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rigmarolling · 4 years

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Historical Holiday Traditions We Really Need To Bring Back

Here comes Santa Claus, and also a bunch of annual holiday Things we do to ensure he commits a truly boggling act of breaking and entering and leaves goods underneath the large plant in the living room.

Because I’ve always got a hankerin’ for the days of yore, here are some historical holiday traditions we really need to bring back:

1. Everything that happened on Saturnalia

Saturnalia was the ancient Roman winter festival held on December 25th--which is why we celebrate Christmas on that day and not on the day historians speculate Jesus was actually born, which was probably in the spring.

Saturnalia was bonkers. As the name suggests, it celebrated the god Saturn, who represented wealth and liberty and generally having a great time.

Above: Their party is way cooler than yours could ever hope to be.

During Saturnalia, masters would serve their slaves, because it was the one day during the year when everybody agreed that freedom for all is great, actually, let’s just do that. Everyone wore a coned hat called the pilleus to denote that they were all bros and equal, and also to disguise the fact that they hadn’t brushed their hair after partying hard all week, probably.

Gambling was allowed on Saturnalia, so all of Rome basically turned into ancient Vegas, complete with Caesar’s Palace, except with the actual Caesar and his palace because he was, you know. Alive.

The most famous part (besides getting drunk off your rocker) was gift-giving--usually gag gifts. Historians have records of people giving each other some truly impressive white elephant gifts for Saturnalia, including: a parrot, balls, toothpicks, a pig, one single sausage, spoons, and deliberately awful books of poetry.

Above: Me, except all the time.

Partygoers also crowned a King of Saturnalia, which was a predecessor to the King of Fools popular in medieval festivals. The king was basically the head idiot who delivered absurd commands to everyone there, like, “Sing naked!” or “run around screaming for an hour,” or “slap your butt cheeks real hard in front of your crush; DO IT, Brutus.”

Oh, wait. Everyone was already doing all that. Hell yes.

(Quick clarification: early celebrations of Saturnalia did feature human sacrifice, so let’s just leave that bit out and instead wear the pointy hats and sing naked, okay? Io Saturnalia, everybody.)

2. Leaving out treats for Sleipnir in the hopes of avoiding Odin’s complete disregard for your property

The whole “leave out cookies and milk for Santa” thing comes from a much older tradition of trying to appease old guys with white beards. In Norse mythology, Odin, who was sort of the head god but preferred to be on a perpetual road trip instead, took an annual nighttime ride through the winter sky called the Wild Hunt.

Above: The holidays, now with 300% more heavy metal.

Variations of the Wild Hunt story exist in a bunch of European folklore--in Odin’s case, he usually brought along a bunch of supernatural buddies, like spirits and other gods and Valkyries and ghost dogs, who, the Vikings said, you could hear howling and barking as the group approached (GOOD DOGGOS).

That was the thing, though; you never actually saw Odin’s hunt--you only heard it. And hearing it did not spark the same sense of childish glee you felt when you thought you heard Santa’s sleigh bells approaching as a kid--instead, the Vikings said, you should be afraid. Be VERY afraid.

Because Odin could be kind of a dick.

Odin was also known as the Allfather, and like any father, he hated asking for directions. GPS who? I’m the Allfather, I’m riding the same way I always ride.

And that was pretty much it: “I took this road last year and I’m taking it again this year.”

“But,” someone would pipe up from the back, “there are houses on the road now--we’re gonna run right into them. We could just take a different path; there’s actually a detour off the--”

“Nope,” Odin would say. “They know the rules. My road, my hunt, my rules. We’re going this way.”

So if you were unlucky enough to have built your house along one of Odin’s favorite road trip sky-ways, he wouldn’t just plow right past you.

He would burn your entire house down--and your family along with it.

Kids playing in the yard? Torch ‘em; they should have known better. Grandma knitting while she waits for her gingerbread Einherjar to finish baking? Sucks to be her; my road, my rules, my beard, I’m the Allfather, bitch.

Above: Santa, but so much worse.

To be fair to Odin, he could be a cool guy sometimes. He just turned into any dad when he was on a road trip and wanted to MAKE GOOD TIME, DAMN IT, I AM NOT STOPPING; YOU SHOULD HAVE PEED BEFORE WE LEFT.

To ensure they didn’t incur Odin’s road trip wrath, the Vikings had a few ways of smoothing things over with Dad.

They would leave Odin offerings on the road, like pieces of steel (??? okay ???) or bread for his dogs, or food for his giant, eight-legged horse, Sleipnir, because the only true way to a man’s heart is through his pet.

People would generally leave veggies and oats and other horse-y things out for Sleipnir, whose eight legs made him the fastest flying horse in the world and also made him the only horse to ever win Asgard’s coveted tap dancing championship.

(Side note: EIGHT legs...EIGHT tiny reindeer...eh? Eh? See how we got here? Thanks, nightmare horse!)

Above: An excellent prancer AND dancer.

And if Odin was feeling particularly charitable and not in the mood for horrific acts of arson, children would also leave their shoes out for him--it was said that he’d put gifts in your boots to ring in a happy new year.

If all that didn’t work and the Vikings heard the hunt approaching, they would resort to throwing themselves on the ground and covering their heads while the massive party sped above them like a giant Halloween rager.

So this holiday season, leave your boots out for Odin and some carrots out for his giant spider horse or you and your entire family will die in a fiery inferno, the end.

3. Yule Logs

Speaking of Scandinavia, another Northern European winter solstice tradition was the yule log. Today, if you google “yule log,” something like this will pop up:

...which isn’t an actual log, but is instead log-shaped food that you shove into your mouth along with 500 other cakes at the same time because it’s CHRISTMAS, and I’m having ME TIME; so WHAT if I ate the whole jar of Nutella by myself, alone, in the dark at 3 am?

But that log cake is actually inspired by actual logs of yore that Celtic, Germanic, and Scandinavian peoples decorated with fragrant plants like holly, ivy, pinecones, and other Stuff That Smells Nice before tossing the log into the fire.

This served a few purposes:

It smelled nice, and Bath and Body Works scented candles hadn’t been invented yet.

It had religious and/or spiritual significance as a way to mark the winter solstice.

It was a symbolic way of ringing in the new year and kicking out the old.

Common belief held that the ashes of a yule log could ward off lightning strikes and bad energy.

Winter cold. Fire warm.

Everybody loves to watch things burn. (See: Odin.)

The yule log cakes we eat today got their start in 19th century Paris, when bakers thought it was a cute idea to resurrect an ancient pagan tradition in the form of a delicious dessert, and boy, howdy, were they right.

In any case, I’m 100% down with eating a chocolate yule log while burning an actual yule log in my backyard because everybody loves to watch things burn; winter cold, fire warm; and hnnnngggg pine tree smell hnnnnggg.

(Quick note: The word “yule” is the name of a traditional pagan winter festival, still celebrated culturally or religiously in modern pagan practice. It’s also another name for Odin. He had a bunch of other names, one of the most well-known being jólfaðr, which is Old Norse for “Yule father.” If you would like to royally piss him off, or if you are Loki, feel free to call him “Yule Daddy.”)

4. Upside down Christmas trees

I just found out that apparently, upside down Christmas trees are a hot new trend with HGTV types this year, so I guess this is one historical trend we did bring back, meaning it doesn’t really belong on this list, but I’m gonna talk about it, anyway.

Side note: Oh, my god, that BANNISTER. I NEED.

Historians aren’t actually sure where the inverted Christmas tree thing came from, but we know people were bringing home trees and then hanging them upside down in the living room as early as the 7th century. We have a couple theories as to why people turned trees on their heads:

Logistically, it’s way easier to hang a giant pine tree from your rafters upside down by its trunk and roots. You just hoist that baby up there, wind some rope around the rafter and the trunk, and boom. Start decorating.

A Christian tradition says that one day in the 7th century, a Benedictine monk named Saint Boniface stumbled across a group of pagans worshipping an oak tree. So, instead of minding his own damn business, he cut the tree down and replaced it with a fir tree. While the pagans were like, “Dude, what the hell?” Boniface used the triangular shape of the fir tree to explain the concept of the holy trinity to the pagans. Some versions have him planting it right-side up, others having him displaying a fir tree upside down. Either way, it’s still a triangle that’s a solid but ultimately very rude way of explaining God. Word’s still out on whether anyone was converted or just rightly pissed off that this random guy strolled into their place of worship, chopped down their sacred tree, and plopped HIS tree down instead. Please do not do that this holiday season.

Eastern Europeans lay claim to the upside-down tree phenomenon with a tradition called podłazniczek in Poland--people hung the tree from the ceiling and decorated it with fruits and nuts and seeds and ribbons and other festive doodads.

(God, who lives in these houses? Look at that. That’s like a swanky version of Gaston’s hunting lodge. Where do I get one? Which enchanted castle do I have to stumble into to chill out in a Christmas living room like that?)

Today, at least in the West, upside-down trees are making a comeback because...I don’t know. Chip and Joanna Gaines said so.

Some folks say it’s a surefire way to keep your cats from clawing their way through the tree and then puking up fir needles for weeks afterward, which checks out for me.

5. Incredibly weird Victorian Christmas cards

So back in the 19th century, the Christmas card industry was really getting fired up. Victorians loved their mail, let me tell you. They loved sending it. They loved getting it. They loved writing it. They loved opening it. They loved those sexy wax seals you use to keep all that sweet, sweet mail inside that sizzling envelope. (Those things are incredibly sexy. Have you ever made a wax seal? Oh, man, it’s hot.)

The problem, though, was that while the Victorians arguably helped standardize many of the holiday traditions we know and love today (Christmas trees, caroling, Dickens everything, spending too much money, etc.) back in 1800-whenever, a lot of that Christmas symbolism was, um...still under construction. No one had really agreed on which visual holiday cues worked and which...didn’t.

Meaning everyone just kind of made up their own holiday symbols. Which resulted in monstrous aberrations like this card:

What the hell is that? A beet? Is that a beet? Or a turnip? Why is it...oh, God, why does it have a man’s head? Why does the man beet have insect claws?

What is it that he’s holding? A cookie? Cardboard? A terra cotta planter?

And then there’s this one:

“A Merry Christmas to you,” it says, while depicting a brutal frog murder/mugging.

What are you trying to tell me? Are you threatening me with this card? Is that it? Is this a threat? How the hell am I supposed to interpret this? “Merry Christmas, hide your money or you’re dead, you stupid bitch.”

