#if adele had backup dancers

[avatar-anna]

latina!y/n for Grammy blurb eso bc benito is nominated!!

it always feels weird to mention other celebrities in fics, but i just know y/n would be the life of the party at the grammys. enjoy!

Harry was nervous about this year's Grammys, of course he was.

But trust his fiance to steal the show from him completely.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.

You were buzzing in a way you never had before. This year, you got to sit at a table with Harry and his team at the Grammys, but not only that, you had prime seating next to Adele, Lizzo, and Taylor Swift, and Beyonce. You promised yourself you would be on your best behavior, that you wouldn't make a fool out of yourself or Harry. There were going to be cameras everywhere, you didn't need that kind of media attention.

But the second tequila touched your lips and Bad Bunny appeared onstage, it was over.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.

"Get up and dance with me!"

It was only the first minute of the performance, but Y/n was on her feet and pulling Harry up with her. Both of them knew that Harry was on the shy side, and that he would've been more inclined to dance after a couple of drinks, so Y/n wouldn't have minded if he stayed sitting down. But to her surprise, he stood up.

She jumped up and down and squealed, and Harry could only smile at her in return as she began to dance to the opening performance. He swayed a little and clapped along, keeping his eyes on Y/n the whole time.

She was just so happy, like this music lived in her soul. Harry knew Y/n loved his music, but he also understood the pride his love was feeling as she listened to the music she grew up hearing in her native tongue. And honestly, it was quite magical to watch. And infectious too. So much so that she garnered the attention of some of the backup dancers that were moving through the crowd. They took over for Harry, who had been holding Y/n's hands and spinning her around every now and again.

Harry could hardly contain his smile as he admired Y/n. She was stunning in her red gown, even more so as she moved in perfect time with the music. This night was about him, and nerves had gripped him all day, but none of that mattered to him at that moment, not when her smile was so big it lit her from within.

From that moment on, there was hardly a moment when Y/n was sitting down. If someone was performing, she was up and dancing alongside Lizzo or Taylor, who were more than happy to match her energy.

Harry didn't mind that when people stopped by his table, they ended up having a conversation and sharing a drink with Y/n. In fact, he was happy to see his love so outgoing in public when she was usually so shy around such well-known faces.

Just a few months ago she was practically hiding behind his arm as he introduced her to Chris Pine, and now she was dancing with Doja Cat as Queen Latifah and Missy Elliott performed. Y/n had become the life of the party, yet few people knew who she was.

"She's absolutely lovely."

"She's a doll, Harry."

"I just ran into the nicest young woman, and she said she was with you!"

"Promise me you're coming to the after party."

Compliment after compliment after compliment, and Harry fielded each one proudly. So often Y/n got insecure about what the public thought of her, but she had completely enchanted every single person in the room tonight. It was better than any award Harry was up for tonight.

And then, of course, was the moment when Bad Bunny actually came over to their table at the commercial break, which of course was when Y/n went quiet. Harry shot her an amused look when she gripped his hand tightly and let him lead the conversation, especially when she was the one who spoke Spanish.

"And I saw you from the stage. I should've hired you to be one of my dancers," he said.

Y/n blushed and gripped Harry's hand even harder. "I...I'm just a huge fan. Of—Of your music, and what you've done for the Latinx community...I—"

She gushed to her favorite artist in a rush of Spanish that Harry managed to follow, that same beautiful smile on her face. Not an ounce of jealousy coursed through him, even as Bad Bunny smiled at his love in return. She was still holding his hand, and he knew what it was like to be moved by music, to get to express admiration for someone he'd been a fan of for a long time.

When Bad Bunny eventually left, Y/n loosed out a long breath. Harry leaned over and kissed her temple. "You did great, lovie."

"I think I just blacked out," she admitted, eyes wide with disbelief.

Harry grinned and kissed her again, pulling her chair closer to his. "I'll tell you all about it at the next commercial break.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.

It was the end of the night, the last award was about to be called. Once again, your hand was in Harry's, only this time he was gripping yours just as hard as you held his. His breaths were shaky as he waited for the winner to be announced. Harry was as humble as they came, and you knew he would be proud of whoever won the award, but you also knew how much pressure he put on himself. He wanted this, badly, and you wanted it for him.

Muttering prayer after prayer under your breath, you watched the stage, hardly blinking the entire time. When Trevor Noah looked down at the card, then walked over to the line of fans behind him, toward one in particular, you knew.

"Bubba, it's you. You—"

"H—Harry—Harry Styles."

The room erupted, but Harry curled in on himself, hiding his face in his hands. You were there in a heartbeat, resting a hand on his back and whispering softly in his ear. "You did it, bubba. I'm so proud of you. I love you. Now get up there. You deserve it."

Harry finally emerged, and you could tell he was close to crying. You hugged and kissed him briefly, then stepped out of the way to let Kid and Tyler embrace him. Lizzo was screaming and jumping beside you, turning her phone toward you to capture your reaction.

As Harry walked up to the stage and headed straight to the older woman who was his "biggest fan," you immediately had a thought. "Anne. Anne should be here."

You grabbed Harry's phone because it was closest to you and unlocked it, pulling up his mother's contact. The first ring barely went through before the FaceTime call connected. Harry's family was all together to celebrate, but you quickly hushed them as you turned the camera toward the stage.

The moment Harry began talking, you teared up. Harry was so sweet and so clearly awestruck that he couldn't find the words to properly express himself. But he deserved this, more than he thought he did. Harry worked so hard, created something so honest and endearing that you had no doubts that he would win (would you have minded if Beyonce or Bad Bunny won? No, but this was well deserved).

"And, uh, to my best friend, the love of my life, I love you. Thank you for making me the happiest man in the world and allowing me to create music that reflects that. This is for you."

"If you don't go meet your man backstage right now," Lizzo muttered to you, to which Anne muttered her approval from Harry's phone.

Laughing, you quickly dabbed your tears away and rushed off to where you saw Harry disappear moments ago.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Harry was shaking hands and receiving claps on the back from people backstage. He was smiling, but in a dumbstruck kind of way. He still couldn't quite believe he'd won the award for Album of the Year.

He'd stopped to talk to someone as he handed the Grammy back to a crew member (the real one with his name on it would come in a few days) when Kid tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. Kid nodded down the hall, and Harry followed his friend's gaze to where a woman in red was standing, her hands clasped together and searching. Searching for him.

Harry went over to her immediately, collapsing in her arms. Y/n held onto him fiercely, one hand cupping the back of his head while the other rubbed up and down his back. The force of everything that just happened crashed into him, and almost as if she knew, his love held him that much tighter, kissing the top of his head over and over again.

"I think I just blacked out up there," he said against her, not quite ready to face the rest of the world just yet.

Y/n tipped his head up and kissed him hard and quick. There was a look in her eye that had Harry blushing; it was the look she gave him whenever she wanted to pull him into the closest room with a lock and be alone for a while. But all she did was rub her thumb against his cheekbone affectionately. "I'll tell you all about it later."

#harry styles #harry styles x latina! reader #harry styles x latina reader #harry styles blurb #harry styles x reader #harry styles fanfic #harry styles oneshot #harry styles imagine #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles x you #harry styles fluff #harry styles writing

[garudabluffs]

At Adele's Vegas residency, intimacy is the ultimate luxury

March 20, 2023 "After scaling up to arenas and stadiums like her peers, it's in the controlled stillness of a theater stage-managed to match her songs' swirling moods that Adele seems to have found her place at last. Caesars Palace seats approximately 4,300, and even at its highest reaches there is an enclosed proximity to the space. "Weekends with Adele" makes that intimacy feel luxurious, though not with sprawling sets or scores of dancers: She might be in Vegas, but she hasn't gone Vegas. Instead, each production choice gently bends the possibilities of the place to her own brand.

+"Knowing that she has generally recorded her own backing vocals in the studio made for one of my favorite arrangements in the show, when she lets her trio of backup singers take the lead on the 21 standout "One and Only" and performs the 21 track's haunting, operatic background parts herself, under a dimmed spotlight.

Adele has always seemed disconnected from her generation of stars: old-fashioned in spirit and strategy, largely absent from social media. As New York Times critic Jon Pareles explained on an episode of Popcast, she's a holdover from the pre-streaming monoculture and a CD-era music industry, whose ballgown presentation and songbook all feel aggressively disconnected from the new frontiers of globalizing pop. She may have arrived at the height of London's 2000s soul-pop zeitgeist, but at this stage, her lyrics of nostalgia, regret and self-forgiveness feel aged. Which is precisely why I found her Vegas performance so moving: She is an artist of emotional archives, so it's thrilling to see her breathing new life, new drama, into her catalog. Even when the set list drew heavily from the archives of 19 or 21, each live arrangement felt urgent."

Holding back tears, she shared in one of her interludes that this residency was the happiest she had ever been onstage, and had affirmed that while she might not be a touring artist right now, she could indeed be a live artist.

"It hasn't always been easy to be a fan of Adele the live performer, and it might be a stretch to say that "Weekends with Adele" has made the experience accessible. There are only so many seats to be had across its 17 weekends (though there are rumors that the dates may be extended), and those with tickets also take on the not-so-hidden costs of travel and lodging. But in the context of a chaotic and punitive concert economy, she's delivered an evening worth the wait."

READ MORE https://www.npr.org/2023/03/20/1164075762/adele-vegas-residency-live-review

#Adele Las Vegas 2022-2023

[chaneajoyyy]

#let’s chat #sip tea #talk videos #videos #adele #megan thee stallion #lmaaaaaaaooooo #have y’all seen that twitter thread? #if adele had backup dancers #i’d be here for a collab with meg #this video fits too perfectly

[positivet10]

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#let’s chat #sip tea #talk videos #videos #adele #megan thee stallion #lmaaaaaaaooooo #have y’all seen that twitter thread? #if adele had backup dancers #i’d be here for a collab with meg #this video fits too perfectly

[nnightskiess]

santana lopez imagine

i kinda combined two requests together bc i thought they’d fit well!

a/n: this is for u elena. sorry you had to wait so long♡ 

also, i wanted to try and show that soft and nervous side of santana that came out at the beginning with dani, so i’m sorry if it feels out of character sometimes. (i did my best lol)

“So, what’s been going on with you? I haven’t seen you in a few months.” 

Y/N was having lunch with her friends from back home. It had been hard to keep in touch with them now that she had been living in New York for over a year. Not that she’d complain, since she gained multiple new friends and... well, a relationship. And not with just anyone— with Santana Lopez, whose singing career skyrocketed after a duet on Mercedes Jones’ album. She got a record deal a month after and her first EP was a hit. She went on tour with her first album but had vanished off the face of the earth after her very public breakup with her high school girlfriend and her backup dancer, Brittany S. Pierce. She stopped posting on social media, she wasn’t spotted by paparazzi anymore and her plans for a second album were now off the table. It was clear to everyone that the breakup had broken the girl. That was until she walked into the diner she used to work at and locked eyes with Y/N. Santana didn’t want to fall in love with anyone else and wasn’t completely over Brittany, so it wasn’t love at first sight. 

But the moment Y/N stole the show while taking the lead singing Shout by The Trammps, she knew there was something special about the girl. Was it her voice that Santana’s mind went to when she lied in bed that night? Or the twinkle in her eyes when she sang? Or perhaps the way her smile widened a tad bit more when she looked at Santana?  

Santana found herself go back to the diner on days where she’d rather sit in bed and cry. She’d forget her sorrow in moments they locked eyes but could cry again when Y/N wasn’t working that day. 

Santana had taken her notebook with her, the one she would never let anyone read— well, except for Brittany. It’s where most of her songs were born and where her most delicate and vulnerable thoughts were being kept. She’d never been too keen on sharing emotions with everyone, so writing them down was a great alternative. 

“I normally wouldn’t ask, but I’ve seen you here with that notebook now at least a couple of times... Are you writing a book?”

Santana’s head shot up. Y/N was standing next to her table, wiping her hands onto her apron.

Santana cracked a soft smile, “No—actually, I’m writing songs... a song... well, trying to, at least. My label wants-” She swallowed her sentence, she didn’t want this girl to know about any of that drama. 

Y/N seemed to ignore it.

“You sing?”

Santana nodded but furrowed her eyebrows when Y/N sat down in front of her. “Go on, then. Let me hear what you’ve got so far.”

“Oh, no no no-”

Y/N pursed her lips, “Did it happen not too long ago?” she asked after a couple of seconds of Santana trying to get out of this situation. 

She rose her eyebrows, unsure of how Y/N read the situation so well, 

“It’s actually been a while but it still hurts.” She caught herself confessing.

“Then I won’t pry. I’ll leave you to it.” Y/N slid out of the booth, “Oh, and— I happen to know that our strawberry milkshake is the best medicine to heartbreak. It’s on me.”

“Thanks...” Santana watched her leave into the kitchen and immediately rubbed her temples when the girl left her sight. No, no, no, no. Not again. But wasn’t this exactly the reason she had started visiting the diner more and more? To spike up a conversation with the girl? She cursed at herself, stood up, grabbed her stuff and left the diner. She wasn’t ready yet. She could take the short glances and attention, but that was the line. The only woman she had truly trusted was no longer with her, she couldn’t open up to anyone again. 

Through the window of the diner she could see the girl with a disappointed expression on her face the moment she realised Santana had left. But Santana didn’t turn around and kept walking. 

✫彡

“Okay, stop crushing my spirit. I wanted a nice dinner with you.”

“Then you should’ve just asked Berry over for dinner. I’m sure she’d tell you all about her awfully cheerful day.”

Kurt put his hand on Santana’s so that she would stop playing with her food. She glared at him. 

“You can glare at me all you want, but we’re not going to brush things under the carpet. Tell me what’s wrong.”

Santana dropped her cutlery and sat back, crossing her arms. “We’re not talking about Britt again. You want to help me move on? Then fucking stop bringing it up.”

“No, not that. There’s something else. I can sense it.”

“Since when do you have a Mexican third eye as well?”

“Off topic.” Kurt waved her off. “You know you can tell me anything, right?” 

Santana lowered her head and slightly looked up at him, trying to decide wether to share or not. 

“Is the label pressuring you?” He tried.

Santana sighed, “Well, yes, that too.”

Kurt waited patiently for Santana to feel comfortable enough to share the rest.

“They were okay with delaying the start of my second album but now they’re starting to breathe down my neck. They say it’s been long enough and that i’m just deadweight they have to pay but get nothing in return for, which is fair— but still. I’m only human, I’m not some super song-writing machine like Mercedes.”

“I thought you loved writing songs?”

“Yeah... when I had Brittany.” Santana looked at her lap and started playing with her hands. “Now that I don’t have her... I can’t seem to even write one sentence... and when I do, they’re all just too gloomy or depressing.”

Kurt nodded in understanding. “Well, Adele wrote one whole album about her breakup which sold like Wonka bars. Who says you can’t?”

