What It's Like To Kiss Matty Healy π
An exclusive with Isabella, who LITERALLY JUST DID π
Omg hello to even MORE new angels who Iβm assuming are here for all the deets on Isabellaβs Matty Healy kiss (coming at u below!!!) All I ask is that you come for the kiss, and stay because weβre the coolest/funniest/chicest way of getting ur daily news on the planet, and I love having you all as my pen pals!!!!
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Ex-luce-ive (get it? a luce exclusive?) What itβs like to kiss Matty Healy in front of the world
Protests in China continue to gain momentum
Squid Gameβs O Yeong-su Indicted for Sexual Misconduct
Is your βsickβ bowl the same as your popcorn bowl?
Petition to make Harry Styles do a funnel in NZ
What itβs like to kiss Matty Healy in front of the world
Honestly, itβs moments like this that make me love this job more than anything. When I first found out that Matty Healy had brought a fan onstage during Robbers and KISSED HER, I kinda wanted to die of envy. When I found out she was a member of the SYSCAhood the envy died down a little, and when she told me sheβd give me a play-by-play of how it all went, I felt nothing but pride and pure excitement to tell the story. A real-life fanfic for the newsy? Yes please! So without further ado, meet Isabella.
Sheβs 24, and sheβs from Dallas, Texas, but sheβs originally from Mexico. Sheβs a bartender atm, aspiring to be a fashion stylist (seems fitting because her fit is everything), sheβs been following SYSCA for βa very long time!β and she started her fandom journey as a directioner (ugh all the best ones do!!)
βyes they are still in my top 5 every year for Apple music rewind πβ
Sheβs been a fan of The 1975 since around 2014, and when I asked her if she knew that Matty used to kiss people during Robbers, she said yes, but:
βhe hasnβt done it in years so I honestly, like, wholeheartedly thought he was gonna tell me to fuck off or something funny - the fandom bullies him, and he does it back so I just expected him to completely shit on me or just ignore meβ
And yes, before we get into it, sheβs MARRIED! But her husband has indeed messaged Matty Healy letting him know that heβs just completed his wifeβs life.
Now that youβve met her, letβs hear exactly what happened, in her own words (lightly edited by me, for clarity):
βSo there was a girl in the pit that had a sign on her phone that said βplay βGirls,β itβs my birthdayβ and he [Matty] saw it, and said something along the lines of βno sorry, canβt do that, but I can make out with you guys.β So a light bulb went on in my head and I was just likeβ¦ βokay, noted.β Then he sang βMe & You together songβ and the mf looked at me, made some facial expressions to me while he was singing, winked and then looked at my friend and stuck his tongue out at her. At that moment I knew I needed to do something else to get his attention, so I typed out on my phone βSo we making out?β and I held it up in between songs (it gets dark and he could really see it from the crowd.)
He came up to me and said βwhatβs that sign say?β And read it and said, βdo you know Robbers?β And I honestly didnβt understand wtf he was saying so I said βhuhβ and then he asked again and annunciated his words better and I then said yes. He said βok come hereβ and when I tell you I jumped the barricade so fast - no one helped me I did it myself lol.
So then I get up there and security told me just to sit on the couch and so I was like ok! So I go to him and he asked for my name and then I sat down and he walked away. When he came back to me, and is on his knees he says βwe donβt have to snog if you donβt want toβ and I said βoh yes we are, yes.β Then he was like, βok you sure?β and I said βyes!β and just kept nodding.
He walked away again and then came back and sat on my lap, and when he would leave and come back, he would always tell me βIβll be over thereβ. (Side note, this mf smelled like cigarettes.) Anyway, then he pulled me up, we sang together, and then we kissed. It was honestly just a crazy experience that I never thought it would happen to me, ever!β
My final question for Isabella was about the reaction from the fandom, becauseβ¦ itβs hard to see other people living your dreams, and she said:
βSo far the fandom has been so nice! I have had some hate comments here and there but itβs mainly from people out of the fandom. And if thereβs is hate going around I havenβt seen any, I also donβt care. I used to really care what people think of me but now itβs like Β―\_(γ)_/Β― whatever. This was also my experience of a lifetime and it happened and it brought me happiness and thatβs all it matters.β
Honestly, I love this for her, I feel protective and proud bc sheβs in the SYSCAhood living out our collective dreams, and I JUST LOVE WRITING ABOUT FANDOM THINGS!!
Protests in China continue to gain momentum
After I wrote about it yesterday, protests against the zero-covid policy in China (which involves mass testing, quarantines and snap lockdowns) have continued to gain momentum and spread to the bigger cities.
Hereβs one way people are protesting (though Iβve heard different ways this equation is interpreted):
Another way people are protesting is with blank paper:
Protesters are holding up pieces of blank paper, a symbol that has its roots in the Hong Kong protests in 2020, where activists βheld blank pieces of paper to protest against the city's draconian new national security lawsβ (like banning them from speaking out against the government.)
Some have argued that the gesture is not only a statement about the silencing of dissent, but also a challenge to authorities, as if to say 'are you going to arrest me for holding a sign saying nothing?'"
Johnny, a 26-year old demonstrator in Beijing, told the Reuters news agency that the paper had come to "represent everything we want to say but cannot say".
Police are now out in force, and the BBC are reporting that people are being detained. As always, Iβll keep you in the loop.
Squid Gameβs O Yeong-su Indicted for Sexual Misconduct
Damn, I havenβt thought about Squid Game in a hot minute, and this was NOT the way I wanted it to re-enter my thoughts. O Yeong-su, (who played Squid Game contestant Oh Il-Nam - the old guy), has been βindicted in South Korea over charges of sexual misconduct.β
According to Rolling Stone, O has been accused of touching a woman inappropriately in 2017. The woman is believed to have reported the incident last year, only for the case to be closed in April 2022 without charges being filed. The case was reopened at the victimβs request.
O Yeoung-su has denied all charges, and said that he βheld hands with the woman to show the way around a lake.β He says he did apologize to the woman but that apologizing does not mean admitting fault. Thatβs all we know so far.
Todayβs mundane poll:
PS whoβs gonna make this happen with me'?
FIFA & the Controversies in Qatar, Explained (The Shit Show Podcast)
TicketMastermind (Taylorβs Version) (Culture Vulture Podcast)
Grief Is a Forever Thing (The New York Times)
Jennifer Lopez announces "This is Me" album follow-up 20 years later (Reuters)
What else Qatar has built with its absurd wealth besides the 2022 World Cup (Vox)
Confessions of a Middle-Aged Fanboy (The New York Times)
I think Harry needs to do a shoey not a funnel
i feel like having the same bowl for a sick bowl and popcorn is like a major kiwi thing. iβve asked a lot of my friends from overseas about it and they all think itβs disgusting and would never do that. but a lot of my friends from nz completely relate and say itβs a common childhood experience.
ALSO love isabella and she truly lived the dream. i wonder if the kissing will uphold until their shows in nz next year??