4 — Wednesday, March 15, 2023
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Taylor Swift has been widely hailed 
as one of the greatest songwriters 
of her generation. Not only are her 
songs catchy and meaningful, but 
they almost always tell an incredible, 
lively story. In particular, the songs 
that describe beautiful relationships 
and heart-wrenching breakups reach 
a level of storytelling that is difficult 
to find elsewhere. And because these 
songs tell such descriptive stories, it’s 
only natural that fans might apply 
the songs to other circumstances — 
other characters, other couples, other 
stories. With The Swiftie Project 
series, Swifties within Daily Arts 
break down every romantic Taylor 
Swift song from every released 
album and match them to fictional 
couples. The second part in this series 
contains songs from the re-recorded 
version of Swift’s sophomore album: 
Fearless (Taylor’s Version). Most 
songs from this album have been 
included, although “The Best Day” 
has been omitted, due to its more 
personal, 
non-romantic 
story. 
Furthermore, her song for “Hannah 
Montana: The Movie,” “Crazier,” has 
been added to this list, due to its place 
in her discography timeline.
Warning: Spoilers for various 
TV shows, movies and books are 
included in the following article. 
“Fearless” — Jane Villanueva 
and Rafael Solano, “Jane the 
Virgin”
I’m not usually this way but / You 
pull me in and I’m a little more brave 
Ah, friends. There is no better 
word than “fearless” to describe 
Jane (Gina Rodriguez, “Someone 
Great”) 
and 
Rafael’s 
(Justin 
Baldoni, “Con Man”) rollercoaster 
of a relationship. Their love story 
is a complicated one — this is a 
telenovela, after all. Jane was 
accidentally 
inseminated 
with 
Rafael’s 
sperm, 
they 
briefly 
dated and got caught in a vicious 
cycle of unrequited love while 
co-parenting, before finally ending 

up together. Even when they 
weren’t together, Rafael was always 
in Jane’s corner when she needed 
him. It all stemmed from the first 
time they met, when Rafael told 
Jane to “be brave” and go after her 
dream of being a writer. The road 
to their happily ever after was not 
without struggle: Being a parent 
isn’t easy, each person has their 
own traumas to work through and 
falling in love can be terrifying. But 
watching the pair play different 
roles in each other’s lives gave us 
new insights into how they lived 
out that bravery. Sometimes the 
only way to overcome your fears is 
to dive headfirst. 
“Fifteen” — Ricky Bowen and 
Nini 
Salazar-Roberts, 
“High 
School Musical: The Musical: 
The Series”
Back then I swore I was gonna 
marry him someday / But I realized 
some bigger dreams of mine
In the first scene of “High 
School 
Musical: 
The 
Musical: 
The Series,” Nini (Olivia Rodrigo, 
“Bizaardvark”) tells Ricky (Joshua 
Bassett, “Stuck in the Middle”) she 
loves him, and he … runs out of the 
room. Ah, young love at its finest. 
An aptly named song, “Fifteen,” 
is about a specific type of teenage 
romance, the kind where everything 
feels so new and exciting that you 
swear it’ll last forever — the naivete 
of thinking every person you kiss is 
the person you’ll spend the rest of 
your life with. For Nini and Ricky, 
an inopportune “I love you” was 
earth-shattering enough to incite 
their breakup, “cause when you’re 
15 and somebody tells you they love 
you / you’re gonna believe them.” 
They thought they were an end-
all-be-all relationship because it 
was all they’d ever known. Several 
breakups and makeups later (it’s 
high school), Nini realizes that even 
though her relationship with Ricky 
was once everything she wanted, 
it is okay to want more. No longer 
the starry-eyed 15-year-old we first 
met, she leaves Ricky to pursue 

