Limericks poem about music

This is a warning from a Muslim man who may or may not know about hiphop artists. Alhamdulilah Allah swt has protected me from this sin, but I do want to analyze it to show the evil behind it.
I take two hiphop sheytans as example;
Please try to ignore their names, do not search for it yourselves. I do not want to get the sin of pushing people in haram. This is exclusively meant to educate and warn fellow Muslims who see music as something light.
Alright;
K.lamar and Dr.ak.e, I even hate spelling their names as they corrupt many or our men, so I say K or D after this;
K, is known for being an intelligent rapper. People trust him and he speaks a lot about god. This man has wore a "Isa" suit, based on Isa from the white man perspective.
What I noticed was after a fight he had with D, they released haram poems on music, where they were backbiting each other, and making up lies that people took.
When this happens apparaat K won from D, who is the largest sheytans poemsayer on the globe. A lot of people started saying I converted to K.
The combination of K, using Christian attributes and influencing people to follow him for weeks while they are having this fight with K.
Now D, is even worse how his "followers" see him. They call him the 6God, they have alters and tattoos of him, they defend him like we defend our most precious. He also plays gambling every day, talks about how many girls he has commited zina with. And makes songs that confuse women in what love is.
All while singing about murder of minorities. He also happens to be half Jewish, and is known for stealing people's songs.
If this is no idolation, I don't know what is. And it is right Infront of their faces.

A Bingo card made entirely from titles by Ursula K. Le Guin!
Some quick background: A little over a year ago I decided I would read everything I hadn’t yet read by Ursula K. Le Guin, and in order of publish date. This includes her novels; her story, essay, and poetry collections; children’s and picture books; chapbooks; and more. Literally everything I could identify that she published, I wanted to include it -- over 100 pieces of writing in total!
I’ve been doing it a little slowly so I'm still going strong, but I am bittersweetly nearing the end. Next up on my list is Lavinia , and I am incredibly excited to read her last novel. I haven’t been updating it as much as I’d like, but if you’re interested in the list I’m reading through you can find it here.
Anyway, since I’ve spent more than a year completely immersed in Le Guin’s work, after this year’s Bingo card came out I began to notice how well some of her books fit the themes, so then I decided to take it a little further and create a Bingo card exclusively with her work. 😀 I know this wouldn't actually be acceptable, since you can't use an author more than once, but I thought it'd be fun to show how expansive her bibliography is. So, without further ado:
https://preview.redd.it/9ytumeo01p1d1.png?width=1077&format=png&auto=webp&s=303c8774442b2fed120aecb0cf03f0461bae1b5c
My main focus was on having no repeats (although I still ended up having one, unfortunately–maybe someone can remind me of a book I’ve missed that also fits for either Dark Academia or Eldritch Creatures), so other books may be a better fit than the ones I’ve chosen for individual themes. But, hopefully this will inspire someone to pick up one of Le Guin’s works for a Bingo square this year. 🙂
The squares/justification:
First in a Series: Orsinian Tales Of course A Wizard of Earthsea and Rocannon's World also fit. Orsinian Tales is a short story collection set in a fictional European country. Her novel Malafrena follows and is also in this setting.
Alliterative Title: The Word for World is Forest Also fits: The Water is Wide, though it’s just a short story.
Under the Surface: The Tombs of Atuan Probably my second favorite Earthsea novel, or maybe tied with Tehanu, and much of it takes place in the titular tombs, underground.
Criminals: Malafrena Minor spoilers, but the main character gets arrested for political sedition. Also, in the novella Old Music and the Slave Women the main character also gets arrested.
Dreams: The Lathe of Heaven The main character’s dreams can alter reality. Written somewhat as a tribute to Philip K. Dick, this is a great choice if you’re a fan of his work.
Entitled Animals: The Eye of the Heron Various short stories also fit, as well as the collection Buffalo Gals and Other Animal Presences.
Bards: Gifts The story partially centers on the main character’s desire to be a storyteller and his journey. The second book, Voices, perhaps would fit this even stronger, but I’m using it for another square.
Prologues and Epilogues: Worlds of Exile and Illusion The short story “Semley’s Necklace” is the prologue to Rocannon's World, or in the recent Tor Essentials reissue it appears simply as “The Necklace”
Self-Published or Indie Publisher: Cheek by Jowl, from Aqueduct Press Depending on your definition, there’s actually a fair amount of Le Guin’s work that’s only been indie-published. She has a few titles through PM Press, Tin House, and others.
Romantasy: The Beginning Place Probably would be considered a very light-on-the-romance romantasy, but it’s probably her book with the most romance, besides Very Far Away from Anywhere Else which isn’t speculative at all.
Dark Academia: A Wizard of Earthsea I don’t know how well this fits the aesthetic. I could argue both ways, so I’ll say it does. 😉 The wizard school is the main part of the book, and I think this is the most academically-inclined of her books. The Dispossessed may slightly fit, but it’s more that the main character is an academic rather than the book centering on academia, if that distinction makes sense.
Multi-POV: Always Coming Home Set up as a sort of collection of works found in the future about a society in the (future time’s) distant past (but our future). Features several stories with different POVs. Searoad also works for this.
Published in 2024: Collected Poems, from Library of America. So this one is possibly cheating. While most of this is a reprint, there are 68 previously-uncollected poems, so it at least partially counts! 😅 And some of her poems are SFF.
Character with a Disability: Voices One of the main characters is physically disabled from torture he endured before the book takes place.
