, it’s not all Buck stans, and not all Buddie shippers. But it’s enough of them that it’s a pattern, and frankly blogger!Maddie, character!Maddie, Shannon, Ana, and Taylor deserve so much fucking better!!!

[deafblindshorty]

Poe and Rey’s Underrated Friendship

I noticed that not a lot has been said about Poe and Rey’s friendship in TROS and related EU materials. That’s probably because it’s not the main focus, which I sort of understand. There are a lot of subtle moments of their friendship (even some hints towards a romantic relationship). Some of these points come from @greysmartwolf’s tumblr, others come from a discord server.

Disclaimer: I am not diminishing or minimalizing Finn’s importance to both Rey and Poe, but if it seems like it, then I’m sorry. That’s not my intent.

Let’s start from the beginning: Rey and Poe have a LOT of parallels throughout the trilogy (some of the same scenes, the same lines, they both face their past in TROS, they both blame themselves for the Resistance dying at Exegol, they almost gave up but two Rebel veterans gave them pep talks, etc). So, they have quite a bit in common including their love for flying and droids.

Also, about the age difference, age really doesn’t matter in Star Wars. Han and Leia are 13 years apart, Wedge is about ten years younger than Norra, and Snap is 16 years older than his wife Kare (He could be her father!). Huge age differences exist in other fictional materials set on our Earth- Brooke Taylor and her late husband from Legally Blonde are 34 years apart, Remus and Tonks from Harry Potter are 13 years apart, an old soap opera supercouple (Doug and Julie Williams from Days of Our Lives) are 20 years apart. As for friends, Will from Glee is in his 30s and is friends with a few 19-20 year olds and Sue who is in her 50s is besties with a 19/20 year old, 30 year old Launchpad from Ducktales is friends with 10 year old Dewey. So, 19/20 year old Rey being friends or dating 32/33 year old Poe isn’t that crazy or farfetched.

According to the TROS Visual Dictionary, Poe left BB-8 with Rey so she won’t feel lonely (and that’s probably also why BB-8 is with Rey on Tatooine). 

Poe was the first man Rey met whom she didn’t physically attack upon meeting him, and also smiled when they introduced each other. I don’t recall her smiling that wide whenever she was with Finn or Kylo.

They get along well in Poe Dameron #26-27. Poe was even a bit flirty with Rey.

It was Poe’s idea to build a Jedi training course for Rey in Star Wars Adventures, so Poe understands the importance of Rey’s Jedi training.

Rey understands what Poe went through with Kylo ( Poe also calls them ”Torture buddies!”).

When Poe, Finn, and Chewie return from the Fortress of Hothitude (I can’t remember what that planet is called. lol), Poe was so happy to see Rey. The way he walked up to Rey, his smile and his hands on hips. He badly wants to impress Rey. Alpha male!

And right after that, they have their only argument throughout the entire film. Poe and Rey quarrel in TROS was because they both didn’t listen to each other. They really only fight over the Falcon and BB-8. They both care about each other a lot, don’t blame each other in anything (except the Falcon being on fire and BB-8 missing a disc) and admit when one of them was right in argue (but prefer not to tell about that). Then Rey ends up smiling at him and Poe ends the argument by complimenting Rey (”You’re the best fighter we have. We need you.”). Also, Poe is the only one whom Rey talks to with sarcastic smile. Also, also, that argument is meant to parallel Han and Leia’s many arguments. Han and Leia argued every five minutes throughout the entire Original Trilogy, and they ended up together!

After sinking in the sand tunnels, Poe catches Rey and holds her bridal-style for a sec to steady her and was worried about her.

“He thought of protesting, of asking how Rey could possibly know which equally unremarkable direction was the right one. But Poe had learned that when Rey said things that way, her face determined, her voice unwavering, a fellow ought to just follow.” -TROS novel Poe knows Rey well. He knows when he must just shut up and do what she says. It kind of reminds me of Anakin telling Padme “Don’t worry. I’ve given up trying to argue with you.”

Poe taking the dagger from Rey in the novel and it felt like a weight has been lifted from Rey’s shoulders. It’s almost like he knew that would help.

The sand snake- I’ve never seen Poe so scared. But he is not afraid of that snake, he’s ready to combat it. I mean, he piloted the Falcon without fear into the mouth of a giant worm! Poe is afraid that snake could hurt or kill Rey. Poe wants to shoot that snake and pull Rey back, and he almost does that. And Rey amazes him again! And Poe sighs in relief when the snake calms down and slithers away.

