#if taylor swift has no haters i am dead

[yourlocalbadgerscales]

WAIT WAIT WAIT YOU GUYSSS

A little snippet out of “Love Story” by Taylor Swift:

That you were Romeo, you were throwing pebbles  And my daddy said, "Stay away from Juliet"  And I was crying on the staircase  Begging you, "Please don't go"  And I said

"Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone  I'll be waiting, all there's left to do is run  You'll be the prince, and I'll be the princess  It's a love story, baby, just say yes"

So I sneak out to the garden to see you  We keep quiet 'cause we're dead if they knew  So close your eyes  Escape this town for a little while, oh, oh

'Cause you were Romeo, I was a scarlet letter  And my daddy said, "Stay away from Juliet"  But you were everything to me  I was begging you, "Please don't go"  And I said

"Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone  I'll be waiting, all there's left to do is run  You'll be the prince, and I'll be the princess  It's a love story, baby, just say yes"

I’ve always felt a bit weird about this song. I’ve seen other Gaylors call out that Taylor is an amazing songwriter and has a way with words, but sometimes her lyrics turn out quite tame, almost like how Taylor Swift haters think all her songs are. And it seems like sometimes she does this on purpose, every time because she’s trying to prove a point of some sort. I have no idea if what I’m trying to say here is old news for Gaylors, but this is my first time realising this so bear with me.

Let’s take a look at this:

“That you were Romeo, you were throwing pebbles, and my daddy said stay away from Juliet.”

The interesting part here, for me at least, is the last part. Stay away from Juliet. It isn’t specified who the father says that to, “Romeo” or Taylor.

The first part is interesting as well. “That you were Romeo, you were throwing pebbles.” “You were Romeo” sounds for me like how you feel when you come to terms with liking girls. It’s a shock. There is no Romeo in your life, there is another Juliet. You look at your girl crush and realise, THIS is Romeo. Not who I thought it’d be. And your father tells you that you’re supposed to have a Romeo in your life, and this isn’t Romeo, this isn’t a boy. You’re not supposed to love a girl like this, stay away from her, stay away from Juliet. And now look at that part of the song again. “That you were Romeo, you were throwing pebbles, and my daddy said stay away from Juliet.”

Now let’s take a look at “You’ll be the prince, and I’ll be the princess.” This is one of the sentences that have made my head hurt with this song. It’s so classic, such a cliché. Not at all the Taylor we know. But if we look at it like this: here we are, two girls in love, two Juliets. And it’s so new, so unfamiliar without a Romeo, without a prince. You’re still adapting to this new feeling. It’s like a new forbidden game. “You’ll be the prince Juliet, I’ll be princess Juliet, this is a new unfamiliar game for us.”

“It’s a love story”. As if there’s need to convincing. No, it’s not all a game, this is real, these feelings are love, please. say. yes.

I will take a closer look at the whole song and all the lyrics later! Feel free to add anything you’re missing, I am more than willing to have a long conversation about Gaylor, hehe 😅

[whatupcherry]

if taylor swift has no haters then i am dead

[livvyofthelake]

shadowhunter chronicles characters and whether i think they would be swifties, a post: (obviously i am excluding all characters who are from the past and died before taylor swift even existed because frankly i don't care to debate whether mattew fairchild would be a swiftie. he's dead <3 peace and love)

clary- not at all. she listens to freak weirdo music. also she stopped keeping tabs on pop culture in 2008 so what would she even know about taylor swift unless one of her shadowhunter friends makes her listen to her. i think it's possible that in like 2014 she heard a 1989 song and loved it but didn't find out it was taylor swift until 6 months later when simon had to inform her

simon- again, weirdo freak music. he'd be the guy who only starts liking her because of folklore but unfortunately cassanda's timeline only goes to like, 2013 rn and will only go to 2015 for twp so. we'll never see that. i think he has nothing against her music because he is a Music Appreciator but he is probably a huge asshole about her as a person becuase he has a haters soul <3

jace- well i don't think jace listens to modern music <3 however i think in his post 2008 life he has more appreciation for human world art and he would eventually come across a vinyl of red or something (he's totally the type of annoying to have a record player do not dispute me on this) and i think from there he would like her, this is how clary is introduced to her music btw

alec- i literally don't think alec listens to music. other people listen to music around him, and he does NOT have a haters soul so he is NOT an asshole about any of said music.

izzy- yeah <3 and i think her and simon have had fights about it <3 it's not that deep to her though she only fights with him about taylor swift for fun and then they have crazy sex

magnus- well yeah. of course. he would love how swifties behave like a cult he would think that's soooo funny... he would love the glamour he would love her showmanship he would go to all her tours and have the time of his life. duh.

emma- yeah why not... she's a girls girl and she has an obsession with being just like jace. she is listening to taylor swift...

jules- he is listening to taylor swift with his beautiful girlfriend...

dru- dru is crucially a weirdo freak emo girl, i just know that when she puts on music it is an assult on the ears and no one likes it and ty wants to kill her about it. and also at the same time emma is functionally her big sister she looks up to and therefore she must appreciate taylor on emma's behalf

cristina- no because she's not american she doesn't have to give a shit about taylor swift

mark- if you asked mark blackthorn what his favorite song was he'd say some bullshit like "the sound of the river flowing at sunrise when the birds are chirping" so. like yeah he'd mostly be saying that just to fuck with you but goddamn that is annoying. anyway

helen- she's a gaylor. to ME

aline- the wife of a gaylor. but she thinks shake it off is the most annoying fucking song she has ever heard in her life <3

livvy- much like dru, she has to defer to emma with this, so yes she likes taylor swift, however i know in my heart of hearts that livvy is a pop music girlie and the fact that taylor was mostly country pre-livvy dying would piss her off soooo bad. she'd have to find put about 1989 from kit it would be a whole thing she'd make ty play it for her because she's a ghost who only has two friends it's terrible...

ty- it's complex. no. but also yes. but also crucially no. but yes. don't worry about it.

tessa- tessa would love ipods i know she does... girl from the victorian era living to the invention of the ipod touch.... dude. do i think she's listening to taylor on her ipod? maybe a little. but i think magnus probably made her a playlist of all the greatest songs from the last several decades that she missed while in the spiral labyrinth and she is just trying to catch up in her free time... obviously all too well is on that playlist though.

jem- man i just think he's thrilled to be alive. i think that guy likes everything, especially if tessa likes it. guy who is constantly overcome with the beauty of life fr

kit- i think he would make fun of jace for liking red so much and then he'd go home and listen to it and cry. he pretends to have the haters soul for clout but he doesn't and he never will and it makes him look fucking pathetic <3

[mysticalthingphantom]

Hey! I wanna get to know my Swiftie mutuals. Tell me your top 5 songs and albums from her. Feel free to go into depth/explain if you'd like!

hey!!! meowdy! ( yup, i read your bio and agree) nice to meet you! i'm sorry for all my lore but it is hard to talk about things i love without bringing personal matters with it. i feel like i can talk about taylor lyrics without trauma dumping so i am truly sorry for the things i wrote. but since you said you want to know your mutuals here i go!

TOP ALBUMS

1 - folklore: it is such an ethereal experience for me. i love how all the stories in it are connected in some way and the way she could create so many details for all the characters tbh i feel like i could have been any one of them and in some ways i am. i love how every song feels like summer rain, is comforting and vulnerable. i was the first album of her that i felt i could relate to 100%. is my all time favorite.

(now the positions after folklore vary depending of the day for me so i may change them later)

2 - the tortured poets department: i know is new and everyone is freaking out about it but for me that's one of the most honest pieces of music i have ever listen to it. i keep caught on all these debates about to whom she wrote it but is so stupid because these songs were never about anyone BUT taylor. she could have dated anyone and still wrote these masterpieces, it isn't about a man, it is about taylor swift. and she put SO MUCH of her heart in it that i can feel it. all that anger, all that pain, all that fear it all came from her. she is the artist. i know some critics say is easy to write 31 songs if they all look similar (haters gonna hate is so fucking true) but for me as an inspiring artist is a relief to know you can create different things about the same topic and don't feel ashamed about it. you can write about the same theme a thousand times and guess what? it can be a thousand times different because it will be a thousand different parts of yourself. everything about ttpd is so beautiful ( plus dead poets society references makes it perfect bc is my favorite movie)

3 - evermore: follows the folklore aesthetic and vibes. marjorie? champagne problems??? tolerate it???? Does she have a hidden camera in my backpack or something?

