#yes i was listening to evermore and folklore this morning

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

There was something very poignant about her choosing to put both Marjorie and Invisible String on the original Eras setlist, both of which were deeper cuts on their respective albums and incredibly personal to her, like bringing two of the most important people in her life on tour with her. Just thinking about how touched she was about people celebrating Marjorie with the lights and how often she speaks about how special it is to her to have her grandmother's voice fill sold out stadiums every night -- evidence that she isn't just picking songs based on crowd favourites or radio hits, but songs that are meaningful to her and fill her cup night after night.

And the fact that Invisible String got axed immediately after The Thing happened is just another sign of how deeply difficult it must have been for her to go through that in real time, and not only that but having to process it in real time with thousands of people's eyes on her. 😵‍💫 Don't get me wrong, I know she's said it's comforting to know people out there understand how she feels and I think she absolutely used that. But I think I'm just trying to say that she chose to put Invisible String on the setlist for the same reason she put Marjorie on there -- it was bringing part of her family along for the ride -- and what should have been a great comfort when initially designing the show must have been so, so painful when things blew up by the time the tour started.

[ptolemaeacles]

♡ being hazel callahan’s cheerleader gf hcs

pairing: hazel callahan x cheerleader!reader

synopsis: what it’s like dating hazel (post huntington fight)

notes: unofficial part two to this !! if you guys have anything to add, feel free to hop into my inbox or comment, i love interacting with you guys !!

word count: 1k

after the huntington fight, she finally took you out on a date. she completely wracked her brain for days trying to find the best place to take you.

most likely, asked josie where she would take isabel since the four of you seemed to be parallels of each other (nerdy, loser lesbian and her super hot, preppy gf)

going back to the first date though, i would imagine she took you to an arcade or maybe a diner (like josie and isabel were at). and of course she shyly asked you if that’s what you wanted.

hazel and you were sat in your english, making usual conversation since the both of you had finished your work. hazel realized it was probably a good time to ask you about that date.

“so i wanted to ask you, um, about the date. i know it’s been a few days and i’ve been planning it but what do you think about the diner? you know, after school, you can pick the day if you’d like, or if you changed your mind, we can just not go at all, it depends on you-”

“haze,” you stopped her with a soft smile and putting your hand on top of hers, “i’d love to go to a diner. that’s perfect. and tomorrow is good with me if it’s good with you!”

hazel sheepishly smiled back at you.

“yeah, it’s good with me.” she murmured.

after the third or fourth date, she wanted to pop the “will you be my girlfriend” speech badly. she wanted it to be romantic but not cheesy, heartfelt but not corny, cute but not cliche. god she was over thinking this like a motherfucker.

and to her surprise, you popped the question before her.

hazel was lounging on the loveseat in the corner of your room while you were sitting cross legged on your bed. the both of you had decided to study at your house after school. (not much studying was done so far. often getting distracted by making out with each other. so much so, the two of you had realized that nearly an hour had passed which resulted in hazel moving to the loveseat so the two of you could get some actual studying done.)

“so did you divide both sides by 6 or by 4? i don’t get that part.” hazel lifted her gaze from her notebook to you, who was already looking at her.

you decided to just blurt it out.

“haze,” she hummed in response, “do you want to be my girlfriend?”

hazel felt her mouth go dry. she really did want to be the one to ask you but it was so much hotter that you asked her.

“yeah, uh, yes, fuck, i’d love to.” she exclaimed.

now onto the actual BEING hazel’s gf (i love to over explain things, sorry)

hazel’s love language is definitely physical touch or gifting-giving. not super into pda but will put her arm around your shoulders or a hand on your lower back when you’re walking. if she’s feeling risqué, then an arm around your waist.

no matter how long you guys have been dating, she still gets nervous around you. doesn’t matter if you woke up with horrid morning breath, messy bed head, and/or a puffy face, she’d still look at you starstruck, as if you held the entire world in your palms. she’s a hopeless woman in love.

she does have a lot of money (probably one of those kids who refuses to say she’s rich, she calls herself “comfortable” …..) but she loves to make gifts for you. i can see her being into welding or wood workshop. (not sure if all schools have these types of classes, i’m american soooo)

100% makes wooden sculptures or welding a ring with the both of your initials on the inside. she made a wooden sculpture of the two of you holding hands (you nearly cried when she gave it to you)

very big music lover. listens to divorced dad rock. pearl jam, metallica, nirvana, etc. probably a minor swiftie (really obsessed with folklore and evermore but not a big fan of her other albums) definitely listens to boygenius (she listens to ‘leonard cohen’ and thinks of you). likes r&b/rap from time to time. (frank ocean, mac miller, a bit of tyler the creator.) oh and some 80s r&b like sade. her playlist is very diverse to say the least.

not really a gf headcanon but she’s definitely got some irregular allergies. strawberries, i would say. walnuts too.

PLAYS GUITAR. both acoustic and electric, she's interested in drums too and she tried learning how to play but it was too loud for her so she quit. writes songs for you but you would never get her to perform them or even show you in a million years.

LOVESSSSSS to nap and cuddle with you. a lot of the time, she invites you to her house under the guise of “studying”. you’ll be grabbing your backpack ready to pull out your english homework and she’s grabbing her blanket and asking you to just lay in her bed with her for “5 minutes”. you guys end up falling asleep (exactly like she planned) and wasted 2 hours. it was worth it.

“okay so i think we should start with our english homework because we need to brainstorm for the ess-“ you opened your bag, ready to study with your girlfriend.

“we can do that later, babe,” hazel grabbed your bag and set it on the ground, “aren’t you tired? i mean you walked all around campus, which is huge, might i add-“

“not really-“

“doesn’t matter. we should lay down and rest a bit so we can have clear minds, and we’ll be ready to study.” hazel had already kicked off her shoes and crawled into her bed, lifting her blanket and silently asking you to lay down with her.

“only a few minutes, okay, and then we have to get to work.” you breathily chuckeld, not impressed with your girlfriend’s antics.

hazel giggled and ushered you under her blanket, wrapping her arm tightly around your waist and tucking your head in the crook of her neck.

you knew what her plan was but she was too cute to say no to.

[vansmaybeonthewall]

reputation // are you ready for it?

prologue summary: The one where you, a somewhat well-known singer, figure out exactly how to leave your boyfriend who so happens to work as an assistant coach at West Ham.

Eventual Jamie Tartt x Reader

i was inspired to make a series by @buckychristwrites and @illiterateaffairs, who made the beautiful series' 'About You' and 'Distractions' respectively, so let's give this a go

word count: 0.7k

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

"Folklore and Evermore are fantastic for someone like (L/N), but is it enough to top the charts?"

"While (L/N)’s storytelling and emotion come through, does she have the audience for such a piece?”

“Previous attempts at topping the charts proved difficult, country or pop, what can (L/N) do next to be number one?”

“Fans approve of the narrative, but do the numbers?”

“It’s definitely a reach releasing two albums within a year of each other. I mean how desperate can you be?

“After experimenting with an album sampling multiple genres at eighteen, is this what (L/N) is finally good at?”

~

It’s exhausting. Everything. Trying to prove yourself while also trying not to seem full of yourself. How can someone just rise to the top of the charts? How can you be good enough? Every day there were articles calling you names and how much of a failure you are and could be. The bad always outweighed the good things people had to say. How can you make someone see who you are and what you are trying to do? It’s impossible to conform to every single version of yourself that people want you to be. It doesn’t help when your boyfriend has already achieved his dream. Helping coach his favorite team. A bittersweet thing to see. His compliments that can seem backhanded at teams. You’ll get there sometime babe. Don’t worry, you’re number one to me. Humiliating coming from someone so fake and narcissistic. Oh yes, the boyfriend you have put your life on pause for, albeit being together for two years, has been cheating on you for the past 3 months. Utterly humiliating.

It only gets worse considering he took over the job of managing you and where you play as an artist. It gave him some sort of promotion of rank amongst the other coaches. Nobody really recognized you at the football events he “booked” for you. Why would these older men listen to songs about a fictional love triangle? The only ones who recognized you were the bored teenage daughters dragged along to such events.

And asking for help is out of the question. Your best friend was only so far from you, playing for A.F.C  Richmond. Phone calls and texts could be made any second of the day and you would be swooped away, but you chose not to. Colin has a busy life as you do, so it wouldn’t be right to call him about every single problem you were having, right? You were both doing what you’ve wanted to do since you were kids (one enjoying it more than the other), so why should you disrupt his life with yours?

But when you wake up the next morning with the opportunity of a lifetime, it seems like life has taken a turn for the better. 

“Babe! Babe!”

You turn towards the doorway of your writing room resting your hands in your lap from their place on the piano. Derek leans against the doorway, trying to catch his breath.

“They want you to play! At the stadium!”

What.

“What are you on about?”

“Rupert wanted to one-up that ex-wife of his and Jasmine gave the idea of getting someone popular amongst fans to perform at halftime in a game against Richmond! Fantastic isn’t it! You’ve got to thank Jasmine for this, god that woman is amazing.”

Derek disappears down the hallway still shouting at the news. You sit wide-eyed and frozen. Not only at the news, performing in front of hundreds of fans at what possibly is one of the biggest games is a huge opportunity and you should be happy about it. Well, you are, but the name that left your boyfriend’s mouth gave it a sour taste. Jasmine. The woman he kisses and loves behind your back. And the one who gave you a chance at the spotlight in two months' time. Popular amongst fans? Was she being serious or being sarcastic? Nonetheless, what the hell.