Also, why is the dead frog naked? Did the other frog steal his clothes after the murder? WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THIS?

Victorian holiday cards also doubled as early absurdist Internet memes, apparently, because how else do I explain this?

Is this some sort of tiny animal Santa? A mouse riding a lobster? Like, the mouse, I get. Mice are fine. Disney built an empire on a mouse. And look, he’s got a little list of things he’s presumably going to bring you: Peace, joy, health, happiness. (In French. Oh, wait, is that that Patton Oswalt rat?)

But a LOBSTER? What’s with the lobster? It’s basically a sea scorpion. Why in the name of all that is good and holy would you saddle up a LOBSTER? I hate it. I hate it so, so much. Just scurrying around the floor with more legs than are strictly necessary, smelling like the seafood section of Smith’s, snapping its giant claws.

This whole card is a health inspector’s worst nightmare. It really is.

I gotta say, though, I am a fan of this one:

Presumably, that polar bear is going in for a hug because nothing stamps out a polar bear’s innate desire to rip your face from your skull than candy canes and Coke and Christmas spirit.

This next one is actually fantastic, but for all the wrong reasons:

I know everyone overuses “same” these days but geez, LOOK at that kid. I can HEAR it. SAME.

If you’ve ever been in a shopping mall stuffed with kids, nothing sums it up better than this card. This is like the perverse version of those Anne Geddes portraits that were everywhere in the late 90s. “Make wee Jacob sit in the tea pot; everyone will--Jacob, STOP, look at Mommy; I said LOOK. AT. MOMMY--everyone will love it.”

Actually, you know what? Every other Christmas card is cancelled. This is the only card we will be using from now on. This is it.

Wait, no. We can also use this one:

Merry Christmas. Here’s a fuckin’...just a dead fuckin’ bird.

#victorian #listory #christmas #holidays #mythtory #norse mythology #odin

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snoopysfriendwoodstock · 4 years

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queen can you please give some of your favorite examples of queer subtext on folklore it’s for science

yes of COURSE i can!

i’m going to add that my preferred reading of the album is as a blend of fact and fiction. i think it’s about mourning the perceived lost opportunity to come out and reimagining life had a coming out occurred earlier in life as well as reflecting on life living in the closet. i’m not saying all of this is true for taylor bc i don’t know her, i’m projecting, and i don’t want mean messages <3

all of seven <3 i think specifically the obvious “or hide in the closet” line that is spoken so much softer than the rest of the song as if she’s either ashamed to say it or as if its a final realization of what that relationship actually was. but also the idea of seven reminds me of an unreleased song “me and britney” especially with the parallels of “we were babies, we were beautiful and free / there was nothing out of reach / for me and britney” and “please picture me in the weeds before i learned civility / i used to scream anytime i wanted” and then it ALSO reminds me of another unreleased song “sweet tea and god’s graces” with the parallel not only of sweet tea but also “tire swings, summer dreams, honeysuckle on the breeze / whistle county creek” and “please picture me in the trees / i hit my peak at seven / feet in the swing over the creek” and i think not only does she reference these songs as a way to talk about her childhood as they are both unreleased songs from when she was 13-15ish but also as a way to reference something that she has never said or that was never made public. the idea of this girlhood relationship that she HAS written about combined with the idea of the closet and being ‘unreleased’ keeping that information disclosed adds to the gay undertones of this song

also the “passed down like folk songs / the love lasts so long” and the way that queer history sometimes feels fabled or rumored because so much is kind of speculative and has been erased purposefully so it does kind of feel like these stories from the past passed down between other gay people so this line feels like a promise that someday this story WILL be passed down even if it couldn’t be told in their time. it also ties in with the lakes in this whole historical lesbians thing.

the line “i can change everything about me to fit in” like. <3 she literally has.

there is just no reason why the romantic climax of a straight love story would be allowing them to kiss you in front of all your friends. “will you kiss me in front of all your stupid friends?” is so so clearly an act of defiance for these two.

also the “i was nowhere to be found i hate the crowds you know that / plus i saw you dance with him” is such a heartbreaking line because you can HEAR the hurt in her voice. the whole high school love triangle narrative is just meant to be boy likes girl, boy cheats on girl with another girl, boy comes back. but there are these details that muddy that, and show that james was ALSO rejected. james was rejected by betty when she chooses a boy over her, which is easy to sympathize with when you know they’re both girls!

connecting breathe and exile when breathe has been confirmed to be about a woman as recently as april!

#Anonymous #ts #long post

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jamestaylorswift · 4 years

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You're so mind-blowingly brilliant -- your posts never cease to make my day! I don't even have a tumblr account, but I check your page at least ten times/day, hoping for a new analysis. Reading your essay on "folklore"'s dreamscape felt like an acid trip in the best possible way. Please share your thoughts on the original "Cardigan" lyrics ASAP!

Thanks, anon! You’ve got me blushing like a damn fool over here 😊 You’re always welcome on this blog, lurking or otherwise!

Okay so this is more a line of reasoning that starts at the OG “cardigan,” not just lyric analysis. I’m not exactly sure how to organize all these thoughts so I’m just going to put them in the order that they came. Apologies if this is a mess. (And under a cut because I can’t shut up lmao)

To me, the OG “cardigan” is the antithesis of the song as we now know it. That got me thinking about how the core of the album might have been much different too.

The album-making process started with “my tears ricochet.” (I believe this song is from Karlie’s point of view, per the notes in the dreamscape essay.) I’m assuming Taylor didn’t edit this song much. She has implied in the past that a song is “written” when it takes musical form (i.e. lyrics literally get put to a track). The idea of a dead lover is also extremely compelling. She made “cardigan,” “seven,” and “peace” next.

It’s likely that these four songs represent folklore’s original ideological pillars. The common thread of Aaron’s three songs (both versions of “cardigan”) is the idea of age or maturity. “peace” and “seven” are age-related endpoints and “cardigan” is a midway point. “my tears ricochet” happens to be an endpoint (i.e. dying, as opposed to reaching an adult maturity).

From these songs, I extrapolate that Taylor wanted to explore emotional growth specifically by addressing Peter Pan and Wendy’s philosophical disagreement. (Also…veer off into gay childhood trauma.) “peace” is about the strongest argument anyone could make in favor of Wendy—growing up is necessary, especially in order to love and treat someone properly. (This song even argues for mutual maturity/understanding.) “my tears ricochet” is the fallout if two people end up fighting with each other, not for each other. OG “cardigan” comes down on Peter’s side—if given the choice to preserve youth or yield to age, one should prefer the former. The album was to transform an endorsement of Peter into an endorsement of Wendy.

The three songs done with Aaron were likely written to appear in the order they do today: “cardigan” as exposition, then “seven,” then “peace.” Observe that to chart a course hitting all four songs, Taylor has to align OG “cardigan” with “my tears ricochet.” “seven” can stand on its own, provided she pads it with enough storytelling. “peace” and “my tears ricochet” cannot both be endpoints of the story, especially because they are at odds with each other. The mutual understanding in “peace” is not at all consistent with the hatred and sadness in “my tears ricochet.” Thus, the track list requires the partial ordering of OG “cardigan,” then “my tears ricochet,” then (much later) “peace.”

Let’s talk about OG “cardigan.” The first verse paints the potrait of Karlie. “Vintage tee, brand new phone // high heels on cobblestones // when you are young they assume you know nothing” alludes to the glamor of modeling, plus its stereotype as the profession of being young, dumb, and beautiful. “Livin’ in a gold age // sneakin’ to my bird cage” reintroduces the tension of reputation, youth and freedom at odds with oppressive forces. “Laughin’ like a damn fool // breakin’ every damn rule” contrasts the characterization of Karlie in the verse. She instead has a marvelous time being hot, smart, and moderately evil. Through this contrast, Taylor suggests that the power of youth is the freedom to choose to ignore very serious problems (pseudo-escapism?). The OG outro full of zingers is Taylor’s perspective as someone who gets burned by the freedom of choice. Young Karlie leaves young Taylor because the high of reputation-era antics wears off. Then, old Taylor, still affected by this loss, also loses her mind in a reverse-“Don’t Blame Me” kinda way.

Word choice, to me, suggests that “cardigan” was originally conceived not as the Breakup Song of the Cenozoic Era but a narrative partner of “illicit affairs.” Karlie and Taylor are on the same team in OG “cardigan.” They have a marvelous time being hot, smart, and moderately evil and breaking all the damn rules together. “You know damn well // for you I would ruin myself” gets spit back in Taylor’s face and is that much more impactful.

Karlie is justified in leaving because the moment dies. This phrase describes a relationship that mutually and/or slowly dwindles. Karlie makes a decision to leave and save herself, and indeed makes the better choice because she retains her wild and her sanity. Hence, Peter wins the argument.

It’s unclear when “exile” was written, but I think it was early on in the process because Taylor added bird noises to it. “exile” plus OG “cardigan”/“illicit affairs” illustrates two joint affairs, such as double bearding. Pronoun issues with the second verse of “cardigan” aside, Karlie’s eventual downfall (i.e. the emotional end of “illicit affairs”) is implied to be a result of Taylor…also cheating? Maybe it’s the whole Friends “we were on a break” thing. (IDK, I’ve never actually seen Friends.)

OG “cardigan,” “illicit affairs,” and “exile” were once closely affiliated. More pertinently, by the partial ordering, “illicit affairs” and “exile” were meant to explain how OG “cardigan” connects to “my tears ricochet.” Karlie leaves Taylor during their illicit affair; the affair ruins Karlie; Karlie dies and Taylor shows up at the funeral because she’s pissed; Karlie becomes a vengeful ghost and Taylor is also emotionally ruined forever. Scene.

But these are not the connections that Taylor put out into the world. Obviously we can never know precisely why. One thing that does stick out to me, though, is how hard it is to turn around and align with Wendy given the illicit affair narrative.

In “peace,” Taylor shows her own maturity by acknowledging that she was cowardly and dishonorable. For what? Karlie left her in OG “cardigan,” not the other way around. Taylor runs away with someone else in “exile” (“him”), ostensibly to enjoy a more stable relationship. Her playing the role of the angry funeralgoer in “my tears ricochet” is perfectly reasonable. Taylor was promised love and Karlie didn’t give her what she needed, so she moved on. Therefore, we should conclude that maturity is really…hanging onto someone who doesn’t stay? Having the courage to stay in an incredibly tenuous affair? Apparently, one also must be cheated on in order to mature. These are all strange conclusions.

