#a few weeks later and my sister and I are talking about lore theories and deep concepts…

[stitcherofchaos]

My siblings decided that if I were trapped in The Amazing Digital Circus, I’d be an anthropomorphic golden retriever in a pink military vest and cargo pants.

What would you guys be?

[foxes-that-run]

Begin Again

I have had this in my drafts for 16 months. Regardless of writing it is an important song in Haylor lore and one I love so it took time. Taylor has said she started Begin Again in March 2011, that takes out every public theory for who the 'nice guy is'. Personally I hear it as Harry, but granted it is started long before they were seen at the Kids Choice.

The music video

I'll start by saying the video is directed by the same person as Everything Has Changed (released later 6 June 2013), which has footage of Paris in the classroom scene. For any other Taylor ship, especially if she was dating the guy at the time, I could say so they are about about the same person. The end. But the rules are different for Haylor so settle in for 1000+ more words.

The Begin Again video was shot in Paris on 30 September 2012 and released 23 October 2012 - that is a crazy turn around for a Taylor video. Taylor's schedule (see 2012) was packed for Red's release too, she had a fan event in Nashville on the 29th and press in London on the 5th October. But she still crammed in this video for a slow song as a second lead single. Harry randomly appeared in LA on the 1st October then both in London. The first photo of them together was on the 7th October. So just as Haylor started dating begin again became what seemed a late decision single.

On the video, the black version of Harry's car in 2012 is in it:

Harry shoot Falling in Paris wearing a similar dress:

And the Begin Again & Willow similarity:

Paris

Paris is special to both Harry and Taylor. Taylor has this weird quote from Pop Crush where it reads like she didn't finish a sentence, "it's just the city...???"

“Like, a love letter to Paris. ’Cause it’s just the city and this story line of somebody moving on and finding yourself again. … I think we’ve all had that day where we just decide to wander around and think about things.”

In 2022 the video Director said it was set in Paris because his wife was due to have their baby. OK... but why that director if the video was shot in a 4 day weekend gap for release in 4 weeks time.

And Taylor has made Paris the whole aesthetic of the song, she performed it in Paris, at the CMA awards she also gave it a French intro and set and it is the taymoji set, except for "I Can Fly!" A reference to CBBH and of course a later Harry 1D song. Again, this is enough for other ships.

When was it written

To People Country in December 2012 Taylor said:

The first inspiration came in the European leg of the Speak Now tour (that’s March 2011)

She picked it up and put it down several times, it took a long time to write, and

The muse is a composite character.

The European leg of Speak Now was short:

March 6 - 12, 2011 Belgium, Netherlands, Oslo and Germany

March 15, 2011 Milan Italy (she wrote a song)

On 16 March she visited Neuschwanstein Castle which later appeared in the Bejewelled Music Video. She wrote about this and said "my life is so beautiful right now" arriving in Paris in the Lover Journal.

March 17, 2011 Paris France, the first time she played the Soul Sister mash up.

March 19, 2011 Madrid Spain, and

March 22 - 30, 2011 England & Ireland. This included Wednesday 23 March when she wore a white dress and high heels, later that day she played a Radio 2 concert at Abbey Rd which included the mash up of Soul Sister with Fearless. Harry was also in London.

Said she wrote songs in Milan and Ireland. 8 months before March 2011 is when she broke up with John Mayer. She dated Jake for 7 weeks ending in December, only 3 months before she started Begin Again.

Taylor has spoken about Begin Again a few times, on 17 October 2012 at the VH1 Story Tellers event she said it is about being yourself after a break up. She is incredibly hesitant talking about it in the Red Track by Track (11 mins below) she says it is about a first date after a bad break up and being open to being OK:

However she has also said she put the song down and picked it up several times. It is about recovering from a relationship with someone who is withholding and makes her feel less than. In the lead up to Red's release Taylor Nation shared this throw back of Taylor recording in Bluebird Studios Nashville, which is where Begin Again, Red & Starlight were recorded. It is generally though she is playing Begin Again here because she is playing Cadd9 chord which features in Begin Again. With her fringe cut and being in Nashville means this was likely taken around her birthday when she posted this photo of red shoes. As we know it was started 9 months sooner this was recording or work on it (and Red). Red and Begin Again also have the same credits.

March 2011

Harry was in England when the Speak Now Tour was in Europe. Taylor also started playing Harry's X-factor audition song in the Paris show onward. They also both played the O2 the same week. I'll leave this there, but have a post on that.

Lyrics

Took a deep breath in the mirror He didn't like it when I wore high heels But I do

Taylor highlighted the high heels in the People Country post and told a story of going to meet friends and deciding to wear heels. The heels may be literal, Jake is short, however I think real or not they are a metaphor for feeling she is allowed to not make herself smaller. After dating older guys who put her down she’s standing tall.

Turn the lock and put my headphones on He always said he didn't get this song But I do, I do

I love the put my headphones on, it continues the story of getting to walk out to see friends on her own, and the metaphor holds for shutting out her ex’s negative thoughts. Love. A nice call back to WANGBT’s line about indie record.

Walked in expecting you'd be late But you got here early and you stand and swave I walk to you

This line reminds me of Harry, he’s known for his manners. Her expectations have been lowered by previous disappointments, she expects tardiness or indifference. But the new person surprises her by being present and kind. It’s a soft, healing contrast.

You pull my chair out and help me in And you don't know how nice that is But I do

Simple gestures chivalrous, thoughtful take on deep meaning because they were absent in the past. The line “you don’t know how nice that is” reminds me of the dinner scene in the ATW10MV

And you throw your head back laughing Like a little kid I think it's strange that you think I'm funny, 'cause He never did

This laugh line also brings Harry to mind. This moment is disarming and tender. Laughter, especially childlike laughter, represents trust and ease. She’s startled by the idea that someone might genuinely enjoy her company. There’s a quiet mourning in the comparison, but also awe.

I've been spending the last eight months Thinking all love ever does Is break and burn, and end But on a Wednesday in a cafe I watched it begin again

8 months before March 2011 is June 2010, the guy that broke and burned love is John Mayer.

