Find me on Bluesky!

izzy's playlists!

Kaledo Art
I'd rather be in outer space 🛸
Misplaced Lens Cap

祝日 / Permanent Vacation
Sade Olutola
sheepfilms

Origami Around
Sweet Seals For You, Always
Show & Tell

PR's Tumblrdome
No title available

@theartofmadeline
2025 on Tumblr: Trends That Defined the Year

No title available

❣ Chile in a Photography ❣

pixel skylines
noise dept.
Game of Thrones Daily

Discoholic 🪩
seen from Argentina

seen from Iraq

seen from Singapore
seen from Malaysia

seen from Japan

seen from Malaysia
seen from United States

seen from Malaysia
seen from United States

seen from Canada

seen from India

seen from Türkiye
seen from United States

seen from Italy

seen from Malaysia

seen from Germany

seen from Malaysia
seen from Denmark

seen from Malaysia

seen from Slovakia
@sillimancer
Find me on Bluesky!
Finished reading my first book of the year! I'm trying to write more thorough reviews this year. 52 Book challenge is right on track 💪 I learned a lot about Jesus, but most importantly I learned I don't know anything about Bible at all. And that there is so very much to learn about Bible. SO much.
Daily sketch for Jan 3rd. I was messing around with the charcoal and ink brushes and really wanted to focus on values and shapes, so I only let myself work with black, white, and medium gray.
I added a smidge of yellow to the bg cuz it reminds me of the newsprint I used in art school lmao
so 99% of my art is just done in giant procreate files I use as a daily personal sketchbook and I think I'm just gonna. start posting those? I need to post more art and this is the art I have, so I'm going to give it a try.
I'll tag them #DailySketch for convenience.
I made another Procreate palette inspired by that one Jim Henson photo:
free as always, enjoy!
ko-fi.com/s/070a028922
practicing light and color w/ the new procreate brushes using a reference photo I took yesterday
Album Review: The Life of a Showgirl by Taylor Swift
(approx 2800 words)
I love music. I love listening to music and talking about music. I also love writing, though I've been struggling tremendously with it these past few years. Ever since I left my full-time writing job, I've been looking for some kind of new outlet. I really enjoyed blogging... for other people. But I never had it in me to commit to a niche. I was also very, very tired. I'd been writing nonstop for nearly a decade. I needed a break.
Fast forward to 2025. For the first time in almost 3 years, I felt like writing! I'd even managed to talk myself out of needing a niche, or a posting schedule, or really anything at all other than a willingness to write and post.
One day, while trying to figure out what I could possibly write and post about, Taylor Swift dropped an album called The Life of a Showgirl. I considered listening to it—all I really knew at that point was that it was an album written in reflection of the Eras tour and that Swift's previous album had been unimpressive. It then occurred to me that I hadn't actually listened to THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT. In fact, I hadn't listened to Midnights either.
And so, an idea hatched.
And now, at long last, the review I was originally planning to write before I got distracted writing the other two. Enjoy!
First Impressions:
I'm a little less impressed by the cover art than I expected to be. The shattered mirror-like imagery is interesting, if a little sloppy, and the actual text manages to be both plain and garish. It's supposed to be glittery, I get it, and maybe if the letters have an actual sparkle effect on the physical media, I'd be willing to give it a pass. But in digital form, it just looks like old Microsoft Word Art. Taylor Swift herself is beautiful, partially submerged and struck somewhere between lounging and posing while making eye contact with the viewer wearing a gown made entirely of what look like diamonds. Her expression is difficult to interpret; she looks a bit dead behind the eyes. Perhaps deliberately, her pose reminds me a bit of John Everett Millais's painting Ophelia.
I had originally expected this album to be a happy and triumphant one, given that it was about a rather exciting time in Swift's life. Now that I've listened to TTPD however, I know better. During the Eras tour, Swift was also caught up in a whirlwind of romance we've collectively come to expect from her, full of passion and heartache. I've also since learned that she is painfully aware of her position as one of The Beautiful People and that she has been struggling with her legacy and reflecting on how she got to where she is. In many ways, Taylor Swift is still very much the teenage country sensation from small-town Pennsylvania, but it seems like Swift herself has only recently come to realize that. Speaking from personal experience, I think this might be a side effect of entering your 30s.
I also know that she is now engaged to Travis Kelce, though I don't know where exactly her relationship with him falls on the timeline relative to this album's composition and release. Based on her previous two albums, however, I suspect I will be able to tease out the broad strokes, at least.
To my immense relief, Showgirl only has 12 tracks. The Fate of Ophelia being the first track adds to my suspicion that the cover is some kind of reference. Some tracks I feel I can kind of guess what they are—I'm assuming Ruin the Friendship will be a yearning for love song and that CANCELLED! will be an "I love being the villain" song—and it is thanks to the track "Eldest Daughter" that today I found out Taylor Swift is not an only child. She has a younger brother, Austin, who is three years younger than her. Fascinating. I can only imagine what that dynamic must be like.
My final first impression is that I am very, very excited to see a Sabrina Carpenter feature on the final and titular track, "The Life of a Showgirl". Please, please, please be a stadium pop banger. If I get one song I can dance to, I promise I'll be content with that.
Track-by-Track Analysis:
The Fate of Ophelia: Ophelia is a Hamlet character who quite famously went insane and drowned herself in despair. Swift calls on this imagery. It's an immense relief to hear Taylor Swift singing above the breathy register she's been clinging to for the past two albums. Her singing has improved so tremendously in her 20 years in the business, it seems a shame to not actually use it. At this point I'm so pleasantly surprised that this isn't a bummer ballad that I'm willing to give any of its flaws a pass. Truthfully though, I don't actually think it's that bad. Since I'm picking this up right after TTPD, I can extrapolate that she's singing about Travis Kelce rescuing Swift from her Matty Healy-induced "melancholy" and she's so deliriously happy about it that she's willing to give her entire self to him, regardless of previous promises to herself to swear her loyalty to "me, myself, and I". This might also be because I was just listening to it, but sometimes when Swift is singing the chorus, I can hear a little Florence Welch. I like the slant rhyme of "grave and / fate of" enough that I'm willing to overlook the "tower / power" couplet, which felt hokey. This is my favorite song Taylor Swift has put out since "no body, no crime".
Elizabeth Taylor: This isn't the first time Taylor Swift has made a reference to Elizabeth Taylor, another famous Taylor with a tumultuous (and very public) love life. I find myself once again so excited to hear something that doesn't sound like the last two albums that I'm enjoying the novelty too much to dig much deeper. I get Reputation and maybe 1989 vibes from this, probably from the heavy drums, vocals that are less sung and more spoken (I wouldn't call it rapping but I'm not sure what else to call it) and "yeah I'm mentally ill but I'd be even worse if you broke up with me" attitude (and previously mentioned Elizabeth Taylor reference). I appreciated and had a giggle at "I would trade the Cartier for someone to trust (just kidding)". It's nothing I haven't heard from Swift before.
