#lhsd

DISCLAIMER:

This post contains personal opinions and theories based on research I’ve done. Don’t take any of this as a confirmation of anything.

This post’s purpose is not to hate on anyone mentioned here but to share what I’ve found and think about it as a whole.

I’m always up for discussion, while it’s done with respect to me but also about the people we’re talking about.

This isn’t what you think by the name. I just don’t know how to name this. And also, I might add, this might not be an actual essay but it might be pretty fucking long and overall a mess, but bear with me.

Yesterday I got an ask in which the anon told me that Kaykay is now being followed by White Horse Agency, and I was like “I might do some research”, and I did it, leading me to find some things that I thought were interesting and I wanted to share them with you.

Well, as you might know, Crystal has a degree on PR and a Master’s degree on communication. Back in the day (aka 2014), she had her own company called WhiteLabel.Social and it was basically aimed to be like a “bridge” between influencers and brands and make publicity that didn’t look like it. Honestly, I don’t know what’s up with the company. The only info I gathered (since this wasn’t the main focus) was the Linkedin page, which has a link with a website that seems abandoned in my opinion (like, it doesn’t have contact info, it doesn’t show works they’ve done, faqs, or like anything you’d expect from a website that is still working), but linkedin says she’s still working on it, so it might be up, but it also says she’s working as a “Talent manager” for an enterprise called “Untitled Entertainment” since January.

Now, leaving that context aside, and going back to the reason on why I’m doing this is basically because it called my attention that every girl that has been seen with the boys in public or has been “official”, has been related to Crystal somehow. A few examples are Bryana (who is still literally friends with her) and Arzaylea (who was one of her examples in the WhiteLabel website and how they seemed friendly during the sgfg tour, or at least stood together to watch some shows). 

Now, this whole White Horse Agency didn’t surprise me at all, since she and Michael have been featured on it (find waldo) and also, this year, she was photographed for it (2nd photo) --small note here, but I thought it was interesting that her invitation to coachella was sponsored by sugar bear hair and then she was out giving support to james charles lol--, but in my attempt to use Google, I came across this website and this is the reason why I’m writing this whole thing.

The website it’s called influencers(.)co, and it literally tells you that the main idea of the site is to be like a “linkedin for influencers”. Now, before I show you, I want to clarify how it works: the FAQ explains that you sign up by giving the account access to your Instagram, and then you can create a profile showcasing your work and why brands should contact you.

(Source: https://influence.co/go/faq)

Here’s Crystal’s:

(source: https://influence.co/crystalleigh)

What you see here is what I was explaining. The page seems really well-put together. It also shows you the starting price point for a post made by her, but I wanted to share this because what called my attention (and honestly shocked me a little -too new in this fandom for this kind of stuff I guess-) is this:

When you click in “blog”, it shows an article where she shows her home and stuff and then when you go to “other media” everything you find is related to the engagement articles that were made (that were a lot for Michael, to be honest--like why the fuck brides dot com is interested in michael--but I guess that has been discussed). Showing articles that revolve around your engagement like the job you do promoting on Instagram to sell clothes/hotels is just... weird to me, to say at least.

Moving on, I thought “Well, I guess Sierra has one too?”, and yep she has a page too (https://influence.co/sierradeaton), it isn’t as put together as Crystal’s, and I guess she hasn’t updated because she’s still under Essy.

Then I thought, what about Kaykay? Wanna guess? Here’s her profile.

Kaykay and Sierra both have in common as “people who have tagged them” Crystal and her friend Mariah. 

After showing you this, I’d like to go back to what I questioned earlier. It’s just so weird to me that Crystal seems to be friends with the boys’s girlfriends (or supposed girlfriends) when there’s a noticeable distance between she and Ashton, Luke and Calum.

You can actually find photos of Sierra and Crystal that look like ones you’d take with friends (like this one) and there’s this one too, also, don’t forget she defended Sierra on Twitter from all the hate she was getting (like, I log in here and there and still haven’t came across a hater) and also this and this honorable mention out of Sierra’s twitter.

Also, it’s suspicious to me that this photo:

includes the two “actual” gfs being so friendly with Crystal and also the place: a TAO restaurant (why I mention the restaurant? Because Crystal did publicity for it and Michael actually attended an inauguration)

You’re probably at this point like “what’s the fucking point of this essay” and to be honest, at this point I have no fucking idea. But it’s just weird to me. I mean, I can see why they can be friendly since it seems they have Mitchy in common as friends, but still, not to look down on Sierra or Kaykay but I highly doubt they know about websites like influencers(.)co. 

With this post I’m not saying that any relationship is real or fake, but I just want to know if there’s some of you who doesn’t find this weird? Like, something doesn’t fit right here and I can’t pinpoint what it is. How is it that all the girls related to the boys (that we have known of) end up turning into some sort of influencer? or just linked with Crystal and the brands she works with when you see the polite distance between Crystal and the rest of the boys? I know these girls are individuals, but it still feels like Crystal helping them to become an influencer like she did at some point or somehow drags them into stuff related to publicity? Because one thing is being friends even if Crystal doesn’t get along with their partner (because as I said they’re individuals who can take decisions and might have met her first and the dynamics might be different) but other thing is being related to the same brands. I don’t know if I’m explaining properly my point but I hope you can understand.

