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One Last Fight; Rise from the Fall
February and March brought us a smorgasbord of TV shows to enjoy, and distract us from our studies and work. In this post I'll focus particularly on Halo: Season 2 streamed on Paramount+ and Star Wars The Bad Batch: Season 3 streamed on Disney+. All the data shown is taken from televisionstats.com unless otherwise stated.
Beginning with overall popularity, both shows had relatively high popularity rankings. Halo has consistently been more popular than The Bad Batch for the entirety of the former's runtime, with the latter taking the lead about 2 weeks after the final episode (Figure 1). Halo spent 43 days in the top 10 versus 5 days for The Bad Batch, with neither achieving 1st place. The highest ranking for Halo was 4th place, achieved on the double release of episodes 1 (Sanctuary) and 2 (Sword) and episode 5 (Aleria), compared to the highest rank of 6th place for The Bad Batch achieved on the double release of episodes 10 (Identity Crisis) and 11 (Point of No Return) and the finale (The Cavalry Has Arrived). Despite the similar weekly releases of episodes in both shows, Halo has managed to maintain its popularity between episodes more consistently than The Bad Batch.
Figure 1: Overall popularity rankings for Halo: Season 2 and The Bad Batch: Season 3. The green vertical lines highlight days when Halo episodes were released.
Online engagement (OE) scores also favour Halo. Until April 3rd, it had greater OE than The Bad Batch, with a maximum ranking of 4th place for episode 5 against 6th place overall for The Bad Batch episodes 10, 11 and 15. Halo also had the higher absolute OE score of 41.78 on episode 8 (Halo) versus 33.68 for episode 15, and that was when The Bad Batch no longer had to share runtime with Halo (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Online engagement scores for Halo: Season 2 and The Bad Batch: Season 3.
Halo gained greater attention on Wikipedia, with 1.52 million Wikipedia pageviews against 976,000 for The Bad Batch. On days when the latter gained the lead, it was due to its episodes being released a day before the former's, so it had a one-day headstart (Figure 3).
Pageviews for Halo peaked the day after the double release of episodes 1 and 2, and thereafter declined steadily until a final skyrocket on the day of the finale. Pageviews for The Bad Batch follow a similar trend with a peak achieved on the triple release of the first three episodes, then a steady decline until a renewed interest on the double release of episodes 10 and 11 and thereafter as the show's plot reaches its climax and conclusion when it achieves the highest daily Wikipedia pageviews (48,227).
Figure 3: Daily Wikipedia pageviews for Halo Season 2 and The Bad Batch Season 3
Now something interesting: torrents! Halo still takes the cake here with a daily mean of 16,100 torrenters on eztv compared to 7490 for The Bad Batch (Figure 4). It had substantially more torrenters for every day of its runtime and even weeks after until the finale of The Bad Batch. What may explain such a thing?
Paramount+ has far fewer subscribers than Disney+ (71.2M vs 153.6M as of Q1 2024). A non-subscriber who wants to watch a Paramount+ show but does not have access or wish to pay for a subscription will resort to torrenting. I will not be surprised if there is a significant crossover between those who have a Disney+ account and watched The Bad Batch there and those who torrented Halo. Since so many more people are subscribed to Disney+, there is likely not as much of an interest to torrent The Bad Batch.
Figure 4: Daily active torrenters on eztv for Halo: Season 2 and The Bad Batch: Season 3.
IMDb backs up the popularity rankings; Halo soared to 7th place 3 days after the double release premier and attained a maximum rank of 3rd place. It stayed in the top 10 until more than a fortnight after the finale, dropping from 6th to 21st. The Bad Batch trailed far behind until it barely overtook Halo about 3.5 weeks after the finale, with a maximum rank of 24th place (Figure 5). It must be noted that The Bad Batch had the largest rise in IMDb rankings from 331st place on the 23rd of February to 42nd place the next day.
Figure 5: IMDb popularity rankings for Halo: Season 2 and The Bad Batch: Season 3.
On the whole, Halo blitzes away with a 30-day OE score of 720.13 (compared to a baseline average of 100) against 284.18 for The Bad Batch. Honestly, not a bad performance of an animated show against a live-action one in similar genres.
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Final notes: I have loved watching both shows; you cannot ask me to choose between them. They scratched my itch of a good military/adventure-style story with plenty of meaningful characters and badass action scenes.
There are some key differences to explain how either show performed: Halo Season 2 was done in live-action which still seems to be the preferred medium to mainstream audiences, which was what the show was marketed towards. The Bad Batch Season 3 could not reach the same level of popularity for the most part because not only was it an animated show, it was marketed more towards the core audience that has followed the show from the very beginning 3 years ago. Simply put, you need a lot less primer to start watching Halo than The Bad Batch.
There is also the different trajectories of the plots for each show. Halo Season 2 is still a work in progress for the wider franchise with more content expected and hope for a bigger audience in the future. The Bad Batch Season 3 is the final part of a more mature production; everything is building up to the grand finale and the resolution of the plots.
Thank you Bad Batch for a wonderful ride over 3 years. Thank you Halo Season 2 for being a vast improvement over Season 1 and getting more people excited for the show.

So it's my first time ever playing Yellow Legacy, and I ran by the daycare as I've been talking to every NPC just to see the changes. The daycare guy said my Pokémon 'I' had grown by 23 levels, and I was confused because I had not left any Pokémon with him as this was my first time meeting with the daycare man this playthrough. So, I took the Pokémon from him, and it's a glitched Pokémon with a health bar as its name. It knows no moves and is a WatePsychic type with a Slowpoke sprite shown only when looking at it in the party and a glitched sprite everywhere else. It uses Struggle if you use it in battle. I started this playthrough on VisualBoy Advance and sent my save file over to my Delta emulator on my iPhone so I could play on the go, and this was able to be recreated on both emulators. I used the most recent patch, which I downloaded a couple of days ago. This was played on Hard mode, and I never used any sort of save file editor in any way. The only thing I did before this was beat the Rocket member outside the dig house in Cerulean. Here are some pictures and the save file used.
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Save File

In today's fast-paced world, gardening enthusiasts and novices alike are turning to gardening apps to enhance their gardening experience. These apps offer a wealth of information, from plant identification to gardening tips and reminders. With just a few taps, users can access a virtual garden assistant right in the palm of their hand, revolutionizing the way we approach gardening.