This chorus is the emotional heart of the song. The phrase “break and burn, and end” is weary, rhythmic, almost ritualistic, like she’s repeated it to herself many times. The final line simple and small marks a shift. Love doesn’t return in fanfare, but in quiet moments over coffee. It begins again with stillness and care.

You said you never met one girl who had As many James Taylor records as you But I do

Now they’re finding shared ground music again, this time not a point of tension, but connection. James Taylor is gentle, classic, nostalgic perfectly fitting the tone of new beginnings.

Harry likes James Taylor too, in 2015 he tweeted James Taylor Lyrics to Mexico:

We tell stories and you don't know why I'm coming off a little shy But I do

I feel like the Two Ghosts line “Telling those stories we already told” is a call back to this.

She’s emotionally guarded, and he doesn’t yet realize why. This verse suggests she hasn’t told him about the heartbreak but she carries it. “But I do” is now tinged with quiet sadness and vulnerability.

And we walked down the block, to my car And I almost brought him up

This part of the video has Harry’s car in white, and..

But you start to talk about the movies That your family watches every single Christmas And I want to talk about that

This part also makes me think of Harry, she recorded part of the song on her birthday just before Christmas.

And for the first time What's past is past

The song is not really about getting over the not nice guy more than the nice guy, the end is finally being OK with moving on.

[mccoyquialisms]

my fantasy high red-string-conspiracy-theory-board-of-the-main-mystery lore tracker (a long ass post) (because I love both mysteries AND organization of inconsequential information):

rough chronology of events:

In ages past there is a wedding attended in the Chaos Mountains by Sol and Galicaea of their sister the Witch Goddess to an unnamed giantkin god. This god is a summer god, sibling of the giant winter goddess Ruvina

Over centuries, the unnamed god's domain changes from the sun and summer to fire

This unnamed god is killed and their name was wiped from history. The other gods remember who this being is, but due to obliviati mori, cannot reference them directly to mortals. Red shatter stars appear around this time

850 years before present day, the Witch Goddess's name is erased by her followers (encouraged by followers of Galicaea) and she is transformed into the Nightmare King. Before she does she performs the 4 trans-substantiations to resist being "unmade". Her familiar Kalina becomes a plague and begins to spread through the mortal populace. These events likely happen after the death of her spouse, as there is no reference to a spouse when the Witch Goddess was previously mentioned

Roughly 4-6 years before modern day, the pit fiend Bakur attempts to resurrect his god, whose name was lost "so they could not be worshiped." The return of this god is felt to be a significant threat to the world. Lydia Barkrock and her adventuring party stop him by sealing Bakur in a red gem in Lydia's chest, where she keeps him imprisoned with her rage

The Ratgrinders, then called the High 5 Heroes, meet in freshman year and consist of Kipperlilly, Oisin, Mary Anne, Ruben, Ivy and Lucy.

They xp level up by killing rats, twig gremlins and other small magical creatures in the woods behind Aguefort

The events of freshman year happen and Kalvaxus is released. During prom, Ragh spots Jace Stardiamond talking to Arianwen. He is later "barbarian healed" by Porter and after this can see Kalina. Kalina finds Ragh later and threatens Lydia if he talks about what he's seen

Sophomore year spring break happens and the Nightmare King is transformed into the goddess now named Cassandra

At some point Lucy began to return to the woods after party sessions to revive the rats they killed. She did this long enough and with enough regularity that the rats remember her name/face well and think of her fondly

Paperwork is submitted for Lucy to change her god from Ruvina to a god whose name cannot be read, just before her disappearance. A few days later a second request is submitted to withdraw this change. Neither form was ever seen by Lucy's teacher Yolanda Badgood

Lucy was killed near Lake Shimmerstone by multiple assailants with both weapon and magical damage towards the end of sophomore year, in the period of weeks after grades were complete, but before summer break. The area has multiple uprooted trees, some of which were used to hide her body. Unholy rites were performed over her body to force her soul to the beyond, so she cannot be revived.

Lucy is reported as dead but her body was never found. She was described as "not alive in this material plane" via divination

Because of the timing of her death, her party was not moved to pass/fail as all grades for that year had already been submitted

Night Yorb and the long dark summer happens

Buddy Dawn, a cleric of Sol, is specifically requested by the Ratgrinders to be their new cleric for junior year

Also over the long dark summer, the Loam farmers are accused of embezzlement and the Frostyfair festival is moved from there to the Thistlesprings tree at the recommendation of Lola Embers. Sklonda Gukgak is assigned as the Loam couple's public defender

Kipperlilly finds or is found by the rogue teacher and has passed the whole of junior year

Junior year begins. On her first day, Kipperlilly questions Jawbone on where YES! was created

Kipperlily announces she is running for student body president and her primary platform is for uniform equity under the rules without "favoritism"

In the mall of the Synod, the event that kicks off the battle is Cassandra becomes angry hearing Kristen isn't coming to help find followers. She says "This isn't fair!" as a razor-sharp flickering star of red light emerges from her chest. 24-point, red shatter stars infect nearby wizards and turns them into rage-filled, violent, giant versions of themselves. The people taken over by the shatter stars are instructed by an unknown voice to attack Cassandra

Cassandra is able to be calmed by a high persuasion and when she does, she expels multiple shatter stars. She seems to recognize them and says "I thought you were dead.”

Before Kalina is taken over by the shatter stars, she looks to Riz and says "Ragh Barkrock". She then slits Cassandra's throat, triggering a new round of rage in Cassandra

Cassandra suffers multiple attacks and begins to transform into a giant, red raging version of herself and attempts to kill the party. Before she's successful, the gang are swept away in a time loop back to Spyre. The Bad Kids see the Synod is destroyed, and Kristen finds she has shards of Cassandra in her pocket

Kristen attempts to commune with Cassandra and hears a voice say "She is at my side once more." The voice then mocks Kristen with YES!'s body and then tells Kristen it is coming for her, and it will break her irrevocably.