Santana shook her head, “You don’t get it. I don’t want to sing about her anymore, even though it might help me move on. But the thing is...” she bit her lip, “I can’t. I don’t want to.”

“Then write about how you can’t write. Write about how you want to feel instead of feeling like your heart has been ripped out. Write about conquering this heartbreak, like a powerful song?”

“How?” Santana looked up, tears in her eyes. 

“By remembering who you were before.”

“But I’ve been with Britt for as long as I-”

Kurt shook his head and waved his hands around, “No, think of the Santana in high school. You were fierce, strong, not afraid to speak your mind but you also had a big heart. You didn’t want to show it often but we all knew yours was just as big, if not bigger, as ours. Remember how it felt every time you got a solo and when you stood on the stage? Write about that feeling. Write about feeling on top of the world again.”

“Thanks, Hummel.”

He smiled at her and squeezed her hands, “Anytime. Now eat before it gets cold. I didn’t spend two hours in the kitchen for nothing.”

✫彡

Santana walked out off the apartment she had rented after her breakup with Brittany and crossed the street. She needed some fresh air and a distraction from her song-writing. Spring was around the corner but it was still very chilly in the big city, so she held the collar of her coat while walking through the tiny park close to her block. She started humming the melody she’d just come up with. Something just didn’t feel right yet.

Santana saw people look at her as they passed by but hoped that the big sunglasses on her face would keep them guessing of her identity. No matter how much she loved the attention from her fans, she sometimes just wanted to be normal and not have to pose for selfies every damn day.

“Hey, you!”

She sighed and stopped to turn around since she’d look like a real ass if she didn’t. She half expected to be met with a group of teenage girls with their phones ready to snap a picture, but instead she locked eyes with the girl from the diner.

“I think you dropped this.”

The girl apparently didn’t seem to recognise her thanks to the shades, and she handed her a crumbled piece of paper.

“Oh— um, thanks.” Santana gave her a tight-lipped smile. She stared back at the girl.

“I know you.”   (weren’t you in a movie with my sister? lmao sorry i had to, let’s continue)

Oh, no. The girl couldn’t find out that Santana was the woman who had basically stood her up after their talk in that diner.

She let out a breathy chuckle, “Do you?” 

“Yeah, you look familiar.” Something in Santana hoped that the girl recognised her for being a celebrity, not for what happened a week ago.

Y/N shamelessly looked her up and down before snapping her finger.

“Milkshake girl. I recognise your voice.”

Santana smiled awkwardly. Great, now she definitely looked like a douche. 

“Sorry about that, by the way... I-”

“No need to apologise. I probably came on too strong, sorry for giving you the wrong impression. I only wanted to cheer you up.” She smiled back, “It’s a shame though, it was a great milkshake.”

Santana’s expression softened, relieved at how well the girl had taken it. 

“I don’t think I’ve seen you again after that... You used to come in every few days. Is it my fault? Gunther would kill me if I lost him a customer. Wait— Don’t answer that. It’s none of my business.”

Santana smiled and removed her glasses.

“If he ever gets mad at you, just give him a box of Yeast-I-Stat. That’ll pretty much shut him up.”

Y/N furrowed her eyebrows, “How do you-”

“I worked there for a long time when I first moved to New York.” Santana shrugged, “I was pretty desperate for any kind of job when I landed that commercial.”

“Oh my God, you’re the Yeast-I-Stat girl!? I knew I recognised you from somewhere else, too.” The girl gasped, “I like yeast in my bagel... but not in my muffin.” She mocked and laughed afterwards.

“Oh, shut up, will you?” Santana shook her head in amusement, kinda glad those days were over.

“Is that really what you know me of?”

“Yeah, what else should I know you of? Any other embarrassing first-job commercials I should know about?”

Santana was about to mention her career but stopped herself. Clean slate. She wasn’t a celebrity in her private life. Besides, she didn’t want the girl to think she was bragging.

“No... thank God.”

They looked at each other for a few seconds before smiling.

“I’m Y/N.” She held out her hand for Santana to shake.

“Santana.”

Y/N smiled at her with the most adorable smile ever. Santana didn’t miss the twinkle in her eyes. 

She blinked a few times before shaking her head, “So, yeah. I should get going.”

“Oh, yeah, of course. I have to go, too...”

“Bye...” 

Santana waved softly as the girl turned around and walked off.

Clean slate, Santana.

✫彡

“They’re doing a Gloria Estefan night at the Spotlight Diner. We should totally go.”

“Not that I’m complaining, but that sounds out of character for the diner.” Rachel shrugged.

“I guess they finally had a cultural awakening.” Santana was mindlessly scrolling through her phone. “They’re probably too white to sing her Spanish songs though, bet they’re gonna butcher it.”

“So that’s a no for reserving us a table?” Kurt turned to the two.

“No, I wanna go.” 

“Count me in, too. I love ‘Conga’.”

Santana rolled her eyes, “That’s the only song you know of her, isn’t it?”

“No...”

“Keep next Friday night free.” 

✫彡

They walked in as ‘A Bailar’ by Gloria silently played over the speakers in the background. Santana scanned the room, shamelessly trying to find the girl she was looking for. Unfortunately, she was nowhere in sight. 

Kurt waved his hand and one of the waitresses came to take their order. They talked a bit as they waited for their food. Every time Santana saw a girl in the red outfit walk by from the corner of her eyes, her head would shot up, only to be disappointed again when it wasn’t Y/N.

“Tana, stop ogling everyone. Your food’s getting jealous.” Rachel pointed at the untouched plate in front of her. 

A few minutes later, their heads shot to the door as Y/N bursted through it. She quickly fixed her hair that was messed up by the wind and quickly tied a white apron around her waist. Gunther came from behind the counter. Though they couldn’t hear what he said, it was clear she was in trouble. He kept pointing his finger at her chest before snatching the apron off her waist and sending her into the back. 

“Oh, I bet she’s on cleaning duty now. Remember when I got an hour late because I was held up at an audition?”

Kurt and Rachel started talking but Santana wasn’t paying attention. 

Santana furrowed her eyebrows until she got a call from her PR manager. She declined and a few seconds after, she got a text.

Santana’s stomach sank and she froze. New relationship? Brittany had already moved on? Yet she still spent every day moping around, overthinking everything that had happened, unable to write any song that wasn’t about the blonde. Brittany was already giving someone else all her love? How was that fair? How was she even able to do that?

“Santana?”

“You alright?”

She snapped out of it and gave them a tightlipped, fake smile. There was no time for them to question her any further as Rachel let out a startled yelp when suddenly the first notes of ‘Conga’ blasted through the diner. The lights flickered and changed colour on the beat. Santana rolled her eyes, of course they’d start with that song. 

Girls started dancing through the pathways and tried to hype everyone up. Kurt was shimmying along and Rachel was nodding her head to the beat, a big smile on her face. Santana tried to blend but she was busy biting her lip to stop herself from crying. 

The percussion band on the little stage started playing ‘Cuba Libre’. A girl danced her way onto the stage and sang the Spanish verse. She was clearly hispanic since her pronunciation was great. Two girls started dancing on the counter and another helped someone up—Y/N. 

‘Cuba Libra’ faded into the chorus of ‘Turn the Beat Around’ to which Y/N took the lead. Santana’s frown softened at seeing the girl perform, but she still couldn’t shake the thought of Brittany off.

Santana sank back into her seat and crossed her arms, wanting to go home and crawl into her bed and not leave it for the next couple of days. She hadn’t even realised that another song was already playing and that the girls were pulling people out of their seats to ‘Get on Your Feet’. 

Y/N spotted Santana in the crowd and walked over to her, but Santana wouldn’t crack a smile. Y/N kept singing to her until she’d turn around. Kurt softly shook his head at the girl, telling her that she should leave Santana alone. But what he didn’t know, was that the girls already knew each other. Y/N noticed how Santana pursed her lips, not giving in to her. 

Y/N grabbed her shoulders, bent down to her height and slowly made the girl turn.

She sang to her,

“Deep in your heart is the answer. Find it, I know it will pull you through. Get on your feet!”

She leaned over to grab Rachel and Kurt’s hands, helping them stand up. Almost everyone in the diner was up and dancing right now, except for Santana. Kurt gave her a look, telling her to suck it up. 

“I think it's true that we've all been through some nasty weather,” Y/N turned to dance with one of her co-workers. She felt Santana look at her and walked back up to her. She danced around her. “Let's understand that we're here to handle things together.”

Y/N stuck out her tongue at Santana’s stoic expression, trying to break her. And it worked, Santana let out a soft chuckle and shook her head in amusement. Both Y/N and Kurt held out a hand for her to take. She rolled her eyes and stood up. The four of them danced together for a few seconds until Y/N walked back to the other girls. They ended the song on the stage, where everyone left but Y/N. They went back to eating their dinner as the next few songs would be slow and easy on the ears. 

Y/N sat down on the stool next to the guitarist. He started playing the soft notes of ‘Wrapped’. Kurt and Rachel went back to eating their food but Santana was too mesmerised by the girl to engage in their conversation. The soft light that was shining down on her made her look like she was the only one in the room. And judging by the look on the girl’s face while she sang, she felt like she was the only one in the room too. She hadn’t once opened her eyes the first minute, she was just so indulged in the song. 

A small smile made its way onto Santana’s face at the sight. She knew how good it felt to be so into a song that you could just forget the world around you— to find your corner of the sky. It was very obvious that Y/N felt at ease, even while performing in front of people. It was rare to see people be so clearly in love with what they were doing. 

Santana grabbed her phone, opened Instagram and decided to film this moment. Y/N’s face wasn’t recognisable from the distance where Santana was filming from so she decided to just put it into her story. Everyone deserved to see this. 

Was this positive and uplifting enough?

✫彡

‘What we know of Santana and Brittany’s breakup...’

‘Read what Brittany S Pierce has to say about her ex’

‘Santana’s social media silence over?’

‘Santana Lopez still in love or in love again?’

And many more headlines had been posted after that Friday. Santana got a lot of followers after her first post in over a year. She had also gotten a lot of hate, which was something she hadn’t missed. Brittany hadn’t said one bad word about their relationship or about Santana but for some reason she still received backlash. Brittany spoke so highly about Santana and all the questions were answered with respect. But Santana wasn’t surprised about that at all, that was just how Brittany was.

There were still people—mainly Brittany fans—who blamed Santana and made all kinds of crazy assumptions about what had happened. 

“Just delete the app. You don’t need that kind of toxic energy around you.”

Y/N was filling the ketchup bottles while she sat in front of Santana. 

How had this happened, you ask? One of Y/N’s coworkers had recognised her on Santana’s story and pointed it out to her. When Santana visited the diner again, Y/N had jokingly apologised about not knowing who she was before, to which Santana had replied,

“You knew who I was. You knew the real me. Not the celebrity or crazy hot girl from the Yeast-I-Stat commercials.”

After that, Santana made sure to come round when Y/N was done or only doing little chores. 

Y/N loved that she got a new friend and Santana was glad that she finally had someone who she could start over with. Someone who didn’t know her from back in high school and someone who didn’t become friends with her solely for the fact that she was famous.

“I can’t. They want me to post at least once a week.” Santana groaned, “I don’t even know what to post. All I do is sleep, try to write and go here.”

They worked in silence for a few minutes until Y/N opened her mouth again.

“Why are tomatoes the slowest vegetables?”

Santana furrowed her eyebrows, giving her a look. 

“No guesses? Well, they can’t ketchup.”

Santana snorted and shook her head. “Wow, okay. I’m going to pretend you didn’t just make an awful joke.”

“Yeah, you go do that while I bring these to the back.”

Santana watched her leave and sighed. The past week had been hell for Santana. She yearned for every little bit of attention from Y/N and her insides turned to mush whenever the girl smiled at her. But something held her back. She didn’t want to fall in love again. Not yet, not when she still held her high school sweetheart in her heart. But it was so hard to not stare at Y/N or freak out whenever she called her on the phone. 

“Ready?”

Santana laughed at the huge guitar in Y/N’s hands. She seemed so small now. 

“What’s that for?”

“You said you didn’t know what to post. You should post a little acoustic cover of that song I helped you finish last week?”

Santana looked at her, contemplating if she should agree or not. 

“Can you even play?”

Y/N smiled sheepishly, “Only that song. I practiced the chords all week. But hey, if I mess up— just know that i’m willing to publicly embarrass myself just to help you out.”

Santana smiled at her in adoration. “Fine. Okay.”

They walked to the vacant stage and put Santana’s phone on the sheet music standard.

“Oh-I... I’ll scoot out of the frame if me being in it makes you uncomfortable.”

“Why would it make me uncomfortable?”

Y/N laughed, “People might assume we’re together after all the assumptions about you in the magazines. That would be weird.”

Santana’s expression faltered. “O-Oh...yeah.. it would...” She faked a smile.

Y/N started strumming the guitar.

(radio silence by naya rivera)

Santana closed her eyes as she started singing. It was clear to everyone that this song was about Brittany and she wasn’t ready yet to let them hear the whole song. It felt too personal to give it away just like that. Which is why they decided to do just a snippet. 

She opened her eyes and looked at Y/N when one chord sounded terrible. You could hear Y/N giggle from behind the phone. Santana smiled wide and had a hard time singing without laughing. Y/N stuck out her tongue as she seemed focused on getting the next one right. Santana unintentionally looked at her longingly the last few notes but broke out of it when Y/N stopped playing. 

✫彡

Should she be thanking the tabloids? No, never. However, she couldn’t deny that they had been the reason why Y/N had even brought it up. 

“Do you like me?” 

Santana widened her eyes.

“And I don’t mean as friends. I mean like-like. Do you like-like me?”

“I-uh, I-” Santana stammered. 

“It would be really embarrassing if you didn’t, to be honest.”

Santana gave her a wary but panicked look.

“Because I do... like-like you, I mean.”

“Wow, wait— what?”

She opened and closed her mouth until she saw the honesty on Y/N’s face who let her statement linger in the air, hoping that Santana would say something. But the silence only heightened her nerves

“Santana-”

“I can’t... I can’t do this, I’m sorry.”

She quickly grabbed her stuff and left the diner, just like she had done the first time. 

She rushed home, biting her lip to prevent the tears in her eyes from falling. The second she unlocked her front door, she let them go. Santana tried to control her sobs as she sat on the couch, holding her head in her hands. 

Her safety net whenever she felt lost or emotional— Brittany — was gone, what was she supposed to do now? She let out another sob as she missed Britt’s arms holding her close. 

She reached for her phone without a second thought and dialled the woman’s number. Brittany picked up after a few seconds, much to Santana’s surprise.

“Hey, um, Santana. What’s up?”

Brittany decided to break the ice, but all formalities were thrown out the window when she heard the Latina let out another sob.

“Santana, are you okay?! What’s happened? Where are you?”