1. Planta: Complete Plant Care

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Planta: Complete Plant Care app is your ultimate gardening companion, offering comprehensive assistance in nurturing your beloved plants. With its intuitive interface, Planta provides personalized care tips based on your plant's specific needs, ensuring they thrive and flourish. From watering schedules to light requirements, the app guides you through every step of plant care with ease. Planta's plant identification feature helps you identify unknown plants effortlessly, while its reminder system ensures you never miss a watering or fertilizing session again. Whether you're a seasoned gardener or just starting out, Planta is your go-to app for cultivating healthy and vibrant plants with confidence.

2. Garden Answers Plant Id

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Garden Answers Plant ID app is your go-to tool for quickly and accurately identifying plants. Simply snap a photo of any plant, and the app instantly provides detailed information about it, including its name, care instructions, and growth habits. With a vast database of over 20,000 plants, Garden Answers ensures accurate identification for a wide range of species. Whether you're a beginner gardener or a seasoned horticulturist, this app offers invaluable assistance in identifying and caring for your plants. Say goodbye to plant identification guesswork and hello to easy and reliable identification with Garden Answers Plant ID app.

3. PlantNet

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PlantNet is a revolutionary mobile application designed to identify plants from images. Using cutting-edge artificial intelligence, users can snap photos of plants and upload them to the app for instant identification. With a vast database spanning thousands of species, PlantNet provides accurate results and detailed information about each plant, including taxonomy, habitat, and more. Whether you're a botanist, gardener, or nature enthusiast, PlantNet offers an invaluable tool for exploring and learning about the plant kingdom. Say goodbye to plant identification guesswork and harness the power of technology to discover the wonders of the natural world with PlantNet.

4. mySoil

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mySoil is a comprehensive mobile application designed to provide detailed soil information tailored to your location. By simply inputting your geographical coordinates or address, mySoil delivers personalized soil data, including soil type, pH levels, nutrient content, and more. Whether you're a farmer, gardener, or landscaper, this app offers invaluable insights to optimize soil management practices and enhance crop yields or plant growth. With its user-friendly interface and accurate data, mySoil empowers users to make informed decisions about soil use and cultivation methods. Say goodbye to soil guesswork and hello to precision farming with mySoil.

5. SmartPlant: Plants Made Simple

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SmartPlant: Plants Made Simple app revolutionizes plant care with its intuitive and comprehensive features. By utilizing advanced technology, it offers personalized care guidance for your plants based on their specific needs. Simply snap a photo of your plant, and SmartPlant instantly provides tailored care advice, including watering schedules, sunlight requirements, and pest management tips. With a vast database of over 20,000 plant species, the app ensures accurate identification and care information for all your plants. Whether you're a seasoned gardener or a beginner, SmartPlant simplifies plant care, making it accessible and enjoyable for everyone. Say hello to thriving plants with SmartPlant: Plants Made Simple app.

6. GrowIt: Vegetable Garden Care

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GrowIt: Vegetable Garden Care app is your essential tool for cultivating a successful vegetable garden. With its user-friendly interface and expert guidance, it provides tailored care instructions to help you grow healthy and abundant crops. From planting to harvesting, GrowIt offers valuable tips on soil preparation, watering, fertilizing, and pest control. The app also features a community of fellow gardeners, allowing you to connect, share experiences, and seek advice. Whether you're a novice or experienced gardener, GrowIt equips you with the knowledge and support needed to maximize your vegetable garden's potential. Harvest the fruits of your labor with GrowIt: Vegetable Garden Care app.

7. iNaturalist

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iNaturalist is a powerful mobile app that connects nature enthusiasts with the natural world. Using your smartphone camera, you can snap photos of plants, animals, fungi, and more, and upload them to the iNaturalist community. Experts and fellow users help identify your observations, contributing to global biodiversity research. With its user-friendly interface and vast database, iNaturalist facilitates learning and exploration of the world's flora and fauna. Join a vibrant community of citizen scientists, share your discoveries, and contribute to scientific knowledge while immersing yourself in the wonders of nature with iNaturalist.

8. Moon & Garden

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Moon & Garden app is your lunar gardening companion, harnessing the power of the moon phases to optimize plant growth and gardening activities. With its intuitive interface, the app provides personalized planting and harvesting recommendations based on lunar cycles. Whether you're sowing seeds, transplanting, or pruning, Moon & Garden offers guidance aligned with lunar influences for optimal results. Additionally, it features a comprehensive lunar calendar, detailing moonrise and moonset times, as well as moon phase information. Whether you're a novice gardener or a seasoned pro, Moon & Garden empowers you to cultivate thriving gardens in harmony with the rhythms of the moon.

9. LeafSnap-Plant Identification

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LeafSnap-Plant Identification app revolutionizes plant identification with its cutting-edge technology. By simply snapping a photo of a leaf, LeafSnap instantly identifies the plant species using advanced image recognition algorithms. With a vast database of thousands of plants, including trees, flowers, and shrubs, LeafSnap provides accurate results within seconds. Detailed information about each plant, including botanical features and habitat, enhances learning and exploration. Whether you're a botanist, gardener, or nature enthusiast, LeafSnap is your go-to tool for discovering and understanding the plant kingdom. Say goodbye to plant identification guesswork and hello to effortless identification with LeafSnap-Plant Identification app.

