#also pre-TS era

[biscuitboba]

Some thoughts about zolu (again)

Thinking about punk hazard and how serious zoro really was when he asked for luffy to be more careful, like he just wanted his captain to be safe:(

And luffy's reply?? The usual careless carefree luffy, choosing to take his first mate's words seriously. He even genuinely apologized (for acting rather carelessly) and assured zoro that he would not let his guard down with a pretty reassuring smile!!

Idk how to explain it, but this moment means a lot to me, like the way they interacted with each other at this particular moment? It's like when a lover (or love interest) usually scolds their beloved and asks for them not to act too recklessly.

Still thinking about zoro's words and well... after what happened in thriller bark and marineford, it's only natural that zoro would say something like that to luffy. As the first mate, compared to the other strawhats he was probably the most affected by those two events (experiencing luffy's pain and about his incapability to be there for luffy during the summit war saga)

Like, the whole thing about how zoro becoming a more serious person after the timeskip (less smiling and laughing), he may seem 'rougher' after the timeskip, but truthfully? It's obvious that he has the best interest of his captain and the SHC at heart💔

but GOD DO I MISS HIS pre-TS CAREFREE SMILE (usually caused by luffy)

Genuinely thinking about how most of his smiles from back then till now ere caused by/directed at luffy, and im sick to my stomach

[the-english-student-studyblr]

Book Recommendations (from a lit grad student)

So, as I have come to the end of my MA in world lit, I thought I should give you a list of some of the best books I've read, or learnt from. I ignore established canon and give to you recommendations from across the globe and across all genres. Books that defined their genre, or made an impact, or are just really cool and enjoyable to read. This list is not all dead white men.

I have split the list by era/year of publication primarily for easy reading. A lot of the sections are arbitrary. Some of them are not.

Note: This list is not conclusive! This is based on my own readings, and my own, personal, opinions. You have the right to your own opinions and preferences. If you have any suggestions, add them on below.

Classic lit (pre-1700)

Aristole - Poetics (c. 335 BCE)

As much as I hate it...this one is actually pretty important. I know I said 'contributions to literary canon don't matter', and here I am, immediately doing the opposite. But! Aristotle's Poetics is the earliest treatise on literary theory that has survived to the modern day. You want to know where our ideas of comedy and tragedy come from? Poetics. Three act structure? Poetics. Plot and character? Poetics. Key terms like catharsis, hubris, hamartia? Poetics. We had to read this for creative writing, and did I hate it? Yes. Am I a better writer for having read it? Also yes

Plato - The Republic (c. 375 BCE)

Plato is quite easy to read, of the classical philosophers. His works are mostly dialogues between characters, which makes them more engaging that some other dry philosophy texts. I wrote out a longer post with an explanation of Plato's Republic specifically here.

Genji Monogatari (pre-1021)

The first novel ever! Originally written in Japanese, be careful of your translations because most are of questionable quality. I've only read the first one by Suematsu and that's uhhhhh Bad™ but I think the current waterstones edition is decent?

The Völsunga saga OR The Vinland sagas (early 13th century)

Ah, how to choose just one Norse saga? These are both pretty solid examples of their style, and short (always a plus). The Völsunga saga was the inspiration behind Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen (famous for the piece The Valkyrie), and most likely Tolkien's works. The Vinland sagas supposedly have an anime/manga series inspired by them, though looking at the synopsis I cannot see where the inspiration was other than time period. Norse sagas - especially the Icelandic ones such as Vinland - are actually pretty good guides to real historic events, which is very cool. I could go on for hours about this, but I'll spare you the rambling.

Thomas More - Utopia (1516)

Lovely little sarcastic book about tudor politics and human nature all wrapped up in the original 'utopian text'. Surprisingly funny for something written so long ago, and very easy to read. I wrote a longer post about it here

Aphra Behn - Oroonoko (1688)

Hated it, but the themes are interesting and wow did the author lead an interesting life. Widely considered to be the first novel written in English, deals with colonialism, slavery, and honour, and Aphra Behn was a spy? I'm sure some of you will eat that up. Be warned, very 'noble savage'-y book, but less racist than it could've been so cool, I guess?

Early Modern Drama

Christopher Marlowe - Edward II (1592)

Gay. So gay. We're not supposed to call it gay (because of a whole host of reasons that I can and will explain if anyone shows up in my askbox complaining about academics) but it is a very very queer play and Kit Marlowe was too which is even better. Also our one and only history play on this list. Anyone who already knows how Edward II died (thanks horrible histories) do not spoil the ending.

Shakespeare - Twelfth Night (1602)

As with any Shakespeare, watch a performance if you can. I highly recommend the National Theatre version that was up on youtube in 2020. Very gay, no one is cishet. Lots of singing and dancing. Prime example of Shakespeare's comedies with added gender shenanigans.

Shakespeare - Hamlet (1609)

Yes I'm basic. Yes I like Hamlet. In the same way that Twelfth Night is a great example of Shakespeare's comedies, Hamlet is a good example of his tragedies. Mostly, though, I'm recommending this because the castle it's set in in Denmark (Elsinore) a) actually exists and b) does an amazing educational programme, with live actors performing scenes all across the castle! Watching the 'to be or not to be' soliloquy in the banquet hall just adds a whole other level to the experience of reading the play.

Shakespeare - Measure for Measure OR The Tempest

Shakespeare's problem plays. I couldn't pick just one, because they're both fantastic in different ways. Measure for Measure features what can only be described as the early-modern version of an ace protagonist - Isabella - who I adore. The Tempest has a really interesting portrayal of early colonialism and slavery. The reason they are 'problem plays' is they check all the boxes for a comedy...but they're not funny. At all. And they also check some of the boxes for a tragedy. They're certainly interesting reading

Ben Jonson - The Alchemist (1610)

Just a really good, solid play. Very funny. Bunch of con artists set up an elaborate scheme to rob rich people. Also very good for showing class structures of the time. Shakespeare gets all the recognition for this era but Jonson is just as good really, and definitely as clever.

Regency and Victorian lit (1700-1900)

Jane Austen

Literally anything by Austen. She is just so funny, so witty, and I wholeheartedly believe she'd be a feminist today. Master of the female gaze in literature, but beyond that she is basically credited with the invention of free indirect discourse, which is super cool. I have only read Pride and Prejudice, but I have heard good things about most of her books, so I don't feel bad recommending all of them.

William Blake

There's one poem by Blake about a London street urchin that breaks my heart every time I read it and that is the sole reason behind this recommendation I hate Romantic poets.

Mary Shelley - Frankenstein (1818)

You knew it was coming. First sci-fi, gothic horror, teenage girl writer. Gotta love Shelley.

Frederik Douglass - Narrative of the Life of Frederik Douglass (1845)

You know those books that are horrifying because they're real? That's this book. Doesn't shy away from the horrors of slavery and for a reason. This is an autobiography. It is not fiction.

Gowongo Mohawk - Wep-ton-no-mah (1890s)

My favourite play of all time. You will need to do a trip to either the British Library or the Library of Congress to read it because there are no other copies, but I did do a whole podcast episode about it because I'm apparently the expert? You can find it here.

Bram Stoker - Dracula (1894)

I know here on tumblr we adore Dracula, and for good reason. It's horrifying, it's got a blorbo, if you haven't read it already, go with a dracula daily read-through or @re-dracula for the best experience. (Re:Dracula also has episodes where they get scholars on to talk about things like racism and gender and queer theory surrounding the text which is SO COOL as an ex-lit student I love listening to those episodes.

Post-1900

Oscar Wilde - De Profundis (1905)

We had to read a snippet of this for A-Level and I wish it had been more because wow. Most lists like this will recommend Dorian Gray because it's a novel, but De Prof is so heartfelt and beautiful and sad and deserves to be read.

Baroness Orczy - The Scarlet Pimpernel (1905)

First masked vigilante/superhero! If you like comic books or superhero media, this is where it all started (funny how all the firsts so far have been written by women 🤔)

Erich Maria Remarque - All Quiet on the Western Front (1929)

If you only read one book in your life about WW1 make it this one! It is heartbreaking and beautifully written and makes you feel so many things. It was banned in...a lot of places for being anti-war (especially as WW2 came closer) and also because it was written by a German who was anti-war which was apparently impossible to comprehend. The prose is truly something to behold.

Modern lit (Post-war era)

George Orwell - 1984 (1948) OR Animal Farm (1945)

Which one you should read depends a lot on how long your preferred book is and how metaphorical your tastes are. Both are very good explorations of corrupt governments. Animal Farm is an easier read and shorter and is much more allegorical. 1984 is very in-your-face about how much authoritarian governments suck. Do not discount 1984 just because Winston is a terrible person. Everyone knows he's terrible. That's the whole point. He is a normal terrible person, not a cartoonishly evil terrible person, or an angelically perfect revolutionary. All the characters are realistic for their situation.

Maya Angelou - I know why the caged bird sings (1969)

Another one with some beautiful prose. She's a poet and you can tell. It's an autobiography, plus there's a lot of clever stuff going on with how it's written. You could write an essay about this. I did.

Ghassan Khanafani - Return to Haifa (1969)

A short story by a Palestinian author - we were given this by our Palestinian lecturer as an intro to the conflict and the terrible things that colonialism has done to the region. Additionally, there are notes throughout that help explain the significance of things and background and all that jazz. There is a play version that is probably easier to find because it was published more recently but it's not as good.

Ben Okri - The Famished Road (1993)

I did not read this book for uni and I think that may have influenced my opinion of it slightly but I still credit it as one of the reasons I got interested in world lit and translation. It's a really beautiful exploration of Nigerian mythological tradition and its effect on family and politics in this kind of fascinatingly weird style that's both magical realism and modernist? I hate modernism but love magical realism more so.

