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youjustwaitsunshine · 3 years

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Sebastian Vettel talks about Formula 1’s reaction to climate change, the bookkeeping on his own CO2 consumption and the accusation of hypocrisy. (26.12.2021, FAZ (original))

Interviewer: You’re one of the winners of this year!

SV: Yes, I’m healthy, I’m doing very well, I can do what I enjoy, all in all I can count myself as one of the big winners.

I was talking less about 12th place with Aston Martin in the final driver’s ranking ahead of your teammate than about your Election victory. You voted for the Green Party, who now provide the vice Chancellor and the foreign minister.

Oh, I understand. My part in it was rather marginal. One vote. Sadly not everyone voted. It’s not a dream result. But I feel like this result is a great chance to accept the challenge. I believe this could move us forward. In the next two years we will see how much of what was promised to us voters is just talk and how much will be implemented. I’m very curious.

A year ago, we talked about the development in Formula 1, about the need to be “part of the solution and not part of the problem” in times of climate change, as the team bosses put it. What did change and is it quick enough?

Not quick enough. We’re still in the same situation. The rules are fixed up until, and including 2025, the engine regulations won’t be changed. For the fuel we’ll stay with fossil fuels for now. There will only be a 10% percentage of biofuels or ethanol, this is neither sufficient nor up to date. I’ll stand by my criticism. We have all possibilities, we have the money, the resources, we can do many sensible things with that. I can understand that there’s resistance. Those who invest a lot of money in a team may see quick change as a defeat. But it would be a victory over the own ego.

Does the business model of Formula 1, that’s also funded by the world tour, allow this quick change?

It’s hard to give an honest, coherent answer to this. In Germany, the criticism of the absence of reactions to climate change will gain traction. And that’s right. At the same time, Formula 1 is growing. It’s racing in countries that didn’t belong to the calendar before, it broadens the interest in racing (23 in 2022/editor’s note) also in countries with no Grands Prix. I don’t want to evaluate the standing of the nations in the climate question. The problems aren’t perceived as important in every society as for example in Germany. But that will change. And that’s why it’s foreseeable that Formula 1 is getting more and more under pressure.

How do you recognize that?

Look at where we’re racing and where it’s getting harder and harder for Formula One Management, to find an organizer. In Germany, there’s no grants for a race, so there’s no appearance. 30 million Dollars just like that from the state, how some countries handle it, won’t be in the cards. Politicians see more important things. At the moment, state sponsorships seem unthinkable. But if Formula 1 could offer remedies, technology that helps against the consequences of climate change, then there’d be arguments again. It has the Potential for it. If it were further, one would be more open to a race in Germany again. But right now sadly the main question is if this is still up to date.

Are you a role model?

It’s not about me, it’s about the cause. That has to be the center of attention. Or it doesn’t feel right. I don’t want to convert anyone. Who am I to decide what’s right or wrong? I do things out of conviction. When I collect litter, I do it because I want it to not stay on the ground. It’s always good to speak up about important topics. But it wouldn’t work for me if I didn’t stand behind it and if I didn’t follow up on my words with actions. It’s all nice and well if I say we should throw our trash in the bin, we need to look after the environment, ride the bike more. For me it’s important that the people understand why I am doing this.

You intensely acquainted yourself with the topic?

In my sport I learned to intensively work on problems. I always want to know what’s behind something to understand the connections. Precisely: What happens with the collected trash from the grandstands once it’s in the bag? Where does it go? I find that very fascinating. I read a lot in a short time and talked to many people. I think I learned a lot.

Give an example.

Let’s take the topic of certificates. There was a project for which you pay roundabout 30 Dollars per ton of your own carbon emissions so that there can be trees planted somewhere. It’s better than doing nothing. But that wasn’t enough information for me. I met with specialists and quickly understood that the topic is more complex. Where do the trees get planted, how is the soil there, do they fit there, who’s taking care of them. How realistic is the chance that the upbringing succeeds? Now I pay about 1000 Dollars per ton, 30 times the amount, but still see myself at the beginning of the topic. Because I also learned that that the primary objective must be protecting the already existing forests, the natural forests. Germany has almost no pristine forests left, strictly viewed it’s plantations with 70 percent coniferous trees. I could talk about this topic for an hour.

…and act as an ambassador…

…that’s why I’m getting back on the topic of role models: I can’t know everything. If someone bombarded me with questions, I’d get to my limits and wouldn’t be of use as a role model, because I don’t have enough knowledge. That role feels wrong. The best role model you can be is in my opinion by your own actions. You have to live your own mindset or you become a hypocrite. I don’t want to hold nice speeches to seem noble.

Do you understand the criticism of readers who answered after last year’s interview, calling you a hypocrite for acting green?

Yes, and it’s true to some degree. We don’t have to talk around it. I drive fast cars for fun, those burn fuel, fossil fuels, which I am not positive about. Still I drive a car. Taking part in Formula 1 also means flying around the world. At the same time, my heart is in it. Because of that I think it would be wrong to give up Formula 1. Instead I try to make an effect, to make change both on a big and small scale.

What do you do?

It goes from the documentation of my travel calendar, going by bike instead of by car, the train instead of the plane if it works in any way, up to the demand to Formula 1 to react quicker. I write down everything concerning my carbon footprint, every travel, every flight, every car drive, every kilometer. I pay attention to my electricity provider at home, the connections between energy consumption and nutrition and so on. Since I started doing it consciously, since I pull that number up before my eyes, it influences my decisions.

Don’t you influence others with it?

I understand that I might have more range. But I don’t want to start a campaign, everyone should decide for themselves. I like putting attention on that topic when I’m asked. And when someone listens, I think that’s great. I was overwhelmed with the resonance of the two, three little things we did. A little girl from Holland wrote to me that she always wants to collect trash when she sees something while out walking. Wonderful. But the little ones already know. I visited a few schools, I don’t have to tell the kids anything. My generation and the older ones have more difficulties opening themselves up, that’s my perception. Questioning the status quo is joined with fears, with worrying about losing something. But change can also mean benefits.

What do your experiences mean for your future?

When I have more time one day I can imagine investing more, getting deeper into it.

Are you discovering the world right now?

It feels like it. I’m fascinated to track the connections. Sometimes I have the feeling there’s not enough time in one day to take everything in that interests me. I’m curious, and I’m easy to get into things. If about a beekeeper and his story about the bees or an expert explaining the meaning of the forest to me. I want to know how the world is changing, which consequences we can face, what it means for the future of humanity. The conscience developed with that also changes my perception.

How?

I haven’t been driving for so long (on the road/editor’s note), 16, 17 years. But back then, at some times of year, we had way more insects on the windshield when driving over the motorway. Now I notice that it’s gotten much less. ‘Why? Right! Aha’, that I notice it myself, the difference, the change, I find that crazy.

You sold some of your classic race cars. Is that a signal to pull back?

I am a car afictionado, as you can assume. Those are works of art to me. But when you can’t enjoy the biggest joy from these works of art, the driving, then you have to live with that change and recognize the good in it. I am lucky that in my job at the racetrack I can do what I love. Aside from that, I have no desire to race. I already have a hunch and many ideas what I want to do one day. But where it leads I don’t know yet, that will show itself. First there’s the next season.

#heres the seb article <3 #sebastian vettel #f1 #it's a good read #i copied the german article too for anyone who wants to double check #i liked it #dont necessarily agree with everything he said but you can really see how deeply he cares #i like that he's genuinely reflected and understands that he doesn't know everything and that he seems open to change perspective #id love to have a debate with him he seems hot #seb says something smart about going beyond the surface of environmental protection and my legs just snap open #hes so. idealistic.

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troiings · 2 years

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5+ headcanon if you wouldn't mind: Organic farmer Tissaia (or winery owner) and chef Yen. Loads of food and flirting, and maybe Yen then creates a winning dish inspired by Tissaia and profess her love to her during some kind of interview.

Oh man haven't done one of these in a while. I love surprise prompts xD

I see your chef Yen and raise you...

Yen recently opened a brick and mortar café, and the menu is all about clean, organic eating, etc. Fair trade coffees, responsibly sourced grains, locally-baked breads, local produce and cheese, etc.

(Previously the business was a food truck with a decent following; they were successful enough that Yen decided to take out a loan and give the permanent storefront thing a go. So far it's looking ok?)

Expanding the business means expanding the menu, and that's where Tissaia comes in. They've been doing fruits for smoothies, but not a whole lot of veg. Yen wants sandwiches with fresh, juicy tomatoes. More greens. Salads! Soups! (She makes damn fine corn chowder and broccoli cheese soups, and had been working on a chicken sausage and kale soup recipe, but soup never really made much sense for the food truck. Now she's gonna have soup, dammit, and she needs to source that veg.)

Tissaia does source produce for a couple local establishments, as one of the larger local farmers, but her big thing isn't even her own farm—it's urban farming. She's spearheaded 3 different urban farming initiatives locally, but of course the whole thing doen't get much attention outside of the circle that are already interested in that sort of thing. Regardless, she helps source seeds, fertilizers, etc, and leads up most of the logistics involved in training folks to tend the plots and all that. Soil pH! Etc etc.

When Yen first contacts DeVries Farms, it's via email. Tissaia signs off as T. DeVries, and y'all bitches know exactly where this is headed but I'm taking you there anyway. Yen likes a boots-on-the-ground approach when it comes to knowing where her food is coming from—she's saved up to make a few trips overseas to meet the farmers responsible for her coffee, tea, quinoa... and has definitely met the folks that bake her bread and grow her fruit. T. DeVries is "happy to oblige" when asked for a tour.

T. DeVries is... (Tissaia arches an eyebrow, her hand still caught up in Yennefer's where she's been too caught up in her surprise to release her. "Something wrong?" "What? Oh, shit, no—sorry, just. Wow." "..." "sorry, I think I expected a, uh... very large... man..." "...I get that a lot, actually. Kind of the point.")

(Tissaia learned early that people don't really take women farmers seriously for some reason)

Anyway it's a great working relationship and Yen keeps conveniently deciding to add more recipes with a wide array of produce to the menu, which is a great excuse to call Tissaia (she prefers phone calls really, and Yen doesn't mind at all when her voice sounds like that)

As the cafe gains traction she's interviewed for a local paper and, naturally, talks about the choice to support family farms and fair trade, and thanks all her local suppliers because she's very passionate about supporting local business as well as clean eating in general. She might start prattling on about Tissaia. She might realize it, be embarrassed about it, but not have the wherewithal to stop herself. ("And our newest supplier is DeVries Farms, just outside of town. All the veg you see comes from our there—honestly the best tomatoes I've ever tasted. And Tissaia—uh, the owner, Tissaia DeVries, she a phenomenal person and a joy to work with; actually she's spearheaded two... three?? urban farming campaigns here in the city. If you haven't heard of them you should definitely check them out, because they're great initiatives that really help lower-income families without easy access to produce and healthier options, and her knowledge and expertise has really helped drive these initiatives to success..." [insert more q&a about urban farming, followed by a half joking comment about how fond Yen seems to be of Tissaia; cue nervous laughter])

Anyway after Yen somehow winds up not only giving a huge shoutout to the urban farming campaigns (which brings in a LOT of volunteers and donations and general interest very quickly) but also managing to play it as if the success of her own business rests on Tissaia's shoulders lmao, Tissaia shows up at the café one day and Yen's eyes just about bug out of her head. ("I thought it was time I taste the fruits of my labour, so to speak. And besides, I have a gift for you." "A... gift?" "As thanks. For the positive attention for the urban farms. They tend to fly under the radar, but the truth is they need community support—volunteers to water and weed. Honestly just one or two families deciding to save their vegetable scraps and take them to the farms for composting instead of sending them to the landfill is helpful.") (Idk what the gift is, use your imagination)

Tissaia is... suddenly a fixture at the café. And Yen starts keeping fliers and shit up to advertise the farms, etc. Yen insists that Tissaia eats free. Tissaia insists that she pays. The compromise is that Tissaia winds up tipping the amount she would have paid for her meal. (The staff is happy so Yen keeps insisting that nobody is to ever take Tissaia's money for food or drinks. The staff is happy to comply.)

The elephant in the room of course is that Yen said some pretty gay shit while she was talking Tissaia and her farm up. Neither of them mentions it but Jaskier and Triss ("the staff") ship it REAL hard and make no secret of it.

The day Yen can't stand it anymore and just plants one right on Tissaia’s mouth in the back corner of the dining area, Jaskier deadass pelts them with a handful of carrot ends and yells at them to "get a room". Yen: "Oy! You're meant to be saving those for broth, not target practice!"

#tissaia de vries #yennefer #yennefer of vengerberg #the witcher #netflix the witcher #arwen writes #au headcanon meme #askbox activate!#askbox memes #arashimaru

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mountswhore · 3 years

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hey! see u were taking requests so i wanted one with mason related to "london boy" by taylor swift? maybe reader is a singer or something like that?

one of the best taylor swift songs imo, so of course!

𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐲 — mason mount

summary: mason shows you around london during your break, and now you don't think you can ever go back

notes: requests are open again! my asks are open.

Leaving your hometown in New York to visit the world was one of the hardest things you had to do. But you had your dream job, now it was time to follow it. Your recent album was a success, pouring your heart into it as you recovered from your breakup. Your fans had watched your relationship build, and then break apart. Hearing your side of things through 14 songs. Awards, interviews, and traction had come from it, earning you a world tour. It was a scary thing to do, considering it was your first international tour.

“I just want to come back to New York already, I’ve not been on this tour long.” You complained to your sister, curled up in a hotel bed in London. Your first destination was the UK, and there was nothing worse than being homesick.

“Quit being a baby, the UK is so nice.” Your sister replied, chuckling shortly afterwards. “Me and dad visited Manchester, I think? Very nice looking, at least where we stayed.” You sighed, knowing that didn’t make it any easier. You loved your cosy apartment in New York, you were even starting to miss the constant traffic sounds and arguing in the early hours of the morning.

“I guess, and I know London is nice, at least. I think I’m gonna interact with some fans,” you decided, pulling the duvet further up your body, “speak tomorrow at sound check.” You ended the call, liking some tweets and replying to a few things, eventually tweeting something of your own.

“Happy to see a lot of my UK fans tomorrow, can’t wait to scream my feelings out with you,” Declan read out, giving Mason a cheeky look. The pair of them were in Mason’s living room, enjoying their evening of FIFA. The boys had spoken about you plenty of times, in interviews too, Mason declaring you as his celebrity crush.

“Shut up already, she probably doesn’t even know who I am.” Mason stated, resting his arm over his eyes to conceal the blush on his face. Him, Declan and a few other boys were going to your concert tomorrow night, some of the WAGs suggested it as they loved your music.

“You think she’s not going to notice a blue tick in her dm’s? It’s worth a shot.” Declan encouraged his friend to shoot his shot, close to grabbing his phone and doing it himself, but instead he was watching Mason bashfully scroll through your twitter replies. “Do it, or I will.”

Mason sighed, clicking the reply button and typing out a reply, handing the phone to Declan to review. ‘Can’t wait, wanna see you.’

“Perfect,” Declan mumbled, pressing the reply button for him. He knew Mason never would, he just saved him 20 minutes of back and forth debate. Handing Mason his phone back, Declan smirked as he watched his friend's face change from fairly embarrassed, to shocked.

“There’s no fucking way you sent that.” Mason remarked, refreshing his phone to see his tweet attract likes. “You dick.”

Declan just laughed as Mason had turned completely red, watching the likes and replies collect under his tweet. Moments later, you’d appeared in his dm’s.

‘I recognise you.’

It was an ominous message from you, one that had you pacing and replaying the creepy message over and over again. But Mason smiled at the message, all ounces of worry leaving his body as he replied to you.

‘Oh yeah? From where?’

‘Actually, I think I recognise your teammate, Pulisic. He’s all my brother talks about sometimes. But all I know is that he plays for a soccer team.’

He laughed at your reply, Declan watching over in pure disbelief.

‘You have a lot to learn about the UK, and luckily I know all about it.’

‘I’ll hold you to that, come backstage after the show, bring whoever you’re with. I’m in London for the next few days before my next show, maybe you can show me around.’