10. Seed to Spoon - Growing Food

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Seed to Spoon - Growing Food app is your comprehensive guide to growing your own fresh, nutritious produce right at home. With easy-to-follow instructions and personalized planting guides, this app empowers users to cultivate their own fruits, vegetables, and herbs with confidence. From planning and planting to harvesting and recipes, Seed to Spoon covers every step of the gardening journey. Featuring tips on soil preparation, pest control, and companion planting, it ensures successful harvests and delicious meals straight from your garden to your table. Whether you're a beginner or seasoned gardener, Seed to Spoon is your ultimate resource for growing food sustainably and deliciously.

Conclusion

With the convenience and wealth of knowledge that gardening apps provide, gardening has never been more accessible and enjoyable. Whether you're a seasoned gardener looking to expand your skills or a beginner eager to learn, these apps offer something for everyone. Embrace the digital age and let gardening apps help you cultivate your green thumb and create the garden of your dreams.

Come one, come all, we're clooowning again! 🤡
Thanks to u/1DMod for posting the Jimmy Fallon video that led to me to start to connect the dots that other creators have noticed. Long story short, we're clowning for Stockholm N1 (maybe even night ✌️ as well), buckle up clowns!

✌️

First things first, May 17 is ✌️ fortnights after the release of TTPD on April 19. We know that Taylor is still throwing up peace signs which seems unnecessary if it only ever meant that there was a second part of TTPD. I think it's an indication that we haven't completely cracked that egg yet.
This photo was necessary for the post, ok

National/International Day Of

While these days aren't necessarily solid proof of anything, Taylor did release TTPD on Poetry & The Creative Mind Day and also released the ME! music video (ME! Out now!) on Lesbian Visibility Day so I think it's definitely worth investigating.
After publishing this post I was reading through the comments in this thread about easter eggs and was reminded by u/-periwinkle that some people predicted the Toe breakup date based on something Taylor mentioned in her NYU speech ("Part of growing up and moving into new chapters of your life is about catch and release"). 11 months later, the Toe breakup news came out on, you guessed it, National Catch and Release Day. More on the NYU speech later.
First, let's have a look at the holidays for May 17 that could be relevant:

• Endangered Species Day - Does anyone remember the ✌️ trips to the zoo while in Sydney...? We also have the big cat imagery on her new 1989 outfit to consider. If you haven't read this incredible post by u/Funny-Barnacle1291, I'd urge you to stop clowning with me (just for a moment) and go and read it. Taylor's TikTok bio still reads, "this is pretty much just a cat account" which could be a surface level meaning of her posting videos of her cats, but we know miss Feline Enthusiast herself loves a layered meaning. She also compared herself to feeling, "a lot like being a tiger in a wildlife enclosure" in the Lover diaries she released (pictured below).

TNT at Sydney Zoo Paris N4 TikTok bio Lover diaries comparing herself to a tiger Sydney Zoo

• National Pizza Party Day - I know I am personally still haunted by her Stephen Colbert interview on 13 April 2021. The interview starts with Colbert talking about Taylor's Versions and also talking about how he believes the song "Hey Stephen" is about him. What surprise song did we get on guitar Paris N3..? Important to note that this interview also talks about him "waiting tables on the lunch shift at Scoozi, an Italian restaurant in the River North area of Chicago, that, by the way, serves a really incredible slice of pizza." Taylor also goes on to say that the song is actually about Stephen King and Taylor then says "The Dark Tower series changed my life, plus The Shining, The Stand and don't even get me started on his short stories... Absolutely luminescent." This interview is obviously very strange and likely filled with easter eggs. We know that her mention of the River North area of Chicago was also the location of one of the TTPD murals that went up ahead of its release.
• I've just seen this tweet which has beautifully tied in the new Red shirt that was premiered Paris N1 ("This is not Taylor's Version") with a quote from the Stephen Colbert interview, "This isn't about you, it's about pizza... See?" We can clearly see the mood board is about Stephen however she keeps only talking about the pizza. It feels like a Cassandra moment where we (Gaylors but Stephen in the interview) are recoginising all the Stephen pictures and the general public (Swifties) are only focused on the pizza because that's what Taylor is showing them (the public narrative featuring Travis Kelce). There was also this excellent post connecting the new Red shirt to a painting by René Magritte's titled, "The Treachery of Images". We then get "Treacherous" as a surprise song on Paris N4.
• u/naked_blanket pointed out that there is a scene in the Lavender Haze music video "where a bunch of people are gathered around a pizza box."
• I can't remember where I saw it now but I was reminded of the below photo of Taylor and Keleigh Teller. Keleigh posted this to her Instagram on 30 May 2023 along with 8 emojis. The importance of the 8s will be explained further down the post under the Stockholm heading but for now, pizza.

No... This is pizza
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• International Day Against Homophobia Transphobia and Biphobia - I honestly don't think I need to say anything else to the Gaylor Swift subreddit as to why this day might be a day of importance to Taylor...

ME! Out soon 😉

• National Graduation Tassel Day - Taylor was awarded with an honorary doctorate at NYU in 2022. We know that her speech at this event was filled with “Midnights” easter eggs including lyrics to “Labyrinth” and “You're On Your Own, Kid”. I wonder what other easter eggs are hidden in this speech...? Here's a link to the video and you can also read the full transcript here. I'm not going to do any further digging into this one right now, just presenting it as evidence but please feel free to note anything of importance in the comments. I do want to note here though that I recently saw a video where Taylor was leaving TTPD easter eggs while doing promo for Red TV (maybe an ATW10MV short film interview?) so I don't think it's out of the question that this speech contains TTPD (and beyond) easter eggs. I'll link the video if I can find it again.

