I need the world to calm its tits down. Between Rihanna dropping a single for Black Panther, Taylor Swift’s Midnights releasing and the season finale of House of the Dragon I’m going nuts. It’s like one sensory overload after another. We fans are being FED.

As a long time Rihanna fan I’m pissed that she chose this week to release a single, that to for a huge Marvel fan (DC graphic universe is the winner, don’t at me). Like girl I’ve been waiting approximately 6 years for her to give us a crumb she gave us a whole ass song when I already couldn’t process everything being released.

Lets do this one at a time.

Lift me up. The latest track for the upcoming Black Panther movie. First of all the trailer alone was to drive the world insane. Add news that a surprise Rihanna track to the mix and everyone went nuts.
She released the song and boy did The Navy have a lot to say. They wanted something ‘bigger and better’ for her comeback. They wanted a bigger beat drop, a better production, less hoarse moments, etc.

I for one thought the track was absolute perfection. I loved every texture of her voice, the production, the visual, the entirety of the comeback. I had to stop everything that I was doing and just tilt my head back and take it in. The only thing I wanted was more, it ended too soon for me. There would be no going back and having that first listen again.

Her vocals are absolutely sublime and I couldn’t have asked for anything more.

So that happened and Midnights released. No previous singles, no hints at to what the album would sound like and bam. The album went on to break all sorts of records. It’s currently doing better than Taylor’s biggest album 1989, in its first week. Being a Swiftie over the past two years has been so rewarding. Between re-records, Folklore/Evermore and now Midnights, we’re constantly being given rewards for god knows what.

Midnights is an ode back to Taylor’s life with the background of Reputation production. See this is the weird part for me. Reputation is probably the least liked album for most die hard Swifties. So I was going to assume on my first listen of Midnights that it would garner a similar response. Oddly enough that turned out to be false. Midnights had an overwhelmingly positive response from Swifties and non-Swifties alike.

And last but not least House of the Dragon had it’s season finale. Dare I say I like this show more than Game of Thrones? Thats most likely because I’m a die hard Targaryen fan. The finale was everything promised and more. The highlight was definitely the graphics. The dance of the dragons has finally began. I have no idea how I’m going to wait more than a year for the next season.

One of my favourite things about pop culture this year has become going back to that Sunday ritual of watch parties. Its become an experience and its been so rewarding.

What’s the best part about being part of these fandoms? The sense of community. We’re all living historical events in unison and we’re all just as excited for everything. Its fun and games, and it’s also influential.

The sensory overload over this past week has definitely been monumental. Artists in music and television creating results out of pure love for the art and not for the monetary value – its visible. All three of these are passion projects and it shows.

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