Was she okay? No. But what was she supposed to tell Brittany? That it was partly because of her?

“Please, say something, Tana. I’m worried.”

Santana held the bridge of her nose and let out a big, shaky sigh.

“Please forget that I called, this was a mistake. I’m sorry for bothering you.”

She hung up. But the phone rang after a few seconds. Santana tossed it next to her on the couch and rubbed her forehead. How could she have been so stupid?

It rang again. And again, and then another three times. Santana stared at the screen long and hard before picking it up. 

“Don’t shut me out, please. You know I still care about you when something’s wrong.”

Santana let out a huff and Brittany knew exactly what that meant.

“Santana, listen— I am so, so sorry for what happened. I too thought that we would be the happiest and sappiest couple forever but... some things just... happen. And I still completely understand how hard it was for you to stay friends with me without being with me and I’m so terribly sorry for that they brought you up in that interview— but I meant everything I said, Santana. You were the best thing that happened to me back then. And to me you still are my best and most incredible friend but... that’s just it.”

A long pause.

“And I kind of really miss hanging out with you and so does Lord Tubbington so if you’re comfortable with the idea, would you want to get together sometime soon? Wait— not get together-together, just... argh, you know what I mean.”

“How did you do it?” Santana broke her silence. “What changed in your mind for you to get the closure you needed? Because I never fucking got it.”

Brittany kept quiet, knowing there was more to follow.

“I have spent a whole year feeling like absolute shit, but I knew... that there was no way that we’d ever get together again. But the closure? Nope.” She furrowed her eyebrows in frustration. “And lately there’s been this incredible girl in my life and guess what? You two are fighting for first place in my head and I can’t help but want to push her out because I’m not ready to let her stay there until you are completely out of my thoughts.”

She heard Brittany let out a breath.

“Sant-”

“Oh, no, no, no. I don’t need a pity-party. I don’t-”

“Santana Lopez, listen to me.” Brittany raised her voice. “If your plan is to sabotage your own happiness, then congratulations— you’re well on your way. It’s no wonder that you’re having a hard time moving on. I mean, one— I’m a catch but two, we were together since high school, that’s a long time. We were each other’s first loves and truth be told, you never really forget those. You’ll compare every following relationship to that one, even if it was full of flaws. Truth is, you’ll never be able to move on or get the closure until you open yourself up to idea of loving someone else again. And I know how you work— you don’t ever want to open up to someone again but... if you give this girl a chance, who knows? She might be the one to change your mind. And I’ll cross my fingers she will. I hope she’ll kick me off first place like a rugby player.” Brittany snorted at her own joke. 

“Because you deserve a special someone too, Santana. And if you still don’t have the closure you need... I loved you, I cared for you, and in a way I still do. But we won’t ever get together again. That ship has sailed. I want you to be happy and I want to see you flourish in every aspect of life, just... without me being your special someone. I’d still very much like to be by your side, though, but as a friend.”

Santana let the words sink in until she suddenly widened her eyes. 

“I am such a fucking idiot.”

“Um... are we having the same phone call? Because I’m lost...”

“She told me she liked me and I ran out.”

“Was that metaphorically speaking or did you literally run out?”

“Like a chicken, Brittany.”

“Santana!? Be Chicken Little and run back!” Brittany exclaimed, “But watch out for the traffic, please, because that would be a tragic end to the story....and it would be animal abuse...”

Santana smiled softly, missing this side of Brittany.

“Okay, okay!” She laughed. 

“Keep me posted?”

Santana hummed, “Thank you, Britt.”

“Of course. You’re still my best friend, even if we haven’t seen each other in over a year. Go get the girl.”

✫彡

Santana hesitantly walked back into the diner. It wasn’t rush hour so there were only a few people having a drink.

“See you guys tomorrow!”

Y/N walked out of the backroom and froze in her spot when she saw Santana looking at her. A tightlipped, awkward smile appeared on her face and she tried to walk passed her but Santana grabbed her hand. 

“Wait, I-...I need to tell you something.”

Santana looked the girl in her eyes, seeing the anticipation and worry in them. But then she saw something else, she saw the same twinkle in her eyes when Y/N sang so beautifully that night. Only this time they were twinkling because she was looking at Santana.

She grabbed the girl’s cheek and planted a chaste kiss on Y/N’s lips. Y/N widened her eyes at first but kissed back. They parted when a bell coming from the kitchen interrupted them.

“So much for needing to tell me something...” Y/N chuckled heartily, “But I guess I got what you were trying to say.”

“You guess?” Santana shot back.

“Yeah... I’m still slightly confused...”

“How’s this?” Santana grabbed her by the waist and kissed her again. Y/N slowly tapped the girl on her chest when things started to get heated.

“Let’s keep it PG, we’ve got an audience.” 

Santana bit her lip in embarrassment when she saw that all eyes were on them now.

“But your message was loud and clear this time.” Y/N whispered in her ear and gave her one of the most adorable smiles.

“Oh...” Santana let out a breathy chuckle and looked at the ground. Being nervous was so out of character for her, but whenever it came to her and relationships she was always a simp for her significant other.

“But... can we take it slow? Because-”

Y/N nodded immediately. “I know, you don’t have to tell me. We’ll take it slow.”

✫彡

Y/N sat on Santana’s bed, reading a book while the Latina was trying to write a new song for her album. She heard yet another paper being ripped apart, followed by a loud groan. 

“Baby, you okay?”

Y/N bent over the couch and hugged Santana’s neck from behind, planting a kiss on her temple. Santana sighed and sat back, feeling more relaxed the second Y/N’s arms wrapped around her.

“It’s not working. I can’t seem to get my exact feelings onto paper and what I have now doesn’t even do it a little bit of justice.”

“The break-up song? Let me see-” Y/N went to reach for the notebook but Santana immediately turned around and smiled.

“You know what? I’m starving, and I want to take you out.”

“Oh— are you sure? We just had-”

“I’m sure. I need a break anyway.”

“Okay...well, let me get a jacket.”

Santana watched Y/N walk into the other room before quickly hiding the notebook behind the couch pillows again. She’d feel so embarrassed if Y/N ever read any of her love songs to her. Truth be told, ever since their first kiss in the diner, Santana had found her new muse. She had written a lot of songs since then but not one seemed to be good enough or do the girl justice. Besides, if Y/N read the lyrics to this song... Well, it would make or break their relationship and Santana wasn’t going to lose someone again.

“Let’s go.”

✫彡

“But I can tell my friends, right?”

“Baby, of course you can.”

“Sweet! I’m going to see them again next week. Can’t wait to see the look on their faces when they see you.”

“Oh, I’m... not sure if going with you is such a good idea.”

“I forgot— we’re taking things slow.” Y/N nodded to herself, “Sorry, I get too excited sometimes.”

Santana caressed the girl’s head and planted a kiss on it, “It’s okay. Soon.”

✫彡

“So, what’s been going on with you? I haven’t seen you in a few months.”

Y/N took a sip of her drink, “Well, i’m still working at the diner, that hasn’t changed. And-”

“You’re in love.”

“How-”

“I can sense it. Also, you've posted a lot of cheesy and soft quotes on your twitter so that was a dead give-away.”

“Well, yes. I’m dating someone.”

“Boy? Girl?”

“Girl, duh.” Y/N rolled her eyes.

“Oh my God, Y/N!” Her friend squealed, “Who is it? Show me a picture, let me approve.”

“It’s Santana Lopez.”

The two friends fell quiet.

“The famous singer?” One of them asked.

“Hun, she’s hardly famous anymore. Are we sure she still even exists?”

“Hey!” Y/N pouted. “But I’m telling you the truth. It’s Santana.”

“Real funny, she doesn’t even live in New York.”

“Uh, yeah, she does.”

“No, she doesn’t. TMZ said she moved back to Ohio after the break-up.”

Y/N shook her head, “They also said she started dating a 80 year-old billionaire and bought a pet alpaca, which I think is ridiculous. You’re too gullible.”

Her friend shrugged, “Perhaps, yeah. But hey, it’s okay if you don’t want to tell us who it really is yet.”

Y/N rolled her eyes when they switched the topic.

✫彡

“How did it go, babe? Were you happy to see them again?”

“You’re not going to believe me but they thought I was joking.”

“Joking about what?”

Y/N sat down next to Santana on the couch, immediately cuddling up to her. “Well, they didn’t believe I was dating you.”

“Why would they not believe you?”

“I think you forgot that you’re kinda famous.”

She rolled her eyes, “I’m hardly famous.”

Y/N mocked her, earning a playful punch in the shoulder from Santana but her smile soon disappeared.

“Um...”

“No bad news, please!” Y/N immediately noticed the change in Santana.

“No, no, don’t worry. I mean, I don’t think it’s bad news— it’s just... a lot...to deal with right now.”

“Just rip the bandaid off.”

Santana grabbed her phone and showed Y/N the post.

“Oh...” Y/N swiped and saw that she had been photographed as well.

“I know we said we would take things slow so I’m so sorry that the media is trying to fuck that up again.” Santana examined Y/N, who was difficult to read. “This is exactly what ruined everything last time. Fuck! Here I thought it would be different this time around. I should’ve never-”

“Santana, sshh.” Y/N grabbed her hand, trying to calm her down. “Stop thinking.” 

Santana looked up like a sad puppy.

“Nothing is getting ruined again. Not on my watch.” She put the phone on the coffee table, “Let’s just ignore that. Let them start rumours, let them guess, let them make up drama but the only two people who really know the truth are you and I. It’s our life, not theirs. So no matter what they will say, I will love you unconditionally for as long as you want me to... and I will never feel differently... about you.” 

Santana's head shot up, looking puzzled and panicked at the same time.

“W-Where did you get that from?”

Y/N smiled at Santana and caressed her cheek, “You need to find better hiding places, babe.”

Y/N suddenly looked worried, “Unless that song wasn’t about me... then... well, this is awkward. Just-”

“I love you.” Santana cut her off, tears in her eyes. She felt the urge to pinch herself but decided it would look silly. Was she really in love again after all that she’d been through? 

“I love you too, unconditionally. And... you better make that song your first single.”

✫彡

“Guys, I’m literally in the pictures with her?!”

“Yah, but you look more like a fan of her than her girlfriend, look at you... swooning.”

“I mean, yes, I adore everything she does...”

Y/N’s friend leaned over and smiled, “So you’re really dating the Santana Lopez?”

“I mean, I sure hope she does...” Santana walked up to their table in the little cafe, startling Y/N’s friends while the girl just looked at them with a smirk on her face. Finally.

Santana sat down next to her and gave her girlfriend a kiss before turning back to the two friends sitting in front of them.

“Is that enough proof or do you need me to bend her o-”

“That’s enough!” Y/N gave Santana a playful slap across the head. 

“Oh my God, no!” Y/N’s friend exclaimed, “Speak for yourself! Imagine the money I’d make with a tape of that! I’d finally be the rich bitch I’ve always been deep down.” 

Y/n rolled her eyes at him and it earned a laugh from Santana, “I like you.” 

“Why, muchas gracias.”

“Wow, thanks for completely taking my spotlight. Hi, i’m her best friend, he’s just our accessory.”

“Excuse me?!”

Y/N shook her head at the two of them. 

“Are you regretting you came along?” Y/N turned to her girlfriend.

“We wouldn’t judge you if you said yes, to be honest.” Her friend laughed. 

Santana smiled at them, “No, it’s been a while since I met new people and you two seem fun and well, you mean a lot to this one over here so I’m happy to be here.”

Y/N snuggled up to Santana and put her head on her shoulder.

“Alright, go and make me jealous. It’s fine.”

“Shut up! Now tell us how you two met, please!”

✫彡

Santana couldn’t stop playing with her fingers and the bracelets on her wrist as the hours passed. Only a few more minutes now until her new song ‘My Unconditional Love’ would go online, for the world to hear. There had been a lot of speculations about the two women the past few months, but they had tried to be more discreet when they were outside. Much to the dismay of the paparazzi and tabloids. This song would basically be a dead give away to their relationship but she didn’t care. This song already meant so much to her and Santana hoped she could write plenty more songs like these about Y/N.

“Are you having second thoughts?”

Y/N’s voice interrupted her thinking.

“Wh- No, never! It’s probably my favourite song I ever wrote... it’s just... nerve-wracking, is all.”

“C’mere.”

Santana walked into Y/N’s open arms and let out a big sigh at the feeling of her arms around her. 

“You’ve come a long way and I am so proud of you... but most of all, I’m happy to be on this ride with you. I know this song will point a lot of fingers to us dating but hey, like we said before— no one needs to know but us and our friends and families. Capiche?”

Santana nodded and grabbed the girl’s cheeks, “I’m so happy with you.”

They both beamed from ear to ear until the bell rang. Santana opened the door. 

“I’m so excited!” Kurt squealed and dragged Rachel along inside.

“It’s time, guys!” Y/N sang as she appeared from the kitchen, trying to balance a tray with four champagne glasses on it. 

“Hook your phone up to the speakers!” Rachel grabbed a glass. Santana’s new song started playing which earned raised eyebrows from the three others.

“This isn’t the same song you sent me?!” Kurt exclaimed.

“No, it is. It’s just not the slow version. I’m keeping that version for us.” Santana grabbed Y/N’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “It felt too special to share.”

“Well, damn, I’m digging this one, too!”

They started dancing together to the upbeat song. Y/N kept staring at Santana, who seemed too excited and happy to notice.

Her unconditional love.

#santana lopez #santana lopez imagine #santana lopez imagines #santana lopez x reader #santana lopez one shot #santana / you #santana/you #glee #glee imagine #glee imagines #glee one shot #glee x reader #naya rivera imagine #naya rivera imagines #naya river x reader #brittana imagines

[bisluthq]

If someone claims to be an advocate or ally for a cause or community yet people have to constantly be wondering what they’re actually doing to the point of actually having to research then something isn’t adding up. Take Taylor’s feminism for example. In 2014 Taylor made it a big deal to portray herself as a feminist with the girl group and stuff she said in interviews yet it took her until this year to give a woman a full verse on any of her songs while men have constantly been featured in her music, all while she almost exclusively surrounds herself with men and white cishet ones in her creative process. I’m not talking about backup dancers and mv extras. That has gotten better this year with Blake now being director of IBYTAM but the thing is it took her until this year 2021 and she’s been claiming to be a feminist for years. Then with being an lgbtq ally. She makes this huge deal about positioning herself as an ally then puts out a music video and makes herself the center of those pride celebrations. She made so much of the focus on her that randos were wondering if she was signaling that she’s queer. If Taylor is straight she overstepped and rather than being an ally to a marginilized community profited off of them which I think is worse than doing nothing at all. Allyship is consistency, it’s continuously educating yourself and trying to do better and taking you cues from the people you’re trying to advocate for. If you make a misstep and say ok I’m done advocating instead of figuring out where you went wrong and trying to do better then how much did you actually even care to begin with. While I do think Taylor has good intentions I think what would help is her educating herself beyond the surface level, superficial stuff and surrounding herself with people who can help her on that journey and not hinder her. Like look at who she surrounds herself with Lena , an example of peak white feminism and who is problematic and then Todrick Hall, who helped her with YNTCD and as a gay man didn’t have the good sense to tell her not to don a bi flag wig and center the whole mv around herself .That tells me all I need to know about the value of his input. It doesn’t help that he’s also problematic. Your friends and your mentors help inform your ideals and when you look at whose supposedly Taylor’s close friends, rich white cishet men and problematic people, well of course people will wonder about her ideals. No one wants to believe that the artist they love and maybe idolize doesn’t care about the things that affect them. That’s why people are like is she a feminist, does she support BLM, does she support the lgbtq community? Taylor said it best herself the fact that Todrick had to wonder if she’d be okay if she had a gay son meant she was not being clear enough or vocal enough about where she stood on the issue. Imagine Todrick Hall of all people questioning your values, that’s rock bottom right there. Apply that same logic to everything else. People just want to know where she stands, no one wants to be guessing. I hate the excuse that Taylor doesn’t do this or that because of criticism because it says a lot about a person if they continue to advocate even if they misstep and continue even when criticized because if you truly care about an issue you would want to get better and advocate in a way that actually helps and not that just helps your image and bank account.