Ivy sees Fig disguised as Lucy at the party at Seacastor Manor, and has an inscrutable reaction to it, but did not seem surprised

The cloud rider engine in Fabian's basement is broken and a piece is found missing

Kipperlily does the food truck event with the subliminal OK messaging on the packaging

Ruben Hopclap performs at FrostFaire when he is attacked by Principal Grix. Grix is eventually killed by Fabian. The Bad Kids determine Ruben was doing some kind of ritual with a song about anger above an arcano-tech array in a 24 point star pattern, successfully releasing a large amount of some type of magical energy.

Simultaneously, Yolanda Badgood is killed at Lake Shimmerstone by immense concussive force damage, and afterwards her body is expertly hidden. She is subjected to the same unholy last rites that Lucy was.

The Bad Kids find Lucy and Yolanda's bodies, and Kristen releases their souls, who travel to the beyond on a "trail of moonlight"

Sklonda's clients are found murdered

Mazey reveals that the Vice Principal (i.e. Jace) does not become the Principal, and it would be the student body president who becomes the new principal of Aguefort

additional info we can reasonably infer or that don't fit neatly in the timeline:

Buddy's grandparents, and likely Buddy himself, have a vested interest in his grandfather becoming the cleric teacher. He went to Aguefort and is familiar with the school. Presumably he wants this to be able to preach about Sol and spread his influence

At some point before her death, Yolanda told Jace about her concerns regarding Lucy's deity-transfer paperwork

Cassandra is not dead, but is "beyond reach"

Lucy and Yolanda were noted to be in "realms beyond", which Brennan specifically noted they were taken from and "whatever was happening there"

The Ratgrinders are gunning for the bad kids and seem to be orchestrating situations to try to get them to take drugs

Porter's philosophical discussion with Fig regarding the concept of protection and how that is often inextricably tied with rage, that one can act as a fuel for the other

Porter is a path of the ancestors barbarian, and at some point was mentioned to be a goliath, though this seems to be debated in canon. If true, it's possible he's a descendant of giants

Kristen bring's up Sol's wrath and Buddy does not refute this, agreeing Sol's wrath is a well known aspect of him and he has been quite angry because of the dark summer/night yorb situation

As above so below. What the gods do affect their mortal followers, but conversely, what the mortals who follow them do also affect the gods

A god can only come back from death in a place a god had been born or created, meaning Bakur's decision to try to revive his fallen god in the Red Waste was what doomed it to failure

Bakur's documents are written in the language of giants, and his deity is said to be from the same region as Ruvina. Combining this with Adaine’s research, and the “mitochondrial magic print”, Bakur’s god is Cassandra’s former spouse

The cloud rider piece was likely stolen by the Ratgrinders as Kipperlily asked Aelwyn to research schematics of the device

Kipperlily seems to be keeping information from some of the other Ratgrinders, telling Aelwyn she needs to "protect Oisin" from their shady deals

Kipperlily's mother works for the city treasury and her father is in real estate. Neither are super wealthy, but Kipperlilly has been paying Aelwyn large amounts of money to obtain arcane components. Given the timing of this with the disappearance of a large sum of money from the Frostyfair accounts, the timing of the murder of the people who were blamed for it, and that the new chosen location happens to be the home of one of the Ratgrinders rivals, the Ratgrinders involvement is thought to be likely

Cassandra's whispered clue of "spies, tongue, curse"

Places outside Spyre, like the Synod, are easier for dead gods to reach

For whatever the Ratgrinders have planned, a student being the principal of Aguefort is essential for it. A lot of people have had to be conveniently absent or dead for this circumstance to occur.

This is all not even touching Aguefort's whole journey through time and possible time quangle issue and whatever the fuck Fig's Bad Luck Thing is. I'm not convinced that these are related to the god stuff and are likely their own separate issues. also, I am tired lmao. If you want to hear my rambling theories, I'll be making a separate post.

[loretranscripts]

Lore Episode 22: Over the Top (Transcript) - 30th November 2015

tw: assault, assault of women, potential sexual assault Disclaimer: This transcript is entirely non-profit and fan-made. All credit for this content goes to Aaron Mahnke, creator of Lore podcast. It is by a fan, for fans, and meant to make the content of the podcast more accessible to all. Also, there may be mistakes, despite rigorous re-reading on my part. Feel free to point them out, but please be nice!

The streets of London were a place of fear in 1790. There had been dozens of attacks, all reported by women. A man, it seems, had been stepping out of the shadows or from around corners and pricking them with a pin. Sometimes he was covert about it: there are reports that he fitted a bouquet of flowers with a sharp object, and would ask women if they’d like to smell them – and who could resist? Others say he attached small blades to his knees and then used them to stab women in the backs of the legs, and as the story spread, so too did the panic. They called him “The London Monster”, and within weeks the entire city was on alert. In the autumn of 1803, the people of London were obsessed with a new story - it seemed that a ghost had been seen in the Hammersmith area of the city. There were whispers that he was the victim of a suicide, doomed to haunt our world forever, and many people claimed to have seen him. After months of hysteria and rumour, a police officer actually witnessed the ghost while on patrol. Francis Smith pulled his gun, called for the fiend to stop, and then fired upon it. The shot was true, and the ghost fell limp to the ground. It fell because it was, after all, just a man. Thomas Millwood had been a plasterer by trade, and because of this, he wore all white clothing. Officer Smith was tried for murder and found guilty. Few things can unite a city like fear – hysteria spreads in much the same way that the plague moved across Europe in the 17th century, but that’s not the unusual part. What’s truly odd is the depths to which people will go to believe these fears, how easily they fall in with the public outcry, and believe whatever it is they’re told. For as horrible as the “London Monster” and the Hammersmith ghost stories sound, a new fear swept the city decades later. This fear permeated so deep and spread so fast that it left a mark still visible today, because fear, even when it’s built on lies, can spread like fire. But sometimes, on rare occasions, there’s a very good reason to be afraid. I’m Aaron Mahnke, and this is Lore.