Carmen Maria Machado - In the Dream House (2019)

What a book oh wow. It reads like poetry. I cannot think of anything coherent to say my brain is screaming. The novel explores abuse in queer relationships, which is something people don't normally talk about, through some very interesting motifs and I love it so much. It is hard to read, but very rewarding.

[remythologise]

In another universe, it’s superwhohouse

really glad it isn’t because being a fan of house m.d. is still cool fun and sexy, completely untainted by any association with bbc sherlock crossovers unlike the poor superwhos of our time

[ybcpatrick]

best form of enrichment i've found recently is daydreaming abt what songs my wrestlers would go fucking hammy and cheese to in the car

[theamazingannie]

Was all excited about potential costumes to wear to the film tonight when it was announced and now that it’s here I’m realizing I did not prepare at all and now have no idea what to wear

[eroguron0nsense]

Late Night Luffy's Dream Theory

So I've heard a fair amount of speculation about what Luffy's dream is after he becomes Pirate King, and by extension, what Roger's dream was (recall Yamato's flashback confirming that Luffy's dream–which Ace shared with him in their long tipsy conversation/totally not a night of passion–is "the same thing the Pirate King" said.) Fan speculation about Luffy's real dream ranges from things like "host the biggest party in the world", to "go to the moon", "make a country of pirates" etc but I've always found something fundamentally unsatisfactory about these, and I'll throw my hat in the ring to narrow down the possibilities.

To recap, the information we have about Luffy's dream is as follows: -Both times the dream is alluded to, it's at the end of what I and probably a bunch of other people personally conceive of as major sagas pre and post TS that both culminate in a major battle featuring EVERYONE WE'VE SEEN AND MORE –It's something that Roger, battle-hardened and well into his 40s or 50s–shared with Oden, that was documented in Oden's journal and partially inspired Yamato's unshakeable faith in Luffy –The Straw Hats, Ace, and Sabo are all shocked to hear it and ask if he's fully serious, but several of them support it immediately and the others remain protective over it and swear they'll see Luffy's ambition through. Jinbe, Nami, and Usopp are in disbelief, Chopper and Franky are excited, Robin is stunned, but looks hopeful or contemplative rather than derisive or amused, etc. –Ace and Sabo laugh as children, but swear to themselves that they'll protect Luffy's dream and won't let anyone mock it. As he's dying, Ace tells Luffy that he truly, truly believes Luffy will pull it off, and he's only sorry he couldn't see him make that dream a reality. –Shanks found it really funny, but is repeatedly shown stating he thinks that this ridiculous fucking child he met is going to be the future of the next pirate era, implying that he has some degree of faith in this child he (likely) recognizes as the inheritor of Roger's will Luffy's dream is repeatedly referred to as "crazy", or in some cases, "a child's fantasy", but also implied to be something really pure, ambitious, and highly unlikely but theoretically possible.

When I come up with fan theories, I tend to approach them less from a "textual evidence" standpoint than a "what would pack the biggest emotional punch and tie into the message/arc/etc that we've been shown thus far" one, and that tends to inform which popular ones I buy into (e.g. I am about 50-60% convinced that Law death will be a thing because, Chekhov's gun aside, Law's been in fucking crisis and unsure of what he'll do as his own man free of Cora's legacy and tries to emulate him in Wano. And while I think there's still a good chance he'll survive to the end for other reasons, there's also potential for a LOT of bittersweet beauty in him repeating what happened to him in childhood by quite literally passing on his heart and life to someone else). Considering what would be emotionally resonant and feel anywhere near as earned as what it's been built up to over two whole fucking sagas, Luffy's dream has to be something absurdly ambitious and thematically resonant. I do not think, if Luffy's dream were something like "I want to go to the moon", that Yamato would hold faith in him through impossibly oppressive circumstances, or that the audience would care like, at all. So if the dream is tied to something at the core of Luffy's character and the underlying themes of the entire series, what does Luffy represent, and what's the point of One Piece? Luffy is, at this point in the story and honestly long before, the embodiment of this sort of radical, almost anarchic humanism pervading the entire series that seeks to bring genuine freedom, joy, and peace to people everywhere he goes. Even before any divine or joy boy associations, he's a bringer of dawn, a warrior of liberation, and a worker of miracles because he sees injustice happening around him and instantly rejects it. He tears down oppressors everywhere he goes, and he's eventually going to bring that reckoning to the World Government and Blackbeard and every other might-makes-right, brutal, thoughtless hierarchical oppressor stopping their helpless victims from living free, full, happy lives. And critically, he's the inheritor of a crazy, radical dream that'll shake the world because god knows One Piece loves to talk about inherited will/dreams/legacy.

One Piece's broadly radical leftist humanism isn't based in naïveté either; it's very clear that this liberation is preceded by endless failures. Joyboy fails to stop any of what happens and writes letters of apology, Roger dies before he can realize the dream, and all the while countless atrocities are going on with at least 3 Islands we know of and two whole races having their genocides all but done to completion. Kuma suffers immensely waiting for the Dawn, and effectively loses his life and humanity before it can come, still holding on to his belief in Nika. But none of these things will stop the coming of liberation. Every genocide and attempt to purge the politically inconvenient–Ohara, Flevance, the Lunarians, the persecution of the Buccaneers–leaves survivors or inheritors, with Law, Kuma, and Robin in particular playing central roles in saving or aiding Luffy, the bringer of Dawn. The purge of Ohara fails to destroy the records permanently. The fucking biblical infanticides at Baterilla and the end of Roger's bloodline doesn't stop Luffy from inheriting Roger's will and his brother's legacy. Luffy isn't so much a predestined messiah as he is the inheritor of a legacy of resistance and hope that cannot be killed because as long as someone lives, they will dream of the brand of hope and justice that he embodies. No matter how hard you try, or how violently you suppress people, how many legacies or bloodlines or rebels you put to death, people will survive and carry on those legacies or pick up where your victims left off because you can't kill ideas, you can't kill truth, you can't kill dreams, and you can't kill the basic human desire for joy and freedom. I think the "Child's Fantasy" thing we see associated with Luffy's dream is key to this whole mystery. Wano's the arc in which we get the closest, most explicit declarations of Luffy's ideals, in which his core motivation for defeating Kaido–besides helping Momo and his friends seek justice and overthrow an oppressor–is to make sure everyone in the country can eat their fill. It's the kind of thing you wish for as a child–an end to world hunger, world peace, homes for the homeless, an end to prejudice–before a thousand and one adults feed you the lie that it's impossible to redistribute resources, that being crushed by hierarchical oppressive power is natural, or that some people are undeserving of life or basic rights and therefore deserve to be harmed by the powers that be. Before your parents and teachers and other people lecture you on the necessity of Authority and Capitalism and Hegemony or what have you and convince you that a certain number of people simply have to suffer and die to preserve the Proper and Legitimate Hierarchy, that the powerful deserve to be where they are and that victims of these systems deserve it. It'll be something very much like his hopes for Wano in the face of the oppression of Kaidou and Orochi, or the World Government creeping up on them afterward with Ryokugyu loudly announcing that the oppression of the have-nots is the rightful and good state of the world. It'll be a simple, basic hope for good things for him and his friends and all the great people they love, something perfectly possible and right and just and joyful that people have been raised to think of as an impossibility. A place where people can eat their fill, where there's water in parched lands, where people aren't being strangled by heavenly tributes. A world where they can be free. A reality where everyone can be happy, where dreams come true.

[maximumqueer]

One Piece and Media Literacy

So this entire post was born out of me trying to understand why there are certain readings and interpretations of one piece that get under my skin so much. I like to think that I am normally pretty open to different readings of a text. I’m an English major, literally 90% of my degree is discussing different interpretations of fictional media, and that often involves encountering people with different readings than my own. That is good, and I think that as long as a reading can be backed up with good faith textual evidence it’s a valid reading. And that was the sticking point for me,  that the takes that I kept seeing had logic behind them. I could see how and why the person sharing them came to the conclusion they did. But, what I realized is that even though these conclusions did make sense, it also relied on an incredibly literal, surface level take on the scene that also oftentimes ignored the context of how and why the moment was taking place. In other words, a lack of media literacy. 

I’m going to use two scenes that I personally view as getting misconstrued as a result of this as examples. The first one is Shanks' conversation with Whitebeard, particularly this sentence Shanks says in response to Whitebeard questioning Shanks on the loss of his arm. 

I have seen this moment be interpreted as Shanks intentionally losing his arm to teach Luffy a lesson in leadership, that what makes a good captain is one who is willing to put themselves and their life on the line for the people they care about. I do think that is a lesson Luffy took away from this moment, but I don’t think that this scene is framing it as intentional. The meeting between  these two characters is grandiose, and the dialogue they use exemplifies that. Just before this, Whitebeard asked Shanks “What enemy did you give that left arm to?” (One Piece, Ch. 434, pg. 11).  Whitebeard isn’t asking Shanks if he literally gave his arm to an enemy, but rather asking who he lost his arm to, but in a verbose way. As such, Shanks doesn’t mean that he intentionally gave up his arm. And while he could have said that a sea monster took it, he instead switched focus from the thing that took it to the person who he lost it for. It shows Shanks' mindset towards losing his arm, and how he does not actually view it as a loss, as it was lost saving a kid Shanks saw potential in, a kid who would be a part of the new era. 

I will also say that the implication of Shanks intentionally losing his arm makes him a worse person, and cheapens his and Luffy’s relationship. The implication being that the emotional distress we saw him in when Luffy was kidnapped and in peril was at least to a point faked. A person in distress is not worrying about what lesson they can impart onto the person they’re saving, and as such saying that Shanks could have in that moment decided to intentionally give up his arm paints him as a much colder, more calculating character, which I would argue would be to the detriment of his character.