Taylor illustrates Karlie’s maturity with a monologue of numerous promises—of pretty much everything except peace itself. The illicit affair narrative does strongly support the argument that maturity is learning how to stay true to one’s word. Yet its logical beginning is that one must cheat on another—plus be unfaithful to the person they are cheating with—in order to mature. (Karlie gets burned by the freedom of choice only when she later faces the consequences of the affair.) Also strange.

The illicit affair narrative as a primary emotional catalyst of the album generates even bigger inconsistencies.

“august” both humanizes the person cheated with and leaves them worse off than the cheater. “my tears ricochet” emphasizes the opposite: the one cheated with stays alive and becomes a very ugly person, but the cheater dies.

Arguably, both people should have anticipated the fallout of the (implied to be years-long) affair. “my tears ricochet” is internally inconsistent. “I didn’t have it in myself to go with grace” suggests Karlie died an unfortunate or unforeseen death, not an inevitable one. “You turned into your worst fears” suggests Taylor turned around and became a cheater too.

“invisible string” can support the argument that Taylor and Karlie were always bound to get back together after a breakup. Morally dubious underwriting of the initial affair notwithstanding, this song contradicts “mad woman.” Taylor wrote “mad woman” song shortly after “peace;” in it, she is staunchly against cheating. (She avoids morally dubious underwriting of illicit activity on the album by axing the OG “cardigan”/“illicit affairs”/“exile” narrative, then condemning cheating and seducing in “mad woman” and “illicit affairs,” respectively.)

Again, it is impossible to know when, why, or even exactly how the narrative of the album changed as Taylor was writing it. The dramatization I’ve provided of inconsistencies piling up is only one plausible explanation—and a convoluted one at that—for a change of artistic heart. Whatever the reason, I think it is significant that Taylor performed a volte face to never argue in favor of Peter in the first place.

The album version of “cardigan,” and indeed the entire love triangle, supports Wendy’s side of the argument. “cardigan” shows that James and Betty’s relationship was vibrant, joyous, thrilling, and tender, but above all, perfect. The tone of the song helps Taylor denounce James’ choice to leave Betty as cruel and unnecessary. It is James’ fault for leaving once the “thrill expired,” not Betty’s fault for believing James would stay after the honeymoon phase. “betty” reinforces James’ characterization as the ignorant fool too. Because the album necessarily pigeonholes the leaver in the role of the coward, Wendy wins the argument on the grounds of moral fiber.

(James technically ‘wins’ in “august” because the titular character is left devastated and alone. August embodies youth through hope and yearning. James’ lack of conviction kills that hope. Thus, youthful traits are always collateral damage of the entire maturing process. And, the narrative that pits the characters against each other ends with James, regarded as the paradigm youth, losing the most.)

Perhaps this is the best justification for the existence of the teenage love triangle. Introducing characters who are maturing in various ways still allows Taylor to explore emotional growth. Three separate but fixed perspectives act as a proxy for one person’s changing perspective. By aligning herself with each character at a different time in their life, she shows that maturity (e.g. realism, reliability, patience, etc.) always gives one the upper hand.

The love triangle’s main purpose is to illustrate the philosophy that permeates the rest of the album. folklore as we know it is Taylor’s memorial to all the things lost to youth. Maturity would have prevented so many losses. At the same time, it is impossible to mature without first being youthful, making mistakes, and feeling lost while doing so. This is Taylor’s singular but melancholic endorsement of Wendy. How sad, valuable, and necessary, she says of growing up.

Lest my point be misinterpreted as ‘we can confidently reverse-engineer Taylor’s artistic process,’ here are my main takeaways from the “cardigan” changes:

OG “cardigan” is sad and we should appreciate it as such. “I knew to love would be to lose my mind?” Please.

“cardigan,” as a midway point with respect to age, is the only ideologically ‘variable’ song of the original quartet. Furthermore, by placement and construction, “cardigan” is/was intended to be expository. Changing “cardigan” changes the course she charts through the album. Taking sadness out of one song and spreading it over a storytelling album really changes the meaning of that sadness.

Of the eponymous characters, it’s worth noting that Taylor is James, the leaver, whereas she is left in the OG “cardigan.” It’s utterly fascinating that Taylor chooses to embody ‘hanging on to youth’ angle. What we assume is a very deep, primal feeling is one she overemphasizes for narrative purposes. Consequently, dismissing the love triangle as (fix-it) fiction requires dismissing Taylor’s attachment to youth—being Peter. To that end, we might also need to dismiss the infamous “I never grew up, it’s getting so old” line from “The Archer.” Many others, too…

Red herring though it may be, the love triangle alters folklore’s underlying philosophy, hence the very essence of its melancholy. It seems rather unwise to ignore the love triangle or to reduce it to a cheesy storytelling device. Recognizing that Taylor endorses Wendy and only Wendy is, in my opinion, crucial for clarifying other nebulous ideas in folklore. (I know I sound like a broken record, but I really do think abstraction in the music requires abstraction in analysis. It’s really easy to fall into the habit of tying specific lyrics to people or events. Personally, I find richer and deeper connections by actively working against that habit. I’m not saying this is the only way to do analysis—on the contrary, I think all analysis is correct because it’s all subjective. Rather, I think people overlook the value of occasional abstraction, much to my distress. folklore analysis even seems to demand abstraction. Sue me for believing that things like the underlying philosophy of an album are important, I guess?)

Would you believe that there’s more to this change than what I’ve argued? I’m weary that this is answer is already not what you wanted, so I won’t bang on and quadruple its length. In conclusion: the Implications.

#kaylor #folklore analysis #anonymous #qs

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allamericansbitch · 4 years

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Hi. Do you think Taylor actually made up the stories in Folklore as a complete story or it's just bits and pieces and to cover up things in her private life. In the prologue she says that Mad Woman is about a town that cast her out and My Tears Ricochet is about a person at their dead lovers funeral but we know it's really about her being angry and sad about losing her masters. So did she just say those stories to avoid speculation cuz she basically just gave a main idea of the story. I know that TLGAD is actually based on a true story and Exile and Illicit Affairs seem to be complete. I'm mostly referring to the love triangle. Some people think it is based on Tom and Joe in 2016 but idk if I believe that. We know that she changed the original lyrics to Cardigan to fit the story more. The Cardigan line is just thrown in Betty to connect the song but August is directly linked to Betty. However if she wrote Cardigan first then it wasnt always connected to the triangle. Does she actually have a full story in her mind or just the main idea? To me the songs stand on their own and the meaning of the song changes when grouped together. Some parts seem incomplete like she told us the basics of the story but she also uses specific lyrics so do you think she actually has a full complete story of these characters in her mind? Like the lines about the mall and garden and the significance of that is unclear and sorta random and we dont actually know what they mean within the story. I know the point is to fill in the blanks and make your own interpretations but I would prefer it to be complete. Sometimes it takes me out of the song and changed my interpretation when they can exist on their own but now I just think about the characters. What do you think was the purpose of her telling us about the triangle? Love your blog.

i think taylor started the songs off the songs writing what she knew while also letting her imagination take over until she realized she could form it into a complete storyline. so, for example, she started writing cardigan and then changed the lyrics to go with the love triangle once she flushed out the details of the triangle later on.

another example, taylor mentioned that my tears ricochet was the first song she wrote for folklore so she probably wrote it during the whole mess of her masters was made public, but then kinda made the lyrics vaguer and based on imagery to fit with the rest of the album and had the idea of an ex-lover coming to the funeral then because that’s the basis of what it felt like, someone you were once close to acting like they have a right to be near you and that nothing sour ever happened between the two of you.

same with mad woman, she felt like she was being ‘run out of town’ by scooter and his clients because they were being accusatory towards her and trying to make her look bad.

all of the songs are both a combination of a storyline (both real and/or fiction), imagery, and imagination.she probably starts out with a main idea of what the storylines will be and then gradually narrows it down and figures out the details and full story overtime while writing. i think the purpose of the storylines (including the triangle) was simply because of taylor being in quarantine, reading and watching a bunch of things like the rest of us, and getting inspired and wanting to write from different perspectives like she has done in the past. it’s probably something that makes her feel fulfilled because, unlike her autobiographical songs, she made up this story completely in her own head and she can have a different type of pride knowing that it was her imagination alone that created the world she wrote about.

#anonymous #answered

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colorsinautumn · 3 years

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Hi. Do you think Taylor actually made up the stories in Folklore? In the album prologue she describes My Tears Ricochet as a person at their dead lovers funeral and Mad Woman as a woman angry at the town that cast her out. However we know these are really about her being angry and sad over her masters. These could be metaphors I guess. I know TLGAD is based on a true story and Exile seems complete. My main issue is with the love triangle. Some people believe it's really about Tom and Joe in 2016. We know she changed the original Cardigan lyrics to fit the story, and the Cardigan line in Betty seems super forced to make it connect but August is directly related to Betty. The songs stand on their own and I prefer it that way but the triangle changes the meaning. Some lines take me out of the song everytime. I just wonder why she specifically told us about it. Does she have a complete story in her head about the events that happened or just the idea of the song? Cuz Shes done it before like with the scenario in Speak Now or how Love Story mentions Romeo and Juliet. Also she has specific lines about the mall and garden but the significance of what that means is unclear. Idk so what do you think and why do you think she told us about the love triangle? I love your blog so I'm interested to hear your opinions!

I think the love triangle is just an idea she bult some songs around. I take it at face value for what it is rather than trying to find some larger meaning behind it unless it couldn’t be more obvious that there’s more to it. The album has songs that relate to each other, but not everything is involved in this one big interconnected story or idea. I’m not too in depth with the love triangle but I think the garden and mall are just locations that don’t have much significance outside of Taylor basically saying “hey this is where they met.” Like it matters but it also isn’t as big a deal as the story makes it want to seem. I think there is a complete story here, but like you said, it’s in her head. Folklore isn’t a beginning middle end story by any means.