her dreams of becoming a singer-
songwriter 
because 
sometimes 
(most times), your first love isn’t 
meant to last beyond high school; 
you just “didn’t know it at 15.” 
“Love Story” — Gnomeo and 
Juliet, “Gnomeo & Juliet”
This love is difficult, but it’s real / 
Don’t be afraid, we’ll make it out of 
this mess
“Love Story” is one of Swift’s 
most iconic songs, so we had to 
pair it with an equally iconic movie: 
“Gnomeo & Juliet,” a version of 
“Romeo 
and 
Juliet” 
featuring 
gnomes. Despite the goofiness 
of an alternate universe where 
“RIP” stands for “rest in pieces,” 
as 
pointed 
out 
by 
Gnomeo’s 
(James McAvoy, “X-Men: First 
Class”) mother, Lady Bluebury 
(Maggie Smith, “Harry Potter 
and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2”), 
this animated retelling brings its 
own charm by fully embracing 
the backdrop of being snarky 
clay fixtures in two neighboring 
gardens, while still maintaining 
the rivalry and general plot of the 
original play. Gnomeo and Juliet’s 
(Emily Blunt, “The Girl on the 
Train”) love story thus proceeds in 
the same way as the original. Even 
though they meet while both racing 
to snatch an orchid rather than at a 
party, they fall in love at first sight. 
From there, they continue to meet 
up. It’s exactly as Swift sings, “So I 
sneak out to the garden to see you 
/ We keep quiet ‘cause we’re dead 
if they knew.” Amid the fighting 
between the Montague gnomes — 
the Blues — and the Capulet gnomes 
— the Reds — when Juliet gets 
stuck and is about to be crushed 
by a lawnmower, Gnomeo refuses 
to leave her. They don’t actually 
end up dying, but this is enough for 
Lady Bluebury and Juliet’s father, 
Lord Redbrick (Michael Caine, 
“Youth”), to stop their feud. Unlike 
the original, and what the statue 
version of Shakespeare (Patrick 
Stewart, 
“X-Men”) 
predicted 
would happen, Gnomeo and Juliet 

get their happily ever after ending 
when Juliet “pick(s) out a white 
dress” and “just say(s) ‘yes.’ ”
“Hey Stephen” — Louisa Clark 
and Sam Fielding “After You”
Hey Stephen, boy, you might have 
me believing / I don’t always have to 
be alone
Most people who watch “Me 
Before You” are left with the 
story’s bittersweet ending. What’s 
more, most people who read the 
book resort to crying, watching 
the film adaptation, crying some 
more and refusing to read the 
rest of the trilogy because they’re 
too heartbroken. I’m here to let 
those people know what they’re 
missing out on. In “After You,” the 
sequel to “Me Before You,” Louisa 
is inconsolable. Meeting the love 
of your life and losing them all in 
the span of six months would take 
a toll on anyone, and it certainly 
takes a toll on Louisa after she 
loses Will (Sam Claflin, “Love, 
Rosie”). That is, until she has an 
accident that forces her to return 
home to her family and leads her 
to meet Sam Fielding, a charming 
paramedic who just might be able 