And I know that this reading is in part trying to explain why Shanks, a very powerful character, would lose his arm to a sea monster in the East Blue. But this was Shanks from 12 years ago, I don’t think it takes a massive leap in logic to assume that he simply wasn’t as strong of a character back then. Add to that his attention mainly being focused on making sure he got to Luffy in time, and I think him losing his arm in that moment makes perfect sense. 

The second scene is when Rob Lucci suggests that Luffy’s use of gear 2 is causing him to shave years off his life. 

What Lucci says here is often taken at face value, and then applied to every other gear we have seen Luffy use. This is also information that is stated as fact, more often than not. That every time Luffy uses gear 2 or 3 (pre - ts) or gear 4 or 5 (post - ts) that he is taking a couple years off his life. And as this all stems from Rob Lucci, we have to ask 1: Is Rob Lucci knowledgeable enough to actually make this claim? And 2: Is he a trustworthy source of information? 

The first question is up for debate. Lucci could very well make an educated guess about the strain Luffy is putting on his body. But at the end of the day he is only going off of very limited knowledge about both Luffy and his devil fruit. The second question, I would argue, is a resounding no. Lucci is a member of CP9 (now CP0) an intelligence agency that focuses on infiltration. Part of Lucci’s job is to lie and coerce people. This is also the man that killed his fellow soldiers that had been taken as POWs to prevent the county they were fighting from having the upper hand. That is not the kind of person whose word you can take at face value.

It is also worth noting that the broader scene that this line of dialogue belongs to involves Lucci trying to psyche Luffy out by telling him that there is no hope of him or his friends winning, using the claim that he is shortening his life, as well as information that his crew is in a tunnel that will soon flood, killing them. And while some of this info is true, that is not the reasoning behind Lucci telling him it. He wants Luffy to be discouraged and to feel like there is no possible way for him to win. The information he tells to Luffy does not have to be true for this tactic to work. 

What I’m trying to get at here is that analysis that does not take in the broader context of the story, or the established characterization of the people in the specific scene being analyzed leads to a reading based in ignorance, as not all of the information is being considered. It can also lead to misunderstandings within the fandom, like how I’ve seen it stated that Luffy using gear 5 shortens his life span. There is no canon backing for this, other than the literal interpretation of what a villain said about an entirely different gear nearly 20 years ago in real time. Or it can unintentionally paint a character that has previously been characterized as deeply caring for the protagonist as being cold and distant instead, more focused on making the next generation is strong - both physically and as leaders - than about saving the protagonist's (who at the time was a child) life.

[foxes-that-run]

I don't wanna live forever

In the video Zayn arrives in a classic convertible, similar to Blank Space. She 'called out' Harry's cars in KoMH "'Cause all the boys and their expensive cars / With their Range Rovers and their Jaguars"

Then the hotel looks a lot like the Bowery Hotel where Harry stays in NY. Also, not to sound flippant... but it's Zayn and Taylor.

Harry and Taylor refer to Hallways in 10 songs and in the Perfect MV.

There are white roses throughout which Taylor pulls apart. Since Red, TS Roses have been about Harry, he has a rose tattoo. On their May anniversary in 2013, she posted roses saying she thought something would grow. She threw white roses in the Blank Space MV.

The people in the background are dressed like Harry and Taylor at the Victoria Secret show, which is also the subject of So it Goes.

They trash the hotel room, which mocks Perfect's MV. 1D's made a mess, Taylor and Zayn smash a mirror and a lamp.

i don't wanna live forever came together very quickly. wrote it with taylor and sam dew and produced it at home mostly on paper sounds. recorded taylor at my house. zayn sent parts from LA – we did it in a week basically. i've never had something come out that quick — jackantonoff (@jackantonoff) December 9, 2016

Zayn said that Jack approached him, then Zayn spoke to Taylor who already knew the track. I think given the importance of Jack and Taylor's relationship it's more likely Taylor choose Zayn and Jack was an intermediary than Jack raising it.

The collaboration itself is enough to confirm who it is about and caused a directioner-swiftie Twitter fandom storm. Many viewed it as a way for them both to mess with Harry, I think in part it is a response to Perfect. To suggest it's not about Harry for either is... a choice.

When was it written

Jack and Taylor were in the studio recording the bulk of Reputation in September 2016, Zayn was was in LA then, so maybe. But Fifty shades wrapped in April 2016 and it was likely wanted then.

Live performances

Taylor performed it 7 times in promotional events and then only twice in concert, interestingly both times was it the first week of June:

June 9, 2018, Manchester's Reputation Surprise Song. They were in a good (and maybe more) place then. Also Harry's hometown (he was in Florida)

June 3, 2023, Chicago Eras surprise song. It is sadder that above, the MH split announcement was 2 days later so maybe related. Haylor relations seemed warm before and after that.

Taylors split from CH and Harry left to shoot Dunkirk in June 2016. From I did something bad / High Infidelity / Ole we know CH was over earlier and they had spent some time together in February and April 2016. Playing this in June, when Harry left for Dunkirk and his IG going colour after the 2016 Met Gala has me side eyeing the end.

Lyrics

[Verse 1: ZAYN] Been sittin' eyes wide open Behind these four walls, hopin' you'd call It's just a cruel existence Like there's no point hopin' at all

Eyes wide open is a reference to Eyes wide Shut, the Stanley Kubrick erotic psychological drama. Like Fifty shades is features a masquerade party.

Harry and Taylor refer to waiting for calls in: AYHTDWS "Here you are now, calling me up, but I don't know what to say" August "Cancel plans just in case you'd call". Maroon "the rust that grew between telephones" FTDT "Even my phone misses your call, by the way"

Cruel existence is a theme of referring to their relationship as something they are trapped in. Cruel Summer "It's a cruel summer with you", MMIH "Cause once you go without it / Nothing else will do" and others. Taylor also had no hope in Treacherous "This hope is treacherous"

[Pre-Chorus: ZAYN] Baby, baby, I feel crazy Up all night, all night and every day Give me somethin', oh, but you say nothin' What is happening to me?

Taylors pre-chorus is the same but "I gave you somethin', but you gave me nothin'"

IWYW has a similar line "You always knew how to push my buttons / You give me everything and nothing" and Say "don't go" "I said, "I love you" (I said, "I love you") / You say nothin' back"

[Chorus: ZAYN] I don't wanna live forever 'Cause I know I'll be living in vain And I don't wanna fit wherever I just wanna keep calling your name Until you come back home x2

Taylor has referred to not wanting a life without Harry in Is it over now? "Oh, Lord, I think about / Jumping off of very tall somethings" Hoax " Stood on the cliffside / Screaming, "Give me a reason"" This is me trying "Pulled the car off the road to the lookout / Could've followed my fears all the way down"

In Where do broken hearts go "Now I'm searching every lonely place / Every corner calling out your name / Tryna find you but I just don't know / Where do broken hearts go?"

I don't want to fit wherever seems a response to Perfect "Or the arms that hold you any time you want them / But that don't mean that we can't live here in the moment / 'Cause I can be the one you love from time to time". HS had not been available because of the band, but wasn't in 2016 when Taylor wanted someone there for her but I expect was focused on his solo career and Dunkirk so not in the band or available. To me this line could be why it still didn't work out.

[Verse 2: Taylor Swift] I'm sittin' eyes wide open And I got one thing stuck in my mind Wonderin' if I dodged a bullet Or just lost the love of my life, oh

In second Verse Taylor has let it go, dodged a bullet/lost the love of her life is pretty straight forward - but it's an interesting link to Love of my Life on Harry's House which was still 6 years away. (yes I know his only 13th track on the album he released on their 10th anniversary is about England.... ....)

[Bridge: Taylor Swift, ZAYN, Both] I've been looking sad in all the nicest places Baby, baby, I feel crazy I see you around in all these empty faces Up all night, all night and every day I've been looking sad in all the nicest places Give me somethin', oh, but you say nothin' Now I'm in a cab, I tell 'em where your place is What is happening to me?

Looking sad in all the nicest places reminds me of:

This is me trying: "And it's hard to be at a party / When I feel like an open wound/ It's hard to be anywhere these days / When all I want is you"

Hit's different "Freedom felt like summer then on the coast / Now the sun burns my heart and the sand hurts my feelings"

Take the cab to his place is also similar to other times they go to each others house:

DBATC: "I Take the long way home"

Wish You Would. "It's 2 A.M. in your car / Windows down, you pass my street / The memories start" and "It's 2 A.M. in your car / Windows down, I pass my street / The memories start"

[Outro: Taylor Swift, ZAYN] I just wanna keep callin' your name Until you come back home Until you come back home

Finally, home is an important concept to them. Generally, they refer to each other as home. However in this song and Sweet Creature, "Wherever I go, you bring me home Sweet creature, sweet creature When I run out of road, you bring me home"

Sweet Creature and IDWLF were both written in 2016 they refer to HS coming home to her.

The lyric 'And I don't wanna fit wherever / I just wanna keep calling your name / Until you come back home". Is a hope that eventually they will be together, but accepting not yet. This idea is in several songs:

HYGTG "Broke your heart, I'll put it back together / I would wait for ever and ever (I want you for ever and ever)"

Suburban Legends " When you told me we'd get back together / And you kissed me in a way that's gonna screw me up forever"

Someday "Someday maybe when we're old and gray / We could be in love once more / Till then I won't give my love away / Darling, I'm forever only yours"

Something Great: "One day, I'll come into your world and get it right / I'll say we're better off together here tonight"

Happily "We were meant to be but a twist of fate / Made it so you had to walk away."

Satellite "Spinning out, waiting for ya to pull me in / I can see you're lonely down there"

[searching4wisdom-blog]

Photos/Content not afflicted with my Haylor theories, but none the less, give date/time stamps for when these outfit designs ... down to the microphone 🎤 and stands ... were featured on the Eras Tour

The orange blast of color alludes to the orange/pink that is being teased for Karma...can you spot the small spray paint blast of orange on TS's microphone stand above?