These are fair points and I just want to add Todrick didn’t help her with the MV really he just got his friends to be in it. A straight white man directed it with Taylor. Like ya. That’s what happened there. She pushed the Todrick involvement but that was PURE pinkwashing lmao he did fuck all he’s an executive producer who made phone calls to friends and had his name slapped on it to avoid her being dragged more than she was.

But also like idk I think her fans and antis are often unfair on her - to use an example, I know where Adele stands on LGBTQ issues. She dedicated a show to the victims of the Orlando shooting. I know she’s a feminist and talks about gender and race and sexuality in the same breath. I know she votes Labour. But like she’s not an activist or some woke queen yk she’s just an artist with decent values. She’s straight up bitched re taxes which like is fair because she’s super rich lol but a bad lewk. The problem with Taylor is she gets too much flak and then goes far too far.

#nat talks tay’s politics

[purple-phantoms]

Hi lovely!

Can you please do a Nick imagine where the reader is a really shy piano player with anxiety? Like maybe she has to perform in front of the class and after she’s done she runs out crying?

Thanks bb!

The Pianist

Nick x Female!Reader

Thank you so much for requesting this! I totally love this idea and I think it’s so cute. I’ve experienced that kind of anxiety before when singing in front of people I’ve just met and it just sucks. I tried including a bit of that in this, so I hope it worked out well! Again, I’m writing this on the mobile version of tumblr so this will not be properly edited for a little bit. Enjoy!

Masterlist

Being in the music program was hard. You’d think that all you have to do is to just create music. That part is just fine for her. But then you have to perform it in front of your class or sometimes in front of an audience. Performing in front of one or two people that I know isn’t bad, but when when it’s a big group of people, it just gets bad.

She was an outcast in school and didn’t mind. She had a few friends here and there, but nothing to big. Never anything to draw attention to herself. She never had the courage to talk to people like Julie Molina or Carrie Wilson. They were always the ones to volunteer to go first on days where they had to present their work to the class. Julie was always nice to her. She sometimes tried to bring y/n out of her shell. She’d invite her to eat lunch with her and her best friend, Flynn, sometimes but she always declined the offer. Carrie was like Chris Hargensen (from the movie Carrie)... except she wasn’t that aggressive. Carrie loved making fun of her in class by saying things like, “are you going to talk today, y/n?” she just wished you were more sociable like Julie. In theory, it would be so amazing to be a part of Dirty Candy. Even if you hated Carrie, there was no denying that their music slaps. But she would never be able to perform with all those people staring at her, so instead she just opted for teaching herself their choreography in the safe space of her bedroom. That way she wouldn’t have to experience the stares of her peers.

Today was Wednesday, a.k.a., the day her parents were always a little bit late for picking her up. she preferred staying away from the crowds of students who were also waiting on their parents. Dirty Candy always practiced right after school on Wednesday’s in the dance studio. Their practices were closed to everyone but Nick, the guy Carrie said was off-limits to anyone but her. They weren’t dating, but everyone expected them to be like if Sharpay and Troy dated. Nick was the cool guy who everybody liked. He was the star of the lacrosse team and an amazing guitarist. Carrie, on the other hand, was the girl most people feared. You’d never see her wearing an outfit in a dark color or without her backup dancers. Anyway, back to business. The door to the dance studio was always locked, but there was a tiny glass frame in it where you could easily use your phone to record their routine. They were dancing to their new song, Wow. It was her favorite so far. Well, she says that about all their songs.

They finished and paused for a couple seconds to catch their breath. She ended the video and started walking away, only to bump into another person, making her drop her phone. She leaned down right away to avoid any sort of eye contact or conversation with that person, but they just had to speak, “sorry, y/n.” It was Nick.

She looked up at him in shock. “You-you know my name?” Barely anybody acknowledged her existence in the school.

“Of course I know you,” he chuckled. “You’re the girl in class with the killer vocal chords.” His smile was contagious. Wow, she now understood what Carrie saw in him.

“Um, thanks, Nick,” she muttered. Then her phone went off, her mom was finally in the parking lot. “I gotta go-“

“Hey, what song are you doing tomorrow?” Nick asked. Did he not hear her say that she had to go?

“Uh probably just something by Adele,” you smiled. “Sorry, my mom’s here to pick me up.” This was probably the fastest she’s ever speed-walked away from someone before. Talking to people is weird. If it had been any other guy, she wouldn’t have had to get into a conversation. Nick is great and sweet and cute and all of this is besides the point. Nick is a nice guy but she just wanted to pick up her phone and leave.

-

When watching someone play the piano and sing at the same time, it looks so effortless. Nobody takes into account what they’re really doing. Nobody considers how long they must have trained to learn all the right chords and memorize the ones that go with their song. Nobody considers how long it must have taken them to perfect their song, whether it be alone or with the help of anothe person. Nobody considers what goes on inside the person’s head. Nobody considers what they think of themselves as they play. Nobody notices that maybe that person wants to be invisible.

The next day was the day of class performances. Per usual, the teacher allowed volunteers to go first. Julie sang first, then Carrie, then Flynn and so on and so forth. It got to the point where everybody who wanted to perform had already performed, so her teacher started getting frustrated. “Guys, it’s just two minutes of spotlight.” Silence. “Y/n, how about yo give it a go?”

Her head shot up so quickly at that and just froze. The teacher knew about her situation and has let her perform just for her during lunch. It just made things easier. “Ms. Jacobs, can I just perform during lunch,” she asked timidly. Everybody was staring at her, expecting her to go so that the teacher wouldn’t call on someone else.

But Ms. Jacobs shook her head. “Sorry, y/n. You’ve got to get over that stagefright somehow.” But did it have to be now!? There was no way she could argue with her without causing a scene. Come on, y/n, don’t cry.

Within what felt like a lifetime, she stood up from the chair and lifted her feet, one by one, to walk over to the shiny black piano. It was brand-new, just bought buy the school that summer. It was sleek and clean, practically begging to be used to make music. The walk to the piano’s bench felt exhausting and slow. It was silent, you could easily hear a needle hit the ground as her classmates waited on her to play. But oh god, what note does she even start with? What’s the first line of the song?

“Ms. L/n,” her teacher called. “Any day now.” Y/n looked up-nope, big mistake. Why is everyone watching her so intently? Ba. Did she just press a note? She looked at Ms. Jacobs, who gave an encouraging smile in return. Okay, y/n. Just pretend nobody’s watching you. Pretend you’re just singing in your room.

Her fingers started playing as if it was the only thing they knew to do. They couldn’t stop. She couldn’t stop thinking.. Just get it done, y/n.

When will I see you again?

You left with no goodbye, not a single word was said.

No final kiss to seal anything.

I had no idea of the state we were in.

I know I have a fickle heart and a bitterness

And a wandering eye and heaviness in my head,

But don’t you remember?

Don’t you remember the reason you left me before?

Baby, please remember me once more.

Y/n closed her eyes and sighed as she finished. That wasn’t that bad.. Then the applause came and her perfect setting of playing the piano at home where nobody could hear her was gone and was filled with people. People who knew her were staring at her and applauding her. Performing in front of a random audience is one thing, because you have no idea who’s in the audience. You’ll never know (until afterwards at least) if your best friend happened to be in the crowd, or if one of the Kardashians were there. Plus, you’ll never have to worry about someone saying things about you when you’re right next to them because they don’t know you and you don’t know them. When you’re performing in front of your class, there are no rules. Anybody can think anything they want about your performance and nitpick it in their heads or out loud and that’s just how they’ll look at you. She was brought out of her thoughts by Ms. Jacobs talking to the class again, “see folks, this is what I’m talking about!” She looked like she had just met the queen of England. There’s no way she’s smiling like that after her performance. Was she really that good? This is too much.

Y/n managed to slip away from the classroom unnoticed as Ms. Jacobs kept talking. She couldn’t breathe. Oh god, why couldn’t Ms. Jacobs just let me perform at lunch? That was so bad. Does google offer tips to give yourself amnesia? Because she just wanted to forget about all of that mess- “Y/n?” Oh no, it’s Nick again. “What are you doing out here,” he asked.

“I just needed to catch my breath,” she muttered. Why is a cute guy paying attention to me like this?

“Wait, why are you crying, you were amazing,” he said. What? She wasn’t even crying. Oh, there we go... Why am I crying!?!

“I don’t know,” I sobbed. “I hate it when people are watching me.” She didn’t understand why the majority of her classmates could perform efortlessly and not even consider that they did badly later on. Why couldn’t she feel that way?

Nick put a soft hand on her shoulder. “But if nobody watched you, nobody would know how great you are,” he proclaimed. Woah, headrush. He thinks I’m great now? She nodded and smiled. Maybe he was right. “What if we work together next time,” He offered.

“But we don’t even know if the next project will be a group one,” she chuckled. People never wanted to work with her. They always thought that she’d never do the work because she couldn’t even bother to speak, or she’d just take over the entire project.

“Let me at least get your number,” he replied. He seemed genuine, there was going to be no foulplay in this, so she agreed to that and to him walking her home from school. And on the next project, they got to work together and y/n got through it wih his help. They did it together.

Taglist:

Add yourself to my taglist!

@flashoe @carnationcreation

#nick x reader #nick nolastname #nick jatp x reader #julie and the phantoms #julie molina #carrie wilson #jatp fanfic #purple-phantoms

[brittanafics]

Life With The Lopez-Pierce’s (Chapters 1 and 2)

Chapter 1: 

Life for Santana and Brittany couldn’t have been more blissful and joyous ever since their wedding day. Once they returned from their honeymoon, they decided to get their shit together and commit to college … without dropping out this time.

Brittany applied to NYADA as a dance major. Brittany moved Carmen Tibideaux with her contemporary dance number to the Pretenders’ “I’ll Stand By You”. She was there with Mercedes when Finn told her about how his mom walked in on him singing that song to the hologram of the fetus he thought was his baby, and she wanted to do something in his honor, even if it was just an audition that only one person was going to be there for. Almost immediately after graduation, she ended up being a backup dancer for Sony Entertainment and all their artists. She even was Mercedes’ backup dancer for her first headline tour.

Santana also enrolled in NYADA. She didn’t know why she was so hesitant to apply there when Kurt and Rachel were both students there, but deep down she knew that she didn’t think she was talented enough at the time and didn’t want to humiliate herself with a rejection letter. Surprisingly though, Rachel put a good word in with Carmen Tibideaux for her and Brittany, which she wasn’t going to lie, helped a lot. Even with the good word Rachel put in though, at the end of the day they got in because of their talent. Santana wouldn’t have gotten in without her moving cover of Adele’s “Set Fire To The Rain”. Kurt told her all about how she needs to sing something emotional and not go overboard with props, because he definitely didn’t want her to repeat his mistake. After graduation, Santana went back to Broadway, and even played Fanny Brice in “Funny Girl”. Permanently this time.

Once they got employed after graduation, Brittany and Santana both agreed that they wanted to start a family. They decided to go with adoption because one, Brittany is a dancer and didn’t want to jeopardize her career with a pregnancy that would seriously affect her body forever, and two, Santana knew that she wouldn’t be able to handle a pregnancy. All those hormones … did not sound appealing to her. Plus, Brittany also felt bad about all the kids in the foster care system who needed parents. These kids needed parents and a home, and Brittany and Santana needed kids to give a home to. So, adoption it is. The adoption process was incredibly frustrating and long to say the least, but after a couple of months they adopted their three-month-old baby, Jacob Lopez-Pierce.

Fifteen years later, Jacob Lopez-Pierce is the captain of the chess club at the public high school right next to their house. Jacob unfortunately isn’t as popular as his moms were in high school. It’s bad enough that everyone in school knows who his moms are, and that he even has two moms in the first place but being the captain of the chess club is even worse than being in the glee club, and the kids in New York still like to throw slushies too. He doesn’t mention any of this to his moms though. He doesn’t figure that his moms would take it well that they were the most popular girls in high school and he’s at the bottom of the high school food chain. It makes him feel like a disappointment, like he’s the complete opposite of what his moms expected him to be. The simple solution would be to quit chess club, but he loves it too much to do that. If there’s one thing his moms taught him, it’s that he shouldn’t stop doing what he loves just because it’s considered “lame”. His moms told him all about glee club.

Chess was his glee club. He first fell in love with it when Brittany taught him how to play a couple of years ago. It was one of the few things she enjoyed doing during her short-lived time at MIT. It was one of the first things that him and his mom connected over. He couldn’t hit a note to save his life, and he was an even worse dancer than Finn. He wasn’t artistic in anyway. He wasn’t as athletic as his cheerleading moms were either. He tried out for the football team and didn’t get in … and the lacrosse team, ice hockey, rugby, etc. He even tried out for the cheerleading team too. The one thing he was good at though was chess. And math. Those things came easy to him.

However, his mom found out about this secret when he came come one day drenched in whatever was in those slushies. Earlier that day, about a dozen jocks slushied him at once … and this time he couldn’t clean it off before he got home. Santana was about to lose it.

“Jacob, who the fuck did this to you because I am about to go all Lima Heights!”

“Just a couple of guys on the football team it’s no big deal.” Jacob tried to explain. All he wanted was to go take a shower and study for the history exam he has tomorrow, but he knows that his mom was not going to let this go.

“No big deal?? No big deal?? Are you fucking kidding me Jacob! I’m gonna need names because I’m not gonna let whoever did this to you get away with this!” Santana exclaimed

“What are you and mom going to do? Go to the principal and tell him all about how this is bullying and you’re not going tolerate that.” Jacob said, mocking his other mom.