Dr Taylor Alison Swift

• Pinot Grigio Day - A day celebrating u/getmeapinotgris! That's it, end of the easter egg! I'll touch on just a couple of pieces of evidence here as I think it's pretty common knowledge that Taylor likes her white wine. We now even have a direct white wine reference on TTPD, "these chemicals hit me like whiiiite wiiiiine" which was then used by Taylor as a caption in a tweet recently when she reposted a review of TTPD. I think the most interesting potential easter egg to me is her drinking a huge glass of white wine leaving her last performance of the LA shows and she was obviously still performing. It looks to me like it's the same Midnights dress she wore Paris N1 ^{Chiefs colours, obviously!} which could be an interesting connection. When looking for the video footage of her leaving LA, I noticed that the account that posted it is verified and she appears to be an Entertainment Journalist with the Hollywood Reporter who received a 1989TV PR package with the cardigan around the release of 1989TV. What an interesting, fun and not at all related coincidence that the Entertainment Journalist happened to have seats to the show in the obstructed view section where you see Taylor leaving the stage...
• Credit to u/intheafterglow23 for commenting on this post to remind us all of this incredibly special scene in Schitt's Creek where David says, "I like the wine and not the label" which is a metaphor for his sexuality. u/intheafterglow23 goes on to note that while the season the clip is from debuted in 2015, it really took off in the US around 2018/2019 - Taylor's response that I have screenshot below was posted on 25 May 2019, right in the middle of her sparkling summer where there were blind items she was going to come out as sexually fluid. I've tried looking for this blind without any luck, if anyone has a copy can they please post it in the comments!

These chemicals hit me like whiiiiite wiiiiine

• Shades Day - Why? Because shade never made anybody less gay! Jimmy Fallon is a long-time perpetuator of Taylor Swift's easter eggs and I don't think this video he posted on 1 May 2024 is any exception. The video shows Jimmy decked out in TTPD merch singing along to Who's Afraid Of Little Old ME! and he then dons a pair of orange shades and the camera pans down to show the orange Nike swoosh on his shoes. Credit to u/International_Ad4296 for posting on this thread that the shades Jimmy is wearing in the video are shutter shades that were worn by Kanye West in his 2007 music video "Stronger" and then went onto become known as "Kanye West glasses". Kanye has been a big player in the TSCU since he interrupted her while accepting an award for "Best Female Music Video" during the VMA awards in 2009. That's all the airtime I'll give that person.

Direct 17/5 easter eggs

• Tokyo N3 - One of the surprise songs during Tokyo N3 was "The Outside". This excellent video by Kristen (underthepink7 - go follow her, she's amazing) goes into some additional easter eggs that I'm not going to go into here but definitely worth a watch (which also connects to "Down Bad"). What I do want to talk about though is what Taylor said when she introduced the song. Here's a video of the performance including her speech beforehand where she says, "this song is 175 years old." At the time most people thought that it was an egg for number of days leading us to 2 August 2024. It could still be referring to this however I'm starting to believe it's related to the date.
• Date format - Before we go any further, it's important to note that the date format in Europe (where the Eras Tour currently is) goes DD/MM/YY. This is why I think the 175 could be a date as that equates to May 17 in Europe.
• Tokyo N4 - On 10 February 2024, the surprise songs in Tokyo were "Come In With The Rain" (track 17) and "You're On Your Own, Kid" (track 5), another 175 and in this case it's specifically 17/5.
• Anti-Hero music video - There's been some really interesting analysis that I've seen on Twitter where the timestamps in Taylor's recent music videos appear to be lining up with the date of things happening in real life. Underthepink7 and Kiturakk on Twitter have pointed out some interesting connections to the numbers 175 in the "Anti-Hero", "Bejeweled" and "Willow" music videos. I'll admit this could be considered a bit of a stretch but what if I told you none of it was accidental...

Is Taylor using timestamps in her self-directed music videos to refer to dates in real life?

Important days in history

These could be nothing, could be something, still worth noting:

• Anne Boleyn and 4 lovers executed (could this be why she directly mentioned the number 4 in her Betty speech Paris N4?)
• The diaries of Lord Byron are burnt by six of the poet's friends, described as "the greatest crime in literary history". u/thingwithfeathers38 has just pointed out that this stuck out to them as they've had this article saved in their notes app for a few weeks - Lord Byron had a half-sister named Augusta who was "sexually fluid".
• "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" was first published 17 May 1900
• The first legal same-sex marriages in the US are performed in the state of Massachusetts in 2004

Important events in history that may be important to Taylor

Important events in the TSCU on this day

• "Bad Blood" music video premiered at the Billboard Awards
• Entertainment Weekly where Taylor is on the cover with a rainbow pin and gravestone that says "I tried" is published
• City of Lover concert (i.e. Taylor's Lover concert performed in Paris) airs on ABC for the first time

