#Tomiwa

[modelsof-color]

Tomiwa by Vincent Flouret for L'Officiel Italia Magazine March 2024

[therunwayarchive]

Tomiwa for Andrew Gn, Spring 2023

[knittinganddrinkingtea]

Chloé Fall 2022

Model: Tomiwa

[kissme-withyour-cherrylipstick]

Sir Elyan

This took me 21.5 hours I hope you like it 🥲 I'm never drawing chain mail again

[atdawn]

MERLIN | 5.06 The Dark Tower

[gldnstrngs]

does anyone else think about the fact that colin morgan was the youngest of the main cast bc i do… like whenever i see the behind the scenes of s1-s3 merlin im always crying bc its so obvious and the rest of the cast rlly adored him for it😭😭😭😭

[bienenkiste]

“In My Solitude”. Tomiwa Adesina by Sonia Szostak for My Magazine October 2021

[knightofmordred]

mini reunion alert

[educatingmerlin]

Did You Know 💭

Tomiwa Edun's (Sir Elyan) full name is Babatunde Adetomiwa Stafford Edun, and he is descended from emperor Osei Kofi Tutu, one of the founders of the Ashanti Empire. His grandparents have their own Wikipedia pages if you would like to learn more!

Maternal Granddad: Joe Appiah

Maternal Grandmother: Peggy Cripps

[emergefromthenoise]

Violent delights and violent ends – a tragic lovers' tale.

All the world's a stage... Indeed, so the whole theatre becomes exactly that: from the rooftop (a distant and isolated Mantua), to the backstage corridors and fire escapes standing in for meandering streets of Verona or foyer turning into Capulet's house's halls. Use it all. And at the same time focus on the word: darkness engulfing the stage where vulnerable characters bare their desires. Micro expressions on display as cameras follow the actors around. Lights. Camera. A story of love and hate. A tragedy weaved by fate. Timeless tale.

Some raised the alarm as the casting revealed Francesca Amewudah-Rivers as Juliet, claiming it wasn't true to Shakespeare's spirit. Well, I, for one, am glad that it wasn't. Not that I have anything against men in tights, but that would be a different play entirely. Also may I remind everyone we would be subjected to some pre-teen, prepubescent males with their falsetto trying to nail Juliet's voice timbre. And Nurse's too. But then we would have been deprived of seeing such brilliant performances from Francesca and Freema [Agyeman] which would be simply a travesty. And all in a name of staying true to the original text (may I add also well known fact – Shakespeare's not so secret and nice tendency to “borrow” from other's work thus him being not so original himself).

Even though my first reaction to Freema being cast as a Nurse was: she's too young! Because in my head this character is this elderly matron rather than witty and lively Nanny. But that's the beauty of theatre and interpretation: anything goes! And oh, boy how it worked!

Francesca's Juliet is so youthful, gentle, so full of passion. One's heart sinks seeing her heart's woes. Tom's Romeo has boyish charm, rage and love so bound together it boils. His Romeo is impulsive, emotional, he brings laughter and choked silence as one observes his character being played by fate. Let's not forget Juliet is the driving force. She's “yes” or “no”, black or white, ultimatum giving kind of girl. And Romeo? Well, he's both romantic (grand gestures much?) and... well, he's a fuckboy (how fast Rosalind is in his rearview mirror, huh?). But then he's Juliet's fuckboy and heaven is not on their side.

Maybe I'm a cynic when I look at this great romance and frown and childish overreactions and hyperboles. But these two [Francesca and Tom], they're so gentle and pure, so deep, that one quickly invests in their budding feelings and looks upon them with softness knowing too well what's glooming over. The tragic face of star crossed lovers.

But these two aren't the only ones shining bright on that stage. Mercutio always has been one of my favourite characters – flamboyant, fast with words and weapons, mad or is he? Harold Perrineau made such an impact with his Mercutio [in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo+Juliet], even though not on stage, there was no other version of this character for me. But I dare to say Joshua-Alexander Williams comes real close or maybe even matches the performance. Which is incredible considering it's his professional debut. Exuberant, cheeky sidekick, cursed... and cursing the feuding families. Seemingly insane with his flowery talk turns out to be the voice of reason and prophecy in the end.

The staging is stripped back, functional, raw in it's simplicity, but not dull. Focus is on the actors and the text. Blaring music and flashing lights prevent the audience from being too comfortable in their seat – it's a tragedy after all.

'Romeo and Juliet', a tale as old as overplayed. Yet, always attracting both actors ready to add their version to the pile and crowds eager to see lovers' tragic fate onstage (and/or on screen).

Shakespeare's plays always were the entertainment for the masses, even the tragedies have characters being bigger or smaller 'comic relief'. In 'Romeo and Juliet' it would be surely the Nurse, but thanks to Freema's brilliance this character is so much more than crazy old lady. The wit is her weapon of choice, true, but the emotions and layers that spill out thanks to Freema shine a new light on this character.