An amazing woman, you think.

You stand and make your way to the nook in the window. You stare down at the people who walk past before grabbing at the journal and sitting yourself down. Opening the journal to the page marked by a pen holding its place, you start writing down your next idea. 

reputation 

You drag the pen quickly on the page leaving a straight line underneath the word, a smirk making its way to your face.

[miss-andromeda]

Andi and Don Headcanons

Inspired by the amazing @kikithedreamerwriter! Thank you for the brilliant idea 🩷

----------

(P.S. Andi's face claim is Maddy Kendzior, in case you were wondering who this is 😊)

Note: Most, if not all, of these do not take place in the established universe of the show, this is purely for fun. Most are goofy and chaotic, but regardless, do reflect on their relationship. 

Both Andi and Don are huge fans of Stranger Things - and they often quote lines to each other for the fun of it, like “I am on a curiosity voyage, and I need my paddles to travel,” “You know that means you suck, right?”, “Mornings are for coffee and contemplation,” and calling each other mouthbreathers to make fun of each other. 

That being said, Andi’s favorite characters are Max (she finds it funny that her voice and Max’s are the same - if you know, you know 😌), Eleven (she audibly cheered when she heard “I dump your ass” in season 3,) Robin, Dustin, and Erica 

Donnie’s are Dustin, Nancy (mostly because she reminds him so much of Andi,) Max, Will, and Joyce (he’s a diehard Jopper shipper)

They have clashing music tastes - and will often debate what music is better. Donnie’s tastes are eclectic, ranging from classical music to hip-hop and hard rock. Andi is more focused; she loves indie and alternative pop and rock. They’ll have literal debates analyzing every detail of what they listen to - like the history of the genres, important figures, and how significant it’s been to the musical landscape. More often than not, though, the other boys and April will side with Andi, purely because Donnie’s tastes are so left-field. 

Their relationship is a mix of two different dynamics; the overly sweet couple that makes you wonder if they’re “goals” or are just annoying, and the sarcastic couple that can/will be mean to those around them - except to each other.

Andi’s personality type is ISTJ-T (Turbulent Logistician), while Donnie’s is ISFJ-T (Turbulent Defender)

It’s canon that they’re both extremely intelligent - and while it’s not often, they would sometimes have competitions and debates to see who is smarter. So far, they’re tied in debates (they’ve both won 3 each,) but Donnie is winning in terms of competitions, as he’s won 7 while Andi’s only won 5.

They often do nerdy things like read together and stargaze, but one of their best memories was raising a group of butterflies together - they were named Cornelius, Meredith and Oliver. And yes, both of them teared up when they were let go into the world.

Both of them are not morning people in the slightest. Unless the two of them have their preferred drinks immediately after going into the kitchen (Donnie his cup of coffee and Andi her tea,) they will scowl at anyone who tries to talk to them or groan at any questions asked of them.

(Because it's me,) Donnie would be a casual Swiftie - not a diehard fan, but likes the singles, and some songs off each album (though he absolutely adores folklore and evermore, and seven, the lakes, peace, ivy and coney island (especially when Andi learns the lyrics and duets with him) are his favorite songs.

To follow up, he's converting Andi into a Swiftie as well - her favorite albums at the moment are Red and Midnights, and her favorite songs from each are State of Grace and Paris (though she relates the most to I Almost Do and You're On Your Own, Kid)

They are fiercely protective of each other - and will likely kill anyone who messes with their partner. Andi’s more frequent in resorting to such measures, but when Donnie’s pushed that far, he’s more dangerous.

They have considered hacking into a national database - and threatened to do so on many occasions.

It’s rare that the two of them get into a fight, but on the off chance that it does happen, it’d be quiet, but intense - lots of glaring (mostly from Andi) and teary eyes. One of three instances will happen, depending on who was at fault.

If Andi was the one who was wrong, it’ll take a while for her to apologize - her stubbornness is cranked up to 11 in a fight. But eventually, she’ll trudge over and apologize, putting her arms around Donnie and explaining why she got so upset. 

If Donnie was at fault, he’ll grovel at her feet - begging for her forgiveness and doing everything he can to tell her that he was wrong for hurting her and that he’ll do anything to make it up to her. 

If both of them were at fault, Andi would request that the two of them just stay away from each other, and as much as it would hurt Donnie, he would reluctantly agree. They’d spend upward of a week away from each other - and then when the distance gets to be too much for them, one of them will text the other and whoever received the message will book it to where the other person is - either Andi’s apartment or the lab in the lair. 

Playing off that desperation of seeing each other, they can be quite clingy with each other. Donnie is more clingy naturally, but when Andi goes through something traumatic (which, spoiler alert, will happen in her story…multiple times,) she will cling to him like she’s gonna lose him if she lets go. 

Overall, while their relationship has a smidge of fairy-tale wonder to it, they have an undying love for each other that’s as real as anything - regardless of what (or who) tries to break it.

----------

Once again, this is just for fun! As always, if you'd like to join my taglist, feel free to message me or send me an ask. Thanks again to @kikithedreamerwriter for the idea - and your permission to do my own list 🩷💜

@tinkabelle19 @m1dnyt3-w0lf @happymoonangel @eveandtheturtles @raphsmuneca @jasminarts01 @thelaundrybitch @android-cap-007

[marieabubb08]

Playlist

Songs I associate with Haikyuu characters:

Taylor Swift Ver.

Kageyama Tobio - Gorgeous (Reputation Album)

OCEAN BLUE EYES-

ITS ALREADY INDICATED IN THERE HONEY

But for real the song screams tsundere and Kags is EXACTLY that

The chorus with the "You're so gorgeous" and "Cause look at your face" fits well too

LIKE DONT LIE TO ME, KAGEYAMA IS TOO PRETTY LIKE WHA-

Now does he listen to this song? Probably not

I don't see Kageyama liking music too much

He may like some songs but he doesn't religiously listen to them

Oikawa Tooru - All of The Girls You've Loved Before (Lover Album)

We all know Oikawa is a bit of a playboy

Therefore, no matter what you say I would always believe that he has A LONG LIST OF EX LOVERS Blank Space Style

Now why didn't I choose Blank Space?

Well I dont really see him as someone toxic

Well yeah, he is annoying in the show and all but I do believe that he is a gentleman especially to girls.

HE HAS A SISTER WHAT DID YOU EXPECT?!

(I always notice that men with sister/s especially if they are really close, are gentlemen)

And seeing how he's close with his nephew means he is close with his sister.

AND HE IS A HUGE MAMA'S BOY, IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH ME PLEASE RESPECTFULLY SHUT UP

Now would he listen to this?

YES, YES HE WOULD

Probably because he's heard someone he knows (ahem ahem Makki ahem ahem) listening to this and immediately liked it

Its not his favourite, but definitely its on his playlist

Sugawara Koushi - Cruel Summer (Lover Album)

okay okay okAY OKAY HEAR ME OUT-

It doesnt symbolise Suga that much

Well except for the bridge part, because it kind of screams him

But speAKING OF THE BRIDGE

I KID YOU NOT HE SCREAMS THAT SHIT ON THE TOP OF HIS LUNGS

Imagine you're his neighbour and at 2 in the morning he starts screaming "HE LOOKS UP GRINNING LIKE A DEVIL-"

Tell me he wont do it, because he would

But like I said earlier, I do believe the bridge fits him

"I'm drunk in the back of the car and I cried like a baby coming home from the bar. Said I'm fine but it wasnt true. I dont want to keep secrets just to keep you and I snuck in through the garden gates every night that summer just to seal my fate. I scream for whatever it's worth, "I love you" aint that the worst thing you've ever heard. He looks up grinning like a devil"

I had to type all that-

BUT THIS LINE JUST SCREAMMMMS SUGAWARA KOUSHI TO ME

Akaashi Keiji - Willow (Evermore Album)

OKAY I'M EXCITED FOR THIS

I was about to choose Enchanted but Willow feels more up his alley

I could just probably put up the whole Evermore and Folklore album for this man and it would fit

And btw those two are probably what he considers one of the best albums ever

Timeskip spoilers!

We all know he majored in literature and so he is probably into deep metaphors and similes and Willow has that.

He also seems like the type to like old and magical themes which is WILLOW wow who knew

But really, this would be on his playlist along with Cardigan, some old 80s music and Radwimps

NOW THE SONG JUST FITS HIM SOOOO MUCH

The instrumental of the song is so simple yet very dimensional

AND THE THAT'S MY MAN LINE, LIKE YESSS HE IS THAT MAN

Akaashi Keji is definitely that price we'd cheat to win, don't lie

Kuroo Tetsurou - Getaway Car (Reputation Album)

THIS SCREAAAAMSSS KUROO TETSUROU

From the music to the lyrics dAMN IT-

He is the best of times and the worst of crimes ISTG-

(But I'd defo not be the first to leave if I was with THE Kuroo Tetsurou)

BUT ANOTHER ONE WHERE HE SHOUTS THE LYRICS DEADASS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FUCKING NIGHT

Bet when he comes early for practice, you can hear him screeching "X MARKS THE SPOT WHERE WE FELL APART" inside the gym

Scared the crap out of Lev once tbh

It's definitely one of his most replayed songs in his playlist

He isnt much of a fan of Taylor, but he just vibes with the song

The type of vibe where he'll dance like a worm when the chorus hits

But Getaway Car just screams Kuroo to me idk why

Atsumu Miya - Back to December (Speak Now Album)

wait wait waIT WAIT-

I know you might be asking WHY THIS SONG?