“There’s no way you’re flirting with Y/N Y/L/N within two minutes of replying to her tweet.” Declan stated, Mason smirking at his best friend before sending another reply.

‘Bet.'

Your show was now over and you were anxiously waiting for the boys to be escorted back stage. You didn't know much about football, especially over here, but you knew the boys that were coming back stage were professionals. You'd learnt their names, Declan, Jack, and Mason. Jack and Declan brought their girlfriends along, but Mason was 'painfully single', as he put it.

Finally, as you sat down in your chair to relax, you heard a knock at the door. It was them. They had all filed in, the two girls in shock that they were meeting you. You'd given them all a hug, and gotten to Mason. He looked down at you as you pulled him in, squeezing you tightly before letting you go again.

"Did you guys enjoy it?" You asked, ushering them to the couch for them to sit down. You wanted them to feel as comfortable as possible, rushing over to your dressing room fridge and pulling out some drinks.

"It was amazing," Sasha gawked, still in awe over seeing you for the first time, "we saw you have one in Birmingham in a few weeks, so we're going to that one too." You blushed, returning to your seat opposite the couch.

"That's so sweet! I'm sure I can get you some good tickets, I'll dm you on Instagram or something." You suggested to her, Sasha eagerly nodding her head. You conversed with the group of five, Mason giving you a particular look that you had mirrored back to him. You planned on getting his number, and making sure he showed you around London.

Soon enough, the group was heading back to wherever they were staying, as it was beginning to get quite late. "Thank you guys for coming, and I'm so glad I met you."

Mason stayed behind, folding his arms and sharing a smirk with you as his friends voices trailed down the hallway. "So, about this bet."

"Yeah," you replied casually, grabbing your water bottle from the table and taking a sip, being in the presence of an attractive man again was giving you quite the nerves, "I'll take your number, because I'd love to get to know London." He nodded, grabbing his phone from his jacket pocket and handing it to you.

"Perfect. See you."

You and Mason had planned your first meeting in a pub. It wasn't the classiest of places, but your plan was to get to know the UK. Mason had ordered you both a drink, guessing what you like and nailing it when you went in for a second sip and shoved a thumb up.

"So," he began, fiddling with the coaster his beer sat on, "how long are you in London for?"

"Just until Thursday, Friday morning I'm heading to Manchester." You stated, realising you only had four days with Mason, including today.

"Well, we better make the days count then." Mason declared. The pair of you spoke about his career as well as yours, talking about how different school was for the pair of you. Mason had stood up, holding his hand out for you to take, and you'd accepted it without complaint. He led you out of the pub and through the town center, gazing at the stalls set up around you. The weather wasn't so different to New York, both constantly dreary, but you were liking London so far.

On your second day together, you'd taken a cab to another town, this time to just experience the busy streets. To Mason, this was normal. For you, it was only familiar. New York was one of the busiest cities in the world, but London was different, better in every other way. You'd finished your day together, stomachs full of pub food, and in the back of a cab, rain pattering on the windows. You'd shuffled closer to Mason, placing your hand on his and squeezing. He looked at you briefly, smiling his usual smile, before quickly looking out at the street in an effort to hide his tinged cheeks.

Day three, the weather was too bad to do anything. But Mason kept you company in your hotel room. He'd taught you a bunch of British slang, laughing as your accent completely butchered them all. You'd shown him a snippet of your new song before room service had arrived. And the night ended with the pair of you collapsed in your bed, tv playing in the back ground, but your eyes on each other. It was like pure magic, the long-awaited feeling of his lips on yours. You'd been thinking about it all day, missing every opportunity until now.

Your final day was the worst. You both knew it was coming, you wouldn't see him until you had a break, and he had one too. You both had stupidly busy schedules, as well as living in different countries. Maybe one day you could bring him to New York, show him your side of life. And maybe one day you'll branch out and move here.

Mason had helped you carry your things out of your hotel room, which was taking you to Manchester. Your manager had texted you to be in the car before 3, which meant you had just 10 minutes until you had to say goodbye to Mason for a while.

You were stood in the foyer of the hotel, waiting for the car to arrive. You'd secretly hoped it didn't, you wanted to stay with Mason for a while longer, but you couldn't. Duty called.

"Thank you for showing me around London," you spoke, looking up at Mason, who was hiding his deflated feelings, "I really enjoyed it, I might even prefer it to New York."

"That's a given. I'm here." He joked, in an obvious attempt to lighten the mood. These four days had been immense fun for him, different to how he usually spent his days. Different than night at home alone, different than a night on the town. Was it too soon to say he missed you?

Mason looked down at you as you clung to his side, hoping he felt the same way you did. And he did, you just didn’t know that. His fingers slid across your jaw slowly, pulling your chin up to look at him. It was an intense moment, so many different emotions. He’d leaned in and kissed you, it was his parting gift. To say that he’d see you soon enough.

“Enjoy Manchester, I’m sure I can fit another show in somehow.” Mason spoke, his voice barely above a whisper. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too.” You spoke, the car pulling up outside. He’d dragged your suitcases out to the car, popping them in the boot for you. Finally, he stared at you through the window, which you quickly rolled down. “I fancy you, is that the right term?”

Mason laughed, head tipping back slightly. “Yeah, it is. And I fancy you too.”

#mase #money mase #mason mount one shot #mason mount request #mason mount x reader #mason mount smut #mason mount imagine #mason mount blurb #mason mount

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alltheselights · 2 years

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Although Shia is a POS, I think he emerged as the winner in this. He brought receipts of Olivia kissing his ass. Also, Florence comes out of this fine. It’s really just Olivia and Harry who look bad. Mostly Olivia. And maybe not even? Since Shia is a pariah.

I think Shia was largely successful in what he was trying to do, but there are plenty of people on Twitter now talking about how maybe people shouldn’t immediately believe him and everything he’s saying because of his past. Even with the video, we obviously don’t know all the context, and even if he is portraying everything accurately, he is still not a good person and not somebody that people should be rooting for regardless of how much they hate Olivia. So he’s not truly coming out of this looking amazing either.

I think Olivia certainly looks bad. She’s been called out for this lie (or at least, what seems like a lie) and is receiving worst press for her that I’ve seen so far. The public perception by the general public is very negative at the moment, from what I’ve seen. I think this is compounded on top of two other things which have given her negative attention from the general public, which is 1) the perception and press that she cheated on Jason with Harry and perhaps made some on set feel uncomfortable because of their relationship, and 2) the perception that she is not being a good mother, which is largely because of the custody battle stuff being made public, what Jason said in his filing about her wanting to move to the UK to be with Harry, and just the general, kinda misogynistic view that she’s following her boyfriend around the world and doesn’t give a fuck about her kids. Beyond that, there are other things that fans have focused on a lot, including the suggestion that she’s trapping Harry or forcing him to pretend to be with her, abuse and harassment allegations, and offensive and/or bigoted statements or posts from her past. I don’t think most of these things gained traction beyond the fandom aside from making the general public think that Harry’s fans are raging mysognists, but I think they’ve likely contributed to an overall dislike and negative perception of her.

I think Harry certainly looks bad. If you’re looking at DWD stuff alone, there’s that same perception from the general public that he got together with Olivia when she was still with Jason. There’s still an underlying belief by many that Harry got the gig either because he’s famous or attractive, which is picking up traction again after that clip was released the other day. That clip did not come across well to most people, which makes people think he’s a bad actor. I think the fact that he’s publicly with Olivia while all this Florence and Shia drama swirls around her means that he’s attached to it in the eyes of many. And then when you add that to other negative attention that Harry has received lately, particularly around his comments about My Policeman, his comments about his sexuality (not just in the latest Rolling Stone, but in many previous interviews), and the other elements of his persona that contribute to the idea that he’s queerbaiting or profiting off the LGBTQ+ community...all of these things combined mean that Harry is receiving a lot of flack right now too. And while it may not be affecting Harry’s tour sales, I think if this continues (and I don’t see him or his team doing anything to fix it, so I imagine it will) or gets worse, it may begin to. And even if it doesn’t, I think he’s likely done major damage to himself as an actor and made himself look like a liability.

While Florence is coming off GREAT right now, a lot of this stuff hasn’t been great for her either. I think some had the view that she was being unprofessional because of this “feud” once it started being reported on in the press, and I remember seeing a lot of negative comments about her getting involved in other peoples’ businesses when there were those articles about how she was unhappy about Harry and Olivia’s relationship on set. I think she’s in the clear now and most people will view her as smart to avoid a lot of this drama and won’t blame her for distancing herself from Olivia, Harry, and DWD, but at the end of the day, she’s a serious actor and I think having all of this drama around a film she’s in is probably the furthest thing from what she wants.

So yeah....the situation really isn’t great for anybody! But Olivia and Harry look the worst by far and it’ll be very interesting to see what they do over the next month or so as they try to save this absolute shitshow.

#i have a few more to answer #in a bit #asks #olivia w #girl stuff #dwd

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shemakesmusic-uk · 3 years

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INTERVIEW: Little Boots.

Singer-songwriter, producer and DJ Victoria Hesketh aka Little Boots has released her fourth album Tomorrow’s Yesterdays.

Little Boots first arrived on the scene in 2008 – a transitory period where synth-pop had just regained traction internationally and hadn’t yet been swallowed up by EDM.

Following her debut album Hands she left her major label and spent time featuring on house records and honing her sound on subsequent albums released on her own label, a DIY process which has led to her writing and producing this new record entirely independently. The making of the record was powered entirely by the support of fans on membership platform Patreon.

Victoria will also join the highly anticipated ABBA 'Voyage' concert in May 2022, where she will be singing backing vocals, playing live keyboards and synths.

We were lucky enough to have a chat with Victoria all about the making of Tomorrow’s Yesterdays, the ABBA Voyage concerts, her experiences in the music industry and more. Read the interview below.

Hi Victoria! How are you? How have the last two years been for you with the pandemic and everything?

“Its been some of the craziest most life changing time of my life… so much has happened and changed! There were times that were of course extremely difficult, but in hindsight I can see a lot of silver linings.”

You’ve just released your fourth album Tomorrow's Yesterdays. What is this record about and what were your musical influences?

“It’s both nostalgic and future facing, in many ways it’s a return to my roots and reconnecting with my DIY disco pop persona. I was very influenced by a lot of 70s pop songwriters like Elton John, Carol King, Bee Gees and of course Abba.”

Tomorrow's Yesterdays is the first album that is solely written and produced by yourself and the making of the record was powered entirely by the support of your fans on Patreon. Why did you decide to do that for this record and how have you found the experience?

“It was really a very happy accident, after I lost all of my gigs because of the pandemic I started Patreon and was lucky I have such a loyal and supportive fan base. Over the last two years they’ve become far more than a means to fund the album, we are a proper community, we kept each other going in covid through live streams and they’ve helped in some of the most important decisions on the album making process like track selection and artwork.”

What was your favourite part recording Tomorrow's Yesterdays? Any challenges? And did you learn anything new this time around?

“I learnt to have faith in myself as a producer, I had always dabbled but had a lot of imposter syndrome. Lockdown was the push I needed to get me to step up, as sessions in studios with producers were cancelled. And of course, we had so much time on our hands there was no excuse not to learn how to do new things!”

You will be joining the highly anticipated ABBA 'Voyage' concert in May. You must be so thrilled! How did that come about?

“I was asked via my friend James Righton who was in the band Klaxons I’ve known a long time, he was putting together the band and asked me to audition, of course I was thrilled when I got the job.”

What else can you tell us about the upcoming Voyage concerts? What can we expect? How are rehearsals going?

“I’m afraid I’m not allowed to reveal anything, it’s a surprise so you will have to come and see!”

You're going to be so busy with the Voyage shows for the rest of the year, will you have any time to tour Tomorrow's Yesterdays? Or is that going to be put on hold?

“It’s going to be difficult as I have a big commitment to ABBA Voyage and I’m expecting my first baby, so really a lot to juggle! I do hope to tour the album at some point, but it will probably be in a different less traditional way, I think lockdown taught us there are lots of ways to connect with people via music and perform that don’t have to be slogging around the country losing money on shows, which is the reality for many independent musicians.”

You have been in the music industry a long time now, first as a member of Dead Disco and then as both a DJ and a singer-songwriter. What have been the biggest challenges that you've faced and how have you overcome them? What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given?

“I think the hardest thing is just to keep going, it can be quite lonely sometimes being independent and always working alone there is only you to fight your battles, so when things don’t go how you’d like you just have to keep picking yourself up and carrying on. I think the best advice I had is - adapt or die!”

If you could change one thing about the music world today, what would it be and why?

“More transparency for musicians with royalties and payments, we have the technology now for everyone to be paid transparently in real time but the big companies don’t want this. We don’t need to be paying license fees to DSPs to listen to artists music, we could be paying the artists directly if everyone adopted the technology.”

Thinking about where you were 15 or so years ago, is this where you imagined you would be now? Do you have a favourite highlight?

“It’s very different from how I imagined but I probably just imagined being super famous or something like Lady Gaga, which I’m sure would come with its own unique set of highs and challenges! There are too many things to mention, I’m so grateful of my crazy journey and so many things that have happened, and really just so grateful to my fans that I am still here doing with I love.”

Finally, do you have any other ongoing pursuits currently? What are your musical and non-musical goals for the future?

“Well between the new album, having a baby and ABBA voyage I’m not sure what else I can take on right now! But I’m also continuing to write for other artists, I’ve had quite a lot of cuts now, but I’d love to have a break through big hit for someone. I also have a few other projects in the pipeline, but we will see what I manage to get around to so watch this space! And of course, continuing making music via my Patreon is just an incredible way to work, so we are already discussing new ideas for future EPs and new music.”

Photo credit: Patrick Balls

#interview #little boots #tomorrow's yesterdays

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sleepyboisinc · 4 years

Text

soo,,, the secret au huh?

its a band au. its a fucking band au. im posting this super impulsively, and it has no editing i think so if there are any mistakes,,,, fuck it idc

also this ends in a sort of cliffhanger i was gonan write more but i got tired of writing and never got the motivation to again im sorry lul

this au isnt just by me, theres other ppl involved in it too!! mainly bad timezone gang in technohive but others also helped :)

anywaysyysyshdhsh yea read if u want to ig

wilbur soot was discovered by a record label when he was 15 after he wrote the squid song. they didn't care that the lyrics were objectively bad, it was wilbur’s voice that grabbed their attention. they interviewed him and decided that they were gonna give him a chance. wilbur, who had always dreamed of being a singer, jumped at the opportunity. the interview went very well. they even asked him to sing a few songs and he nailed it. however, he wasn’t perfect. he still needed some vocal training. they spent an entire day discussing and signing paperwork. the label ended up arranging for wilbur to attend music classes to enhance his voice and get better at the guitar.

time-skip about 3 years. wilbur is 18 and is phenomenal at singing and the guitar. he starts going to uni and meets his roommate, an american student named technoblade who plays the violin. wilbur and techno quickly become friends, bonding over music and other mutual interests like video games. techno plays mini gigs on the street and at bars close to campus to make some money for himself. particularly at a little bar called “the harpy’s nest”

one day, wilbur gets bored sitting at home alone, so he goes to watch techno’s gig. he arrives halfway through the set and watches for about 5 minutes. after the gig is over, he watches as techno interacts with the bartender, a young man only slightly older looking than the two of them. techno notices wilbur and calls him over, introducing him to the bartender, philza. the two immediately hit it off and by the end of the night, they’ve exchanged numbers and a promise to meet up phil’s next shift.

over the next few months, the trio became best friends. wilbur learns that phil plays the drums and has several eps. one ep in particular, “hardcore2” blew up a bit in their general area and phil gained a bit of traction as a musician. the three boys spend most of their time hanging out at wilbur and techno’s dorm, or at phil’s bar. they stay up till ungodly hours playing video games and talking. their other friends dub them the sleepy boys, because of how tired they all are the next day.

however, as the months fly by, the date wilbur is supposed to finish training and write his first songs draws closer. he worries he’s bitten more than he can chew and he wonders if he’s even ready for fame. a month later he is assigned a manager, pete. pete says that his training contract has expired, meaning that he's ready to start writing his album. wilbur says that he needs to think a bit before he starts. pete was about to tell him he can’t have extra time to think because he signed a contract, but seeing the look of stress on wilbur’s face, he allows him 2 days before he starts. wilbur goes on a walk to think. he curses himself for second-guessing himself now. he realizes he doesn’t wanna do this alone. then he thinks of techno and phil.