4 - speak now: i'm nineteen wtf she wrote something like THAT when she was nineteen?????? this album is so magical, It has some of the fantasy she later put on folklore and evermore but with more joy and cheerful melodies. listening to speak now is like opening my favorite book over and over. i wish i could be emma falling in love and i wish to live a timeless love and i wish i could sing long live with my friends/found family after winning a battle. i just love it all so much and never grown up? i listened to it when i was packing my things to move out of my hometown so you can imagine how much i relate to it. castles crumbling is also so close to my heart because i constantly feel i'm burning bridges and fucking things up. so yep all these fears of loneliness and failure goes present in this album goes deep .

5 - midnights: as a HUGE fan of the moon ( the moon is my true soulmate and i don't care if it "just a sattelite"or a "bunch of rocks and dust glued together" because guess what? i'm also a bunch of universal dust glued together) the whole celestial aesthetic of the album hits me like a train. all these confessions, these letters, these maniacal thoughts i have after the sun sets are not only mine. i love how she hugged me through these lyrics and showed me that everyone is haunted by ghosts after midnight. but the night time isn't just a place for nightmares, there is also hope, and joy and good dreams.

TOP SONGS

1 - mirrorball : since the first time i listened to it all i could think about is "someone finally sees me"

2 - the archer: she saw right through me. i am so scared of being seen because if someone sees me, if someone truly knows me it would hurt 1000 times more being rejected by them.

3 - you're on your own, kid: i lost all my friends after high school, literally no one of the fucking people i used to talk to every day and go to their houses and remember their birthdays. all of the people i used to open up to, the people i used to cry and laugh with just didn't reach out anymore and i know it is half my fault but it made me realize how truly alone i am as a human. It doesn't matter how much you connect with someone you are always on your own at the end of the day and she literally summarized that feeling in a fucking song.

4 - i can do it with a broken heart: because you still can be a mirrorball even when the ones you built the show for have left.

5 - the lakes: dead poets society vibes and i'm also a poet and i also want to run away.

6 - renegade: (you asked for 5 but here is a bonus track for you haha <3) i sing that song is a platonic way because it translates so much of my relationships with my friends and family. i sing along thinking about them and i know they could sing thinking about me because of trauma and miscommunication is such a top topic in all that.

[sickandtiredanddepressed]

Dear Taylor Swift (An Open Letter)

Dear Taylor Swift,

I am reaching out because you are extremely successful (read: wealthy) and therefore you hold a lot of power in this country. Part of why I feel so compelled to write this open letter is because I have no idea if you know this. I think you do, and that’s my problem. You have liberal views and call yourself a feminist (at least that’s what a 2014 article confirmed when did I quick search), but you’re always silent. You take comfort in being silence, and your wealth and power allows you to do so. I am so fed up with white liberalism, so I’m channeling the anger that I feel toward every silent rich person with a platform into this letter. It is my responsibility to do everything I can to help my people see the end of a LITERAL. GENOCIDE. (If the concept of genocide isn’t fucking absurd enough, people are disputing what counts as genocide, ethnic cleansing, and apartheid. Can you believe it?!)

I have a few theories as to why you have been dead silent:

a) You have no idea. This will seem far-fetched to most people who have been on the internet in the last four months, but I can definitely see how it’s possible. You could have an amazing algorithm that doesn’t show you any ‘negativity’. You probably know that you can filter out certain words. I think it’s possible for people (read: white, rich) to go through the world and never come in contact with any news they see as ‘not affecting them directly’. Or maybe you have someone who only shows you the nice things your fans post. I thought maybe you personally didn’t use social media, but from what I’ve learned against my will, you love to leave little Easter eggs, so maybe you are still turned in. Maybe you’ve been advised to not address what’s been happening…

b) Your PR team told you to ignore it. C’mon, your PR team has to know that people on the internet are mad that you haven’t said a word about the war crimes being committed by a country you do have ties to… honestly, I don’t even care to look up if you ever performed or been there. (But I do know that your movie still played there.) Is this part of the strategy? Wait for it all to blow over? I see how it worked before. Do you think those articles written about how you famously never speak out about any injustices that don’t affected you directly to the point of messing with your comfort are just from a bunch of haters? Then again, maybe your PR team never even brought it up and we’re back to point a.

c) ‘There’s nothing I can do’ / ‘It’s not my place to speak’. If people are telling you that just a few words from you has the potential to help (even the tiniest of bits) those being systematically bombed to hell for living on their own land, why wouldn’t you? It’s not a hard choice. (Then again, I wouldn’t be surprised if you don’t know any of this shit, like most Americans. Still.) I feel so useless and I’m trying to do everything in my power to help, but it’s fucking frustrating when you have a big red button and aren’t pressing it. Good news: I am personally inviting you to speak on the issue. (I mean it. Say something.) Issues like genocide, ethnic cleansing, tactical starvation are humanitarian crises that are pretty clear-cut. (Then again, like I said, the past four months have proven otherwise.) You’re not in scientology, are you? You are free to do your own research. (If you need help, I can provide helpful factsheets and links!) But you already know what you think because…

d) Your silence means you have chosen a side. Again, there is plenty of useful sites for you to explore. I implore you to reach across the aisle. (Don’t tell me private jets don’t have Wi-Fi?!) Maybe reach out to your friends Gigi and Bella Hadid. Ask them why they have been getting backlash and dropped by brands. I’d bet anything that you’ve only heard one side.

e) You legally cannot say anything or, at the very least, doing so would jeopardize important business relationships. I don’t give a shit. You are worth a billion dollars. Whatever legal fees could come up would be tens of dollars to you. You are the most successful artist today. You don’t have to rely on anyone else to do whatever the fuck you want. I also don’t care if it’s naïve of me to say. I’m constantly sick to my stomach seeing pictures of bloody, dead children and babies pop up on my social media feed because people are begging for the world to do something.

f) You don’t care. Then I want you to say it.

But you never will. So, if you won’t use your fame, power, and wealth to help then I will use it for you.

You are ignoring the most recent phase of genocide, ethnic cleaning, and settler colonialism. (Look up those terms.) Supporting Palestine is not antisemitic. It’s pretty insulting to claim that such atrocious acts and blatant racism are done for the sake of Judaism, and I’ve heard Rabbis’ echo this sentiment. Judaism is a religion; Zionism is a political movement that uses political tactics like pinkwashing. (I know for a fact you don’t know what that means. Look it up.) Everything you know or heard is probably racist or Islamophobic rhetoric. Maybe you have no interest because you think Muslims are sexist, oppressive people. Unless you’re against all religion, it is hypocritical and xenophobic to think that. (There are also Jews and Christians in Palestine, by the way.) Broaden your circle and learn from the people themselves. (And seriously, look up what pinkwashing means. I think that will be the most relevant to you, especially if you don’t care about all this race crap.)

To see the truth, look to those who have been risking their lives everyday by putting themselves out there publicly to show to the world what is actually happening in Gaza; people like Bisan, Motaz, and a NINE-YEAR-OLD JOURNALIST named Lama. Some of the images and videos they share are beyond inhumane and disturbing. I can’t imagine anyone could see that shit and still think it is justified. (Oh, wait! People online do say that! See: the brainwashed, xenophobic West.) You can even see it straight from the source since they post their crimes on Facebook as casually as a fishing trip. I’m guessing you haven’t seen any of these pictures or videos…

If you’re still thinking ‘what does this have to do with me??’, then damn, you need to go back and everything more closely. You have power and influence and there is reason to act like it doesn’t involve you (see point c). I’ve gotten to the point of writing an open letter because I see comments by Swifties that say Gaza has nothing to do with you. I think I outlined how it does pretty well for someone who can’t focus on anything anymore and thinks everything in life is completely trivial if it’s not spend trying to stop the extermination of Palestinians.

Back to race, your favorite. Arabs (and Muslims) are not foreign, backwards people who bring everything bad upon themselves because they’re stuck in the stone age and all the West tries to do is ‘help’ by ‘spreading’ ‘democracy’. You probably sympathize for your fans who live on occupied land and got to see your movie. I want you to know that what is going on is not a war. Palestine has no army; the tens of thousands who have died in the past four months are civilians, including TEN THOUSAND children, and that’s not even the worst of it. That doesn’t even scratch the surface. The details are fucking horrific, but they are less horrific to the world because what is being done is being done to Arabs and Muslims. (So? Who cares? Jinx!)