To which my answer is....

I DONT KNOW

He just feels like a person who would listen to sad/heartbreak songs

He's sappy like that

Probably listens to this, Heartbreak Anniversary, Secret Love Song etc etc

When he listens to this, he would start pulling up with the sad face like he's in a FOOKING MUSIC VIDEO

DONT TELL ME HE DOESNT LISTEN TO THIS AS HE WALKS SLOW WITH A FROWN LIKE HE'S STARRING IN AN MV

But when he's at home he definitely sings this peacefully until the bridge part.

"Back to December all the time........I MISS YOUR TANNED SKIN! YOUR SWEET SMILE!! SO GOOD TO ME SO RIGHTT!"

Lmfao it always wakes Osamu up from his naps so hey its all good for him only

Miya Osamu - Lover (Lover Album)

It is basically cannon that the twins are absolute opposites of each other.

And so, I am sure their music preference are also different.

While Atsumu likes those heartbreaking, Whitney Houston-like lyrics with high energy backgrounds, Osamu likes those romantic, suave songs with acoustic guitars and small drums on the instrumentals.

So Lover was my number one pick.

This MAN IS A ROMANTIC IN MY HEADCANNON, DO NOT CHANGE MY MIND

Can you jussttttt imagine him cooking whilst swaying his hips oN THIS SONG AHBSHSVSHWVWHWV FANGIRLING HARD RN FAM

But yeah, I feel like the whole Lover album is up his alley.

But unlike Atsumu, his singing is pretty chill, no unnecessary screeching and screaming.

Tsukishima Kei - Mastermind (Midnights Album)

So we all agree that this song is Tsukishima's, right?

HAVE YOU SEEN THAT ICONIC MOMENT FROM SEASON 3? GODDAMN HE PLANNED THAT SHIT FROM THE BEGINNING I CANNAT-

Back to the regular programming-

What I am saying is that he felt like a mastermind in that episode😉

JUST FROM THE LINES: "What if I told you none of it was accidental?" or "I laid the groundwork and then, just like clockwork the dominoes cascaded in a line."

Sums up his whole character probably

HE LISTENS TO THIS AGREE TO DISAGREE

I feel like the whole aesthetic of Midnights fit him

HE IS LITERALLY THE ANTI-HERO OF HAIKYUU DO NOT TALK TO ME-

Mastermind is not his favourite but he doesn't hate or dislike it, its in the middle category for him.

Him listening to Vigilante Shit on those white Apple headphones

Tendo Satori - Shake It Off (1989 Album)

TENDO IS A SWIFTIE, HE IS OKAY!

Shake it off is a fun ass song and there is no way he doesnt love this bop

HE DANCES TO THIS RELGIOUSLY OKAY

The lyrics also moves his heart

We all know that his childhood was pretty rough due to bullies (And maybe even when he was in high school he still had them)

So with the lyrics' positivity, it makes his heart lighter.

HE HUMS THIS WHILE HE WRAPS HIS FINGERS WITH TAPE BEFORE PRACTICING HIS BLOCKS

Let me bet you that Ushijima asked him once what the song was because he sings it EVERYDAY, and Ushijima already memorised the harmony AHAHAHAH

He becomes EXCITED and started babbling about Taylor and how he should consider being a Swiftie while Ushijima listens

He may or may not have converted Ushijima into one

HAIL LORD TENDO, THE BEST ADVERTISER TO TAYLOR AFTER USHIJIMA TO SHIRATORIZAWA

Just noticed almost all of these were the setters- Definitely not intentional😶

Part two?

Not Edited

[takingontheworldtogether]

my friends who don't know shit about taylor swift requested a pre-album explainer of wtf is going on so i wrote them a little newsletter... if you want something to send to your non-swiftie friends it's beneath the cut

Good morning team,

Why do we need a Swiftie newsletter?

I mean, no one really needs this. But she’s dropping a new album (“The Tortured Poets Department” or TTPD for short) in three days and I’m here to provide you with the information you need before the album comes out. I’ll be back with a post-album review letting you know 1) what juicy gossip was revealed on the album, 2) what tracks you should listen to, and 3) a few things you can say to your Swiftie friends to sound cultured.

What’s this album about?

Okay, I know this is ancient history, but cast your mind back to 2016. Kanye and Taylor Swift are beefing, and Kim Kardashian posts a clip of a phone call that makes Taylor look like a liar. Taylor gets canceled on social media and disappears for a year. 

While all this is going on, she meets her boyfriend, the British actor Joe Alwyn. I have no clue what movies he was in at the time, but since then he was in The Favorite and Harriet, and also Conversations with Friends (I think, I haven’t seen it because Normal People put me off Sally Rooney). Here’s a quick timeline:

Late 2017: Taylor comes back with “Look What You Made Me Do” and reputation. People think reputation is a bad bitch album, but it’s actually an album about finding love in a time of despair.

2019: She drops Lover, which is about many things but primarily about how she loves him and wants to spend the rest of her life with him. 

2020: Pandemic. Taylor writes two quarantine albums, folklore and evermore. These are primarily fictional, but there are a few love songs about him. He co-writes some of these songs pseudonymously.

2022: Midnights. This album becomes wildly successful. It occupies all of the top ten slots on the billboard hot 100 in the week it comes out. It breaks a bunch of sales records.

2023: The Eras Tour starts! Two weeks in, they announce the break up. Taylor briefly dates Matty Healy of the 1975, who is by all accounts a total asshole. This appears to have been a shitty rebound. A bit later, she starts dating the football player Travis Kelce and everyone loses their minds about it. 

It looks like this album is going to be about the end of a relationship of six years and possibly rebounding/moving on. 

Okay, but like… why did they break up?

I mean, I don’t know any of these people, so all I can offer you are guesses based on song lyrics:

1 - He was really big into his privacy, which is kind of difficult if you’re dating Taylor Swift. 

2 - A lot of songs on Lover are about wanting to get married. There’s a song on Midnights that implies that she wanted to get married and he refused. Yikes. 

What’s the promo situation for this album?

The most notable thing to me (and what is this if not me rambling about my opinions) are some playlists curated by Taylor on Apple Music. Each playlist focuses on one of the five stages of grief in mourning a relationship, and they contain songs from her past albums. There are copycat playlists on Spotify, if you’re interested. My favorite is “am I allowed to cry?” which is the playlist for the bargaining stage. 

There’s also a wall in Chicago with a QR code that leads to a video of the words “Error 321 13” and a hidden message in her song lyrics that spells out “Hereby Conduct This,” which is presumably a message that will be finished by the time the album comes out. 

What do we already know about the album?

16 tracks with 4 bonus tracks. There’s a song with Post Malone (yes, really) and a song with Florence + The Machine. I agree, this is not an intuitive combination, but I’m excited. 

Two of the songs are over five minutes long. Two songs are entirely self-written, five are written with Aaron Dessner (from the National), and eight are written with Jack Antonoff (the producer who works with all the pop girlies). Her collaborations with Aaron Dessner are some of my favorite songs of hers, so this is good news to me. 

That’s my preamble to the Tortured Poets Department!

I hope this was informative, but I barely scratched the surface. You have no idea how deep this goes. Also, I need you all to know that I sat down and wrote this in one sitting without Googling anything, which probably means I know too much about this subject. 

In the meantime, I’ve been listening to “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter which is a very stupid song that is fun to listen to. I’ve also been listening to girl in red’s new album, I’m Doing It Again Baby! which is aggressively mid. If you want to listen to a song on it, I recommend “Pick Me.” 

See you in three days!

[pop-punklouis]

anon from yesterday, haven't even finished but YES i agree entirely: i had such an off-and-on relationship w her in the 2010s and really couldnt stand her in the 1989 days and lover is what tentatively pulled me back in. to me, lover was mostly a guilty pleasure though, i kinda liked some of the songs even though i knew they technically weren't the best (like i listened to me! but was embarassed about it) but i still felt really conflicted about it bc i could see through the "activism" of yntcd in that it was Very surface level and i could tell was just selling the album and era and "see i'm an activist now!" when she very much was not. but folklore actually got me to be a fan, it was just so enrapturing. same with evermore. and like you said, midnights was such a disappointment comparatively and im just waiting for ttpd to be the same. anyway agree w everything else you said, early morning think piece was time well spent.

separately, YES i remember his season of zoey 101 so clearly bc i was a big logan/quinn girlie. loved seeing the trailer to the reboot movie last summer (have no desire to see the actual thing) and know they end up together and that quinn had the glow up of the century.

what's funny is they put ned's declassified on netflix like a month after elvis came out and i'd just moved to a new city and didn't know anyone and i'm very ashamed to admit this but i did watch the whole thing (and really enjoyed doing so?? it held up? i did not expect that) and it was sooooo cute and funny and silly to see austin in the background all the time. i dont know that he ever had ANY lines but to watch that literally a MONTH after elvis was so funny

this is such a late reply whoops dsfsjkfjslk

BUT i do find it endlessly fascinating that so many people i know that didn't care for taylor during the 1989/reputation era found themselves climbing back in during lover. and i agree, i think it felt like a guilty pleasure more than anything at first with some of the songs because they were so unapologetically pop and powdery and sticky sweet or salty etc. and not to be that person but i think there is definitely a tie between her even showing an inch of public activism during that era and her dating joe who is very politically observant. but thats its own thought entirely lmao anyways!!

oh my god i would've died for logan and quinn. they were the IT couple for me on zoey 101. i think my fav episode of austin's season on that show was when him and zoey were trying to have that nice, private, romantic dinner at that restaurant on the hill and unbeknownst to them, logan and quinn are also having dinner there and they have to pretend like they aren't there together and somehow it becomes a huge mess lmao

BUT yessss him being an extra for ned's declassified was so cute. he was just happy to be there and i love going back and seeing him there. neds declassified in general is so good i still love watching it and other old teen nick shows.