Makes me think 1989's "Slut!" (Pink color matching X marks the spot on the REP 🐍 tour visuals/pre-speech to GETAWAY CAR, a song played AT MY SHOW, in Milan on Night ✌🏼

Taylor also wears the matching PINK 1989's set...SIX weeks after DEBUTING the matching ORANGE and singing Glitch X EHC

🤭

And Taylor just mashed up "Slut!" X False God in Gelsenkirchen Night One!!!

What the heck 🤯 🦩🍊

"Slut!" is completely alluding to Florida!!!

Known as the sunshine state ☀️

Florida Lottery's logo is a 🦩

State fruit is an Orange 🍊

I'm starting to spiral 🌀 into a rabbit hole 🕳️ 🐇

A Labyrinth I do not plan to walk right now...one way in and one way out...things are getting trippy...

the thought has crossed my mind that we're heading back into the clouds ⛅️ , back to her version of Wonderland 🐇

Maybe alluding to the BROTHER album of folklore and evermore...we're still waiting on the smolest man...

[biscuitboba]

So, about sharing food...

We all know about luffy and his incredible love for food right? He's not really the type to share his food with another person. If anything, luffy likes to steal food from others. So of course we can't help but to notice when luffy's willing to share some of his food with another person.

And after rereading the manga (pre-TS era) i noticed some differences in the two situations where luffy offers to share his food. And i need to ramble about it!!

So nami... at that time, she was feeling sad about vivi something (also very clear from her facial expression!). Then luffy said to her "i'll give you some meat if you want, nami!", "only one though". From his words and his expression we can tell that luffy wasn't really that thrilled with the idea of giving his food away, heck he even limited the amount of food he was willing to give... BUT STILL, it was a very wholesome gesture, especially from luffy!! cuz usually he wouldn't give away his food to anyone.

So now let's see another case of luffy wanting to share his food with another person...

Honestly?? I don't even know what to say, zoro is just being zoro here. He looked pretty annoyed... but that's just the usual zoro! feeling lowkey irritated, skeptical, and just being on guard like always. Nothing out of the ordinary. But luffy? He looked at zoro and he literally said " i will share my lunchbox with you" while smiling and also laughing???

Let's just think about this.

Back then with nami, she clearly looked sad/down... but luffy just wanted to 'give' her one piece of meat, meanwhile it was quite clear that he had more than one piece of meat. But in zoro's case? Luffy just wanted to bribe zoro so that zoro would come with him by offering to 'share' some of his lunch. He didn't even specify about how much of his food he was willing to share with zoro??

Idk maybe im overthinking it but it's just ????

Anyway all im saying is that sharing food is luffy's special secret love language, i don't make the rules

[allylikethecat]

Omg, also a TS fan since debut and I massively took a step back from her personally prior to the reputation era because of her antics and victim complex. The music will always mean so so much to me, her lyrics mean so much to me, but her actions as a person and TS™️ as an entity is just weird and greedy. I think she accrued a lot of fans when she disappeared for a while who've completely constructed a narrative in their heads of who she is and they believe it and are eating up this current era, but those who've been here a long time know how PR and image driven it is. Exhausting.

I apologize in advance I have been having way too many feelings about this whole situation and how it relates to my identity as a 28 year old woman and you are about to get an oversharing novel in response lol

Also, I guess CW: this post is about Taylor Swift and if anyone sends me any kind of hate or whatnot related to my own personal opinions and feelings I will be deleting it because I am NOT playing that game.

My Aunt bought me the Debut album CD at a concert after seeing her open for Rascal Flatts. She was like "I thought that you would like her!" and she was RIGHT Taylor Swift became my entire personality. One of my FAVORITE core memories as a child was the day Fearless came out. For some reason we didn't have school, and my Mom and I watched Taylor on the Ellen show, and then we went to Target and bought the physical CD, we then drove around town so we could listen to it together. My mom hasn't been well and that is one of my favorite memories of us together. It's silly but when you're in middle school that kind of thing is important to you. Then in high school I actually got MADE FUN OF for wearing Taylor merch and being excited about Red. BUT I loved her music and felt like she actually stood for something, so I brushed it off and continued to be a HUGE Swiftie. I had the Taylor Swift dolls, I had the perfumes, I had the LOVE LOVE LOVE bracelet, I had the sundresses from WALMART. I saw her on the Fearless and 1989 tours, I had the fucking 1989 haircut. I was supposed to go to Loverfest.

I was still a HUGE Swiftie during the post 1989-pre Reputation eras, then the Reputation era. I'm a few years younger than her, but I felt like I could relate to the kind of manic panic that she was sharing with us (lol turns out I was just unmedicated and we're doing much better now). It felt (in my probably naive mind) like she was experiencing the same insecurities that I was and reacting accordingly. Was she playing the victim at times? Oh 100% BUT I also fully believe that she thought she was one. (Plus... Kim is my least favorite Kardashian lol)

I LOVED the Lover era even as it was shit on at the for the sunshine rainbow hyper colorful aesthetic. Like, I don't know if new fans realize but when Lover was released? It was NOT as beloved as it is now. Then Folklore and Evermore were absolute genius, it felt like Taylor had grown up, and she got all of these new fans, which was great! She was in an "adult" relationship and her music and publicity choices seemed to reflect that. It was so refreshing to see a celebrity keeping their personal life, personal, and sharing what they wanted to share through music. Midnights broke all kinds of records, again, amazing! Even if it wasn't as strong as say Folklore. I fought for my life and got Eras Tour tickets (opening weekend!!) I had the BEST TIME EVER.

Taylor has always been extremely calculated with her public image. She was over exposed during The 1989 era and the public turned on her, so I truly cannot figure out why she is doing it again 100x in this new era of whatever the fuck this is. I don't know her, maybe she is legitimately happy, or maybe this is a cry for help. But I have been so grossed out by her behavior lately, and how in your face everything is with Kelce. It's no secret that I hate Kelce (and people that know me IRL know that it's not a new Taylor related thing lol) and if she actually loves him, fine, that's great for her, BUT we don't need to see it! Yes she was public when she was dating Calvin but ALSO she was what 25-26? She's a 34 year old woman now with the biggest platform of any celebrity ever. She feels too old (and this is not me age shaming her because I would be grossed out if my friends were doing it, and I would be embarrassed if *I* were to ever do it) to be licking a man's face in public like this. This feels like sorority girl in her first college relationship (I was *in* a sorority for a hot second so this isn't hate on sorority girls either!) and not record breaking Grammy award winning artist. ALSO I feel like she used to come across as so articulate and well spoken? Controversial opinion but I thought she sounded like a fucking idiot in that Time Person of the Year piece.

I think that this whole thing is PR for something, but because it just feels too icky to be real, but I don't know what it's PR for, (trying to bury the Matty situation from May? Because if so that just makes me even more sad for him or trying to get back at Joe? Which if that's the case, I feel bad for him too and she's even more immature than I thought) and now, for the first time, AFTER SIXTEEN YEARS I'm embarrassed to be a fan of her, both because of her own actions and also the actions of her fanbase as a whole.

It feels really weird, and I know I'm being parasocial about it, but when the times got bad I always had her music to fall back on and now I just, I don't know it feels cheapened somehow because the current image that's being crafted doesn't match the one that we originally fell for. And you know what, people change, she's a celebrity, I don't know her, what she does DOES NOT affect me any way, and how I feel does not AFFECT HER in the slightest, and I know it's being parasocial but I feel like a big part of me is in mourning about it. Less because of her changing her image so drastically, and more so because I feel like I'm mourning the loss of childhood and joy that used to be associated with her music for me and I think that's what's making me the most sad.

I have Eras tour tickets for one of the London dates this summer. I'm probably going to still go, because I paid for them, and I also have tickets to see Noah Kahan that same week in London (... and also the Longines tour has ALSO decided that the London stop is that week...) But I don't consider myself a "big fan" anymore. Maybe I will be one day again, but this current image that she's putting out just isn't it for me.

Sorry for the longest Taylor related novel in existence, I have had a lot of bottled up feelings about this that feel ridiculous typing out and sharing out loud BUT I know I will feel better sending them into the interwebs and your ask was the perfect catalyst.

Thank you so much for sending this in and for your continued support! I hope you continue to enjoy my fics and my secret sports hot takes 😂

❤️Ally

[alarrytale]

“What we do know for a fact is that when he says in interviews that he got into music at 12-13 by listening to Oasis, that's a blatent lie.” Didn’t he say his first band that he has tattooed covered Green Day and Oasis songs? Also Louis is not the only 1D member that likes Oasis… their songs are classics in their part of the world, it tracks that’s how he got into music even if he listened to other stuff that was popular at the time. Much how teenagers in America got into rock music listening to bands like Guns N Roses.

Also if you actually listen to Oasis, they aren’t a “bloody realism” band. In fact, the quite opposite. Liam Gallagher and Noel Gallagher hated Nirvana and Liam said about them that “music should be uplifting.” Which if it sounds familiar, it’s the way FITF was written. Listen to the songs Stop Crying Your Heart Out, Stand By Me, Live Forever, they sound all very Louis to me in a way!

Hi, anon!

Yes, Louis has said that. He's also said his kid is his and that he's straight. It's all about curating his image and trying to seem cool to a particular target group.

The fact is that we know, because there is evidence out there, that the Rogue did at least one (or two, depending how you count) cover songs. I got a feeling by the Black Eyed Peas (it's on YouTube last time i checked) and Look After You by the Fray (it's vocals by Louis but one of the other The Rogue members produced it). I wouldn't be surprised if they also covered Wonderwall or American Idiot, but i think Louis is trying to bend the truth here. I think they covered popular songs and more pop/pop rock songs than punk rock/britpop/indie songs. They were 14 and performed at school.

At his txf audition he sang Hey there Delilah by plain white Ts and Elvis ain't dead by Scouting for girls which is, according to wikipedia lol, emo-pop and pop rock. It's all very much in the pop genre to me.