I think we're about to recreate her sparkling summer

Stockholm

• 88th show - Taylor made a point to let everyone know that Paris N4 was the 87th show of the tour. Yes, 87 is Travis' number, but what if it was also to let everyone know that Stockholm will feature both her 88th and 89th shows? Obviously 89 is an important number to her as it's the year she was born, however last year we saw Taylor embracing double dates (5/5 Speak Now TV announcement, 7/7 Speak Now TV release - there's probably others, that's all I remember off the top of my head) so I don't think it's a stretch to say that the 88th show would hold significance to her. I saw this thread on Twitter yesterday regarding "portal dates" and while obviously this is referring to dates, I can see "portal shows" being potentially noteworthy. Following on from this, Kristen has highlighted some Taylor Nation tweets that include the words "17" or "May" with one of those tweets being posted on 8/8 (while quoting "Betty" of all songs...) which Kristen notes is the karmic number representing resurrection and regeneration (tweets pictured below).
• I was reading through the comments in the Jimmy Fallon video thread and u/cookiechipchocolate reminded me that one of Kanye's albums is titled "808s & Heartbreak". Could be a sly reference to her 88th show however I'll admit this is a bit more of a stretch connection that I've made.
• In the same thread, I saw this comment from u/taytopancakes noting that the day after is "said to be the most magical/lucky day of the year" which just so happens to also be Taylor's 89th show of the Eras Tour. I'd say the stars are certainly starting to align!
• Following on from the Keleigh Teller pizza photo on 30 May 2023 that has 8 emojis that I shared above, the other big thing Keleigh contributed to the TSCU in 2023 is her quote of, "you're my Elizabeth Taylor" in the video she shared where she gave Taylor that opal and blue topaz ring for her 34th birthday. This quote always stuck out to me. I know that Elizabeth Taylor had many husbands so I looked it up and, you guessed it, she had 8 husbands (7 different men). It's also interesting to note that the first thing that comes up when you google "opal signficance" is "the opal has long been considered a lucky and protective talisman" which connects back to the TTPD announcement post that Taylor tweeted on 5 February 2024.
• u/slugs_instead and u/chickadee323 also pointed out that we have been seeing a lot of infinity symbols lately; we've seen the infinity symbols everywhere from The Man wall, jewelry Taylor wears, the Karma music video and most recently in the stage visuals for "Down Bad". An infinity symbol turned on its side looks like an 8. I believe the infinity symbol represents Taylor's cycle of death and rebirth, "I rise up from the dead, I do it all the time" and "I'm getting tired even for a phoenix, always risin' from the ashes". What better way to signify the two sides of Taylor than two infinity symbols side-by-side, i.e. 88. Important thing I want to note - I just went and watched the footage of the "Down Bad" infinity symbol that I linked above and it stops just before completing - she's still on the journey, the cycle is not yet complete.

Deep portal, time travel
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• Beyoncé - The Renaissance World Tour kicked off on 10 May 2023 in Stockholm at the very same stadium that Taylor is performing in next weekend. To me it would make sense to start a tour named Renaissance in Italy, where the Renaissance originated not in Sweden... We've seen Taylor and Beyoncé supporting each other a lot in the last year and Beyoncé's producer recently said, "let's just say she's on the approach of shocking the world." We know she's on her own three-act journey at the moment (complete with queer-flagging in her shows and her own Biyoncé rumours) so I don't think this quote is directly related to Cowboy Carter but potentially regarding the culmination of her arc. Is it possible that her arc lines up with Taylor's creating a supernova that will change the industry forever?

Taylor & Bey supporting each other at their respective film premieres, a literal pride flag on the Renaissance Tour (it's actually just Chiefs colours, phew!)

• Taylor recorded songs in Stockholm - Kristen notes that many of Taylor's important singles were recorded in Stockholm including "I Knew You Were Trouble", "Shake It Off", "Blank Space", "Bad Blood", "Ready For It" and "New Romantics". Perhaps this city holds a special place in her heart?
• One Direction - paging u/1DMod to go into more detail here however noting that One Direction has a song called "Stockholm Syndrome" and the lyrics are very interesting indeed ("I used the light to guide me home"). Checkout this recent post by u/1DMod regarding the possible Larry connections to TTPD.
• Friends Arena - The stadium in Stockholm is called the Friends Arena. Taylor had a Friends pin on her jacket on the Entertainment Weekly cover. Was this stadium always supposed to play an important role? Kristen also notes that the opening ceremony took place on 27 October 2012 (obviously 27 October is the day that 1989 was released, both times) and Elton John played there on 13 December 2010 (who had his own journey down the yellow brick road and people refused to see his queerness for years even though he was in screaming colour).

New Romantics

Kristen, who I have referenced in nearly every part in this post (again, she's amazing, go follow her), has a mass coming-out theory that she has dubbed the New Romantics. I highly recommend checking out her content on Twitter and TikTok and she's also recently launched a podcast that you can read more about here for more information on this theory. Essentially the theory is that a large number of artists in the entertainment industry are queer and are working together as a "safety in numbers" type approach to coming out of the closet and potentially changing the industry in a monumental way.
Let's have a look at some players that are relevant to either May 17 or Stockholm (or both in one person's case!):

• Zayn - This is the person who is relevant to both May 17 and Stockholm! Obviously he was part of One Direction who I spoke about above as having a song titled "Stockholm Syndrome". Did you know his new album "The Closet" "The Room Under The Stairs" is being released this Friday, May 17? Again, I'll leave this to u/1DMod to add any additional relevant information as this is not my area of expertise but from what I understand, all members have their own queer rumours.
• Billie Eilish - Recently out as a girl kisser, Billie Eilish is also releasing an album on this day titled "Hit Me Hard and Soft" featuring a song called "Lunch" that would leave even the most homophobic Swiftie unable to defend her queerness if released by Taylor.
• Madison Beer - Madison is out as bi. Her tour, The Spinnin Tour, began 24 February 2024 in Stockholm (a different venue though).

Theories as to what exactly is coming

• TTPD: Part 3 - I recently made a post presenting the evidence on a potential third part to TTPD. In this post the majority of the evidence was just related to the "3s" that have been prevalent lately however there were also some "5s" which led us to believe something was happening 5/3. I've since had a couple of thoughts that maybe the "3/5" is related to her 35th birthday this year and that it's the third time she's trying to come out and five years from the last time. I strongly believe she'll be out by her birthday at the latest if not ON her birthday, but I digress.
• Karma - After the fiery ^"Chiefs" colours we saw displayed in Paris, I'm not sure how you could be a Karma-denier at this point to be honest! If you haven't already, check out this amazing post from yesterday by Dr Bryanlicious2 homewrecker, u/clydelogan. Their post discuses the numerology surrounding the number 8 that I referred to earlier however could this all be pointing us to the 88th show instead of a particular date...? Also if you are unaware of what we mean when we're talking about Karma, I recommend reading this collaborative post that is constantly being added to.