[andvys]

i love the new style too! i love all the new versions!

YES 😫 i could cry to everything from folklore and evermore. especially my tears ricochet and illicit affairs and this is me trying 😭 and champagne problems is my fav taylor song ever!

tbh yesterday i cried while listening to new romantics tv for the first time 😅 fully on sobbed while singing along, and in the morning before i went to uni i was doing my make up sobbing to style 😭

SAME!! folklore will always be my favorite album i think 😭 so many good songs! my tears ricochet is definitely in my top 5, and i love seven so much!

but evermore too! champagne problems makes me cry every time and i really love tolerate it!

BUT OMG BESTIE I FEEL YOU!!! certain songs just touch your soul and it makes you tear up instantly 🥹🥹

but wait, what Taylor Swift songs are your songs — like which ones describe you? I have to ask that every swiftie 😭

[bi-bard]

Too Cold - Donald Ressler Imagine (The Blacklist)

Title: Too Cold

Pairing: Donald Ressler X Reader

Requested: by @zizzlekwum

Word Count: 513 words

Warning(s): cussing

Summary: (Y/n) and Ressler were sent on a stakeout to help with a case Reddington had given them. If only everything had gone to plan.

Author's Note: First of all, thank you for the compliment, that's so sweet! Second of all, I have a lot of fun writing for Ressler.

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

I relaxed into the seat of the car. I had been leaning forward with a camera for most of the night.

Stakeouts were never my favorite thing and when it felt like Reddington was sending us on a wild goose chase, the whole process felt unbelievably annoying.

The snow falling was delightful... the reason for being out in it was completely ridiculous.

"You alright," Donald asked.

I nodded, "It's just my back."

"Here," he grabbed the camera from me, taking over my job while I popped my back. "I'll give you a back rub when we get home."

"I'm gonna hold you to that," I said. He chuckled. "This feels like a waste of time. Reddington probably already has the information and is waiting to make us look like idiots."

"He's moving," Donald sat back up, handing me the camera.

We waited until the man had pulled out of his driveway before even turning on our car. Or... at least trying. Donald turned the key multiple times. The car was just not starting.

"Shit," I muttered, pulling out my phone. "Liz. Our car just broke down and we can't follow Reddington's target."

I nodded as I listened to her talk.

"Liz tracked him," I said, putting my phone down. Ressler nodded.

Then, my phone rang again. It was Harold.

"Agent (Y/l/n)," I said like I did every time I answered the phone. Harold spoke for a minute. "Yes sir. Thank you."

I hung up the phone and let out a deep breath.

"Shit!"

"Okay, what's the news," Donald said.

"Harold told us to hold tight, don't draw attention to ourselves, and someone will be out to help us as soon as possible... which could be as far as tomorrow morning."

"You're kidding," he replied. I shook my head. I felt tears in my eyes. "Hey, hey, it's alright."

"No, it's not," I forced a chuckle. "I had a whole surprise planned out. I was gonna order your favorite food and I had made dessert and I got some great movies. I thought we could still do it even with the stakeout but now it's all fucked."

"(Y/n)," Donald grabbed my hand. "Thank you. You're so kind. We'll enjoy an evening together tomorrow night. Or turn it into breakfast."

I chuckled. I didn't quite understand why I was really so upset. I think a lot had become a part of a pile and it just pushed me over.

"I am so tired," I grumbled.

"Come on," Donald said. I watched, confused, as he crawled into the back of the car.

"Do you know how funny that looked?"

"Shut up," he replied, motioning for me to follow him. He slipped his jacket off and laid down with the jacket tucked under his head.

I laid on his chest, arms wrapped around his torso and legs intertwined. He wrapped his arms around me.

"Goodnight," he said quietly. "I love you."

"Love you too," I mumbled, closing my eyes.

It wasn't ideal but if this was our quiet night together... I wasn't completely upset by the outcome.

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

Masterlist

What I Write For

Request Guidelines

Musical Prompts

Small Moments With…

When Worlds Collide (Doctor Who Crossover Series) Masterlist

Some Original Characters

folklore/evermore Writing Challenge (and Masterlist)

[lyssismagical]

evermore

Just a Solid Vent Fic 

I wanna do 30 days of Taylor Swift-inspired fics (folklore and evermore) lmao but idk yet we’ll see lemme know tho 

 *

As a compromise for Tony not being able to pay Peter’s tuition to MIT thanks to his full ride, Tony bought an apartment right beside campus for Peter to live in, to ensure no awkward adventures trying to be Spider-Man with a roommate.

Peter’s still adamant about getting a job and paying for his food, phone bill, and any other things like clothing or entertainment.

And balancing classes, patrolling, and a job, isn’t easy, of course. But it’s always been better for him to work hard than to give himself time to think. It’s not like his mental health is on hold, but it’s easier to put it aside when he’s got so much to do all the time.

It doesn’t help that he’s also on the debate team thanks to MJ, and in the robotics club thanks to Ned.

When November rolls around and it brings the final projects, Peter pushes himself to the limit to keep up with everything.

He starts dropping his sleep to only a nap whenever he can squeeze it in, working all afternoon, classes all morning, and Spider-Man all night, and he starts making up excuses for anything that isn’t a number one priority.

He stops seeing his friends, stops calling May back, stops replying to Tony’s worried texts, stops helping out with his professors or the librarian or his classmates. He stops cleaning his apartment, letting dishes pile up on the counters and laundry go unwashed.

It’s bad, and he knows that, rationally and logically, he knows.

But that doesn’t stop him from doing it anyway.

Three weeks, he tells himself.

And he keeps pushing.

MJ shows up at his apartment out of the blue when he’s studying away, and he barely manages to clear the fog in his head to stumble for the door.

“I can’t talk right now,” he says before she can even say hello. “I’ve gotta study for my physics exam.”

“No, you’ve gotta chill the fuck out.”

He shakes his head, leaving the door open as he turns his back and heads into his kitchen for a quick snack so he can get back to his work. “No, I have to study.”

“Oh my god, you live in a garbage dump,” she says, eyes going wide as she takes in the state of his apartment. “When was the last time you washed a dish? Or, gross, your hair?”

He doesn’t bother responding, rolling his eyes and downing a protein bar. “Two weeks, now, and then I’m done for a month.”

“At this rate, I don’t know if you’ll make it through the next two weeks.”

Peter can’t help but roll his eyes again, part of him hating how much he’s lashing out despite wanting help, needing help, but unable to find the strength to stop it from happening as he brushes past her again.

“I know you’re stressed, I know you’re anxious about exams and papers and labs, but, seriously, Peter?” she says, following him to where he’s working in the living room, papers and binders and textbooks strewn across every surface. “You’re a genius, okay? You’ve been getting excellent grades all year. The only reason you might not do well on these projects is because you’re working yourself to death.”

He shakes his head, feeling very suddenly like he might cry. “It’s not that easy. Just… I don’t want to deal with this right now, okay?”

MJ doesn’t take that as a good answer, though, sitting beside him on the old couch. “I know you, okay? I know you better than most people do. I’ve seen you in some of the worst states you’ve been in. I know this. You can’t pretend that this is okay or normal or that this is you doing fine. I don’t believe it for a second.”

He opens his mouth to fight back, to argue, to try to convince her otherwise, or maybe just to kick her out. But he hesitates.

After the Snap’s reversal, she was the one who devoted all her time to taking care of him. He was such a mess of PTSD and depression and emptiness, but she was there. She kept the lights on for him, she brought him food and water, held him after nightmares, talked him down from panic attacks every other day. She was there, despite everything, she was always there.

Tony was too far and he never wanted to bother May, so he regularly would drop by her fire escape where she would patch him up after patrols, and occasionally, let him sleep next to her and make sure to get him to school on time.

She’s always been there.

She’s held him together, kept him sane, helped him through it all.

It wouldn’t be fair to get pissed.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbles, shoving a hand through his mess of greasy, tangled curls. “I’m such a mess, I’m so sorry. I don’t mean to be a bitch, but I just… I don’t know what I’m doing. I feel like I’m drowning.”

And she nods because she’s always understood, always known what he means. She puts her hand over his. “You deserve a nap. C’mon.”

He goes to shake his head, looking to where his lab is only half-done, he’s only a few chapters into the textbook to get prepared for his exam, rough notes scribbled out for a paper.

“No, c’mon. You’re taking a nice nap. You deserve it,” she repeats, tugging more insistently at his wrist.

But he shakes his head this time, pulling his hand away. “If I stop, I won’t be able to start again.”

“Peter-”

“I’m serious, if I take a nap or a break or take a second to breathe, I will crumble and I won’t be able to put myself back together in time for these due dates. I won’t get back up. I just-” He stops, taking a deep breath and rubbing at his wet eyes. “I need to keep pushing for the next two weeks and then I can fall apart.”

MJ shakes her head, fingers wrapping around his thin wrist. “That’s not healthy. And it certainly wouldn’t be right for me to let you do that.”