Any fan who has a problem with me or anything I said here, fuck off. If you’re angry about this, then you’re probably white and I mean it when I say I’m fucking done with white liberalism. It’s deadly. Again: I can’t handle anymore posts of dead men, women, children, and babies. I can’t take any more of the piercing screams from anguished men, women, and children as they hold onto their dead loved ones. If calling out a white celebrity billionaire even has the slightest chance of changing the current so there will be no more shaking, shell-shocked children, then I’ll do it over and over again.

Taylor, I want a response, and if there is none, you are a coward.

Yours truly,

A Palestinian American

P.S. Not sure if you know this, but let me be the first to tell you that the NFL is a deeply racist organization ❤️

[josiebelladonna]

cooking is such an emotional endeavor, perhaps more than art and writing. i think i’m just going to stop sharing my food with everyone because it’s obvious that no one cares.

i genuinely hated this movie, and it irritates me how Twitter stans the hell out of it, but this whole thing reminds me of “don’t look up.” everyone caring more about petty bullshit that has zero relevance on anything than any real threats or anything that might be enlightening or helpful.

this is complete horse shit. for years, since 2015, facebook has left me out to dry and i’m done. i am fucking DONE.

i could tell everyone to shut the fuck up about your precious taylor swift already but they’re not going to listen: seriously, any time i see anything about her now, i think the same thing: “who the fuck cares?! no one should care about this as much as they do, this is so stupid!!”. i could say that your precious gazans all have copies of mein kampf in their houses but they’re not going to care: if anything, they’re going to argue with me. “free palestine” is about as brain-dead as they come.

i’m not even going to go anywhere near taylor anymore. i’ve blocked all the palestine tags (but i still look for palestinian voices who actually want to do something). you are all ruining feminism by being antisemitic, anti-israel, and screaming about taylor swift’s haters. you have killed feminism, actually. it’s beyond a parody of itself now: it’s dead. it’s fucking dead. i know it’s dead because i can’t use it to stand up against sexist metalheads who threw me out for being a girl.

and i’m going to let them all starve instead.

no. you didn’t give a shit when i showed you a dish i was proud of and handed you a recipe for the hell of it. you didn’t give a shit when i shared you my poetry or a story i was proud of (or worse, you patronized me and told me it’s probably not good enough). and you really didn’t give a shit when testament shared my art twice. when the nukes fall out of the sky and our country stares down oblivion at this next election and h*mas comes for us all… no. you all can choke on it.

[firstprince-ao3feed]

For the first time what's past is past

For the first time, what's past is past https://ift.tt/gFO0yKH by queeriocheerio “Henry.” An icy voice floated in through the door. Henry froze and turned his head toward the sound. His grandmother had appeared in the hallway. “What do you think you’re doing?” “I, um,” Henry stuttered. “Just playing with Beatrice, Grandmother.” His grandmother huffed. “Don’t be ridiculous.” She walked over to the two of them and snatched the doll from Henry’s hand. “Boys don’t play with dolls. Especially not princes.” Or, 3 times Henry was stopped from being feminine and 1 time he wasn't. Words: 2749, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Series: Part 2 of Pink is Pretty Fandoms: Red White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston, Red White & Royal Blue (2023) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: M/M Characters: Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, Alex Claremont-Diaz, Queen Mary (Red White & Royal Blue), Philip Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, Beatrice Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, Catherine Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor Relationships: Alex Claremont-Diaz/Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Henry Pov, Toxic Masculinity, if queen mary has 100 haters i am one of them, if queen mary has 1 hater i am that hater, if queen mary has 0 haters i am dead, 3+1, Traditional gender roles (ew), Flashbacks, Fluff, Banter, cursing, no beta we die bc i wrote this in like a day instead of doing my work, Title from a Taylor Swift Song via AO3 works tagged 'Alex Claremont-Diaz/Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor' https://ift.tt/WcNLahS November 29, 2023 at 08:25AM

[cleoselene]

my vinyl wishlist of shit that’s not ever been on vinyl

1. Tori Amos - Scarlet’s Walk.  THIS MIGHT BE RELEASED THIS YEAR.  But it might be bullshit.  Plz don’t be bullshit, PLZ.  This album was released in 2002 which was a “dead zone” time period for vinyl.  Ditto goes for The Beekeeper and American Doll Posse.  But I fear the haters may delay those releases a lot, especially The Beekeeper.  I would like to fight everyone who made Tori hate that album, because it’s fucking gorgeous.

2. Taylor Swift - The COMPLETE Midnights.  I am not even going to call it the ‘Til Dawn Edition because tbh I feel like before she releases the whole thing on vinyl she is likely to tuck another song or two onto it and make it the 24 Hour Edition or something.  Someone on the swiftiemerch comm theorized that the eventual full vinyl release of Midnights will be 26 songs -- 13 songs on each LP.  Right now she has 9/13 written so I don’t think this is outside the realm of possibility.  Whatever the eventual track count is, I WANT IT.  My entire feelings on Midnights as an album changed when I heard it on a proper record player.  The production sounds SO much better.  It feels more detached in digital formats and I feel a much stronger connection to the songs on vinyl which is why it’s KILLING me that the 3AM/’Til Dawn tracks that are among my faves are not yet on vinyl!  I’m actually so into vinyl now I canceled my spotify account (tho partly because Amazon Music gave me 3 free months for ... buying a record, haha) because I’ve become that kind of snob who finds the experience SO much richer.

3. Leighton Meester - Heartstrings. CRIES because this will never happen but this little album is so luscious and beautiful and actually some of Midnights feels like a sister to Heartstrings.  “Labyrinth” in particular has that same dreamy vibe to Leighton’s album, which she described as “dreampop.”  I LOVE IT PUT IT ON VINYL AND PUT OUT ANOTHER ALBUM PLZ LEIGHTON

4. Literally any album by The Amazing Devil.  This is a possibility I think, more than Leighton’s at least, but as they’ve never released any physical copies of their music whatsoever, it’s also a long shot.  BUT JOEY, I KNOW YOU’RE ON TUMBLR: PLZ GIVE US YOUR BEAUTIFUL MUSIC ON VINYL.  YOUR SONGS WERE MADE FOR ANALOG.   I have a NEED to hear “Farewell Wanderlust” in all its vinyl glory.

5. Lil Nas X - Montero.  How the fuck did this not get a vinyl release?  And you know Nas would have put together the coolest, most stylish packaging for a deluxe vinyl!  This is a genre-defining album and it is a fucking CRIME that it’s not on vinyl!

[oneweekoneband]

I’m slightly nauseous already with knowing I’m going to say this, but what does “self-awareness”  even mean? In modern parlance, as a descriptive phrase, as a comment on art? I’m asking in earnest, like, I’ve been Googling lately, which for me is basically on par with doctoral study in terms of academic rigor. The self is king, anyway, tyrant, so where is the line of distinction between material that intentionally is nodding at some truth about the artist’s life and what’s just, like, all the rest of the regular navel-gazing bullshit. I mean, I’m all self, I am guilty here. I can’t get it out of my poems or even make it more quiet. This is the tenth time I’ve invoked “I” in the space of six sentences. Processing art has always necessitated a certain amount of grappling with the creator, but the busywork of it lately grows more and more tedious. Joy drains out of my body parsing marks left behind not just in stylistic tendencies and themes, but in literal, intentional tags like graffiti on a water tower. This feels an age old and moth-holed complaint, dull, and I am no historian, or really a serious thinker of any kind. I’ve now complained at some length about self-referential art, but didn’t I love how Martin Scorsese nodded to the famous Goodfellas Copacabana tracking shot with the opening frames of last year’s The Irishman? Didn’t I find that terribly fun and sort of sweet? So there’s distinctions. I’m only saying I don’t know with certainty what they even are. I’m unreliable, and someone smarter than me has likely already solved my quandary about why self-knowledge often transforms into overly precious self-reflexivity in such a way that the knowledge is diminished and obscured, leaving only cutesy Easter eggs behind. Postmodernism has birthed a moralizing culture where art exists to be termed either “self-aware Good” or “self-aware Bad”.  Self-referentiality in media is so commonplace, so much the standard, that what was once credited as metatextual inventiveness often feels lazy now. In 1996, Scream was revitalizing a genre. Today, two thirds of all horror movies spend half their running time making sure that you know that they know they’re a horror movie, which is fine, I guess, except sometimes you just wanna watch someone get butchered with an axe in peace. 

This is all to say that in 2020 Taylor Swift looked long and hard upon her image in the reflecting pool of her heart and has written yet another song about Gone Girl.