“What the fuck did you just say. No, you don’t get to disrespect your mother like that. Just go to your room and we’ll deal with this once your mom gets back home from the studio” Santana said. She knew her son wasn’t the most popular guy at school but she had no idea that this is how he was being treated.

Chapter 2:

When Brittany got back home from the dance studio, Santana didn’t waste a minute. She immediately told her about the fight she had with their son. She was furious at him for making fun of Brittany and mocking her, but she was also angry at herself for not protecting him for the bullying he’s experiencing at school. She’s his mother, it’s her job to shelter him from all the bad shit. Since Santana hasn’t calmed down, Brittany was going to be the one to talk to Jacob about all of this and try to figure out what happened.

She opens the bedroom door to find him on the phone with none other than Barbra St. James, Rachel and Jesse’s kid. They’re around the same age and have been best friends ever since they were born, even though they have almost nothing in common. Rachel and Santana have been in a lot of the same Broadway shows over the years, so they would always bring their kids to watch rehearsals when they were younger. If you would’ve told Brittany and Santana in high school that their child would be Rachel Berry’s daughter’s best friend, they would not have believed it.

“I’ve got to go I’ll call you later B.” Jacob said as he hung up on his best friend. He was telling her all about what happened with his Mami earlier.

“So, you’re back from work?” He asked awkwardly. The last thing he wants right now is to have this conversation. He just wants to get it done and over with so he could go back to talking to Barbra.

“Yeah. Mami told me what happened at school today, and also about the comment you made about me. If you’re going to make fun of me, at least make an attempt to make it a bit funny.” Brittany said jokingly.

“Mom I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to be so rude. You know I care a lot about you mom and I’m never making fun of you again. I shouldn’t have in the first place.” As angry as he was about what happened to him at school, his mom had nothing to do with it and he shouldn’t have taken out his anger on her. He realizes that now

“Honestly, between me and you it seems like Mami is angrier about that than I am. But still, we’re worried about you. What’s going on at school and why didn’t you tell us baby.” Brittany asked.

“People at school don’t like me that much like I told Mami it’s really not that big of a deal. I didn’t want you guys because I didn’t want you disappoint you. I’ve seen the pics in your high school yearbook. You two were the most popular girls in school. And then there’s me, the biggest loser at school. I’m the complete opposite of the son you and Mami want me to be.” Jacob said. It was always easy for him to open up to his mother. She was one of the most understanding and empathetic people he knew.

“Well, have you ever seen the pictures of us from Junior Prom?” Brittany asked. Jacob did not know what this had to do with the conversation they were having but he’s assuming it’s going to make sense eventually.

“No.” Jacob replied

A few minutes later, Brittany pulled out a picture of Santana and Dave Karofsky from that night and showed it to her son.

“Mami’s bisexual?” Jacob asked, being genuinely confused. He had no idea why his mom went to her junior prom with a man. Before today he didn’t even think it was a possibly for his mom to be interested in men.

Brittany chuckled at that question. “No, I am but she’s definitely a lesbian.” Brittany explained.

“Then why did she go to her junior prom with this random guy?”

“That guy is Dave Karofsky. I asked your Mami to go to the prom with me, but she wouldn’t even let me ask her on the popular internet talk show I used to have, Fondue for Two. I should show you some of the episodes one day but yeah she didn’t go to her junior prom with me.”

“Why wouldn’t she go to the prom with you, you two love each other.” Jacob considered himself smart, but he had no idea what was going on.

“That guy in the picture? He made uncle Kurt transfer schools and that’s how he met Uncle Blaine. He used to bully Kurt for being the most unicorn of them all at our high school. But he met his soulmate because of that. Mami wasn’t as brave as you are now when she was your age. That’s why she pretended to date Dave Karofsky instead of going to the prom with me. She cared more about being popular than being herself. She wanted to be prom queen so badly, but do you know who was prom queen that year?”

Jacob shook his head.

“Uncle Kurt! They voted for him to make fun of him, but he still had something that all the girls at school wanted because he wasn’t afraid to be himself. He even slow danced with Uncle Blaine. It was so romantic. At the end of the day, it wasn’t better for her to pretend she was someone she wasn’t, even if it made her popular and saved her from bullying. We don’t care if you’re considered a loser. We’re all losers, you’re just brave enough to show it. Your Mami and I couldn’t be prouder to have a son like you.” Brittany explained.

Jacob understands the point his mom is making, and he had to admit that it makes sense. It’s good to know that his moms don’t care that he’s such a loser, even though he knows that his moms would’ve totally bullied him if they went to high school together. He actually finds that hilarious. Despite that however, he still has pent up anger inside of him from being bullied every day in school.

“We’re still going to have to talk to your principal though because what happened is mean, it’s bullying, and I won’t accept it.”

Jacob just nodded and agreed. He figured it’s better to pretend that he feels okay now than having a longer conversation with his mother about his problems. And she did actually make him feel like he doesn’t hide the fact that he’s getting bullied anymore. This conversation wasn’t completely useless.

“Finish your conversation with Barbra because your Mami and I are going to order dinner soon okay?” Brittany said before she felt the room.

Santana was outside the bedroom eavesdropping on the whole conversation. “My pep talks are starting to get better than Mr. Schue’s, right?” Brittany asked Santana excitedly.

Santana gave Brittany the biggest genuine smile her face could possibly make. She’s never been so in love with her wife. “When did you get so smart?” Santana asked before she leaned in to kiss Brittany.

“Gross!” Jacob exclaimed as he opened his bedroom door and saw his moms kissing.

#glee #glee fic #santana x brittany #brittana #brittana fic #this is my first time writing a fanfic pls don't be mean

[miz0sis]

So uhhhhh............ Just read it

ttxokay so it’s like, 11 pm and i should really sleep but i cant because i swear to fucking god im obsessed with eddsworld. anyway, i dont have any followers and im lonely asf but here’s some fucking idea i have and yknow what IM GONNA MAKE A FAN COMIC BETTER THAN TBATF. im thinking that i can get a website to put it on if i get enough support and help with it but i doubt i’ll get much help. i might tag some people in this but i dont expect them to reply or see it since they’d probably want money for it or something. i just want to make a good comic and have fun with it but i literally can’t do it all on my own and expect to finish it. here are my ideas, one of them being pretty laid back so im not sure if it compares to TBATF: 1) Basically the end has already happened and since Tord has failed to get his Giant Robot back in one piece, he quits being a leader in shame, giving his position to a high ranked soldier by the name of Luke Adell (OC). After becoming homeless and roaming the streets on his own, Edd spots him while shopping, and takes him into his apartment. After apologizing to his friends, Tord becomes a part of the crew again, but things eventually turn sour once Luke begins to do what Tord had originally wanted to do- Take over the world. Now Tord, Tom, Matt and Edd have to try and destroy the Red army, or as it is now called, the Blood Army (i cant think of better names). 2) Edd, Tom and Matt continue to go on adventures without Tord and things seem pretty normal. This one is pretty laid back and is a fan version of how the show may be continuing to help those who are anticipating the actual series. 3) Similar to idol anime, the boys who are all misfits in high school, decide to create a band for a school talent show. After winning the show they begin to gain fame all around the world. I’d call this the Rockstar au and I already have some designs in mind, this one is the most developed of my ideas because I actually thought about making actual songs for the comic since I write music in my free time. Edd would be the lead singer, Tom would play his bass, Matt would be the backup singer/ dancer and Tord would play the drums and occasionally a dj.   Those are my ideas! I’m not sure how to spread the word on this so im gonna at least tag my inspirations and hopefully they can at least give me some tips. If anyone wants to help contribute to creating a comic out of all of these ideas please dm me and/or repost this! I also have a discord that I can send to you if you need to talk in a better way. Here are my inspirations, and I hope they can help me or give me tips. I felt really awkward putting them here because they’re pretty fucking popular.  @xoche

@terrifyers @eddsmoped

#eddsworld #comic #ideas #EW #im bored and by the time i finished this it was fucking midnight #im wide awake #if this fails i uh #whatever i guess i'll live with tbatf

[makistar2018]

Taylor Swift is worth more than $300 million — see her bicoastal mansions, lavish vacations, and generous gifts to fans and friends

Hillary Hoffower August 19, 2018

Taylor Swift reportedly has a net worth of more than $300 million. Christopher Polk/Getty Images

Taylor Swift's net worth is currently an estimated $320 million, according to Forbes, making her one of the world's highest-paid celebrities.

Once Swift's Reputation Stadium Tour ends this fall, her net worth could climb even higher.

Swift spends her fortune growing her $84 million real estate portfolio and donating to causes and charity.

Taylor Swift never fails to impress.

At 15 years old, she was the youngest songwriter to ever sign with Sony. She now has 10 Grammys on her shelf, several tours under her belt (including one that generated a staggering quarter of a billion dollars), an endless list of chart-topping songs and albums, and a beloved fan base who dub themselves "Swifties."

Such success makes Swift one of the world's highest-paid celebrities and one of the richest female singers. According to Forbes, she has an estimated net worth of $320 million — and that's only expected to rise once her current six-month Reputation Stadium Tour wraps up later this year.

Swift has been strategic and generous with her money, investing in a sprawling $84 million real estate portfolio and often donating it to causes she supports and people in need.

Below, see how Swift earns and spends her fortune.

Taylor Swift currently has an estimated net worth of $320 million, which has grown due to her music, merchandise, and endorsements.

Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Source: Forbes

Ever the superstar, Swift's endorsement deals and partnerships are with high-profile brands, including Keds, Diet Coke, CoverGirl, and Apple, which bring in a lot of income.

Charley Gallay/Getty Images

Source:Money

Swift has had a long-term partnership with Diet Coke since 2013, which has involved her chatting about her love for the drink in a "Bon Appetit" interview and holding the drink while on camera.

Anna Webber/Shutterstock

Source:Hollywood Reporter, Variety

Adele and Madonna, who have comparable fan bases to Swift, didn't put as much effort into brand partnerships and touring as Swift did in 2016 — and only made half of her paycheck, at $80.5 million and $76.5 million respectively, according to Quartz.

Sascha Schuermann/Getty Images

Source:Quartz

In fact, aside from brand partnerships and endorsements, touring is Swift's biggest money maker. Her 1989 tour grossed more than $250 million in 2015.

Graham Denholm/Shutterstock

Source: Forbes

She stands to earn even more than that during her current six-month Reputation Stadium Tour that began in May. Five shows in, Swift had already earned $54 million in sales — that's $10.8 million per show.

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Source: Forbes, Refinery29

But her tours don't just bring in ticket sales. Billboard estimated that Swift sells $17 of merchandise per ticket at her shows.

Andreas Rentz/Getty Images

Source:Billboard

Swift was the world's top-earning musician in June 2016, bringing home a record $170 million from 2015-2016, according to Forbes' 2016 list. The same year, it was estimated that Swift makes $1 million a day.

Evan Agostini/AP Photos

Source:Forbes,Express 

Swift had a more "quiet year" in 2017, according to Forbes, bringing in $44 million and ranking ninth on Forbes' list of the world's highest-paid celebrities.

Rich Polk/Getty Images

Source:Forbes

So far in 2018, not including touring revenues, Swift has earned an estimated $5 million in record sales, $2.4 million through streaming, and $2 million in publishing royalties, according to Billboard.

Chris Pizzello/Shutterstock

Source:Billboard

A few years ago, it was estimated Swift could become a billionaire by the time she turns 30. Here's how she spends her fortune...

Carlo Allegri/Reuters

Source:Express 

Swift is a real estate mogul, with a sprawling $84 million real estate portfolio that consists of eight properties in four different states, according to property values estimated by Trulia.

Jordan Strauss/AP Photos

Source: Business Insider, Trulia 

In Nashville, she owns a 3,240-square-foot condo worth an estimated $3 million and a 5,600-square-foot Greek Revival estate worth an estimated $2.5 million. The latter is the cheapest property she owns.

Google Maps

Source: Business Insider, Trulia 

In LA, Swift currently has a Beverly Hills home on the market for $2.85 million. She also owns a 10,982 square-foot Beverly Hills mansion worth nearly $30 million. She plans to turn it into a historic landmark.

From Trulia

Source: Business Insider, Trulia

Across the coast, Swift owns an estate with seaside views in Watch Hill, Rhode Island, valued at $6.65 million. With 12,000 square feet, it has plenty of room for parties with her squad.

Zillow 

Source: Business Insider, Trulia 

But that's nothing compared to the estimated $40 million worth of property Swift owns in New York City on the same block in Tribeca. That includes a 8,309-square-foot large duplex penthouse and a four-story townhouse.

Taylor Swift bought this townhouse last year located at 153 Franklin St. It's next to a complex where she now owns three units.  Google Maps

Source: Business Insider, Trulia

Swift needs a way to travel among all these homes and she's rumored to own two Dassault private jets. There's no word on how much she paid for them, but depending on the model, they can be worth up to $58 million each.

Andrew H. Walker/Getty

Source: Forbes, GOBankingRates 

Swift can also use her jet to head out of the country for vacation. She recently spent the Fourth of July in Turks and Caicos with her boyfriend Joe Alwyn and previously took a trip to an undisclosed tropical island with former boyfriend Calvin Harris.

Debbie Ann Powell/Shutterstock

Source:Elle, Travel + Leisure 

At the end of her 1989 World Tour, Swift took her 125-person band and crew on a vacation in Australia.

Michael Loccisano/Getty Images 

Source: Vanity Fair 

But Swift has always been generous with her money, supporting causes and helping those in need. On her 24th birthday, she donated $100,000 to the Nashville Symphony.

Royce DeGrie/Getty Images 

Source: People 

She's provided supported during natural disasters, donating $1 million to the victims of Louisiana floods and $500,000 to the Nashville flood relief, and raising $750,000 through a Speak Now Help Now benefit concert for victims of tornadoes in the southern US in 2011.

Caroline McCredie/Getty Images

Source: People 

Swift is also supportive of education — she pledged $4 million to the Country Music Hall of Fame to fund the Taylor Swift Education Center and donated $50,000 to NYC public schools.

Larry Busacca/Getty Images

Source: People

She's also donated to various GoFundMe campaigns, including $10,000 toward a service dog for an autistic boy and $50,000 to her backup dancer's nephew, who was battling cancer.

Mark Humphrey/Getty Images

Source: People

And then there are the two famous checks she wrote for $1,989 — an ode to her best-selling album — sent to two fans to pay a student loan and to donate to a dance marathon benefit.

Larry Busacca/Getty Images

Source: People

She also helps out her friends, giving pal Kesha $250,000 to help with legal fees during her lawsuit against a music producer.

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Source:People

But her thoughtfulness doesn't end there. And when she once went out to dinner with pals Ed Sheeran and Austin Mahone in Philadelphia, she reportedly left a generous $500 tip.