Karma is REAL

• Coming Out - I personally don't believe she would come out during a show in Stockholm, however it's worth at least noting as a possibility. It would mean that she was "out" before Pride Month 😉 She did just sing "Begin Again" as a surprise song in Paris N4 - is she beginning again as her authentic self at the very next show?
• Music Video - I know we thought we were getting a second music video for TTPD a fortnight after the album was released, however maybe that's what all this easter egging is for. I personally think it's something much bigger than that however will be very excited to dissect another music video! u/allie_lacey noted in this comment that Florence has recently said that she has "just got done filming with Taylor". A Florida!!! music video is something that a lot of us have been clowning for recently but I'd love to point to this comment by u/-periwinkle in particular as I think they've made a really good point about the mirrorball jellyfish which makes me think we will get a music video for this song at some point.
• Book - The creator of the video that u/1DMod initially posted believes that Taylor is announcing a book on 17 May 2024 with it to be released on 21 October 2024. I'm not going to go into this theory in detail however if you are interested in finding out more about what they have to say, here are a couple of videos of theirs (video 1, video 2, video 3).

Is this another easter egg that she laid 3 years ago?

In Summation

Something is happening in Stockholm. I don't know why exactly but it is THE ONE to watch.
I think it would be interesting to revisit the NYU speech, Karma music video, Stephen King, photos from the Uno parties and the Lover era in general for further hints as to what's coming. I think the key is going to be working together due to a comment that Questlove (yes, the one who throws the Uno parties) left on one of Kristen's videos. Here's a link to the video, the top comment is his.
Regardless, I'll be there talking smack in the megathread on Friday and keeping an eye out for any new "Chiefs" colours. See you there, clowns!
Who's clowning with me?! 🤡🤡🤡
Edit: I'll be making some additions to this post as people have been making incredible connections already, thank you! These will be noted as a new bulletpoint to try and keep it transparent as to what has been added. As I'm researching I'm also making new connections of my own that I will also add as separate bulletpoints.