Published in the 1990s: A Fisherman of the Inland Sea Books that also fit: Tehanu, Four Ways to Forgiveness, Unlocking the Air and Other Stories, two Catwings books, three poetry collections, and many novellas, short stories, etc.
Orcs, Trolls, and Goblins: A Ride on the Red Mare’s Back In this charming picture book the main character comes across a troll.
Space Opera: Paradises Lost A novella that takes place on a generation ship.
Author of Color: Selected Poems of Gabriela Mistral, translated and with commentary by Le Guin. One thing that’s been fun about my read-through of Le Guin is being absolutely delighted by her translations. Not only because I get to discover authors I otherwise wouldn’t, as well as discover some of her own favorites, but because of what it reflects on Le Guin. She wasn’t fluent in Spanish but loved this poetry so much she took the time to meticulously translate the poems, getting input from friends and acquaintances. Anyway, many of these poems are speculative and I loved Le Guin’s commentary.
Survival: The Farthest Shore Another one that’s cheating a bit, because only a small portion of the novel is focused on survival but it is a rather memorable part.
Judge a Book By Its Cover: The Language of the Night This one is entirely subjective of course, and I probably would’ve used The Left Hand of Darkness if I wasn’t using it for another square, but I do absolutely love the new cover this reissue got. And it’s a fantastic book of nonfiction on SF&F!
Set in a Small Town: Searoad This entire novel/mosaic of stories takes place in a small coastal town.
Five SFF Short Stories: The Wind’s Twelve Quarters Le Guin has over a hundred short stories and nearly a dozen collections to choose from, but I chose this one because it has my favorite short story of hers: “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas.”
Eldritch Creatures: A Wizard of Earthsea Slight spoilers: here’s an uncanny/mysterious/etc. shadow being that is a main antagonist and is, at least initially, seemingly beyond mortal understanding.
Reference Materials: Tales from Earthsea In addition to containing several short stories set in Earthsea, there’s also a map and “A Description of Earthsea” that has various reference materials about the cultures, languages, etc. of Earthsea. Always Coming Home is also a perfect choice for this square.
Book Club or Readalong Book: The Left Hand of Darkness It was a book club selection here: https://www.reddit.com/Fantasy/comments/n2lfc8/classics_book_club_the_left_hand_of_darkness_is/
~~~
And there we have it! So, sure, a few of these are slightly cheating, but mostly this was just a fun exercise and an excuse to say: please read Ursula K. Le Guin, she’s incredible. 🙂

Hey there,
You have hereby entered my post so feel free to read it and if any of this sounds good to you feel free to message me (I am sure if you are an interesting person we will get along well, yay).
I am from Germany so my timezone is the timezone of germany!
To get the most painful thing out of the way, if you hate math or physics, that'd be a big bummer, because they are my two main passions and I don't think I would get along with you if you did not like them, I apologize :(.
So anyways a bit of information about me: As you have probably read from the title, I am a 17 year old guy from the GMT +1 timezone which means if it is midnight for you, its maybe not midnight for me, i dont know, anyways.
I have a lot of interests so I am sure some of yours will be covered by mine and I would love to hear about your interests and what you do in life, because learning about other people is f u n.
My interests include but are not limited to (sounds like an ad slogan, which i mean, this sort of is):
-Physics, Maths, I like both of them -Poetry, I write poems - Reading, I read a bit - Philosophy, metaphysics in particular - Guitar, I like guitar - History, I like history - Movies, series, romance in particular for movies, for my favorite movies you will have to message me - Filmography and music in general are really exciting subjects, if you know anything about that give me info - Learning about other peoples interests - Journalism (I like to do deep dives into various topics)
What I am not particularly interested in is food, I just eat. Thats it, really. I dont know why I mentioned that but whatever its there now.
For all of the people out there that like to know what music I always listen to:

• The Beatles, I love them
• Nirvana, I love them, not everything from them, but I love them

For Nirvana and The Beatles I also really love their history - Queen, because of course - RHCP, they just make good music I guess
My favorite songs are - A day in the life - Bohemian Rhapsody - The man who sold the world (Not the Nirvana cover but the original David Bowie song, you need to listen to it, its wonderful. Dot.)
Also if you can it would be nice for you to write a little bit about why you messaged me, what your interests are or something becuase I find it suprisingly difficult to respond to something such as "hey" or something similar that isnt really a conversation starter or introduction. That would be nice, yay :D
If any of that sparked your interested and you read all that stuff, feel free to message me, thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

Upstaged by Marlon Brando
I thought I had the talent to be an actor. A mercurial classmate gave me second thoughts.
By Alan ShayneMay 20, 2023 Marlon Brando photographed sitting on a chair and holding a book in 1946. Photograph by Cecil Beaton I was eighteen, living in New York, and trying desperately to get work as an actor. It was 1943. I had been drafted, and the plan was to do my time, then study with the help of the G.I. Bill. I’d spent a summer doing Shakespeare but had just been fired from a production where I played a gross, blustering football star. I was a polite boy from Brookline, Massachusetts, and I just couldn’t work myself into the character: smacking men on the back, smearing a chocolate bar on my camel-hair coat. I realized that I had to learn the technique of acting. Everything I’d done so far was instinctive.
The day came for my physical. I went through the routine like an automaton, distancing myself from the hundreds of young men who stood self-consciously in their underwear. One of the doctors took a long time examining my ears. “Perforated eardrums,” he said.