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lorelaigilmo · 4 years

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Hi. Do you think Taylor has a complete idea of the stories on Folklore like she said in the prologue when making the album or do you think some of it is a way to keep things private? Basically do you think she actually created stories and characters? Like with the song Mad Woman and My Tears Ricochet she explained the stories..a woman seeking revenge on a town she cast out or someone at the funeral of their dead lover. However we know it is actually mainly about being angry and heartbroken over her masters. So she made up that story to avoid speculation? I guess it works metaphorically though. I know TLGAD is actually a true story and I think Exile is pretty complete. My problem is mainly with the love triangle. There is a theory it's about Tom and Joe in 2016 so I wonder if she told us about it to avoid speculating about her private life. Idk if I believe that. However we know that she changed the Cardigan lyrics to fit the triangle after. I kinda prefer the songs on their own and the Cardigan line seems thrown in Betty just to make it connect. August is directly related to Betty but in my opinion Cardigan isnt. It seems like Taylor just gave us the main idea, but she also threw in specific lines like about the car. Does Taylor actually have a complete story for all the characters..like who August actually is to James and how things happened? It seems like she threw in lines and it's incomplete but the lines are specific like the mall and garden so does she have a complete story? I know we are meant to fill in the blanks and interpretations but the songs stand on their own and tell a different story on their own. Together they tell a story but it changes the meaning of the song.I just dont know why she bothered to tell about the love triangle at all. I hope this makes sense. I'd rather it be a full story then just bits and pieces but idk what her intention is.

Okay there is a LOT to unpack here.

In my own personal opinion, these songs started from a very personal place and she decided to evolve them and give them more meaning and layers with the characters and metaphors. I don’t think it was necessarily from a place of concealing the songs’ true meaning to her, but maybe to challenge her songwriting, make the songs something more, use the metaphors to tell more than one story, kind of like in literature you have the plain layer of simple meaning and there’s the message the author is truly trying to send underneath the surface. I think it’s a fascinating form of songwriting and truly takes her to the next level with how complex and layered it is. You can see this in Cardigan actually - she had the birdcage metaphor in the original draft, showing us that the song originated about something more personal to her, but she decided to evolve it and give it meaning bigger than herself, kind of like in actual folklore stories. When I first listened to the album I thought the feelings she described in Illicit Affairs related to when she first started dating Joe - the secrecy, the hiding of the relationship that we heard about in Rep and in Cruel Summer. So I have this theory that she wrote Illicit Affairs as kind of a scenario in her head of how things could’ve gone differently between them if they had kept up the secrecy and not fought for their relationship or whatever. So a seed of truth and true personal feeling with a spin of fiction to it, and I think that’s what the album is.

I do think Taylor has a complete story for the characters, but I think she left it a little vague to let the listeners have their own interpretation of it. I think that a lot of original folklore stories start out as one thing and get changed to fit the narrative of the person telling it at that moment, and so the story changes a little every time a different person is telling it, and I think that’s what Taylor was trying to do. We have all of these songs that seem incredibly specific on first glance, but look at how many fandoms are being related to the songs from folklore. How many different directions the exact same words can go. And it’s all a matter of perspective, and I think that’s the real greatness in this album.

So to sum up, I think all of these interpretations can and should coexist. You can interpret the songs as individuals and you can interpret them as connected stories, you can look for Taylor’s personal input in them or you can take them as far away from her personal life as possible. They’re all just interpretations and opinions, there’s no one real truth here. And I think that’s what Taylor intended for it.

#ask #gwen-stace #folklore #taylor swift #I went ahead and wrote an ESSAY #also pls everyone let me know your thoughts this is an interesting discussion

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ozarkhealingtraditions · 5 years

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Love this time of year, pawpaw season! A wonderful native fruit, the pawpaw, Asimina triloba, is packed with nutrients, but be careful! It’s also a laxative, especially if you’re not used to eating them!

Pawpaws are one of several “witch trees,” said to be homes to spirits of the wandering dead. Pawpaw seeds are often used to “lay” or calm spirits.

For the longest time pawpaws were one of the only fruits Ozark hillfolk could gather. This was long before there were any apple orchards or peach trees, and the plums were of the wild variety which make a tasty jelly but are mostly pit and worm in my experience. Pawpaws became integrally linked with the Ozark people.

I can remember stories from both my grandpa’s about gathering up pawpaws to eat, and my mom always talks about how annoying it was to clean up smooshed pawpaw residue from off the driveway at her dad’s body shop. I can remember even singing the pawpaw rhyme, although I can only ever recall the one line “Pickin’ up pawpaws, puttin’ ’em in your pockets, way down yonder in the pawpaw patch.” The full song goes something like this: Where, oh where, oh where is Susie? Where, oh where, oh where is Susie? Where, oh where, oh where is Susie? Way down yonder in the paw-paw patch. Come on, kids, let’s go find her, Come on, kids, let’s go find her, Come on, kids, let’s go find her, Way down yonder in the paw-paw patch. Pickin’ up paw-paws, puttin’ ’em in your pockets, Pickin’ up paw-paws, puttin’ ’em in your pockets, Pickin’ up paw-paws, puttin’ ’em in your pockets, Way down yonder in the paw-paw patch. I’m usually able to find a few pawpaws to eat every season. There has been a swift decrease in pawpaw trees in the Ozarks over the years due to deforestation, but recently there’s been an effort among naturalists to help get the tree reestablished. Much like with the chinquapin trees, I think there’s even a registry where you can list the pawpaw trees that you’re growing. Usually you want to wait for them to fall out of the tree, a sure way of knowing they’re ripe. But you don’t want to wait too long or the squirrels and insects will have claimed them as their own.

I like to eat them raw, but have also baked them into a cake. Here’s the recipe I used from the North Caroline Folklife Institute:

Pawpaw Pudding: 2 c. sugar 1½ c. bread flour 1 tsp. baking powder ½ tsp. cinnamon 3 eggs 2 c. pawpaw pulp 1½ c. milk ½ c. melted butter Preheat the oven to 350 F, and grease a 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. In the center of a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: sugar, flour, baking powder, and cinnamon. Into a well in the center of the dry ingredients, add and whisk the eggs. Whisk until fully mixed. Whisk and mix in the other wet ingredients: pulp, milk, and butter. Pour and scrape the batter into the baking dish and bake 50 minutes. To test for doneness, slide a toothpick into the center of the pudding, and it should come out clean. Like custard, if you jiggle the pan, the center should be set. Serving: Cut the pudding into squares, and serve it with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, hard sauce, or crème anglaise. The entire pawpaw tree has also made its way into Ozark folklore and magic. Here are some tidbits from Vance Randolph’s Ozark Magic and Folklore: “The pawpaw tree is well known to be connected with witchcraft and devil worship, and even a gray-and-black butterfly (Papilio ajax) is looked upon as ‘strange’ because it is so often seen fluttering about pawpaw trees. People near Goodman, Missouri, tell me that there is some direct connection between pawpaw trees and malaria, but just what this relation is I don’t know. Pawpaws are becoming rare in many sections where they were formerly abundant; this is regarded by the old-timers as a bad omen, perhaps a sign that the end of the world is at hand.” “There are many ways of detecting a witch, such as hiding a Bible in her mattress, placing a broomstick in her path, scratching a little cross under the seat of her chair, or adding a bit of pawpaw bark to her tobacco. Any of these measures will make a witch deathly sick, while an innocent woman is not affected. Another method is to take a new awl and fix it in the seat of a chair, so that only a very little of the point sticks through. Then get the suspected woman to sit down in the chair. If she jumps and cries out, it means that she is not a witch, since a witch doesn’t feel the sharp point at all.” “Some of the old-timers drive three nails into the outside of a door, in the form of a triangle, to keep witches away from the cabin; one man told me that the three nails represent the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost and were particularly efficacious in protecting an expectant mother from the powers of evil. Painting the outside of a door blue is said to be a sensible precaution also, and some people make doubly sure by driving several tiny pegs of pawpaw wood into the doorsill.” “If it is possible to obtain any part of the witch’s body such as fingernail parings, a lock of hair, a tooth, or even a cloth with some of her blood upon it the witch doctor has recourse to another method. Out in the woods at midnight he bores a hole in the fork of a pawpaw tree, and drives a wooden peg into the hole. Once, despite the protests of a superstitious hillman who was with me, I pulled out one of these pegs and examined it. The end was covered with beeswax, in which several long hairs were imbedded. There was a circle of what appeared to be dried blood higher up on the peg, and the auger hole contained a quantity of fine sand. A similar ‘pawpaw conjure’ is sometimes employed by cuckold husbands, but it is primarily intended to deal with women who ‘talk the Devil’s language.'” “The relatives of a murdered man sometimes throw pawpaw seeds into the grave, on top of the coffin. It is said that this insures that the murderer will be punished. Other old-timers, in similar case, prefer to pull down the top of a little cedar tree and fasten it with a big stone. This somehow helps to catch the murderer. As soon as the man is punished, somebody must hurry out and move the stone; if the cedar is not released there’ll be another killing in the neighborhood.” “Many farmers say that it is a good idea to bury a bit of a cow’s afterbirth under a pawpaw tree, as this will cause her to bring forth female calves thereafter.” “In rural Arkansas the backwoods girls tie little pieces of cloth to the branches of certain trees usually pawpaw or hawthorn, sometimes redbud or ironwood. I have seen five of these little bundles in a single pawpaw tree. I have untied several and examined them carefully; there was nothing in them that I could see, just little pieces of cloth, doubtless torn from old dresses or petticoats. The natives say they are love charms, but just how they work I do not know. No woodsman that I have ever known would think of touching one of these objects, and I have often been warned that it is very bad luck to ‘monkey with such as that.'”

#ozarks #traditional witchcraft #folk magic #folklore #Ozark Folklore #ozark folk magic #ozark folkways #ozark folk medicine #traditional healing #traditional medicine #pawpaw #foraging #ozark healing traditions

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urbanteeth · 4 years

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More info on my half elven son bc I fell in love with him again:

Knows Common Sign Language aside from Common and Elvish (his father is deaf) and will frequently mix signs/finger spelling into his speech

Loves storytelling! When he leaves home following a sense of wanderlust, he often looks for other travelers and frequents communal bonfires/campfires to listen to people tell stories. The ones he likes best he saves/writes down to take back home sometime. Local folklore tales are some of his absolute favorites. He has fond memories of his father and adoptive mother telling him local legends (and using them as warnings when he misbehaved! That only made him all the more eager to see if there was any truth in them though!)

He’s actually pretty quiet and laidback! Prefers to observe and work things out internally. Does sometimes talk to himself to think but most often he paces, gestures a lot with his hands, taps his fingers, or fiddles with any nearby thing.

He can also be a coy little shit. He keeps a very convincing straight face and you only realize it when he breaks his facade with a cheeky grin.