what if they formed a band? that way he wouldn’t have to do this alone. he’s sure that they'd love to make a band together as well. he goes to them and… they agree. he goes to pete and asks him if they can be a three-piece band. pete says he needs to ask his higher-ups first. wilbur doesn’t hear from pete for 4 days and starts to worry. what if they won’t allow it? it wasn't part of the agreement so they have every right to turn him down. at the end of the fourth day, pete calls him and says that the higher-ups have agreed. they had to choose a group name by the end of 2 days. the trio was over the moon.

this was the start of sleepy bois inc.

their record label wasn’t massive, so the boys took to playing on the streets and in bars to gain some traction. they slowly started gaining recognition and grew faster when they made a youtube channel. they released several eps and a few albums, and gained a following over the next few years.

their first big break came 3 years after the band was formed. they had a decent following, about 50k subs on youtube and slightly less on other platforms. one day, jschlatt from lunch club, a massive boy band, got their music recommended to him on youtube. he’s intrigued and listened to it, and was surprised at how much he liked it. he liked it so much, that he decided to shout them out on twitter.

sleepybois inc’s popularity skyrocketed, and the members of both bands grew close. when lunch club announced their next tour, they revealed that sleepybois inc would open for them. the fans freak out, and many iconic moments and inside jokes form from this tour.

tommy innit was 19 years old and was preparing to become a musician. he was almost done with the 4 years of vocal and keyboard training provided by a record label and had to make a decision: be a solo artist, or join a band. if he chose the band, he has another 2 options: be assigned into a band that already exists under this label or make a new one with people that he knows.

tommy is also a massive fan of lunch club, and sees that jschlatt shouted out a band called sleepybois inc. he likes them a lot and becomes a fan of their stuff too. what tommy didn’t know is that they were at the same label he was training at and were open for a 4th member.

back on the music, tommy ended up going with band. he debated between making a band or being assigned one. after a while, he ended up going with being assigned. he was nervous about this because he'd have to integrate himself into their dynamic and feared that fans won’t like him, but he figured it’d be easier than making his friends all learn instruments.

being assigned a band is a process, so tommy had a couple of months free. during this time, lunch club was on tour with sleepybois inc and tommy got vip tickets to a show. so he went to the meet and greet and gave his number to sleepybois inc saying ”hmu if u need a keyboardist lul” as a joke (this is a very important detail i will include it f u)

so come around the day of tommy getting assigned. he has to do auditions for the bands that the record label selected for him to join. management has narrowed it down to the youngest 2 bands at their label who are open for a member: one of which is sleepybois inc.

it had been a month since tommy interviewed for sleepybois inc. he did pretty well at it, and had been talking to the boys a lot since then. he still hadn’t had news on whether he joined though.

it was 3 am. tommy had been working on school work for hours and had only just managed to finish up for the night. he settled into bed and was about to fall asleep when his phone rang. not bothering to look at who was calling, tommy picked it up

“who the fuck is calling me at 3 in the morning i swear to god-” tommy whispered angrily.

“tommy?” wilbur’s voice rang out “wait shit- this is probably a really bad time im sorry. but we have something important to tell you.”

tommy’s eyes widened.

“we’ve decided that you can join the band”

the band and their label spent a few weeks discussing how they would go about this. they boys decided they would need a name change too, and ended up settling on the name ‘purple pandas’. however, a new member and a name change would practically transform the band completely, so they had to go about announcing this the right way.

they ended up settling on posting a youtube video titled ‘making some changes’. seeing the announcement for this sent fans into a frenzy, frantically tweeting about what it could be. many rumours spread fast and it even got into a few news articles. conspiracies started floating around about what changes could possibly be taking place.

i cant write this shit no more bye

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sunsetinmyvein · 4 years

Text

The Radio Station - Chapter Two - I’m So Excited

21st of August, 2013

The email had come in from her boss about a week before the interview was scheduled – next Wednesday, Mathew Healy was going to be back on her show. A part of her felt kind of anxious about this fact. Since the last time they had met, the band had indeed taken off as she predicted. Their popularity was only snowballing and the man that she had the pleasure of knowing for a brief while was revelling in it (from what she had seen in other interviews, anyway). She tried to remind herself that he was very easy to get along with the last time, so this should be no different. And she had met some substantially larger names than The 1975 in her time at the station. So, her anxiety was therefore fairly unwarranted. Which begged the question about why she felt those nerves sitting at the pit of her stomach in the first place, just from knowing that he was coming back into the studio. However, there wasn’t any point in stewing over it, nor was there time to, because he was knocking lightly at her glass door before she knew it. His mohawk had grown out a bit since she’d last seen him eight months ago, but otherwise he looked largely the same. She had a feeling he was even wearing the same black jacket he’d been wearing before. Looking behind him, it would seem that he’d brought one of the guys with him that she had seen him with after their last interview. If she recalled correctly, he was their drummer.

“It was Matthew, yeah?” She asked, trying to play it cool as she ushered the two of them inside. She hoped that it wouldn’t be apparent too quickly that she had been watching The 1975's movements closely since they’d met. Though, if Matthew was as clued on this time as he was the last time they’d spoke, she likely wouldn’t be able to hide it for long.

“Yeah, but Matty’s better.” He grinned. There was a short pause as he stopped for a beat and maintained eye contact, before remembering that he had someone else to introduce. “And I don’t think you guys formally met last time, but this is George. I dragged him along, hope that’s okay.” He added as he gestured to the man standing behind him.

“Good seeing you again.” George nodded politely.

“You as well.” She replied. “Take a seat you guys, there’s still a couple of songs that have to play through before I introduce you.” She said as she gestured to the other side of the desk. Matty gladly took the usual guest spot as George dragged across the smaller chair from the corner of the room.

“How’ve you been?” Matty asked eagerly, shuffling around in his seat as he tried to get comfortable.

“Yeah, good. Pretty much the same as usual.” She chuckled as she took a sip of her coffee.

“I’m surprised that you’re still running the lunchtime shift and they’ve not bumped you up to some prime time, peak-hour traffic slot.” He said casually, earning an incredulous laugh from her. The morning and afternoon shifts were the most coveted positions at any radio station, let alone one as big as this. She was pretty happy that she’d managed to land a job that gave her hours during the day as opposed to a midnight shift.

“Ah, I think I’d need a bit more of an audience before that happened.” She replied.

“I dunno, from what I’ve heard you seem to have a decent following.” He said with a shrug.

It was quiet for a moment as she processed that. She was pretty certain she could hear the clock hanging above the door ticking quietly as her brain tried to catch up. “You listen to the show?” She asked eventually.

“Whenever I get a chance, yeah. Or just catch a few highlights here and there on social media.”

That truly caught her off guard. Matthew Healy was out there writing albums, playing shows, and listening to her radio show? Why? Surely, he had better things to do in his downtime? “Uh, so what about you guys?” She asked, clearing her throat and trying to change the topic before he took note of how flustered she was becoming at this knowledge. “How’s things?”

“Really good!” He grinned. “We had Glastonbury recently which was amazing, and have Reading and Leeds coming up this weekend, and-” He started rattling off, quickly stopped by George as he put a hand down on the singers’ shoulder.

“Don’t wanna give too much away before the interview starts, Matt.” He laughed softly.

“Well, no, but-“

“You have to save the stories or you’re just gonna end up repeating them.”

“I can tell different ones.”

“You’re gonna tell the same ones that you tell every time, I know you are. And you won’t wanna tell them in the interview because you already said them now.”

“You don’t know that.” Matty frowned, clearly keen to push the point.

They continued this back and forth for a while before she intervened, “Anyway,” She sensed she had to diffuse this argument before it progressed into teenage bickering. “let’s do an interview.”

The two of them instantly tuned out of their conversation and back into the matter at hand as she began flipping switches. She pulled her headset on as she gave them one last cursory glance to make sure that they were ready.

"Hope you’re all having a pleasant afternoon out there, folks.” She spoke into her microphone. “As per usual on our Wednesday shows, I do have some special guests here in the studio with me to have a chat.” She said, nodding across to Matty to introduce himself.

“Hey! It’s Matty from The 1975.” He said with an excited grin.

“And George.” His friend added, leaning across to be closer to the mic. “Great to be here.”

“So, it’s been about nine months since you were here-”

“Entirely too long, if you ask me.” Matty chimed in casually. She pressed on, trying to ignore the charm that seemed to radiate from just about everything this man said.

“-and all of the EPs are out now, correct?” She continued.

“Yep.”

“Your album comes out in just under two weeks?”

“That sounds about right.”

She glanced down at the notepad in front of her, but she was pretty sure that over the last week she had memorised these questions front to back. “Are you excited for the album to finally be out? You were saying last time that it was practically already written back when you started the EP concepts.”

“We're definitely excited to finally hear people's reactions after how much traction we've gained from the EPs.” George began.

“It's been sitting in our heads for so long, it was almost hard to postpone it, but we wanted it to be perfect.” Matty threw in. “We didn't really expect to have such a positive reaction so soon, so it'll be interesting to see what people do with the main event.” Matty answered with a daydreamy look flashing in his eyes for a moment.

“I’ve really been enjoying the EPs.” She added, which instantly caught Matty's attention.

“Have you?” He asked instantly.

“Yeah, they've had a fair few spins through my playlists.” She laughed, suddenly making him grin ear to ear.

“You mentioned the positive reaction, Matty. With how fast you guys have taken off, I've heard a lot of people out there referring to The 1975 as an overnight success.” She prompted. “But you guys have been working on this since you were teenagers.”

He let out a sigh. “There is so much stuff about us being an overnight success…” He pulled a hand through his hair as he looked over at George. “It’s been ten years, actually.” He chuckled.

“Was the ten years worth it when you got the call to open for the Stones?”

“Yeah. Yeah!” He almost shouted, now letting out a full laugh. “it’s stuff like that, that really makes you appreciate it.”

George nodded along with him. “I think this whole year’s been worth it. Not just the Stones show, we’ve had a lot of great festivals and great sold out shows. It’s been strange. Surreal telling people about those events.” He elaborated.

“We didn’t mean for any of this to happen, really. So, it was a bit daunting initially.”

“You guys are still on tour?” She asked, moving along to the next topic.

“Yeah, have been since we last spoke.” Matty said with a nod. “Not really getting off tour until...” He seemed to be counting in his head. “December next year.”

“Next year?” She asked in surprise. “That's quite a long tour.”

“We are just… constantly on the move now.” He shrugged.

“That's for sure. It’s been a big year for The 1975. You guys had Glastonbury in June.”

“Yeah! That was amazing. It was incredible to play at a festival that we all grew up going to.”

“And have Reading and Leeds coming up this weekend with some big names.” She reminded him.

“Crazy…” He agreed. “We haven’t really been in the country for a lot of it. When Chocolate went so mental, we’ve been in America and Europe and just touring. We’ve just seen each other every day, it’s not really been that different for us. But the shows are getting bigger, people are really investing in the band, so it’s an amazing time.”

“You guys also did South by South West, which was eleven shows in five days.”

“That was mental.” George scoffed.

“Yeah! We were quite surprised to see how many people came to all of those shows. Chris Martin said the most perfect thing ever - of all people - if you throw a party and like 50 people come up, so imagine doing that for twice, three times the amount of that, every night, in cities you’ve never even really heard of. We turned up in Milwaukee and 350 people came to the show. We had a sold-out show in new York.” He rattled off, seeming slightly bewildered at the memory.

“That's pretty crazy to be making such big waves in a different country like that.” She concurred.

“I think it’s a testament to the internet, really. How far we’ve come from Manchester all the way across the world.” The drummer offered.

Matty instantly took that thought and ran with it, “God, I could talk about it for ages. It’s strange to go somewhere – when you go to places, and you realise you have a following there… your identity, your sense of self, almost feels slightly diluted? Because you’re in somewhere so unfamiliar, but witnessing the most familiar parts of your life. Your material, your art. It’s weird, man.” He said, shaking his head slightly.

“Does it intimidate you guys at all?” She questioned.

“No.” He instantly answered. “It’s amazing, a very humbling experience. It’s just very odd, the power of the internet? It’s kind of unsettling, but not intimidating. Kind of feel like you’ve lost a part of yourself a little bit.”

“How so?” She urged him to continue.

“Well... that’s when you’re at your most honest, isn’t it? When nobody knows who your band is. Now people know who we are. I’m the protagonist in every song I write. Which means every time I put stuff out there, it's putting out a part of me. Every conversation in a song is me and a normally female counterpart.” He tried his best to explain. “But that’s a subconscious thing.” He added as an afterthought.

“So it's like you're a little too transparent putting that much of yourself out there to such a large group of people?”

“Well, yeah. Your identity becomes kind of vaguely diluted because it’s not as embedded in what you’re familiar with anymore. Your identity kind of extends to places that you don’t really understand. It’s quite an unsettling thing for me.” Matty looked like he was struggling to find the right adjectives to describe the feeling. “It’s interesting. It’s cool.” He eventually settled on.

“Does that sort of feeling ever bother you when you're on stage?” She asked.

“Not at all. Performing is one of the only times I feel satisfied.” He laughed. “I just love it. It’s like putting on a party every night.”

“Would you guys ever do another big supporting tour like The Stones?”

“Probably not right now.” George supplied, before Matty spoke over him.

“There’s been a genuine investment from our fans. Every show we put out sells out really quickly now. We’ve not been able to meet the demands of the amount of people who want to see our band. As much as going off and playing with popstars in arenas would be fun, I think that would be an indulgent decision. It wouldn’t be for the right reasons. We need to play our own shows… we’ll have the opportunity for all that later.” He answered decisively. George seemed happy with this. “I don’t want us to get too big too quickly, you know? A lot of people feel like we’re their band. 'You’re my kinda band.' That’s how I always used to fall in love with bands. I don’t wanna lose that. I want that to remain, because it really is important to me that every single person gets the band.” It wasn't hard to believe that Matty meant what he was saying with the amount of conviction in his voice as he spoke into the mic in front of him.

“We have quite a strict door policy on our band. We don’t want idiots gettin’ in.” George threw in to try and lighten the mood.

“Back to Reading and Leeds, then. You're playing with the likes of Fall Out Boy and Green Day. Those are some massive names that'll be bringing in big crowds.” She started her line of questioning, waiting for them to respond before she continued.

“Yeah... We haven’t played to that many people.” Matty wiped his hands down his face as he took in a deep breath. “But it’s a real validation of all you’re doing. It’s not something we’ve ever craved, but it’s something we’ve really, really embraced and something that pushes us forward as creative people. It's cemented our identity as a band.” He replied.

“Are you nervous?” She asked with a smile.

He chuckled slightly, “Yeah, a little bit, but not really. What’ve we got to be nervous of? If people are there, they’ve already made that investment in us. We’ve just gotta show up and provide what we are.” George nodded. “And we can do that, so let’s just do it, d’you know what I mean?”

“All right, we're gonna play a couple of songs and then we'll be back with some questions you guys sent in earlier in the week.” She spoke into her microphone before cutting away.

“Fan questions?” George asked in curiosity as he took his headset off.

“Yeah. The station told people to text stuff in through the week and I've picked a few to ask.” She said with a nod as she took a swig from her cup of coffee.

“Hopefully you picked good ones.” Matty said with an eyebrow raised.

“You'll just have to see.” She shot back, earning a grin from him.

“You do brilliant interviews. I can't imagine you'd give us shitty questions.” He added. She tried her best to make sure he wouldn't see the slight blush on her cheeks at the compliment.

“You know, you should come out to a show sometime.” He segued. She was all too happy for an out from that conversation before it progressed.

“You guys hardly ever play here.” She pointed out.

“Come see us at Reading.”

“I hardly think you guys are high enough up on the bill to be offering to get me into a major festival for free.” She tried to sound accusatory, but couldn’t stop herself from cracking a small smile.

“Ask the station to get you in.” He suggested. She noticed that he seemed… rather eager about this idea.