Christopher Polk/Getty Images

Source:E News

Swift often spends money dining out with her squad and boyfriends, especially when in New York City, where she's dined at The Fat Radish, The Spotted Pig, Sarabeth's, and L'Asso, where she had a glass of wine and a gluten-free pizza.

KGC-146/STAR MAX/IPx/Getty Images

Source:People

But Swift also saves money dining in. She reportedly loves to cook and bake and has hosted several elaborate dinner parties with her squad.

Jason Merritt/Getty Images

Source:Glamour, InStyle

Swift also has a fur squad. She has two Scottish Fold cats, Meredith Grey and Olivia Benson. The breed costs around $1,000 to $1,500. Her cats even have their own line of merchandise at her store.

Evan Agostini/Shutterstock

Source:Refinery 29, Cat Breeds List

When she's not chilling at home, Swift is usually rocking designer duds during appearances or some serious street style in New York City, often mixing high-end and fast fashion. She's been spotted wearing Saint Laurent sneakers, A Christian Louboutin backpack for $1,237, and an Elie Saab gown.

Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

Source:Who What Wear

But Swift's also sported more affordable pieces, such as $60 Steve Madden sandals and Gen Z-obsession Brandy Melville. She seems to have an affinity for Madewell, whose clothes range around $72 for a pair of shorts or $62 for a denim crop top.

KGC-146/STAR MAX/IPx/AP Photos

Source:Who What Wear, Who What Wear, People

But for all the generous giving and strategic investments Swift has made with her money, she has reportedly used it in one rumored indulgence: $40 million to insure her famous legs.

Andreas Rentz /Getty Images

Source:New York Post

Business Insider

#taylor swift #business insider #2018.08.19 #net worth

[sciencespies]

The True History Behind 'Six,' the Tudor Musical About Henry VIII's Wives

https://sciencespies.com/history/the-true-history-behind-six-the-tudor-musical-about-henry-viiis-wives/

The True History Behind 'Six,' the Tudor Musical About Henry VIII's Wives

Meilan Solly

Associate Editor, History

Inspiration struck Toby Marlow during a comparative poetry class at Cambridge University in fall 2016. Participating in a discussion on William Blake, he found his mind wandering and began scribbling a series of unrelated notes: “Henry VIII’s wives → like a girl group … Need Lucy!!” 

Then an undergraduate student tasked with writing an original show for the upcoming Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Marlow brought his idea to classmate Lucy Moss, who agreed to help bring his vision of a Tudor-themed pop musical to life. The product of the pair’s collaboration—Six, a modern reimagining of the lives of Henry VIII’s six wives—premiered on London’s West End in 2019 to much acclaim. (A cast soundtrack released in September 2018 similarly became an unqualified success.) Now, after an extended delay caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the musical is finally making its Broadway debut.

L to R: Abby Mueller (Jane Seymour), Samantha Pauly (Katherine Howard), Adrianna Hicks (Catherine of Aragon), Andrea Macasaet (Anne Boleyn), BrittneyMack (Anna of Cleves) and Anna Uzele (Catherine Parr)

Liz Lauren

Six “didn’t come out of a love of the Tudor period particularly,” says Marlow, 26. “It came from us having an interest in the representation of women in musical theater, having women on stage doing funny and hilarious things.” Moss, 27, adds, “What we were interested in doing was reframing the way that women have been perceived in history and telling their side of the story.”

The Tudor period, with its “soap opera”-esque political machinations and rich cast of female characters, offered the duo the opportunity to explore contemporary issues like feminism through a historical lens. Though Six prominently features the rhyme historically used to describe the fates of the Tudor king’s queens—“divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived”—the musical moves beyond these reductive one-word summaries to present its subjects as fully realized individuals. “With all of them,” says Moss, “there was so much of interest beyond the moment they got married or divorced.”

Marlow and Moss drew on a range of sources when writing Six, including Antonia Fraser’s The Wives of Henry VIII and documentaries hosted by historianLucy Worsley. The musical’s layered repartee deftly balances references to Tudor culture with nods to modern music, like the line “Stick around and you’ll suddenly see more” (a play on “Suddenly, Seymour” from Little Shop of Horrors). Still, Marlow explains, the show’s goal isn’t to convey history with 100 percent accuracy. Instead, “It’s [asking], ‘What if Anne Boleyn was like this?’ And how does that change the way you think about this very famous historical figure?”

Six frames its story as a makeshift talent competition in which the wife whose life was most tragic “wins.” The rules are simple: “The queen who was dealt the worst hand … shall be the one to lead the band.” Each wife sings a solo summarizing her experiences, engaging in acerbic banter in between verses. (During these numbers, the other wives act as both backup singers and dancers; beyond the six solos, the 80-minute show features three group numbers.) Ultimately, the women decide to form a girl band instead, leaving the king out of the narrative and imagining an alternate future featuring far happier ends for all of them.

Historian Jessica Storoschuk, who has written about Six extensively on her blog, has found that in school and popular culture, the queens are usually only talked about in terms of their fate. “[Six] is this kind of ridiculous satire of [that],” she says. “It’s a really intelligent way to explore their experiences, or, I should say, one part of their experiences, because their downfalls are not all of their lives.”

Below, find a song-by-song (or wife-by-wife) breakdown of the true history behind Six. Click through the interactive tools to learn more about specific lyrics from the show.

The song: “No Way,” a Beyoncé- and JLo-inspired “girl boss feminism” anthem, says Moss

Though Catherine of Aragon’s marriage to Henry lasted 24 years—collectively, his five other marriages spanned just 14 years—she has long been overshadowed by her successors. The daughter of Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella, Catherine came to England as the bride of Henry’s older brother, Arthur, Prince of Wales. But Arthur died shortly after the pair’s wedding, leading the Spanish princess to (eventually) marry his heir, Henry. 

By all accounts, the couple enjoyed a loving relationship that only deteriorated due to a lack of a male heir and the king’s infatuation with Anne Boleyn. In the late 1520s, Henry sought a divorce from his first wife, arguing that her previous relationship with Arthur was the reason for the couple’s lack of a surviving son. Determined to protect her daughter Mary’s rights, Catherine refused to concede.

Apple News readers, click here to view this interactive.

Six’s account of these events, “No Way,” takes its cue from a June 21, 1529, meeting at Blackfriars in London. After years of debate over the validity of the royal couple’s marriage, a papal court was conceived to address the king’s so-called Great Matter. Appealing directly to her husband, Catherine fell to her knees and delivered an impassioned monologue:

Intending (as I perceive) to put me from you, I take God and all the world to witness, that I have been to you a true and humble wife, ever conformable to your will and pleasure. … If there be any just cause by the law that ye can allege against me, either of dishonesty or any other impediment to banish and put me from you, I am well content to depart, to my great shame and dishonor; and if there be none, then here I most lowly beseech you let me remain in my former estate, and receive justice at your princely hand.

A 1544 portrait of the future Mary I, Henry and Catherine’s daughter

Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Portrait believed to depict a young Catherine of Aragon

Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

After uttering these words, Catherine left Blackfriars, ignoring the clerk’s calls for her to return. Without turning around, she declared, “On, on, it makes no matter, for it is no impartial court for me, therefore I will not tarry.” The queen was correct in her assessment: Henry had no intention of remaining in the marriage. Determined to wed Anne, he broke from the Catholic Church in order to make her his wife.

Catherine’s Six solo could’ve been a “super emotional [sad] ballad,” says Moss. Instead, she and Marlow chose to emphasize the queen’s defiance, emulating Beyoncé’s “Run the World (Girls)” and setting the tone for the rest of the musical.

The real Catherine followed through on her fictionalized counterpart’s pledge to remain “queen till the end of my life,” refusing to acknowledge her marriage’s annulment even on her deathbed in 1536. Catherine’s legacy, historian Julia Fox told Smithsonian magazine last year, “is that of a wronged woman … who did not accept defeat, who fought for what she believed to be right until the breath left her body.”

The song: “Don’t Lose Ur Head,” a “cheeky” number modeled on Lily Allen and Kate Nash, according to Moss

Arguably the most (in)famous of the six wives, Anne is alternatively portrayed as a scheming, power-hungry seductress; a victim of her callous father’s vaulting ambition; or a worldly, charismatic woman who rose to the kingdom’s highest office only to be targeted by jealous men.

A near-contemporary painting of Anne Boleyn

Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

The truth of the matter depends on which scholar one asks. Most of Anne’s letters and papers were destroyed following her May 1536 execution on contrived charges of adultery, incest, witchcraft and conspiring to kill her husband, so much of what is known about her comes from outside observers, some of whom had reason to paint her in an unforgiving light. Even the queen’s date of birth, writes historian Antonia Fraser, is a fact “that can never be known with absolute certainty (like so much about Anne Boleyn).”

Anne’s song in Six, “Don’t Lose Ur Head,” draws its name from her method of execution: beheading by sword. Moss says she and Marlow view the number as a playful response to historians’ continued vilification of the queen as “calculating and manipulative”: “We were like, wouldn’t it be fun to mock [that trope] and make it that she was like ‘Well, I’m just living. I did this thing randomly, and now everything’s gone crazy.’”

Apple News readers, click here to view this interactive tool.

Though the tone of “Don’t Lose Ur Head” is intentionally more irreverent than the real queen, who Storoschuk says “was incredibly shrewd, very well educated, well read and well spoken,” the broad strokes of the song are historically accurate. Anne spent her teenage years in the courts of Margaret of Austria and Francis I of France, gaining a cosmopolitan worldview that helped her stand out in England. When she caught Henry’s eyes, she was a maid of honor in service of his first wife; rather than becoming Henry’s mistress, as her sister Mary had, Anne refused to sleep with the king until they were married. To wed Anne, Henry broke with the Catholic Church and established himself as head of the Church of England. Finally, the once-besotted king fell out of love in dramatic—and, for Anne, fatal—fashion just three years after their long-awaited marriage.

The song: “Heart of Stone,” a slow, Adele-like ballad

Henry’s third wife, Jane Seymour, has gone down in history as the “boring” one. According to Fraser, she was intelligent and “naturally sweet-natured,” with the “salient characteristics [of] virtue and common good sense.” Historian Alison Weir similarly describes Jane as “endowed with all the qualities then thought becoming in a wife: meekness, docility and quiet dignity.” 

Moss and Marlow tried to flesh out these descriptions by highlighting Jane’s political savvy. During her comparatively brief courtship with Henry, Jane drew on many of the same tactics used by Anne Boleyn, most notably by refusing to sleep with him until they were married. Presenting a submissive front may have been a tactic, says Moss. It’s also worth noting that Jane used her position to advance causes she cared about, including restoring her stepdaughters, Mary and Elizabeth, to their father’s favor and speaking out against the closure of England’s religious houses.

Apple News readers, click here to view this interactive.

On one occasion, Henry reportedly dismissed his new wife by advising her to “attend to other things, [for] the last queen had died in consequence of meddling too much in state affairs.” “Heart of Stone” acknowledges this risk, but Six’s version of Jane chooses to remain steadfast in her love of Henry and their son, the future Edward VI.

Following Jane’s death in childbirth in 1537, Henry memorialized her as “the fairest, the most discreet and the most meritorious of all his wives”—a distinction no doubt motivated by the fact that she’d given the king his only surviving male heir, writes Weir. (Edward took the throne “Six” reflects this enviable status by identifying Jane as “the only one he truly loved.” As she herself acknowledges in “Heart of Stone,” however, Henry’s affection is conditional on her ability to provide him with a son.

Henry chose to include Jane, rather than his then-wife, Catherine Parr, in this dynastic portrait. Painted around 1545, the work depicts Edward, Henry and Jane at its center and Mary and Elizabeth in the wings.

Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Speaking with Vulture last year, Moss said, “The idea was about the strength of choosing to love someone and committing to someone, and that being an equally valid feminist experience.” She added, “I love that [Jane] gets to say, ‘I wasn’t stupid, I wasn’t naïve.’”

The song: “Get Down,” a 16th-century take on the rap and hip-hop “trope of being popular and bragging about your Ferrari and your Grey Goose,” says Moss

Anne (or, as the musical calls her, Anna) of Cleves was, in some historians’ view, the most successful of Henry’s six queens. After just six months of marriage, she earned the king’s enduring affection by agreeing to an annulment. Then, she proceeded to outlive her former husband, not to mention the rest of his wives, by a decade. “[Anne] did get pushed to the side in a rather unceremonious way, but she had a pretty good life,” says Storoschuk. “She was given several properties. She gambled a lot. She got to go hunting, she had the best clothes and the best food. She was loved at court.”

A 1540s portrait of Anne of Cleves by Bartholomaeus Bruyn the Elder

St. John’s College, University of Oxford, via Art U.K. under CC BY-NC-ND

“Get Down” focuses on this victorious period in Anne’s life, celebrating her independence as a wealthy, unmarried woman at Tudor court. In line with the musical’s goal of reclaiming the narrative, the number also reframes the incident that led to Anne’s annulment. Henry, enchanted by a flattering Hans Holbein portrait of his bride-to-be, was reportedly repulsed by the “tall, big-boned and strong-featured” woman who arrived in England at the beginning of 1540. Declaring “I like her not! I like her not!” after their first meeting, the king only went through with the wedding to maintain diplomatic ties with Anne’s home, the German Duchy of Cleves, and other Protestant allies across the European continent.

After just six months of marriage, Henry, eager to replace his short-reigning queen with the young, vivacious Katherine Howard, had the union annulled on the grounds of non-consummation and Anne’s pre-contract with Francis, Duke of Lorraine. Anne, from then on known as the “king’s beloved sister,” spent the rest of her days in luxury.

Apple News readers, click here to view this interactive.

Moss studied history at Cambridge and says much of her schoolwork centered around early modern German visual culture. Six actually includes a standalone song, “Haus of Holbein,” that satirizes 16th-century beauty culture and Henry’s portrait-driven search for a fourth wife: “Hans Holbein goes around the world / Painting all of the beautiful girls / From Spain / To France / And Germany / The king chooses one / But which one will it be?”

Given Holbein’s reputation for accuracy and Henry’s own declining looks (at the time of the couple’s wedding, the king was 48 years old), Marlow and Moss chose to turn the tables, having Anne proclaim herself a fan of the much-vilified portrait. Further cementing Anne’s mastery of the situation, “Get Down”’s refrain finds the supposedly unattractive queen hanging up her likeness “for everyone to see.”

The song: “All You Wanna Do,” a catchy number modeled on the work of “young pop stars sexualized early on in their careers,” like Miley Cyrus, Britney Spears and Ariana Grande, as Marlow told Vulture

For much of history, Henry’s fifth wife, Katherine Howard, has been dismissed as a wanton woman of little import. Writing in 1991, Weir described her as a “frivolous, empty-headed young girl who cared for little else but dancing and pretty clothes.” Fraser, meanwhile, wrote that “[h]ere was no intelligent adult woman, wise in the ways of the world—and of course courts.” More recent scholarship has taken a sympathetic view of the queen, with Gareth Russell’s 2017 book, Young and Damned and Fair, leading the conversation. As Russell argues, “[Katherine] was toppled by a combination of bad luck, poor decisions, and the Henrician state’s determination to punish those who failed its king.” 