“I’ll fail my classes if I don’t do well on these assignments and exams. I need to keep going. I know it’s bad, but if I get into bed, I will fall into a slump and I won’t get anything done.”

Surprising both him and what seems like herself, she nods, holding onto him a little tighter like he’ll disappear before her very eyes. “Fine. But I’m going to stay here with you and make sure you don’t die over the next two weeks, alright? And you have to listen when I tell you to eat or watch stupid reality TV shows with me.”

He hums out an agreement, letting himself slump into her side, eyes focusing in on his mess of homework laid out before him.

“Come on. Step one, is getting you showered and in clean clothes because you smell like you spent the night in a dumpster.”

*

MJ does exactly as she promised she would. She calls it a ‘mental health sleepover’ and they set up camp in the living room.

She calls in sick for him at work for most of the week, telling them that he caught the flu and wouldn’t be back until after his exams, and even then, he’d already booked most of Winter Break off to go home to New York.

There wasn’t much she could do, in all honesty, it wasn’t like she could force him to sleep or take a break without a fight, but she could make him healthy meals and stop him from going out patrolling, which was enough to take a big load off his shoulders.

And she occasionally can convince him to watch those dumb reality TV shows, which occasionally makes him fall asleep on the couch for at least an hour or two.

It helps, of course, but it doesn’t solve any of the problems.

As soon as he’s finished exams, he’s going to drop, he’s going to fall, he’s going to drown, let the waves take him.

And nobody will be able to help him then.

“I booked your flight home,” MJ says over dinner and while he’s finishing up his lab report. “My flight’s a few hours after yours, so I’ll be with you until you board and then the Starks will pick you up.”

“Thanks. I really owe you one,” he says, only half-listening as he starts on his paper.

She grabs him by his shoulder and makes him turn to her laptop screen. “Say yes to the dress time. Your paper can wait a bit.”

“There’s only so much I can procrastinate,” he says but he’s already closing his laptop and tucking himself into her side, and shoulders finally relaxing.

She starts the episode, on a low volume, and presses a quick kiss to his temple.

By the time they’re onto the second episode, Peter’s slurring out his insults to the dresses some of the women pick, making fun of the different styles, and blinking getting longer and longer.

“That neckline?” Peter goes, giggling into MJ’s shoulder. “Especially with those shoes?”

“You’re a bitch.”

“I know, but seriously?” he laughs again, a little window into the person he once was. “I mean the first option wasn’t bad, but the choice of a grey dress in the first place…”

MJ’s voice goes all soft and gentle when she next speaks up, “Come on, go to sleep, you can afford to take a little break.”

And he nods sleepily against her shoulder, tucking himself just a little closer, making himself small against her side. It’s simple, for now.

*

As soon as he’s done his last exam, he can feel the adrenaline wearing off, disappearing from within him, all energy draining from his very veins.

He goes straight home afterwards, ignoring everybody who tries to stop him for a chat. And as soon as he makes it to his apartment, he goes straight to bed, tugging the sheets right over his head.

He shouldn’t do this, he knows. He should call MJ, ask that she drop everything for him again because he can feel himself slipping, but he won’t. He can’t. He doesn’t even know when the last time he saw his phone was, let alone have the effort to leave his blankets and try to find it. He doesn’t care. He doesn’t have it in him to care.

He feels empty and exhausted and strung out. Carved hollow. Putting everything he has into the past few months, he feels like he has nothing left to give.

There’s a knock on his front door, but he doesn’t move.

A few minutes later, his phone rings, somewhere in another part of the apartment. It rings again and again, a symphony for him to pass out to.

*

Time passes strangely when he’s this deep in a depressive episode. He doesn’t know how long he’s been huddled under his blankets, hiding from the world. It could’ve been anywhere between a couple hours and a few days, he doesn’t know.

His phone continues ringing, far away and echoing through his dreams, tears sliding down his cheeks at random intervals, hands trembling where they’re tucked under his chest.

He feels like he’s drifting away, collapsing into himself, fading away into nothingness.

He feels empty, hollow, gone.

He gave everything he had into school and work over the course of four months, and he has nothing left to give anymore. He’s nothing more than an empty well.

And he doesn’t know how he’s supposed to pull himself together, pack, get a flight home, and pretend to be one hundred percent for Morgan.

He’d rather just die here, in this cave he’s built, ghost-like and fading away already, than have to face another soul.

*

When he hears his front door unlocking, he knows he should be worried. Nobody has a spare copy of his key except for Ned, who already went home to New York a few weeks back.

He knows it should be at least a little concerning that somebody is breaking into his apartment, but he can’t find it in him to care. He doesn’t have the energy to move or hide or try to protect himself.

He just curls up a little tighter and hopes that this won’t be his last day.

“Peter?”

He lifts his head, just enough to see over his cave of his blankets.

And standing in his bedroom doorway is Tony.

“Hi,” he breathes, curling up a little tighter, knowing he’s safe.

Tony slips into his room and sits at the end of his bed, one hand on Peter’s ankle. “MJ called when you wouldn’t answer your phone or let her in. She knew something was up.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. I saw something like this coming after you finished your senior year and spent two weeks sick and depressed. I thought you’d be home in time before you started feeling so run down, but I guess I was wrong.”

Peter doesn’t know how he’s supposed to respond to that, so instead he lets his head fall into the pillows again.

“I’m not going to make you do anything yet, I think you could use a bit more time here. Though, Morgan thought two days sleeping was plenty, I think another one might do you well. But tomorrow, we’re going to get you fed and showered and your apartment clean, and then this weekend, we’ll get a flight home. Sound good?”

He nods, though he’s pretty sure he would agree to pretty much anything so long as the decisions are taken out of his hands.

“Come here,” Tony murmurs, sliding into the space beside Peter, arms open. Peter finally feels at home when he crawls into the awaiting hug. “MJ mentioned Say Yes to the Dress bingeing, you feel up for making fun of more dress choices?”

Peter laughs half-heartedly against Tony’s chest, tucking himself into him like a child would, and nods, breathing in the soothing scent of motor oil and expensive cologne.

He knows he’ll fall apart again, he knows that it’s not going to be a permanent solution, but the time being, he has Tony’s arms around him, a reality TV show quietly keeping them company, and the relief of having time to feel miserable before he has to pick himself up, it’s enough for now. It’ll be enough.

He’ll be okay with people like Tony and MJ at his side.

He’ll be okay.

Taglist: @littlemissagrafina  @fancyxparker  @romeoandjulietyouwish @c-artara @shadedrose01 @likeaphoenix13 @misskirkstark @you-get-killed-walk-it-off @kitkatwinchester  @emo-girl10 @justme--emily  @hold-our-destiny @imalivebecauseirondad @spiderman-peterman @dykeragee @maryserrao @heeeyitskay @parknerandirondad @lilacsandlilies4 @loveliestdisappointment @joyful-soul-collector @genderfluid-and-confuzled @fallenstar07 @gyurolls @sdottkrames {Let me know if you wanna be added or removed}

[hanaasbananas]

Hm, let's see... I think I need to hear more about Champagne Promises! Please, and thank you! :D

Aw, thank you for the ask!

ooh okay so this one is interesting because I had the idea when I was listening to Champagne Problems in the car at night and honestly? That was a total vibe

But then I thought it would be cool to collab with @theanxiouscupcake and after I messaged her and we started brainstorming we ended up having a BUNCH OF IDEAS about a series of oneshots each based off a taylor swift song from Folklore and Evermore and it turned into a Whole Thing that we'll write, sometime.

Essentially it's gonna be adrinette endgame, ofc, but it starts with a little bit of lukanette with the Champagne Problems fic being about Marinette turning down his proposal. For extra sadness, I thought of doing a short fic based on New Years Day from lukas perspective from right before he proposes which makes the lyric 'please dont, ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognise anywhere' even more painful hehe

Ok wow i just opened my draft doc and?? ok this is sad so here have my notes (i mean its practically a fic in itself but its bullet pointed so. nOTES)

he’s kneeling in front of her, his expression earnest, lips moving though she can’t hear anything through the roaring in her ears. Nausea threatens to overtake her as she thinks no, no, please, not this, anything but this

Luka is looking at her expectantly, ring in hand, and she doesn’t want to look at it-she won’t, but they’re stood by the window and the early morning sunlight filters through the glass, reflecting off the diamond and sending rainbow light across the hardwood floor

In some distant part of her brain, Marinette is glad that he didn’t do this during the party the night before, when she was drunk and might have said yes. But right now her mind is screaming at her, putting things together-how he wanted to go visit Jukeka and his mum later, and-were they in on it? did they know he was planning on doing this? the thought sends her mind spinning.

Luka’s expression is shifting, happiness turning to confusion turning to dawning realisation. He’s rising to his feet, already reaching out for her, his lips forming her name when Marinette backs away, shaking her head, apologies spilling from her lips-though it isn't enough, it will never be enough-before turning tail and fleeing

(She doesn’t think she’ll ever forget the sight of Luka’s heart shattering in his eyes)

[jennyboom21]

Let us guide you like a nymph through the woods of Swift’s ninth album. Photo: YouTube

Every Taylor Swift song throughout history can be described as “music to braid your best friend’s hair to,” but with the surprise release of Swift’s ninth studio album evermore, finally, girls with long, creepy braids and sweet crushes on their best friends are getting the representation they deserve.