Opalite: I feel like I can hear almost all the pop music from the past 80 years in this song. The chorus makes me think of The Supremes and ABBA combined with something distinctly 90s I can't quite put my finger on. I wanted this album to be Taylor Swift on an upswing and it sounds like I'm getting exactly what I want. And look! A reference to that younger brother I just learned about today. I was clearly the last person on Earth to find out about him. He's right to call pining for exes "eating out of the trash". They're exes for a reason.
Father Figure: When I first saw this track title, I thought of the George Michael song of the same name, and wondered if they'd be related. The chorus makes it obvious that they are, though it's obvious the relation is more a vague inspiration than any direct reference. Michael's "Father Figure" is a more innocent and somewhat generic love song. The father figure in Swift's song is, presumably, some sort of music industry executive. The song is initially sung from the perspective of this exec, who takes Swift under his wing and does what industry execs do best: exploit labor and churn out money. Swift seems to shift perspective near the end as the power dynamic shifts and Swift is able to declare her independence. It wouldn't be a Taylor Swift album if we didn't have at least one "fuck you, music industry" song. This one at least has an interesting narrative.
Eldest Daughter: I've since learned that the fifth track of a Taylor Swift album is usually her most emotionally vulnerable one and that trend seems to continue here, jumping from the drum-heavy up-tempo hits to a simple piano ballad. The familial references in the title and text and references to her childhood make me wonder if this song is written for her brother, which would be an interesting shift from the usual subjects of her songs. It's also very moving; if someone wrote this song for me, I would be touched. I once again find myself wishing she'd put a little more sauce on the bridge. I expected her to carry the notes higher and feel she stuck the landing a little early. I have a sister myself and I can only imagine what a relief it must be to Andrew to see his sister doing better after years of turmoil. I get a lot of "Never Grow Up" vibes from this, a song that, in retrospect, makes a lot more sense now that I know Taylor Swift has a younger sibling.
Ruin The Friendship: The sound is immediately different from previous Taylor Swift songs, which caught my attention. What I thought was another synth beat might actually be a bass guitar. It's been delightful to hear actual instruments after so much synth. Continuing the reflective tone, Swift takes us back to high school and to a friendship she wishes she'd "ruined" by pursuing her friend romantically. The song is playful but takes a tragic turn at the bridge where we learn this friend is no longer with us. The "should've kissed you anyway" has a new layer of heartache as she whispers it to her late friend's grave. This kind of narrative twist is so common in 90s and 00s country music and I always enjoy seeing it in the wild. This track would break anyone's heart but those who have lost peers will feel an extra twist. For what it's worth, I agree with her advice at the end: you'll always regret not doing something more than you regret doing it.
Actually Romantic: Villain Swift makes her first appearance and, for the first time in a while, I say "villain" affectionately. I had to go to the annotations to figure out the context for this one and it's allegedly about, of all people, Charli xcx? The idea of Taylor Swift feeling flattered (and getting turned on?) by how much another pop girl hates her makes me wonder if maybe the gaylors are onto something. "Actually Romantic" is if "you wanna kiss me so bad it makes you look stupid" were a song. If you'd asked me to list 10 people I thought this song could've been about, I would have guessed 9 men and Kim Kardashian. Although, I guess at the end of the day, Swift's self-admitted affection seems to transcend the boundaries of gender. Even negative attention is attention, I guess.
Wi$h Li$t: This track title reminded me of Ariana Grande's 7 Rings and I wondered if it was going to be some kind of celebration of wealth. We're back to the midtempo synth beats but at least it's for mostly romantic and pleasant reasons, even if Swift does get a little passive aggressive about people wanting different things from her in the verses. I'm not sure her aspirations are any morally better or worse than any of the other aspirations she describes in her song, but I guess it doesn't matter if she ultimately hopes everyone gets what they want. I hope that, too.
Wood: This might be the horniest Taylor Swift has ever been in her music. Would I be wrong to credit Sabrina Carpenter for opening that door? I'm delighted to see her acting her age for once, reveling in the more sensory delights of being in love and being able to set aside, if only momentarily, things and people that don't matter. The innuendos are funny and I guess I'm happy for her finally getting lucky, in every sense of the world. Her priorities are straight and they involve suckin and fuckin. I couldn't be happier for her.
CANCELLED!: It doesn't surprise me that someone who's been embroiled in one scandal or another (running the gamut from legitimate concerns about her empire's resource consumption to the outright stupid offenses of like... dating boys in a way people didn't like) would have something to say about so-called "cancel culture." I am disappointed to see we've left 30-year-old Taylor Swift behind and gone back to high school with another edgy-bordering-on-petulant bass boosted diatribe about how it's okay if you make her the villain because she thinks being the villain is cool. While I concede that not all scandals are created equal, I'm not sure I'd be bragging about being friends with scandalous people. I also have a hard time really believing this Jokerfied Taylor Swift persona when just five songs ago she was singing about how she's not a "bad bitch". Also, I'm sorry if this is how Taylor Swift, but not everyone has bodies in their attic. Most people just keep Christmas decorations and old mementos up there.
Honey: We have another sweet love song on deck. We learn in this track that Swift has a complicated relationship with pet names like "honey" and "sweetheart," a common refrain among women who feel infantilized and dismissed by such epithets. When her lover uses them, however, she knows they're genuine terms of endearment. There's an innocence here that takes me back to Swift's early country songs, stuff like "Our Song" (genuinely one of my favorite Taylor Swift songs), a similarity that's made all the more obvious by the hint of banjo at the end. I don't think Swift does anything new here, necessarily, but it's a sweet song. I can picture high schoolers listening to it and picturing their crushes, hoping they'll find a love like this, too. We should all be so lucky.
The Life of a Showgirl (feat. Sabrina Carpenter): The titular and final track starts with a slower tempo than I was hoping for but we're pulled right into a narrative song about, well, a Showgirl. The song is meant to be a lesson in the dangers and sacrifices involved with fame and fortune, told through the fictional Kitty. Our singer, however, doesn't learn those lessons until she's already trodden so far down the Showgirl path that she can't turn back. Swift has made multiple songs over the past 5 years suggesting that her pop star life has taken more than it's given and, at this point, I'm exhausted by her exhaustion. You're immortally rich, Taylor. Take a vacation. Retire! You can do anything you want! Sabrina Carpenter's talents are essentially wasted here, a staple of Taylor Swift features. I had really hoped this was going to be a more triumphant song about self-actualization borne from struggle. Instead, all I got was "no this all actually sucks, but I sure do like being rich!" Which. Well. Okay. I guess I can't be mad at you for that. The ending sounding like a live performance makes it feel like a setup for a future touring set closer.