On a cool September night in 1837, Polly Adams was on her way home from the Green Man, a public house in the Black Heath area of London. She was with friends, and they talked and laughed as they walked towards Tudor’s Hill. Nearly home, the group was startled when a figure seemed to jump out of the darkness of an alley. Before anyone could react, the figure grabbed at Polly. According to her later deposition with the police, the stranger was clad in a black cloak, but his eyes seemed to burn with light. Oddly, she remembered that the man smelled of sulphur and then added, as if it were a normal thing to notice about a midnight attacker, that he also happened to spit blue fire from his mouth. Rather than help, Polly’s three travel companions ran quickly away into the night, afraid for their lives, and rightly so. The attacker ripped through Polly’s blouse with hands that seemed more like claws than anything else, but after tearing at the flesh of her stomach, the figure stopped. Pushing her to the ground, it turned around and bounded away into the night. One month after Polly Adams walked home from the Green Man, Mary Stevens was making her way back to work after a short visit with her parents in nearby Battersea. Mary worked as a servant in a home on Lavender Hill, just south of the Thames, and decided to cut through Clapham Common. Maybe not the smartest decision, no matter what century you live in. Yet Mary did just that, and set off on a quick walk through the dark trees and bushes towards her place of employment. Near the edge of the park, a figure jumped out of the shadows. The man grabbed her and pushed her to the ground, where he began to kiss her. Mary struggled, but the man’s grip was beyond tight. According to Mary, the stranger then ripped at her clothing with clawed hands that felt as cold and clammy as those of a corpse. Afraid for her life, she screamed, forcing the attacker to release her and flee the scene. The screams brought several nearby residents to her aid and a search was organised to locate the stranger, but no trace of him could be found. The following evening, in the very same neighbourhood where Mary Stephens lived, another dark figure was spotted. This time, rather than an assault, a mysterious person stepped out into the path of an oncoming carriage. The coachman, surprised by the appearance of the dark figure, lost control of the carriage before crashing it into a building. The coachman was severely injured, and the mysterious man cried out with a ringing, high-pitched laugh that chilled witnesses to the core. Then, as if his work were done, the man jumped over a nearby wall and escaped. The wall, mind you, was over 9ft tall.

Three months later, the Lord Mayor of London, a man named Sir John Cowan, spoke up at a public session at the Mansion House about a complaint he had received in the form of a letter. This letter was anonymous, but the writer claimed to be a resident of Peckham, close to Battersea and the 1837 attacks. The letter described how the attacks had all been a prank put on by an unnamed aristocrat as part of a dare. Researchers have speculated for over a century as to who the nobleman might have been, but no theories have ever panned out. Later, in January of 1838, the mayor showed off a pile of letters he had received from people in and around London, all claiming to have witnessed or been the victim of similar attacks to what Polly Adams and Mary Stevens had suffered. Though the claims can’t be proven, some letters reported that some people actually died of fright, while others were permanently traumatised by their encounters with this mysterious figure, and many of the reports contain eerily similar pieces of information. The stranger was said to be able to leap over very tall fences and walls, he was always described as having red eyes and clawed hands, and he always got away. Like a fever, the hysteria spread throughout London and the surrounding countryside. It didn’t matter that the mayor was sceptical of the whole thing; people everywhere seemed to be catching glimpses of dark shapes leaping tall buildings and terrorising their neighbours and servants. Like any movement or public experience, the people of London went looking for a name. What would they call the creature, human or not, who was at the centre of all these stories? And by late winter of 1938, they had found it, a name that would forever become part of Victorian folklore. They called him Spring-heeled Jack.

Up to this point, sightings of Spring-Heeled Jack had consisted of second-hand accounts and attacks on women with little power to demand attention, but in the winter of 1938 all of that changed. On the night of February 28th, Lucy and Margaret Scales set off from the home of their brother, who worked as a butcher on Narrow Street in the Limehouse district. History hasn’t remembered their destination; all we know is at around 8:30pm that night, the two young women walked off into the shadows, naively confident in their own safety. Minutes later their brother, the butcher, heard screams off in the distance, in the direction of a street known as Green Dragon Alley. When he realised that the voice was that of his sister, Margaret, he dashed off to find her. I like to imagine that he still had on his bloody apron and most likely picked up a meat cleaver on his way out, before making the run. When he found his sisters, Margaret was on her knees in the dark alley, Lucy’s body cradled in her arms. The young woman wasn’t dead, but she was unconscious, and Margaret was hysterical. As her brother helped the two women home, Margaret told him the story of what had happened. They had stepped into the alley, but a few paces in, a dark figure stepped out of the shadows and approached them quickly. Lucy had been standing in front of her sister, just a few paces separating the two women. Because of this, it was Lucy who took the full brunt of the assault. The figure, she said, was that of a man; Margaret described him as tall and very thin, dressed in the manner of a gentleman and wrapped up in a large, dark cloak. He held a lantern, known then as a bullseye, a small, round type carried by officers of the law, and maybe that’s why the women let him approach so carelessly. That’s when things took a turn for the worse. According to Margaret’s report, which she later filed with the police office in Lambeth, the cloaked man stepped close to Lucy and spat blue flames at her face. The flames, she claimed, erupted from the man’s mouth, and the sight of them blinded and shocked Lucy, who collapsed right there on the spot. Margaret worried that she was next, but she also had been concerned for her sister, Lucy, who now lay on the cobblestone, writhing in the throes of some kind of seizure. And then, as if his mission had been accomplished, the dark figure leapt over Margaret and onto the roof of a nearby house before vanishing into London’s darkness.