Swift announced on Instagram Thursday morning, like a shot of elderflower syrup to the heart, that she’d be following up the surprise July release of folklore with its surprise sister album, evermore, at midnight, December 11. Immediately, I returned from the haunted forest I’d been living in since July via horse and buggy seeking WiFi. After a few listens, I must say, evermore absolutely fucks. If this is truly folklore’s sister, then it’s folklore’s more powerful, hulking sister. If folklore is Piper Halliwell — subtle, thoughtful, stressful — then evermore is Prue, in that her power is unmatched and she will kill you.

This album is so excellent that I’m suspicious: Did someone pry open a cursed locket and damn Taylor to an eternity of Albums of the Year? Either that or Taylor has Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner trapped in those pods from The Matrix, siphoning their woodsy power. If it’s actually the latter, nobody red pill them — sad Swifties need this. evermore is woods-dyke excellence. Here’s my analysis of every song.

“willow”

God, there are so many easter eggs in the “willow” music video — this is exhausting. The video prominently features Taeok Lee, a dancer from her Red tour; there are numerous folklore callbacks, like Swift following a golden string toward her lover (“invisible string”); we see her wearing the titular folklore “cardigan;” a younger Taylor plays in a blanket fort (“seven”). But something that’s gone severely underlooked here is that this music video is very aesthetically similar to Lesbian Bonnet Films, which if you don’t know, is an emerging genre of depressing lesbian movies set before Penicillin existed. Between the witchcraft Taylor performs in the music video (she’s literally wearing a cloak — savagely gay) and the overall bonnet energy happening here, I think “willow” is actually a trailer for a new A24 lesbian movie that will inexplicably be written by a man.

“champagne problems”

As one of the three songs co-written by William Bowery — whom Taylor revealed to be her b*yfriend J*e A*wyn in the also-surprise folklore long pond sessions Netflix concert film — “champagne problems” is depressing as hell. The piano intro alone is enough to politely tap me over the edge. J*e also co-wrote “exile” and “betty” on folklore. As a person who deeply wishes Taylor were queer, admittedly, I’ve had trouble accepting J*e into my heart. But with lyrics like “November flush and your flannel cure,” and a tendency to romanticize the worst things that have ever happened to you, I do feel like J*e can relate to me. I’m not quite ready to spell his name without an asterisk, but these things take time. What was I talking about? Oh yeah, this song is about heartbreak or whatever.

“gold rush”

Yes, some fans have speculated that with lyrics like “everybody wants you” and “what must it be like to grow up that beautiful,” this song is about Harry Styles, who has a song called “golden,” and is also extremely beautiful. I might have bought that… if I didn’t know that “gold” is a trigger word in Kaylorlore which opens a Pandora’s box of references to Swift’s rumored romantic relationship with former best friend Karlie Kloss. Her reputation album features numerous Sapphic “gold” references: On “Dress” and “Dancing With Our Hands Tied,” songs about loving someone in secret, Swift sings “Made your mark on me — golden tattoo,” and “You painted me golden.” Kaylors (Taylor and Karlie truthers) believe “gold” lyrics point to the night Taylor and Karlie were photographed wearing matching gold flash tattoos. So, yeah, read a fucking book.

‘tis the damn season

Like folkore, evermore features anthology stories written from characters’ perspectives rather than Swift’s POV. “‘tis the damn season” is tied to “dorothea,” and is about the experience of coming home for the holidays and rekindling an old flame (more on Dorothea in a bit). Given lyrics like “you could call me babe for the weekend,” “I’m stayin’ at my parents’ house,” and “I escaped it too, remember how you watched me leave” — many people don’t know this — but this song is actually written from the perspective of Riley in Happiest Season. Played by Aubrey Plaza, Riley wasn’t hung up on her hometown old flame, Harper — but she definitely should have called Harper’s girlfriend Abby “babe” for the weekend. ’tis the GODDAMN season for THAT.

“tolerate it”

Ok, “tolerate it” made me unexpectedly burst into tears the first time I heard it. In a note to fans, Taylor wrote about an “‘unhappily ever after’ anthology of marriages gone bad,” about “infidelity, ambivalent toleration, and even murder.” A lover’s “ambivalent toleration” is the most harrowing to me, personally. No one has ever been as “ambivalently tolerated” as a queer girl who is way too nice to her best friend right before realizing she’s queer. Swift basically lobotomized me with the lyric, “I know my love should be celebrated, but you tolerate it.” Just bury me. Cover me in moss and dew and lay me next to a damp log to suffer through this album.

“no body, no crime” (ft. Haim)

Right after “tolerate it” comes Dark Marriage Anthology track two, the murderous “no body, no crime,” which features a long-awaited collaboration with Swift’s besties, Haim. In a YouTube chat, Swift revealed that “no body, no crime” was inspired by her love of true crime podcasts. The song follows a woman named Este (named for Este Haim) whose husband cheats on her. Swift told Entertainment Weekly, “Long story short, I’m the 4th Haim sister now, confirmed.” Can I just say: Writing fanfic about a Haim girl is extremely fucking queer. Writing yourself in as the fourth Haim sister? That’s gay, luv. This “Goodbye Earl” derivative work also reveals that one of Este’s sisters took out a life insurance policy on the cheating husband, who Taylor Swift then killed… Ok. Scheming? A cheating husband? Being in cahoots over a life insurance policy? I’m sorry, this song is about A Simple Favor — I will not be explaining.

“happiness”

Swift told her fans that “happiness” was the last song written on evermore, and was actually written last week in a Madewell. Ok that last part isn’t true, but as a white woman shaped like a rectangle, I can make Madewell jokes. “happiness” contains numerous references to The Great Gatsby, like “All I want from me now is the green light of forgiveness,” a possible allusion to the green light at the edge of Daisy’s dock, and “I hope she’ll be your beautiful fool.” In Gatsby, Daisy says her hope for her daughter is that she’ll be a fool: “That’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.” Swift has alluded to Gatsby in the past, like her “roaring 20s” lyric in “the 1,” or “Feelin’ so Gatsby for that whole year” on “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things.” This title is deceptive, as it’s actually quite heartbreaking, and is about literature, which feels somewhat exclusionary because gay people can’t read.

“dorothea”

Much like the folklore track “betty,” “dorothea” is written from a male perspective. At this point, I’ve had enough time to grow and mature past believing that writing a love song about a girl but insisting it’s from the male perspective is quite gay. I’m actually not mad about it anymore and feel really good about this. In a note to her fans, Swift said Dorothea is “the girl who left her small town to chase down Hollywood dreams.” Tied to “‘tis the damn season,” this song is written from the perspective of the old flame from Dorothea’s hometown, a man who will no doubt teach his Big City Girl the importance of Christmas Cheer, which she likely traded in for a lifeless, spiritless, atheist existence in the Big City (which is freezing). Honestly, Dorothea needs to leave this Christian flop behind and go back to being a lifeless atheist. Christmas Cheer?? A hometown b*yfriend who is probably Republican??? In this Great Depression????

“coney island” (ft. The National)

Unfortunately this song features many men (although I do feel that in writing about it, I am queering this space): Aaron Dessner’s band The National, vocals from Matt Berninger, and a co-writing credit from William Bowery a.k.a. J*e — ok fine, I’m choosing to show growth here — Joe Alwyn. The song is a teary ode to a lover who passed away. It also features a reference to my favorite Taylor song ever, “Delicate,” a song about that fraught early-dating period when the relationship is still so fragile. She sings, “Did I close my fist around something delicate? Did I shatter you?” And then I shattered so quickly and so violently that I became gay sand.

“ivy”

Sagittarius Season is upon us, folx. Taylor, noted Sag, says she released evermore to celebrate her 31st birthday, which is December 13. As a Sag myself (my birthday is the day after Taylor’s, not to brag), I feel comfortable saying that the “ivy” lyric “I wish to know the fatal flaw that makes you long to be magnificently cursed” is the most Sagittarius lyric ever. The drama! The belief in extreme literary phenomena like “fatal flaws!” The use of the word “cursed!” Also, “ivy” is the third song in the Dark Marriage Trilogy, and Swift left “ivy” and “willow” Easter Eggs within her evermore announcement Easter Egg. Again, exhausting. I cannot read nor do math — just give it to me straight.

“cowboy like me”

This song is about “two young con artists who fall in love while hanging out at fancy resorts trying to score rich romantic beneficiaries,” according to Swift. “cowboy like me” features background vocals from Marcus Mumford, a guest feature that was alluded to in an Instagram from inside his studio. The song features the magnificent lyric, “Perched in the dark, telling all the rich folks anything they wanna hear like it could be love, I could be the way forward, only if they pay for it.” So, “cowboy like me” is about scamming rich people — something we can and should do.

’long story short’

Reportedly, this is the most autobiographical song on evermore. In Swiftlore, it’s well known that Taylor met Joe Alwyn during a lull in her life, on the same night she met Tom Hiddleston, whom she briefly dated, then dumped and got together with Joe. “long story short” is about picking the wrong guy, but in this song, she ends up with the right guy (Joe). So, some fans think it’s a Hiddleston allusion, a Hiddleusion. Swift also sings, “But we live in peace,” a reference to folklore song “peace,” which is also allegedly about Joe. This song prominently features the word “misery,” which may or may not be a reference to 1990 Kathy Bates psychological thriller Misery — the original “mad woman.” I’m joking (barely).