She sighed deeply as she mulled this over. It would be nice to see them play live. It would be nice to see Matty again. Seeing him at a show counted as work, right? She could use that as a loophole in her own rules. “I’ll see what I can do.” Matty’s eyes practically lit up at her words.

“Okay, we're back with Matty and George of The 1975, here to answer some questions sent in by you lovely listeners.” She started, flipping over her notebook to the scribbled fan questions. “First up we have Louise who wanted to know, what's your highlight been so far?” The two men sitting across from her both let out a groan.

“So much has happened...” George mumbled.

“The whole thing has just become a bit of a blur, to be honest with you.” Matty answered. “It’s just loads of surreal situations strung together by doing interviews. I’d like to be in that place of having that much foresight – that much retrospect and hindsight. Everything’s happened so quick… I don’t know how I’m gonna feel about it. I can’t imagine things can continue being this intense in another year.” He paused for a moment, before pulling himself back on track. “Having a genuine connection with people who I never would’ve thought had even heard of our band every night, just that kind of…extended feeling… is the highlight of every night.”

“That's quite a nice sentiment.” She nodded.

“When we were a lot smaller in the UK, like January, a couple came up to me after a gig in London. And said that they’d fallen in love with each other through our EP – the Sex EP. They’d started speaking about it when they were out with a group of friends. They’d met and said ‘you know this band The 1975’ and they fell in love with that record and now they’re getting engaged.” He looked absolutely astounded by this, looking across to her to make sure she understood how crazy that was. “And I love that. It nearly made me cry. Because that’s it. That’s all we wanna do. For our music to affect people emotionally. If you have an artistic expression that does that… there’s nothing more beautiful, really. And if that’s your job, how can you get any better than that?” He finished with a shrug.

“Next we have Sam who's asked could you guys imagine doing something else instead of being in the band?” She questioned, crossing it off her list.

“We can’t do anything else.” George said with a laugh, instantly making his friend do the same.

“The band is the only expression we have. That’s bought from being complacent on working for anything else, and being totally, totally narrow minded and blind. We’ve never thought of the idea of this not happening.” Matty said.

“David has asked, how do you keep going?”

“Alcohol.” Matty instantly laughed. “Not really.” He quickly corrected. “It’s been the only thing we do, y’know? It’s not like we were in a band and had other interests. As soon as we became consumed by this band, we just stuck together as individuals. I think also because our social group has always orientated around us as a four, there’s never been any reason for us to not make music. It’s almost as if someone said ‘yeah, all right’ and then we got embraced by lots of different people and institutions.” He explained.

“Have there been any bad times?” She asked. “That was from Anna.”

“Not really?” George frowned. “I suppose when we were being wined and dined by the labels and then everything kind of fell apart? But it ended for the better, because we then signed a great deal on an indie that allowed us to have total creative control. Retrospectively we wouldn’t have had it any other way.” He answered.

“But it wasn’t that bad!” Matty chimed in. “Getting’ flirted, y’know. We were really young when all these labels were going for us. We were always quite fortunate as a band to have a lot of foresight.”

“Right, on that note, Jessica has asked how hard is it to stay true to your original ideas when speaking to labels?”

“You get really excited for the first few encounters, then you quickly learn to tame yourself and not get excited until you’re physically doing what has been said that they’ll do for you. You’ve gotta keep your head.” George answered.

“We just prided ourselves on our conviction. The only reason we wanted to do was this because it was on our terms.”

“Okay, Brian has asked if you guys ever fall out?”

“No.” Both of them instantly answered.

“We Just avoid that stuff and let other people deal with it. It’s too much of a personal endeavour to let the small stuff get to you. It’s not like we’re four boys who started a band because we wanted to be in a band, we’re four mates who ended up in a band by accident. So, pfft, whatever.” The singer scoffed.

“We’ve not focused on the financial stuff or anything like that. The only thing we have maintained is to have the final say and total creative control, and we all agree on that so there's not been any arguments to have.” George said.

“Last serious one and then we have some quick fire stuff.” She said as she scribbled out the last question. “Brendan wanted to know what your biggest accomplishment is so far?”

“Just making the record.” Matty said with a shrug. “I don’t really care how that record’s perceived or embraced, because it’s such an honest record - it’s such an honest depiction of who we are and where we’re from. It’s so uncompromised. The fact that a band like us managed to make a record like that without compromising at all… I’m just proud of that as an idea.”

“Okay, some short and sweet ones to end out the interview.” George and Matty sat up a little straighter in their seats. “Who's the best behaved?” She asked.

“George is tidy, I guess?” Matty seemed hesitant as he glanced at his mate. “He’s quite well behaved but we’re all quite well behaved because we’ve been in a band for a long time. This a very… kind of pursuit for music for us. A lot of our partying doesn’t actually happen when we’re on tour. We try and be as good as possible. All of us have our moments? We’re in a rock band, y’know what I mean?” He chuckled, running a hand through his mohawk.

“These are meant to be quick, Matty.” She reminded him with a smile. “If you could pick one person dead or alive to be stuck on an island with, who would it be?”

“Musically? Michael Jackson – just to go through musical ideas. But I think he’d get on my nerves after a couple of days.”

“Yeah, same.” George agreed.

“Can you moonwalk?”

“Yes. Very well.”

“Which celebrity do you think would have the best banter at a party?”

“Anyone from Geordie Shore.”

“If you could swap wardrobes with anyone, who would you want it to be?”

“ASAP rocky. For sure.”

“Write us a poem.”

“That's not quick fire!” He scoffed with a laugh. “And that's not a question!” He added, now properly laughing. “In an interview, the idea is to ask questions that I can answer. You’re giving me all of the work.”

“Ahh, I thought you'd be able to churn out something instinctual like those people who spill the truth after a bunch of quick questions.” She grinned.

“Well, that's all we have time for.” She sighed, leaning back a bit in her chair. “Thank you guys for coming in to the studio to have a chat.”

“It's no problem.” George smiled sweetly.

“We'll be here any time you want us on.” Matty replied.

“That was Matty and George from The 1975, and a track from them is coming up next.” She finished up as she set Chocolate up to play next. The two boys started getting up from their seats, grabbing their stuff and straightening out their jackets. As they were about to leave, she heard Matty tell George to go on ahead and he'd catch up. She spun in her chair to face him as he walked back over to her.

“I was serious , by the way.” Matty said, leaning back against the desk. “Any time you want us on the show, or if you wanna come out to see us play, just let me know.” He said as he held out a piece of paper. She took it from him, realising it had his number scrawled on it.

“Is this meant to be a subtle way of giving me your number?” She frowned up at him, but he definitely caught on to the excitement she was trying her best to hide.

“It can be whatever you want it to be.” He shrugged with a smirk as he followed after his friend.

Taglist: @imagine-that-100 @dot-writes @tooshhhy @robinrunsfiction @approved-by-dentists

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#Matthew Healy x Reader #Matty Healy x Reader #Sunsetinmyvein

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bangtan-madi · 4 years

Text

546 Days Without You — Nine: Day 264

Pairing — Seokjin x Reader

Tags — boyfriend!Seokjin, older brother!Yoongi, producer/songwriter!MC, military au (ish), idol au (ish)

Genre — fluff, angst

Word Count — 2.3k

Summary — Kim Seokjin is your entire world, and that world falls apart the moment he and your older brother Yoongi are conscripted into the South Korean military.

Part — 9 / 15

Warnings — minor language

A/N — Taglist is open! Comment or submit an ask if you want to be added :) Also sorry for the late post. Tumblr has been giving me issues.

Previous — Next

The day the album drops, the group is on edge the whole morning. It's been this way every comeback. The members are progressively moodier until the morning of, then they become eerily quiet.

The second the clock ticks past the release date, there's a group sigh of relief. Map of the Soul: Dream is out in the world, and people are streaming it by the millions. No more writing, no more recording, no more producing: the brainchild of Bangtan is out.

Finally.

The hour after the release, the interviews begin. The band is scheduled for events from the initial release panel in Seoul all the way to interviews across the world. The next few weeks are going to be packed with speaking engagements and travel. Normally, this is where you let the managers take over since it's not common for producers to travel for these kinds of things. On any other album, you'd wave to them as they left for the airport and scurry back to the safety and familiarity of the studio.

But you just had to have your name put on the album.

"Oh, no," Namjoon says, grasping the hood of your sweatshirt as you attempt to do just that. "Don't think you're getting out of this panel."

Turning towards the leader with a scowl, you retort, "I'm not a member, Joon. This isn't where I'm supposed to be. This is your guys' time to shine. I belong in a studio."

He shakes his head adamantly. "Your name's on the album, several times I might add. Writer, producer, and artist. They may have looked over the writing and producing rolls in the past, but now?"

"Not gonna happen," Taehyung snickers as he makes his way towards the Big Hit dressing room.

"I think people are more intrigued by you then they are by us," Jimin agrees, coming out of the hair and makeup room looking picture-perfect. "This is year eight for us. You're something new in the mix."

You resist the urge to roll your eyes. "The media likes anything new and shiny."

"I heard you talking to Seokjin about this yesterday," Namjoon replies. "What did he say?"

Narrowing your eyes, you pull your hood out of his grasp with a pout. "He said I should do it."

This only causes Namjoon to smirk, knowing he's got you. He cups a hand next to his ear and leans down, as if trying to hear you. "I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that?"

Instead of dignifying his teasing with a response, you shove the leader a bit, earning a laugh from the gentle giant. "They'll get to see me on tour. Why isn't that enough?"

"Y'know, I like her point," Jungkook grins adjusting the tie around his neck. He, too, has been primed and ready for the panel. "We can just go straight to tour and skip all this."

Hoseok enters the room, followed closely by Manager Sejin. The two men are also ready for the day's events, and you realize you're not getting out of this.

"For what it's worth, these things are really fun if you ignore the cameras and pushy paps," he says, playfully linking his arm with yours. Smiling brightly at you, he turns and escorts you towards the dressing room, much to the awe and surprise of the others. "And that's why we have security: to keep those away. This is as much part of tour as actually performing."

Once out of earshot of the others, you turn to Hoseok and mumble, "Yeah...I guess I'm just a little nervous. I remember how the press treated you boys when you first debuted. It was less than kind."

"You're tough as nails, [Y/n]. You Mins are another breed altogether. Trust me, if Jimin can do it, you can, too."

"I heard that!"

Hoseok giggles and gestures towards the dressing room, where the stylist has picked out a few options for outfits. They're all pretty, and go perfectly with the boys' album-themed attire.

"You got this," he states, letting you go and giving you two, big thumbs up.

You sarcastically mirror both his expression and gestures. "I hope so!"

Once everyone is dressed to the nines and dolled up, you're escorted to a Big Hit vehicle and sent on your way to the panel. This is far from the first time that BTS as a group has done something like this. In fact, you've attended once before, for the Map of the Soul: Persona release. It was inside one of the largest conference halls in downtown Seoul, and the seats were packed with photographers, journalists, interviewers, and even Army. Everyone was ecstatic about the release, and you can feel that same energy in the air today, despite being two members short.

As the group piles in the building, you feel Jimin and Taehyung take both of your hands. Your best friend and oldest friends are the first to notice how out of place you feel. The lights, the cameras, the crowds; it's not that you're not used to them, but they've never been focused on you before.

"You got this," Jimin murmurs, pressing a quick kiss to your cheek before he leads the trio through the auditorium doors.

From backstage, you can easily see the ramp that leads to the stage, and the setup in the center. The backdrop is a large, lavender canvas, covered in a larger version of the white outline of the plum blossom album art for 'Dream.' The host of the panel is a well-known personality in the k-pop industry, and as he makes his introductions of the event to those gathered in the seats, you attempt to calm yourself by taking deep breaths.

In your pocket, your phone buzzes twice. Pulling it out, you swipe across the screen, seeing two texts from Seokjin.

"I know you're nervous, but just take those deep breaths like I told you. Hold it in, and then slowly let it out. Seven seconds in, hold, and out. And trust the boys. They won't let anyone ask you questions that are inappropriate or rude. They have your back, Jagiya." The second says, "You got this. I believe in you. If I can do it, you're going to knock it out of the park."

A relieved smile slips onto your face, and you shoulders relax as you text a swift, grateful reply. As you hit send, Jimin reaches once more for your hand and tugs you towards the stage.

"Time to shine," he says with a grin. "Are you good?"

You give a single, assured nod and walk proudly behind him onto the stage. The lights and sounds drown out into a single, mute note as you find yourself being guided to a seat between Hoseok and Jungkook, near the edge of the panel. You're farthest from Namjoon, for which you're grateful in a way; as the leader of the group, he ends up doing most of the talking. Physically distancing yourself from him might be the best idea to keep you from having to speak for the group.

Once the basic introductions are made, even though everyone already knows who everyone else is, the questions from the host begin. The first few are easy questions about the album itself, the making and inspiration and work that went into it. He asks about everyone's roles and the sub units, as well as how they've handled the comeback for the last installment of Map of the Soul. The boys, mostly Namjoon, answer in their usual fashion, both elegant and truthful in their dialogue.

Then, the inevitable questions start to slip in.

"How has it been preparing for an album and tour without two of your most senior members?"

"We'd be lying if we said it's been easy," Namjoon chuckles, trying to answer the host in the most graceful way possible. "Suga and Jin did a lot of work on 'Dream' before they left to do their service, so we still feel as if they're with us, in a way. Jin has his solo track on the album, and it's one he recorded before he left. Suga did much of the songwriting and producing, per usual. But it has been hard. It's been a struggle for all of us to adjust without them, especially when preparing for the tour."

The host nods to you next, and you feel your stomach drop. "But it seems you're not completely rid of a Min family influence. Ms. Min [Y/n], how has it been working with BTS so closely on this project?"

Namjoon gives a small nod of reassurance as you lean forward to speak into the microphone in front of you. "Well...I actually have always worked as a producer on BTS' albums, so this one wasn't so different."

"But this time you're featured on the album as well, is that right?"

Swallowing dryly, you shake your head in agreement. Hoseok places a calming hand on your knee under the table, and you force yourself to take a deep breath in like Seokjin instructed.

"Yes, I am."

"What brought that about?"

"Well, I had released my track 'Silhouette' on Soundcloud a little bit before, and it had gained a lot of traction amongst Armys. When it came time to decide the final track lineup for 'Dream,' Bang Si-hyuk-nim brought up the idea to include it." You nod down towards Namjoon with a smile. "RM thought it was a great idea, and while I didn't agree at first, eventually I came around. The story 'Silhouette' tells fits in perfectly with the narrative in 'Dream.' We added the track, and the rest is history."

The host nods, listening to your answer intently. "So does this make you the eighth member of BTS, or a stand-in for your brother?"

While trying to remain respectful, you can't help but laugh at the question. "Not even close. Everyone knows that there's only one Suga, only one Min Yoongi, and no one will ever come close to replacing my brother. I'm not trying to become the eighth member of BTS, nor am I trying to replace Suga or Jin. I'm a new artist that's being featured on the next album, just like any previous collaboration. The only difference here is that I happen to be related to one of the members. Those artists...they're one-of-a-kind. If I'm a stand-in for either of them, I'd probably fire myself for doing such a sh—sloppy job."

Your last comment earns a chuckle from the host, as well as the audience behind him. "I see you're quite a lot like your brother in many ways, so it's comforting to know that the band still has a Min on their side, even while Suga and Jin are away at service."

Jimin leans forward to speak into his mic, turning his head so he can flash a wink in your direction. "Yeah, she's been like glue for us this past year."

"We're glad to have her on board," Namjoon agrees. "And both Jin and Suga approved all of this, both before and after they left, so there's that extra bit of encouragement."

"So will we expect to see you on the Dream Tour?" Both the host and the rest of the audience go silent, waited with bated breath for your response.

Flashing a small smile, you attempt to hide your nerves when you reply, "You'll see me in a little over a month at the opening in Seoul...and every stop after that."

After the remaining hour of the launch event is over, and the press starts to slip out of the auditorium, the members are escorted backstage to the changing rooms. The announcements being made, from now until Tour begins, the six of you are going to spend the majority of your time traveling for events. You've looked at the calendar and have seen the stops planned. Busan is next, then Tokyo, Nagoya, Hong Kong, Macau, Los Angeles, and New York City. You even recall seeing a handful of stops in Europe, Australia, and South America, as the fanbase has grown exponentially on those continents.