Sometime during the same week, the shadowy figure of Spring-Heeled Jack made another appearance. Jane Alsop was reading a book, around 9pm. She lived in one of the nicer neighbourhoods in the east end of London along with her father and two sisters, and on the night in question, she was closest to the front door, which is probably why she was the one who heard the shouting. From across the small yard, a voice had cried out in the darkness. There was a gate there that allowed access to the property and served as a small measure of security, but the voice that had shouted belonged to someone professing to be a police officer. An officer, in fact, that claimed to have captured none other than Spring-Heeled Jack. The man had called out for a light and Jane, being a dutiful citizen, grabbed a lit candle and exited her home to deliver it to the officer. As she handed it to him, the man tossed off his cloak, exposing his true appearance by the light of the flickering flame. This was no police officer; what Jane saw took her breath away. The figure was clothed in what appeared to be a tight-fitting, one-piece suit of white fabric, along with a metal helmet. According to Jane, the man’s eyes glowed red and were set within a face more hideous and frightening than any she had seen before. And then, without warning, the figure spat blue flames from his mouth. This time though, Jack wasn’t content to stop there. With Jane partially blinded by the flash of bright flames, he reached out and grasped her with his arms. In the report that her family filed later that night, at the same Lambeth police office where Lucy Scales had told her story, Jane further described her assault. The man, if that’s what he really was, tore into her dress with fingers that felt to her like metal claws. He tore through her dress and then cut through to her skin, ripping deep, painful gashes in her abdomen. Jane screamed, perhaps from the pain, or maybe from her primal fear, and then she ran. Her front door was just meters away and open, and so she bolted quickly for that safe sliver of light in the shadow-covered façade of the house. She was mere steps away from the doorway, a heartbeat from safety, when Jack caught up. His clawed hands grabbed around her neck and shoulder. Sharp, metallic fingers tore at Jane’s young flesh. Patches of hair were pulled free from her scalp. Blood was everywhere. Her family had heard her screams, though, and just as her attacker was slashing at her face, her father reached toward her from within the house. Two arms, outstretched to touch one target; one to harm, one to save. Thankfully, it was Jane’s father who won. Grabbing her by the arm, he pulled hard and brought her back inside, slamming the door behind her.

Many of the details surrounding Spring-Heeled Jack, details that were so out-of-the-ordinary and unusual, seemed to be echoed in each new eye witness account: the red eyes, the white body suit, the sharp claws… But something set Jane Alsop’s story apart from all the others – she was well-off. Not part of the elite, but high enough up the social ladder that her story caught the attention of the local newspapers, as well as the police, and when the upper class feel threatened, they take action. When word spread that Jack was hunting women throughout London, the police began to arrest suspects, although none were ever brought to trial. Groups of vigilantes banded together and patrolled the street at night, both to assist the police in protecting the people of London, but also with the hope of capturing the mysterious attacker. Upon reading about the attacks that had begun to plague the good people of London, one 70-year-old retired military veteran actually dusted off his guns, pulled on his boots, and rode off in search of the monster responsible. Though he was never successful in capturing, or even setting eyes on, the mysterious Spring-Heeled Jack, the gesture did much to calm the nerves of the locals, and how could it not? He was, after all, the Duke of Wellington, the man who fought Napoleon and won. Needless to say, the stories began to spread. Several penny dreadfuls were written about the mysterious Jack, whose exploits were perfect for the cheap, serialised fiction that the genre was built around. In theatres around London, several plays appeared that featured the subject. Even the Punch and Judy puppet shows around London found a way to incorporate this shadowy public menace. In shows that once featured the devil, performers changed his name to Spring-Heeled Jack.

There were, of course, a handful of additional sightings over the years to come, but while some of them stayed in the south-western area of London and Surrey county beyond that, others popped up in more distant locations. One report in Northamptonshire described an encounter with a creature that was, and I quote, “the very image of the devil himself, with horns and eyes of flames”. In Devon, an investigation was mounted to find the man responsible for assaulting women in the area, and the suspect’s description had some similarities to Spring-Heeled Jack. Lincolnshire, on the eastern coast of England, was the location of another documented sighting in the 1870s. One witness described a caped figure who was seen leaping over cottages in a small village. When the locals grabbed their guns and tried to shoot the figure, they claimed they could hear their bullets strike him, but the only result was a metallic ringing sound. “Jack” got away. One of the last encounters of note occurred in Aldershot, on the very edge of Surrey county. It was geographically closer to London than most of the 1870s sightings, and some researchers believe that this proximity to the original reports lends this story more validity. On a night in August of 1877, Private John Reagan was standing guard in a small booth near a military munitions depot. While inside, he claimed to hear something metallic being scraped along the wood of the booth. He stepped outside, rifle in hand, and patrolled the area to find the source. When he was satisfied that nothing was there, he headed back to his station inside the booth, and that’s when something touched him. Looking up, he saw the figure of a tall man, wrapped in a cloak and wearing a metal helmet. Then, the figure leapt into the air and landed behind him. Reagan pointed his weapon at the figure and called out for a name, but he claims the visitor, whoever it was, simply laughed at him. The soldier fired to no effect, and the figure advanced. Then, without warning, blue flames erupted from his mouth. That’s when Reagan did what any good soldier would do under circumstances: he ran for his life. Spring-Heeled Jack never left the public mind, but as the legend slowly settled into popular culture, reports of actual appearances became less and less frequent. And then, just as Jack had seemed to cross the threshold into mythic territory, he did what every eye witness claimed he was so gifted at – he disappeared.

There’s a lesson deep inside the story of Spring-Heeled Jack. Like all the most powerful and devastating diseases of the last thousand years, ideas have a tendency to spread like fire. Today we use the term “viral”, and in many ways that’s close to the truth. Fear, panic and hysteria are all communicable diseases, and when a culture is infected, sometimes there’s no way to stop it. But unlike the plague or some new strain of bird flu, it stands to reason that we could, at the very least, calm our fears and put out the fires of hysteria. So why is it so hard to do so? Spring-Heeled Jack is just one of countless examples that have been repeated all around the world throughout history. You would think that we would have figured it out by now. Maybe we actually like mass hysteria - not the hysteria itself, mind you. What I mean is, what if there’s something about being part of a larger story that resonates with people? It binds us together, it unites us in a global conversation, it builds community. Big fears never really go away. Although Spring-Heeled Jack disappeared from the public eye in the last decade of the 19th century, some think he’s still around. In 1995, a school in a small, west Surrey village was closed by the town. Students and teachers wanted to mark the occasion, and so they put on a disco-themed celebration to say goodbye to each other and the school they loved. That night, as the party was winding down, a handful of students ran back into the school, screaming about something they had seen outside. When asked by the teachers about it, these students all told the same story. They had all left the party earlier and had been hanging out near the playground. While there, a shadowy figure had approached them in the darkness. As the shape moved closer, they saw more details. The man wore black boots and a dark, hooded cloak, but it’s what they saw beneath the cloak that frightened them the most: a one-piece suit of white cloth and glowing, red eyes.