I was free. I got a scholarship at the New School for Social Research, which had a prestigious drama workshop. On my first day, the registrar gave me my schedule: Theory of the Theatre, Acting, March of the Drama, Movement, and Makeup. I signed papers all morning, and then she took me to my group, which was already in session. Ten students were seated at small tables in front of standing mirrors, applying cosmetics to their faces. They stopped and stared as I walked in.
“Alan is joining your class, and I hope you’ll make him feel at home,” the registrar said.
Several boys got up to shake my hand; the girls said hello. One extremely handsome boy, who had drawn a line from the center of his forehead down to his chin, and who had made up half his face in garish war paint, walked over to me. I put out my hand, but he glared and walked out the door. Everyone giggled, and the registrar said, “Don’t mind him. That’s just Marlon trying to get attention.”
One of the boys lent me some makeup, and I sat applying it, looking in the mirror. I wondered if I’d made a mistake. After all, I had experience in a touring company, in summer stock. I’d put on makeup dozens of times. No, I thought, I’ve got to study—that crazy boy with the war paint had just brought me down.
Stella Adler, the most important acting teacher in the country, was coming to lead a class. I was terribly excited. She had been with the Group Theatre, the pioneering New York drama collective, and had actually studied with Konstantin Stanislavski, the originator of Method acting. I had been reading his book “My Life in Art” as if it were the Bible, but I still couldn’t make sense of the Method and how to do it. I was sure Stella Adler would teach me.
She was a half hour late, but no one seemed surprised. Everyone had been talking, sprawled on folding chairs or perched on a raised platform that took up one side of the room. Suddenly, it was quiet. The students shifted their positions and looked toward the double doors, like animals sensing an approach.
There was a waft of expensive perfume, and Miss Adler appeared. Hands rushed to take her umbrella, her bag, her fur coat. “Darlings,” she said, kissing and hugging the students closest to her. They guided her into an armchair, and she reached above her head. “What do you think of my chapeau?” she asked. It was a frothy black cap from which feathers danced whenever she moved. A girl said unctuously, “It’s beautiful, Miss Adler.” She was ignored as Miss Adler shed a suit jacket that revealed a filmy satin blouse. She looked at me. “You must be the new boy,” she said. I felt her eyes peel back the layers of my clothes. “Yes, Miss Adler,” I said. She reached out her hand, and I stumbled over to take it. “I hope you’re very talented,” she said. I stood awkwardly as she looked me over. “Sit down, darling,” she said, and I staggered back to my seat.
For half an hour, she discussed her clothes with the class. “Do you really think this suit is more becoming than the one I wore last week?” Then she listened to everyone’s comments about whether she was better in green or in blue. Finally, she said, as if we had delayed her, “Let’s get to work. Marlon, you lazy boy, get in that chair.”
Marlon hadn’t turned up in any of my other classes, but I had seen him sitting in the hall, playing bongo drums, surrounded by a coterie of admirers. He made a point of not looking at me. One of the students told me that his last name was Brando. The rumor was that he was being kept by a rich, older man and that he had a girlfriend named Blossom Plum.
The class watched as Marlon slumped across the room and fell into a folding chair. He looked as though he had crossed the desert without water. “Now, Marlon, peel an apple,” Miss Adler said. Marlon pantomimed the knife slipping under the skin, then began to peel. He did it so convincingly that it seemed to be in one long piece that kissed the floor. “Now, Marlon, I’m going to say some words to you, and I want you to react accordingly,” Miss Adler said. “Cold . . . hot . . . hungry . . . tired . . . depressed.” I couldn’t believe my eyes. Marlon continued to peel the apple, but each time he heard a word he seemed to change. The metamorphosis was nearly imperceptible, but he actually became cold or hot or hungry. I thought, My God, I’ll never be able to do that. The class applauded. Marlon slumped back to his chair.
“Our time is up,” Miss Adler sighed. “Now listen. I believe that every actor should be able to do something in addition to acting—like singing or dancing or telling a story. So next time, I want you all to come in with a story, or a poem, or whatever, and perform it as if you were in a cabaret. Is that clear?” There were murmurs of agreement, and then a shuffle of chairs as actors rushed to help Miss Adler with her coat. I sat for a moment in my seat. I knew what I would do: my rendition of “The Devil and Daniel Webster,” the short story by Stephen Vincent Benét, for which I’d won a speaking prize my senior year in high school. I’d show them Marlon wasn’t the only talented one.
The next class with Miss Adler had the palpable charge of opening night. No one would tell anyone what they were going to do. It was all a surprise.
After a show of hands, Miss Adler chose a lanky, blond girl to go first. I had learned her name was Elaine Stritch and that her uncle was high up in the Catholic church, in Chicago. She was wearing a trainman’s overalls and her hair was pulled back. She sat on the floor and strummed her guitar, singing in a haunting, simple voice: “I wonder as I wander out under the sky, how Jesus the Saviour did come for to die.” The class didn’t wait to gauge Miss Adler’s response. Everyone applauded loudly.
I waved my hand in front of Miss Adler’s face. “The new boy seems very eager,” she said. “All right darling, you go next.”
I stepped up onto the platform and was relieved to see that Marlon had left the room. I felt as if I were performing in front of the Queen and her courtiers. It had been two years since I had won the speaking prize, but I remembered every word of the Benét story. I was nervous in the beginning, but I felt a new authority as I acted out several different parts, all with different accents and personalities. I told the story of the Devil’s battle with Daniel Webster to possess a man’s soul. I grew more and more impassioned. I felt transported to the New England farm where the story took place, and I became very moved when Webster finally won at the end. I had hardly finished when Miss Adler’s voice trumpeted, “Excellent!” and the class applauded. I went to my seat feeling a camaraderie with the others for the first time.