"That went perfectly," Sejin says as the members come off-stage. He nods to you with a proud expression. "You were amazing. All of you."

Jimin scurries over to you and wraps you in a tight hug. "I knew you could do it," he murmurs against your shoulder. "Proud of you, [Y/n]-ah."

Your heart swells at their reassurance, and you pat Jimin's shoulder as a silent thank you. "How can you be sweaty after two hours of sitting?" you tease, shoving him off you.

The blonde scoffs, feigning a hurt expression. "Those lights are bright! And I'm wearing Gucci!"

"Does money make you perspire?"

"Go get changed," Hoseok laughs, separating you two like a mother with her children. "We need to get on to Busan, and tomorrow we fly to Nagoya!"

"Ahhh, now I really miss Jin-hyung and his amazing Japanese skills," Taehyung groans. "I should've practiced more."

The group laughs at his self-inflicted banter and begins the process of changing into travel clothes for the short trip across South Korea.

"How are we getting to Busan?" you ask.

"Can we vote?" Jungkook asks, raising his hand dramatically. "'Cause I vote train."

Sejin shakes his head. "We have a jet already reserved."

The youngest member extends his hand towards the manager, eyes intent and fist closed. "Rock-paper-scissors for it?"

Though amused, Sejin merely points to the dressing room. "Get changed, Jungkookie."

"But—" All Sejin has to do is look directly at the brunet, cock an eyebrow, and cross his arms, and the maknae is grinning apologetically and running for the dressing room. "Plane it is!"

Taglist — @joyful-jimin, @gracehiii, @live-2-fangirl, @rjsmochii, @btsnatalena

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toogoodmusic · 3 years

Audio

THE TOO GOOD TEN with YAM HAUS

Pursuing a career in music is tough but made a bit easier when you get to do it alongside long-time friends. That’s a reality for the four-piece band, Yam Haus out of Minneapolis. The alt-pop band appeared on the scene in 2018 with their debut single, “West Coast” - a chill synth infused pop song - that immediately gained some traction and shot up over a million streams. Since then, the group has released their 13 song debut album, Stargazer and the 2020 The Band Is Gonna Make It EP and more recently their single “novocaine.” They follow-up “novocaine” with the upbeat and funky “Whatever It Is” that encourages you to not sweat the small stuff. Just as much friends as they are musicians the boys of Yam Haus show their less serious side in their Youtube Vlogs and social media and have garnered a passionate fanbase to boost. Get to know your new favorite band by checking out their latest single above and their full Too Good Ten interview below:

The Too Good Ten. Ten Questions. One Artist. Too Good. Let’s go.

1. Taking it back to the beginning – how did the four of you come together to from Yam Haus?

YAM HAUS: We’re high school friends that met up after college and decided to go for the dream of being in a band together. This is something we’ve all dreamt of doing since we were kids.

2. We’ve gotta touch on the band name – Yam Haus – its so unique. The YAM is an acronym stands for “You Are Me” correct? How did the name come to be? What does “You Are Me” mean to you?

YH: We were living in a house together when we started the band and had started calling it the "Yam House” as a reminder of the whole “you are me” thing in relation to being good roommates, friends, etc. We were totally strapped trying to find a name that wasn’t already taken and someone suggested calling the band that and we just went for it. We spelt house in German just to make it look weird.

3. You guys have played alongside some impressive names in music such as Kacey Musgraves, Tori Kelly, Andy Grammer, American Authors and lovelytheband just to name a few. What does it mean to share a stage with acts like that? Any learnings from watching these artists perform?

YH: It means a lot. It’s such a privilege to get the chance to play alongside artists that are further along than us. One of the biggest things we’ve learned from a lot of bigger artists is to stay humble and not take any of this for granted.

4. “WHATEVER IT IS” is out now! How does this song feel different or similar to previous releases? How long had you been working on this one?

YH: To compare it to our previous releases, it has the feel good message of a song like “Groovin’” and the more ambitious production of a song like “The Thrill.” It was fun to see those two vibes come together. It’s a song we needed personally, with how gloomy this past year has been for literally everybody on earth, it felt good to stumble into making a feel good song organically. Seth made the demo in February of this year, and we made the verses and then brought it down to Nashville with our producer Mark Needham and a co-writer Aaron Raitiere and they helped us bring it to the finish line that same month. It was a pretty quick process.

5. Your social media is hilarious and seems like you guys are really good friends in addition to being bandmates. Do you guys feel it’s important to not take each other/life too seriously when pursuing a career in music?

YH: Absolutely. Our friendship is a very integral part of what we do. It’s one of our biggest strengths. Another important aspect we’ve tried to remember is to not tie up our personal identities too strongly into social media, while still being true to ourselves and what we’re about. That can be a fine balance to maintain. When we get too wrapped up into everything and in our heads too much, things can start to feel really hopeless and unnecessarily stressful, so it helps to always remember to take a step back and have healthy personal lives that stand can alone outside of the band. When we’re healthy personally it bleeds into Yam Haus in a really beautiful and effortless way.

6. You guys played your first live stream concert (that also featured some in person attendance) in early April. Although there was a live audience component did you prepare differently knowing it’d be a live stream? How’d it feel to be playing shows again?

YH: Not really, we just made a set list we were excited about and showed up and played it like we always do. It feels really good but also it brings up a lot of sad emotions that I feel we’ve all repressed a bit pertaining how much we’ve missed stuff in the past year. It’s bittersweet in a way, and we’re really grateful to be playing again.

7. Do you guys have any funny/weird/heartwarming fan stories/interactions?

YH: Loads! One of my favorites would be when everybody passed little hearts around and held them up at us at First Avenue in December of 2019. We didn’t know that was happening and it surprised us in a really sweet way. Seeing all those hands holding them up at us was so wonderful.

8. Are there any pranks you guys have pulled on each other throughout the years? If so, any stand out?

YH: Yeah we occasionally have thrown surprise “turkey parties” for each other where we decide one of us is a turkey and we have this huge turkey themed party in their honor.

9. For each member, if you could only listen to (5) artists for the rest of your life who would they be?

Lars: Leif Vollebekk, Radiohead, Sheryl Crow, Outkast, Charli XCX

Seth: Coldplay, Frank Ocean, John Prine, Kendrick Lamar, Radiohead

Zach: Bon Iver, Kendrick Lamar, Charli XCX, Stevie Wonder, Radiohead

Jake: Coldplay, Leif Vollebekk, Corrine Bailey Rae, Stevie Wonder, John Mayer

10. What’s the rest of 2021 look like for Yam Haus?

YH: Lots of shows and music releases. Hoping people get vaxxed so we can get back on the road ASAP.

Yes - let’s all hope everyone gets vaccinated so we get live music back ASAP! Especially as they JUST announced their latest tour. For ticket information click HERE.

Shout-out to the guys of Yam Haus for hanging for the most recent Too Good Ten. Need more from these talent guys? Be sure to follow along on their journey below:

SOCIALS:

Facebook

Instagram

TikTok

Twitter

Website

#music #pop #yam haus #whatever it is #interview #interviews #the too good ten #toogoodten #too good ten #blog #music blog #kacey musgraves #andy grammer #tori kelly #lovelytheband #american authors #alt #alternative #minneapolis

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anonymoushouseplantfan · 5 years

Note

Would love to hear your predictions for the Africa tour. Thanks!

My big prediction is: SECOND PREGNANCY!!! Anyone else with me?

The UK press will threaten not to go because Brexit drama is in full swing, but they show up anyway because the Sussexes tell them that Meghan is preggo and they will get bump pics and Archie baby pics and Harry will walk through a minefield with a Halo vest like his mom did. Tim Rooke expresses skepticism but joins the tour anyway. Rebecca English skips the tour and covers PC and Camilla instead. Camilla Tominey skips the tour to focus on Brexit. Richard Palmer skips the tour because he has to wash his hair.

Jess pap-walks at Heathrow airport to get the “styling Meghan for her tour press” and show she’s totally not ghosted.

The reporters end up only getting shots of a baby-sized bump under an organic cotton baby blanket and Harry wears the vest, but does not walk through the minefield. Brexit drama overshadows the whole tour. The press ends up even more pissed than they were before.

Meghan bellycups, but not as much as in Australia.

They do a lot of behind-closed-doors events with pics released through their IG. They tell the press they are doing it to protect the baby and because Megs is pregnant and not feeling well. Chris Jackson takes all the pics. The press gets angrier and angrier.

Meghan skips the outdoor events claiming she has to take care of the baby. Harry has to visit his surfing charity alone. He gets aggressive with the press and says something about the environment.

They have a food event. Meghan talks about spices and distributes signed copies of her cookbook. A DM commenter asks why she didn’t write inspirational messages for the chefs on the decorative plantains.

Meghan doesn’t wear any South African brands and wears a hideously expensive couture gown to an embassy office party. She wears an item from her own collection and it gets more press than anything else she wears because her staff forgets to cut off the tag. Melanie Bromley shows she’s gone native by non-ironically using the phrase “bless her heart” on air.

Meghan orders that the normals be kept away from her and an “overzealous bodyguard” is blamed for it. Ken Wharfe hits the tabloid and morning show circuit telling everyone that Diana would have handled it better.

They take a private plane. Piers Morgan half-heartedly calls them hypocrites on television, but he doesn’t write a column about it because he’s too busy with Brexit.

Rumors about house-shopping abound. The DM reveals that Harry and Meghan went house-shopping and fell in love with a $200 million gated community villa on a cliff with a killer ocean view, and it will cost UK taxpayers a bazillion billion pounds a year to secure it.

Meghan wears a see-through item of clothes. Omid writes a five-article explaining how it’s actually an optical illusion.

Harry visits Sentebale on his own.

The private plane, gated villa, and couture gown stories gain traction, so the Sussexes leak a fake story to Emily Andrews about how Harry bought take-out at a local Nando’s because Meghan had a craving. Richard Palmer calls Nando’s from London and they deny it.

They take Archie to meet a member of the Mandela family behind closed doors, and they post black-and-white pics taken by Chris Jackson and Mandela quotes on their IG. Even though the UK press was told there would be no press at the event because Archie has to be protected from evil reporters, someone from CBS magically appears on-site and Gayle King gets an exclusive. Omid explains that Gayle was vacationing in SA with her cameraman and she had no idea there was a tour going on. She ducked into the Mandela Museum to go to the restroom, was surprised to find Meghan there, and figured she might as well get a quick interview. A member fo the Mandela family defends Meghan and says the press criticisms are racist.

Harry is sulky during the minefield engagement. They blame it on the mummy memories. Brexit drama overshadows everything. The minefield event is almost a bust, but Tim Rooke magically gets a pic of Harry that looks exactly like the iconic Diana pic and the day is saved.

The DM reveals that Meghan’s tour wardrobe cost 100,000 pounds.

A staff member quits after the trip. Actually, make that two.

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suchalilyofthevalley · 4 years

Note

Do you think that Shawn and Camila's careers can bounce back? A lot of the GP dislikes Shawn, and people aren't checking for Camila.

Y’all are coming at me with some doozies today.

Going to ask where the receipts are on the “a lot of the GP dislikes Shawn” and “people aren’t checking for Camila” - which is hard because it feels more like an opinion than fact. If you’re talking social noise, a good deal of folks who are going to take the time to comment are “fans” in some capacity, even if just slightly - you’re not getting some random 17 to 26-year-old who may know of them in a passing way who is indifferent to either of them going to look at Just Jared for new pap photos and/or tweeting at them and/or throwing chatter out on social during the iHeart concert the other week.

Right now, general mass pop is just seeing what they’re pedaling and what shows up on the ET, E!, Just Jared, the iHeart concert, etc. - and it’s all about the THEMNESS of them. What’s been out there about the music, from either of them? Little to nothing at all other than the passing push of using My Oh My for her as the song for iHeart, which lord the lambasting that took (hello teams - not a time to be tone-deaf) after the fact from critics and social chatter. Does mass pop remember SM3 at all aside from when it hits in rotation on radio/satellite or streaming? Do folks know anything from her other than Havana? Are folks still rolling in Seniorita? It’s like general mass pop is indifferent, which to me is worse than having feelings on either side of the spectrum.

There’s very little definition between the two outside of being a package deal, and what you do get is mostly on the side of Camila, her being billed solely for the iHeart thing, then low and behold lookie it’s Shawn, the Seacrest foundation thing, oh lookie there’s Shawn again - and all for/around awareness for HER and this second single that is still their push four months after the drop and no real traction outside of some TikTok noise.

Again, I get that they're hunkered down for social distancing together, but that doesn’t mean the individual identities then get washed away because of it. That’s moronic, idiotic, stupid and a degradation of either of their brands - now during this pandemic or just even overall/in general.

Do I think they can? Yes and no. It’s going to depend on what happens through this social distancing/shelter in place, it’s going to depend on if it’s more of them as a package deal or if they’ll do things as stand-alone people. I think it will depend on if there continues to be a them. I think it will depend on how much work and effort they’re both willing to put into it. It’s not going to be easy. There’s going to need to be some seriously hard looks at what’s gone on, what goals are moving forward and what they’re willing to do to make the changes.

Ex: Shawn’s going to have to do a real interview at some point. There hasn’t been one in a stone’s age and he/his team are going to have to be prepared and ready for some questions they may not be wanting to deal with. And be better prepared than they were previously for anything that comes during and after it. They're going to have to realize the hardcore fanbase of his (not of the joint theirs) is going to need some winning back and what that’s going to need to mean from a what’s he doing next perspective, life, media or otherwise. He built himself around social and being honest, organic and transparent with his fans. That hasn’t happened in a beat. What’s the evolution of that look like? Where’s the true HIM in all this. What does HE want out of all of this with SM4?

Ex: Camila needs to think about the impact of a not so well received sophomore album - yes some decent critic reviews, but the sales weren’t there. The tour sales weren’t there. This vibe and sound she’s putting out, folks weren’t gravitating to, nor how she’s been presenting herself to the media, literally being everywhere and anywhere her team could plaster her. What’s a third album look like and that’s if Sony’s willing to post up buku bucks again for a lackluster ROI. They’re going to need to think about the impact of the acting piece - what if Cinderella gets pushed/tabled/canned? This does not even touch the elephant in the room with the racism which is something in and of itself entirely. You cannot sweep this under the rug for the 2384th time, with half-assed PR stock written apologies on social then going dark for a beat coming out and pretending like it didn’t even happen. That doesn’t cut it. Especially if you want to grow your fanbase outside of 12 to 21-year-old girls and try to legitimately tout yourself as a “role model.”

I think folks, both fans and mass pop/gen pop alike, are going to have a different lens and tolerance coming out of this COVID thing than I think we all realize across the board - not just for these two but for a lot of what’s transpiring in life. There are so many what-ifs here really and it feels like those choose your own adventure books where one turn could change the outcome of everything.

#anon #getting on my PR soapbox #cause publicists don't stop working #Anonymous

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petting-mutts-and-sticking-butts · 5 years

Text

How Veterinary School is the real world equivalent of Hogwarts.

For many veterinary students this profession has been a dream from when they were in kindergarten, much like a young witch or wizard hoping that they get their very own acceptance letter to Hogwarts when they turn 11. Most of them are fairly confident that they are getting it, because they are purebloods (or in muggle terms a legacy student). While others, like myself, are hoping that there magical ability (academic accomplishment and extracurricular activities) were enough to earn them a spot. No matter the background every young witch or wizard is ecstatic when they finally get that letter.

Once accepted, there is a whirlwind of things that need to be accomplished prior to getting on the Hogwart’s express. First you have to go to Diagon Alley (Amazon) to purchase their many school supplies: books, robes (spirit gear/ scrubs), wands (dissection kit), and trunks (backpacks). Getting off the train and arriving to Hogwarts (Veterinary school) you are greeted by the larger than life groundskeeper, Hagrid, who shuttles you across the Black lake to the castle. The whole time all the first years students are getting acquainted and more excited to actually enter the school.