[Closing statements]

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S2 Ep 36 Part 2: Pegasus Lives Every Artist’s Worst Reocurring Nightmare

Normally I don’t do more than two posts on a weekend but considering the last post was just overflow on color theory and sort of a mini post (which I was pleasantly surprised so many people liked, thanks for the kind comments on that random color theory aside), and also considering that I try not to do work on the weekend and I’m just kinda bored, here’s the second part of Ep 36.

Lets do a series recap shall we?

-Yugi Muto is three people (this is including a chunk of Bakura which just...lives there but doesn’t do anything)

-Odion is pretending to be Marik

-Marik is pretending to be Namu

-Tea is possessed by Bakura’s ghost

-Ryou Bakura is no longer possessed, but got hella shanked and passed out on Kaiba’s blimp, so we don’t know yet if he was actually British or if that was just a ghost thing.

-Serenity is Joey’s Sister and she Actually Truly Exists although I have kept close track and no one has yet to tell Kaiba who’s sister she is.

-Duke Devlin is just permanently here now, taking the place of Tea Gardner for “Character the writers have no freakin idea what to do with”

-Grandpa passed out a few episodes ago but I think the show forgot.

-Ishizu is here and is hiding from Marik for her dear life despite the fact she still thinks he’s a good boy.

-Shadi showed up to save Tristan and Duke although Shadi has never spoken a word to either of them and has no idea who they are at all.

There we go. A cliff notes-version all in one place. It’s a lot to remember.

Now we’re ready for another round of exciting duel prep.

That’s right, Shadi’s here, and he’s ready to dump a lot of plot on us. Which is why I felt like it would be nice to get a summary up to now because now we’re going to get even more nonsense we have to remember in this kid’s show that I had no idea would be this complicated when I started capping it.

(read more under the cut)

Can we talk about the knot Shadi is using here on that Ankh?

What is that?

OK, I just wanted everyone to look at that and then just...wonder with me, 

Anyway, if you were looking for some explanation this episode, this is not that episode, because Shadi is here, and he just...never feels like fully explaining anything. He only ever feels like adding more and more to our bucket of Lore like it’s the 5th book of Harry Potter.

That’s right, this episode is a return to Pegasus, who I do miss. I mean Marik is fine, all in all, but I do miss how Pegasus knew what he was actually doing. I kinda miss my villain who was also a functioning adult.

Anyway, while Pegasus was searching the dunes of Egypt for Egyptian art to make OC’s of and add to his collection, Shadi and he had a very awkward reunion. Bear in mind these two haven’t spoken since Shadi fused Pegasus’ face with a haunted table weight.

And like, here’s the thing about Pegasus--he has the most reason of anyone on this show to not trust Shadi. Yet, now he’s going to follow Shadi into a hole. Literally follow Shadi into a dark and scary hole where no one would find his body.

Thing I wasn’t expecting from this show: Marik’s family is mole people????

OK…

I mean...I guess we’ll just gloss over that.

I mean...I guess I’ve never really thought about it but like...yeah they have to take care of a tomb and the tomb is underground so they just...hang out down here most of the time. Guess that explains how Marik ended up kind of albino-blonde.

Anyway, it’s here that we see a familiar relief sculpture—Apparently Ishizu just excavated her own sacred tomb and was like “lets ship this to Japan to screw with Seto Kaiba.” Not like I blame her, Seto is very easy to screw with.

But here she is being like “I’m this incredible Egyptologist give me your money!” when all she did was loot herself. Well...loot the Pharaoh, I guess, but he’s dead so wtv.

And so, after running around an ancient tomb collecting curses like fleas, he boards a business class, awkwardly shares an armrest with his photographer who equally refuses to give up the armrest (like what the hell is this armrest situation?) and has to endure our colorist’s favorite shade of chartreuse.

Purple/chartreuse is a pretty solid color combo, not gonna lie, but it is the last thing I ever want to see in a plane.

Also, Croquet is back. I guess this was before Pegasus bought an island, and it’s this episode we start to see why he might have wanted to flee the States.

Sometimes I forget this show is based on a horror anime, and this was an episode that brought us back to basics. Like, this is something I would absolutely expect to happen in Season Zero.

I cannot believe that this children’s show had a darkroom murder scene. The audacity. And not just a darkroom murder we also get this type of murder shortly after,

How do you go from the darkroom to this!?

The older I get, the more I would gladly welcome a Huge Sky Dragon over the actual drama I have to deal with on the reg. Please, please let me put Huge Sky Dragon on the ballot. We will let him have Salesforce Tower, he clearly comes with electricity and rain clouds and California desperately needs both those things. 

Downside to Huge Sky Dragon unfortunately, is that he kills you.

So, in the classic horror protagonist archetype, Pegasus puts on his favorite shades of beige, he goes into an isolated room where no one can save him, and he reaches for that good ol hubris. Since, in his mind, he has a millennium eye, he’s the all powerful Pegasus, what could hurt him?

You gotta love that he’s such a purist that he paints an itty bitty card on a 6000% bigger canvas. Love that classic illustration nod right there. (and not gonna lie, I would kill for Pegasus’ studio. Damn. Look at it.)

Also look at this in the next cap! He can paint something that’s not a monster or his dead wife--is that a completely normal still life of some random purple flowers back there behind him? What’s he doing painting those??? He’s off killing 1 or 2 people a day in his human sacrifice chamber why’s he painting lilies in pots like everyone’s Mom during Wine ‘n Paint night?