Final Thoughts:
I did my best to avoid other people's opinions on this album so I could independently form my own and I'm glad I did. Most of what I saw was negative to a degree of insulting, a verdict I find to be completely unfair now that I've heard the album myself. Showgirl is not Taylor Swift's best album. It has a few flops and ends on a bit of a wet fart relative to its standout tracks like "Actually Romantic" and "Wood". I think "Opalite" is also going to be something of a sleeper hit; it's got that Girl Power factor that middle-aged white women just love (see songs like "Fight Song" by Rachel Platten or Natasha Bedingfield's "Unwritten") and the image of dancing in the rain is a powerful one (if also a bit cheesy).
With its relatively high highs and not-terribly low lows, Showgirl averages out to a good album overall. It was unfortunately not the anthem banger after anthem banger that I wanted, but we almost got there in some places and, after Midnights and TTPD back-to-back, Showgirl was a breath of fresh air. I believe now more than ever that Taylor Swift is one wedding, one honeymoon, and one vacation away from creating her magnum opus. Until then, that title still belongs to 1989.
Final Grade: B
Tracks I Saved:
Opalite
Actually Romantic
Wood
Album Review: THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT by Taylor Swift
(approx. 3700 words)
I'm going to be honest, I wasn't really looking forward to this. THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT was something of a wet fart announcement from an artist I had long since stopped really caring about. Truth be told, I had secretly hoped the Eras tour was going to mark a period of hiatus for Swift, who has been prolific to a point of mania these past few years. New albums, re-recording old albums, the tour, the movie version of the tour. And now this? What could Taylor Swift possibly have left to say other than "I'm tired and need a year off"?
Turns out, she had a lot more to say. 16 songs worth from the initial release but an absurd 31 tracks on the extended edition, which I will not be listening to for this review. Not for free, anyway.
First Impressions:
The cover, like Midnights, is quite plain. The low contrast black and white has a pleasant warmth to it, complemented by the beam of light that drapes over Swift's body as she relaxes on a bed with some of the fluffiest looking pillows I've ever seen. She appears to be in pajamas or some kind of undergarments and her eyes are cropped from the photo, though I can kind of guess what they might look like since I typically only see Taylor Swift make one facial expression in photos. She looks comfortable and a little coquette but also stripped down and minimalist. The album's name is quite faint at the top in a classical serif font, very reminiscent of academia, something I suspect will be a recurring theme in this album.
Several of the tracks have titles that seem to be continuing the self-aware caricaturizing of her common criticisms. Swift's oft-criticized taste in men appears to be on full display with titles like "My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys" and "But Daddy I Love Him". The track "The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived" also jumps out at me; another ex, or another Scooter Braun diss perhaps?
I also notice two features on this album: One with Post Malone and one with Florence + The Machine. Lana Del Rey's feature in Midnights felt lackluster, which leaves me wondering how these new ones will sound.
Only one way to find out, I guess.
Track-by-Track Analysis:
Fortnight (feat. Post Malone): Swift enters the album almost sounding more like Lana Del Rey than herself, drawing syllables out with Del Rey's characteristic dreamy drawl. She refers to herself as a "functioning alcoholic," which I find intriguing. Alcohol has been a recurring theme in every album since Reputation. I've personally never seen someone maintain a healthy or normal relationship with alcohol, so I tend to assume all drinkers tend to have some kind of dependency. Taylor Swift and Post Malone sound good together and it's nice to actually be able to hear Post Malone, suggesting we're a little more comfortable with actual duets now, even if all Malone does is harmonize. My only real struggle with this song was in believing Post Malone knows what a fortnight is. Maybe he thought they were singing about the video game. The meat of the song, another "I miss you" ballad about an ex who appears to be doing better post-breakup than she is, brings nothing new to the table. There is a reference to Florida, suggesting the state will also be a recurring theme.
The Tortured Poets Department: Another mid-tempo breakup song with synths. Groundbreaking. Genius annotations suggest this song is specifically about Matty Healy, the front man of The 1975, who she dated briefly. I wouldn't want to disparage someone who actively struggles with addiction and mental health issues but it is my understanding that Matty Healy is kind of an asshole independent of these things. I find myself wondering what she ever saw in him but I suppose this track clears it up. Taylor Swift is a John Green protagonist and Matty Healy is her quirky and damaged love interest. Their whirlwind relationship is exhilarating and unsustainable. Two broken people who find familiarity and comfort in each other's brokenness. But if there's anything we learned from Midnights, it's that Swift loves love and one person's love is never going to be enough for her. People who are satisfied with the amount of affection and attention they get don't do things like the Eras tour. The drug addict chooses drugs. The work addict chooses work. It was never going to work. No wonder the poets feel tortured.
My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys: Midnights has left me nervous for Taylor Swift's lyrical capabilities and I found my hackles raising when this song started. However, Swift manages to more or less stick the landing with her toy metaphor. Swift objectifies herself for this man she loves because he makes her feel like a real girl. But the fact that she is permanent and unchanging is overwhelming, so he destroys her. It's all very... dare I say it, tortured. I find myself again thinking Swift sounds like Lana Del Rey here, at least during the verses. Maybe I need to listen to more Lana Del Rey to get a better idea of how she actually sounds. Swift being so convinced that her lover will return once she fixes herself feels poignant. Taylor Swift tends to write these songs about relationships she's in but I find it more interesting to apply her lyrics to her relationship with fame and her fans. Midnights was kind of a flop. Did she feel broken by that? Is she feeling the anticipatory grief of no longer being at the top of the pop world?
Down Bad: The Tortured Poets Department but make it a little more sci-fi and a little more horny. If this is also about Matty Healy he must really be something. Or Taylor Swift desperately needs to raise her standards.