“mirrorball” is a very good piece of Gone Girl —feels insane to tell anyone reading a post on a blog what Gone Girl is but, you know, the extremely popular 2012 novel about a woman who pretends to have been murdered and frames her husband for it, and subsequently the 2014 film adaption where you kinda see Ben Affleck’s dick for a second—fanfiction. It would be a fine song, a good song, really, even if it weren’t that, if it were just something normal and not unhinged written by a chill person who behaves in a regular way, but we need to acknowledge the facts for what they are. When Taylor Swift watched Rosamund Pike toss her freshly self-bobbed hair out of her face and hiss, “You think you’d be happy with some nice Midwestern girl? No way, baby. I’m it!” her brain lit up like a Christmas tree, and she’s never been the same. If you Google “taylor swift gone girl” there waiting for you will be a medium sized lake’s worth of articles speculating about how Gone Girl influenced and is referenced in past Swift singles “Blank Space” and “Look What You Made Me Do”. This is not new behavior, and if anything it’s getting a bit troubling to think that it’s been this long since Taylor’s read another book. Still, while the prior offerings were a fair attempt at this particular feat of depravity, “mirrorball” has brought Taylor’s Amy Elliott Dunne deification to stunning new heights. And most importantly, Taylor has done a service to every person alive with more than six brain cells and a Internet connection by putting an end to the “Cool Girl” discourse once and for all. By the power invested in “mirrorball”, it is hereby decreed that the Cool Girl speech from Gone Girl is neither feminist or antifeminist, not ironic nor aspirational. No. It’s something much better than all that. It’s a threat. I ! Can ! Change ! Everything ! About ! Me ! To ! Fit ! In !

Gone Girl (2012) by Gillian Flynn

“mirrorball” (2020) by Taylor Swift

When the twinkly musical stylings of Jack Antonoff, a man I distinctly distrust, but for no one specific reason, whirl to life at the beginning of this song I feel instantly entranced, blurry-brained and pleasure-pickled like an infant beneath a light-up crib mobile or, I guess, myself in the old times, the outside times, three tequila sodas deep under the disco lights at The Short Stop. Under a mirrorball in my head. I know very little about music, as a craft, and I really don’t care to know more. I’m happy in a world of pure, dumb sensation. I’m not even sure what kind of instruments are making these jangly little sounds. I just like it. I am vibing. We may not ever be able to behave badly in a club again, but I can sway to my stupid Taylor Swift-and-the-brother-of-the-lady-who-makes-like-those-sweatshirts-with-little-sayings-or-like-vulvas-which-famous-white-women-wear-on-instagram-you-know-what-I-mean song, pressing up onto my tiptoes on the linoleum tile of our kitchen floor and can feel for a second or two something approaching bliss. “mirrorball” is a lush sound bath that I like a lot and then also it’s about being all things to all people, chameleoning at a second’s notice, doing Oscar worthy work on every Zoom call, performing the you who is good, performing the you who is funny, performing the you who draws a liter of your own blood and throws it around the kitchen then cleans it up badly all to get your husband sent to jail for sleeping with a college student... Too much talk about making and unmaking of the self is way too, like, 2012 Tumblr for me now, and I start hearing the word “praxis” ring threateningly in my head, but I’m not yet so evolved that I don’t feel a pull. Musings on the disorganized self—on how we are new all the time, and not just because of all the fresh skin coming up under the dead, personhood in the end so frighteningly flexible—are always going to compel me, I’m afraid, but that goes double for musings on the disorganized self which posit that Taylor Swift still thinks Amy Dunne made some points.

Because on “mirrorball” Taylor is for once not hamfistedly addressing some “hater”, in the quiet and the lack of embarrassing martyrdom it actually offers an interesting answer to the complaint that Taylor is insufficiently self-aware. This criticism emerges often in tandem with claiming to have discovered some crack in the chassis of Swift’s public self, revealing the sweetness to be insincere. My instinct is to dismiss this more or less out of hand as just a mutation of the school of thought that presumes all work by women must be autobiography. And, regardless, it is made altogether laughable by the fact that anyone actually paying attention has known since at least Speak Now, a delightful record populated by the most appalling, horrible characters imaginable, and all of them written by a twenty year old Taylor Swift, that this woman is a pure weirdo. To accuse Taylor Swift of lacking in self-awareness is a reductive misunderstanding, I think, of artifice. Being a fake bitch takes work. Which is to say, if we agree that her public self is a calculated performance—eliding the fact that all public selves are a performance to avoid getting too in the weeds yadda yadda— why, then, should it be presumed that performance is rooted in ignorance? Would it not make more sense that, in fact, someone able to contort themselves so ably into various shapes for public consumption would have a certain understanding of the basic materials they’re working with and concealing? Taylor Swift, in a decade and a half of fame, has presented herself from inside a number of distinct packages. The gangly teenager draped in long curls like climbing wisteria who wrote lyrics down her arms in glitter paint gave way to red lipstick, a Diet Coke campaign, and bad dancing at awards shows. There was the period where she was surrounded constantly by a gaggle of models, then suddenly wasn’t anymore, and that rough interlude with the bleached hair. The whole Polaroid thing. Last year she boldly revealed she’s a democrat. Now it’s the end of the world and she’s got frizzy bangs and flannels and muted little piano songs. Perhaps this endless shape-shifting contradicts or undermines, for some, the pose of tender authenticity which has remained static through each phase, but that doesn’t mean she hasn’t been doing it all on purpose the entire time. I’ve never been a natural, all I do is try, try, try...

In the Disney+ documentary—which, in order to watch, I had to grudgingly give the vile mouse seven dollars, because the login information that I’d begged off of my little sister didn’t work and I was too embarrassed to bring it up a second time—Taylor referred to “mirrorball” as the first time on the album where she explicitly addressed the pandemic, referring to the lyrics that start, “And they called off the circus, Burned the disco down,” and end with “I’m still on that tightrope, I’m still trying everything to get you laughing at me,” which actually did made me laugh, feeling sort of warmly foolish and a little fond, because it never would have occurred to me that she was trying to be literal there. I suppose we really do all contain multitudes. Hate that.

[nvcturnes]

rafa... it’s okay king ... go into the light

good evening to bilingual short kings, soccer haters, aerosmith cover bands, owners of orange 1972 competition fender mustangs, Gays™, bicons, ghosts that are in a band, band members that are not ghosts, radio assistant hopefuls, sad boys, rock fans, mechanics who will change your oil for a bag of doritos, supportive parents ( deceased ), and supportive parents ( alive ).

i’m emily & in addition to spending my days as a bio research tech, i will be ur host for the evening. i’m 22 for for 13 more days, i use she / her pronouns, i’m from the est timezone, & i am deeply sorry in advance.

u can find rafa’s full app here & his pinterest here if ur so inclined ! trigger warning for death bc he is, as we know, dead.

THE BASICS !

skeleton. nocturne.

full name. rafael medina.

age. twenty-four.

gender / pronouns. cis man, he / him.

faceclaim. taylor zakhar perez.

THE BACKGROUND ! 

now it’s time for what you missed on glee <3

baby rafa was born to a single mom named beatriz in london & she was a dancer for the royal ballet ! p much as soon as she was cleared to dance after giving birth, she dragged him along, so he grew up watching ballet 

he was always a lil bit of a scamp but he knew to be polite around the dancers and musicians, Especially during rehearsals

one day he wandered into the pit while they were playing and was in Awe of the first chair violinist

his name is alexei and we love him <3

five yr old rafa asked a million questions abt his violin & basically said okay magic man ur coming to my house for dinner to show me more of your crazy techniques... but lemme ask my mom first

beatriz debby ryan hair tucks and says yes 😌

spoiler alert they get married 🥺 a happy family 🥺

rafa grows up... gets better at the violin... makes first chair in high school... has a gay awakening when he sees abs in the locker room for two (2) seconds

strike one: the teen magazine that rafa stole off some girls told him his crush is “hot like burning” and he got so stressed he threw it away. strike two: his crush kissed him in the MIDDLE OF GYM CLASS. nasty. strike three: when rafa tried to talk to him in the hallway he said ‘do i know you’. ouch

so anyway ladies theydies and gaydies never trust a man

i’m so sorry to do this to y’all but just when rafa is about to play with the royal ballet orchestra for the first time as part of an internship... his parents die before ever making it to the performance :/

rafa... does not take it well and i do not blame him

he moves to the US to get away from all the memories & buries himself in as much work as possible to distract himself from his grief

some of the only things he brought with him were alexei’s violin & beatriz’s pointe shoes but he can barely look at them 😔

fun fact he gets fired from his job at the times square olive garden ( also known as the ninth circle of hell ) for telling a customer to go fuck himself after ordering his 15th round of unlimited breadsticks. king shit

anyway he eventually moves from nyc to la to get even Farther away and after making some friends, he eventually stumbles upon photography !

he’s surprisingly good at it, and he especially loves combining it w his love of music when he starts photographing shows and music festivals

eventually he meets this big indie artist named phoenix, whose music style is, as i recently described to admin a, “absolute hipster asshole fedora bastard” bc this was 2013 after all

*tolerate it by taylor swift plays*

spoiler alert: we still don’t trust a man :/

rafa gets caught up in all the allure of fame and thinking he’s in love, even though phoenix is the Worst kind of self-absorbed asshole who won’t even call him his bf

eventually he’s like hey ! this is bullshit ! and decides to break up w phoenix after a show that he’s shooting that night 

except he uhhhh gets robbed at knifepoint but refuses to give up his camera and d words

but it gets WORSE bc phoenix writes a whole ALBUM about it and goes on TOUR for that album while rafa’s ashes sit in a cheap urn in a closet in his house in la

this dude is shitty i’m telling u

final edition of Rafa Gets Bamboozled: he gets SCAMMED out of his soul bc this kind-looking dude that reminds him of alexei promises to help him figure out his unfinished business but just straight up steals his soul instead

so sorry to that man... i know i did this to him but at least i’m sorry abt it

THE PERSONALITY !