In the novel, Poe didn’t scream “Nooo!” or “What have you done?!” when Rey “killed” Chewie. Poe knows there is no scenario in which Rey would harm her friends consciously. He most likely knows about her dark visions (Rey tells BB-8 everything, who obviously tells Poe all important stuff). Poe is not mad at Rey and doesn’t make her explain how that happened. And honestly, if he did do that, then he’d be a huge hypocrite, since he accidentally caused the deaths of the bombers in TLJ and the soldiers on Crait, which is why Poe was gentle with her. Rey understands Poe. His usual anger. They both have a huge responsibility. The Resistance on Poe and Jedi legacy on Rey. And she was ready to hear his anger, but he didn’t even plan to lay into her.

Rey likes that Poe can steal speeders and she finds his past interesting. Rey was really interested in Poe and Zorii’s past connection and Poe felt a bit smug when Rey was able to beat Zorii (He said “Don’t Dja’kanka” because he was afraid Rey would slice Zorii in half before she could help them). According to some audio book excerpts, when Rey was thinking about Poe’s past or his criminal skills, her voice was mysterious and nonjudgmental. Finn wasn’t happy to find out Poe was a spice runner, while Rey was completely fine with that, it seems she even liked that

After the Spice Runner reveal, as they traveled a snowy passageway, Poe glanced over at Rey, who was silent and frowning, lost in her own thoughts. Or maybe she was focused. Sensing something. 

When Rey rushed off to look for the dagger on Kylo’s star destroyer, Poe didn’t stop her and trusted her feelings. Poe knows when he must just follow her instincts. He learned to read her.

Look at pain in Poe’s eyes after Finn’s words. Poe wants to be closer to Rey, he wants Rey to trust him more. But Finn and Leia were still closer to Rey than Poe was. “Perhaps, she didn’t want to put the rest of the team in danger, but they had already signed up for that by joining the Resistance.” (TROS junior novel, Poe)

"She’s out there, heading toward the Death Star. Her skimmer keeps tipping over – it’s damaged. What the heck is she thinking?” (TROS junior novel, Poe) Poe is so worried here. And angry. Now he’s mad at Rey, but later he will be angry with himself for losing her.

“Rey’s nobility masked an impulsiveness that might doom them all – and as highest-ranking member of the team, Poe felt responsible for not curbing it. He had flunked the leadership test yet again.” (TROS junior novel) Poe blames himself, not Rey.

“Maybe there was something the general could do. During the battles of D'Qar and Crait she and Rey had shared beacons. Maybe there was a way she could reach out to Rey or Rey could reach out to her.” (TROS junior novel) Poe planned to find Rey!

So, Poe doesn’t think Rey abandoned them and doesn’t resent her for leaving. If he did, he’d be a big hypocrite here, too, since he abandoned his father, who was dying from a poisonous Lurker bite in Free Fall for the Spice Runners.

Poe trusts Rey and knows she can take care of herself. That’s why he didn’t rush after her like Finn did.

“Poe didn’t have his usual pre-battle swagger. He seemed distress. “What’s waiting for her out there?” he asked Finn.” (TROS junior novel) Poe worried about Rey so much! That she’s somewhere alone and they won’t be with her there.

Poe was incredibly relieved when Rey was revealed to be alive (and he was also worried about Rey when he found out the Emperor wanted her alive).

The way Poe takes Rey’s hand is special, it’s pure tenderness, and the way he rubs his thumb over her knuckles tells everything. Poe loves Rey more than friend. Also, Rey pinches Poe’s elbow with a hope, like she tries to reach him. And when Poe does the same, she happily closes her eyes and pinches him again.

Poe and Rey also acted so jealous of Finn and Zorii respectively. Poe kept asking Finn what he was gonna tell Rey when they were sinking in the sand. On Kijimi, Rey couldn’t stop thinking about what Poe’s past with Zorii was.

So, usually, men tend to date women who remind them of their mothers (Take Harry Potter for example! Ginny looks a lot like Lily Potter.). Rey and Shara Bey (Poe’s mom) look similar and they’re both brave, adventurous, and great pilots.

Men also tend to date women who remind them of their exes. Rey also looks similar to Zorii, plus they are both cagey, kept secrets, both love to argue with Poe, but they care about him, and are extremely loyal.

TL:DR. My point is that Poe and Rey are actually good friends and would be a great couple. Disney/LF were just a bit more subtle about their relationship. 