So Long, London: Research suggests this song is about Joe Alywn, a British fella Swift apparently dated for seven entire years. I had no idea. She sounds a bit like Lana Del Rey here again, lamenting how hard her boyfriend's mental illness was on her. I understand and sympathize that loving someone who doesn't love themselves is painful... but it's not a good look to write a whole song about it, I fear. I don't know who Joe Alywn is (and don't care, don't explain it to me) but suspect he was also not a saint in the relationship. They were together for a long time but I have a hard time believing Swift "died on the altar waitin' for the proof" that she was loved when she regularly alludes to the fact that she's never loved a man more than she's loved her career. I don't say that as a moral judgment—I actually think it's mature and respectable to admit that, and what a hilarious plot twist for the gaylors would it be to find out their queen was aroace the whole time—but I do say it as a reminder that you can't have it both ways. You don't get to repeatedly choose other people or things in your life and then get mad when your boyfriend doesn't choose you, either.
But Daddy I Love Him: If I was looking forward to any track on this list, it was this one. I can vividly hear the shrill whining of a teenage Swift screaming this to her father about... I dunno, John Mayer? She almost returns to her country roots here both in terms of sound and the theme of a love so explosive it makes Swift irrational. Unlike the deluge of romantic dirges Swift has been pumping out, "But Daddy I Love Him" is hopeful and even joyful. She even jokes about "having his baby" (no she's not "but you should see your faces"), which tickled me. I cannot picture Taylor Swift as a mother to anything but her cats. It's not very TradWife of her, which I hope pisses off conservatives. I was expecting another depressing midtempo synth ballad about how Swift is only capable of loving toxic men, so this was an extremely pleasant surprise. "I'll tell you something about my good name / it's mine alone to disgrace" and "God save the most judgmental creeps / Who say they want what's best for me... / ...thinkin' it can change the beat / of my heart when he touches me" might be my favorite piece of songwriting she's done so far. This felt like a return to form for Taylor Swift; you can clearly see the path from songs like "Our Song" and "Love Story" to this moment and it warmed my heart a little to hear it.
Fresh Out The Slammer: First of all, I'm immediately skeptical that Taylor Swift has any direct exposure to the criminal justice system (copyright lawsuits don't count). Using the American carceral system as a metaphor falls flat right out of the gate for me coming from someone who was born one Y chromosome away from the summit of Mount Privilege. It's not Taylor Swift's fault that we kept chattel slavery alive by siphoning it into our prison system but listening to her half-sing, half-talk about "gray and blue and fights and tunnels" as a metaphor for making the tragic mistake of falling for not one, but two British boys is a stark reminder of her detachment from reality as an aristocrat. It's sort of like the musical equivalent of when the royal family goes on their little tours of The Colonies for photo ops. Had she chosen to sing about a less specific style of imprisonment—maybe something akin to Belle's situation in Beauty and the Beast, or Sadako being trapped in the well—I would have more interesting thoughts. But I'm mostly just annoyed at the ick of Taylor Swift using prison as a costume. Maybe that's a me problem.
Florida!!! (feat. Florence + The Machine): For the first time in the two albums I've listened to for this project, we finally have a feature with someone who gets their own verse. Being a vocal powerhouse that is surely celestial origins, Welch carries this song. Her verse is the best part. Her harmonies are the best musical element. The Pre-Chorus reads like mediocre high school poetry but the song's overall concept is a strong one. Florida is one hell of a drug (so I've heard) and the idea of going there to escape your problems is one that resonates. While this is probably too slow and depressing to be a hit in any Miami club, I can picture the "Florida / is one hell of a drug" snippet has some investment potential as a Tiktok audio.
Guilty as Sin?: I'm not too familiar Taylor Swift's music pre-Reputation outside of the singles but this song's sound reminds me of how her sound evolved as she transitioned from country to pop, around the Red and 1989 albums. You can hear some country-esque sounds in the drums and steel guitar. I don't know anything about keys or chord progressions, but something about the structure of this song also calls to my mind a typical 00s/10s country ballad. According to Tunebat, "Guilty as Sin?" and "Back to December" from Speak Now are both in the key of D major, which might be what I'm picking up. The songwriting is solid here; Swift's struggles with wanting someone she could have but maybe shouldn't is one I'm sure a lot of conventionally attractive people can relate to. The suggestion that she, just once, would like to do what she wants in spite of her critics is an interesting one. She's right to assume that they're just going to "crucify" her anyway. Women in the entertainment industry are uniquely scrutinized, criticized, and belittled in ways their male counterparts are not. Even in the span of this project I've taken multiple pot shots at Taylor Swift and the world is vast enough that inevitably someone out there will think I'm being unfair or cruel. I don't want to have that conversation here (this is my house) but in the broader scheme of things it's a worthwhile conversation to have. Taylor Swift gets bullied on the regular for her dalliances by people who, frankly, have no room to talk. Maybe she should just tell them all to fuck off and do what she wants! I would agree with that right up to the line of dating Matty Healy but, hey, it's not like I know him.
Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?: The title immediately made me think of the Reputation album and its general vibe. One thing Taylor Swift loves to do is play the villain in a naive, "Aw shucks" sort of way. I see that this is the song where the "you wouldn't last an hour in the asylum where they raised me" Tiktok audio came from, a meme I had forgotten about. Another recurring theme of my Taylor Swift analysis is my inability to take her pain completely seriously. I don't think this is a Taylor Swift problem, exactly, as much as it is a side effect of our lives being so completely different that I lose the ability to relate to her. Personally, I think I very much could last an hour the asylum where they raised her, because it is the exact same asylum, I would just have way more money. But in all fairness to Swift, she's not wrong about anything she's saying. Taylor Swift isn't even really a person anymore; she's a product, sanded down and sanitized to have the greatest mass appeal possible. She is a kind of circus animal, a Tilikum in a glittery bodysuit. I find myself thinking of the Black Mirror Episode "Fifteen Million Merits." I think of Daniel Kaluuya's character sitting in the TV studio with that shard of glass pressed to his neck as he talks about how toxic the entertainment industry has become. He rants and raves and threatens suicide and, when the cameras stop rolling, he gets up and goes back to his luxury apartment. Everything he says is true and we should be outraged. But he's only allowed to share his radical ideas in the first place because we all know no one is reforming systems they directly benefit from. I wonder where Taylor Swift went after she recorded this song?
I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can): This was pretty much the song I expected from "But Daddy I Love Him". I don't think it was the intention, but the "Woah, maybe I can't" made me laugh. No shit, Nostradamus! Swift pushing the limit of her lower register was delightful, it's a pity it was wasted on yet another Lana Del Rey-esque ballad defending the honor of a man who most likely does not deserve it. If this were the only song of its kind, I would probably have been much kinder to it. But we've got to be pushing double digits at this point and I am very, very tired.