Learned basic archery skills from hunting on his home island and later found an elven mentor to teach him more (aka he pestered the shit outta that elf until they finally accepted. They grew a grudging respect for each other)

Wears a shark’s tooth and beads on a leather cord gifted to him by his adoptive mother (something like an islander tradition. The tooth is given as part of a coming of age ritual. Each bead is crafted and given by others when the wearer makes a significant impact on their lives)

Has a tattoo (two bands on the bridge of the nose and a row of triangles on either side just under the eyes and straight across the cheeks)

Also loves collecting shinies! Favorites are crystals, rings, and knives (especially knives hoo boy the ones he keeps always on him is a twin pair of carved daggers gifted to him by the village headman as thanks for protecting the village from a particularly nasty monster attack. these are carved from whale bone and blessed by the light of a full moon. The hilts have an adapted a sailor’s prayer to the sea and wind gods + added some customized blessings/prayers from the villagers to protect him on his travels as he did their home, also serves as a way for his homeland gods to always be with him, just as wind and water are found everywhere so too will the gods and their people will watch over him wherever he goes)

Also carries a little figurine of his home island’s patron god, Atlotl, who takes the form of a megalodon-esque shark . Will pray for his family’s safety and abundance + peace for his home and give offerings to the god each night. Full moons are special! He buys/hunts/gathers (most often hunts and gathers but he’ll buy what he can’t get) rare or expensive ingredients and head into town to share with other travelers

Appearance: warm tawny sun-kissed skin from days spent roaming the island and working long hours at sea (fishing and gathering and hunting mostly but also searching for cool treasures), has a kind of oval shaped face, golden eyes with a sleepy expression, dark hair kept kinda long and tied back in a bun/ponytail, short af (short man representation! this is me projecting okay shhhh), freckles!!, a long scar over his left eye that cuts through his tattoo, dresses in lots of whites, greens, browns, and blacks, this man’s got a wiry build, has muscle but you couldn’t tell bc he likes to wear loose comfy shirts often tucked into his pants, (this dude’s aesthetic highkey screams Jim Hawkins from Treasure Planet now that I think about tbh)

No matter where he goes, the sea is always there to call him home.

#holy shit this dude’s more developed than i thought wow #imma develop him more!!!#not gonna be doing anything with him (yet) but i will absolutely ramble about him from time to time #he also gets his own tag #son of the sea #ch. fen stagmire

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awkwardplantwrites · 4 years

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Finding Magic Chapter Four

Posting early this week!

Chapter 4: 2090 words / Reading time: 10 minutes

Genre: Fantasy/Adventure/Action

Find the chapter on wattpad (Bippick is my wattpad username)

New to the story? Missed some updates? Find all the chapters here on tumblr

(Artwork by @pe-ersona ~ Reblogs and comments are appreciated :D )

When Renato woke up the next morning, Pepi wasn't sitting by the door. Renato drew the curtains open and looked out the window. People pitched coloured tents in the town center, they hung triangles on strings between buildings, and children (or small people?) dressed in costumes of creatures he recognized from his folklore books. Someone knocked at the door.

"Come in," Renato said, rubbing his eyes.

Helaine walked in holding a hot drink that steamed. "Brought you a hangover cure. How are you feeling?"

"Fine, surprisingly. I don't even have a headache."

Helaine rolled her eyes and tutted. "To be young... Okay, in that case, this is a thank you for finding Rizze."

"Thank you. Or you're welcome? I would've brought him back even if you didn't serve me beverages." He took the drink from her and blew over the top, the liquid rippled. "You're ten years older than me, aren't you? Thirty-three is still young."

"A lot can change in ten years," she mused and sat on the bed. "For example, I travelled here from Bhārat as a merchant, selling my family's spices. Fell in love with a beautiful girl. Found myself at home in this town. Had an argument with my family that spanned hundreds of letters when I told them I wouldn't return. Opened a spice shop. Closed it. Re-opened and began selling flowers. Met a duo with outrageous ideas who pulled them off without a hitch. Earned a headache after a night of celebration..." Helaine grimaced and took a sip from her cup.

"What a wonderful way to spend ten years. Though last night was hardly without a hitch, we nearly got caught. Rizze kept scratching me on the way back too," Renato trailed off. "I think there's something going on with Pepi. He was cheerful last night, but it felt forced. Normally he waits until I wake up to wander off, but..." He gestured to the empty chair. "I'm not sure if I should ask him about it. Pepi's good at talking without saying much of anything at all."

"Kater is similar, I know how you feel."

"Don't you find it frustrating? How can you get along with someone who's like that? I feel like he's lying to me by not telling me the whole truth."

Taking another sip, Helaine was quiet as she thought. "It can be tiresome, having a relationship with someone who avoids issues when you'd rather confront them, get it over with. Kater gets so concerned about hurting my feelings."

Helaine pushed up her glasses. "Sometimes she avoids problems because she's indecisive, and would rather figure it out herself before giving me an answer. It's about trust. Sharing secrets means there's a chance the other person will learn the truth and never speak to them again. Or they'll think differently of that person for the rest of time. It's a vulnerable place to be. And it's not an unfounded fear, as no-one can predict the future."

"Try telling that to Pepi. He visited a diviner the other day."

"Kater tries to read her palms. She's convinced she'll die young because her'health line is shorter than average,'" Helaine chuckled. "You're a nice boy, I reckon Pepi trusts you but isn't ready to take down his emotional barriers. It's like a shield for him. He respects you too much and doesn't want to bother you."

Renato frowned. "Too much?"

"He's your squire, right?" Renato nodded. "That's not quite equal to a knight, is it? Especially not one chosen by a god." She scrunched her nose. "What does that mean exactly? How are you different from regular magic users?"

"Me spells are more powerful, and I'm able to use more magic than the average person. I can speak to Lidion if I stare long enough at some water. It's not all that special. Gives me a lot more work to do though."

"You're doing a great job. No-one would think you're ill," she remarked.

Renato blinked in surprise. "Apart from you, somehow."

"I like to pick up on the little things. They matter the most." Helaine smiled.

Nodding, Renato turned to look out the window again. "What's happening outside?"

Helaine peered out the window. "It's Spirt's Eve already? Oh, Kater will be in a hurry to set up decorations today. She's always leaving these things to the last minute."

"What's Spirit's Eve?"

Searching Renato's eyes, Helaine scrunched her nose. "It's a holiday, where we celebrate the lives of people who lived, and walk amongst beings and creatures from folklore."

"It looks exciting. We don't have holidays in Llantry."

"You celebrate nothing? You don't even have one day to share a feast? Or a day of rest?"

As Renato shrugged and shook his head, Kater's voice resounded through the Inn while she yelled.

"I'm telling you, I've met no one of the sort! Get out of my establishment!"

Pepi appeared at the door, poking his head through the crack. "I may have, uh, tipped off the folk at the manor about our location last night by accident. We should go."

Kater screamed downstairs. A glass smashed.

"Preferably now," Pepi added

Helaine rushed out the room. Renato threw his blanket to the side of the bed. He got dressed, brushing Pepi off when he tried to help, and told him to find a way out instead. Pepi left with Finlay trailing behind him, pulsing black and red light.

Renato stuffed his night clothes into his bag, taking out his pocket mirror for a moment to fix his hair. Pepi opened the door again.

"There's a patch of straw outside the hallway window," Pepi told Renato. "We have to jump, there's no other way out."

Wanting to protest, Renato opened his mouth, but closed it again when he realized he didn't have time to argue. The sound of shouting spurred him on. He clutched his bag to his chest and followed Pepi to the window. When it was his turn to jump, he sent a short prayer to Lidion, hoped he wouldn't break anything a healer couldn't fix, and leapt onto the straw. He landed with a roll and limped to the wagon, peeking at the front entrance of the Inn where Kater kept the Wakefield knights occupied. A man wearing an apron turned at the sound of their horse neighing, which Pepi tried to calm down, and he pointed in their direction.

"That's them! Hurry, before they get away!"

Renato tumbled into the back of the wagon, Pepi climbed into the jockey box and tugged at the reins.

"Bye Kater, Helaine! Nice meeting you for the first time, again!" Pepi yelled. "We'll come back someday. Save me some ale!"

Renato also called out a goodbye, waving from the rear of the wagon, then ducked down when the Wakefield knights started bombing them with spells. The wagon swerved, Pepi tried to dodge the spells and the tents on the street.

"Sorry!" Pepi shouted. "That pumpkin looked swell, carve another masterpiece, kid!"

Renato watched as the knights found a wagon of their own. "Pepi, they'll catch up soon, what do we do?"

"I don't know! You're the hero, figure something out, I'm driving!"

Searching for any tools, Renato noticed children hitting colourful horses with wooden sticks, which exploded with treats after being beaten. He grabbed the next one he found, snatching it off the string as children wailed. Ripping the horse apart, it revealed rock-solid cinnamon buns. Renato threw them at the knights chasing them.

"Are these supposed to be edible?" he cried.

They turned a sharp corner, and Renato lost his grip on the shredded treat filled horse, while Pepi struggled to steady the real horse. Renato watched the corner they'd passed, and a smile formed on his lips. They'd lost their chasers!

That smile vanished when the knights also turned the corner, using magic to propel their wagon to go faster.

"Stopcheating!" Renato made a face at the other wagon.

"Wha- are you a child?!" A knight he recognized from the previous night, who'd invited him to play Bone Crowns, shouted at him. "Stop your vehicle this instant!"

"I thought we were buddies!" Renato narrowly avoided being struck by another spell. "You said I was more fun than regular Larry, and I am! But I won't be if you try to kill me!"

"This isn't a game, you dunce!"

"It is so, now let me win!" Renato grabbed a flower basket, apologized to Helaine in his head, and threw it at the wagon. It hit a knight in the face. "Fifty points to me."

For a second they faltered, but they grew faster, eventually overtaking them. The knights banged the wagon into the side of theirs, tearing at the cover with daggers. Renato yelped and tried to stay on the safe side. Then Pepi cried out, and Renato saw they caught him in a magic rope that tied itself around his wrist. Their cart veered out of control. Renato raced over to the jockey box, yanking at the rope, which flew from the apron man's grasp. Unfortunately, that end of the rope tied itself around Renato's wrist, tying the two of them together. He scrambled for the reins with one hand and screamed with every ounce of energy in his body.

"LIDION, I NEED YOU! PLEASE!"