Katherine’s Six solo, titled “All You Wanna Do,” echoes Russell’s characterization of its subject as a victim of circumstance and predatory older men. Though her exact birthdate is unknown, Katherine may have been as young as 17 when she was beheaded on charges of treasonous adultery in February 1542. Henry, comparatively, was 50 at the time of his disgraced wife’s execution.

Apple News readers, click here to view this interactive.

The king was far from the first man to sexualize Katherine. “All You Wanna Do” details the queen’s relationships in heart-wrenching detail, from a liaison with her music teacher, Henry Manox (the song suggests that he was 23 to Katherine’s 13, but as Storoschuk points out, he may have been closer to 33), to an affair with Francis Dereham, secretary to the dowager duchess, Katherine’s step-grandmother. When each new romance begins, the teenager declares herself hopeful that this time will be different. By the end of the song, however, she realizes that all of her suitors have the same goal in mind.

According to Moss, she and Marlow wanted Katherine’s song to start out with a “sexy, seductive” tone before transforming into a “narrative of abuse” with echoes of today’s #MeToo movement. Marlow adds, “It was kind of like us talking about what happened to one of the queens and finding a way of relating it to something that we would recognize as a modern female experience.”

Katherine’s “life was so tragic,” says Storoschuk. “She was so young, and she really had very little agency over her own life. ‘All You Wanna Do’ really encompasses that.”

The song: “I Don’t Need Your Love,” a soulful, Alicia Keys–inspired love song

Often reduced to the one-word summary of “survived” or the role of nursemaid to a succession of ailing husbands, Henry’s sixth wife, Catherine Parr, was actually a renowned scholar, religious reformer and perhaps even protofeminist. In Six, she takes ownership of these attributes, refusing to be defined by her romantic relationships and instead listing her manifold accomplishments: “Remember that I was a writer / I wrote books and psalms and meditations / Fought for female education / So all my women can independently study scripture / I even got a woman to paint my picture.”

Apple News readers, click here to view this interactive.

As the last of the six to take the stage, the fictionalized Catherine has dual obligations: namely, sharing her story and setting up a satisfying musical finale. “We needed one of the queens to be like ‘Wait, we shouldn’t be competing with each other. We should support each other,’” says Moss. “Fortunately, [Catherine’s role] as a writer, educator and advocate for women helped with that.” Encouraging the wives to take back the microphone, Catherine calls for them to assert themselves outside of their marriages to Henry. “It’s not what went down in history,” the six admit, “[b]ut tonight, I’m singing this for me.”

Catherine Parr’s fourth husband, Thomas Seymour

Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

The real Catherine led a rich life beyond what’s captured in “I Don’t Need Your Love.” As alluded to by the song’s first verses, which find Catherine telling a lover that she has “no choice” but to marry the king, the twice-married young widow initially had another suitor in mind: Thomas Seymour, the dashing younger brother of Henry’s third wife, Jane. (The would-be couple wed soon after Henry’s death in 1547, but their marriage was tainted by Thomas’ improper conduct toward his new stepdaughter, the future Elizabeth I.)

Despite being forced into a relationship with Henry, Catherine made the most of her position, pushing her husband to embrace Protestantism and encouraging him to restore his daughters to the line of succession. She narrowly escaped an attempt by the court’s conservative faction to have her executed on charges of heresy, winning back Henry’s favor even after he’d signed a warrant for her arrest. Catherine died just a year after the king, succumbing to complications from childbirth in 1548.

Based on a True Story

British History

Elizabeth I

England

Henry VIII

Kings

Medieval Ages

Monarchs

Musical Theater

Pop culture

Queens

Theater

Tudors

#History

#History

[corey-musick]

student choice 3 - six the musical - 7-31-2021

Divorced. Beheaded. Died. Divorced. Beheaded. Survived. 

“Ex-Wives/Six” performed by the Queens of Six

The grade school rhyme is the extent of what many people know about Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard, and Catherine Parr, the six women who held the title of Queen of England while married to the notorious Henry VIII. In 2017, however, college students Lucy Moss and Toby Marlow decided to change that. From their efforts came the 2017 musical Six, a modern-day concert featuring Henry VIII’s six ex-wives as members of the same girl group, aptly named Six. The one-act production is set up as a concert-contest between the queens where they are trying to decide who gets to be the Beyonce of the group - that is, the lead singer. And how do they decide that? It’s simple - whoever had it the worst in their time with Henry gets to lead the band. The production I watched for this post is from a 2020 Broadway preview (yes, it’s a bootleg - don’t turn me in), done less than a month before Broadway shut down due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. 

There are only nine songs on the soundtrack for Six - three group numbers (”Ex-Wives,” “Haus of Holbein,” and “Six”) and six solo songs (”No Way,” “Don’t Lose Ur Head,” “Heart of Stone,” “Get Down,” “All You Wanna Do,” and “I Don’t Need Your Love”) where each queen gets the chance to tell her story. There are technically ten songs, but the tenth, “Megasix,” is performed after the curtain call and is essentially a mash-up of all six solo songs. Each queen’s song and costume is meant to pay homage to a different famous woman in music - for example, Catherine of Aragon, who sings the boppy “No Way,” draws inspiration from Beyonce while Jane Seymour, who sings the emotional ballad “Heart of Stone,” is a clear homage to Adele. By drawing influence from modern-day pop stars, audiences are able to apply general personality traits to these long-dead royals and bring them into the 21st century, keeping the story engaging. 

As I previously mentioned, each queen gets their own solo song where she gets the chance to plead her case as to why she had the worst and, therefore, should be the lead singer of the group. During these solos, however, the other queens serve as backup singers and dancers. The dialogue between the scenes essentially serves the purpose of moving on to the next song - oftentimes, the next queen chronologically will come up, say something along the lines of “oh, that’s terrible you two got divorced, but I literally got my head chopped off,” and begin her own song. The four-person band are named after ladies-in-waiting that each queen was known to have, adding in an extra little detail that brings Tudor history into the modern-day. 

“Get Down” performed by Brittney Mack as Anne of Cleves

My absolutely favorite song and scene from the musical is “Get Down,” Anne of Cleves’ song. For a brief history lesson, Anne of Cleves’ marriage to Henry VIII was the shortest-lived of all of his marriages, lasting a grand total of six months and ending by being declared unconsummated. As a result of this annulment (to which Anne readily consented), Henry gave Anne multiple properties (including Richmond Palace and Hever Castle, the former residence of the Boleyns), servants, and a financial future many people could only dream of. The scene opens with Anne sitting alone on the stairs, illuminated only by a single spotlight, holding a microphone in her hand and talking sadly. The slow, mournful piano music in the background underscores her sadness as she explains how, because of her “meagre looks, as they are,” Henry refused to consummate their union. She laments that she lived through the age-old story of how the “savvy, educated, young princess was deemed repulsive by a wrinkled, wheezing, ulcer-ridden man 24 years her senior.” She asks how she can overcome such a devastating fate as being “forced to move to a resplendent palace in Richmond with more money than [she] could spend in a lifetime, and not a single man around to tell her what to do with it.”

As she puts it, it’s simply tragic. 

Okay, clearly, that was all sarcasm and Anne of Cleves knows it. After this intentionally overdramatic monologue is over, electronic beats start playing, immediately switching the tone into something a little more bad-ass than tragic. The song draws influence from rap stars like Nicki Minaj, its lyrics purely bragging about how well-off Anne was after getting divorced from Henry. The scene is simultaneously hilarious - she picks out someone in the front row to deliver certain lines, such as the Kanye-referencing “I ain’t sayin’ I’m a gold digger / But check my pre-nup and go figure”, to and urges them to dance near the end - and just plain cool. An early standout moment comes when she sings: “I wanna go hunting - any takers? / I’m not fake ‘cause I got acres and acres / Paid for with my own riches / Where my hounds? Release the bitches.” Aside from the incredible internal rhymes (rhyming “takers” with “fake ‘cause” and “acres?” Lin Manuel-Miranda WISHES he could), after Anne says to “release the bitches,” all of the queen stand behind her in a V-formation and, in a low-toned unison, go “woof.” It’s just plain iconic. 

Anne continues throughout the song to use complex rhymes (”No one tells me I need a rich man, / Doin’ my thing is my palace in Richmond” is seriously one of my favorite lines from any song ever), an impressive feat that contributes to the cocky bragging tone of the song - which I love. Keeping in line with the modern-day spin Six puts on Tudor history, the chorus begins with “You, you say that I tricked ya / ‘Cause I, I didn’t look like my profile picture.” This line references how Henry VIII chose Anne of Cleves as a wife after seeing her likeness in a painting by famed painter Hans Holbein. Upon meeting her in person and being shocked by her supposed plainness, however, Henry demanded the marriage be annulled (which, as I mentioned before, it was.) The musical reimagines this as basically Tinder or another dating app where catfishing runs rampent and many people are shocked to see how different people look online versus in person. She also talks about how, when she was at court, she hears her “jam come on the lute,” referencing how people in bars might say that “their song” just came on and would make their way to the dance floor because of it. Choosing instead to say it came on the lute is both hilarious and reminds us that this is Tudor history we’re talking about. Finally, my favorite lines in the entire song come after she talks about how she is dancing. She sings: “All eyes on me, no criticism / I look more rad than Lutheranism. / Dance so hard that I’m causin’ a sensation. / Okay, ladies, let’s get in Reformation.” Firstly, playing with the double meaning of the word “rad” (short for “radical,” meaning “cool” in a slangy way but “nonconformist or controversial” in another) is genius, and comparing herself to Lutheranism is so smart and funny. She then tops it all off by referencing Queen Bey herself, using a lyric from “Formation” to reference how the Reformation began in England thanks to Henry VIII. Witty historical references like this can be found throughout the entire soundtrack of Six, but “Get Down” has some of the best, in my opinion. The scene ends with Anne confirming once again that she is “the queen of the castle.” When all of the other queens jump in to say that her life doesn’t sound bad at all, she agrees and literally pulls herself out of the contest, choosing instead to continue enjoying her life on her own. 

Six is in my top five favorites musicals, right up there with Waitress, Sweeney Todd, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and Head Over Heels. While the focus of this post was the predominantly comedic “Get Down,” other songs like “Heart of Stone” and “All You Wanna Do” feature genuinely heartfelt, emotional moments. The musical expertly switches from these emotional beats to moments of hilarious comedy or powerful confidence. Above all else, though, the musical reminds the audience that these six women were all married to a horrible man and their stories have been relegated to a stupid nursery rhyme that completely strips them of their own identity. The musical is extremely accessible, too. It does not feel too much like classic musical theatre, something I personally do not mind but that I know many people hate. By framing the show as a concert with influences from artists like Nicki Minaj, Beyonce, Rihanna, and Adele, it opens the doors to an entirely new audience to have fun - and learn some history in the process. 

[chaneajoyyy]

Here’s another one

#let’s chat #sip tea #talk tiktok videos #talk videos #talk edits #adele #megan thee stallion #edits #tiktok #videos #lmaaaaaaaooooo #if adele and megan did a collab together #if adele had backup dancers #it’s adele’s edited reactions for me #it fit’s too well

[theconservativebrief]

If there is a La La Land of 2018, an unabashed melodrama that revels in the trappings of show business and fame, it’s A Star Is Born, the new remake of the Hollywood classic directed by Bradley Cooper and starring Cooper and Lady Gaga. And like La La Land before it, A Star Is Born was greeted with a rapturous reception, only to face rising backlash as it made its way from the festival circuit to general release.

In this case, the argument about A Star Is Born concerns a fundamental disagreement over the way the movie thinks about art. Is A Star Is Born on the side of Bradley Cooper’s Jackson, with his cowboy hats and his wistful rock-and-roll guitar-strumming? Or is it on the side of Gaga’s Ally, with her dyed red hair and her trashy-fun lip-synched pop songs about a cute boy’s butt?

Is Jackson right to despise Ally’s solo career, or is he just old-fashioned? When Ally changes her look and starts to dance as she sings, is she becoming the star she was meant to become, or is she being corrupted by the artifice of pop?

More simply: Is the new A Star Is Born a rockist movie, equating rock with authenticity and pop with empty spectacle — or a poptimistic movie, celebrating the pleasures and possibilities of pop?

No one can seem to decide.

At Slate, A Star Is Born is definitely rockist, and what’s more, it’s dated. “The division between rock ‘authenticity’ and pop artifice feels like a holdover from a time where selling out was considered an unpardonable sin rather than a fact of life,” writes Sam Adams, “when lip-synching was a betrayal and not a spectator sport.”

For the New York Times, the movie is definitely rockist, but its rockist ethos is confused by Gaga’s presence. “It’s odd for Lady Gaga, of all people, to be pitting modern pop against authenticity,” writes Jon Pareles. “Not that long ago, her hits insisted — as drag tradition does — that the most outsized artifice could also hold something true.”

At Billboard, the pop versus rock battle has no winners. “It’s not pro-pop or anti-pop,” writes Jason Lipshutz, “but instead props up a world in which pop music becomes a wedge driven between its two protagonists; the dramatic tension mined from its main characters’ dueling points of view — Jackson’s traditionalism versus Ally’s modernism — complicates, and ultimately strengthens, the film.”

At BuzzFeed News, the ambiguity is a bonus: it’s “a tender, conflicted saga for the age of poptimism,” says Alison Willmore, “seen through the (sometimes blurry) eyes of a character who has resigned himself to vanishing with the old world order.”

There’s a reason that the rockism-poptimism debate keeps raging in Star is Born thinkpieces across the internet: you can make a damn solid case for either one. I’ve been going back and forth over the movie since I saw it, trying to figure out how it wants me to feel about art, and I have yet to come up with a coherent idea that reconciles the evidence for both sides.

Here’s where the rock vs. pop debate comes from, and how it’s playing out in A Star Is Born.

The term rockism entered the mainstream in 2004, when Kelefa Sanneh published his massively influential New York Times Magazine article, “The Rap Against Rockism.” Sanneh was writing against the idea that rock is self-evidently better and more authentic and truer than pop, that there is more artistic value in an acoustic guitar lick than in a well-crafted pop hook. And to describe the ideology against which he was writing, he borrowed a term from music criticism wonkery: rockism.

“A rockist is someone who reduces rock ’n’ roll to a caricature, then uses that caricature as a weapon,” Sanneh wrote. “Rockism means idolizing the authentic old legend (or underground hero) while mocking the latest pop star; lionizing punk while barely tolerating disco; loving the live show and hating the music video; extolling the growling performer while hating the lip-syncher.”