loml: I always find Taylor Swift's songs about yearning for something she doesn't have to be more satisfying than her lamenting what she does. The stripped down piano-only accompaniment is a nice change from all the synth. "loml" in this case is the web acronym for "love of my life," a term Swift technically never uses in the song. In fact, she puts a twist on it at the very end by referring to her former lover as the "loss of her life," which I suppose is clever. I liked the parallel at the end of the first and second verses, "I felt aglow like this / never before and never since" versus "I've felt a hole like this / never before and ever since". Comparatively, the rest of the lyrics are weaker. I feel like a professional songwriter can do better than the word "un-recall," I dunno. But this song also feels comparatively intimate to other with just the piano, which I think adds something. Editing, Taylor. It's more of a drug than Florida.
I Can Do It With a Broken Heart: This song feels like every Taylor Swift song I've ever listened to combined into one song. You really get the whole Taylor Swift experience here: The romantic, the martyr, the villain (sorry, anti-hero), the comedian, and the actual person all make an appearance. I found the "try and come for my job" line at the end to be funny considering how often Taylor Swift magically appears in the press every time another pop star gets the spotlight for more than two weeks. Swift is playful in this song, dancing and laughing her way through the misery of being left by her partner. This song once again drives home my belief that Taylor Swift desperately needs a sabbatical. Honestly, I doubt she couldn't afford to retire if she truly wanted to. It would be good for the music industry as a whole to have a break from Taylor Swift but I think it would be orders of magnitude better for Taylor Swift herself.
The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived: My expectations that this would be about Scooter Braun were dashed. Glancing at the Genius annotations, I see that the "sparkling summer" Swift is referencing is likely her Eras tour, and that she was dating Matty Healy at the time, so it's likely this song is about (and addressed directly to) him. It's a heartbreaker for sure, reminiscent of the 10-minute release of All Too Well (and probably the original version but I haven't heard it). The gradual build-up of musical elements over the piano really magnifies the barely-contained resentment and ache in Swift's singing, all of which boils over at the bridge. I almost wanted her to take the singing to that next level and channel whatever made her scream in "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me" instead of leaving it in the harmonies. There are violins and bass drums, girl, now is not the time to be crooning. Take a leaf out of Amy Lee's book and let it out!
The Alchemy: Bootleg Lana is back but at least we're in love instead of in grief this time. Judging from the sports imagery, I'm going to assume this is a Travis Kelce song. "Blokes warming benches" sounds like a cheeky reference to the two Brits who most recently broke her heart. I say good for her. The "heroin with an 'e' line" is not my favorite, but mostly because I misread it when skimming the lyrics and thought I was overdue in congratulating Miss Kelce on her upcoming transition. What a way for the gaylors to get what they want. I honestly wish this was the last song of the album. A song about the love story that finally seems to be working out (it's the first to reach betrothal, as far as I know) seems like a really fitting cap on an album that was largely about being tortured by the other loves of her life: Her longest-lasting lover, her most explosive and controversial lover, and the music industry itself.
Clara Bow: If TTPD couldn't end on "The Alchemy", "Clara Bow" is probably the second best choice. True to form, the thing that fascinates me most is Taylor Swift's reputation with her own legacy. It's compelling to see her reflect on things she's been told all throughout her career. Being compared to other women, her desperation to be loved and to be a famous musician and to prove her hometown haters wrong, the fear of her own eventual, inevitable obsolescence. Are people telling young musicians today that they "look like Taylor Swift but—" as a way to bait them into the meat grinder that is the music industry? I find myself thinking of when Chappell Roan got her break and a story she told in an interview about a bunch of other pop stars around her age immediately got in touch with her to offer support and take care of her. I don't know if Taylor Swift was part of that (it wouldn't surprise me if she was) but I find it heartening to know that some kind of pop diva whisper network exists. No one is going to understand that world better than the other people in it. Taylor Swift tends to stand separate from other pop stars in my mind. I wonder how much of that separation is deliberate? I wonder how much of it is self-imposed?
Final Thoughts:
From what I saw, TTPD was Taylor Swift's least popular album to date, so I was not particularly looking forward to this. True to form, this was not Swift's best work. A good half of the tracks are a sonic continuation of Midnights, moody synth and "poor me" lamentations about poor decisions and poorer taste in men. I don't begrudge Taylor Swift for these things and acknowledge that much of what she goes through is, to put it far too mildly, pretty fucked up. Did I need two dozen songs about it? No, not really. But if Taylor Swift needed to write two dozen songs about it, she's certainly well within her right to.
When Kesha put out Rainbow, I was unimpressed for similar reasons. Was there anything particularly bad about the album? No. But it wasn't what I wanted out of Kesha the musician, so I didn't like it. That doesn't mean Kesha shouldn't have published it. Artists should make art for themselves. Whatever Taylor Swift was going through at this point in her life is compelling her to churn out mediocre soft pop like she's running out of time and I say: Let her! If anyone's earned some self-indulgent slop, it's Taylor Swift.
There are some good musical moments in this album. I enjoyed the vocals in "Florida!!!" and "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me" and thought "The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived" was exquisitely produced. But I also know what Taylor Swift is capable of as a musician and songwriter and absolutely none of this is her best work. I cannot even imagine what The Anthology version must be like with twice as many tracks. I have no intention of finding out.
Final Grade: C
Saved Tracks:
None, but I thought "But Daddy I Love Him", "The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived", "I Can Do It With a Broken Heart", and "Clara Bow" were standouts in the album.
Album Review: Midnights by Taylor Swift
(approx. 4000 words)
I don't know a lot about Swifties but here are the two facts I've absorbed over the course of Taylor Swift's long career:
Their enthusiasm borders on a cult-like mania that I find both envious and frightening.
A not insignificant percentage of Swift's fans believe that she is secretly gay.
These so-called "gaylors" became a blip on my radar around the time folklore/evermore came out (I guess something about America's Supreme High Femme in a flannel coat was just a little too butch for some people to handle) but their presence really ramped up with the release of Midnights, specifically the album's first track, "Lavender Haze." It is, in fact, the only thing I ever heard about this album, other than the song's first single "Anti-Hero," the one song I've already heard before this listen and have thoughts about that we will certainly get to.