I also didn’t say "bloody realism" i said "broody realism". Both the Gal*agher brothers seems like miserable people to me. They write about their working class experience and yeah, maybe it's got an "hey, things are shit, but pull yourself together" vibe about it.

I'm not saying Louis doesn’t enjoy these bands at all, he probably does. What i'm saying is that he's grossly exaggerating and emphasising how much he was into them as a kid. There is no reference of him being into them pre 2020, no posters on bedroom walls in old pics, no band t-shirts, and no trying to emulate them in any way (clothes or style) and no mention of them until now when he's trying to break into the indie scene and revive the britpop era. Louis wasn't an indie kid who found meaning at 14 in songs like Stop Crying Your Heart Out. He listened to the Fray, the Script and Nickleback and liked a variety of top 40 songs. But that's not very cool to say when you're trying to come off as indie and appeal to men who's music taste is pretentious, now is it... hence this rewriting of history were currently exposed to.

Wouldn't it be great if Louis actually owned the fact that he was the biggest S club 7 fan as a kid and that he listens to ABBA? He can do that while also appricate britpop music, alt rock and indie music. That would be genuine and that would be the truth.

[womanexile]

Lol - I wonder if this was intentional? For 1989 listening party - 89 guests per location. 5 (LA, NY, TN, RI, London): 89 x 5= 445. [4+4+5=13] youtube.com/watch?v=ozrrUio3AB0

She met Jack late '12 and met Lena (@ Grammys) early '13. Worked with JA in '13. But I guess LD listened to her pre-SN era? AW from Girls produced M3GAN (the one with TS song in trailer). LD has casted some good talents on her projects that have gone on to do well.

Lol- LD post- I can see how her humor would appeal to TS: "Judging by how much she's helped me thus far, Taylor Swift is going to write the song that finally gets me comfortable with death."

Speaking of some of TS's oldest friends. ES met Jamie Foxx in 2010. (Foxx was also on Valentine's Day film, VD soundtrack was released via Big Machine- Amy Winehouse covered "Cupid" & Chris Stapleton co-wrote a song that was covered). Lol- I wonder who Ed contacts 1st? JF or TS share birthday 12/13

More funny ES stories: people.com/music/ed-sheeran-crazy-stories/#:~:text=%22Ed%20Sheeran%20slept%20on%20my,to%20some%20of%20his%20music.

Speak Now tour arm lyric: “If things go right we can frame it and put you on a wall.” – Ed Sheeran, Lego House. Allphones Arena in Sydney, Australia on March 10, 2012.

Random thoughts- not related, but reminded me of some lyrics:

The 1

We never painted by the numbers, baby, but we were making it count

Lego House

I'm gonna paint you by numbers and color you in If things go right we can frame it And put you on a wall

And it's so hard to say it but I've been here before Now I'll surrender up my heart and swap it for yours

Signs of the Times

We never learn, we been here before Why are we always stuck and running from The bullets? The bullets

Bad Blood

Band-aids don't fix bullet holes (Hey!) You say sorry just for show (Hey!) You live like that, you live with ghosts (Hey!) Hm, if you love like that blood runs cold

What if I told you none of it was accidental

[groundbreakingdot872]

Midnights - BBC Merlin-coded ✨Part 1

It’s me! hi, I’m the problem it’s me 👋 (equating every TS song to Merlin again 🙃)

Let’s roll! (for @firefly-fez 💖)

-*-

💜✨Lavender Haze 💜✨

Meet me at ✨MIDNIGHT!✨ ;)

-*-

…This is such a GWEN song it’s hard to hold it together

Gwen has had such an incredible development from season 1 to season 5, from painfully shy and reserved, to becoming much franker and more open about her own emotions and the state of the kingdom.

Every rewatch, seeing Gwen come into her own is so satisfying, and honestly, the only character development I could fully support: it's just very positive!

At the end of season 4, we see Gwen ascend the throne, which was a culmination of Morgana's prophesied vision but also the climax of the love story Gwen and Arthur had been building together from season 2...

She's dressed in LAVENDER, which is a color commonly associated with strength, vitality, leadership and peace; all of which are qualities we can associate with her character. I think that golden age post-Camlaan can be termed a lavender haze ✨💜 instead, as that's the color that best represents her.

Also, she just wears purple a lot! 😂

From s2's iconic purple dress with the embroidered corset (in 'Once and Future Queen') to s4's infamously remembered lavender dress ('Lancelot du Lac'), nearly all of Gwen's important moments have been in purple.

Her coronation gown in s4 (in both the vison and in 'The Sword and the Stone') are purple.

Purple is just her color!

In season 5, she wears a darker, more mature purple, which I think comes to represent her experience as carefully navigating her Queenship, as she's way past any 'rookie' mistakes that she might've made in those 5 years from s4 - s5.

However, I think this song could be a great interpretation of those doubts and insecurities of becoming Queen, and how Arthur's reassurance of her capability helped to put to rest any anxieties that plagued her.

To start, the beat of this song is this thrumming, electric rhythm I fell in love with almost immediately. Taylor's quick intro, "Meet me at Midnight" set the tone right away: this song is an elegant retelling of one woman's journey to prominence, with a sexy beat to accompany it!

[Pre-Chorus] I been under scrutiny (Yeah, oh, yeah) You handle it beautifully (Yeah, oh, yeah) All this shit is new to me (Yeah, oh, yeah)

Gwen has always admired Arthur's strength and gentle nature, 'he handles it beautifully', when it comes to ruling Camelot, and his advice and support is something she came to rely on heavily, in those first few years.

He was always quick to counter her doubt with the reassurance that she is just as capable, even if attending council meetings, drafting treatises and speaking with royal allies is all new to her, she can handle it all just fine!

I specifically remember an instance in "The Wicked Day" deleted scenes, where he pulls her away to give him advice in an alcove. They were discussing whether Arthur should be open to using magic to heal Uther, and when Gwen hesitated to guide him, he reassured her that her that 'he values her opinion above all others.' Arthur has always been Gwen's biggest cheerleader to speak up!

All of those years, she'd seen him manage the court and the knights from the sidelines. As a servant she had a unique perspective on his ruling, but never any authority to make changes herself. She did the best she could with what little she had, speaking up against any injustice or wrongdoing in Arthur's presence and absence.

Gwen was also a constant structure of support for her friends and Arthur, someone they could also rely on to give quick and valuable guidance.

All along, she had the traits of a capable Queen! She just needed the opportunity to prove it.

[Chorus] I feel the lavender haze creeping up on me Surreal I'm damned if I do give a damn what people say No deal The 1950s shit they want from me I just wanna stay in that lavender haze

I mean, the 'medieval-era shit-talking' was probably alone the same lines of talking down to Gwen, not only because she was a woman, but also because she was a servant and had no authority.

Of the main four (Merlin, Arthur, Morgana), Gwen had never been in a position of true power; either magic-born or of noble-blood. But the scene where she confronts Agravaine in 'The Darkest Hour Part 1' reminds everyone that her quiet strength and reserve is to be revered and was very much a brilliant tool for her to exercise against the egos of noblemen who thought so little of her.

Marrying Arthur and attaining Queenship was only a steppingstone for her to fully exercise her strategizing qualities and quick wit. By not 'giving a damn' to all the baseless things people had to say, of all the hardline decisions she would make as Queen, she was able to fully cement herself in power.

[Verse 2] All they keep asking me (All they keep asking me) Is if I'm gonna be your bride The only kinda girl they see (Only kinda girl they see) Is a one-night or a wife

I'm sure there was some heavy skepticism of Gwen and Arthur's relationship the entirety of season 4, either from Agravaine, or from other nobles of Camelot who couldn't entirely believe that Arthur had fallen in love with a serving girl...

Even amongst their close circle, there must have been some doubt on the longevity of their relationship (especially post- Lancelot du Lac). Truly, only Gwen and Arthur knew the strength of the love between them.

I think at some point, it was more of an open secret that Gwen and Arthur were together. Arthur wasn't entirely secretive about his affections (I mean a gaurd literally caught him sneaking off to Gwen's house in 'His Father's Son' 😂), and even after 'Queen of Hearts', they may have kept it on the down-low, but anyone who knew them well, could tell they were secretly still courting.

Gwen's fellow servants may have pitied her for pining after the prince, and then King, with no ring to show for it; and may have cautioned her to cut him off, before another 'politically valuable' marriage broke her heart.

Arthur may have, conversely, been mocked for letting Gwen pull his heart on a string and told to follow in his father's footsteps and marry advantageously.

However, the fact they both were able to put aside their doubts and marry for the sake of their enduring love, was more of a nod to their individual characteristics of quiet resolve, than trying to prove this 'status quo' wrong.

[Pre-Chorus] I find it dizzying (Yeah, oh, yeah) They're bringing up my history (Yeah, oh, yeah) But you weren't even listening (Yeah, oh, yeah)

OK, but this is such an 'Arthur' thing 😂

Sometimes he's just hilariously obvious to everything else, his impassioned 'I LOVE her' to Uther in 'Queen of Hearts' comes to mind immediately - the boy has eyes only for Gwen!

After the whole shade-Lancelot debacle, cheating rumors, Gwen's banishment and then sudden ascension to the throne, there were probably enough rumors swimming around to fuel traveling bard songs for years lmao

They're 'bringing up Gwen's history', and maliciously, in an effort to rue her destruction, but to Gwen, the only person who she cares about to hear those rumors, literally does not care about them.

Arthur is incredibly single-minded when it comes to his Guinevere, so it's no surprise that he provides all the reassurance she needs to take on the throne 💖

-*-

♥️Maroon♥️

The beat that starts this song off is a steady thrum, a little sensual!, and slowly builds up to the chorus; giving me a sense of longevity, a years-long relationship, and a dynamic that's been rebuilt and restored over and over again.