The Story So Far: After Elder Cid is possessed by a vengeful spirit, Isaaru and his guardians must put their pilgrimage on hold to help the Al Bhed stop him before he destroys Bevelle.

"May I have your attention, guys and garudas! This is your wake-up call. Rise and shine! We hit Bevelle in twenty minutes."

"Hopefully without leaving a crater," Maroda muttered as he and his brother stepped onto the bridge.

Gippal, slouched in the pilot's seat, tossed a vague wave over his shoulder. "Yo, Yevon-dudes. Prepare for Operation Freak the Hell Out of Bevelle."

"It's already started," Shinra said, hunched over his console. "I'm reading energy discharge."

"How bad?" Maroda said.

Ruby light splashed the northern sky, stamping the shapes of towers and terraces upon the horizon. In the blackness that followed, scattered orange splinters remained, twinkling like stars of ill-omen. The real stars had vanished, veiled by a skin of cloud thickening into thunderheads to the east: Sin's tracks, an even more ominous reminder.

"Hard to say," Shinra said. "The causeway's on fire. Some rooftops and towers."

Did calum just confirm kaykay and ashton or what?

PS: at calum5sos are you alright, bud?? No need to go off like this lol

Okay so I went back to watch it and decided to see everyone’s reaction and honestly, if anyone knows about body language please let me know. I’ll just work with my perceptions and opinions so take it as that (as always). Basically here’s the clip (x) (around 0:42 -0:57) (sorry for not being able to insert it here since tumblr only allows one video by post)

There’s nothing really weird until you start to look at them individually.

Here’s Calum saying “actually he’s got a girlfriend so”:

He looks unimpressed in my opinion. Kinda tired maybe. Maybe ironic.

Here’s Luke:

He scratches his neck when Calum says the word girlfriend and then he tries to laugh it off. In my opinion, he looked nervous and then if you look at this gif, he actually laughs and keeps the smile but it’s like the one a naughty kid would have, like when you laugh in an inappropriate situation.

Here’s Michael:

He looks at Calum like “what are you going to say” and after he hears what he says, he jokes right after about Luke being bing.

And here’s Ashton. It’s not a gif because when I watched it I noticed he said something:

I feel like his body language is really expressive. He’s laughing at the google joke and as soon as Calum mentions the word girlfriend he stops smiling, and if I’m not wrong, he says “baby back up” (which is really interesting in my opinion!) and then looks to the side like he’s done with everything.

Honestly after watching this (again) I felt like he [Ashton] got pissed after the boys joked with the cashmere candle and then this happened, which may explain why he’s so irritated during the whole thing.

After this I feel like there’s something definitely happening. Now I can’t help but consider the idea that Luke is being asked/pushed to mention her for reasons I can’t figure out (and probably won’t figure out). I feel like calum was like “got you bro” and said it himself so Luke wouldn’t have to.

I’d like to think he mentions her organically but after seeing this I have even more doubts about it.

DISCLAIMER:

This posts contains personal opinions and theories. I’m not confirming stuff.

This post’s purpose is not to hate on them but to share what I think.

As my bio says, I’m up for discussion, while it’s done with respect to me but also about the people we’re talking about.

This might be a long post due the time this has been going on. Honestly, I feel like this can get messy at some point and I apologize but there’s too much to cover.

Sierra has been part of the boys’ circle of friends for a while. She is (or was) best friends with Kaykay, who has been friends with Ashton for a while, so it tells you she has been around two or three years (if not more). She also seems to be friends with Mitchy and if you look up, you can also find candid photos of her with the boys, usually at parties.

I get where you’re coming from. I think that it wouldn’t be weird for us to look back and see she got along really well with Ashton (because it seemed like she got along with Calum too and I think once I saw a picture of Michael at her birthday or something) if he didn’t seem to react towards her in the way he has when she has been brought up in interviews.

I feel like the most obvious one was this one I discussed here, but he’s always doing faces and also he has called her a baked potato so, I don’t know about you but in my opinion it feels like he’s annoyed at her. 

I feel like no one really minds “network” while the you do it with the right people. For example, when John Krasinski chose his wife to be in the main role of his debut film as a director no one said anything because it wasn’t weird: she has an established career. She has done many great roles and landed them by herself. You don’t see people going like “emily blunt was just there because she’s john’s wife” you know? No one really questioned it because they both work actively for their careers. And if, let’s put in the scenario where Emily Blunt isn’t that very known and he is, but she’s actively looking for roles and working on smaller films, if he gave her a chance because he thinks she’ll do well and she proves to be worthy of the role, no one would say a thing. Everyone needs a chance at the end of the day.

I totally understand where you’re coming from and I empathize with you because sometimes I feel the same way. Not only because the fandom tends to fuss about anyone near 5SOS and there’s this sort of rejection/shaming if you don’t do that, but also because the boys tend to be extra (though I’d take Calum out of this because the times I have seen him supporting his sister, for example, he’s like really chill and natural about it. He doesn’t push it). 