With a great gust of wind, Lidion answered his prayer; the wind slowed the other wagon down to a halt; the wheels snapped in half, rendering the knights immobile. For the first time in months, Renato laughed. It became hysterical, and he clutched his stomach when he saw the knights still trying to shoot spells at them as they rode away.

Then a ticking grenade landed inside the wagon and it wasn't funny anymore.

"Jump, Pepi!"

"I have to unharness the horse!"

"No time!" Renato pushed Pepi to the road.

The horse screeched in fear, racing on ahead with no-one to guide it. Lying on the road, Pepi and Renato shielded their eyes as the wagon exploded. A sharp, loud buzzing filled their ears. Pepi looked like he was shouting, but Renato couldn't hear his words. Looking back, he noticed the knights followed them on foot. He pulled Pepi up with the hand tied to him and ran past the wagon.

Pepi tried to go back for the horse but Renato had a firm grip on his hand and heaved the other man away from the scene. Glancing back at the knights, he saw they'd stopped running, standing at the outskirts of town where a sign stood, thanking them for visiting. He blew a raspberry at Wakefield and continued dragging Pepi as fast and far as they could go.

As Renato's hearing returned to normal, he noticed both their panting and slowed to a halt, shoving off his bag, collapsing alongside Pepi onto the grass. How far had they ran from Wakefield? He didn't know. It didn't matter as long as they were safe. He couldn't gather the strength to see where they lay. All he knew was: it was raining, the surrounding trees stood taller than any he'd ever seen, and Pepi's hand was warm in his.

"Pepi," he gasped. "Why didn't we take a boat?"

"... Shit. Wait, no, I can justify this! Uh... Do you know anyone who has a boat?" Finlay darted around Pepi, flashing a purple light.

"Well, no," Renato replied.

"Neither do I."

"We could have asked someone who has a boat though," Renato noted. "I don't think your reasoning covers up this plot hole or my wounded pride enough."

"In that case," Pepi breathed. "They enchanted the water around Adhur. See, Adhur's a low floating island. One too many ships bumped into it. So they cast a spell that meant no-one can sail near Adhur," Pepi explained. "Sailors get confused and go around it. The island has griffins that pick up people from the mainland."

Renato sighed. "Could've got a boat somewhere close to Adhur though."

"I get seasick?" Finlay began to turn orange. "Finlay stop giving me away, you're supposed to catch other people's lies not mine," Pepi whispered.

"Okay, and I'm afraid of large bodies of water. So that's why we couldn't sail. That makes a logical argument. I can sleep soundly knowing the plot makes sense."

"We could be sailors in another universe, another story." Pepi squeezed his hand.

Renato laced their fingers. "In another universe I'd be Rizze, sleeping all day in a sunny spot of The Ugly Snail."

Renato and Pepi wheezed with weak laughter, resting where they lay.

taglist: @quilloftheclouds @ashesconstellation @city-by-the-sea @imturtlelyawriter @paper-shield-and-wooden-sword @books-of-lunacy @reininginthefirewriting @agnodice-writes @siarven @fantasy-shadows @worldbuildng @wannabe-word-palace @dreamsofbooksandmonsters @twentytwohearts @pe-ersona @writersloth @soupopoireau

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#writing #writeblr #wip #original #fiction #fantasy #oc #writers #novel #fm tag #finding magic #awkwardplantwrites

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mercurialsmile · 5 years

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So I went and saw Hellboy (2019) again since I wanted to get a closer look and sort of analyze it to a degree. It’s been slammed by quite a bit of people and I wanted to understand where they were coming from and have Critical Thinking Skills

Plus I finished reading the whole series (and The Wild Hunt) Sunday so I wanted to see how close of an adaptation it is.

Adaption-wise, 2019 is closer to its source material (The Wild Hunt) than the OG is (Seeds of Destruction)

It’s not a perfect adaption at all, of course. If you go by the condensed Omnibus’ as a guide, The Wild Hunt is the third book in the series. By the looks of it, they are reshuffling the events on how they happen and character timelines as well. Honestly, Seeds of Destruction would be a hard comic to adapt faithfully as it doesn’t have as streamlined a plot as Wild Hunt does but I digress.

There were a lot of changes. I don’t wanna go into each bullet point bc spoilers and also that would be a longass list. All I can say is some characters were missing, some added into the movie from different comics, the BPRD isn’t in the comics at all, obv all references to social media and the modern world aren’t in the comic, aaaaand of course: Hellboy actually fought 6 giants not 3. They nerfed him.

They also added two short stories to the movie, and they are also pretty close to the comics with some minor changes (and shortened even further...)

Fight-scene wise it seemed the flow of each fight fit in with the comic depiction of them so that was a nice touch.

If I were to give a score out of 10 for how close the movie adaptation is... I’d probably give it a 4-5. Which isn’t that bad considering just how dense TWH is and how much story leads up to it. TWH is the third book of series for a reason.

Plus some changes needed to be made due to the fact it’s a movie and they’re trying to tell a cohesive story

Hellboy, as a comic series... isn’t a cohesive story. It doesn’t have an intricate plot. That’s not the point. Hellboy is an introspective character study steeped in folklore and mythos with lovecraftian horror elements and interesting and unique monster designs.

Turning that into a blockbuster movie sounds like a bitch and I am not jealous of the writers for this movie at all.

That being said, I wanna pinpoint some issues I read some people had with the movie, add my own thoughts to that, and list what I liked and didn’t like of this movie.

No comparisons with the OG will be noted and I will not bring it up. This is a different movie in a completely different genre. Also OG is one of my favorite movies and shall always hold a special place in my heart

Music:

People noted that there were too many rock songs and not enough originally composed songs

Personally, the rock songs didn’t bother me too much. In some places they felt a little off or like I was watching a tv show rather than a movie, but it wasn’t too bad for me.

There were original songs or at least instrumentals littered throughout the movie including a reprise of the original Hellboy theme (a riff in the beginning and the complete at the end) which was nice to hear

I can see why the rock songs could bother or annoy some but for me it wasn’t that big of a deal

But I still do love original soundtracks and do wish this movie had more original songs in it

What bothered me more than the music was the quick Hellboy intro. I like buildups to my movie titles in movies like this and was a bit bummed I didn’t get to hear Hellboy’s full theme song... till the end during the movie

Exposition:

Some people complained the movie spent too much time rehashing some information. Indeed, in some places the movie felt it was beating us over the heads. In others it was more subtle, which is a bit odd

Really tho it’s a pretty small problem to fix? Only two changes would need to be made:

1. Take out the narration in the beginning of the movie

2. Cut out the adapted short story scene and have it remain as dialogue

Easy

Again, it didn’t bother me too much as the exposition issue was really only an issue in the first half of the movie? And happened only twice

However I can understand why people had an issue with it

Dialogue:

The writing is a mixed bag. Some scenes had good if not great writing and other scenes were a bit painful to listen to.

I did read this movie had some issues being developed due to creative differences and being shuffled around a lot... and in some places it shows. In others not so much. The middle of the movie is def where the weakest writing lies, I think

CGI:

This movie was an utter gorefest and had quite a bit of CGI. In some places it looked fine, I think. In other places it looked really cheap

I have no idea why the look of the CGI bounced around so much? Maybe they stretched their budget a bit too much, who knows

There was only one scene where it looked god awful and honestly that shot didn’t need to be in the scene to make it effective. Which is annoying I agree

I’m starting to sound like I disliked this movie huh? I’ll get to what I liked about it. Wanna say what other things I personally disliked:

* Professor “Broom”’s characterization

* Hellboy knowing less than he does in the comics for... drama?

* Honestly the entire father subplot

* The entire scene at the bunker. Ugh

* Some of the shots were... bad. Trying too hard to please the 3D crowd ig

* The fact that the Blood Queen didn’t have her raven helmet. that thing is badass

* Some tonal problems but it wasn’t too distracting

But there was a lot of things I also liked?

* All the monster designs! Especially the titans

* David Harbor’s performance

* No love triangle and no romance subplot in general. Nice

* Anung un Rama’s design

* Character costuming

* A lot of the shots, especially in the beginning and the end were interesting

* Baba Yaga. Her and that entire scene.

* The pig of course!

* Some of the dialogue was clever

* Got to see Hellboy riding a dragon. Nice.

* I actually liked the violence and gore. Even if it was pointless in some scenes. I like gory movies. Fun

* They made Alice a bit more proactive in this movie which was a good change

* Also the transformation during the pig battle.

* The main plot of course

Overall I think this movie is mainly getting slammed by fans of the og which... is expected honestly

I love the OG. If I could trade this movie in for the third of that trilogy I would. But life doesn’t work like that and I’m happy to see more Hellboy content in general and who knows,,, maybe we’ll get a finished trilogy this time?

I think this movie stands alone decently enough. Interestingly enough it seems those who read the comics are a lot less harsh on it than others? Well, for the most part from what I’ve seen.

This movie is campy, funny, full of action, with unique monster designs... which is what Hellboy kinda started as?

It has issues but don’t all movies? It’s not perfect and I still prefer OG but I ain’t gonna knock this movie because of that.

This is not a drama. It is a horror/action/comedy. And it plays itself as such and isn’t overly serious, which is okay.

Actually I’m hoping it gets a sequel. Hopefully it’ll be better than this movie, with betting marketing, and I think they’re gonna develop Conqueror Worm next And I loved that entire storyline a lot so! If they are going that direction (which is to say backwards in the comics...) I look forward to it!

#shutuplanx #review #Hellboy

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raechelpapaya · 5 years

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Writer's Ask Game~! Basics: 1, 2, 3, 5, 10. Specifics: 12, 13, 19. The Dark: 31. The Fun: 40. The Rest: 42, 45, 46!

aaaa thanks for the ask uwu

1. Do you listen to music when you write?

Absolutely. That’s usually just because I’m the kind of person who has to do something with background noise on.

2. Are you a pantser or plotter?

Kinda a combo of the two? Moreso on the pantser side and I just usually write parts that have been fluttering around in my head for some time and then I worry about how to connect them later.

3. Computer or pen and paper?

Computer… well, my phone specifically. That way all of my stories are with me on the go. I usually go for pen and paper when it’s been a while since I’ve written by hand and it’s usually only to write things that I know aren’t going to be storyline segments. As in, they’re usually small notes about my OCs that I jot down.

5. How much writing do you get done on an average day?

Depends on the day and how I feel. It could range from a thousand to about five thousand words a day.