- and it's clear from the lyrics that this isn't their first rodeo [the lovers], the two them are very much aware of everything they have to lose, and yet… they still embrace all the possibilities of a new dynamic!, with all the grace of a falling star... 💫

Yes…this song is technically *not* a love song: it's really it's more of a nostalgia-washed remembrance of a love long-lost.

But! I still think it's relevant to Mergwen, considering Merlin's immortality and the events and years that passed between them. It's a love song of that remembrance, of holding onto someone because they're the only one left that matters - it’s a love song to the survivors.

I dubbed this song Merlin x Gwen (post-Camlaan) for so many reasons, but most of all for the color - MAROON - (a deep red which represents maturity, courage, passion and an enduring love!)

They are the two survivors of the original four, the ones left to pick up the pieces of Arthur's destiny; the two best candidates to rebuild the Kingdom back to the shining fortress it once was.

Can a friendship remain static, (an understood dynamic) between two people? Of course. But in this case, I think, because of the lost romanticism between the two of them, a friendship can delve deeper, from gently consoling to suddenly electric, and bleed into some other version of themselves that's entirely unfamiliar and terrifying; yet tempting enough to lose themselves in.

Who else better understood the full spectrum of grief and tragedy that buried the Kingdom than Gwen and Merlin? And who else could play an important part in rebuilding what was lost than the two closest to the late King 💜

[Verse 1] When the morning came We were cleaning incense off your vinyl shelf 'Cause we lost track of time again Laughing with my feet in your lap Like you were my closest friend "How'd we end up on the floor, anyway?" you say "Your roommate's cheap-ass screw-top rosé, that's how" I see you every day now

The imagery is so vibrant here!

Gwen and Merlin, sitting up late after a council session, her feet in his lap, sweet wine in both of their breaths, recounting some forgotten memory that you had to be there for. And then... a spark ✨

Notice how there’s a pause between “Like you were my [mine]… closest friend.” You can hear the longing in the narrator’s voice, something they can’t even admit to themselves, something they try to deny: they want their best friend.

Rebuilding the kingdom brick by brick, reuniting families, strategizing new allyships, and waging small battles to retain peace: these are all tasks that can only be undertaken with the resolve of a hundred brave knights, seemingly insurmountable - or two close friends who know the kingdom better than anyone.

Finding new purpose again after Arthur, and channeling their grief into purpose, is something that would be much easier with someone who truly understands.

They see each other "every day now” and it’s comforting.

[Chorus] And I chose you The one I was dancing with In New York, no shoes Looked up at the sky and it was The burgundy on my t-shirt When you splashed your wine into me And how the blood rushed into my cheeks So scarlet, it was The mark thеy saw on my collarbone The rust that grew between telephones The lips I used to call home So scarlet, it was maroon

I've written about a small ficlet about this line: "The one I was dancing with" and another analysis of "Dancing With Our Hands Tied" for Mergwen because I go insane for metaphors between dancing and friends-to-lovers 🥹

Being able to free yourself around the person who knows you the best in the entire world is so special; it brings to mind the feeling of home.

The One can be real and true, but afterwards, when the curtains close and you’re left alone to wish for more time… a second chance can be found in the most unexpected of places.

Gwen had already chosen The One in Arthur, her perfect match, the King of her Heart, and the man whom she trusted the most.

Then tragedy struck, and those short few years of their marriage and rulership seemed like nothing without him by her side.

It was devastating.

But then there was Merlin.

For both of them, it was a second chance, a new beginning but not a rewrite to their story. Memories can't be replaced or put away; instead, it's very important to cherish the time they had with Arthur, and persevere after him, despite his passing.

Reminds of different lines from a different song by blondie: “There'll be happiness after you/ But there was happiness because of you/ Both of these things can be true”

Their little moments outlined here: "how the blood rushed into my cheeks/ the mark they saw on my collarbone/ the rust that grew between telephones/ the lips I used to call home" give off the sense of a slowly engulfing love; between a Queen and a Court Sorcerer.

For me, the line "the rust that grew between telephones" is especially significant: I'm sure they must have kept up a correspondence somehow, with Merlin traveling all over the five kingdoms to restore peace diplomatically and Gwen giving him directives while reviving a personal connection with her people.

It's a gorgeous image of them sending letters back and forth, filled with funny anecdotes, shared moments and even painful memories; and all the while an unfamiliar sense of longing builds up...

Can this be the new beginning?

Can we begin again?

[Verse 2] When the silence came We were shaking, blind and hazy How the hell did we lose sight of us again? Sobbing with your head in your hands Ain't that the way shit always ends? You were standing hollow-eyed in the hallway Carnations you had thought were roses, that's us I feel you, no matter what The rubies that I gave up

There were fights, there was uncertainty "blind and hazy" that distorted the image of the young people they once were, and the strength they had to build up in the meanwhile.

They were changed definitively now, no longer their younger, bubblier counterparts from more than ten years ago. And as circumstances hollowed out a deep-set melancholia, so did they, sharpening and reforming into more mature, yet more bitter versions of themselves.

Can love ring true ever again?

From someone who knows the hidden reasons for everything you do, and in crystal-clear clarity, it will hurt the most to hear "I'm not ready" from their lips.

The political drama, the gossip, the baseless rumors, all boiling over into lines crossed, harsh words, and a chasm of grief reopened.

Losing him would be like revisiting the past - again.

Losing her would be giving up on everything he once believed in.

I find “Ain’t that the way shit always ends” especially poignant, and references the cycle of tragedy and rebirth that Arthuriana holds dear. More than anyone else in their world, Gwen and Merlin bitterly understand that this is how it always ends, but does that mean, they are never allowed happiness in that 'meanwhile'?

"You were standing hollow-eyed in the hallway" THIS LINE - why is it so BRIGHT, Merlin standing in the hallway outside of the Queen's chambers, relegated as servant again. For Gwen, the past and the present are colliding again, and miserably.

But they overcome it, the scarlet indignity of the past washes over them, and leaves them in a vibrant MAROON.

[Bridge] And I wake with your memory over me That's a real fucking legacy, legacy (It was maroon) And I wake with your memory over me That's a real fucking legacy to leave

“The Mark of Nimueh”

Here, the double meaning of maroon comes to play - the deep red bleed of maroon melts into an actual, physical marooning.

You are Alone.

What better way to describe an immortal man, countless loves gained and lost, than as marooned? Drowning in a sea of his own endless and condemning memory…

Merlin is Marooned.

But the Legacy lives on because of him, the legend of King Arthur, Queen Guinevere and the Knights of the Round Table live on through his constant remembering of the story to a modern audience.

The love lives on too.

The act of remembering for the sake of love, is a powerful theme on the show, and I think a very specific to this song. The narrator remembers better times, gladder times, and although it pains them to do so, revisits those times with the same mindless misery of reopening a wound. It hurts to remember, but it hurts good.

The remembering of Gwen, white in her hair, creases in her eyes, the woman he got to get old and gray with, is immortalized in his memory for his and Arthur’s sake.

He remembers her, and loves her eternally ♥️

-*-

❌Antihero 🏳️

“An Antihero” “A Traitor” “A Savior”

I don’t necessarily believe that Merlin fits the exact mold of an antihero, but the contradictory qualities and actions he sometimes heralds, and all of the decisions that lead to the climax of season 5 gives some weight to the word.

Merlin is cunning, sometimes hasty, compassionate and sometimes cruel; but he leads with the idea that he makes the right decision most of the time, which propels his destiny to dizzying heights and astonishing lows.

As an added metaphor, Merlin's good fight with destiny always reminded me of Jacob wrestling with God for control of his own fate, and eventually coming up as the victor with injuries to prove it

As an audience to Merlin’s struggle with destiny, we expect to see some formula of character development emerge over the 10 years we share with him.

Merlin expresses this endearing naïveté and strong sense of justice from seasons 1-2 which takes a very dramatic turn in season 5, something that isn't exactly easy to understand or rationalize for the viewer.

How did Merlin go from:

“The Mark of Nimueh”

A burning desire to do good to:

“The Dsir”

A bitter resignation to the way things have to be...

[Verse 1] I have this thing where I get older, but just never wiser Midnights become my afternoons When my depression works the graveyard shift, all of the people I've ghosted stand there in the room

Grief

Grief is one plausible explanation for Merlin's downfall and overall resolve to just trudge along by the time the finale swings around.

Merlin, more than anyone, has the full knowledge of all those he's lost, and all he has left to lose; and he unfairly blames himself for all of these losses.

Will, Balinor, Freya, Lancelot, Elyan, Daegal, Aithusa, Morgana, Arthur, and so many others, the list goes beyond a bulleted 'survive/deceased' on a paper.

Merlin has lost so many to his crisis of destiny.

At around 18 he was given the power of a God, or maybe the illusion of one, and chased the fickle call of destiny for the rest of his life because it was the only constant he knew after enduring tragedy after tragedy. The tragedy of Morgana’s evil, Lancelot’s sacrifices, Balinor’s Death; all pivotal moments that further grated on Merlin’s soul for being so powerless, so helpless to completely control his destiny.

How can one man, even if given a shoddy 'blueprint' of Albion, have the capability to follow through?

When his destiny continued to allude him, whether or not this was by the choices he made, Merlin became all the more determined to control the course as much as he could: he would save Arthur from himself, damn it all! Unfortunately, the random draw of fate is not so kind to impassioned gods…

[Pre-Chorus] I should not be left to my own devices They come with prices and vices I end up in crisis (Tale as old as time) I wake up screaming from dreaming One day, I'll watch as you're leaving 'Cause you got tired of my scheming (For the last time)

When Merlin is left to his own devices, he is given the fate of the entire kingdom to juggle himself; this is an alienating responsibility, and every decision he makes comes with a hard price.