[bisluthq]

Nah in this case her being a hypocrite doesn’t make the most sense, like yes she’s a white feminist who only seems to care about stuff that directly affects her but the thing is that this stuff HAS directly affected her like it legit traumatised her. Plus, she’s fired people before for sexual assault allegations (one of her dancers and the director of the red tour movie for starters) so here “she’s a ducking hypocrite who doesn’t care wbk” really isn’t the most sensible explanation. It makes more sense to me that she just doesn’t google people in the entertainment industry, which she has literally said she doesn’t because of her fear that when others google her they’ll see stuff that’s just untrue. I highly doubt she’s googling “problematic things Lena Dunham has done” lmao all info she has on Lena she definitely gets from Lena herself who of course isn’t going to tell Taylor “btw i’m a sexual assault apologist :)))”. Considering Taylor herself IS a sexual assault survivor and has said how traumatising it was, using that against her is imo pretty gross like it’s not like she made those statements for funsies and then didn’t follow through with it, she made those statements because she went through it herself so “she knows and just doesn’t care lol” really isn’t the most logical explanation here. And before you or anyone calls me a cupcake or says i’m just making excuses, I do call taylor out for all her problematic shit and for her white feminism and hypocrisy all the time, I just don’t think that’s the logical explanation here

I mean maybe lol but you have to live under a rock to not know Lena’s problematic.

[gin-and-luce]

You killed our dog! Adriana of The Sopranos gave me strength to navigate life after a breakup during a global pandemic lockdown

I’m going through a breakup. It’s come at the worst time but also the best time. He ended things with me (more on that later) after three years in the most Beta-Male way...but this is what happens when your type can be boiled down to softboi. I can’t see my friends in the conventional way, so I made some new ones on screen to help me navigate the end during quarantine.

Over ten weeks ago I started watching The Sopranos. It doesn’t need justifying, everyone knows it’s the best television series of all time, but I’d never seen it, and I knew a global pandemic induced lockdown would provide optimum viewing circumstances. My favourite thing to do is completely throw myself into the female narrative and experience I’m watching on screen. I prefer a long deep drama over a film. I like being able to see my girls every night. 

People have said to me before “you should start a blog”, but I could never escape the feeling that doing so is massively narcissistic because it *is*, unless you have something actually relevant to write about. Alternatively, the image of Gretchen Weiners leaning in and going “you let it out honey, put it in the book” floats across my conscience, and everything embarrassing that I’ve ever done, plays in a montage in my mind. 

Who gives a fuck what I have to say about anything…….. especially about a cultural phenomena that is quite literally regarded as the best TV show of all time?

I’d been wanting to write this after I watched Long Term Parking. I lay in the dark for 45 minutes after the episode ended. I’d never felt like that watching a television show or film before. My throat had seized up but I didn’t cry, even though I felt like it. I knew it was coming from the moment Adriana met the agent. I wasn’t surprised, but I was heartbroken and absolutely fuming. I still am. 

I’m not angry with Christopher, Tony, or Silvio, but just the general unbalance I’ve felt when I’m in a relationship. The loss of self, relationships being a series of compromises. From what I have found from my own experiences and my girlfriends’, women are just much more willing to compromise, but don’t consider it to be a compromise. Men can only take into consideration their own reality, an evolutionary selfishness that just doesn’t translate. 

Just as lockdown began I texted my boyfriend to say I loved him and I missed him. He responded with “Can’t say I feel the same”. Nearly 3 years were over just like that. We had the obligatory phone call, where I was hysterical and he was smarmy and smug. Yet when it was over, I felt nothing. It’s allllll a big nothing.

My personal Gospel is Sex and The City (shout out to HBO!). This was my Berger moment. He essentially scribbled “I’m sorry, I can’t. Don’t hate me” on a post-it. The irony of the whole thing is that when we watched it together, he himself said he was most like Berger. Thinking about it makes me wince.

My life opened up in front of me, I was exposed to his weakness regarding the situation in full when his sister-in-law messaged me on Instagram a few days ago. He hadn’t told his family, nor had he told his flatmates (another shout out to my sleuths at the back, you know who you are!). 

The Sopranos is a show about life. The Mafia structure provides a vehicle for us to question morality and mortality. You take what you get from it. When I watch it again at a different stage of my life, I will get something else out of it. 

For me now, while I stew in my own emotion during quarantine, Adriana represents emotional labour and the expectation for women to behave in a certain way in relationships. 