GAY. big gay. yes this is a personality trait

usually Gruff and Not Fun but like... can u blame him damn

he does have a heart underneath it all but every time he’s attempted to have a connection with someone it’s ended in disaster so he’s not really trying to do that anymore :/

absolutely not a fan of opening up to anyone for any reason ever. if he had ever gone to college i think he would’ve physically fought his orientation leader for like... asking where he’s from SDGDSLKJG

sarcasm and dry wit r the name of the game babey. if u catch him making a pun the rafa u know is dead and gone ( for real this time )

in conclusion he needs to be loved

congrats u made it through the chaos ! now it’s time to plot xoxo

[bananaofswifts]

A disclaimer for Taylor Swift fans who have stumbled upon this review: I am agnostic on Taylor Swift. I’m not for her or against her. I’m passingly familiar with her music, but beyond that I didn’t know much about her origins, her career, or her public persona. If you’re like me in this regard, you’ll still find Lana Wilson‘s documentary Miss Americana a captivating watch as it uses Swift’s story to explore a pop icon’s political awakening and her complicated relationship with fame. There’s nothing here to make new Swift fans or change the opinions of her haters, but that’s kind of the point of the documentary: to disregard the audience in favor of examining the relationship between a female celebrity and her followers, and how fame can prove to be a personal prison until you figure out how to take control of your narrative even it means losing popularity.

The documentary begins with Swift doing some songwriting with her cat also playing the keys (her cat almost steals the show) before shifting into Swift learning she received no major Grammy nominations for her 2018 album Reputation. This turn provides the frame for the whole movie, which is the story of a woman who based her entire career on making strangers happy having to learn what will make her happy even if it may upset some fans. Wilson then charts Swift’s meteoric rise with how fame and her public persona kept forcing her into dark places. Swift knows that her brand is “the nice girl”, and that nice girls don’t make waves or make people feel uncomfortable. And yet even playing the nice girl, her grasp on popularity remained tenuous as she becomes embroiled in media controversies over her dating life, her authenticity, and her demeanor. Seemingly faced with a no-win situation, Swift fights to wrest back control by examining what’s truly important to her.

What’s surprising about Miss Americana is how little of the documentary is about her music. Sure, there’s plenty of behind-the-scenes footage of Swift working on her songs and being on stage, but the documentary isn’t interested in engaging with a critical assessment of her pop songs or why Swift has succeeded where other singer-songwriters have failed, which is fine. I’m not particularly interested in a movie that’s trying to convince its audience why Taylor Swift’s music is good because it’s clear that Swift feels in her zone when she’s just working. For Swift and for Miss Americana, the drama is in Swift wrestling with her public persona and what it means to be a country-pop star who’s been famous since she was a teenager.

The documentary gives Swift the floor to say her peace on conversations about her weight, her love life, and what her public demands. What makes Swift a captivating central figure is that she’s so articulate and self-aware of her status as a public figure, and yet that awareness turned out to be a double-edged sword. Swift if not some record label product who can’t think for herself. The problem, as Swift knows, is that part of her appeal is being an apolitical “nice girl”, and any authenticity has to be filtered through the toxic mores of what our society demands from women in the public sphere. She knows that you don’t rise through the ranks of country music by telling people what they don’t want to hear, but what happens when you want to talk about more than breakup songs?

Miss Americana becomes electric in its final act as Swift finally reaches a political awakening. While I’m not going to lie and say I’m indifferent towards Swift sharing political views similar to my own (pro-gay rights, pro-renewing the Violence Against Women Act), even if they weren’t, it’s refreshing to see Swift trying to thread the needle of reinvention while voicing political opinions that will undoubtedly lose her fans who don’t agree with her beliefs. The film notes how the Dixie Chicks were received when they spoke out against George W. Bush in 2003 and the blowback they endured from country fans. Swift is far more careful in crafting her message, but she’s willing to say it nonetheless.

Swift’s awareness of her public persona and how she’s perceived gives Miss Americana a low-hum of image management, which in turn makes you question the authenticity of Swift. But the second you start walking down the road of “Is Swift authentic or not?” you’ve hit a dead-end because it does not matter. Some may argue that Swift’s perceived authenticity is essential to her career and her art, but I’d counter (to borrow a line from Miller’s Crossing) nobody knows anybody, not that well. To make a judgment on whether someone you’ll never meet is “authentic” or not is a fool’s errand, and I was bewildered by the headlines that were more concerned with Swift’s persona than her music.

Detractors may point out that Miss Americana is Swift’s way of having her cake and eating it too. She gets to control her narrative in a favorable documentary that upholds her persona as an introspective artist, but swats down anyone who interrogates that persona. For someone like me who has no investment in that persona one way or the other, I find the documentary refreshing as a larger take on the perils of female fame. Is the politically-woke Taylor Swift of Miss Americana just another “reinvention” to keep her career alive? Perhaps, but I have no reason to not take Swift at her word because I, and I assume everyone reading this, are strangers to her. We’re not her family. We’re not her friends. At most, we can be fans, and for most of her career, Swift determined that the approval of those fans, those strangers, was paramount. That was a prison, and it’s encouraging to see Swift break free.

Rating: B

[thebestpeopleinlifearefreets]

hey Taylor so I started a project about us writing 1989 things you have taught us since you’re born in 1989, unfortunately not many participated but still here’s a few things you’ve taught us :

(Feel free to added on with your fav 1989 song, photo and what it’s taught you) 1989 things Taylor has taught us 

1. Fav song on 1989 : Shake It Off; tumblr @thebestpeopleinlifearefreets​ 

Shake it off taught me to always keep shaking no matter what, to keep going to keep living life and to keep breathing even in dark times 

2. Fav song on 1989: this love  

what it taught me: it helped me during a time of heart breaking grief I was experiencing. The lyrics this love is alive back from the dead, when you’re young you just run but you come back to what you need, in silent screams wildest dreams I never dreamed of this, and so many more obviously just spoke the loudest to me. Music is all about interpretation, and for me the song really related to the death of a loved one that I had to face head on, even though it killed me. 

Tumblr username: Taylorswiftsis  Name: darya @taylorswiftsis

3. 

My favorite song from 1989 is : New Romantics 

 because I have gone through a lot with bullying and fake friends. The line “Cause baby I could build a castle out of all the bricks they threw at me” helps me get through it.

Tumblr: Taylorfan10 Name: Addison @taylorfan10

4. My favourite song from 1989 : wildest dreams 

 Wildest Dreams, because it taught me that Taylor can literally add anything to her music (her heartbeat) to make it more personal and she really had no hope for love at that point, but she was able to rise against that and believe in it again. 

Tumblr: wildest-dreams-ts13 Name : Kylie @wildest-dreams-ts13

5. My favourite  song is I know places

And the album taught me that whatever hardships I go through I just need to get back up and try again

Tumblr: rip-reputation Name: martine @rip-reputation

6. My favourite song is blank space  

Blank Space is still fun to sing & dance to 

  I am an older Swiftie that grew up most of my life with the lowest self esteem.  This was due to a very rough childhood.  There was abuse at home & I didn't know the definition of love.  I was very shy because I was in constant fear which caused bullying at school.  I wanted to die.  I am married with Children that have now flown the coop.  This song brought out this inner strength that I never knew existed.  I felt stronger as a person.  I know I am a good person & will never let anyone get the best of me!  I absolutely LOVE singing this song!!  What makes "Blank Space" even more special is that I was lucky to have met Andrea/Mama Swift in Minneapolis.  We were singing & dancing to Taylor singing "Blank Space" like 2 old friends having a great time!  She is so nice . This song along with many others will always have a place in my heart.    I am forever grateful to Taylor Swift, I just Love her!! 