As soon as I sat down, Miss Adler gestured in my direction. “Now, let’s not be confused that what he did was acting,” she said. “He told a story and put on voices for the different characters. That’s all right for cabaret, which was the assignment, but we mustn’t mix it up with real acting.” Everyone agreed. I didn’t see why it was necessary to diminish my performance in that way.
There was a sudden flurry of activity. The curtains on the platform were drawn and the lights went out. I could make out one of the actors dropping the arm on a record. As the music began, the actor rushed over and pulled the curtains. Standing in the center of the stage, in a pool of light, was a gorgeous woman in a velvet evening dress and long white gloves. The class gasped—it was Marlon in a blond wig. As Judy Garland began to sing—“Zing! Went the strings of my heart”—Marlon began to lip-synch. I realized the record was on at twice the speed so that the sound was comic, as if Marlon had Betty Boop’s voice. The class went to pieces. The students screamed and applauded; several of them slid off their chairs and rocked with laughter on the floor. Through it all, Marlon played it straight. Miss Adler collapsed in her chair. “The Devil and Daniel Webster” had been completely forgotten.
The cabaret incident was the last time I saw Stella Adler. She won a role in a play called “Pretty Little Parlor,” and coaxed her brother Luther into taking over the class. He had also been in the Group Theatre and was a renowned actor, having appeared many times on Broadway. He was in his forties, stocky and short, though he wore lifts in his shoes. He was all business but very warm and helpful. I was finally going to learn the Method that was beginning to be the basis of all good acting.
On his first day, Mr. Adler gave us an exercise in improvisation: we were all to be chickens in a barnyard. We would hear on the radio that war was declared, and we had to react as chickens—to decide whether we were married, leaving our chicken families to go off to war, or whether we were single and awaiting the draft. I looked around. Students started clucking as they moved on their knees toward each other. Some of the girls grabbed boys and acted as if they were their husbands. I had always been uncomfortable with improvisation, so I decided that I was a loner who didn’t like the other chickens. I sat and sulked and managed to get through the ordeal.
Around that time, auditions began for the big student play of the year: Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.” This was very exciting. I’d acted in “Much Ado About Nothing” in Boston, learning the rudiments of doing Shakespeare, and I’d got my scholarship by reciting one of his soliloquies. I went to the audition feeling confident, but discovered that all the boys were trying out for Duke Orsino, the part that I wanted. Everyone had to read for the director, Erwin Piscator, who was also the head of the workshop. He was a slight man, around fifty, beautifully dressed and with meticulously combed silver hair. He had been famous in Germany for doing epic theatre, a movement that stressed the political content of drama. He had escaped the Nazis and now sat hunched at the front of the auditorium.
I was startled to see Marlon, who hadn’t been around much. I’d heard that he’d been raving about “Good Night, Sweet Prince,” a biography of John Barrymore, the renowned Shakespearean actor, that had just been published. He was laughing at rumors that Barrymore, a known alcoholic, had peed on the floor of his dressing room when people came to praise a performance. I thought it was sad that a great actor resorted to such low tricks for attention, but I wasn’t surprised that Marlon was taken in by them. As usual, he looked right through me as we waited in the wings. I couldn’t understand why I annoyed him, but I put it out of my head. I could hear the boys who went before me, and none of them seemed exciting. Marlon was the worst. He mumbled his way through, making no sense of the words or the iambic pentameter. When my turn arrived, I forgot about the others, succumbing to the thrill of being onstage, the pleasure of reading such beautiful lines. Piscator thanked each of us. A few days later, a cast list was posted. I was Duke Orsino.
On the first day of rehearsal, we were all a little nervous. Piscator had directed the greats of Europe, and we were just kids trying to find our way. He settled in the front row and looked up. “Alright, begin,” he said. I started to speak the opening lines, and Piscator jumped out of his seat. “No, no, no,” he shouted. “You Americans are so afraid of the poetry.” He came onstage and walked over to me. “You have one of the most beautiful speeches in Shakespeare,” he said. “It must be like a rhapsody. Your voice should sound like a cello. Now begin again.”
After weeks of rehearsal, we were ready. There were two opening shows: one in the afternoon, for the school, friends, and agents, and an official première in the evening. Around noon, I began putting on makeup backstage. My costume was stunning: a red doublet with a diamond pattern, red tights, a navy-blue blouse with puffed sleeves, and a silver cape. I was just finishing combing my hair when Piscator walked into the dressing room. “Good afternoon, Mr. Piscator,” everyone said. “Good afternoon,” he replied. “I just came to say merde.” The French word for “shit’” was traditional in the theatre for wishing someone luck. It made us feel very professional.
Piscator walked over and stood beside my chair. “There’s been a bit of a problem,” he said, “but I think we’ve solved it very well.” I asked him what it was. “You see,” he said, “Stuart’s mother is very ill, so he had to go to Washington last night, and he can’t get back in time for the performance. He’ll be here tonight, but we had to get someone to take his part this afternoon. Of course, it’s only eight lines, so it’s not that difficult.” I blanched. Stuart’s part was the priest—the hardest moment in the play for me. It was the scene when the Duke finds out that the woman he loves has apparently just married his manservant, who seems to be in love with the Duke. All hell breaks loose, and the priest is summoned to confirm the ceremony.
“Who’s going to play it?” I asked. The director beamed. “Marlon has been good enough to help us out,” he said. “It’s very nice of him.”