As seen in 'The Crystal Cave' knowing one's future, preventing a future, creating a future are all threads of fate that are pretty much impossible to untangle. Who is to really know the exact consequences of every choice? But Merlin burdens himself with the thought that he should always know.

The course of destiny, or at the very least Arthur's, is described as a circle of fate, a never-ending cycle.

It's a 'tale as old as time' now, a legendary sequence of events that drives young people to do better, and to learn from Merlin's and Arthur's mistakes.

But to Merlin these were moments he lived and breathed through, where his capacity for goodwill might've failed him or his courage to keep going might've faltered; the extent of which is unknown to a modern audience.

Merlin's life story, spilled on a page like blood, is a 'tale as old as time' but a continually revived memory for him. That is the price of keeping Arthur the 'Once and Future King' through oral tradition, Merlin must pay the price of remembering him too.

"One day, I'll watch as you're leaving/ 'Cause you got tired of my scheming/ (For the last time)"

The day his friends realized the true extent of authority he had over their lives was one Merlin dreaded; he hated to be revealed as the one who might've pushed the fates of Camelot one way or another with everyone else oblivious. He even revealed his magic to Arthur in literally the very last moment, for fear of being exposed as a sorcerer but also the fear of how people would change how they viewed him.

In season 1, he was much more open to revealing his magic, mostly to Gaius' chagrin, but later he would grow comfortable with the idea of keeping big secrets from his friends, even his best friend. It was just too terrifying, the not knowing.

Although Arthur did his best to pry, Merlin always shielded the worst parts of himself and his past, (Balinor's death, Freya's death, his involvement in Uther's death), in the reckless hope that destiny need not be substantiated with trust.

True, Arthur was on a pedestal, constantly in the public eye, and Merlin knew everything about him as consequence of being his servant and constant companion. But does that necessarily mean he should've kept all of his self hidden? There's no right answer.

[Chorus] It's me, hi I'm the problem, it's me At teatime, everybody agrees I'll stare directly at the sun, but never in the mirror It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero

The 'tag line' of the chorus really hits hard for me as a motif of Merlin's life.

From the very beginning he was denoted as the 'antihero'; not exactly the shining and glorious protagonist Arthur was always meant to be, or the dark phoenix of a villain Morgana became, but something stubbornly in-between. (Of course, veering towards Good).

The very nature of him having to keep his magic a red-tape secret meant that Merlin's actions would always be shrouded in dark, no matter the intention. Curing Gwen's father could lead to Gwen's death sentence, saving the Kingdom meant poisoning Morgana and an attempt to bring back magic to Camelot could mean emotionally manipulating Arthur with Uther's life, and other examples...

I think one of the most divisive decisions he made was denouncing Magic in an attempt to kill Mordred, a choice he blamed for all the trouble the knight rued later on in season 5. Merlin's ulterior motives and troubled choices, usually supported or condemned by Kilgarrah or Gaius, lead to some patchy decision-making, and we rarely see Merlin make decisions from a place of hope rather than fear (saving Aithusa's egg, bringing Morgana to the druids and warning Arthur about Valiant for the first time).

As the series wound down, it was difficult, at times, to root for the 'antihero'.

But I, and the rest of his captive audience, still rooted for him, regardless...

-*-

👁️You’re On Your Own, Kid 👁️

It’s the Greek tragedy of the everyday, losing your hero.

How does it feel to really look someone in the eyes and come to the realization that they aren’t your role model anymore? That the flaws, usually buried under devotion or a powerful affection come up in a sudden rush that almost makes you sick.

And all those things they’ve done, embraced and hurt, are woven into who they are. Flaws that reverberate through your life, long after they’re gone.

That echoing ‘telephone pole’ sound pulsing the background is the embodiment of that emotion, something so hard to describe. A visceral, and distanced running-and-returning feeling that has you calling up your past indefinitely.

And it's no surprise that I equated this song to Arthur...

One of the most powerful themes on the show is the idea of Legacy; whether it is decaying, glorious, corrupted, repeating or born anew, the idea of leaving behind a memory or imprint of the life you led is something that influenced every character on the show, importance to the plot aside.

Morgana and Arthur share a similarity in that they are equal parts intrigued and repulsed by their father's legacy: at one point each Pendragon avows never to lead a life like he did, at another, reverts their promise. It's cliche in the nature of a self-fulfilling prophecy; it's nearly impossible for them to escape the trap of their own heritage as it is for them to remake it.

In the series, Arthur always spoke of destiny in a distanced manner, he had been trained to fulfill the quota since he was born, and he was much less impassioned of a 'golden age' than the day-to-day chivalry he could show his men.

“Arthur’s Bane Part 1”

I'll never stop thinking about this conversation specifically! For me, it encapsulates this whole 'tug-of-war' between loyalty and legend, destiny and reality.

Here, Arthur gently but firmly reiterates to Merlin what he believed his destiny was always meant to be: living and dying by the side of his knights. It's always been Arthur's destiny to die on the battlefield, not for any particular choice Merlin might've made, but because Arthur would rather it be that way.

The moments he put his life out on the limb for them, feeling the rush of adrenaline as he swung his sword of justice in real-time; and the blow of injuries he sometimes felt he deserved for sins his lineage implied; this was the legacy he lived and died for. Something Merlin never really understood, even after 10 years by his side.

Towards the end of the series, he constantly reminded Merlin of how much friendship, loyalty and love for his people meant to him, so much more than the title 'Savior of Albion' ever did. The legacy he built came from his eye-to-eye interactions with his people, fighting by their sides, putting himself into the thick of battle long after he was supposed to retire and just being there.

He came to realize that the legacy he was destined to build meant kneeling down and bowing before Camelot as a servant, a much gentler admiration than the roaring thousands Merlin intended for him to reign over. This was the very antithesis of Uther's legacy.

The soundwave from YOYOK, courtesy of wavevisual./com, clearly shows how much bigger the emotion and instrumentals get towards the end of the song.

It's not all at once, but a very gradual expansion, and I just thought it a neat visual for how the lyrics seemed to expand too

[Verse 1] Summer went away, still, the yearning stays I play it cool with the best of them I wait patiently, he's gonna notice me It's okay, we're the best of friends Anyway I hear it in your voice, you're smoking with your boys I touch my phone as it fits your face I didn't choose this town, I dream of getting out There's just one who could make me stay All my days

Season 1 - I'm Yearning! 😭 Anyway...

Arthurs’ always had the responsibility and expectation of 'playing it cool with the best of them', and if he's unable to keep up, it could very well mean the end of his life on the line in any scenario.

When we were first introduced to him, he's this cocky prince with a big sword and an attitude problem; and an insecurity big enough to match.

He's stumbling, looking for approval in the wrong places, guarding his ill-got reputation in court, and sneers at friendship with a servant. Through Merlin's help, he's able to lessen the sting of disapproval and invest all of the energy of his swagger into something much more substantial: a genuine respect and comradery.

I always likened the line 'I wait patiently, he's gonna notice me' to a younger Arthur constantly looking for approval and sense of belonging from Uther.

Spending hours before sunrise beating the black and blue out of a training dummy, his face glowing bright on the tournament field from the smallest nod of approval.

Burning away any scant reminder of his mother with a feigned indifference; at any moment, his posture, an unconscious gesture, his laugh, could draw Uther back into a bitter remembrance. The silver sigil, her worn wedding ring, rare mementos he tossed into dark corners of his chambers to forget, forget, until one day, years later, he's able to look into the likeness in his mirror without a touch of self-hatred at the memory he sees imprinted there.

Even after Uther passes, Arthur holds onto the hope that he will be noticed and commended for the changes he makes to his father's lineage. Most times he's able to ignore the nagging feeling that he'll never be enough, and with friends enough to populate a round table, Uther's looming shadow can slink off into the dark.

[Pre-Chorus] From sprinkler splashes to fireplace ashes I waited ages to see you there I search the party of better bodies Just to learn that you never cared

From an awkward youth with a breastplate too big for his boasts, to the Man he grew up into, Arthur has become the King his father could never live up to in comparison.

But he does not truly believe it.

For all of Merlin's resolve in a glorious, endless destiny, he was always a true believer in Arthur's distinction from Uther. He was the better man by far, and the better Legacy, but Arthur still shirked from this fulfilment in the fear that his father's expression would be lost to the ashes of his blazing fire.

His determination to see him again on Beltane was borne out of a desire to be enough, that no one really understood the true depth of. This wasn't the first time Arthur had sacrificed his own integrity, and sometimes the safety of his friends and loved ones, all on the line for something he would never entirely attain.

If Excalibur was the epitome of the Arthurian legend to the modern audience (or the most well-known motif) than Uther was to Arthur, the embodiment of that same visceral Hope.

When Uther said, "I will not let you destroy all that I have built!" Arthur may have finally come to the realization that he must destroy that very center of himself, the child still eagerly awaiting a word from his father, in order to rebuild the Kingdom in his own renewed Legacy. To build he had to destroy. To take up the helm of power, he must cast away.

[Chorus] You're on your own, kid You always have been

How isolating are these legends, these bigger than life imaginings of our heroes from Arthuriana? How endless and universal they must be, in order to hold the faint hopes, wishes and prayers of millions in an eternal safe-keeping?

And Arthur, at the center of all of it.

Two sides of the same coin is all well and good, but truthfully, there's one man standing in the spotlight and the other in the dark; and the white light is a harsher halo of judgement than the darker shadows of self-condemnation…

These lines remind me of that pivotal scene from 'The Moment of Truth', where Arthur gave the villagers a reason to keep battling Kanen’s gang,

"And if you fall, you fall fighting for the noblest of causes: fighting for your very right to survive! And when you're old and grey, you'll look back on this day, and you'll know you earned the right to live every day in between! So you fight! For your family! For your friends! For Ealdor!"