Given that she has since married a football player, arguably the most heterosexual thing a woman can do, I suspect this theory has aged like milk. But I'll be keeping it in mind while I listen.
First Impressions:
The album is thirteen tracks long (a recurring theme for Swift, who is famously obsessed with the number) and, according to Genius Lyrics, each track is meant to represent a number of "sleepless nights scattered throughout [her] life." As an aside, I will be listening to the original studio album release. I am well aware that Taylor Swift releases a frankly absurd number of different versions of her albums and, to be honest, I don't have the time or patience for all that. If you wanted me to hear those songs, you should have put them on the main album.
The cover art is quite simple, mostly white with the title and track list and a close-up photo of Swift staring into the flame of a Zippo lighter. The concept of "playing with fire" immediately comes to mind, evoking a sense of Swift returning to the more villainous persona she played in her Reputation era. The track list, with titles like "Anti-Hero", "You're On Your Own, Kid", "Vigilante Shit", and "Mastermind" also hint at the possibility of Swift acting dangerously. The track "Sweet Nothing" also catches my eye; normally the phrase referring to kind things said quietly to a loved one is plural, "sweet nothings". Could the use of the singular be hinting at a play on words? The "sweetness" of an absent lover who is giving her "nothing"? Or maybe the lover himself is "sweet" but, ultimately, "nothing" to her?
Without further ado, here is my track-by-track analysis, followed by my final thoughts:
Track-by-Track Analysis
Lavender Haze: It's worth noting that the "lavender haze" Swift is referring to is apparently a reference to a 1950s slang expression used for someone in a dreamy tranquil state, often associated with being in love, which she learned about from the show Mad Men. If you didn't know that, however, I could absolutely understand why the gaylors were calling this song queerbaiting. Is "the 1950s shit" they want from Swift marriage to a man she just wants to fuck or is it the specifically heterosexual aspect she dreads? Unfortunately, all signs point to the former. Sorry, gays. The downtempo beat is an interesting start to the album, setting up the feeling of being up late at night thinking instead of sleeping. It also maintains the continuity I've noticed in Taylor Swift's songs, shifting from bouncier radio pop to a moodier, more mature sound. Reputation with less teeth. It's not a bad sound for Swift, though I'm still getting used to expecting it from her. It's hard for me not to think of her as the Fearless girl, even all these years later. I suspect it's the old cranks like me whose opinion she has been desperately fleeing from all these years, culminating into this current sound. As for the lyrics, there's not really much I can say. Taylor Swift has made a career beating to death the concept of her struggle with love and her ongoing conflicting feelings about various boys she's dated. Dealing with the contemporary dating scene is its own hell; I can sympathize that it must be several orders of magnitude worse when you're America's Pop Princess. I don't think she's said anything here that she hasn't said a thousand times before, but at least she says it in a way that sounds good and has a nice hook. Although, from what I can extrapolate, this lover she's singing about doesn't really seem to care any more about her feelings than the greater public does, so I'm not really sure why she's wasting her time. Maybe she SHOULD try dating other women if someone who doesn't talk to you, notice that you're melancholy, or is more interested in "going viral" and "[getting] it off [their] chest" than they are in like, your feelings. This song also touches on a specific beef I have with Swift about her lamenting being scrutinized. I agree that famous people don't ask for or deserve the extreme levels of depravity and scrutiny they get on a daily basis. But, like... if you don't want people paying such close attention to you, maybe just release your albums once?
Maroon: We again have another Taylor Swift song that sounds perfectly fine without really doing anything new or interesting. "Maroon" is, at best, a thoughtful continuation of Swift's recurring interest in the color red. I don't know how something can be "so scarlet [it's] maroon" since those are very much different colors, but I've noticed that Swift will sometimes sacrifice a lyric making sense if it sounds good enough. Unfortunately, thanks to poets like Gerard Manley Hopkins, this is considered a legitimate strategy in writing poems and lyrics. It's a tough sell for me, though, and the scorned lover angle is such well-trodden ground at this point that I find myself rolling my eyes and checking my watch. There's also just something about Taylor Swift saying curse words that feels so disingenuous to me. This could just be another side effect of my mental image of Taylor Swift having aged at 1/4 the speed of the actual artist, but it reminds me too much of the student body president trying to appeal to her cooler friends by using their cool kid words.
Anti-Hero: This is the only song I've heard from this album before listening and, for all my complaints about it, I do still like it on the whole. It's always interesting to see Taylor Swift acknowledge her own flaws since much of her marketability is her seemingly universal appeal. By and large, though, it feels more tongue-in-cheek than genuinely reflective. "You all made me a monster so I guess I'm a monster now." It reminds me very much of "Look What You Made Me Do," a phrase abusers like to throw around after abusing their victims. I don't think Taylor Swift is as toxic or evil as her louder detractors think but I also think she is imperfect and repeatedly hammering on about how she knows she's problematic gets unsatisfying fast. When people do wrong or act poorly, I don't want them to self-flagellate. I want them to do better next time. But that requires a level of emotional maturity I'm not convinced Taylor Swift has, through no real fault of her own. They say we get mentally trapped in the age we suffered the worst trauma and I can't think of anything more traumatizing than child stardom, so it makes sense to me that Taylor Swift has been stuck in high school for the past 20 years. I'm white enough to always appreciate a lyrical miracle moment and think the pre-chorus is great and the hook of the chorus was destined for Tiktok audio virality. I agree that it can be exhausting to root for the anti-hero. Unfortunately, this song also suffers from some egregious sprung rhythm lyric choices that I just cannot forgive. The "sexy baby" line has genuinely driven me to distraction. I've been told the "tea time" thing is a Kardashian reference, which I find shocking. This album came out a full five years after everything that went down in the Reputation era. Are they still fighting? Or has Swift just not moved on? Either answer is disappointing. This is still the most played song on the album according to Spotify, suggesting it's the best, which I find disheartening since I still have 10 more tracks to go.
Snow on the Beach (feat. Lana Del Rey): I'm going to be honest, I don't really know Lana Del Rey's music that well, but I know enough that I knew right away that her voice was going to mesh well with Taylor Swift's, and I'm pleased to say I was right. Del Rey's voice gets a little lost in the mix, making it sound more like she's just an echo of Swift's voice. I find this to be an apt metaphor for Swift's music career in recent years. Shrewdly releasing multiple versions of albums to dominate the charts, timing album updates to coincide with releases and marketing campaigns from competing pop musicians, it is almost as if Taylor Swift cannot cope with the idea of a music industry without her front and center in it. She can't even bear to be anything but the main character in her duets. The song itself is a nice and sweet song about falling in love. It reminds me of a Hallmark Christmas movie, in some ways. I can picture two of the most heterosexual people I've ever seen chastely kissing to the chorus of this as snow falls on the beach thanks to a Christmas miracle/deus ex machina. Again, it lacks substance to such a degree that it's hard to have anything thoughtful to say. It's fine.