At our college we have a whole week of orientation, you are greeted by the larger than life dean of student’s and many other higher ups in the college. You are given a tour of the hospital by some of the upper classmen. During this orientation process, much like Hogwarts, our school has houses that you are sorted into. These houses compete throughout the year in various activities to build up the students morale and build bonds that will last a life time.

There are so many classes that you go through in veterinary school that honestly have a Hogwarts counterpart:

Potions= Pharmacology

Care of Magical Creatures= Medicine Courses

Charms= Emergency Medicine/ Pain management

Astronomy= Radiology

Defence Against the Dark Arts= Bacteriology/ Mycology/ Parasitology/ Virology

History of Magic= History of Veterinary Medicine

Herbology= Toxicology

Devination= Clinical Pathology and Veterinary Neuroscience

Transfiguration=Surgery

And with each of those courses comes the many professors and the personalities they bring with them.

The Professor Snape: A professor/ clinician that instills fear in every student they come across. They may have a few students that they tolerate more than others but for the most part they hate students. They would really prefer tinkering by themselves and work on different research projects but because this is a teaching hospital they are forced to interact with people. But in their own words “I am tenured so what are they going to do?”

The Professor Kettleburn: A professor/ clinician that loves all animals, no matter how dangerous they are or how often said animal has tried to kill them. They have some of the coolest war stories around but they also have the associated battle scars. You wish you were as brave as they were but you also question their sanity.

The Professor Binns: A professor/ clinician that drones on and on and doesn’t even notice that half of the class is not paying attention, while the other half of the class has fallen asleep. Sometimes they even bore themselves while they are lecturing on the subject.

The Professor Flitwick: A professor/ clinician that is very eccentric and likable. They always seem to be in a happy mood and will do anything in their power to brighten your day. Often times they are exceptional in their specialty making them a force to be reckoned with.

The Professor McGonagall: The professor/ clinician that seems very serious when you first meet them but as the years go on you realize that they are one of the students biggest supporters. They are hard on you when they need to be, but they are understanding and helpful when it is most needed. They are astounding in their field and are respected by all that know them.

The Professor Sprout: The professor/ clinician that is very earthy and was likely your toxicology professor. They don’t really deal with animals a whole lot but they deal with the plants that could kill said animals. They are the leader of the misfits but they are very likable people.

The Professor Trelawney: A professor/ clinician that seems to live on their own planet. Most of the time you think they are making things up as they are going but every once in a blue moon they get something right. And the things they do get right are world changing so that’s why they are still around.

The Professor Lupin: A professor that was only with your class for a short period of time. They always look disheveled and like they had a hard night. They are very nice and often very good at working with students but misunderstood by most of the faculty.

The Professor Dumbledore: A professor/ clinician that leads a complex life, but also has a taste for some of the simpler things. They are brilliant, eccentric, loving, and strict. You go through school thinking you have them pegged and then you get to clinics and realize that this person is far deeper than you ever imagined.

The Hagrid: A technician or hospital staff member that would do anything to help the students. They often give tips and tricks that the clinician probably wish they wouldn’t divulge but they really don’t care because they like the students more than the clinicians anyway. They love all the animals as if they were their own, and often times they pour their heart and soul into the treatment of those animals. Treat these people nicely, they will be your best friends during the clinical year.

The last comparison to be made is between the main characters of the story (including the villains) and all of your classmates.

Harry: The chosen one. They seem to have all the clinicians and professors on their side. They can do no wrong and very few people truly dislike them. While from the outside looking in it appears that everything in their life is so easy, often times that is quiet the opposite. Rarely do they actually know what they are doing, they just get lucky and have a lot of help.

Ron: The funny best friend to the chosen one. They may be just as smart or be the reason that the chosen one accomplished as much as the did, but because they are the sidekick they don’t get nearly as much credit as they deserve. But they are okay with that, because they are good people.

Hermione: The brainy student that you hear everyday in class. When a teacher asks a question, they raise their hand first. They are overachievers, so much so that you wonder how they have time for it all (time-turners must be real right?) They have tidbits of knowledge tucked away and they are ready to apply at the drop of a hat. The more you get to know them, the more likable they are but damn were you annoyed before that (this is me...).

The Weasley Twins: The jokesters. The professors know that they are pranksters, and sometimes they help pull off grand schemes. Other professors hate them because “this is a professional program so you need to act like grown-ups.” They may even drop out in there clinical year because this really wasn’t for them in the first place.

Luna: That one classmate that always seems to have their head in the clouds, and when they actually talk you never really know what might come out of their mouths. They are brilliant in their own right but they are extremely eccentric and have some beliefs that are not widely accepted by the veterinary community.

Neville: The student that you constantly find yourself asking how they got here in the first place, since they are all but a squib anyways. They always seem to be struggling and never really seem to have a full grasp of what is going on. But then you see them in the clinics, and watch them finally gain some traction and see their education come full circle. It’s like something finally clicked and they found their element.

Ginny: The students from the classes beneath you that are associated with your class for one reason or another. They may be a roommate, a girlfriend/ boyfriend, a classmate that failed a class, or your first year buddy. Either way you see them so much that sometimes you forget they are not part of your graduating class.

Peeves: They speak mainly in riddles, and they are constantly trying to start some kind of drama. They get along pretty well with the Weasley twin’s because they are all up to no good. They will not rest until mischief is managed. And they show up when they are least wanted, because all they do is make your life harder.

Moaning Myrtle: That one student that you always see crying in the hallways. You wonder what in the world makes their life so hard that they are always on the verge of tears, but who knows maybe that’s just how they handle stress. Everyone is afraid to be left alone with this person because you never know when the waterworks might be coming.

Malfoy: The one classmate that everyone loves to hate. Not only did they chose to act like a total ass-hat within the first year of school, but they continued to make decisions that put them at odds with most of the class. They may have wanted to be a good person, but their inherently bad heart lead them to make all the wrong choices.

Crabb and Goyle: They are associated with the aforementioned villainous classmate, so everyone still hates them. When in all reality they probably are not that bad but they are associated with the wrong people and have forever been grouped with that hatred.

Filch: This is the student that absolutely hates anything fun, despises the Weasley twins, and HATES PEEVES! They walk around with a scowl on their face, their scary sidekick in toe, ready to turn in anyone that even thinks about breaking a rule. Sometimes you wonder how they got past the interview process to begin with, but maybe they just scared the interviewers so much that they had to let them in.

Voldemort: This is the NAVLE in my mind. You can’t reach your full potential if you don’t defeat that damn test. Every year you are in school the weight of that test grows heavier and heavier. You know the final battle is going to test everything you have learned throughout your years of school and training. You know that it is going to be an epic battle of wits and you are going to leave that testing center feeling a lot worse for the ware but it can be done. IT MUST BE DONE FOR YOU TO LIVE YOUR LIFE LIKE THE PROPHECY PREDICTED!

Dolores Umbridge: This person isn’t necessarily a classmate, but it could be. They are despised beyond all others. They are hated more than the NAVLE, maybe not feared as much, but definitely hated more. They have inserted themselves into your veterinary school experience and every minute with them made it worse.

Bellatrix Lestrange: This person is sadistic and enjoys torturing people just because they like to watch them fall apart. They are intelligent but mentally unbalanced and easily lose focus but they are devoted to making the life of their victims worse through the teachings of Voldemort. Often twists reality to suit their view and purpose. Everyone is below them in status, at least that’s how they see things. Evil incarnated.

Lucius Malfoy: This person often considers themselves better than those around them because of where they come from. Often acting as though other classmates are beneath them because those classmates took a different route to get here. At times they may even attempt to sabotage their classmates because of their belief that they are superior. This person often hides in the shadows, making it hard to detect their true feelings but if you watch their repeated actions their beliefs become very clear.

Sirius Black: A person that you originally thought was evil due to rumors that had gone around the class. Then you take the time to get to know them and hey become family. People wonder why you like them, but you tell them that this person is good people.

Molly Weasley: This person is a mother figure in your school. It may be a classmate, a faculty member, or supporting staff. They often bring baked goods to class and try to make sure that everyone is happy and taken care of. They check-in often and are always there for you when you are down in the dumps.

Arthur Weasley: This person is a father figure to all. Often fascinated with things that have nothing to do with veterinary medicine. The job that they have often contradicts those outside interests but they don’t mind. They are goofy and light hearted most of the time but will kick ass and take names if need be.

Madeye Moody: This person knows everything, so much so that you are pretty sure they can see in all directions. They look crazy and dangerous but in all reality they are very smart and somebody you want on your team. At times they seem paranoid until their suspicions come to fruition.

Dobby: This is your family and friends that always seem to be there when you need them most. They put up with being treated like garbage because you are their family. Because let’s be honest, these people take the brunt of your piss poor mood when you are stressed. They are the closest too you so they see the absolute worst of you, but yet they still love you. So give Dobby something nicer than a used sock... Say thank you for the years that they put up with you.

Hedwig: Don’t forget about the veterinary student’s pets. They are the real heroes to this story. Not only do they keep us sane but they put up with our constant poking and prodding. They also get voluntold to be the dummy for sooooo many wetlabs. All the while they greet you at the door with a wagging tail or a rub of the leg and would sacrifice their life for your at the drop of a hat.

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angrylizardjacket · 6 years

Text

And All The Queen’s Men {Roger Taylor}

A/N: 5486 words. Okay wow. Please bare with me, this is a long one and also a bit of a different one. Written in the style of a Rolling Stone article. Finished it at 7am. Prompt & support from the lovely @ginghampearlsnsweettea

[And All The Queen’s Men ‘verse masterpost]

Warning: Minor character death, in both senses, it’s a baby, it’s not graphic it’s just mentioned, but just thought I should let you know.

And All The Queen’s Men: how the lines blurred between Queen and and the Queen of Jazz Rock.

An article almost two years in the making, after their last tour, which I was invited along to in order to write the initial article, the rock sensation Queen split, a decision, I am lead to be believe, was instigated by front man Freddie Mercury, and though Giselle Jones had continued to make music, even before her very public, on-stage breakdown, her lawyers had me keep the article to myself. Now, with the band’s reunion, and Live Aid having been a massive success with both powerhouse musical names coming back into the public eye, I’ve invited them back to my office for one last interview, but mostly to beg them to let me publish this article.

Which, obviously, they allowed.

It’s 1985, and with them all sitting in front of me, I feel a sense of deja vu. There are some changes, of course, Roger Taylor’s hair is shorter, Giselle Jones is wearing jeans and a sweater rather than her well-known cocktail dress, but John Deacon’s still smiling at me, Brian’s looking about the room, perhaps seeing if anything’s changed, and Freddie Mercury’s draped casually on the left of the only non-Queen member of the bunch.

But before I get into the past two years, maybe I should take you back a bit, to when Giselle and Queen began collaborating.

Giselle Jones began in the late sixties as the front-woman of a swing band in a thirties theme pub known as Modern Glamour. Tall, elegant, with a voice like honey, she had a small following of regulars that frequented the pub, but had kept her passion from music from her family, claiming she was merely a waitress at the establishment, since her father was an executive at EMI, and she didn’t want to seem like the subject of nepotism.

However, one fateful day, her father brings music industry giant to the pub for lunch, hoping to catch Giselle at work and introduce her, but as you know, they both got a lot more than they bargained for. Foster sees potential in her, and offers her a contract if she’s willing to modernise her act, and as we all know, she does.

When Giselle releases her first album in 1970, Velvet Roses, which would be the first and only “Jazz” record to hit the Top 40 charts for that year, Queen are still playing pub gigs around London, though they’re looking at recording their first album, which would eventually get EMI’s attention, but that’s still not for a while. At this point, they’re the biggest fish in a very small uni-pub pond, and they need the means to grow. So out goes the band’s van, for one night in a recording studio.

“Like, in retrospect, of course it was the right decision.” Taylor leans against the back of the sofa he’s sitting on in my office in 1982, voice contemplative and fingers locked together as he looks into the past. “But I was twenty-two at the time, selling my van was a big deal.”

“A big enough deal that you wrote a song about it.” Giselle adds, sitting beside him in the middle of the sofa. Deacon hides a smile though May doesn’t hide his snort of laughter.

The smirked remark is at odds with her look. While the boys are all in various states of brightly patterned shirts and jeans, looking casual and comfortable; Giselle wears white, sequinned, off-the-shoulder gown that hugs her figure and hits the floor, a slit in the thigh where her leg crosses, dark skin a stunning contrast to both the white fabric of her dress, and the leather of my sofa. Hands folded in over her knee, there’s not a singular hair out of place where she’s got it slicked back; I can’t look at her directly, she’s so focused and well put-together that it’s like staring at the sun.

The contrast has always been apparent in their various works, though Mercury has, in the past, cited her as an early inspiration for his desire to add a certain classical gravitas to rock and roll, and though she hasn’t publicly stated anything, the amount of covers Giselle has performed lived could fill an album. And now, here they are, about leave for a double-billed tour of the US, which I have been asked to join.

But their connection goes back much further than this, all the way back to 1975, to the release of the smash-hit single Bohemian Rhapsody That very same year, Giselle releases her fifth single, Dinner and a Show, a lyrically dissonant, heart pumping anthem that’s a metaphor for the way any type of review fuelled her, since it meant people were talking about her work.

You serve yourself on a platter; your putrid delights, / yet how can I refrain? / You don’t come to flatter, you don’t want to go / so come on baby, / don’t you know? / You’re treating me to dinner and a show.

Giselle’s usually silky performance is turned into a masterclass of vocal gymnastics as she slides easily from the rough intensity of rock and roll, to the smooth purr of jazz as she sings about eating critics for breakfast.

They say a free mind makes the meat so tender / now you’re on the menu and I’m a big spender

The song itself comes as a response to her former manager about how her “aggressive” move to music that more stylistically rock and roll was alienating older audiences, though Foster, still her producer at the time, was pushing for her to skew to a younger audience, and it seemed as though he had gotten his way.

The real change, however, was the B-Side of the record. After speaking to Jim “Miami” Beach, Queen’s lawyer, regarding potentially covering one of the band’s songs, Giselle reveals that she was eventually told to just ask them directly.

“I gave Miami a letter that basically explained that I’d like to cover one of their songs for my new album,” Giselle gives me a thin smile, and I feel like I’ve done something wrong, even though I’m assured by Brian that her public persona “is just like that sometimes”.

“- and I thought it was a joke! I said ‘yeah, sure, what’s the worst that could happen’.” Mercury laughs, leaning forward elbows on his knees and eyes shinning with amusement. “I did not believe for one second that Giselle, Giselle-” repeating her name for emphasis, his hand comes to quickly rest on hers where she still has them perfectly still on her knee, a moment of solidarity, “wanted anything to do with us. Hand Held Heart had been at the top of the US charts for almost three whole weeks the year before.” Letting out a long, wistful sigh, Mercury sits back, still grinning, though he’s got this far away look on his face now.

“So we’d been stuck on a farm, recording A Night At The Opera for weeks with no outside communications, ” May fills in where Mercury’s faded into his own memories, and Taylor slings arm around Giselle where she’s actually relaxed somewhat, hands now in her lap. Curiously, she doesn’t shrug him off. “And when we get back, it turns out that she’s put a jazz cover of Jesus, yeah, that song from our first album, on the B-Side of her newest single.”

“Freddie practically had a heart attack.” Deacon adds, patting Mercury’s shoulder fondly.

In her own way, she was continuing the trend that Dinner and a Show had started, and that seven-inch single would bestow upon Giselle the title of Queen of Jazz Rock. It hadn’t been the first time she had acknowledged the band publicly, by the time she had released the single, her public persona had gained enough traction that, a few months prior to her recording of the cover, a reporter had asked if Killer Queen, Queen’s biggest hit at the time, had been written about her. The question had been caught on camera by the reporter after one of her tour stops in the Midwest of America; the footage is a favourite of fans, including myself, of the way she doesn’t even turn, simply calls over her shoulder, ‘they should be so lucky’, and she gets into her waiting car.

“I never took offence,” Mercury tells me, both in 1982, and 1985, as I bring it up both times to consolidate the origins of their musical partnership.