Tumblr user @10ireland13 Name : sherry @10ireland13

7. Tumblr name LaurenSwifty  name: Lauren @laurenswifty 

Favorite song: clean 

Lesson: 1989 taught me that things may not go how you want or planned but it all works out in the end and you wouldn’t change those setbacks for the world  8.

My favourite song is out of the woods 

8. The 1989 song that taught me the most is probably Out Of The Woods. It showed me how strong and brave I could be and helped me to overcome my trauma. I know everyone has a heavy heart sometimes, but OOTW makes it feel okay. Now I see that even after the darkest times if my life, there's still a chance of seeing light again - and that's what I'm thanking this song for. ~  

Tumblr: @Taylorisiert Name (Ariana) @taylorisiert

9. My favourite song is shake it off 

 My favourite song on 1989 is Shake It Off because it has taught us to shake off the haters. Haters gonna hateeeee. - laurie (tumblr: laurielovestaylor )

@laurielovestaylor

10.  @daisyadorestaylor @daisyadorestaylor 

11. 

12.

Clean taught me to never let your past battles define your life. It taught me that you are stronger because of what you have faced. 

Barb

Tumblr: once-a-Swiftie-always-a-Swiftie @once-a-swiftie-always-a-swiftie

13.   

@luxurieswift  @luxurieswift​

14. Name: Jenna (16)

Tumblr: 

@loverswiftxx

Favorite Song of 1989: Clean

Lesson Taught: The song Clean has taught be a lot about friendships and people in your life, the song was released at a time when i was going through a lot with my friends and was unhappy with the friends I had. The song really taught me that you don’t need to hold onto toxic friendships in your life and you are better off without the people who make you unhappy and miserable. This song really inspired me to forget the toxic friends that made me unhappy and make new friends who make me happy and really care about me. Overall, Clean really has made me happier as a person and helped me through a hard time in my life!

15. (Insert your own message) 

@taylorswift​ @taylornation​

[jlf23tumble]

Questions?

Tagged by @alienfuckeronmain, she knows I’m down for narse hour!

Nickname? In my line of work, you live and die by your initials, so a lot of colleagues would probably say Jiff or Jiffy (for JF); my brother would say Jen-la (from when he was a kid and just added -la to the end of everyone’s names)

Real name? Jen (which I suppose is a nickname in and of itself, but I rarely, if ever, use the full version)

Zodiac sign? Pisces Sun, Capricorn moon, Capricorn rising (so much mud!)

Favorite musicians/groups? Amy Winehouse, Lana Del Rey, Childish Gambino, Khalid, Lizzo, Orville Peck, Spice Girls, Stromae, Taylor Swift, Bloc Party, Lily Allen, Kendrick Lamar, MIA, Little Mix, First Aid Kit, the Kinks, the Libertines, Stormzy, Blur, Diana Ross, Kasabian, the Smiths, the Specials, Princess Superstar, Minutemen, Lush, Elastica, Scissor Sisters, David Bowie, Rihanna, Queen, Tyler the Creator, Patsy Cline, Pulp, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, One Direction, Arctic Monkeys, to name a random scroll through recent overly played pieces

Favorite sports team? I grew up WAY NorCal, so all the SF teams (Warriors, Giants, 49ers), even though I only pay attention if those teams make it to the end of whatever season it is, I’m the fairest of fair weather fans

Other blogs? Oh god, so many, and I would probably do so many more! @harry-carries highlights how much shit Harry Styles carries in one hand, @daily-hs2o reminds us all to drink more water, @marathonficbreak is the place for short-n-spicy reads, @fanfic-moodboard is a visual place for fic recs (so neglected, I promise to come back soon, my love), @1dzodiac is a guide to the signs as they relate to the members of One Direction, @pubefest2020 is comin’ for us all this month, @dogladies is as it says, a place for ladies posing with dogs, and my very favorite is @momrry, which celebrates all things maternal Harry Styles (I gotta get better with tagging beyond the hids, but this blog’s followers are the purest on this hellsite, the love they have for her, sigh)

Do I get asks? I sure do, and I love (most of) them! They run a pretty wide gamut: princess harry haters/angry ex-larrie harries/hand-wringing louies (though I think I’ve blocked most of those), aesthetic blogs wondering what the FUCK they’re looking at, beautiful people who read tags and wonder what the FUCK I’m talking about, fic requesters, mutuals of mutuals with closed inboxes who want to share some love, people just helpin’ my dumb ass out when I wonder about stuff, recap requesters, etc. I’m probably missing some of my favorites, but generally speaking, they’re great, especially the nice ones.

How many blogs do I follow? Around 200, but some of those are dead, and I’m just hoping they’ll return so I don’t unfollow

Tumblr crushes? Too many to list!!! I crush on all of the ones I’m followin’

Lucky number? 3

What am I wearing? H&M stretchy jeans, a vintage Las Vegas t-shirt, ratty cardigan--my uniform!

Dream vacation? Anywhere that lets me have some solo time and then time with friends/family (as for places, god, anywhere, I love to travel)

Dream car? Vintage BMW 2002 or Dodge Darts from the ‘60s

Favorite food? Big-time savory savorer here, so I’ll take almost any appetizer (I love a dip especially)

Drink of choice? Fancy-pants cocktails!!! The bubblier, the better!

Instruments? I have a bass guitar and used to be able to handle dumdum tab for it, but it has been SEVERAL minutes.

Languages? I came so close to minoring in French in college, but I haven’t kept up with it (I can definitely get by in France, but I’m not the best speaker). I know enough Spanish to understand the very basics of what I’m hearing or reading, but speaking it? Something I really need to work on!

Celebrity crushes? I’m awful with these because I tend to crush more on characters than I do on people, there’s always SOMETHING that ruins whatever fantasy you build up in a celeb, but if we’re going with actual people, I’d say Hedy Lamar for the ladies (she’s beautiful and ALWAYS thinking about inventing wi-fi), but I suppose we need a living lady, so I’ll go with Kate Moss (she’s also beautiful, and yeah, she’s thinking about how she’s from Croyden, she’s done a bunch of shit, and she seems fun, but she also NEVER speaks, so for all I know, she’s the absolute worst, which feels risky, but I said what I said). For the dudes, gotta be John Boyega and/or Oscar Isaac (both are so hot and funny, they seem really smart, plus they NEVER shut up in interviews about the Disney bullshit, and I, for one, find that ver attractive).

Random fact? I almost got into it with Jason Statham at an Arctic Monkeys concert in LA because he was clearly on something, and I had the audacity to bump into him (points in my favor: being a girl, being taller than him, the rest of the people in his crew, hooray for Hollywood!!)

I’ll tag @42mins, @kerasines, @silverfoxlouis, @statementsue, @setsailtomorrow, @sashinalash, @thecelineharry, @harryincamp and anyone else who wants to!!

[readingthelastpage]

Tay is still playing the game: it is too soon to do this yet

hate to be the bearer of bad news

warning: this is a looooong analysis of the Gaylor fandom, the Rep era and the new era.

so us Gaylors were kinda enamoured with the queer context of the beginning of the Rep era. she dropped a few tunes that had people who used to believe her man-crazy reputation googling Karlie Kloss, wrote a nice little declaration about how everyone looking for specific men in her new songs is wrong, changed from outfits designed for the male gaze into something more comfortable and had a British unknown with a wonky relationship timeline as the public muse of the album. All is well, we thought - she is literally burning her Reputation, she will let people come to their own conclusions, she will take the money, they will both ditch the boyfriends and come out.

And hey, maybe that was the planned narrative in the beginning. But both boyfriends are still here, and one has been updated into a husband (with two separate highly publicised wedding parties). Now the new narrative is that Taylor will let people figure out things more and more - which is inextricably linked to Karlie, whose boyfriend wanted the “het card” so bad that he has to marry Karlie twice before she is released. They all want to erase Kaylor so deeply that they have to spend years in these new golden cages, but at the same time, Karlie will not even block instagram comments that call out her marriage as fake and Taylor will not stop people from writing articles about her that keep referencing Karlie. Maybe their strategy really is to lay low in public for years while building full separate lives but still be linked even in places that they have full control over, but then I don’t think it really is a good strategy. I think the more likely thing is that we overestimated the honesty of the Rep era and the extent to which is was another performance.