Dude, does Pegasus go to Wine ‘n Paint night? I mean he would, right? Like he would be the first there with a huge ass bottle of wine/juice and be like “I am ready to sip, paint, and gossip about everybody’s husband.” Yo, he’d be killer at Wine ‘n Paint night. Like, I would never be Pegasus’ friend but I would absolutely paint some dumbass flowers in the same room as him as he gets tipsy on margaritas and starts going off about the Great British Bake Off.

And, much like I do when I finish most of my art at 2 AM, he passes out directly after and has anxiety laden dreams about what he just painted for the rest of the evening.

So lets get this straight, if you reproduce this image in any way, let it be traditional, digital, camera, or whatever—you will arouse the God Card ghosts and be straight up The Ring murdered. Unless, you tattoo it to a person’s back, then apparently you’re cool. Also, what the hell was Ishizu doing bringing this thing to a museum? Like yeah it’s in a restricted section but they had like no security on those doors so it’s like, girl—anyone who takes a selfie here will be dead. What else are museums for except avenues for selfies? Way to curate a museum, Ishizu. You had one job.

Also does that mean that if Marik photobombs people without his shirt on that they super die? That kinda sucks a lot, no wonder he wants to get rid of Pharaoh. Marik just wants to go to the beach without having to wear a hoodie and getting a weird tan.

Oi, hashtag relatable, amiright?

Anyway, Pegasus realizes he can’t post this art on main, so he decides to give it to Ishizu to bury it for him. Essentially, he put on his brother’s tumblr because he’s trying to be a professional here but like, who are we joking, the guy draws kids art for dollars. His friends, much like my friends, are full aware of what our sketchbook looks like.

After hearing this weird story, Pharaoh decides to take over and give some closing remarks.

Yugi got TWO huge bottles of mystery purple moisturizer??? Maybe one is just full of hair gel.

Man, Seto had him double covered, he knew--he knew Yugi was nuts for products.

I wonder if it’s full of LA Looks.

I appreciated that Pharaoh might have a physical body but he still enjoys spooking people like a ghost should.

Well, I mean.

So many questions here, but I assume we’re going to learn more about it later? Like why the hell Marik is...in a tomb? As a baby? With a...flower wreath?

What even is this show. Don’t put babies in tombs!

I don’t even know why Shadi even bothered showing up here. Like Ishizu already knows “it’s happening,” she has a future necklace.

Did Shadi show up to every single person on in this ship, Roland and Kaiba included, before actually going to the one place he needed to go?

Man. Phallic necklace. Did they not know about goatse in the early 00’s? Please don’t look that up if you don’t know what it is. I just.

Phallic necklace, please. You’re killing me.

Anyway, Shadi sees a chance to make a change and fix some things with the one person on this ship who desperately needs fixing, and while he’ll save Tristan and Duke and tell Yugi all about his history and etc—actually confronting Bakura? No thanks. Shadi will stay in his safe keyblade power place where no one can see or hear him, not even Bakura.

Not sure why any of the doctors haven’t picked up on Tea being weird as hell yet, but like...compared to the Kaibas and everyone else, I guess possessed Tea is the most normal person on this flying boat.

But that’s all for now, next week we see if they actually start dueling or if instead, even more people from S1 show up on this boat.

If you just got here, we’re like over halfway through S2, so here’s a link to read everything in chrono order from S1 Ep1, have fun.

[akissatmidnight]

I’ve been a huge fan of Philipa Gregory for a long time. I loved how she was able to use history, legend, gossip, and lore to make enthralling books. With all the hype that the show version of The White Princess is getting, I wanted to go back through my notes and talk about both books/shows and the true history that inspired them! We’ll go into The White Queen first and then delve into The White Princess…

Melusine

Melusine is a mythical mermaid-like creature that exists in various European folklore, but exists mainly France. Historically, the Luxembourg family is one of many who claims ancestry from Melusine. It fed into the thought that Jacquetta claimed strong heritage from Melusine, as well as mystical powers. The fact that a text of the tale of Melusine was found in her personal collection didn’t help matters, but seeing as it was a popular story of love and loss, it wasn’t rare and her involvement in the legend is probably very much exaggerated.

To give you a short version of the legend of Melusine, she was a beautiful half woman and half mermaid/serpent that only took on her mythological form once a week. A man hunting came upon her and offered her marriage. She accepted as long as he would leave her alone in total privacy once a week to bathe. For a time, they were happy, but the man soon grew too curious and spied on his wife, seeing her true form. Enraged, Melusine flew from the castle, never to be seen again, although she still thought of herself as the protector of her family and would wail when a member passed and help them if she could.

BTW Does this double tailed beauty look familiar? If you’re a coffee drinker like I am, you’ll recognize her as the Starbucks mermaid. Think about that next time you stop for your morning cup.

Jacquetta of Luxembourg

The Luxembourg family is an old French one, claiming lineage from the fabled Melusine. Jacquetta had many royal ties in different countries due to her high birth, and her first marriage was to a son of King Henry IV of England. They had no children by the time he died two years later, leaving Jacquetta a young and extremely wealthy duchess. As her title made her the second most powerful woman in the English court, next to the queen, she could have had her choice of husbands…

Lowly English knight Richard Woodville was tasked by the king to bring the newly widowed Jacquetta to court. But the pair fell in love. Despite it being illegal due to their difference in status and their refusal to wait for royal permission, they still married in secret. When it came out, no one could really be the mad, and they were merely fined. But Jacquetta was BFFs with Henry’s queen Margaret and Margaret made sure Richard got a title to put him on more even footing with his wife. So, he became Earl Rivers and the Lord High Treasurer.

Jacquetta and Richard had 14 children during their marriage, including “The White Queen”, Elizabeth. As she, obviously, made sure her children received titles, position, and even a crown, she was thought to be a witch by many. Most notably, she was accused of using sorcery to seduce King Edward into the bed of her daughter Elizabeth. While the charges were later dropped due to lack of evidence, the gossip followed her until her death…and followed her daughter for the entirety of her life as well.

