#tklnpp

Disclaimer: I want to preface this by saying I've only listened to the first 4 series and based on what I gathered, this analysis (if I can call it that) might not apply as much for the later series. I've scoured the internet and I think my only option at this point is VPN (I at least found some transcripts, haven't read them yet, though).

Now to my point: I was replying to @featherbrayn 's comment, wondering how come Megan is so lenient with Key, despite his invasive (and sometimes quite awful) behavior. I jokingly made the remark that it seems like Megan sees him as her jester. She cares about him, no doubt, but it all appears untethered to reality, shrouded in unseriousness.

She comes across as oblivious to his advances or almost welcomes them - e.g. when Key decides to record an episode in hers and Lord's bedroom and despite Lord's protests, she says there's enough room in the bed for the three of them. However, when Key takes her to a romantic dinner, she makes it very clear to the waiter that they are not together and that she has a husband elsewhere.

If Megan is the Lady, Lord is obviously the Lord (knight) and then we have Key, the jester. This categorization might not be that simple, though.

Are you familiar with the notion of fin'amor - courtly love? I will simplify a lot, but for the purposes of this post, I want to focus on this aspect of the love: it is distant. The man chooses a lady who he falls in love with and tries to court her.

But this love is never fulfilled - or rather, it shouldn't be, because it is the desire, the attempt to get closer and closer, that makes it worthwile. Desire and love function as one. By its definition, desire longs to be satisfied; however, a satisfied desire ceases to exist. And if desire vanishes, so does the love.

Due to all these circumstances, the perfect love is a mix of suffering and pleasure. In this framework, there theoretically cannot be love in marriage, because the lady is no longer unattainable.

To a certain extent, I view both Lord and Key as the man who tries to attain the lady's heart. "But Lord has already reached the goal, hasn't he?" I hear you say (and is his marriage therefore loveless? - I don't think so).

That is a good point, of course! On the other hand, if we consider solely the narrative we are privy to (in which Key takes the center), Lord's plans are constantly thwarted. Megan seems to be just as unreachable to him, in spite of being his wife already. He has to struggle to spend some time with her, since Key does all in his power to separate them.

As for Key, the impossibility of obtaining Megan's love is evident as well. She cares about him and she humors him - just like a lady in a courtly love poem, she's affectionate but never takes it further. And lest we forget, Megan's already in a relationship.

Neither of the men are able to love her fully, which leads to suffering and, arguably, the ideal fin'amor.

Spotify (removed the query string, should still work): {x} me trying to post anything ever:

"Where do I fit in?" 😭 Good on you, Tim, for voicing your emotions so clearly and for reacting so maturely to the news that your friends are having a baby 👍