Of all the actors, I thought. “Can we rehearse before the curtain?”
“There’s no time, unfortunately,” he said. “He’s in the costume department now, but he knows his spot onstage. I’m sure he’ll be fine.”
I went onstage, sat on my throne, and listened to the first swells of music. When the curtain rose, I filled my voice with an exhausted yearning. “If music be the food of love, play on . . . .” I nailed the opening scene, striking just the right balance between honest emotion and the beauty of the poetry. As I made my exit—“Away before me to sweet beds of flowers: love-thoughts lie rich when canopied with bowers”—there was a tremendous sound of applause.
The rest of the play went splendidly. Near the end, when I discovered that Olivia, my love interest, had married Cesario, my servant, the priest was sent for. I was deep in character, acting out the conflict between my desire to kill Cesario and my suspicion that he was in love with me, when I heard the audience start to laugh. I turned to see the priest. There was Marlon in a pair of tights, into which he had stuffed a small drum that made him look pregnant. He beat out a rhythm as he mumbled lines that no one could hear. The audience went wild. They laughed. They cheered. They egged him on until he performed a frenzied drum solo. The other actors onstage laughed, too, but I was livid. It was as if the play were totally forgotten. When Marlon finally finished, he left the stage to an ovation, and I had to wait until everyone quieted down. As I spoke, the audience started to laugh again.
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Somehow, we finished the play. I walked to the dressing room in a fury. I thought of my past year in New York: never having enough food; losing a tooth because I couldn’t afford a dentist; being self-conscious about my smile; never being warm enough in my thin coat; and waiting on tables for people who seldom even gave me a tip. All to be in the theatre that I loved. But this wasn’t the theatre that I had read and dreamed about. When I entered the dressing room, Marlon was sprawled on a chair with cold cream all over his face.
“How dare you,” I said. “How dare you ruin this play!”
Marlon said nothing. “Aren’t you even going to say you’re sorry?” I asked. Marlon looked away. My frustration was building. “I’ll do everything in my power to keep you off Broadway,” I said. I went to my dressing table and sank into my chair. Piscator whooshed in. “Wonderful, wonderful,” he said. I got up and walked over to him. “Are you going to say anything to Marlon?” I asked.
“My dear, it was wrong, but it was just high spirits,” the director said. “Tonight is the most important performance, and Stuart will be here for it.” I looked at him. He no longer seemed like a great international director. “If you don’t reprimand him for his unprofessional behavior,” I said, “I’m going to leave the school.” Piscator raised his hand in a deprecating gesture, then left the room.
I did the evening performance and never went back again. Marlon Brando was on Broadway within a few months. ♦
This is drawn from “The Star Dressing Room: Portrait of an Actor.”

Hello friends. I have only been a gaylor for a fortnight (not a joke, just a fact) so please forgive me if I have misunderstood something or am covering well-tread ground without realising it. I have done a lot of reading and find all this absolutely capitivating. If anything below is even partially right, it is because I stand on the shoulders of the amazing gaylors before me.
Look What You Made Me Do
Let's start with the Look What You Made Me Do music video (which makes so much more sense when viewed through the lens of you made me shelve the "too-queer" Karma album and take on this line of beards).
When Taylor starts singing "Look what you made me do" for the first time, she crashes a car with a big cat inside it. She is also wearing a coat with a big cat pattern.
There has been talk of this car crash being Karlie. Car = KARlie. Although that may be an extra layer, I believe that the predominant message here is that the car is Karma. Car = KARma.
She crashes the car (shelves Karma) and then poses artificially for the press (for success, to protect her reputation).
(I know the album was about her "bad reputation", but in light of shelving Karma, it was also about maintaining her reputation as a straight person.)
Later, Taylor walks away from the crashed car (which is now in flames) with the big cat on a leash (chain?). Big cats have been discussed as being symbolic of Taylor's wild, queer self, which I agree with. Karma the car (with the big cat in the backseat - Taylor's queerness) was crashed, but Taylor and the big cat walk away from the crash - she is still queer, even if that queerness is on a leash / contained.
Fortnight
Several years later, in Fortnight, Taylor sings about going to Florida and buying the car she wants (i.e. releasing Karma). It won't start up until you "touch me" (i.e. until ME! Out now! ... meaning Karma will be released once / at the same as she comes out). And until she "touch[es] you", which is widely regarded as her queemasculine self as represented in the Fortnight music video.
Karma/Mother
There has been mention of Taylor's new, queer, reincarnation-of-Karma album being called "Mother" instead. We would expect this incarnation of the album to be a bit different to the original, given that time has passed and that some of the original Karma tracks are likely to have come out on Reputation or other released albums. So... If she crashed the caKar during Reputation era, what is left? The ma. "Ma" as in another word for "Mother".
More Big Cats & Robin
Speaking of releasing... As well as releasing music/albums, etc, you know what else can be released? Big cats. Circus animals. Tigers in cages. I wouldn't be surprised if Karma the album had a bunch of big cat imagery. It also reminds me of this poem:
The tiger is OUT, huh?
Tortured Poets Department has a bunch of wild animal imagery, but I specifically want to talk about the song "Robin" and its tiger. It makes perfect sense to me that this is not a song about a small child being protected, but instead about a young Taylor being "protected" from the "cruel and the mean" via "the secret we all vowed to keep" "in sweetness." i.e. Eventually "the time will arrive" for Taylor to come out, but not yet - for her own good, and in the meantime we need "all this showmanship".