You're On Your Own, Kid: For a moment, I'm transported back to that Fearless era of Taylor Swift, naively thinking a man is going to love her as much as she loves him. It's bittersweet, knowing she's so much older now. I certainly can relate to the feeling of having come so far in my personal development only to still be surprised to find there are parts of me that haven't changed at all. There can be something profoundly painful and healing about uncovering a stone and finding an unhealed inner child you didn't know about beneath it. The blood-soaked gown near the end is an interesting reference and makes me think of Carrie White, from Stephen King's Carrie. She was also a naive young girl desperate to be loved by someone, anyone, but who was also on her own. I wonder if Taylor Swift feels like Carrie? A social outcast with a special power? Is Swift's career just her version of Carrie's destructive march through her hometown at the end of the book? If Anti-Hero was cheeky self-reflection-but-not-actually, "You're On Your Own, Kid" is a far more earnest look at how Swift genuinely thinks about herself. Even in her 30s, she's still that kid who didn't get invited to sleepovers. Of course she can't handle the thought of anyone in the world ignoring her. And now she has more than enough money and power to ensure that nobody is ever able to ignore or exclude her again.
Midnight Rain: This song's intro immediately reminded me of another Taylor Swift song and I had to stop everything to find out which one it was. It was "All You Had to Do Was Stay" from the 1989 album. "Midnight Rain" feels like a more mature, more somber version of that same song, but from the other perspective. "Stay's" singer is the one who got hurt, while "Midnight Rain's" protagonist is the one doing the hurting. The songs are in F and C major, respectively, neighbors in the Circle of Fifths, so it at least sort of makes sense that I thought they sounded similar. I think it's more that I latched onto that sudden high note in the chorus and was like "hey, she's done that before!" It's interesting to see Swift take on the role of the scorner instead of the scorned in a relationship. It sounds like she's talking about a relationship that happened much earlier in her career and she chose the career over her then-lover. The gamble obviously worked out in her favor, yet her decision also clearly keeps her up some nights. Even if we don't regret our choices, per se, it can sometimes be hard not to think back on them and wonder "what if?" Swift locks in on that feeling, reminiscing on a love story that could have been, except it never could have been. Of all the tracks we've covered so far, this one feels the most on theme of what Swift thinks about in the middle of the night when she can't sleep.
Question...?: We have another "what if" kind of song but this time Swift is directly addressing her ex-lover with questions. Taylor Swift is returning to form here as the one whose heart was broken. It's clear this person had an impact on her; I found the lyric "you painted all my nights a color I've searched for since" to maybe be her most evocative line so far. It fascinates me every time Taylor Swift brings up her gripes with traditional gender roles when nothing about her feels particularly feminist. Everything I know about Taylor Swift leads me to believe that the only woman whose liberation she's ever really cared about is her own. Maybe she has a philanthropic and activist streak I don't know about.
Vigilante Shit: "Vigilante shit" is reminiscent of Reputation and I wouldn't be surprised if the night of reflection this song comes from happened around that time. She writes about some pretty specific stuff, helping a woman divorce her husband and reporting a man's crimes to the FBI. Genius annotations suggest these could be allusions to the Kanye West and Kim Kardashian situation or to Scooter Braun. The "dressing for revenge" hook is fun but it does maybe get a little repetitive, given the song is under three minutes long and she sings it five times. But docking a pop song for being too repetitive feels like a fundamental misunderstanding of the genre so I'm willing to give it a pass. I am surprised that this is one of the lesser-played tracks according to the Spotify numbers; I thought the girlbosses would bolster those numbers more. I'm a little disappointed, girlbosses.
Bejeweled: Terrible news, I was misinformed, I have heard this song before. I watched the music video. I have absolutely no memory of said music video but I do remember thinking this song also suffered from that Gerard Manley Hopkins-style of "it's okay if it reads weird as long as it sounds good" lyricism. "Didn't notice you walkin' all over my peace of mind / in the shoes I gave you as a present" is a mind-boggling line that works as long as you don't think about it too long. "Don't put me in the basement when I want the penthouse of your heart" is one of those metaphors that works I guess, but suggests maybe Swift has already written all of her better ones and now she's scraping the bottom of the barrel for whatever vibes when put up against a synth beat. Truthfully, I can't tell if Swift wants to save this relationship or drop it entirely by the end of this song. Maybe she can't tell, either. Love can do that to a person. This song reminds me of "Anti-Hero" in that it sounds good and stands out among the other tracks with its incredibly hook-y chorus. But if I read the lyrics too closely or think about them too long I just get mad. Taylor Swift may polish up real nice but this song definitely needed some more time under the buffer.
Labyrinth: In a fascinating reversal, this track does seem to be lyrically well-edited and has way fewer metaphors thrown at the wall to see what sticks. We get another intimate look in Swift's mind as she falls in love, presumably after a recent and painful breakup. We see that she didn't want or anticipate falling so hard so fast, something I find a little surprising given Taylor Swift's entire music career and love life, but her cautious optimism is so earnest that it's kind of sweet. The extra drums and voice altering effect near the end was a turn-off for me; I think it added some artificiality to what was, up to that point, a pleasantly real song. This is like the anti-"Bejeweled" for me where the lyrics are good but the sound is lackluster. She really can do it all!
Karma: To my surprise, I have also heard this song before and just didn't realize it. I've never listened closely, though, just Tiktok clips and stuff. Listening to it now, I assume this song is also about Scooter Braun and his nonsense. I am of the controversial opinion that the people who write and perform the songs should own the rights to the songs, so I have nothing but animosity for Scooter Braun, and if Taylor Swift wants to make an entire album that's just a giant middle finger to him, I support her without question or judgment. I don't particularly mind any of her descriptions of karma here, except maybe "flexing like a goddamn acrobat" which just feels out of place, even though I get she means "flexing" in the less literal sense. Of her three peppier songs so far ("Anti-Hero" and "Bejeweled" being the other two), "Karma" is the best final product. I have a very hard time believing that Taylor Swift "keeps [her] side of the street clean," however, given how often she's patient zero of controversy and drama.