And rockism maps neatly onto the landscape of identity politics. “Could it really be a coincidence,” wrote Sanneh, “that rockist complaints often pit straight white men against the rest of the world?” Punk codes white and masculine and straight; disco codes feminine and exuberantly gay; hip-hop codes black. Accordingly, the rockist of the ’70s lauded punk, campaigned to kill disco, and ignored hip-hop.

Over the course of the decade following Sanneh’s essay, music criticism increasingly turned against rockism. Instead, it embraced a new way of thinking about music: popism, or, more often, poptimism.

Poptimism finds value in the pop star. Poptimism loves the flash and fun of disco. Poptimism makes art out of the music video. Poptimism lip syncs along to the lip syncer.

The idea of poptimism is not to invert the values system of rockism, to say that pop is self-evidently superior to rock and carries more artistic value. Rather, the idea is to level the playing ground between them, to suggest that pop and rock can both house authentic pieces of art and can also both house trash, that one genre is not inherently better than the other. Poptimism has nothing against rock — it just also genuinely loves the pleasures and spectacle of pop.

By 2018, poptimism has gone from existing as a weirdo underground way of talking about music to becoming an ascendant ideology that’s nearly as strong as rockism. It’s not the only game in town by a long shot: Persistent institutional rockism is part of why Beyoncé’s Lemonade (black, heavily produced, poptimistic) lost the Grammy for album of the year to Adele’s 25 (white, stripped down and minimalist, rockist), or why the New Yorker didn’t review Taylor Swift’s 1989 (girly, maximalist, poptimistic) but did review Ryan Adam’s cover of Taylor Swift’s 1989 (masculine, stripped down, rockist).

But poptimism is strong enough now to have inspired its own backlash, with opponents arguing that poptimistic music critics now take it as a given that if an artist is popular, they must be good.

For many younger music critics, rockism is the aberration. Poptimism is the default.

So, is A Star Is Born rockist or poptimistic? Depends how you read it.

Cooper’s Jackson performs soulful, “authentic” music. Is it rockist? Warner Bros.

In the rockist reading, Cooper’s Jackson performs real, authentic, soulful music, and Jackson’s greasy hair and weathered skin are an expression of his authenticity. When she is with Jackson, Lady Gaga’s Ally performs “real” music — belting out “Shallow” with a makeup-free face, her hair flowing and natural — but then she is seduced by the trappings of fame.

Despite protesting that she wants to be herself and will not dye her hair platinum, Ally ends up dying it red. Despite protesting that she doesn’t want to lose the part of herself that’s talented, at her manager’s behest, Ally stops playing her own instruments in order to dance with backup dancers. She starts wearing makeup. And most damningly of all, she writes “Why Did You Do That?” a silly piece of pop nonsense about cute boys and their butts, in which she repeatedly sings, “This is not, not like me.”

Under this reading, when Jackson responds to Ally’s transformation with mingled sorrow and disgust, the audience is supposed to feel that he is correct. He is right to advise her that she needs to write only about what she feels deep in her soul, and the further implication that she can’t possibly feel anything deep about a cute boy seems only reasonable. He is right to mockingly repeat her lyrics to her and tell her that she is embarrassing, and when he is driven to drink by the sight of Ally lip-synching her way through “Why Did You Do That?” on SNL, he is right once again.

After Jackson’s tragic death, Ally realizes that he was correct. That’s why in the movie’s final scene, when she is at last Born as a Star, she has returned to the Jackson-approved form of music. She is performing a (real, authentic) song that he wrote; she is standing alone behind a microphone the way he (really, authentically) performed, instead of dancing; her face is (really, authentically) bare of makeup in the way that he preferred. She has at last become a true artist, and in order to do so she has had to rid herself of all the artifice and spectacle of pop. She has had to embrace rockism.

There’s a certain amount of behind-the-scenes lore that would seem to suggest that this rockist reading is the way Cooper and his collaborators want their viewers to approach the movie. To begin with, there’s Cooper’s repeated assertion that in his version of A Star Is Born, for once, the man on the decline isn’t jealous of his beloved protégé’s success.

Instead, Cooper explained to the New York Times magazine, Jackson is worried for Ally. He “bemoans how the industry strangles her ability to say the kind of things she did when he found her singing ‘La Vie en Rose’ in a drag bar.” If Jackson’s concern for Ally is understood to be purely disinterested and correct, then pop and commercialism are the villains of this movie, the scheming agents of darkness from whom Ally must be saved by Jackson’s noble sacrifice.

There’s also the famous story about how, when Lady Gaga screen tested for the movie, Cooper wiped the makeup off her face and told her, “Completely open. No artifice,” in an echo of a similar scene in the Judy Garland A Star Is Born. It’s an anecdote that both Cooper and Gaga have repeated over and over again on the press tour for this movie, and it suggests a certain binary: a bare face vs. makeup; authenticity vs. artifice; rock vs. pop.

And the way Cooper tells that makeup story leaves the audience with no doubt whatsoever about what side of that binary is the good and correct side. Who wants to root against complete openness?

That’s one way of watching A Star Is Born. But it’s also possible to watch it another way.

Ally isn’t played by just anyone. She’s played by Lady Gaga, the avatar of poptimism. Neil Preston / Warner Bros.

In the poptimistic reading, Jackson might think that rock is good and pop is bad, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that he is right — or even that the audience is being pushed to think that he is right. Maybe Jackson is just behind the times. His signature song, after all, begins, “Maybe it’s time to let the old ways die.” Maybe rockism is the old way, and maybe it has to give way to the age of poptimism.

Jackson himself is not purely authentic in a rockist sense. Over the course of the movie, we learn that he “stole” his voice from his brother. When Ally tapes one of her false eyebrows onto his face, mirroring in reverse their meet-cute — in which he peeled off her false brow — the scene suggests that the Jackson Maine rock persona is as much a burlesque as the Ally pop persona. And Cooper’s performance as Jackson is certainly not authentic: he may have wiped Lady Gaga’s makeup off her face when she screen tested for him, but he got a spray tan every day during shooting to create Jackson’s weathered skin.

While Jackson mourns Ally’s evolution into a pop star, he’s also framed as the figure who is holding her back from achieving her highest potential as a star, the figure who has to disappear in order for her to transcend her limitations and achieve her true identity. When he tells Ally that her butt song is embarrassing, that’s not necessarily Jackson speaking hard truths — that’s Jackson getting sloppily drunk and telling his wife that she’s ugly and embarrassing, because he wants to hurt her, because he’s a self-destructive alcoholic.

Speaking of the butt song — or, as the soundtrack would have you call it, “Why Did You Do That” — it’s silly, sure, but it’s also objectively speaking a bop. Composer Diane Warren has stated firmly that the song was not intended to be bad; it’s catchy and fun, and presumably it was written with that intent. And when Ally finishes performing it at SNL, in the routine that appalls Jackson so much it drives him to the bottle, she doesn’t look upset with herself or as though she feels that she has betrayed her truest and most authentic self. She looks satisfied with herself for having nailed a tricky performance, and delighted at the audience’s approval.

Of course, Jackson is played by Cooper, and he’s the director here, as well as one of the film’s co-writers. It’s in large part his movie. That means it’s reasonable to think that the audience’s allegiances might naturally align with Jackson in the SNL sequence. But on the other hand — Ally isn’t played by just anyone. She’s Lady Gaga, the living avatar of poptimism herself.

Gaga’s pop persona delights in layer upon layer of artifice; in building up and stripping away spectacle; in creating candy-coated dance pop with a spiky, aggressive aesthetic that challenges and entertains the ear at the same time. Sure, Joanne-era Gaga is comparatively more restrained than Gaga circa 2009, but she’s still a pop star who revels in the glamour and artificiality of pop. As Cheryl Wischhover wrote for Vox, “The irony here is that the ‘authentic’ Lady Gaga we see in A Star Is Born is a fictional character. The real Gaga — fake eyelashes, stick-on gems, and all — is authentic as hell.”

Gaga’s mere presence — the weight of her enormous star persona, the inescapable fact that for Gaga, artifice and authenticity are not a binary but are one and the same — means that it’s hard to take Jackson’s rockist declarations seriously. If the audience is supposed to agree with him that Ally is betraying her soul and her artistic potential by turning to pop, then why does the movie give us a walking, talking counterargument in Lady Gaga?

On the other hand: There’s still that rockist reading to reckon with.

The rockist and poptimistic readings of A Star Is Born are in direct opposition to one another, yet as I try to decide what I think about this movie, I have found it impossible to figure out which reading meshes with it most naturally. Whenever I try to embrace one reading, I feel that I am reading against the grain. I would have to throw away half the movie to make sense of it.

For me, A Star Is Born’s ambiguity between these two aesthetic modes is both feature and bug. It’s a frustrating thematic fight, and it often feels less productively ambivalent to me than the result of an incoherent point of view driving the film.

But it’s also fundamental to the entire aesthetic of this movie and its mumblecore melodrama vibes. A Star Is Born replays its central conflict over and over again, not just in the conflict between Ally and Jackson, but in its form: in its big, sweeping, spectacular themes that just want to make you feel something, and in its ostentatiously improvised scene work and handheld cameras that want you to notice the grit and appreciate the authenticity.

The fight between spectacle and minimalism is baked into this movie, but what it proves in and of itself is that what the first poptimists argued was always true: The binary is made up. Authenticity and artifice are not mutually exclusive. They can both exist within the same piece of art. And we should have grown past this fight by now.

Original Source -> A Star Is Born is built on a rock vs. pop music binary. Does one side win?

via The Conservative Brief

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[bisluthq]

I think if you want a PRODUCTION then Taylor will give that to you, like she puts on a shoooow. Harry is more based on the ~vibe of live music and crowd interaction. Thats probably why her shows film better because they’re more cinematic. I think Taylor is a lot more “prepared” in her segments bc she has so many dancers and stuff yk and set pieces etc which is why her speeches and transitioning periods on stage are more predictable and not as spontaneous as Harry’s. Harry’s shows live and die on his charisma and ability to command the room with the crowd, and what fans bring to it as well with banter & signs. He talks to the crowd more than any other artist I’ve seen.

Disclaimer : I love both style of performing.

I feel like taylor gives us a huge production but doesn't interact much during the show because she knows she'll do meet and greets after?! She knows she'll get ~ 2 hours to interact with fans in a more intimate setting. Maybe that's why?

I must say i like the way harry does his shows. To be able to interact sooo intimately in such big arenas is impressive.

But i also believe he's 'allowed' to do that because he's a man. He CAN be alone on stage and people will not judge him for not having backup dancers and dance choreographies etc.

I know female artists like adele do shows like Harry, but that's rare for female entertainers. And adele is able to do that cause people don't expect her to be a pop artist, she's never really been held to the same standards as Taylor.

However taylor's always had to outdo herself outperform herself. Though it could be argued she puts that pressure on herself to always be entertaining, always do something new.

I think there’s defs a gender thing to it. Adele and co can do her kinds of shows because they have The Voice™️ yk like nobody needs anything except them singing ~beautifully. Mariah has done shows where she’s dancing and stuff but she could also perform like that and no one will care. Taylor doesn’t have a strong enough voice and if she just chattered like ya it wouldn’t be read as as charming as when Harry does it.

#nat talks music stuff idk

[school-bop-blog]

Take a sip

Beyonce’s Lemonade told a story of heartbreak and sadness. The theme of Lemonade was betrayal. With each song was her interpretation of grief and how she would overcome it. Beyonce had quite a bit to grieve about. She sung about her faulty relationship with Jay-Z and his infidelity. She sang about the hardships of being a woman and a person of color. She also lamented about police brutality and racism. The entire film was well thought out incorporating important themes of identity and struggle. The title itself was not used without careful thought. To quote Beyonce’s late grandmother, “They gave me lemons, I made lemonade.” In this blog post, I argue that Lemonade was snubbed purposefully due to the of the racial ignorance of consumers. While faithful fans gravitated towards Lemonade it was soon made clear that some would have no interest to do so. People made wild assumptions about the album and quickly dismissed it. In an era of a newly elected Trump, Beyonce chose to use the song ‘Formation’ in her Superbowl performance. A declaration of self love, Beyonce sings about how she loves her, “negro nose with Jackson Five nostrils”. She pays homage to Michael Jackson’s super bowl 27 performance with an outfit similar to his. Both stars donned a  military themed black and gold outfit with ammo-like embellishment on the chest. The singer gave it her all as always only to receive heavy backlash by a bunch of middle age suburbanites who didn’t understand the song or the look. She was considered to be anti-police because her backup dancers wore outfits that referenced the Black Panthers. She was also regarded as being a hypocrite for having police escort despite having clear themes of ‘Black lives Matter” in her performance. After the superbowl there were countless claims by the melanin deficient that Beyonce was out. She was no longer held in the graces of white people as she dared have a politically charged performance. At the grammys, a flustered and seemingly apologetic Adele dedicated her win to Beyonce. In a backstage interview she states, “ I felt like it was her time to win,” She said. “What the F__ does she have to do to win album of the year?” A question that other Beyonce fans were probably wondering as well. I think the answer to that is pretty apparent but no one is willing to say it aloud. According to the grammy website,” Entries that meet all eligibility requirements are then voted on by the Academy Voting members, and the results of that vote are the nominations”. A Rolling Stone article stated five reason why Adele won over Beyonce and the overall basis was that Adele was more popular. However, one thing that stuck out with me was this quote, “Although record-industry folks tend to be more liberal than the population at large, they're still heavily white and male. People of color are traditionally better represented in the Grammys than in the Academy Awards – Chance the Rapper did win Best New Artist last night – but it's not hard to envision a campaign similar to #OscarsSoWhite”. An SNL skit would later surface titled, “The day Beyonce turned black.” Poking fun at the fact that many white people didn’t understand her Superbowl performance. The skit had a horror movie trailer theme with a black and white filter. As many white people lamented about the many stars they knew and love being revealed to be black. Although at the time I found this skit to be funny I now see that it highlight’s WEB Du bois’ concept of double consciousness. The idea that black identity is often severed into several parts. Beyonce cannot be a black and American singer. She must pick one. White America does not want a woman of color to be in a position of power and speak out against the injustices that her people face. As I imagine it is incredibly frustrating for her and others like Kaepernick who are either ridiculed or silenced for making political statements. She is stuck at between a rock and a hard place and she decides a path for herself. She is in a position to make a change. She should be allowed to use her platform to speak out about the injustices that are present in America. Unfortunately, America doesn’t seem to be ready for her. As many are expecting, waiting and hoping that she’ll stop yapping and gyrate to ‘Crazy in Love’ just one more time.

http://time.com/4669085/grammys-2017-beyonce-album-of-the-year-adele/

#Beyonce Lemonade blacklivesmatter TomiLahren