At first when my ex’s family members were messaging me, I was confused. It is frankly humiliating to smile as if everything is normal, so as to protect someone that in the end would not do the same for me. I know he wouldn’t do the same because there was just no courtesy in what happened weeks ago. I am trying to move on but things like this stunt your personal growth.

The struggle with emotional labour hones a guilt that someday I’ll regret giving my early 20s to something that didn’t work out. I felt like I was on borrowed time.

These are obviously my own insecurities spurred on by the fact that I’ve read enough “10 things I wish I knew in my 20s” blogs to know that these are my selfish years. Still, it is ultimately devastating to see the last 3 years of your life conclude via a text that displays a failure to realise that there is no real clean cut for a long-term relationship. 

I respect him for the blunt statement because it means I get to reference the Berger SATC breakup and say “casually cruel in the name of being honest” (Taylor Swift, 2012) a LOT, which softens the pity in the social scenarios that I invent in my head in the shower.

When Tony calls Adriana to tell her Christopher has tried to kill himself, that was like my final phone call too. This is the end. Her youthfulness was why I related to her most in the show, but at the same time having nothing to lose made her easily expendable. Youth makes you put 100% into something knowing it is a gamble. 

I’m not comparing my ‘borrowed time’ to Adriana because she ends up dead, but there was a disregard for her life that was so harrowing because she did nothing but try and do the right thing. I watched Adriana put Christopher first willingly for 5 series. He supported her music management dreams but ultimately ended up making it all about him. He gave her the Crazy Horse but this ultimately was just another mob hangout. He sat on her dog, he continued to use heroin, shag other people, and so on.

“You could start writing again,” she tells him in her last episode, to which he responds  “I could do my memoirs, finally,”. Here is Adriana still!! STILL!! catering to Christopher’s ego to give herself some confidence. Very me.

All the way through she was just too good for him. Her ties to the Famiglia aren’t as tight as Carmela and Co. No children, still young, there’s chance for Adriana to get out if she wanted to. Of course this makes her prime FBl bait, but shows she sticks by Christopher through everything purely out of love. In the end she dies on her knees, subservient, with Heart’s Barracuda the last song she hears. I know Adriana had to go. That’s the way it is in the Famiglia because Christopher took an oath. But in a way she also had the carpet ripped from underneath her, just like me. 

There are lots of men writing on the internet about how Adriana is greedy and hypocritical. I just don’t understand where this reading is coming from other than obvious misogyny. I’ve read others that say if she was really that strong she would have simply left the relationship years ago. I believe that she believed things would improve for both of them, and that most people are just slut shaming her for her past. 

Still, Drea DeMatteo won a Best Supporting Actress Emmy for the episode. Fuckin’ A. 

I rooted for the woman. Before I was made redundant while working from home, I would spend half my life at my desk willing it to be 5:30pm, so I could slither back to the settee and spend the other half of my life in New Jersey. I’d phone my mum to discuss the episodes. She loves the show too, it’s always been a favourite in my household. We’d talk about the women like they were our friends and how we relate to them. The Sopranos is like a big mirror urging you to question everything. The answer to life is simply what are ya gonna do? 

Men love making things black and white so it is easier for them, when really women are in the background sorting out the shades of grey. 

Don’t get me wrong, Adriana’s significance is massive, albeit more so because of her death. You watch Christopher and Tony’s relationship start to crumble afterwards. It's shattering to see the disregard for Christopher’s sobriety and how despite his loyalty, he still sees him as a liability and weak. 

On the other hand, for Adriana’s sake, I am still enraged that he couldn’t see the bigger picture at the time. She is collateral damage in his path to finding his precious arc - “Wives, girlfriends, they can complicate life in a major way” Tony expresses to Jennifer as he runs from his own guilt. 

Christopher is desperate for Tony’s approval but is more than happy to use his blood connection as a protective leeway whenever he steps out of line. Again the irony is that he comes to tell Tony about Adriana first, just as the old Famiglia values say he should, but there is no real personal reward for doing so despite the personal sacrifice. 

I think Christopher regretted it in the end, and rightly so. When he is faced with his potential alternate life at the gas station, we assume that this was what made him go to Tony. It’s a family with loads of kids. Adriana probably can’t even have kids??? What kind of male logic?!  #justiceforadriana

I can’t help but feel for him when JT screams “Chris, you’re in the MAFIA!”. It’s the same kind of reality check that Chief Cubitoso gives Adriana, it’s an ultimatum and it’s the realisation that they are trapped in this life. Just ask Gene.