Of course people acknowledge it was a performance. Everyone in this fandom acknowledges that it’s good business sense to stay in the closet and maximize your fanbase before you cut the cord. But then, I argue, Reputation was playing the game on hard mode, it was a bit of a flop (sorry!), she switched gears and started contemplating the next era very fast, and we are probably about to get another performance, another continuance of the game, with things being concealed from us just like they were in the previous era. Everyone always wants that candid, natural era from Taylor and we were so smug thinking we were the only ones getting it.

Let’s walk back a little. Taylor always, always responds to criticism. They doubted her songwriting credentials, so she wrote an album solo. They called her a sugary country princess so she lost the accent, wrote a few pop anthems for Red, just for kicks, and did highly glam performances of them with no guitar in sight. They called her conservative and unfeminist so for the next album she debuted a glam squad and her public narrative was about friendship, her against the world, her against the haters who don’t want her to write about her feelings. She wrote Blank Space as an indictment of her public image (and, as Gaylors have probably correctly read, the narrative she pulls transparently with all public boyfriends), and people freaking loved it, and part of the reason why she keeps referencing it even into the Lover era is because she has never been so loved and lauded. But make no mistake, I’ve been on Tumblr since 2010 and people wrote first posts about how they shouldn’t be called out for liking Taylor Swift long before Taylor Swift started writing about being called out for BEING Taylor Swift. She has always responded to what we want to hear. Yes, her art is for herself as well as for others but Taylor wants to be an iconic popstar. Art is just a part of being an iconic popstar.

Flash back to the Rep era. The media was bad, so they get nothing. People were mean and used things on her social media, boom, wiped. There is no explanation, just Reputation. The sound is dark and she’s an edgy princess and she admits her faults and candidly writes all about a broad-shouldered love that helps her hold on - but no juicy details and pap pics. Looks like an abject refusal to play the game. But if you look again, it just looks like a response to all the criticism. Taylor, stop calling all your friends and the paps every time you go out to get milk - fine, you get next to zero pics. Taylor, stop exploiting your dating life for fame and having pictures taken every time you fly a jet to a famous boyfriend to sit on his lap - fine, I’m dating an unknown, we only hold hands, and I have broken up with two boyfriends in the meantime but will only write one relationship narrative song for both of them. Taylor, don’t play the victim when we know you’re a powerful popstar who plays the feud game sometimes - Look At How You Made Me Do Something Bad. The old Taylor you hated is dead - the new Taylor is both edgy enough to kill her and conscious enough to write this line making fun of herself. And those are not the only lines where she’s sarcastic and high drama either.

She Did All Of That, created some iconic imagery, and pretty soon she was able to see that it wasn’t really landing the way 1989 did. She gambled everything on a carefully planned (but still abbreviated) tour, won the gamble, landed on her feet, pulled some other cool artistic and political moves, got bolder with the wlw messages... but she started conceptualizing the next era very early on, at least visually, and we keep getting visual proof of that. I think Taylor wanted to reframe who she was even back in 2018, as abbreviated as the era was it was a long time to keep playing the snake Taylor character. It was the last album she wouldn’t own full rights to. I also think that it was a long time to keep portraying a cohesive narrative that wasn’t really all that true anymore. I think Karlie and her broke up for good around the time of the release, and had some serious arguments probably around the time Taylor disappeared, but even if you don’t and think they are still together, one can argue that Rep didn’t have a lot of space for all the angst Taylor was feeling. People say there’s even too many songs about how she got cancelled - but they mostly focus on the media and the Kardashians, with some shoutouts to false friends, and all quickly erased by “I have a hot partner so F U”. There’s not a lot about the pain you feel when you get rejected like that, including by your own fans, not a lot about fears for her career, not a lot about other things we know she went through, like being stalked and her mom’s cancer. Rep conceals as much as it reveals, and she probably wanted to write about these emotions as soon as she processed them a little better - hence the “really sad songs” we will hear on Lover.

One of the reasons why Rep just didn’t land is because “pop is dead” and people look elsewhere but the big pure pop girls for popular music. Every big pop girls latest era is either years away in the past or her most recent phase is an experimental or edgy one. The new sounds flirt with rap and trap, productions are minimal. Taylor’s Rep phase is also a part of that. The big girls try to play the game, but no one wants to hear Katy or Taylor doing Lorde, people want to hear new artists. Even Ariana, an old school maximalist who only barely adapted to this new era by being close to r’n’b from the start, is wearing a cute minimal uniform, writing in low caps and putting out trap-inspired songs. But the pop press has been talking about being bored of it for a long time. I think Taylor is seeing this opportunity for the tide to turn, has seen it since 2018, wants to be ahead of the curve and will put out a colorful maxi pop album about unabashed positivity, being who you are and celebrating others being who they are (ME!, as a first single of this era, blatantly points in this direction, just like every other Taylor first single pointed at the rest of the era), fighting for what’s right, processing your unhealthy feelings.

But will she come out? I don’t know, because this is still playing the game - it’s just that the game and the cultural moment aligns with what Taylor wants to write right now. Listen, I’m an older millenial just like Taylor and I am tired of edgy characters, dark spaces and the color gray. Maybe she is too. Maybe this time we’re getting full radical honesty from her. But it is likely that it’s not, and that it’s too soon to unleash everything that Taylor is into the world. Get ready for that possibility as well. Maybe the rainbow messaging will only remain as what it is right now - activism for others, and a little wink.

[fuckblizzardbearlover]

Why are ppl acting like taylor swift is some sort of icon. Last i heard she got exposed about lying about her song dragging another artist(drake?) With a lie and now ppl are acting like shes a good person just cus she insulted the most hateable man on the planet and made a song about how all criticism of her is bullshit and gay rights i guess? Its 2019 and this is her first halfassed attempt at being an ally for liberal points. Am i missing something or do tons of ppl just have basic ass taste

And before anyone wants to call me an anti or whatever i have a vested interest in some generic blond pop singer getting in trouble and suddenly coming out 2 years later with a song briefly mentioning gay ppl as a tool to use fake progressiveness to get her on ppls good side

And no rupauls legion of drag queens to afraid to speak out against rupauls trandphobia and pro bullying mantras does NOT represent the queer community

-------------

this is how you know i’m not a hater. Surprised by the dichotomy of my anger vs the worlds ambivalence i naturally asked “whats going on? am i wrong?” so i took the time to try to remind myself of these controversies, and in doing so i’m reminded by how right i am to question her

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/taylor-swift-blogger-sue-defamation-aclu-alt-right-denounce-white-supremacy-a8041551.html

In witch she, her lawyers or both threaten to sue a blogger for questioning her motive, fanbase and the amount in which white supremicists love her. While defimation of character IS a thing, not only would that have been the perfect time to finalize her stance AGAINST white supremecy but to denounce those fans and clear the air during the election cycle that has the worst candidate in years. But the most  powerful pop star in america is going to intimidate some blogger for suggesting things about her that she herself could easily fix with a 3 minute youtube video?

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jul/22/nicki-minaj-debate-bigger-than-taylor-swifts-ego

her obsession with creating conflict in order to make her brand seem relevant resulting in her tripping up an important conversation about race in the music industry

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/nov/24/the-guardian-view-on-taylor-swift-an-envoy-for-trumps-values

the fact that she’s just...unprofessional with much of her music being gossipy and attacks on critics. a woman who speaks her mind isnt a good thing if she’s using it to spew lies, hate and just be mean

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/oct/08/taylor-swift-instagram-post-endorsement-democrats-tennessee

and while one might understand her public neutrality due to her age and in the past elections like 2008, in 2016 there was a clear villain. the only fans she had to lose were those who want the rest of her fans dead or subdued.

and while i found her list of philanthropy impressive, considering the largest donation was 1 million and

“ Taylor Swift currently has an estimated net worth of $360 million, which has grown due to her music, merchandise, and endorsements “

Even if only 1/10 of that is liquid assets, thats still the bare minimum.