“marjorie”

I love wholesome grandparent content. On folklore, the13th track is about Swift’s grandfather. On evermore, track 13 eulogizes her grandmother Marjorie Finlay, who was an opera singer. Finlay’s background vocals are actually featured on the track, which, for the record, is the correct way to honor a late family member — not by Frankensteining together a spooky hologram, @ Taylor’s nemesis K*nye W*st!!

“closure”

So, given that “closure” is about things ending terribly with someone (a friend, an ex, a malicious and megalomaniacal music manager), the song could be about any number of public beefs Taylor Swift has had (K*m and K*nye, C*lvin H*rris, S*****r B***n). Honestly, I respect a woman who beefs. Remaining friends with an ex is a very popular phenomenon within the queer community — and it’s great most of the time — but there’s something to be said for a woman who knows her worth and is firm about it. “Yes, I got your letter, Yes, I’m doing better, I know that it’s over, I don’t need your closure” is my new morning affirmation. This whole album is Taylor just absolutely mad with power, swinging her strap around post-Grammy noms.

“evermore” (ft. Bon Iver)

“evermore” is co-written by William Bowery (Joe), who also plays the piano on the track. It’s nice that she lets him do things now. She’s like, “Oh, you want to be a musician? Ok not now, mommy’s busy. Go play with your lil’ piano and make beep beep.” The title track has a very similar vibe to folklore’s “exile,” in that it also features Bon Iver and a William Bowery writing credit, but also in its stench of wintry death. “evermore” is brutal. It’s a pandemic depression anthem. The lyrics “Gray November, I’ve been down since July” and “Hey December, guess I’m feeling unmoored” resonate. It’s exactly how I’ve felt since folklore mowed down my mental health like a snowplow pushing a bunch of grey slush into a ditch. Taylor is sadbaiting here — profiting off a community of people who are sad — which is fine, because she’s clearly sad too, and as the ole saying goes, “it’s nice to have a friend.”

[oneweekoneband]

shouldn’t gay taylor swift fans be given access to the original homophobic version of "picture to burn”? and other post-evermore reflection questions.

Did yesterday last twice as long as a regular day? Does anyone else feel like pulled taffy today or is that the four red wine spritzers I made myself with Sutter Home mini bottles of cab and cherry flavored seltzer? How long has it been since Taylor Swift has been to an Olive Garden? Is the part in “willow” where she’s like “You know that my train could take you home / anywhere else is hollow” about pegging? Does Taylor Swift understand even a basic sketch of the events of The Great Gatsby, a novel commonly assigned in school to teenaged children? Is Taylor implying on “marjorie” that her grandmother is a ghost? Is it weird of me to think it is nice that Taylor believes her grandmother is a ghost? Do I believe my grandmother is a ghost? Is it weird of me to think it is nice to wonder if maybe she might be? Is “gold rush” obviously for the Kaylors, or am I just being prejudiced against men’s theoretical right to be good looking? Last night I peeled myself up from a circle at the foot of the bed and poured hot sauce into canned minestrone soup when I realized it was already hours past dark. After it warmed on the stove I ate on our cramped front porch at the little painted table that is dirty all the time from just the air, I guess, even if you wipe it down twice a day, so when I see it I think of my lungs covered in dust too. But last night it was cool outside and I wanted to get as much air inside of me as possible, dirty or not, before the time came to crack southward at the waist, fall hard, with all my weight, down to my knees, and supplicate myself most disgracefully at the feet of the Lord’s most terrible daughter. The new Taylor Swift album became available at nine pm pacific time. Will there ever be salvation?

Has Taylor Swift ever met up with high school friends in a bar over the holidays and wanted to cry a little the entire time, feeling a battle in her own body between the parts inclined to slide back into the shape of an old self to fit and the hardened parts that can’t? I don’t really think so! But with “’tis the season” she has written a song about fucking your ex while home for Christmas anyway, and it slaps. It is always a wonderful treat when this anthropomorphized Tiffany platinum tennis bracelet sits herself down and writes up a pretty little fiction about the small and ugly things that normal human people do. This is what makes “All Too Well”—a perfect piece of autofiction about her fake boyfriend Jake Gyllenhaal—so good, though if you say that in certain company the reaction is like you’ve shot a dog. When Taylor spins me some shit like this, like about parking out by the Methodist to meet up in those strange, stretchy days at the very end of December for theoretically casual sex that you’ll think about sadly on the plane when you go, I accept it like a pomegranate seed plopped on my tongue by Hades himself and I thank her. If I wanted to know who you were hanging with while I was gone, I would have asked you!!!!!!!!

Why doesn’t Taylor just call this a bunch of b sides that didn’t fit right on folklore? That’s what it is. And why deny that? They’re largely very good b sides. I love “dorothea”. Do you love “dorothea”?  Are you still the same soul I met under the bleachers???? If Taylor really is going to release a third part of this moody forest saga come March, will the government show some real leadership for once and declare a purge so that we the people might rise up and bring this despot to the justice she so richly deserves? Why is Taylor Swift the Patricia Clarkson in Sharp Objects to our sweating and shaking Amy Adams? Why do our mouths loll open helplessly to accept her poison spoon when proffered? Mama, please... Do you think, strictly within the cinematic universe of “no body, no crime (feat. Haim)”, wherein Olive Garden regular Taylor Swift avenges canonically murdered Haim sister Este by killing her husband and (my favorite bit) implicitly framing the mistress, that after all that is squared away she and alive Haim sister Danielle bang it out? Why did the lilting piano ballad, “champagne problems”, about refusing a marriage proposal from a college boyfriend make me cry this morning on my pathetic little walk around the neighborhood? Was I thinking of the night I was 22 when I said no and no and no then yes to a drunk boy asking me with flashlight eyes to give him a nonsense forever promise, which I did because I knew in the morning we’d have forgotten, or would pretend to? Is it because I know that night so well, can still feel and smell and see, though I never mentioned it to anyone, everything about the few hours in the dark where I fought sleep because it felt nice pretending I was someone I knew I couldn’t be? Or was it just because on Twitter someone made a video setting the song to clips of Sersh & Timmy frolicking together wearing the same vest in Little Women? Is “coney island (feat. The National)” the first duet between Taylor and a man that isn’t an atrocity and an attack or is that purely my Matt Berninger derangement disorder speaking? Is “coney island (feat. The National)” degrading my nervous system like a wasting disease even as we speak? Did I close my fist around something delicate???? Did I shatter you??????? Will my own horrible hand ever come out of the Arthur meme clenched fist into which it furiously curled when I first listened to the, yes, fine, extremely lovely “coney island (feat. The National)”??????? It’s been almost a full day and typing like this isn’t very efficient.

Is “cowboy like me” my dual reward for fighting with so many annoying guys in my “The Cowboy in the American Imagination” class lo those many years ago and, plus, for always believing that country Taylor would never die for good? Did Taylor Swift watch Brokeback Mountain for the first time this year? Would Taylor Swift like me to email her a pdf of the Annie Proulx story? Does Taylor Swift want to buy me the too expensive D.S. & Durga “Cowboy Grass” perfume I’ve been coveting for years? Is all cowboy content inherently queer? Just kidding—that one isn’t a question. Now that Taylor is once more in the business of recreational yeehawing shouldn’t she, as a gesture of goodwill, make the forbidden original homophobic version of “Picture to Burn” available exclusively to those gay fans who wish to have it? (i.e. the elite gay fans with a sense of history and place.) Does she not owe us that much? Isn’t that really the only respectful thing to do? Is it not the very, very least this monster could do?

[pabotofus]

gold rush + iwaoi

so several days ago i made a post (also copied below) about gold rush and iwaoi, specifically iwaizumi’s pov, and. since then i have had Many More Thoughts....

an expanded version of the tags on that original post:

'i don't like anticipatin' my face in a red flush' you're trying to tell me this ISN'T iwaizumi's mood when he spends time with oikawa?? he absolutely loves hanging out with him and it's something they've always done. they spend more time together than not. and YET. he hates that he knows he'll get flustered because of his feelings and oikawa doing dumb half flirty things. it’s EMBARRASSING getting all blushy especially when oikawa Absolutely Cannot Know about his feelings. but he's not going to NOT spend time with oikawa. firstly because oikawa would kick up the biggest fuss and secondly because again. he genuinely enjoys being with oikawa. so. he’s just gotta live like this now ://

also oikawa is CANONICALLY like. i dont want to say playboy. but he gets a lot of attention from girls. and iwaizumi is canonically both super aware and super tired of that. which........ 'everybody wants you/everybody wonders what it would be like to love you'...... THAT’S HIM... CANONICALLY..........

'i see me padding across your wooden floors/with my eagles t-shirt hanging from the door' the DOMESTICITY of this!!!! if the two of them ended up like. staying near each other for college. you KNOW this would happen. replace 'eagles' with university/v-league merch. im RIGHT. you KNOW IT. i would have liked to see it. *shakes fist at sky* furudate WHY

'At dinner parties I call you out on your contrarian shit' ok this is just their canon relationship iwaizumi also hard relates to this except it also happens outside of dinner

'My mind turns your life into folklore/I can't dare to dream about you anymore' THIS ISN'T TIMESKIP IWAOI???? YOU DARE TRY AND LOOK ME IN THE EYES AND TELL ME THAT ISN'T A TIMESKIP IWAIZUMI MOOD? SEEING HIS BEST FRIEND DO GREAT THINGS HALFWAY ACROSS THE WORLD. KNOWING OIKAWA'S IN A DIFFERENT ORBIT NOW. KNOWING WHATEVER HOPES HE HAD FOR THE TWO OF THEM ARE LIKE. CLOSE TO IMPOSSIBLE NOW. AND YES HES SO DAMN PROUD BUT GODS FORGIVE HIM IF HE'S JUST A LITTLE HEARTBROKEN, BECAUSE 'IT COULD/WILL NEVER BE'..! i have many a feelings about timeskip iwaoi, can you tell?

he FULLY resents all of this, by the way. he hates that it fits his situation so much. partly because he cant believe his life is a stereotypical crush song. partially because god d a m n did it have to call him out so strongly??? did it really????? unFAIR!!

and now for new thoughts.