It gives me goosebumps every time I rewatch it: the misshapen original round table, made up of peasants and paltry substitutes for noblemen, but all the braver in Arthur’s eyes because of their steadfast belief in the world he promised them. And later, in the 'Coming of Arthur', he comes to resurrect the ancient tradition of a round table for a renewned success.

But it's very lonely being this 'epic hero', and with Merlin's determination to keep the truth about his magic away from Arthur for as long as possible, the destinies of two is really the destiny of one (at least to the public eye).

I've always wondered to what extent Arthur acknowledges that his life and acts of bravery will 'live long in the minds of men.' Was that just an oft-repeated phrase to him? A comfortable armor of nobility, while he went off to fight in battles, each time thinking it might be his last?

I think we get a partial answer in the very last episode of the series, in the very last words he utters to Merlin.

"Everything you've done. I know now. For me, for Camelot. For the kingdom you helped me build..."

Merlin: "You'd have done it without me."

Arthur: "Maybe..."

The King's lonely passage as Once and Future ruler of Camelot, was never something he believed he'd done on his own. He continuously acknowledged all the work of his subjects, Merlin his closest friend, and Guinevere the love of his life, had done for him, and credits their bravery, loyalty and compassion as the true tenets of the Kingdom that came to be.

He was never really worried about the state of the Kingdom after he passed (after marrying Gwen), knowing that the epitomized Glory of Camelot was not something he had solely come to encompass.

It's bittersweet, it's admirable, and it's a very inevitable cycle of rise and fall for Arthur Pendragon to hold hope for, as predictable as his own waning breaths.

I think it's the most beautiful thing in the world, that he died believing that his Legacy came from the people he surrounded himself with, rather than the high-and-mighty version of the legend he came to represent. It's a very clear deviation from the prideful man he was in season 1.

[Bridge] From sprinkler splashes to fireplace ashes I gave my blood, sweat, and tears for this I hosted parties and starved my body Like I'd be saved by a perfect kiss The jokes weren't funny, I took the money My friends from home don't know what to say I looked around in a blood-soaked gown And I saw something they can't take away 'Cause there were pages turned with the bridges burned Everything you lose is a step you take So, make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it You've got no reason to be afraid

I think these lines of the bridge are pretty on point in terms of Arthur's stages of life, but oh! :( It hurts me as a viewer to remember all these specific moments of betrayal, growth and everything in between.

As the successor of Uther, he had no obligation to entirely change the status quo. But he poured his ‘blood, sweat and tears’ into this!

He ‘hosted parties’: feasts, on his birthday and celebrated with all of his friends and family; while fighting away the feelings of unhappiness knowing it was also the anniversaries of his parents’ deaths.

He believed that a great romance ♥️ with Guinevere would save him with a ‘perfect kiss’ even when all others urged him to let her go.

He was a great romantic, a genuine friend and a faithful King, who never expected to be be anything more than a good memory in the minds of his people.

He would’ve never! expected all of the magic, hope and wonder modern audiences would come to project onto his legend, but I wish, more than anything, that Arthur might’ve had the chance to see the endless love in how the world has grown to memorialize him, a final and lasting tribute to his character Merlin undertook as a way to say, I understand I understand I understand

When he ‘looked around in a blood-soaked gown’ he saw the the ragged Camelot army heralding him as the King after pulling Excalibur from the stone.

He sees Gwen smiling back at him, as bright as a spring flower, after she was crowned Queen by his side.

In his last moments, he sees Merlin’s face as a beacon of hope and reassurance that his Kingdom will not falter, while those he loves still walk the earth.

And that ‘something they can’t take away’? That legacy?

He sees the Once and Future, without him.

And he knows it will go on.

So yes! ‘Make the friendship bracelets and take the moment and taste it’ because every moment he shared with his friends and family were held as dearly to him as a long-prophesied legend.

Arthur came to understand that those moments were not mere passing seconds, but something so much more ever-lasting and precious, a legacy within themselves and a confirmation that he had done the right thing, he had loved and lost and he was happy with leaving it all behind if he knew it would outlive him.

He prophesied the future of Camelot by doing everything to ensure it’s continuation without him, and therefore, ensured it’s immortality: a comforting thought for the far horizon as a dying man says his last goodbyes.

Gwen’s warm gaze and soft laugh, the creases in Merlin’s eyes as he fires back a quick jab, Morgana’s slow smile and rare words of praise - those memories! were what he held dear in his last moments.

A warring fate and fickle destiny, a creeping evil and and an unfortunate circumstance may have ensured his death, but Arthur’s stubborn hope against it all dares to reassure the audience of something he learned through great trial and tragedy.

[Chorus] You're on your own, kid Yeah, you can face this You're on your own, kid You always have been

Yes, “You’re on your own, kid”

But with the glorified ‘myth and magic’ of the legends, comes the gentle reminder that he was never truly alone, and left behind a great memory that was only ensured through the love he gave and was given in return.

A love that ‘always has been’, and in it’s brilliant simplicity, epitomized the Legend he came to be.

And in turn,

so you, will always be remembered too ✨

-*-

Thank you so so much for reading 💖 I really appreciate it :)

@taylorswift @taylornation you guys wanna join the immortal fandom? Lol

The link to Part 2 (final) will be here! (once I finish it lol)

[randomnameless]

Do you think Rhea's design could have been inspired in parts by Palutena from Kid Icarus Uprising? I saw a picture of Palutena earlier and thought it was Rhea at first glance, because because they do have design traits in common (long green hair, white dress with a side slit, the sandals, etc)

Side slit?

Rhea's dress doesn't have a side slit, it's when she pretends to be Seiros the Warrior that she has the side slit dress!

More seriously -

Fe Fodlan seemed to have taken inspiration for designs from various sources (look at pre TS Dimitri and, iirc, the Aldini bro from Food Wars!), so I wouldn't be surprised, but for Rhea specifically - she has green hair because she's a dragon (as usual for FE dragons) and the era Seiros the Warrior's design is inspired of (Ancient Rome/Greece?) also more or less matches Palutena's.

If it was intended, it's a fun easter egg, iirc there is at least one fanart about it, Rhea and Cyril dress up as Palutena and Pit to infiltrate the world of SSB to help Billy!

[purplemoonfox]

Captain Obvious is Obvious...and Star Wars thoughts overall

So, in mythology, Sköll and Hati are the two wolves that chase the sun and the moon. K cool I love Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati.

Only, when they catch their prey and devour it, that day marks the beginning of Ragnarök, the end of the world of gods and men, buuuuuuut, apparently, after that, the gods and the evil die, and the world is repopulated by two people...and the surviving gods make a new pantheon. Cue a new era ig.

In any case it's not like the Christian Apocalypse; many traditions focus more on cyclical time rather than linear time with an endpoint (Mayans, for example, reaching back to another Apocalypse scare in 2012), and it's become such an assumption in Western society that time and progress HAS an end, and an ultimate goal to which it's building up, that it's pretty much an assumption everyone in it makes. But it's not the only thought on the matter.

The thing I find so interesting about Baylan is that he seems embittered by the past, and thinks that somehow he's going to end the cycle? By starting another war? I mean the New Republic does suck. They're a weird combination of toothless and autocratic. Then again Baylan and Shin are mercenaries...?

Yeah I'm just going to sit here and read TS Eliot's The Wasteland about another "war to end all wars" and wait to see how this goes.

I'm so sad Ray Stevenson passed; he's been absolutely excellent.

On a side note, at this point, I need a dedicated show about the post-Order 66 Jedi that survived. Episode 6 of Ahsoka brought up "Bokken-Jedi," a bokken irl being a wooden practice katana. I beg your pardon, it's enough of a concept that there's an in-universe term for it?

I want to see the Service Corps go into hiding. I want to see networks of survivors being created. I want to see people finding some kind of peace in the galaxy...or not being able to do that. We got a hint of it in Obi-Wan and I'm getting cheated out of it right now.

Look, if Filoni wants to torture us with more Order 66, that's his golden opportunity. Please, Filoni.

But anyway--

General thoughts about this buildup of para-sequel-era shows, like The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and the upcoming Skeleton Crew. That don't really build up a goddamn thing, really, with the exception of Ahsoka.

The more it's created, and the more Thrawn and the whole plot of Ahsoka creates a whole conflict (while skirting addressing the issues of the New Republic) the more marginalized the ST actually is. They already felt like a rump mop-up of a larger conflict, or else something that just didn't involve the rest of the galaxy at large, and that was a criticism leveled at it even at the time.

Problem is, while the movies are seen as the crowning purpose of the Star Wars universe, we're moving away from them as being the central focus and I'm not sure that's being very well communicated or very well perceived. And I'm also kind of miffed that we're getting a short Haydennaissance only to be told we're moving away from the Skywalker story.

And it's fine that we're moving away from the Skywalker story (they literally said they would be doing that) and I'm alright with it, but that's not a reason to ignore Luke or Leia's characters when it makes sense to be involved with the overall plan.

Shit man, I'd be up for a somewhat Andor-style show about Leia's activities in the Senate, putting her in a similar position as what Mon Mothma occupies in Andor. The contrast of having Mon Mothma in one role in Andor and in a different one in that show would be a fascinating one. You could catch similarities and differences in the Empire, the New Republic, and even the pre-Imperial Republic; you'd even the perspectives of the people, like Mon Mothma, who lived through all three. It would be a damn good introduction to the political landscape of the sequel trilogies, and add a lot of depth to any attempts to get into sequel-era time periods.

Side note when the fuck is Andor season 2 being released I need more. Top 3 SW shows for me, that one.

Anyway, to sum up, what I think they ought to do is build up a plot line through shows, and use the opening crawls in the movies to bring movie-watchers up to speed, making it possible for them to have sufficient context, kind of like what they're doing with the MCU, but with more explanation. That way you double dip: people watch the shows but casuals are still willing to watch a Star Wars movie in theaters and know they're going to be watchable.