Look i get it, she’s never (supposedly) done anything HORRIBLE

but the fact is that all of this paints the picture of someone who is at BEST sloppy, thoughtless and gets most of her good PR from well versed lawyers and PR people

and at worst paints the picture of an extremely powerful rich women oozing with privileged who’s made a personal brand and MILLIONS of dollars off of exploiting controversy, playing the victim, and giving tokenish support to the people most hurt by her ambivalence

there are hundreds of strong outspoken women in the music industry alone that speak out more and and do better work (i.e. social work, not catchy pop tunes). If you like her music fine, whatever, but dont act like she’s some sort of savior because 8 years after drag race became popular she used a drag term and said “being mad never made anyone less gay” in the middle of a song about how ppl arent allowed to criticize her.

maybe when taylor swift grows up and realizes she’s one of the rich that needs to be eaten, and like it or not that Trumps demon’s love women like HER, then maybe she can do some REAL work but “gay rights” in 2019 is about 10 years to late. even 5 years to late. She hemmed and hawed in 2016. she only spoke in support of the tenessee candidates. google recognized the frequency of ‘who did taylor swift vote for”.

If you cant take a hard stance against “they are sending their worst , their rapists and murderers” , against “when you’re rich you can do what you want”  then you are worthless. She is no ally of mine and if she really cared she would give MORE support without the recognition. but all the liberals ate up the tokenistic support and gave her an award and now she’s probably got MORE millions because of it

fuck that

[yakumtsaki]

Ok I knew I hadn’t posted Unions in forever but good lord. The screenshots after, not before, AFTER this.. are the previews for this. Like we’re literally talking ancient history here. Let’s dive right in and see if we can wrap this up sometime during a human’s natural lifespan. SO when we left off we were desperately trying to make friends for Wyatt’s final promotion, ‘desperately’ being the operative word. We’ve done some pathetic shit in our time but shittalking each other to Apartment Life nobodies is honestly peak gutter, so you know. our natural environment. Spoiler alert, the kids are teens now and Wyatt has still not gotten promoted! Truly the Picasso of incompetence.

Good ol’ uncle Gunther is also here for some reason which I’m guessing is ‘came over uninvited’ but at least someone is paying attention to Shajar for once. Beggars can’t be choosers and Gunther as a father figure is the equivalent of someone leaving a button and good vibes in your cup. 

-So you see Shajar, life is nothing but a slow march towards our certain doom so who cares if your parents hate you?? My parents hated me till adulthood and I turned out amazing as you can surely tell by my stripes/plaid/indoor sunglasses combo!

-Think long and hard before procreating, brother, because there’s no guarantee you’ll even like your kids. Looking at you, Shajar.

-Um can I go now?

-Don’t know why you’re here in the first place and not in the crypt where we’ve set up your bed and everything! Kids these days.

Oh right, Brit Brit is also here so I guess I did invite these douchebags over. Way to go @ me.

-BRITTANY HOW COULD YOU TEAR THE MORAL FABRIC OF OUR WIFE-SWAPPING-BASED LIFE PARTNERSHIP LIKE THIS???? JUST STEAL ONE OF THEIR PETS LIKE AN UPSTANDING CITIZEN 

DON’T YOU DARE BRIT-

Ugh nevermind, it’s Sophie aka Brittany in cat form. Take her!

And take Shajar too while you’re at it cause absolutely not @ Victoria dying but the gnome drama living on. ENOUGH. This almost makes me appreciate Cyneswith’s ridiculous 10 nice points for a split second..

..but then I turn around and see this. GOOD GRIEF. How did Jojo and Wyatt produce vegan Tinkerbell here not even god knows.

This alliance of obnoxiousness is but the first in what is gonna become a running theme of every annoying flop in this neighborhood looooooving Maxx. Can’t keep kindred spirits apart for long! Honestly this legacy is turning me from pet maniac to Captain Ahab, like on one hand you have fucking Maxx who hasn’t done anything yet but just you wait till he grows up- 

-and on the other you have FUCKING VICTOR’S GHOST TRYING TO KILL US EVERY NIGHT. Apparently Victor + being a dick = a love not even death can tear asunder. Seriously tg kids can’t die cause these overactive freaks are up all night till the sun, are up all night to get some (entertainment), are up all night for good fun, are up all night to get lucky murdered.

This happens about 3000 times per night, I’m not even taking pics of it anymore, but it’s worth pointing out that everyone in this house, both alive/dead and human/non has a raging hate boner for Shajar in particular. It’s uncanny and depressing..

..and speaking of depressing, UGH. My poor, poor Shajar. I actually attempted to intervene and have them interact being the moron that I am:

JOJO WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM 

.....................................WHERE IS VICTOR’S GHOST WHEN I NEED IT

Yea sure, waste your niceness reserves on fucking Goro here instead, who isn’t even the cat heir and is about to go live on the farm (not a euphemism, Daniel and Melody’s literal farm). This Jojo fuckery is seriously starting to bum me out on top of pissing me off, let me find something cute to look at to raise my spirits..

No.

No.

NO.

Disturbing stuff.

Seems about right.

Old habits die hard.

No.

Ugh.

Ugh.

UGH.

OH FOR FUCK’S SAKE

FINALLY. THANK YOU CATS. Now let’s get back to this nightmare..

..and I mean nightmare in the technical sense of something not real occurring when you’re asleep, because Wyatt maxing a skill is truly the stuff of Taylor Swift-Wildest Dreams.mp3. It’s official, the only thing standing between us and Wyatt’s LTW is social ineptitude. But what if we revolutionize the friend game by approaching someone who can’t leave..

..because she’s contractually obligated to be here?? Go for it Wyatt!

-So Kaylýnn, you have the français maid thing going, I’m French and in need of a hag, c’est match made in les paradis!

-Yea sorry, Henry III, but it’s my professional policy to not fraternize with married clients I have no chance of fucking. 

-But..but you’re just a face template fiasco!

-..I have some bad news for you.

Kaylynn left Wyatt dick in hand and went to pet the cats, so I guess the day has arrived for me to go from being the leading Langerak hater of this community to being the leading stan-

-and apparently the leading Jitmakusol stan as well, which as we all know is a large and very competitive group. DOWN WITH JOJO

Well at least you still have this invaluable stamp of approval! All I see in this pic is 3 bags of trash.

Look at this trove, treasures untold, how many assholes can one photo hold? The reason there’s more awful people in our house than usual is the “exciting” occasion of the Shajar/Wulf double birthday and honestly even by our standards this party was especially terrible. Like it makes the one where Komei and Marissa happened look like Project X.

When this is the situation 10 seconds in you know you’re in for a good time. I don’t think a single positive interaction took place this entire party and I’ve subconsciously (?) forgotten every birthday since. What a loss!

Wulf is up first, and of course since this is Wyatt’s literal one and only parenting-related job, it took 3 cakes to happen and no one is paying attention by the time it does.

Wyatt makes one last-ditch effort to kill his child via decapitation and obviously he thinks it worked thus the wide smile. But Wulf is named after the spawn of Satan, head spinning comes with the territory-

-as do incredible looks. Gunther hair + tuxedo, and you think your little yellow blazer is subversive?? Step it up.

-If the sunglasses weren’t blocking the power of my stare this child would be dead by my sheer resentment.

Happy birthday, Wulf! 2/2 surviving murder attempts.

Wulf gets this Don Corleone makeover because a) he also survived murder attempts b) wedding tuxedo c) trying to avoid a Gunther mental breakdown. He looks exactly like Wyatt, like I don’t think there’s a drop of Jojo in there..

..BUT MAN IS THE PERSONALITY PURE UNION. Another nice little addition to our ever expanding freakshow.

Shajar time and no one is paying attention now either but there’s no cake malfunction, they just don’t care! And why should they? What is she, their child?

Wyatt can’t even be bothered to stay standing for literally 10 more seconds. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a parent do that before but you can always count on Wyatt for this sort of innovation. 

And this is what Shajar grows up to: Wyatt half-asleep, Daniel waiting to beat him up and the rest reacting to Wulf having shit himself. I don’t think any further comment is needed. 

Now, having lived through the experience that was Daniel and having marveled at Shajar’s seemingly genetic unlikability, I’m sure we can all tell which is the one aspiration she should under no circumstances roll because it’s going to make nails on a chalkboard seem like a fun musical break.. Yes, this is not a drill..

..we have another trainwreck firstborn who can’t get their own family not to hate them roll popularity. AND DANIEL WAS NICE. Shajar is bringing 1 nice point to the table so all I can say at this point is fml. 

And of course because the above wasn’t bad enough on its own and we always need the overkill, gaze upon whatever the fuck this is-

-YE MIGHTY AND DESPAIR. GOOD GOD SHAJAR 

LOL. Well with the custom sky this is an Under The Dome situation so technically you’re not wrong but still. fucking popularity? Leave the sky alone and aim for ‘slightly above ground’. Even that is pushing it.

Good, finally we return to reality and face the facts. Couldn’t agree more!