“And the coastal town/We wandered round had never/Seen a love as pure as it/And then it fades into the gray of my day-old tea/'Cause it could never be”

miyagi is a coastal province.......... uc irvine is also pretty damn close to the coast...................................................... san juan not so much but shh. GOD. had never seen a love as pure as this!!!!!!!!! whether romantic or platonic their BOND.. it is just so Strong and like. literally everyone can see it. they were introdUCED as a pair by kageyama if i’m not mistaken. i need to rewatch hq hweklsdjfl for fun if not for anythign else

AND THEN IT FADES INTO THE GRAY OF MY DAY-OLD TEA ‘CAUSE IT COULD NEVER BE ALWAYS HITS SO HARD. i cried about this earlier in conjunction with ‘i can’t dare to dream about you anymore’ but.... iwaizumi hajime (26), athletic trainer, waking up in the morning to get ready for work, making breakfast. wondering.. maybe, if things had turned out differently, would he have set out a second plate? wondering if there would finally be a use for that stupid coffeemaker oikawa bought him as a housewarming present, when the asshole knows he doesn’t even DRINK coffee??? he doesn’t know why he even keeps it anymore. might be put to better use with someone else. but then he dumps the tea leaves into the sink and leaves for work and Does Not Think About It Anymore.

in the reprise when it changes to “the coastal town we NEVER found”...... as of canon, they never did find a place where they could both settle.. together..... HMM

“I don’t like slow motion double vision in rose blush” i have this hc that iwaizumi... very much likes to have things in control. whether like, being on top of all his assignments, or emotionally. he likes being settled. he likes knowing what’s up. but nOW. with this stupid crush? love? whatever? his heart is pounding and he can’t stop looking at oikawa and the worst part is that he’s BLUSHING all the damn time?? absolutely TERRIBLE!!! terrible, i tell you!

also like. oikawa has a monopoly on his free time, his personal space, his physical belongings, and now on his goddamn FEELINGS too?????? this should be illegal.

“Eyes like sinking ships on/waters so inviting/I almost jump in” god knows that if Oikawa had asked, Iwaizumi might have actually followed him. and that’s all I have to say

based on a brief listen-through of evermore i feel like willow, dorothea, and tis the damn season might also be iwaoi songs....... i might do a dissection of those songs as well if there’s interest/if i get the vibes

[alteregog13]

act I - never grow up

hey, if you are reading this... welcome to my version of this magical universe Taylor created :) as a huge fan of her work, listening over and over to folklore and evermore inspire me to create my on version of  this story and this characters in my head. i decided to post this here because maybe it could make to somebody else out there too, so without further ado:

chapter one: is nice to have a friend

- summer of 2009 -

betty was sitting on the porch waiting for her mom and pressing both of her hands in her ears while she murmured to herself the song her daddy had taught her when she was only a baby.

she waited for the screams to stop, and felt like a eternity until her mom finally approach her and said:

"c'mon kid, let's go, mommy is taking you to work with me today okay?"

betty just nodded and held the hand the woman was offering her and they walked together, in silence a couple blocks, when they stopped betty looked up and saw a castle, they advanced and passed the big gates crossing this huge garden. at that moment betty thought she would find a beautiful princess very soon. 

she was not completely wrong, because when the door opened she saw this beautiful blond lady standing there, her blue eyes were as bright as the sky and when she smiled betty swore the room just lightened up a bit. she had to be a princess, that was the only logical explanation betty could come up with. 

she got herself distracted for a minute, trying to come up with some theory that would explain what a princess was doing so close from her loud house, and she didn't realize when the princess spoke to her:

"hello, betty! my name is este. it is really nice to meet you, i have a daughter that is the same age as you, would you like to meet her?"

betty didn't respond verbally but made sure to nod firmly so the princess -este- could understand that she liked that idea very much. the princess -este- slime in response and guide betty and her mother inside the house calling for the little princess -her daughter/betty's play friend.

"dorothy! dorothy, come here honey there's somebody i would like you to meet!" the princess said.

"i'm here mommy, sorry, me and daddy were busy playing" answered the little princess.

"playing? oh honey, didn't I tell you not to tire him?"

"is ok mommy, we were playing lying down, he didn't get tired at all!"

"you are incorrigible, honestly what am i supposed to do with you?" responded the princess, but then she laughed and bent down to continue: "come on little monkey, meet betty, your new friend"

"hello" betty said, looking up to look at the little princess closer. she realized that the little princess - dorothy - also had blue eyes and blond hair, she looked a lot like her mother but there were sutil differences that made the little princess look even more bright, if that was even possible .

"hi! i'm dorothy, so are you betty?" when she spoke, betty couldn't help but to smile at the girl in front of her. that was something about the little princess that just exhaled pure joy, and that was pretty contagious.

"yes, i am, nice to meet you!"

"nice to meet you too, wanna play?"

"yeah sound like fun..." betty said, than she looked up to her mother to see what the woman thought about the idea, and when she received a huge smile and a nod in response, she smile back and then turned to look at the little princess, who just answered:

"this way, let's have fun!" and ran into the huge castle, betty kept her smile and followed the little princess to an afternoon of pure joy. at that moment she couldn't guess, but that was how her life would be for a long time, or at least for whenever the little princess would be around.

- summer of 2017 -

betty was sitting on the porch with her earphones on, she closed her eyes and drank her coffee pretending her parents weren't fighting again because he got home drunk again. she was good at pretending that she wasn't there while these things happened, and at this point this was already her habitual routine. summer vacation had only started, and betty couldn't wait for it to come to an end. 

her dad was an alcoholic since she was too young to actually remember, most of the memories she had with the man involved a drink, a drunk or a that smell of alcohol that did not leave much room to assume why he was behaving like that. 

not the idealistic childhood, short money, alcoholic father, a strong mother that could not save the day everyday but somehow always did anyway. her mom was one of betty's favourite people in the world. she was strong, independent, smart, hardworking and always knew what to say or do to not let everything fall apart.

betty wishes to become just like her and to help her as much as she can. betty felt guilty for letting her mom carry everything alone, but she didn't know what to do, at least not when the subject was her father. betty would work all summer to doesn't depend only on her mom's money, would do the domestic chores and study as hard as she could, behave as good as she could, only to not be another weight for her mom to carry.

but when her dad spent the night out and came back with the sunrise and the smell of alcohol, it was like she was seven again. lost, scared and waiting in the porch murmuring some old song while waiting for it to pass so she could pretend nothing ever happened at all. she didn't like that impotency, but she had no clue how to overcome it, so she sat there with her earphones and waited.

betty waited until the clock struck 8:30 am, so she could go to the one person that she knew could transport her far and far away from the noise coming from her house. she got up and took the well-known route to dorothy's castle. she got there and the blond little princess was already expecting her, sitting in the garden reading a book, like every summer they spent together running away from their loud houses and messy families.

when dorothy listened to betty footsteps, she closed the book and looked up with that bright smile that lightened up anything within a 50km radius. betty smiled back taking her earphones off and saying:

"good morning, how are you today madam?"

"morning, my lady, better now that I've been graced with your divine presence"

"oh, and there will still be fools who would think that chivalry is dead, look at you, a true gentleman!"

"finally someone who appreciates my good manners"

betty laughed and asked her best friend: "so what are we doing today?" 

"oh my dear miss, i was starting to think you would never ask" dorothy answered without a doubt, standing up at once while her face broke into a huge grin, she gathered her things and continued: "we will have fun, of course!" 

so they did. they spent the whole day together, they laughed, swam in the river, talked about everything and nothing and before they could realize, time had flown and the day came to an end. betty got back to her house and prepared dinner for her mom so she couldnt have to work more when she got home from the hospital. then she got upstairs, took a shower and laid down, enjoying that feeling that spending a day with dorothy brought to her, that pure joy feeling. and for a couple minutes betty swore that life was simple and bright as her friendship with the little princess, and that everyday could be as fun as any day she spent with dorothea.

by the way, that’s how betty looks in my head :)

xxx

[yourheartbeatonthehighline]

I'm here to tell you off for calling yourself dumb on the transient reblog (even if it's a joke!). Everything I have learned about you here tells me that it is highly inaccurate. Besides that, it's almost time for the weekend - do you have any fun plans? How is your work going for your deadline?

Em, that’s so kind of you!! 💛 it was a joke even though I really didn’t know that word lol, it felt like listening to evermore or folklore all over again 😅 And yes almost weekend!!! I’m going to a recording of a television studio show this weekend, the show I did my internship with so that is exciting! Other than that I’m just gonna stay home and maybe pack my presents? As for my deadlines, one of the two projects is done and I am now just trying to finish the other one so I can send it in tomorrow morning!! I will be so happy when I send it in so I can start focussing on other deadlines because they never stop 😭 such is life, I guess! 

and you? any plans now that your last day of work of the year has passed?