When you reach door 60 you can go through a crack wall and find yourself in a secret room that leads to The Rooms, a reference to a game of the same name that inspired Doors. When dying to an entity in this place, we are not greeted by Guiding Light (GL) but instead by the yellow Curious Light (CL). The behavior of CL is odd, it’s quite vague and generally less helpful than GL, but it does encourage the player to come back implying that it needs the players help for something. It is suspected that CL requires the player to be able to escape The Rooms because in the recent Backdoor update, upon leaving The Rooms or The Backdoor, the player exits through a doorframe covered in yellow cracks and stars.
Speaking of which, backtracking to Door 60 there is a painting that has no title of a large yellow star. It is suspected this star is a symbol that represents CL.
https://preview.redd.it/ofihp1mdaa0d1.png?width=703&format=png&auto=webp&s=1425154a12a27aceb5407e3fe95c9c444aece319
This painting hides more secrets however. Also in this room are 3 chairs placed together. As far as I remember, these chairs have always been in this room, and I thought of them as significant but with nothing to connect it to. This is no longer the case as of the modifiers update because now, if you enter this room with at least 1 modifier turned on, the painting changes to this:
https://preview.redd.it/27omnf2taa0d1.png?width=699&format=png&auto=webp&s=447ac5c21d33375c81aafcfbac261e0a09341b49
Two more symbols appear on the painting, one of a blue crescent moon, and one of the red modifier icon. If CL is connected to the star icon, then who is connected to the other two? The crescent moon is obviously Guiding Light, sharing the same blue color and the crescent moon icon appearing when using the crucifix. The modifier icon however doesn’t belong to a light we’ve met yet, they have however made appearances. But first I need to talk about what the lights are, and what they want. When a player uses the crucifix, one of the symbols that appears is a closed string of wingdings, which when translated and put through a Caeser cipher translates to, “One Of The Three Architects Marked By Celestials Assists You”. Three architects, three icons, three chairs, three lights. So the lights are referred to as architects, but what does this mean? Game Theory believes the reason they are called Architects is the lights have the ability to change the layout of The Hotel, and GL uses this ability to turn The Hotel into a labyrinth keeping the hostile entities trapped inside.
In The Hotel the players goal is to make it to Door 100. The reason for this isn’t clear, but I speculate that in the upcoming Mines update there is some kind of escape from The Hotel for the player. Guiding Light seems to support the player in this endeavor, remembering the past deaths of players, which suggests that death itself is not an escape from The Hotel. El Goblino mentions other humans he has seen attempting to reach Door 100, so I believe that humans who become trapped in The Hotel need to reach The Mines in order to escape, and every time they die they reappear at the beginning of The Hotel and GL assists them each time. GL assists the player by glowing in certain areas to highlight them, items like the candle and the crucifix to defend against the enemies, and of course providing tips for dealing with the entities upon death. Finally I believe the rift in the Electrical Room that stores items to be used in another run is another power of GL (which is important later). Curious Light as already mentioned is less helpful than GL but nonetheless needs the player’s help in The Rooms. In the Backdoor update CL seems more acquainted with the player and more inclined to help, giving better tips, providing Starlight Vials with his star icon, and placing the levers in The Backdoor to keep Haste at bay further supporting the lights ability to change The Hotel as the Architects.
But what about the third architect, represented by the red modifier icon? With the evidence I have gathered, I believe this architect is a malevolent entity allied with the hostile entities. In a post by they suggest looking at the painting like a coordinate plane, with GL’s icon falling in the Positive, Positive section suggesting to symbolize GL as a force of good, CL falling dead center to symbolize neutrality, both of which makes a lot of sense given their personalities, and finally the modifier icon falling into the Negative, Negative section symbolizing our final architect as a force of evil. How do we prove this? First let’s look at the modifiers themselves, since this light is clearly connected to them. The modifiers are able to control the entities behavior, affect The Hotel, and even disable Guiding Light! This isn’t the only instance of modifiers affecting GL either, when modifiers are turned on GL is not present to give tips on the entities and the biggest piece of evidence suggesting rivalry between this architect and GL is that the more modifiers are turned on, the SMALLER GL’s icon gets in the painting.
(150% knobs multiplier for non-players)
Next we have the red barrier that blocks access to The Rooms when modifiers are turned on. We know this is an ability of the Architects because CL does the same thing for The Backdoor until players reach The Rooms for the first time. Why would the Red Light do this? I speculate it is because it (and GL) don’t have much control over areas like The Rooms or The Backdoor since you can’t use modifiers in those areas.
Finally I want to look at the Tower Heroes collab event. While the event itself is not canon to the lore, I want to point out an interesting detail from this event. When playing a Doors-themed level you typically are assisted by GL giving tips in between each wave of enemies. CL also makes an appearance in this event in Adventure mode giving hints to the secret Void boss fight. However, one particular Weekly Challenge during that event called, “Hotel Visitors” had the player assume the role of Figure defending the Library. This time, instead of GL giving tips we are assisted by something speaking in RED text, which the community referred to as Mischievous Light. They could have just as easily made GL talk during this challenge but they specifically chose to replace GL with something else. Not only that, they gave this Mischievous Light some personality, referring to the enemies as “trespassers”. It just fits so perfectly that I can’t help but believe it to be intentional.
https://preview.redd.it/tsy0yrfpka0d1.png?width=1334&format=png&auto=webp&s=865436166cce588de59c3136776754e4fe14ac08
Now that I’ve thoroughly explained the Red Light/Mischievous Light (ML), let’s circle back to Curious Light. Going back to the Door 60 painting, there is one more detail I’d like to discuss, and that is the fact that CL’s icon is much larger than GL’s or ML’s. I believe this is a representation of how powerful each Architect actually is. This is supported by GL’s icon shrinking when the player adds more modifiers, suggesting that they weaken GL. Furthermore GL and ML seem to possess a different set of powers, while CL seems to possess it’s own unique powers as well being able to replicate the other Architect’s. Like GL, Curious Light does glow on the entrance to and exits from The Rooms, and if we use the Bottle of Starlight bought at the end of The Backdoor on GL’s rift, it creates a second yellow rift. We don’t currently have any more similar powers between CL and ML besides the barriers they both create but I believe ML doesn’t consider CL an enemy like it does with GL (more on that in a second). Finally, only CL seems to be able to affect The Rooms and The Backdoor.
When dying to Blitz for the first time in The Backdoor we are greeted by Curious Light who drops a very strange detail:
https://preview.redd.it/oea3ahgdja0d1.png?width=1334&format=png&auto=webp&s=208f6611b341eca375de1ea38c94f01c459bb26f
We haven’t met anyone in The Hotel that’s been confirmed to be female so who could Curious Light be referring to here? The identity of this character is not yet clear, but the first candidate that people have suspected is Guiding Light, and sure on the surface that makes sense; they’re both Architects and we’ve seen them both talk but not necessarily to each other. But upon further inspection it doesn’t make sense for GL to be this character for one specific reason: the fact that this character decided to give Blitz a name. According to dialogue from GL and a tweet from the devs, the names of the entities in The Hotel were given by the player, NOT GL. If other humans have been to The Hotel then GL has been there for some time and has never bothered to give the entities names, so why would it start now? You know who’s more likely to give these entities names? Mischievous Light, the architect supposedly allied with these entities. This belief is shared by Game Theory, which I was super excited to see in their most recent theory.
So what is ML up to talking with CL? I believe that ML wants CL and possibly the player to join them. If CL is the most powerful architect and has dominion over The Rooms and The Backdoor, they would be a great ally to have. But what about the player? As we’ve discussed, despite CL’s power, they need the player’s help to access other areas, and in The Mines possibly will exist an escape from The Hotel that ONLY the player has the ability to open. If we take the Tower Heroes collab into consideration, ML initially sees players as “trespassers” and wants the entities to kill them. However, what if the modifiers are a test by ML to evaluate the player’s usefulness? Furthermore, not all modifiers are bad and actually make the game easier, so while ML definitely sees GL as an enemy, it may not be the same case for CL and the player. I speculate that Mischievous Light’s ultimate goal is to use the player to help the entities escape The Hotel, bringing death and destruction to whatever unfortunate world awaits behind the exit door.
But that’s just a theory, a DOORS THEORY! Thanks for reading!

Speed and AP/DC

BoS [Sealed] (3,370 with broken sword, 3,470 with Liz's sword, 3,870 with Lostvayne. 4,400 with demon mark in season 1): Mountain level, Massively hypersonic+

1. Meliodas (3,370) is stronger than Gilthunder (1,970), who created a storm (Mountain Level)
2. Meliodas (3,470) reacts to Gilthunder's lightning (MHS+)
3. Meliodas (~3,370) with a stick casually slices a hill (Large Town Level)
4. Meliodas and Ban (3,370 and 3,220) destroyed Baste Dungeon in an arm wrestling match (Large Town Level individually)

Power Restored (32,500, 56,000 with Demon Mark, higher with Revenge Counter): Island Level, Sub-Relativistic

1. Meliodas (unknown combat class) destroyed Danafor (Island Level)
2. Meliodas (32,500) blitzes Galand (Sub-Relativistic)