I agree with you in the fact that those girls haven’t been doing much for people that want to work in outlets where you need people engaged. Hopefully that will change. 

But yes. Sometimes it feels like the boys push them too much. Maybe they have the best intentions and as most of the fandom is like “yasss kween!!” they don’t see why it’s wrong or how it could bother some part of the fandom. I’m sorry you feel this way. If it helps, you can message me anytime and honestly, sometimes I just take a step back from everything related to them or just focus on them, or go and watch old interviews or just listen to the music. I know that dodging the drama in this fandom is like a mission impossible movie, but we can all try to be tom cruise (like, the character. Tom Cruise actually creeps me out a little bit lmao).

Yes! I totally agree with you! That’s why in the ask related to this in the response I said “I feel like you’re kind of pissed and I can understand why”. I actually was going to add that I felt frustrated when I read that they are performing at a charity event, because I thought she had taken the spot from another musician, but since it’s their event, I feel like it hurts less to give her a spot.

When I see this things happening, I try to put myself in the different points of view. And I was thinking about the boys’s and I can totally see why they would let her (or ask her) to perform (and put her in the poster, too). At the end of the day they’re humans, like you and me, so thinking about this, I know they might (probably) be biased. 

I feel like some of us are bothered because we all have gone through this situation. We all help our friends/partners. We all want to see them succeed. So when you’re in a position where you can help out, you will do it. When it comes to people that we appreciate, we’re really biased. and I feel like with them [the boys] is extra because they developed their most crucial years on a industry that is based on this. I feel like they think they have developed good skills at spotting when they’re being fooled but they truly haven’t. I also think they might think about them back in the day when they were beginning and say “well, so many people helped us out, it’s only right for us to do so” (which is fine!) but they seem to have poor judgement on who to help.

To ground this, I feel like it irks because we all have been in that group project where you have that friend that’s struggling and you’re like “hey, here, I help you with your part, don’t worry”, but we all know that after doing it two, three, four times, we start to notice they’re not changing. They’re not doing their part again. We start to get tired. We see that friend and we’re like ‘maybe this time…’ but they don’t do it. They don’t change. And at some point you just tell them the stuff on their face or your relationship with the person falls apart. 

As you say, if she were doing something, that would be different. She’s just… there. 

I feel like maybe this is happening for various reasons:

1. I feel like Sierra is really lost in her career path. Which happens, and is normal. Maybe she doesn’t like music at all and just did it because she wanted to please her couple and enjoyed it because it was with him. Maybe she should consider a band if she doesn’t like going solo. And if she’s not really interested in music, I think it’s alright to step back and say “hey, I was young and I followed my boyfriend, but I’ve realized I don’t like it anymore”.

I feel like she’s really lost in the sense of “what now”. Sure, she has a degree. But I feel like after being on the public eye and seemingly enjoy it, she’s trying to keep up with this facade of a singer. Maybe she should even consider being an influencer if she just likes being the public eye but not being involved in any type of entertainment area. And I say this because by what I’ve gathered, she really likes attention, she just pretends she doesn’t. I read that she was chosen like the nicest one or something along those lines, so it means she’s really social and not the shy person she’s trying to sell us. I know I’m walking in thin ice here, but for shy people, they can fake being social for a while, but to be considered the nicest, you have to be really involved with people (and to a lot of them). In my eyes, shy people tend to choose who they will talk to because they feel interested in some way. She’s not shy, she just tries to please everyone (and this might be rough, but maybe this is one of the reasons she and Luke get along).

2. I feel like behind the scenes, Sierra is like “guys i’m really working on new music but every time I do something, it backfires! I try to pull music out, it’s considered plagiarism. But I truly love this, I just need time to heal, etc” and the boys believe this. I feel like they’re nicer to her because they might see themselves reflected on her. The boys went through rough times but the industry didn’t let them catch a breath until it ended up in a two year hiatus. I feel like they’re trying to be supportive and kind of protect her from what they have lived in the industry. 

And then, you have the most media-looking side of this and it’s the fact that it will probably bring more attention now that’s she’s going to be there. Fans posting about Luke and Sierra and gushing about them sharing their passion for music (and they’re angels because it’s charity). People buying the ticket to see if something happens. Something will probably happen and the daily mail will come up with their cheesy, stupid headline about Luke and Sierra showing their love to help charity. I think it brings buzz. It’s beneficial for all of them if you see it that way. 

This is how it goes. And for the non impressionable part of the fandom, is really shitty and might be even daunting to follow the band. 5SOS on their own is the shit. They’re great musicians. Funny guys. They seem grounded. They seem passionate about what they do. They are inspirational.

But with all the people and drama always surrounding them, sometimes it’s hard to stay. And sometimes it’s hard not only because it bothers you (even if it’s just a little bit), but also saddens you to see that their success is always eclipsed by other people, and it’s not even their fault or these people’s fault but their managers and the fandom.