It takes a special kind of talent to breathe a new life into the text and a play as a whole (and the assemble did a marvellous job at it!), especially one so well-known, played so many times that people think they have seen it all. But Jamie Lloyd has carved a reputation for himself and his innovative and bold approach (and vivisection) is doing only favours to dusty classics. It is an unmissable event.

---

William Shakespeare's ROMEO & JULIET.

Dir.: Jamie Lloyd

Cast: Tom Holland, Francesca Amewudah-Rivers, Freema Agyeman, Michael Balogun, Tomiwa Edun, Mia Jerome, Daniel Quinn-Toye, Ray Sesay, Nima Taleghani, Joshua-Alexander Williams, Callum Heinrich, Kody Mortimer

In Duke of York's Theatre, London from 13 May to 3 August 2024

[Photo from Duke of York's Theatre]

[repmet]

tol and smol

[modelsof-color]

Tomiwa by Vincent Flouret for L'Officiel Italia Magazine March 2024

[therunwayarchive]

Tomiwa for Andrew Gn, Spring 2023

[knittinganddrinkingtea]

Louis Vuitton Resort 2022

Model: Tomiwa

[vandalyssm]

Theory: Merlin's Recent Publicity and its Correlation to a Possible Sequel/Revival/Reboot (+Eoin Macken's Pseudo Merlin Project)

'Ello. Fancied sharing my thoughts on recent developments regarding BBC's Merlin.

Fair, firm warning: I'm only sharing speculations and my personal opinions on the matter, and I do not advertise them as fact whatsoever. Consider them musings (or delusions, your choice). You can use this to further fuel your hope of the slim chance that this beloved show will see the light of day once again or maybe make theories of your own. Dispelling it is also an option, as I cannot assure my arguments would be free from flaws.

Right. Without further ado...

Revival of the Official Merlin Twitter Account

Let's put this into scenario.

Imagine a dated piece of media, previously well-known worldwide and had its own golden age for a time. This media launched the last of its contents over a decade ago, yet it gained a loyal, devoted following that persisted to grow and continued the legacy of the franchise over the years. Though there were highs and lows, the community remained alive for an impressive amount of time, steadily producing art, fiction, and creations dedicated to the media, despite not having anything new to work with. This devotion is acknowledged by those from an outsider's perspective, including the creators of this media (cast, staff, and distributors alike).

To put into context, the community was left unsatisfied with how the media ended, and many wished for the media to return. Articles were written, petitions were signed, comments left on the cast' social media accounts, and even questions were asked directly to them. Although different in wording, the inquired notion remained the same: Will there be a possibility of a sequel/revival/return/reboot? The answers range from a neutral, vague reply to a more resounding no.

This cycle persisted, but the people were immovable; they were visionaries and their dream lived on in their hearts. And this did not go unnoticed.

So it continued... until one of the media's social accounts made a sudden return. Out of nowhere, without a warning. They're back for good, the account announced. It sent the community into a frenzy. But if you took a step back from the excitement, you'd notice that it's strange. Why would a media ended over a decade ago suddenly be promoted again?

Now, I'm going to explore two possibilities; pragmatic and idealistic. The previous hypothetical scenario lays the general principal of Merlin's relevance (duh).

I'll make the pragmatic perspective brief. FremantleMedia saw the opportunity to make some bucks from Merlin because of the loyal fanbase, using a no-cost yet effective method to keep us tuned in; hoping. OMG, what does this mean? Does this mean they're going make a sequel?! Holy shit, they're teasing us, aren't they? I can't believe this is happening, it's a dream come true! And so on and so forth. Evidently, it works and numbers are growing. The official Merlin twitter account is racking up more followers and likes with each post. In this possibility, there's no such thing as a sequel/whatever it is the fanbase hopes for; just a reanimated corpse doing the same silly tap dance while we holler at it, dumbly hoping that they bust out new moves.

Now, the fun part. The idealistic version!

I'm going to use a real life example for my theory: the upcoming release of Dragon's Dogma 2. With a quick Google search, you can learn that Dragon's Dogma 2 is the highly awaited sequel for its well-liked predecessor, Dragon's Dogma.

For some time, Dragon's Dogma was on sale on Steam (with a decent cut too). This was done to gain the attention of...

1. those who haven't previously dived into the franchise. It's to make them think 'Wow! This game's so good. Oh, there's a sequel of it that's gonna be released soon? With even better graphics and gameplay? Sign me the fuck up!'. You liked Blueberry Cheesecake, so it'd make sense that you'd be more open to buying Double Blueberry Cheesecake, Premium Ingredients Addition, with 2 additional paid toppings.