“You wouldn’t, you were all starry-eyed for her back then.” Taylor leans back to address Mercury behind Giselle’s head, but only when he says it the first time, in 1982.

“It was a bit of a dig at us,” Deacon agrees with the drummer, nodding before shrugging. “A lot of good came out of it, though.” The others seem to agree, but Giselle herself has stayed quiet. For the first time since the interview started, she looks away from me, gaze dipping as she seems inclined to speak, though she takes her time to weigh up her words before she says them, wondering exactly what will and will not be printed.

“It was a bit of s**t thing to say. I was twenty-four and I panicked, I had to keep up my... this persona.” She gestures now to herself, breaking the entire physicality as she lets herself lean back, and I feel like I can breathe, seeing her act so human. Adjusting, she lets herself rest of the slightest of diagonals, shoulder to shoulder with Taylor’s arm still around her, now with Mercury petting her knee in solidarity.

Once in the tour bus, the difference between Giselle Jones, the woman, and Giselle, the singer and personality, becomes almost jarring to see. As soon as we get into the bus, she strips off the gown she was wearing, I turn away, though the others don’t seem to be bothered by it, May takes the dress to a waiting assistant by the door, and when I turn back, she’s in a pair of sweat pants and Taylor is tossing her shirt several sizes too big for her. For the first time since I’ve learned about her, Giselle looks comfortable, looks approachable and, for lack of a better word, non-robotic, taking a hairbrush from a drawer and flopping onto one of the beds as she brushes out the gel, apparently not bothering with a shower just yet.

“I showered this morning.” She seems to have caught my confused look, and explains herself. With her guard lowered in the familiar situation, her natural voice shines through, a rich, yet feminine alto, reminiscent of her singing voice. It adds to the list of things that add character to her beyond what her “persona” could ever convey. Or perhaps that’s the point.

The bus itself is almost too small for the five performers, and I’m certain it won’t fit me, but Giselle and I watch as they cram a blow up bed onto the kitchen table. It looks stable, and for the opportunity to experience living in such close quarters with such big names, I’d take anything.

“Sorry, darling, Paul takes the only spare bed.” Mercury informs me as I shimmy up onto the bed to test if it would hold. I had thought that the vehicle was at capacity, though it does make sense that the band’s day-to-day manager, Paul Prenter, would be travelling with them. That being said, I hadn’t realised there was even a spare bed, there was only five, perhaps none of them had wanted to be subjected to the blow up bed and decided to share instead.

When we finally get on the road, I get to finally see their true dynamics emerge. We all know the Queen dynamics by now, brotherly yet volatile, at times. I had worried for Giselle at times, the concept of living with four men (five if you count Prenter, who Giselle does not seem to, when I ask her about it, though I don’t think that’s a subject I should pry about, judging by the look on Taylor’s face where I can see him lounging at the back of the bus). However, I should have not have been worried; first of all, despite the youthfulness of their appearances, performances, and spirit, these are all men in their 30s, Giselle herself being 31 at the time of writing (1982), and they all have experience living with women, and with each other.

“First tour was a nightmare.” Deacon’s joined me on the blowup bed, is sipping tea as we travel along. “We learned real quick how disgusting close quarters can be.” He’s a quiet soul, but observant, and honestly I really enjoy his company. Anyone who can weather over a decade of rock and roll and come out as calm as him deserves some sort of recognition. “It’s much better now. Mostly.” He smiles like it’s an inside joke, but won’t elaborate. Giselle and Taylor refuse to clarify what he means by that, May just laughs when I ask him, directing me back to ask Taylor and Giselle, and Mercury calls them all gossips.

It’s something about the tour lifestyle that must bring out the childishness in them all, which comes out strongly during dinner. They shove my blowup bed into the sleeping quarters when dinner is served, and the five of us manage to cram into the tiny booth the bus allows. May, Deacon and Giselle are in charge of cooking dinner, sausages, potatoes, and peas, since apparently Prenter and Mercury have taken lunch duties, and Roger has put himself in charge of getting coffee and tea for everyone in the morning.

“We should really eat breakfast.” Giselle muses through half a mouthful of food.

“I do!” Deacon, next to me, comes back with, pouring some more peas onto his plate.

“You just eat cereal from the box, Deaky, that’s not breakfast.” Taylor counters him, which just causes the rest of the table to devolve into an argument about what counts as breakfast. Prenter, who has joined us for the meal, looks like he’d rather be napping or still driving, and makes quiet work of his meal.

Roger Taylor goes to sleep after me, and wakes up before I do, and I’m not sure how he does it. Or where he sleeps, the other beds seem taken. He wakes me up on the first morning by shoving my bed, which slides a few centimeters, but isn’t about to fall off it’s perch.

“You want coffee?” I’m barely functioning at this point, and his question baffles me. “Tea? Coffee? Deaky’s cereal? We got some left over sausages.” He lists off, probably due to my clear confusion, he seems exasperated, even though he’s definitely wearing pyjamas too. He’s still scowling a little when I tell him how I like my coffee, but he doesn’t complain, and it tastes exactly like I like it when he hands it over. The bus is stationary, so he can put the cups by the bedsides of those they are for, but interestingly enough he joins me on the table/bed.

I know the origin story of Queen, I think everyone does at this point, so I ask him instead about the subject of my article; how Queen got involved with Giselle.

“You wanna know how I met Giselle?” It’s not exactly what I asked, but he’s already thinking about it, looking past me to the sleeping quarters with a frown. He plays absent-mindedly with the chain around his neck, and with the ring attached to it. “I thought everyone knew about that, the whole thing where we hated each other from the start?” When I ask if it was true, he actually laughs, though it’s more a snort of derision, if I’m being honest. “Of course not. Mostly.” They all seem to like that word, I hadn’t taken them all to be vague.

“I told him to take a long walk off a short pier.” Giselle will clarify for me later that day, joining me as I take a smoke break at one of our bathroom stops, not that there isn’t a toilet on the bus, they just try to avoid using it as much as possible. She doesn’t smoke, claims she never has, but enjoys the company, while the boys are buying snacks at the gas station. I ask when it was, she gives me another thin smile, but not like it had been in the office. Here it’s the punctuation to an earlier joke rather than a judgement.

She tells me about how she actually met them all, recording her second album, after her 1972 performance on Top of the Pops, you know the one. It had cemented Giselle’s now iconic aesthetic of an off the shoulder, floor length sequinned gown, silk gloves, and bold red lipstick, dark hair falling victory curls, the whole look reminiscent of an old Hollywood star, though there was red glitter trailing from her lips, and on her gloves in a theatrical fabrication of blood. It had been a look inspired by her musical roots, and the theatricality of the then-popular glam rock, a movement which would inspire many of Mercury’s tour looks also.

She was twenty-one at the time, still “developing her persona”, when she found that the in-house recording equipment at EMI was being used by the then-still quite unknown Queen. Or rather, according to Giselle, just Taylor.

“He was packing up the last of his equipment, and he makes a pass at me, thinks I’m an intern.” We can see the boys leaving the gas station, Taylor himself heading the pack. “So yeah, told him to take a long walk off a short pier.” She laughs, seems to hold the memory quite dear. “That b******d has the gall to look me in the eyes and ask who I am.”

“Did he know who you were?” When I look at her, she’s still smiling, tipping her head to the side as the boys draw close. She seems to be paying attention to me, but not a lot.

“Yeah, told me later he was just pissed I didn’t throw myself at him. That’s why I said that, ‘they should be so lucky’ thing, actually, that motherf****r right there.” The way she says it, raising her finger to point at him, makes me think it’s a story she’s told before, one that he knows about.

“You talking about me?” Taylor yells, and Giselle is quick to answer that she is. “Don’t spill all my secrets.” It sounds like an order, but his smile says it’s not, it’s weirdly playful, a dynamic I didn’t expect from them, especially considering their history. I raise the point. She laughs at me.

“You’re kidding, right?”

Prenter calls for everyone on the bus, and Giselle doesn’t think to clarify once we’re back on board.

The tour, I should have mentioned earlier, is a double feature; Queen is promoting their album Hot Space, while Giselle is promoting her own, The Bend Before the Break. When I ask her about the album itself, she talks happily about a few of the songs, however when I bring up my personal favourites, Ache and Heaven Sent, she turns very quiet.

I will end up watching most of her performances, and to this day, I have never seen something as raw and spiritual as Giselle performing Ache.

The lights dim as the joyful Meant to Be finishes. On the studio recording, a double bass starts the song, long, grieving and angry notes that pick up in tempo as it’s joined by drums and a piano, and finally, her voice, low, bitter and seductive in equal measure. Here, there’s silence, as she gently croons the open lines, face illuminated by only a single gold light, as swirling red and purple lights move about the stage.

While saying you were sorry, / you burned me from the outside, in. / Now I’m calloused all over, / And too tired to feel the sting. / But I feel the ache, / feel the ache / feel the ache. / I’ll still let you back in.

She plays the piano herself for this song, a skill, I later learn Mercury had taught her many years ago. It’s a song that tugs at your gut, gets you thinking about how you keep people in your life who aren’t the best for you. She ends the last chorus with a long, mournful wail that you feel in your bones.

I’ve never heard a crowd so quiet as when she finishes Ache, the penultimate song of her set list, unless you count encores.

The final song of the night is always Heaven Sent, a bright, headbanging anthem with the musical gravitas of a full jazz band. It was her single from the album, it topped most charts. You know the one. The radio won’t stop playing it.

Divinity with a neon glow / it hung above his head, / promoting his next show. / Didn’t even try to find my light, / just the darkness he’d bestow. / Heaven sent me the Morningstar.

“I was cheated on.” Was all she will say about the songs.

The others steer clear of those songs as well, when talking about the album, as well as the titular song, The Bend Before the Break, though Giselle claims she has moved on from the feelings associated in all three songs.

“I wrote them first on the album, I’ve moved on.”

Each of the boys seems very protective of Giselle at times, though Taylor is by far the worst. If I’m being honest, was weird to me, they’d been at each other’s throats publicly and professionally for almost a full decade after Giselle’s initial comment, however the vitriol had died down in the past few years, so I enquire about that about halfway through the six week tour.

“We set them up.” May is the first to answer, sipping tea with myself, Deacon and Mercury. Since both Giselle and Taylor adjourned to the sleeping quarters. I ask him what he means.

“They tell it better.” Mercury interjects, but May argues that they’re asleep anyways so it’s not like it matters. Deacon agrees with Mercury, but quiet enough that May ignores him.

“So by ‘79, we’ve collaborated together, us and ‘Zelle, I mean,” the nickname is mostly used by May and Taylor, though Deacon uses it on occasion, “a couple of times, and we love her, right boys? We love her-” looking around, both Mercury and Deacon are nodding along, responding to a story they’d both heard before, though it was interesting for my first time hearing it, “but Rog is about ready to stab her with his drumsticks, but that’s just how he is.”

“Threatened to stab me once.” Deacon adds the unnerving information with complete serenity, focused on his cup.

“Me a couple of times.” Mercury shakes his head, as if it were some schoolboy prank rather than a stabbing threat.

“Like I said, just how he is. So we decide to send them to a place where they can bond over complaining about everything else, apart from each other.” I asked how it worked out for them and I watch as their faces fall. This terrible blind date idea must have gone horribly. “They hate the restaurant, which is good, but he goes to leave and bumps the table, spilling beer all over her dress, which is bad,” well, obviously. He pays me no mind, “and she elbows him in the face when she’s putting her jacket on - still don’t know how that one happened - but he still says he’ll take her home because it’s late, except-”

“To preface,” Deacon jumps in here, adding a little more milk to his tea, “she hates I’m In Love With My Car.” The song? Deacon nods. “Rog wrote it.” I can connect the dots, but I’m still confused as to how that lead to them being friends.

“Friends.” Mercury actually laughs into his cup.

“He takes her home anyways, she tells him the song’s s**t bu the sentiment wasn’t far off.” May finishes, shrugging.

“It was a real nice car.” Deacon shrugged, before looking straight at me. “And she still hates the song to this day.” There’s an air of finality to his words that is entirely unwarranted. That isn’t the point of the story; how are they friends now? Did they hook up in his car? Is that what they’re implying, I feel like such a gossip asking these questions.

“Did they ho- ? Yeah, of course.” May laughs, and though it clears some things up, I’m still rather confused. It’s probably reading on my face, because it looks like something else is dawning on him. “You know they’re married, right?”

No. No I did not know. Now I feel like an idiot.

I wonder if The Bend Before the Break is about Taylor? I can sense I’ve touched a nerve when I ask, and Mercury abruptly changes the subject, though the air still doesn’t feel right. When I head back through the sleeping area to get a new pen from my luggage, I catch a glimpse of Giselle napping in her bunk, Taylor too, asleep with his arm around her. She’s even wearing a wedding ring. I’m kicking myself for not noticing sooner. The chain with the ring around Taylor’s neck makes sense now. A lot of things make sense now.

For the next four days I feel like I’m being shunned, I’m the last to be told about dinner and have to eat the leftovers, Giselle barely says two words to me, Taylor just keeps glowering, and someone let the air out of my bed on the second night. It’s childish, but it’s in line with what I expect from them, regarding this sort of issue, I’m just glad Taylor hasn’t poured my coffee on me in my sleep, or spat in it. He just didn’t make it, which I suppose is probably the safest option for me.

The only apology I can think of is to offer to buy them all drinks, but it works well enough, and the next morning I wake to a fresh cup of coffee, and a very hungover Taylor. At least he’s dedicated to his job.

The rest of the tour passes without further incident. I still stand by Ache as one of my favourite musical performances of the decade, though I don’t mention it to Giselle, and now that I know the dynamic between her and Taylor, I can’t stop seeing it. Honestly, readers, they’re all over each other, which is expected from a man of Taylor’s reputation, but it’s still a little jarring to see the two of them so cozy. I must have been blind not to see it before.

When we part ways, Giselle is a little stiff with me.

“You brought up some feelings that I just... hadn’t actually dealt with at the time, which f******d me up.” She tells me in retrospect, sitting in my office with the rest of the boys in 1985. Live Aid was a few weeks ago, and since they all returned to the spotlight, I asked if they wanted to come and reflect on the past few years. The one thing that hasn’t changed is the fact that Giselle still swears like a sailor.

“A lot’s happened in the past few years.” Taylor’s still very protective of her, and after everything that’s conspired, at least from what I know, it’s warranted. We talk about the band splitting, how it had hurt the band as a whole, and even Giselle, who was at the time seeing a counsellor with Taylor. I’m hesitant to broach the topic of their relationship, though they seem like a solid until now, sitting before me, holding hands and leaning against one another.

I ask if Giselle’s breakdown was due to the band splitting, though I’m hesitant if I’ll get a response. Her smile is sad, which is mirrored by the rest of the band. I can guess her response before she says it.

“No.”

You all know the moment I’m talking about, the last concert for her last album, as of this publication, Finally, Sunlight where she had receive pleas from the audience for an encore. When she came back out, part of her makeup had been smudged around her eyes, and you can hear her sniffle over the microphone. (”I’m so sorry, I lost someone close to me, I thought I could keep it together for one night.” Dabbing at her eyes, she sits at the piano and laughs, but there’s no heart in it. “But I’ve got five more minutes left in me, let’s go, Atlanta.”) The song she plays is Somebody to Love, a slow, soulful cover, and the audience is almost unanimous in their raised lighters and slow swaying. As she goes on, she just starts crying harder, missing notes, hands shaking; the extended ‘Looooord’ before the chanting becomes a desperate wail, a plea to the heavens, and she collapses onto the piano, sobbing audibly as the instruments all come to uncertain halt and lighters go down in confusion.

From the crowd, a single voice begins to chant ‘Find me somebody to love. / Find me somebody to love.’ and a single voice turns to a theatre, full to the brim, as they sing when she can’t, still crying against the piano. Lighters go up, and together the audience and the band finishes the song where words have failed her. It was televised locally on the night, and still brings me to tears when I watch it now.

“We lost our daughter.”

For those of you reading this who are shocked, I am too. Sitting there like a fool, not saying anything.