On the surface it sounds like a sweet song, but to me Taylor sounds vaguely sad and resentful. "Way to go tiger / Higher and higher" is Taylor being pushed more and more before she's allowed to come out. The goal posts keep moving. Taylor keeps working and working, keeps expecting to be able to come out, but it hasn't happened yet ("I have this thing where I get older but just never wiser"). The tiger in its cage does its best to perform to these rising "strings tied to levers", but it's still not set free.
As an aside, the vibe of this song really reminds me of "It's Nice to Have a Friend." At first glance they're sweet songs but with bitter undercurrents. It doesn't surprise me at all that "It's Nice to Have a Friend" was used on a horror music soundtrack. It reminds me of the stress of having a "friend" when you're queer, like being introduced to your girlfriend's grandmother as "so-and-so's friend".
Meet Me at Midnight
I was listening to Anti-Hero the other day and something went "ping!" in my brain when hearing "Midnights become my afternoons." As well as the literal meaning of someone staying up late, this sounds to me as if this references Taylor's 'meet me at midnight, that's when my authentic self will come out' being delayed. Like the clock was almost to midnight and then someone took it off the wall, spun it 180 degrees, and then put it back on the wall like that. Like I was about to come out but now suddenly it's 6pm again, I have to wait and wait.
This also makes me think of Taylor's clear Cinderella reference in Bejewelled. You know what happens to Cinderella at midnight? She turns back from princess-like (Taylor Swift TM) into a more 'ordinary' human being (authentic self). But in Taylor's version (small v) at midnight she also ghosts the prince (stops bearding) and keeps the castle (keeps her fame/money/success/legacy).
I can't wait until the 12th/midnight album comes out / gets released / gets its teeth back!

Let me just start out by saying I haven’t read Through the Looking Glass by Louis Carroll in about 10 years and I’ve only read it 3 times (HS AP English Lit, a Lit class in college, and after 1989). I’m by no means as versed in Louis Carroll or Alice’s Adventures as others in this sub.
I’ve talked about numerology 8 [here](https://www.reddit.com/GaylorSwift/s/PQLFND29FR) and how it connects to “Karma”. It’s also been 8 years since when we would have gotten the lost “Karma” album. To briefly recap my other post, Taylor had mentioned before she’s into numerology. In numerology, the number 8 is associated with karma because 8 is ruled by Saturn (love you to the moon and to Saturn) who is the Lord of Karma.
Now let’s get into Through the Looking Glass. Taylor Nation has been hinting at 2016 quite a bit lately. Most notably drawing attention to Taylor in this outfit at Stockholm N2 which is the reversed version of her 2016 Grammy’s outfit. In TTLG, Alice enters through the looking glass and finds a mirror world where everything is reversed.
2016 Grammys ; Eras Tour Stockholm May 18, 2024
Taking it back to 2023, we see the Lover House from the Lover music video as a background visual when she performs Lover. I will side track here to say Taylor released the Lover music video on August 22, 2019 (happy birthday to me ). The same day the music video released, she announced she is re-recording the first 6 albums because of the Masters Heist. The house we see during the Eras Tour visual is slightly different than the music video, notably, we see Taylor leaving the Lover House in her yellow closeting dress through a mirror in the Lover room.
Eras Tour Lover House Visual with Taylor going through the Mirror in the Lover room while wearing a yellow dress
I personally think this visual has many layers to it which I’m just going to lay out here:

1. If you are a failed comingoutlor, you likely believe she was going to come out during the Lover era, but due to the Masters Heist, her plan was foiled. In the music video, her clothing in each room of the Lover house fits the colors of that room. In the tour visual, she is in a yellow dress which doesn’t fit the theme.
2. Taylor is climbing through the mirror in a yellow dress, a nod to the first re-record, Fearless.
3. Taylor is leaving the Lover era to go back in time.

Taylor destroys the Lover house later in the Eras Tour, I personally believe that is because she is rebuilding the Lover house the way she wants it, because it was always fractured by the lost album. I’m a Karma/Lost Album truther and I believe that was her original attempt at a coming out. This leads me to the Through the Looking Glass chessboard
TTLG Chessboard by me
In Through the Looking Glass, the book starts out with Alice playing with a white kitten and a black kitten. She notices a mirror and when she touches the mirror, she realizes she can go through it, which takes her into the mirror world version of her house where everything is reversed.
Two recent examples of Taylor using mirror imagery. In Anti Hero where she’s looking at the Evil!TayloTaylor Swift ™️ in the mirror; On the cover of the WAOLOM Phone Memo touching the looking glass/mirror
She discovers a book of poetry called the Jabberwocky that is written in reverse that you need to hold up to a mirror to be able to read it. (Hello, Tortured Poets Department. There have been posts in the sub on listening to TTPD in reverse as well as the songs from TTPD mirroring other songs). Alice leaves behind her home and enters a garden where she meets the Red Queen who tells her she can become a queen if she can make it across the countryside to the 8th rank/row that is laid out like a chessboard.
So this is where I’ve started out with the image above. I believe we are resetting the chessboard to 2016. The Red Queen places Alice on the second row as a White Queen pawn, thus combining Alice’s need to cover two of the rows (or for Taylor, two years combining Reputation and Karma/Lost Album into one double album).