Carmela knew. I read her dreams as a testament to a woman’s intuition. She knows her friend isn’t what everyone is describing, she knows Adriana wouldn’t just disappear. She is all too aware of the emotional labour Mob women carry. When she sees Adriana with Cosette on the banks of the Seine, it is as sad as it is when we dream about people who have died. 

There is a scene in an early episode where Carmela says “Don’t we all?” in response to Meadow squealing “She’s MARRYING a BABY?” at a painting of The Marriage of Saint Catherine. I thought about this again when Christopher dies. Carmela passes her instinct off as hysteria, she isn’t to know. “So quick to blame, what is the attraction in that?” she cries during the aftermath of the car crash. There is a critique in her own femininity here that just makes you want to shout “NO CARM!!!!!!!”. As she believes she mothers Tony, there is the double-edged sword whereby he protects her through keeping her in the dark. “Heaven only ever sees my love making a fool of me” sings Emmylou Harris at the start of season 5. Carm’s power is taken away but she doesn’t even know. 

Carmela dedicates her life to being a mother but it’s not enough to save Meadow from her surname. We get some sense that AJ ‘Break Stuff by Limp Bizkit’ Soprano might be on a new path when he feels like the burning of his car among the autumn leaves of death was cathartic. As a man, he just has more freedom anyway. 

Miss Meadow gained her independence by getting her driving license, but in the end we see that she is still held back in the final scene by her inability to parallel park. She slots right in, eventually. As she does, she slots into the Soprano cycle after years of doing the most to get out and pave her own way. After every breakup with someone without links to the Famiglia, no scrubs, she returns and dates someone closer to home. Her career path is left tenuous to us, it would be all too easy for her to become a kept woman, which feels like it is the only real option should she settle down into the lifestyle with Patrick Parisi. It isn’t what she envisioned for herself, so part of me wants to hope that her story ends up a little bit more like Elle Woods. Legally Italian. 

I probably wouldn’t even have remembered her saying anything about parallel parking if I wasn’t terrible at parallel parking myself. It’s the pepperings of these subtle callbacks that make the show so beautiful. As the guitar solo plays on during the frustration, you’re invited to reminisce over Meadow’s journey. I fully wept watching her struggle to get the damn car parked because I’m trying to get my car parked too. Don’t stop believing, Meadow. 

I admire all the women in The Sopranos. The show is feminist, and that is a hill I am prepared to die on. It’s definitely up for debate as it is obviously littered with gratuitous nudity and women are commoditised. We have to allow this for cultural context for the show, but real life is basically exactly the same too? 

I read a post on Reddit where a dude is asking whether he should watch the show with his girlfriend. He types ‘“It’s a masterpiece of film but she probably wouldn’t get into it as I am”, and you don’t have to look much further to find more comments about how women and their puny minds just won’t get it. It’s an odd perspective to take given that Tony’s psychiatrist is a woman, but of course women could never grasp something so complex. It’s bullshit if you ask me, the female narrative prevails throughout all scenarios. 

The Pine Barrens seems to be everyone’s favourite episode. It’s not my favourite but there are two major elements that resonated with me. The first is Meadow looking down at the three letter words Jackie Aprile Jr had placed on the Scrabble board, and the second is when Gloria says to Tony:

“What you said was that you didn’t wanna piss me off..which implies that you’d have to deal with me, which is more about sparing YOU than my fucking feelings”. Don’t need to elaborate on that. Rest in power, Gloria. Legend.

Of course I could write pages and pages of hot feminist takes on all of the women - Jennifer, Janice, Livia, Angie, Svetlana, Charmaine. Lord knows I could probably write a book on Tracee.“ 20 years old, this girl”, I bashed Living on a Thin Line by The Kinks for about a week after that episode. It is the male gaze of the show made me love the women more. Carmela is my mother and I’ll probably name my first born Meadow. 

Carmela is the powerhouse and backbone of The Soprano household even though Tony provides. She represents stability, emotional labour, and putting on a brave face regardless. In some ways, it is as if Carmela represents the human emotion side and the fragility of organised crime. She is secure, but not enough, and her lack of ability to stand on her own two feet plagues her conscience through time. She is totally complicit, but must be to ensure her future with Tony as he pays anything to roll the dice just one more time. At the end of Long Term Parking, she and Tony stand looking at where she will build her spec-house. The forest looks the same as where we lost Ade, it’s a grim reflection that Carmela wouldn’t have this life if it wasn’t for the quick disposal of those like Adriana.   