“I was on tour, and Rog was at home with her,” even now, Giselle is getting a little teary-eyed, not that I blame her. Both Taylor and Mercury have an arm around her, and May has a hand on her shoulder, Deacon sitting on the back of the sofa right behind her. A unit. A family. “I wanted to go home, she was getting really sick, and I know he was doing everything he could, but I just- I wanted to be there... but my label threatened to sue me for... millions.” It sounds like it’s hard to say, and she’s wiping a tear from her eyes. I offer her the tissues on my desk. “But I should have gone home. I should have been there by her side, I should have done more.” Taylor whispers something to her and she leans against him, taking comfort in him.

“I had to call her, tell her that... that she’d passed. The day of the show. She’d been so upset for week, ‘Zelle that is, and everything just-” Taylor manages to get a great handle on his emotions, despite his misty eyes and shaking hands. “We’re alright now though, see? Nothing can tear us apart.” Though his voice does drop, so I think he’s saying it more for Giselle’s benefit. I give them all time to collect themselves, stop to get hot drinks for everyone, and everyone finally seems happy enough to answer when I ask what’s next for them.

“Music, of course.” Mercury says, now holding what was Giselle’s free hand. The rest of the gathered musicians agree. I ask if we’ll be hearing any sort of collaboration between Queen and the Queen of Jazz Rock. Taylor snickers, pulling Giselle close.

“Yeah, but not in the way you mean.” He ignores the rest of the men’s shouts of disgust, as well as his wife’s own gagging noise, which I can see on her face she regrets as she covers her mouth with caution, before giving the okay.

“No, we’re okay, we’re good.” She assures everyone, before looking at me. “What he meant to say is that I’m pregnant.” She clarifies. Taylor is still grinning.

“Don’t be gross, Rog.” May calls from the other side of the sofa, and Taylor has the gall to look accosted.

“What’s next for me, after everything that’s happened, is family.” Giselle says over the sounds of her husband’s indignant huffs, though his expression turns soft at her words, and they ignore the ‘boo’s of everyone else as they kiss.

“Could you be less gross around company?” Deacon asks, still mild-mannered as ever. This seems to be the cue for the interview to end, as Taylor of Giselle-

“It’s Giselle Taylor, by the way, I’m sorry I hadn’t corrected you earlier.” She corrects me now, as [Roger] Taylor leads her out of the door. The rest of the band seem mildly exasperated at their antics, but still ready to answer my questions. After everything that’s happened, I’m a little overwhelmed, I’m not sure where to go from here.

Perhaps my next article will be on Live Aid.

#roger taylor #roger taylor imagine #roger taylor x oc #queen #bohemian rhapsody #borhap #bo rhap #queen imagine #freddie mercury #brian may #john deacon #the angry lizard writes #bohemian rhapsody imagine

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theliberaltony · 6 years

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via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

Welcome to a weekly collaboration between FiveThirtyEight and ABC News. With 5,000 people seemingly thinking about challenging President Trump in 2020 — Democrats and even some Republicans — we’re keeping tabs on the field as it develops. Each week, we’ll run through what the potential candidates are up to — who’s getting closer to officially jumping in the ring and who’s getting further away.

With everyone still waiting on former Vice President Joe Biden to decide if he’s running (and the added speculation that he might pick Stacey Abrams as his running mate), the field did see one more official entry this week. New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand transitioned her exploratory committee to a full-fledged campaign on Sunday and officially joined the groundswell of candidates in the 2020 Democratic field. She also scored her first home state endorsement from New York Rep. Carolyn Maloney. But Gillibrand is struggling to gain traction in a field that has already seen record fundraising hauls and a collection of bold policy proposals — a reminder that it’s increasingly difficult for many of the candidates running to stand out.

Here’s the weekly candidate roundup:

March 15-21, 2019

Stacey Abrams (D)

After meeting privately with former Vice President Joe Biden last week, the former Georgia gubernatorial candidate signaled that she is willing to meet with any of the Democratic hopefuls in the 2020 presidential contest, but she said she has a couple of ground rules. “My two requirements,” Abrams said Tuesday at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, according to The Associated Press. “One, you have to tell me what you’re going to do about voter suppression. And two, you have to believe Georgia is a swing state.”

Abrams, who is considering a presidential bid of her own, is — for now — returning to her roots as an organizer and promoting the nonprofit group she founded to advance voting rights, Fair Fight Action.

On Thursday, Abrams’s spokesperson Lauren Groh-Wargo addressed rumors that close advisers to Biden are pitching a pre-packaged ticket with her as his vice president. “Abrams continues to keep all options on the table for 2020 and beyond,” Groh-Wargo said in a statement to ABC News. “She has met with over half a dozen presidential contenders to discuss their commitment to voting rights and to investing in Georgia.”

Michael Bennet (D)

Although several Democratic presidential candidates have expressed an openness to expanding the number of justices on the Supreme Court, the Colorado senator literally slammed his head on a table when asked about it, according to The Washington Post. “Having seen up close just how cynical and how vicious the tea party guys and the Freedom Caucus guys and Mitch McConnell have been, the last thing I want to do is be those guys,” Bennet said, referring to some Republicans’ efforts in recent years to alter Washington rules and traditions. “What I want to do is beat these guys so that we can begin to govern again.”

Bennet, who said he’ll decide whether to officially enter the race within weeks, told the Post: “I guess I’m starting to think strongly that we need a voice in this primary that’s willing to make the kind of case that I think that I would make.”

Joe Biden (D)

For a brief moment Saturday, it appeared as though the former vice president had inadvertently revealed that he had decided to run for president: At a Delaware Democratic Party fundraiser, he said that he had “the most progressive record of anybody running.”

The audience launched into applause, but Biden quickly corrected himself, explaining that he meant “of anybody who would run.” Even so, those close to Biden, including Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, continue to report that Biden is telling them he is all-but-certain to enter the race.

CNN reported on Monday that Biden discussed with advisers the possibility of choosing a running mate early in the primary to “keep the focus of the primary fight on the ultimate goal of unseating Trump.” That running mate might be Stacey Abrams, according to Axios.

Cory Booker (D)

The New Jersey senator this week contended with a barrage of questions about his love life. After actress Rosario Dawson confirmed to TMZ that she and Booker are dating, the former Newark mayor told Ellen DeGeneres on her show on Wednesday that Dawson “is just a deeply soulful person and has taught me a lot of lessons about love already.”

Despite the focus on his personal life, Booker managed to resurface an issue that had fallen out of the news a bit when he indicated he was willing to consider eliminating the filibuster.

“I’m going to tell you that for me that door is not closed,” he said on “Pod Save America” on Wednesday.

Booker will return to the trail this weekend, making his third campaign sweep through South Carolina since officially declaring his candidacy for president.

Steve Bullock (D)

The Montana governor, who is still deciding whether to enter the presidential race, traveled to Iowa to support state Senate candidate Eric Giddens, who won a special election on Tuesday.

Bullock sat with Giddens over beers last weekend, according to Politico.

Bullock’s trip to Iowa will be followed by a visit to another early primary state, New Hampshire. Bullock is expected to celebrate New Hampshire Senate Majority Leader Dan Feltes’s birthday in Concord on Sunday, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader.

Pete Buttigieg (D)

Over the weekend, Buttigieg, who is the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, qualified for the first Democratic debate — hitting the 65,000-donor threshold.

In an appearance on MSNBC, Buttigieg made his case for why a mayor of a city of 100,000 people should be president. Buttigieg said becoming president is “a tremendous leap for anybody,” adding that he thinks “this is an executive position that requires executive experience.”

He joins ABC’s “The View” on Friday before heading to South Carolina for his first trip to the state since announcing his exploratory committee in January.

Julián Castro (D)

At a campaign stop in Las Vegas this week, Castro said he had read an article in which he was called “the other Texan” of the Democratic presidential field, according to the The Associated Press. “I’m the one from the other side of the tracks,” Castro said. “I’m the one that didn’t grow up as a front-runner.”

His comments appeared to be a jab at fellow Texan and Democratic candidate Beto O’Rourke. But Castro pushed back against that interpretation during an interview with MSNBC, saying that he was just speaking for himself.

The former secretary of Housing and Urban Development said he is “confident” that he will qualify for the first primary debate in June and that he will be a front-runner “by the time the Iowa caucus comes around.”

Bill de Blasio (D)

Potentially gearing up for a presidential bid, the New York City mayor toured New Hampshire over the weekend. His trip got off to a lackluster start, however. The New York Post reported that only 20 people showed up to his roundtable on mental health — the 14 people who were on the panel and six audience members.

Asked by the Post when he will make a decision about a bid, de Blasio said, “Sooner rather than later.”

John Delaney (D)

Asked in an interview with CNN about whether he is in favor of eliminating the Electoral College and electing a president via the popular vote, Delaney said: “If I were starting from scratch, I would do that. It requires a constitutional amendment. … I’d much rather focus on things that can get done and affect the American people. I’d much rather focus on lowering drug prices, building infrastructure, creating digital privacy legislation in this country, expanding pre-K, that every kid has that opportunity, making sure community college is free for every kid in this country.”

Tulsi Gabbard (D)

Gabbard kicked off the week with visits to Fremont, California, and Las Vegas, where she delivered a message of peace. The U.S. House member from Hawaii, who was twice deployed to the Middle East as part of the Army National Guard, told the crowd in Las Vegas that if elected, she would end the “wasteful regime-change wars,” according to the The Associated Press.

In California, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Gabbard said the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan drained “trillions of dollars out of our pockets for health care, infrastructure, education, for clean energy.”

Gabbard is ending the week in New Hampshire.

Kirsten Gillibrand (D)

After launching a presidential exploratory committee in January, the New York senator officially joined the race last weekend. In a video posted to her social media channels, Gillibrand also revealed that she will be holding an event outside of the Trump International Hotel in New York City on Sunday.

Gillibrand participated in an MSNBC town hall Monday that touched on immigration policy, her plans for a national paid leave program, her involvement in the resignation of Democratic Sen. Al Franken from his Senate seat in December and her belief that she “should have done more” on gun control earlier in her career.

Kamala Harris (D)

Harris edged up the candidate leaderboard this week: In a new CNN poll, she climbed into third place, with 12 percent support among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents. This was a significant increase for the California senator, whose support was 4 percent in December. Biden and Bernie Sanders captured first and second place, respectively.

Harris also joined ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” this week and said she believes that voters want a nominee who holds the ability to “prosecute the case” against President Trump.

The Associated Press reported that two of Hollywood’s elite, Shonda Rhimes and J.J. Abrams, were hosting a fundraiser for Harris, with tickets costing $2,800 per guest. Harris visits Texas this weekend for a campaign rally in Houston and an event hosted by Tarrant County Democrats in Grapevine before heading to Atlanta.

John Hickenlooper (D)

Hickenlooper joined CNN for a town hall in Atlanta on Wednesday night, taking questions from Dana Bash and directly from voters on a range of issues, including marijuana and the death penalty. Bash also asked the former governor of Colorado if he would vow to put a woman on the ticket like some of the other male contenders in the race, and he answered, “Of course.”

“I’ll ask you another question,” he said. “But how come we’re not asking, more often, the women, ‘Would you be willing to put a man on the ticket?’”

Hickenlooper plans to crisscross New Hampshire and Vermont this weekend, with stops in Manchester, Concord, Lebanon, Burlington, Littleton, Plymouth and Newmarket.

Jay Inslee (D)

In an an appearance on “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah,” Inslee said: “I’m finding people who really want to see a president who believes in science, who believes the number one job of the Untied States is to defeat climate change. People are telling me that’s the right message.”

When asked why he would “risk it all” on this single issue as he competes for the nomination against a sprawling pool of candidates, Inslee responded that “you can’t solve other problems unless you solve climate change.”

John Kerry (D)

Kerry, who has left the door open for a presidential bid, received 4 percent of the support among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents in the CNN poll this week.

In an appearance with Condoleezza Rice, another former secretary of state, at Notre Dame on Tuesday, Kerry criticized the Trump administration. Trump “hasn’t made anything better,” Kerry said, according to the South Bend Tribune. “Not the Iran Deal, not the Paris Climate Accord, not TPP, not (the war in) Afghanistan and not Syria,” Kerry said. “He was teed up to prove to the world what a great negotiator he was.”

Amy Klobuchar (D)

Klobuchar stopped in California this week, joining community leaders in San Francisco for a conversation about the effects of climate change.

In her first visit to the state since announcing her presidential candidacy in February, the Minnesota senator also hosted a “high-dollar fundraiser” in the San Francisco’s Presidio Heights neighborhood, according to CNN.

The cost to attend the event was up to $5,600 a chair, CNN reported. Klobuchar joins the Rye Democrats for a town hall in New Hampshire on Saturday.

Terry McAuliffe (D)

During a visit to South Carolina Tuesday, the former Virginia governor fueled speculation that he might enter the field of Democratic hopefuls.

“I’ve said clearly, in the next couple of weeks, I’ll make the final determination,” McAuliffe said, according to the Associated Press.

Seth Moulton (D)

Moulton kicked off his week in New Hampshire to meet with the tri-city New Hampshire Young Democrats. He told the audience that he expects to make a decision about a presidential run next month, according to The Salem News.

“Ultimately the decision for me will come back to one simple question: How can I best serve the country,” he said.

Moulton also stopped in another early voting state, South Carolina, and is set to visit Iowa next week for a roundtable with veterans.

Beto O’Rourke (D)

O’Rourke continued his campaign sprint across the country this week, traveling to Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire (where he hit all 10 counties in 48 hours).

At a stop in Pennsylvania, the former Texas congressman was asked about delivering more than “platitudes and nice stories” on the stump.

“I’m going to try to be as specific as I can,” he said. “In every single policy area, I’m trying to describe not just the goal and the aspiration, but the path we will take to get there.”

The breakout political star, who fell just short in his 2018 Senate bid against Ted Cruz, reported raising $6.1 million in the first 24 hours of his presidential campaign, which surpassed Sen. Bernie Sanders’ $5.9 million and the rest of the Democratic field His record haul came from 128,000 unique contributions for an average donation size of $47. None of the donations came from PACs, corporations or special interests, according to his campaign.

O’Rourke brings his off-the-cuff and frenetic campaign style through South Carolina this weekend with eight events in Rock Hill, Columbia, Orangeburg and Charleston.

Bernie Sanders (D)

Sanders committed this week to offsetting emissions from his travel and events by partnering with a carbon offsets provider that will support renewable energy and carbon reduction projects.

This effort follows the Vermont senator’s announcement that his workers will be the first presidential campaign staff to unionize.

Sanders holds rallies in San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco starting Friday as he makes his first visit to California since launching his second presidential campaign.

Howard Schultz (I)

As Schultz continues to test the waters of an independent bid for president, he holds a series of town halls in Denver where he will hold a roundtable discussion at a startup incubator called Techstars Boulder Accelerator, according to the Denver Post.

The Post also reports that Schultz’s schedule includes a stop at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs for a town hall event with the athletes.

Elizabeth Warren (D)

Warren, known for her pace-setting policy proposals, started a swing through the South in Memphis, Tennessee, before heading to Jackson, Mississippi, for a CNN town hall on Monday and unveiled her support for a bold proposal.

“My view is that every vote matters,” she said. “And that means getting rid of the Electoral College,” she went on, to applause from the audience.

“Presidential candidates don’t come to places like Mississippi, they also don’t come to places like California or Massachusetts, because we’re not the battleground states.”

The Massachusetts senator then headed to Alabama for two stops in Selma and Birmingham this week. She returns to New Hampshire this weekend for a conversation on the opioid crisis in Littleton and a pair of meet-and-greets in Berlin and Conway.

Andrew Yang (D)

Yang said there were 3,000 people in attendance at his rally in San Francisco last Friday. In a blog post recounting the event, the entrepreneur said “huge rallies” would help him build name recognition and that he’d be launching a national tour to draw crowds.

“Think Bernie 2.0 but with better music,” he wrote.

The New York Times reported on Yang’s internet popularity Wednesday, noting that his supporters, who have been nicknamed the “Yang Gang,” are harnessing memes and inside jokes to promote the candidate much in the way that Trump supporters did in 2016.

On Monday, Yang holds an event in Chicago.

#IFTTT #Politics – FiveThirtyEight #politics #538 #Kendall Karson and Adam Kelsey

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