Sweet Nothing: Slowing down again for another romantic ballad, "Sweet Nothings" is another peek into Swift's actual inner world and her struggle to balance her public persona with her private human self. Her lover in this song is not another obstacle but a balm for her weary soul and she finds herself occupied with the affection he has for her. I didn't grow up with many positive romantic relationship models; it wasn't until my mom met my stepdad that I got to see a healthy and loving relationship for the first time. I've seen firsthand the transformative experience genuine love can be for someone and I'm not surprised that being nice to Taylor Swift is all it really takes for her to become obsessed. I relate a little too deeply to that sentiment, in fact.
Mastermind: Rounding out the album with "Mastermind," a song about Swift admitting that she strategically courted the lover she's singing about (but it's okay because he knew the whole time and didn't care). We again find ourselves up against some questionable lyricism: rhyming "groundwork" and "clockwork" was weak but forgivable, but rhyming "mastermind" and "mastermind" was unimpressive, to put it charitably. Overall, "Mastermind" an interesting song in the sense that Swift is regularly accused of thinking strategically in her career, doing things like carefully timing releases or stepping into the political sphere only when it bolsters her reputation. Through this lens, the bridge is especially telling and reaffirms this while also explaining the reason: "No one wanted to play with me as a little kid / So I've been scheming like a criminal ever since / To make them love me / and make it seem effortless." My friends and I watch some competition reality shows like Project Runway and RuPaul's Drag Race, and often the most controversial contestants are the ones who "play the game" and put themselves first. We're not all put on this Earth to make friends and I can respect Swift for admitting it. But I find myself wondering if she genuinely believes this about herself or is she just saying it because it's what she thinks we want her to say? Does anyone know the authentic Taylor Swift? Does that person even exist anymore? Or did that Taylor Swift die the day the Taylor Swift we have now internalized that people liked her more as a singer than as a person? What must that do to a middle schooler?
Final Thoughts:
I would call Midnights one of Taylor Swift's more lackluster entries in her robust discography. The songs themselves are a series of inoffensive but unimpressive synth beats and Swift's lyrics leave a lot to be desired. This was my first time really close reading her lyrics and I have to say, if I didn't know any of her other work, I probably wouldn't go looking for more after what I got from this album. If anything went well here, it was Swift's vocals; I enjoy her time spent in the lower registers of her voice and her breathy ballad voice is enjoyable to listen to. She's come a long way from her screaming country days. I am still not surprised that this album has all but faded from people's memories. There are quite literally dozens of better Taylor Swift songs out there than anything you'll find on Midnights.
Swift clearly had a vision and executed it faithfully but the individual tracks are by and large not her best work. Most of her songs reiterate stories and messages we've heard several times before. Even when she sounds good, she sacrifices good lyrics to get there, which is disappointing. The only real novelty are in songs like "You're On Your Own, Kid" and "Mastermind" where we see Swift struggling with why she is the way that she is in ways I haven't seen before. Midnights offers a unique perspective into Swift's true inner thoughts about herself, her relationships, and her career, and I found that fascinating and compelling enough in its own way to a degree that I almost didn't care that the album as a whole was kind of mid. There were just enough flashes of insight to keep me listening.
Before Midnights, when I thought of Taylor Swift, I pictured a woman who is probably nice and maybe even genuinely kind, hard-working, and who obviously has a passion and affection for her craft and for the pop music industry as a whole. But I also picture someone who, having grown up in the duplicitous comfort of the spotlight, simply doesn't know how to cope without it, to her detriment. Taylor Swift has, by her own admission, ruined relationships, burned bridges, cause controversy, and made enemies while clawing her way to the top of the pop music food chain. Midnights is my first time encountering a Taylor Swift who is really wrestling with the things she's done and whether it was worth it. Maybe Midnights is her way of trying to explain herself to critics, detractors, and exes. She's not apologizing, necessarily, or planning to change her ways any time soon. And maybe she doesn't even have to change; to paraphrase a point she made in her Lover album, would we even be picking her apart for centering herself and her career if she wasn't a woman?
I'm only two years younger than Taylor Swift. I also find myself reflecting on the path I took to get where I am now. I was also excluded and alienated as a child, albeit for probably very different reasons. But, instead of finding something I could do to make people like me, I opted to fade completely into the background and disappear from the real world entirely. Taylor Swift has fame and fortune and is the biggest American pop star of the 21st century, stumbled her way through at least half a dozen relationships, while I opted for obscurity and solitude. But we also had wildly different access to resources. Taylor Swift had money growing up that I did not. If I'd been in her place, would I have taken that path, too? Would the spotlight have done to me what it's done to her? Is there a timeline where I'm writing my own Midnights album? Taylor Swift has established herself as a sort of American princess; she stands apart as her own thing while simultaneously being all of us. She became what we needed her to be and now we hate her for it. But are any of us really any better than her? Isn't Taylor Swift just the grindset personified? Isn't she just American exceptionalism given form?
She is an icon and I am a nobody. I wonder which one of us is happier? I think the answer would surprise both of us.
Final Grade: C
Tracks I Saved:
None, but I thought the standout tracks were "You're On Your Own, Kid" and "Karma" and am unsurprised that "Anti-Hero" and "Bejeweled" were the other two major hits.
I set a goal for myself to post 3 new art posts this week and this is the third! I had so much fun doing that Yuna piece that I wanted to try another painting in an hour.
I also have an insane crush on Jon Batiste right now. I keep getting fed videos of him on Youtube and his musical knowledge and skills are breathtaking. Just incredible. I'd give anything to take piano lessons with him.
speedpaint of my favorite scene from FFX
my daughter my angel my babygirl
Art fight revenge on @sillimancer! Conor and Niamh 💯
Meeting on the Turret Stairs (Peasantverse Version) - for @transthadymacdermot on Art Fight
It's almost 6 in the morning and I am deliriously tired and not 100% this is fully polished and publishable but if I don't submit this today I never will! 22 hours went into this! Nothing feels real anymore!
I'm pretty proud of it and I'm glad I managed to get it up before Art Fight freaking ended. I hope you like it, Jory! Happy Art Fight!
set a goal to finish my art fight painting tonight and FAILED but I did make a lot of progress and I'm 99% sure I'll finish and post it tomorrow night. in the meantime please enjoy this cool-down Duo GundamWing I was rushing to finish before my iPad's battery died
I am working on Something
Progress Has Been Made
I am working on Something