10. Do you set yourself deadlines?

Nah. That stresses me out.

12. Describe your perfect writing space

Snuggled under a blanket with my phone in hand and a playlist of my fave songs playing.

13. Describe your writing process from idea to polished

When an idea pops into my head, I usually let it float around in there as I slowly expand on the scene. Usually it’s the general mood, what the dialogue is between characters, the location, etc. When I imagine it over the span of a few days and it pretty much plays out the exact same way in my head, then I write it out. It usually takes me some time to get the words out right and to create the mood right on paper to match what I originally wanted and imagined in my head.

19. How do you keep yourself motivated?

Take breaks and only write when I want to write. I don’t like the idea of writing just to write or get something down on the paper since I’m the kind of person who would get frustrated and end up hating what I’m writing if I wasn’t able to properly convey the words I want or just not able to come up with something to write.

Also I read plenty of other fanfics. It’s nice to see other styles of writing when I’m in a rut.

31. Least favourite part of writing

Hhhhhgh…. Uh… Body language? Maybe?? Every character I write just….. furrows their brows and crosses their arms lmao

Also fight scenes. I need to get better at converting the cinematic scenes in my head into words on a page.

40. Share some backstory for one of your characters

uhhh

Cyrus has a terrible jagged scar across his abdomen. It starts just below his left rib cage and runs diagonally down and a little below his belly button. He got it in a gruesome fight while in his dragon form. He got separated from his comrades in the retreat and ended up collapsing in a forest out of exhaustion, pretty much ready to die. Thankfully, a kind young healer stumbled across him and healed him despite how much she was shaking in fear at seeing a dragon. She saved him from the brink of death and gave him enough strength to find his way home, and for that he is forever grateful to her. He still hasn’t found the courage to bring up the topic to Serena and thank her for saving him that day.

42. How do you feel about love triangles?

I would prefer not dealing with them in media and I really try to avoid putting it in my writing. It’s just kind of unnecessary and exhausting to deal with lol

45. How much world building do you do?

I’m a little rough when it comes to world building but after making more of an attempt to do more world building, I’m having so much fun with it. I especially love making up folklore and mythology within my world. As well as practices and customs in different regions of the area. I’ve been focusing on a lot of world building recently, even trying to create a map and create a story for how the country was founded. It’s a lot of fun.

46. Do you reread your own stories?

Yeah, of course. Older stories I have make me want to rip my eyes out sometimes but I mean…. It’s really nice seeing how much I’ve improved with my writing….

and also seeing whatever new phrases I like to stick to for my writing lol

I also reread to go back and see if theres any details I missed with the characters/plot or if I need to make any adjustments because of changes I made recently.

#breakers-nim #Raechel replies #my babies #a bit... its really only Cyrus lol

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roseanespark · 3 years

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Hi. I'm with you on Folklore. I mean it's kinda half and half. There are some songs I love a lot but the rest is kinda eh. I love the more personal songs but I dont like the story songs as much. The stories feel incomplete and random. She claims in the album prologue that My Tears Ricochet is about someone at their dead lovers funeral but really we know it's about her masters I guess so why did she make up that specific story? I dont understand why she even told us about the love triangle. I love Cardigan..it has some really good lyrics but it doesnt match with the love triangle at all..and we know it had different lyrics before. The Cardigsn line in Betty is super forced and forced it to connect. The stories stand on their own but the triangle changed the meaning. When I first heard August I connected it to my unrequited crush in high school..the lyrics are you were never mine after all lol. I can barely enjoy the song anymore but I still love it sonically. Does she even have a full story for these characters? Theres specific lines about the mall and garden but what that means and the significance of it is unclear. I wonder if she just had the idea of the song like a guy apologizing to his gf. Shes done this before in songs..like the scenario in Speak Now or using Romeo and Juliet for Love Story. Idk if she were to continue writing story songs in the future..I'd prefer a complete story like a concept album or a musical. I did not know the theme of the album when i first listened but if I had maybe my opinions would be different. It's nice that someone kinda agrees. I love your blog.

god i hate that love triangle so much kjhgfddfgh i also dislike the way i interpreted bc it made me hate it even more. i said a lot of stuff so....

i love the way she’s a storyteller, i love what she can do with her songs, but as someone who loves simple, i do think she was waaaay over the top with folklore, which makes sense bc she always puts a lot of pressure in herself, but still... she said she made this album for fun but.... listen.... after three pop albums.... she was testing the waters.... she noticed the impact wasn’t the same anymore and it was time for something new. she’s right in that mindset but as someone who’s been a fan for 11 years, i can say for sure that taylor has a weird way of doing things lmao

that love triangle, the weird random way she connected everything and the fandom’s reactions to it ruined that album in a lot of ways lol but for me, most songs are boring, i live and die for production, nothing is ever overproduced for me (except edm ew), so the slow pace of the songs almost made lose my mind. august was one of the few ones that had a faster pace, but then we go back to the exhausting love triangle and i interpreted august as a very not nice character, therefore i cannot for the life of me listen to this song lmao and then there’s the story of rebeca, and some people confused her with betty, but then they realized it was two different people ANYWAY just????? why taylor????? idk girl give me a song about your cats, i’d be happier. her past love stories could still give her a lot of songs, and even if she didn’t want to talk about it, like i said, amazing storyteller, could’ve talked about anything else ugh.......

i literally like 3 or 4 songs in this album and they’re all about her + cardigan bc let’s be honest, that song shines individually, it has nothing to do with that love triangle. i didn’t read the prologue, so i didn’t know she said something different about my tears ricochet... for me it was obvious that it was about herself from the beginning, maybe she said that so it wouldn’t create drama, but then again it was very obvious, it’d be easier to not say anything at all lmao

i respect the path she’s trying to take musically, in the beginning i was afraid that it’d draw me away from her since it’s not the kind of music i like, but cardigan saved me from that thought, there will always be one or two songs that will get to me bc it’s her lmao

anyway, personally, i hate that love triangle, i hate the lack of production in that album and i’m still bitter about it khgfdsdfghj taylor next time please enemies to friends to lovers and bring back max martin

i’m also glad someone else kinda agrees, and thank you <3

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rachelratesmusic · 3 years

Text

folklore

folklore: Taylor Swift’s first album to be labelled Alternative, her second genre change since country to pop, this time from pop to alternative, or folk, but we definitely still have that country story-telling flare that Taylor has always capitalised from over her approximately 14 year career.

And her second album to not be capitalised, after reputation.

Track 1: the 1

First line of the album? “I’m doing good, I'm on some new shit.” Couldn’t think of a better lyric to start. New genre. New producer (Aaron Dessner of The National). New album. New Taylor. She’s doing good! Let’s go!

Track 2: cardigan

The ~delicate~ piano and Dessner production continues from track 1 to track 2, but this time, sonically, there’s an eerie-ness that emphasizes this sadness in the song, which is set from the perspective of someone who has been heartbroken, which Taylor herself has described a teenage love triangle, who’s story is told this track, track 8 august, and track 14 betty. The metaphors in the lyrics tell the story so maturely and beautifully, kind of like this teenage girl is far beyond her years... Maybe someone fairly recently turned 30 and had a lot of life experience…? Maybe Taylor’s most beautifully written lead single ever… Actually not maybe - definitely.

Track 3: the last great american dynasty

Another piano intro… ok… this is definitely sonically cohesive so far.

Oh! An 808 beat now. I’m head nodding! Oh… and she’s still storytelling… nice, that’s why it is called folklore. We take a slight turn here in terms of the mood instrumentally, but not really in terms of the lyrics, or this album's case, the stories being told. The mostly staccato piano chords contrasting the legato guitar slide fills along with the 808 electronic drum beat create a sort of light, bouncy, exhilaration, but what cleverly stops this exhilaration is the word painting where a minor chord is used on top of the second last word of the chorus, which is the word “ruining”, as well as a string section rising in volume to introduce us to the bridge, which is the climax of the story and the highlight of the song. Because in the bridge Taylor does what Taylor does best, which is the contribution of her own story through the lyrics, and that’s a part of the reason why we’re all devoted listeners.

Track 4: exile (featuring Bon Iver)

tbh... I’d never heard any Bon Iver music before this... I know, I know, I’m sorry. So on first listen I was ~low key~ startled at his hella low voice. But this song has grown on me. It can easily be compared to The Last Time on Taylor’s Red from 2012 where she duets with Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol but I prefer exile. What makes this song imo is when Bon Iver sings the word “CRyin’” around the 2 minute and 20 second mark, which again like the last track, the bridge of this song is what you’re waiting for as a listener to take you to new heights, where both vocalists deliver here, with Bon Iver ~nearly~ belting and Taylor being the opposite responder at more of a soft, tender volume, they both deliver the two different sides of the story in two different captivating ways.

Track 5: my tears ricochet

Look… I’ll be honest again… This is... MY FAVOURITE TRACK.

The standout part of this song is it’s whole buildup and the lyrics. ---(come on, we’re talking about a Taylor Swift track 5 here, historically we know it’s going to be a standout in the lyric department and Taylor herself has described every track 5 of each of her albums to be her saddest songs) Also historically, Taylor fans know that this section of her albums are where the best lyrics are kept.

First track on this album to be produced by long time collaborator of Swift, Jack Antonoff, the track begins with vocal ‘ohs’ reminiscent for me, of Imogen Heap, where now I feel I have to mention when Taylor collaborated with her on Taylor’s standout track “Clean” on 1989 from 2014. While Heap’s work may be littered with vocoders and electronics, my tears ricochet is natural, and surrounds the listeners ears with panning and reverb like they’re in a room surrounded by echoing Taylors. Then she makes you feel like you have betrayed her with how far she lets in, both with her detailed lyrics and how she is singing with the pacing of the melody, stopping and starting.

The build up is really noticeable as the bridge starts and the thundering drums hammer home the idea that Taylor can’t go home and after all this building, she lets go on the words “stolen lullabies”, where you feel this sense of freedom when the backing vocals of the intro return before the last chorus and again, the outro of those surrounding vocals we know so well.

With lyrics like “and if I’m dead to you, why are you at the wake?” and “you wear the same jewels that I gave you, as you bury me.” my tears ricochet easily triggers chills. (literal chills)

Track 6: mirrorball

And now… we have stepped into the past. The tone and picking of the electric guitar in the intro and first verse take me right back to the 70s… when I wasn’t alive…

Anyway, it’s another song about her personal struggles around fame and trying to “fit in” and stand out, which she encompasses so elegantly in the metaphor of being a shiny, shimmery disco mirrorball.