Alice starts off this quest/journey by getting on a train that skips over the third row (2018) and goes right into the fourth row which is a forest where she meets a Looking Glass Gnat that teaches her about Looking Glass insects (2019, Lover, butterfly mural, butterfly pajamas in Lover MV). She goes through the “woods where things have no names” and forgets her own name and identity. She’s helped by a fawn who also forgets its identity, but when they get to the other side it remembers and leaves her (Masters Heist, *I jump from the train, I ride off alone*, the muse that she breaks up with during the Lover era (?) )
Taylor Alice comes across Tweetle Dee (Scott Brushetta) and Tweetle Dumb (Pooper Scooter) who try to provoke her (their responses to her announcement of re-recording her albums that it wasn’t going to work, etc) and point her direction to the sleeping Red King and telling her she’s a figment of his imagination (my interpretation is pointing at her conservative/homophobic fans and saying they’ll never support an out and queer Taylor or purchase her re-records). But they Tweedles are scared off by a large crow (Taylor’s aesthetic turning black and the support of other people in the industry and her fans to re-record her music).
Alice meets with the White Queen as she gets ready to move into the 5th rank, but as they cross the brook, the Queen is turned into a sheep and Alice has to paddle the boat across on her own (2020, Covid happens, Loverfest is cancelled, Taylor creates Folklore) and struggles with it (Cardigan MV)
https://preview.redd.it/6cvz3p4fqf1d1.jpg?width=4096&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=28cf5e4b93c77a2d2f4f5c4512a501bd5748b7b7
Alice then crosses into the 6th rank/row by crossing another brook (end of 2020-2021, Evermore, Willow MV)
https://i.redd.it/u70wd6amqf1d1.gif
Where she meets Humpty Dumpty who gives his own interpretation of Jabberwocky before he falls and all the (White) kings horses & all the (White) kings men try to put him together again.
Taylor releases Fearless TV (White Horse) and Red TV in 2021. Which leads to the 7th Rank/Row where Alice crosses a brook into a forest (Lavender Haze MV) and is almost captured by a Red Knight but is saved by the White Knight (1950s shit).
https://preview.redd.it/emjf9evqqf1d1.jpg?width=1198&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=da2bbc9c45a4e289cad0502d778ce01b7e5501ca
The Knight sings her a poem called Ways and Means to the tune of My Heart and Lute (Thomas Moore). Before she leaves him to cross the brook into the 8th rank/row
https://preview.redd.it/c4qqc0vuqf1d1.jpg?width=1198&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fe67ed0386af1046510638cf34cec9b5c30bbba8
Where she automatically becomes a Queen
(2023, Eras Tour, biggest year of her career, many media outlets calling her the 2023 Queen of Pop music and saying it was the year of Taylor)
The story ends with the Red Queen and White Queen showing up and inviting themselves to a party that Alice would be hosting without her knowledge that turns into chaos and Alice shaking the Red Queen who she blamed for the chaos. She then wakes up holding the black kitten (Red Queen) and white kitten (White Queen).
Which takes us into 2024 where we’ve crossed the chessboard and Taylor has given us a black and white album, The Tortured Poets Department which has heavy Red Era/Red Muse theming.
TTLG Chessboard with addition of the rebuilding of the Lover House by re-recordings
But there’s another album with Black and White imagery in Taylor’s discography which still has to be released from the vault: Reputation (the newspaper print album cover) but this time, she’s also bringing 2016 back with her in the form of the Lost Album/Karma, which means the damage that was already existing in the Lover House will be repaired by that album coming into existence. We already knew Taylor was rebuilding the Lover house from the tour visuals and that the house was set up differently than the original one.
Burning Down the Lover House to rebuild it, but it's not complete...yet
The Lover House she sets on fire in 1989 (burning it down because the “Rep Vault is fire” aka the Lost Album/Karma) will be rebuilt with 13 rooms. Those three large rooms in the center I believe will end up turning into two rooms each, making each room equal with her 13th album, the one where she is OUT as the attic/penthouse, completing the Lover house the way she intended it. *This* is Taylor’s Version.
I hope you all enjoy, I actually dug out my laptop to make this which just goes to show how much I felt the need to post lmao bc I haven't used my laptop in over 2 years.

Quantum Leap: History of Vacheron Constantin Calendar Watches Part 3.3
by Alex Ghotbi, 12th of December 2011, 11:03 - click on scans for larger view
Malte Perpetual Calendar Minute Repeater
In 2006 Cal 1755QP (as for Quantième Perpetuel – perpetual calendar in French) was used in the now defunct round shaped Malte (41mm case) in rose gold giving it a more modern and masculine look. In 2010 the last 8 Cal 1755QPs were cased in a round Malte case but this time in platinum.
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https://preview.redd.it/iybdrxc2ae1d1.jpg?width=895&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7b4c6a0701f7f91213de80f606f02a555220a8ba
https://preview.redd.it/63g7qdncae1d1.jpg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f74c8580ad38cf8d277922bf194c0628a1aba74f
https://preview.redd.it/w2y0wqcfae1d1.jpg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=42839f07fd683a72674cb7855bf5cf429de8adb7
Malte Perpetual Calendar Chronograph Collection Excellence Platine
Normally, the Excellence Platine collection consists of platinum case and dial versions of existing models however this version launched in 2007 is a one shot as it did not exist as a regular production model making it even more rare and desirable! Made in only 50 pieces it houses the manual wind cal 1141QP.
https://preview.redd.it/wfk1h6uxae1d1.jpg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1f0180121cfc465ca91d04232cc8618bdd98ed18
https://preview.redd.it/qi4db5uxae1d1.jpg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6ec21eb085a568f63ee05a9df26f4def2759fb63
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Patrimony Traditionnelle Calibre 2755
Presented in 2007 the Patrimony Traditionnelle Caliber 2755 (how’s that as a dry name for such an amazing watch?) is currently Vacheron Constantins most complicated timepiece (610 components). However, it’s just not “just” a perpetual calendar, tourbillon minute repeater but the greatest sounding repeater I have ever heard thanks to a centripetal speed-regulator in the striking-mechanism, an original device which eliminates the noise interference normally experienced with pallet systems (the bzzz often heard when the repeating mechanism is activated).