2. Veterans and nostalgic fans. 'They're promoting the game I liked years ago... Oh, well, it won't hurt to play it again, just for the nostalgia. It never really left my mind anyway."

In other words: hype! hype! hype!

If using this principle, then the possibility of a sequel/revival/reboot/new content exists. It's either being processed (wishful thinking, not as likely) or being considered (more likely). If it's the latter, then they're testing the waters to see how much people still care/how much money they'll make. The more attention and hype it gets, the higher the likelihood.

Simplified:

P (old media pushed for publicity) -> Q (hype built)

Q (hype built) -> R (new content)

Eoin Macken's Pseudo Merlin Project

If I recall correctly, Eoin Macken first announced a pseudo Merlin project in late 2020. It's first teased to be released in 2021, but nothing came out of it so far (at the time of writing this) except if you count the small handful of times Macken hinted it over the ongoing four year period.

Now, I understand his position. First and foremost, he needs the legal rights to actually produce anything and it's no easy feat when you're dealing with a massive company. Then there's the issue of costumes, props, sets, and equipment. A lot to consider. To put it simply, he must offer the company something worth more than the show itself or contribute in their favor in some way. Macken seems like a charming and capable guy, so he can make it work. Probably.

I lean towards the spin-off theory because a cast reunion would not take four years. As far as I know, Macken is close with the knights and they could get together at any convenient time. If the project was a zoom call or a recorded get-together, it would've been released already. To compare, by using the average of 385,000 babies born each day during the last three years, we have 421,575,000 newborns before the Pseudo Merlin Project.

I want to tie this in with the previous theory, but eh. It can connect, but not really. I don't have any further explanation or evidence since Macken hasn't given any news.

---

Anyways. That's enough of this. I hope it made sense, at least it did to me. I'm entering my third year in the fandom, so I'm relatively new and still hopeful. (Though I try hard to keep my feet on the ground while I stare up at the clouds.)

To end this post, I'd like to say: keep hoping. Hope is such a stupidly beautiful thing, and it should be nurtured. Turn that feeling into art, into efforts.

There are franchises revived 2-3 decades after, and Merlin is no exception.

[earthshine-moon]

(The reasoning for the order is below the cut)

I started this playlist a few months ago and I’ve kept it private on Spotify while I sorted it all out but now it’s ready to be unleashed in to the world.

So, Merlin fans, I present to you:

Songs I Think The Knights of Camelot Would Love

(This also includes Merlin because he was one of the knights even if it was never made official. Fight me)

Anyway. On to the reason for the order.

There are 8 sections. One for each of the knights and one for songs I think more than one of them would love

I’ve listed them below in the order that they are in on the playlist

Arthur’s section:

CAN’T STOP THE FEELING - Justin Timberlake

to

King - Olly Alexander (Years & Years)

Merlin’s section:

Anything But - Hozier

to

Piano Man - Billy Joel

Lancelot’s section:

Soldier, Poet, King - The Oh Hellos

to

You Give Me Something - James Morrison

Gwaine’s section:

Uh Huh - Jade Bird

to

Born To Be Wild - Steppenwolf

Leon’s section:

All On My Mind - Anderson East

to

Cold As Ice - Foreigner

Elyan’s section:

Canned Heat - Jamiroquai

to

Love Flow - Marcus & Martinus

Percival’s section:

Footloose - Kenny Loggins

to

Acceptable in the 80s - Calvin Harris

More than one:

For this one, I’ve put the names of the characters I think would love it next to each song (this is in the same order as the playlist too, for convenience)

Bloodstream (Lancelot & Merlin)

Strangers (Lancelot & Merlin)

A Girl Like You (Leon & Lancelot)

Mr Brightside (all)

The River (Lancelot, Merlin & Leon)

Evergreen (Lancelot & Merlin)

Let’s Get It Started (Arthur & Elyan)

September (all)

Shake It Off (Arthur & Percival)

Get Lucky (Arthur & Elyan)

Don’t Worry (all)

Just Can’t Get Enough (Arthur & Elyan)

Higher Love (Percival, Arthur & Lancelot)

I Can’t Dance (Percival & Gwaine)

Easy Lover (all)

West End Girls (Percival & Leon)

Maria (Percival & Gwaine)

Run To You (Percival & Gwaine)

You’re The Voice (Arthur & Merlin) couldn’t resist

The Boys Are Back In Town (all) again, couldn’t resist

Waiting For A Girl Like You (Lancelot, Percival & Leon)

Lola (Percival & Gwaine)

Down Under (Percival & Leon)

Are You Ready For Love? (Percival & Elyan)

Africa (Lancelot & Percival)

Lowdown (all)

Devil Woman (Percival & Leon)

Beast of Burden (Gwaine, Percival & Leon)

Tadow (Elyan & Lancelot)

Love It If We Made It (Lancelot & Leon)

Sing It Back (Percival & Elyan)