Meliodas (unknown combat class) with Revenge Counter, was stated by Gowther to have energy 30x as great compared to when he used revenge counter against Hendrickson
https://preview.redd.it/ik5gj1o8w30d1.png?width=1066&format=png&auto=webp&s=6f8203d5fcd5301601d25771c731a271f56a7b46
Using Gilthunder's 447 Megatons is downplay but its all we have, 447 megatons x 30 = 13.41 Gigatons (Island Level), considering this Gilthunder is not even comparable to when Meliodas used Revenge Counter on Hendrickson, Large Island Level is a logical highball in my opinion
Prime during the Holy War (unknown combat class): Multi-Continental, 3.5x SoL, up to 7x SoL with demon marks

1. Meliodas (unknown combat class) blitzes Ludociel (3.5x SoL)

Merlin stated that when Zeldris went from his 1st demon mark to his 2nd, the force of his Ominous Nebula doubled
https://preview.redd.it/wj0xxoulz30d1.png?width=1067&format=png&auto=webp&s=531bcca764abd91bbe1257e8915cf6f47ac6f054
Ominous Nebula moves around darkness at high speeds, meaning when the suction of the attack double due to his demon mark, that was because the demon mark doubled his speed
https://preview.redd.it/s8yr5hy5040d1.png?width=1067&format=png&auto=webp&s=ece9ce7e0bc5d00d6fee113d10eea0b9a8599962
Since Meliodas was using his 2nd demon mark to blitz Ludociel, we can say that in his 3rd demon mark, also known as assault mode, brings his speed up to 7x SoL

1. Meliodas is equal to Mael during the Holy War, Mael (unknown combat class) one shot the Original Demon (Multi-Continental) (this feat is iffy but depending on how you interpret some statements about Sunshine, it can be valid)

Meliodas is equal to Mael because Gowther stated that he targeted Mael for his great spell because of the imbalance of the Holy War due to Meliodas leaving the demon race, making Meliodas also Multi-Continental
https://preview.redd.it/ersqakhb340d1.png?width=1067&format=png&auto=webp&s=83f321eb0b967cd858fb36ad70425f38a61f6e73
Post Purgatory/EoS/4KotA (unknown combat class): Multi-Solar, 44.217x-53.1x SoL, up to 353.736x-424.8x SoL with demon marks

1. Meliodas (unknown combat class) blitzed Tristan and Arthur (44.217x to 53.1x SoL)

Meliodas performed this feat with no demon marks, and as we established above, each demon mark provides a 2x increase in speed, meaning if we multiplied 44.217 and 53.1 by 2 three separate times, one for each demon mark Meliodas has, we get 353.726 and 424.8 respectively

1. Meliodas along with Zeldris overpowered and defeated the Supreme Deity, who is equal to the Demon King, who created the demon realm, removing the time factor for reasons I will soon explain and divide by 2 because Meliodas needed help from zeldris to push back the Supreme Deity's attack would come to 37.5 Terafoe (Multi-Solar System level)

Creation feats in 7DS/NNT are comparable to the power of the user, Tarmiel stated that in order to destroy and escape the realm made by him and Sariel, Estarossa would need to have power equivalent to theirs
https://preview.redd.it/iioxqcrua40d1.png?width=1067&format=png&auto=webp&s=28458d372699f0ff9e2c1c8f7ec3895fe594be67
https://preview.redd.it/n97fpl5xa40d1.png?width=1067&format=png&auto=webp&s=151956e75cf276bdf2117dbc041e051b92cde8f0
Another example is when Cath easily created a dimension and Arthur destroyed it in an instant
https://preview.redd.it/jexygrf4b40d1.png?width=894&format=png&auto=webp&s=916f2ac891abd74c4ce9ec07b76747255bcb33a2
True Magic Form has barely any screen time however it is Meliodas' strongest form: Multi-Solar, above 44.217x-53.1x SoL, up to and above 353.736x-424.8x SoL with demon marks
Meliodas was stated by Zeldris to be stronger than the Demon King in this form
https://preview.redd.it/1srdsc0sg90d1.png?width=1786&format=png&auto=webp&s=a4180d2f112c61310dfc30036261d442537e4a62

Abilities

These are the most notable abilities Meliodas has shown throughout the series:

• Full Counter - can reflect magical attacks with double the force
• Sealing - re-sealed Gelda to avoid killing her
• Power Nullification - dispersed Cain's fireball
• Darkness Manipulation - can summon beams of darkness and can condense darkness into small bullets
• Hellfire - demons have the ability to use special fire
• Duplication - Lostvayne grants the user the ability to summon clones
• Immortality - has immortality type 1, 3, and 4, demons can regenerate as long as they have at least one heart, was also cursed with eternal life and immortality via resurrection
• Poison Resistance - was unaffected by a lethal dose of poison
• Heat Resistance - was unaffected by Escanor's heat
• Immortality negation - demons can kill beings with immortality type 3, Meliodas also scarred Ban who has immortality type 3
• Curse affliction and negation - had the power of the Demon King, not only could he destroy the immortality via reincarnation curse put on Elizabeth but he could also apply curses
• Commandment of Truth - anyone who lies will be turned to stone
• Commandment of Piety - anyone who turns their back on the user will fall under their control
• Commandment of Purity - anyone with impure thoughts will be inflicted with illness
• Commandment of Love - Anyone who has hatred in their heart will lose the ability to inflict harm on others
• Commandment of Patience - anyone who shows intolerance of pain or delay will be inflicted with more pain
• Commandment of Faith - anyone who loses faith in someone or something will have their eyes burned out
• Commandment of Reticence - anyone who expresses their hidden emotions will lose the ability to speak
• Commandment of Pacifism - anyone who kills will have their time stolen from them until they die
• Commandment of Selflessness - anyone who shows selfishness will lose their memories and emotions
• Commandment of Repose - anyone who fights without resting will have their magic sealed
• Inability to cook