As with the ref 30020 and 30040 the case has been carefully designed and manufactured to give the minute repeater a remarkable resonance, which is optimised by the ingenious use of a stud linking the case to the striking mechanism. And, thanks to its high copper content, which gives it its colour, the pink gold case adds to the quality of resonance.
In 2010 the Cal 2755 was also launched in platinum with an opaline and a slate grey dial, the later having an even more contemporary look. Normally platinum is a metal which “absorbs” the chimes but the watchmakers at Vacheron Constantin have done a fantastic job and the chimes are almost as loud and pure as in the rose gold version.
I have to admit that the Cal 2755 has the most amazing chime I have ever come across (a close second being the Patek Sky Moon tourbillon), the first time I heard it, it was in a room with people talking and music in the background and still the chimes could be perfectly heard.
The Cal 2755 for me is a condensed representation of what Vacheron Constantin is: a beautiful design which is classical yet with a twist, perfect proportions, technical mastery and drop dead amazing movement finish. Techniques have not been sacrificed for design and there is no compromise in the design for the sake of techniques
The cal 2755 is assembled from A to Z by the same watchmaker who also tunes the gongs (by filing away on the base of the gongs) to achieve the perfect chime. As Chrystian Lefrançois, master watchmaker at Vacheron Constantin says “achieving the perfect chime is extremely difficult as you need to adjust the gong by filing the metal and at one point you know that you have reached the best possible sound and one file too much and you go from the best chime to the dull sound of a spoon hitting a pot!”
About less than one Patrimony Traditionnelle Cal 2755 come out of the ateliers of Vacheron Constantin per month, considering that it can take 3-4 months to fine tune and assemble. It exists in rose gold and platinum (with opaline or slate grey dials), a limited edition with a gorgeous chocolate dial was made for Parisian retailer Dubail as well as a pièce unique for the New York Boutique.
https://preview.redd.it/6gategfabe1d1.jpg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5470cafa19d2ad2c97870312376143ac93a86bf9
https://preview.redd.it/a3ob6jfabe1d1.jpg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0fcc38356a9cef2609865bee14d7dc2b7deb4347
centrepetal regulator
https://preview.redd.it/1h66583tbe1d1.jpg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8556826210034e6c841b23bf0164be26af44da35
https://preview.redd.it/wzk5c33tbe1d1.jpg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8b21b489e1f730a3ca8599b6863d5229b5b89622
Dubail
New York Boutique
https://preview.redd.it/pg11n1l3ce1d1.jpg?width=590&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a088c0f3f9d03cf242fa22788c24be79610769a4
click for video
​
Metiers d'Art: Les Masques
Rarely have the words art and masterpiece been used so correctly. My first reaction to this collection was the same as being thunderstruck: breathless, speechless, heart beating fast and wobbly knees! It’s hard to define the divine but you can recognize it when you see it and for me the hands of the gods guided the designers at Vacheron Constantin to create such original, bold and daring pieces.
At an epoch where originality resides in the use of carbon fibber and black PVD or the most improbable partnership with cars, motor cycles and boats Vacheron Constantin opened a whole new untreaded path where art and horology met.
The concept was to use an art form still little known to the general public: the so called primitive arts. Geneva has the chance of housing one of the most prestigious collections of primitive arts: the Barbie-Muller Museum and collaboration between the museum and Vacheron seemed therefore unavoidable. The museum lent a certain number of pieces to Vacheron for replication but the great difficulty resided maintaining the proportions in a miniature version. Different techniques were tried but the final results were unsatisfactory. Vacheron Constantin finally turned to the Geneva Engineering School for help in making a three-dimensional image of each mask. By putting the plans together on a computer, they were able to modify the volumes point by point and find the best angle for fitting the whole mask into the case while safeguarding the harmony of its forms. It was thanks to the magic of laser technology that the miniaturisation of the masks became possible.
The time is read by means of four discs indicating the hours, minutes, days and date in windows. A clever technique using transparency and specially-treated glass creates the impression that the masks are floating. Each sapphire crystal has a different tint, obtained by a unique metallisation process, so that it sets off the colour of the mask.
Michel Butor’s (a contemporary French poet) short poems dedicated to each mask circle the sapphire dial in letters of gold and can only be read when the light strikes it from a certain angle. This effect is achieved by vacuum metallisation, a sophisticated technological process in which the gold letters are sprayed onto a sapphire crystal.
The effect is amazing and depending on the inclination of the wrist the sapphire crystals hues vary as well as the coloring of the letters. There is such subtility and depth in the dial that you can almost drown in it and spend hours just staring at it mesmerised by its sheer beauty.
This series launched in 2007 consisted of 25 sets of 4 watches each. A new set was also launched in 2008 and 2009.
Set 1: 2007
https://preview.redd.it/cwf3vmsgce1d1.jpg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dcff6981dbb5b413b28f10d0f8f17546b0a68696
Set 3: 2009
https://preview.redd.it/hnhygo4oce1d1.jpg?width=590&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e8ba35df4828ac7f33ae4abc7d03118e60259241
click for video
part 10 to follow soon ...