And sorry, as much as I do love it… it is the one song I would skip if I had to… and sometimes it’s skipped by choice, which tells you it’s the weakest track on the album in my opinion, but not easy to live up to the previous track that is so intense, so it is nice to have a more chill take in music and lyrics, although the lyrics can be really thought provoking if you want them to be.

Side note: where are the drums in this song? To hear the kick drum I have to focus really hard, which can be a good thing if you’re looking for a chill song, like I said I was after my tears ricochet, but it’s not a good thing either...

Track 7: seven

Every single little detail of this song is so elegant. Aaron Dessner’s light touches on the piano and guitar as well as the accompanying string section are just guides for the vocals telling the story of the love shared between friends throughout childhood and how that love lasts, so long which Taylor describes so eloquently in my favourite lyric of the entire album, “passed down like folk songs, our love lasts so long.”

The slightly higher pitch and slightly hushed tone Taylor sings in as the song begins, is unlike anything she has sung before. It reminds me of her previous tracks “Sad Beautiful Tragic” from her fourth album Red from 2012 or “Safe and Sound'' from the The Hunger Games soundtrack, but those songs were hushed and low pitched.

Where she sings like this is labelled as the first verse by Genius, where everyone gets the lyrics to songs nowadays, but how the two contrasting melodies are sung, to me the first section or melody seemed like the chorus the first few times I listened, but the second section or melody is also the closing melody and it would make the most sense the end on a chorus. While this may be confusing, at least it is a bit to me, I’m glad that Taylor has strayed away from the traditional pop structure in this track which is another reason why seven really stands out to me.

Track 8: august

The third song to be produced by Antonoff, August is what I’m going to describe as a getaway song - and by that I mean there’s a certain urgency to the pacing because something wild is happening! Whether it’s robbing someone or something in “Getaway Car” from reputation (2017) or crying in the back of the car in Lover’s “Cruel Summer”, also both co-written and produced by Antonoff, August joins this exclusive club.

The chorus melody is pretty and bright - while it feels mature, at the same time it feels like I am hearing this story from a love struck teenager, which you’re supposed to as it’s a part of the teenager love triangle story Taylor has going through the album, with this being the point of view of the third person in the relationship.

August’s bridge is it’s invitation to my made up Getaway Song party, which is a very exclusive and elitist party. The urgency in the pacing to pump up the climax of the story she’s telling, is very much becoming a TS trademark, I’ll be very happy in the future to give out more invitations to the Getaway Song party.

Track 9: this is me trying

Not gonna lie… this is simply one of my favorites because I feel it! This is me trying dammit! At least I’m trying! But this is what Taylor Swift does best, when you have the same feelings or emotions as her, and she decides to express those emotions in song, you can feel like you’re not alone for a moment which can be freeing.

While not outstanding production wise, I feel I can let it pass, because I love Taylor’s storytelling and ability to depict the craving for wanting better of yourself and trying...

Track 10: illicit affairs

Where were these pre-pop Taylor acoustic guitars before on an album called folklore?! Taylor is a guitar girl and I need my pre-pop Taylor acoustic guitar instrumentals!

While the title clearly indicates the story’s substance, this track feels like it’s over in the blink of an eye, while yet again, the highlight of the track is the bridge. Personally, it’s my favourite of the album beating “my tears ricochet” and “august”. There’s just something about it’s steady beating progression and particularly the way she emphasises the words “kid” and “baby”. It draws you in to feel the pain of the story’s protagonist, as well as it makes you want to shout the lyrics to help the protagonist get some sort of justice.

Track 11: invisible string

The acoustic guitar continues, and I am overjoyed, but this time it’s different, where a muting technique is employed, with an accent on the highest pitch string, which isn’t muted to create a sort of release. While writing this description of the guitar, despite having already listened to the song a million times, I thought, the song is called Invisible String, a guitar has strings, and the muted are muted, or made to sound invisible? Nice word painting Taylor. It took me a second. (If it was even done on purpose.)

More on the actual “invisible string”, I love the metaphor of it which seems to be based on Chinese mythology’s “Red Thread of Fate”. Which you get a loose description of through the songs lyrics. Along with the previous track, “the 1”, “invisible string” sounds the most pop-like to me out of the entire album so far. This is because there is a clear difference between verse, chorus and bridge, where the chord pattern actually changes between each of the three. All of these things combined makes for one of my favourite tracks on the album. And lastly, how can I not mention the mentioning of her own song “Bad Blood” in the second verse?

Track 12: mad woman

I can’t help but think this is the grown up version of The Man. In saying that however, I don’t mean at all that The Man is not good - it brings up serious issues in a very dignified way.

But “mad woman” is a song all on her own with beautiful, but at the same time, dark instrumentation and lyrics that really make you think about what she's talking about, which is something slightly different to “The Man”. Whether it’s her core shaking lower register or her first use of an F bomb ever, it’s sure to catch your attention before she opens to the lyric “you made her like that”, and then the bridge, where I have probably mentioned before in this review, Taylor really opens up the story, while plainly stating, “you took everything from me.”

The sonic cohesion continues with the guitar in the back of chorus, very similar to TLGAD, which is peaking out as being a signature of Aaron production.

Track 13: epiphany

“Epiphany” stands out. In the best way, and if you’re a Taylor fan you’d expect it to, as track 13s have traditionally throughout her discography, being her lucky number.

I’m not going to lie, this is the hardest song to describe and rate. Because it is so different, and honestly, that is why I really love it. Strung out vocals in the verse, contrasted with more staccato vocals in the chorus, the wide, elongated instrumentation, behind those vocals, it’s easy to depict some sort of battlefield scene in your head. Which actually links to it’s one thing in common with the other tracks in this album.

And what is the one thing in common with the other tracks in this album? It’s storytelling. And this story’s substance really makes you think, continuing the tradition from “mad woman”, but with a completely different storyline focusing on and drawing together the harsh events of 2020 and a past war where Swift has stated that the track was also inspired by her serving grandfather.

Track 14: betty

“Betty” concludes the teenage love triangle trilogy of songs and stands out as one of the more pop-ier songs on the album. Like Bon Iver’s voice was a surprise on “exile”, the harmonica was a welcomed surprise on “betty”.

There are two components to this song that make it a great one, those being it’s clear instrumentation, and it's clear story. Let’s start with story, where I already said that this is the final chapter to the teenage love triangle story, I believe this song doesn’t need an explanation, because, and this is the last time I speak about storytelling, this one song is like a good book and tells the story (one side of it, that’s where the other songs come in) from beginning to end.

And then the instrumentation, which is just vocals and harmonica on top of a marvelous sea of all sorts of guitars, with the strumming acoustic keeping the beat, and electric swells. With this track being the only one that joins both Aaron Dessner and Jack Antonoff as producers, it’s not hard to imagine they’ve both just picked up guitars and added to Taylor’s charming story.

In the ending where we see a key change and slight change from the chorus lyrics to tie up the happy ending to the story, “betty” cannot not be compared to Taylor’s 2008 hit “Love Story” where in the ending the lyrics are changed to sum up and fit the joy of a happy ending.

Track 15: peace

This track begins with a pulse, which Dessner has described as Bon Iver inspired. This pulse then flutters away and leads into more guitar, and by this stage you should know it’s what I’m waiting for - but it’s a bass guitar taking the lead ostinato or riff this time. Even better, because it’s unexpected, a punch in the guts, they say, like a harmonica on a post country Taylor Swift album? I need to stop going on about the harmonica, this album is called folklore.

While this track illustrates the love shared with that one person, it is no “Lover” (the song) or “Love Story”. It’s like this is the real life side, or the grown up side to real love, with statements like, “sit with you in the trenches” and that one question, “would it be enough if I could never give you peace?” I think it really demonstrates how far she’s come, along with that pulse soundscape , bass guitar and piano towards the end makes for an uncomplicated lead to Taylor’s most thought provoking lyrics in a romantic based song ever as well as being probably her most sophisticated song ever.

The devil really is in the details with Taylor’s music, which is both super comforting and complicated at the same time, with references to past songs, and I’m not even going to start to explain how Taylor is obsessed with leaving her fans easter eggs, but it’s kind of funny how this album had pretty much zero easter eggs in the lead up to it. Now I’m feeling comforted again.

Track 16: hoax

Speaking of feeling comfortable - shh. I’m listening to “hoax”, sitting next to the fire burning in my fireplace, wrapped in a blanket, with snow falling ever so softly out my window. Nope, that’s just the image in my head I get from listening to “hoax”, I live in Australia where it doesn’t snow much.

“hoax” is slightly lackluster dynamically for an album closer in Taylor’s discography, compared to Daylight from Lover or Clean from 1989 with New Years Day from reputation being the exception, which I also feel is slightly lackluster. Based on it’s soft sound, I’d prefer it wasn’t the album closer, even though it is lovely to feel so cozy as the album does close out.

But besides that, it is a cozy sounding song with some not so cozy lyrics. Closing out softly, it’s another case of Taylor leaving possibly her best and most beautiful words for last, with lyrics such as, “Stood on the cliffside screaming give me a reason, your faithless love’s the only hoax I believe in.”

3 Facts:

1. This is the first time ever that Taylor has had an explicit rated album and songs. So exciting.

2. Her first collaboration with Jack Antonoff was in 2013 when they created the song “Sweeter Than Fiction” for the film One Chance, and Taylor has since used Antonoff as a producer on every one of her albums.

3. Nobody knows for sure who William Bowery is. Who is William Bowery you ask? William Bowery is a co-writer of “exile” and “betty”. There is speculation… But no one knows...

To tie things up, Taylor delivered, this album is what a lot of people wanted, including myself. And what we wanted was a warm, acoustic, story focused album, which we got. But for me there is one thing missing, and I’m not exactly sure whether it is possible that it would fit on a flok-y warm album, but I miss Taylor’s pop catchy melody songwriting that we’ve all grown used to, where a hook would get stuck in your head for days. Not exactly folk-y, I know, but I miss it from Taylor. Not to take away from the fact at all that this is a very strong, solid album in her discography and a completely different weapon up her sleeve compared to her pop and country past.

My favourite tracks: my tears ricochet, seven, peace, this is me trying, illicit affairs, invisible string, epiphany

4.7/5 - it’s not perfect, but is it Taylor’s closest album to perfection? Possibly…

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