Yeah okay, what the hell is a show with a feminist underpinning trying to say about wider society about a woman who exercises her beauty, loyalty and ambition?? Is it that she is not to be trusted?? Adriana’s a rat, but before this she is already deemed “damaged goods” anyway. She dresses provocatively, but that’s because she just looks MINT always. You would dress like THAT if you looked like THAT. When you Google her, ‘Adriana Sopranos Tennis’ comes up. I roll my eyes. Fucking men, eh? To take it down to a basic Sixth-Form-Poet reading, Adriana is Curley’s Wife and Daisy Buchanan all in one. She loves a red manicure too, and it might have worked out better for her if she had played the complicit beautiful little fool. 

This isn’t ‘Why The Sopranos is good!’, but a love letter to Adriana and her strength, because there is basically little or no content written on the women of the show when I have Googled.  I needed there to be more things written about her that isn’t just “bitch had it coming” when in fact she is a martyr. 

When Adriana was on screen, there was my mate. I knew her, she wanted what I wanted, but she sacrificed so much of herself for others and it was heartbreaking to watch. She barely gets a look-in in early episodes, but when she does she is usually wearing something animal print, which automatically made her the number one character on my radar. I am choosing to believe the theory that she is the cat in the final episode too. 

Still, I have been struggling and questioning why an episode that aired 16 years ago, with no plot that links to my own circumstances, has had such a monumental impact on me. 

I saw a tweet that said “have we ever sat down and thought about why relationships only work if the guy is more invested than the girl or is that just something we accept” (@anugov1). Adriana invested more in Christopher, even in the end, than she ever did herself. 

As I navigate this transitional period in my life, I am Adriana driving in the vision we see when we think she is going to start her new chapter. We can’t leave the flat, I have no job. The Sopranos has provided the most cathartic escapism for me. As I enter into whatever new world follows this nightmare, I wanted my mate Adriana to find her new world too, turning the classic rock up to 11.

[jewishbarbies]

Not to mention the bullying of Jake and all her other exes that she makes songs about ugh.

Jake is the most well known i think but i feel like what she’s done to Joe Jonas is so much worse. people hated Jake back then but it wasn’t really a huge deal outside of swiftie circles, whereas Taylor made hating Joe a personality trait for more than one “era”. she claimed he broke up with her over a text. then it was, oh no wait it was a phone call. then she says he said it was over and she hung up on him bc feminism or some shit and went on multiple talk shows and mocked him, including SNL, if I’m remembering correctly. he was the butt of all her jokes and break up songs. THEN he speaks on it and explains his side, which is that he said he wanted to take a break from the relationship and have some space and she hung up on him and claimed he broke up with her. all these years pass and swifties still hate him until the 1989 album when Taylor puts out “I wish you would” where she says she wishes she never hung up the phone like she did because they could’ve worked it out. so only several years later does she admit she overreacted, but it’s all okay now because they made amends after. like. she dragged him for YEARS. the media dragged him for YEARS. they made him out to be this big asshole who broke poor little Taylor’s heart and only once he reached out did they publicly make amends. with Jake, he was a villain back then and then flew under the radar because there were bigger exes (Joe, Harry, Tom, etc.) to gossip about, but now Red 2 has made him even more of a villain than he was the first time.

she’s like “if men don’t want me to write songs about them then they shouldn’t do bad things.” and the bad things are just not giving her enough attention. from what I’ve gathered from Taylor’s songs and how she writes about herself/her relationships, she’s incredibly clinging and toxic. she gets easily jealous and jumps to conclusions and if you’re not as obsessed with her immediately as she is with you, then you’re cold and cruel and broke her heart. now, there are relationships like when she dated John Mayer that I personally do think he was an asshole considering he treated Katy Perry the same way. at the same time, she writes about being a “hopeless romantic” and “deep feeler” and it’s a recipe for toxicity. you can’t go into a relationship like that. you can’t set your partner up for failure by setting unrealistically high expectations and then villafy them when they don’t meet them. but that’s what 90% of her songs are about. only somewhat recently did she put out a song like “daylight” acknowledging that when she has one of her blow ups and overreacts that SHE needs to apologize, because her insecurities and issues are HER responsibility and she can’t punish someone else for them. and like good for Joe 2.0 but the damage she’s done to her other exes is already done and she’s never going to apologize because she thinks simply being better now is apology enough. that and she’s a giant fucking hypocrite and apologizing would expose that. she needs her fanbase to be as toxic as she is so they’ll pay $50 for a blank tshirt with nothing but her name on it. 🥴