Elizabeth Woodville

Born around 1347 to a well respected genteel family. She married first to a man who died a Lancaster supporter, leaving her a widowed mother of two sons. Luckily, she was still young enough to marry again and was “the most beautiful woman in the isle of Britain…with heavy lidded eyes like those of a dragon.” Might not sound like a compliment, but it totally was. If it wasn’t for being named a Lancastrian traitor, the obviously fertile mother of two boys could have married again easily. But it was almost lucky for Elizabeth that she wasn’t one to hop on the first man who came by her home. No, Elizabeth had her sights set on a man worthy of her.

Anyway, historians can’t agree as to how Elizabeth met the young King Edward IV, although the general lore says that Elizabeth dressed plainly and waited by the side of the road for Edward to pass with her two sons. Her original plan is said to have been to merely receive some sort of pardon for her dead husband (who fought and died after fighting against Edward and his York army, thus losing his wealth). But when Edward saw her, he was taken by her innocence, her maternal glow, and the graceful elegance she held even when not decked out in jewels. Edward wanted Elizabeth and would do anything to have her, even defy his family and his advisers to marry her in secret.

They had a strong marriage where 10 children were born and no matter what mistresses Edward took, he always came back to his wife. Again, not suuuuper romantic, but there weren’t many kings out there without a bevy of mistresses, and at least Edward actually did love Elizabeth. Their marriage is said to be one of the early examples of true love in a royal marriage. But her ability to sway the gaze of a king and make herself his queen made some believe that she was witch, just like her mama.

Edward IV

Yeah, not the glowing blonde god we saw in the show, but for a guy back then, he was the Jake Gyllenhaal of his time. He is noted as being “a man so vigorous and handsome that he might have been made for the pleasures of the flesh”. His hot bod got him at least 15 children that history knows of, but I’m guessing there were more little Eddies stashed around England. For Edward, he was born in France, the oldest living son of Richard of York, who believed he was the true king of England….Well, he might have been, or he might have been the illegitimate product of an affair by his mother. That story was drug up throughout his reign, and even after his death, to weaken his claim to the throne as well as that of his children’s. No matter who is daddy was, Edward really took the York mission to heart and fought to become the first York king of England…and the tallest one in history! He and his two brothers were known as the three suns in the sky and the three sons of York.

As I’ve said, he spied Elizabeth and her boys and thought she’d make a hell of a wife. She was a bit older and not a princess like he “should” have wed, but when Edward wanted something, he was sure to get it. Besides, the fact that she was obviously capable of birthing children mainly sons, was particularly attractive. So he put a ring on it and made her his queen. It ended up that the ex-Lancaster supporter was well loved but the people! Elizabeth’s 12 unmarried sisters soon found top notch marriages and Edward was basically surrounded by his in-laws. Much of the other nobility was angry, but Edward told them to shut up or shove off.

There was some rebellion against Edward’s reign, sometimes headed by his own brother George, but there was no other strong claim to the throne besides a little guy named Henry Tudor who was living in exile. The rest of Edward’s short life kept him in power and when he died at the age of 40, he made his brother, Richard, the protector of England until his son Edward could be crowned.

Richard III

Spoiler alert! Prince Edward (now known as lil’Edward) was never crowned and Richard became king. When King Edward died, he thought his little brother Richard would keep his crown safe for his son, but he was super wrong. Richard placed his nephew in the Tower of London to await the coronation that would never come.

To take the crown, he began by ousting the Woodvilles from power, imprisoning the men and forcing the women into hiding. Queen Elizabeth herself went into sanctuary with her daughters and youngest son Richard (now known as lil’Richard) while Richard worked on making her marriage to King Edward illegitimate, thus ruining lil’Edward’s claim to the throne. He ended up imprisoning both boys in the tower, where they never left (more on that later).

Richard finally got his just desserts when he was killed in battle by Henry Tutor’s forces at the age of 32. Recently, his battered bones were found in during construction and it was found that he did have uneven shoulders and a curvature of the spine as many have said. He was also found to have been mutilated before being unceremoniously dumped in a ditch. While he wasn’t a handsome man in his prime, it’s a wonder that he was able to start some kind of relationship with his niece Elizabeth of York..but that’s a tale for my next post.

The Princes in the Tower

Once lil’Edward was already in The Tower of London “for his safety”, Richard plucked lil’Richard from sanctuary and had him join his brother. Over the next few months, Richard was made king, Elizabeth and Edward’s marriage was made illegitimate, and the boys were seen less and less until they were never seen again.

It is widely accepted that Richard had a hand in the boy’s disappearance and even at the time he was thought to be the murderer, well that he ordered it anyway. With them out of the picture, he thought there wouldn’t be any issue with him retaining the throne.

But there’s another theory that at least one of the boys survived. Now Elizabeth Woodville was a smart woman and knew how hard it had been for Edward to keep his throne. She knew that if she let lil’Richard go to the tower like lil’Edward, he would never come back. It’s thought that she was able to smuggle lil’Richard out of sanctuary to take a new identity with a trusted family and replaced him with a local boy. For years afterwards, several people came forward claiming to be the lost prince, but none was ever confirmed. Since then, two sets of children’s skeletons have been found, but neither have been tested. So it’s possible that we will never know what happened to Elizabeth’s sons.

♦♦♦

I hope you found this little look into the world of The White Queen fun and informative. I’ll be working on something for The White Princess soon, so keep checking back for more historical fun! And if Scottish history is your thing, read some historical articles with a fun twist on our Outlander page HERE!

If you enjoyed this write up, you’ll probably love my book, Queen of Emeralds! It’s a historic romance set in the highlands that you can get HERE in paperback, ebook, or free on kindle unlimited!

The History Behind ‘The White Queen’ I've been a huge fan of Philipa Gregory for a long time. I loved how she was able to use history, legend, gossip, and lore to make enthralling books.