to understand this new version of 
Louisa. Sam, convinced that she 
is destined for a life of loneliness, 
makes his way into Louisa’s life 
when she needs it most, making 
her feel seen and that she doesn’t 
always have to be alone — just as 
Stephen did for Swift.
“White Horse” — Meredith 
Grey 
and 
Derek 
Shepherd, 
“Grey’s Anatomy”
Maybe I was naive, got lost in 
your eyes / And never really had a 
chance
Meredith 
(Ellen 
Pompeo, 
“Friends”) and Derek’s (Patrick 
Dempsey, “Can’t Buy Me Love”) 
relationship was one of the most 
beloved relationships of “Grey’s 
Anatomy.” For 11 seasons, fans 
watched as Meredith and Derek 
fell in love, had a few children 
and became a badass doctor duo. 
What started out as a one-night 
stand turned into an iconic love 
story, and boy was it messy during 
the first few seasons. In the 
beginning, there was this weird 
power dynamic between the two 
— Meredith was Derek’s intern 
when they met. Then, we learned 
that Derek was married to Addison 
Montgomery (Kate Walsh, “Emily 
in Paris”) while dating Meredith 
throughout season one. In season 
two, Meredith begged Derek to 
choose her over Addison by saying, 
“Pick me. Choose me. Love me” 
— a moment that Pompeo herself 
was “horrified” by. “White Horse” 
vocalizes the realization that 
the great love you thought you 
had with a person won’t happen. 
It’s kind of heartbreaking, and 
I think that captures Meredith 
and Derek’s relationship well, 
especially considering how it 
ultimately 
ended. 
Derek 
was 
certainly Meredith’s knight in 
shining armor throughout their 
time together, literally saving her 
from drowning at one point. But as 
Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw, 
“Holidate”) once said, “Derek was 
epic for her. They were the great 
love story. I mean, that girl’s heart 
beat for Derek Shepherd” — what 
else can I say?
“You Belong With Me” — 
Rosie Dunne and Alex Stewart, 
“Love, Rosie”
If you could see that I’m the one 
/ Who understands you / Been here 
all along
Romance, especially fictional 
romance, is nothing without the 
friends-to-lovers trope. If you 
couldn’t tell by that intensely 
charged statement, I’m a big 
friends-to-lovers gal, and “Love, 
Rosie” is my favorite friends-to-
lovers movie. Rosie (Lily Collins, 
“Emily in Paris”) and Alex (Sam 
Claflin, “Me Before You”) have 
been best friends since childhood, 
believing their relationship is 
purely platonic. When they reach 
high school, these feelings start to 
seem like something more. They 
decide to overtly ignore the shift in 
feelings they’re both experiencing, 
even if the jealousy they feel when 
they see each other with their 
respective romantic partners is 
painfully evident. The intensity 
of 
their 
miscommunication 
reaches the point where they just 
keep missing each other, even 
though they both know they 
belong together but are reluctant 
to admit it. Both of their inner 
monologues sound like Swift’s 
iconic, quintessential song “You 
Belong With Me,” reflecting the 
pain of knowing someone else is 
your soulmate but being unsure 
how to communicate it. 
“Breathe” — Marianne and 
Héloïse, “Portrait of a Lady on 
Fire”
Music starts playin’ like the end 
of a sad movie
“Breathe” perfectly captures the 
gut-wrenching end to Marianne 
(Noémie Merlant, “Tár”) and 

Héloïse’s (Adèle Haenel, “Love 
at First Fight”) relationship in 
“Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” which 
I recommend watching before 
reading this blurb to save yourself 
from spoilers. The two women, 
though desperately in love, cannot 
stay 
together 
for 
numerous 
reasons (primarily because the 
film is set in 18th-century France), 
and while Swift likely did not 
intend for “Breathe” to capture 
the pain of a mutually unwanted 
(lesbian) breakup, the song nails it. 
The lyric “Music starts playin’ like 
the end of a sad movie,” practically 
represents the film in a single 
line — if you know, you know — 
though other lyrics are uncannily 
spot on as well: “And we know it’s 
never simple / Never easy / Never 
a clean break, no one here to save 
me.” The end of their relationship 
is devastating, and there’s nothing 
either of them can do about it. They 
can never see each other again, let 
alone save each other from their 
fates. All they’ll have left of each 
other is a song, a memory stored 
deep inside of them that only 
emerges when the music swells.
“Tell Me Why” — Eric Miller 
and Bela Malhotra, “The Sex 
Lives of College Girls”
You took a swing, I took it hard / 
And down here from the ground, I 
see who you are
As a viewer, I was passionately 
rooting for Bela (Amrit Kaur, “The 
D Cut”) and Eric’s (Mekki Leeper, 
“Two Joysticks and a Couch”) 
new relationship. I’m a sucker for 
an enemies-to-lovers arc, and I 
thought they had hilarious banter. 
Bela, however, broke my heart as 
well as Eric’s when her insecurities 
led her to cheat on him. She 
was in the midst of shadowing 
a professional comedian and — 
desperate for him to like her — slept 
with him in the hopes of earning 
an internship. Not only that, but 
when Eric approached her about 
it, she attempted to lie and gaslight 
him into thinking she didn’t cheat, 
adding salt to the wound. This is 
just one of many times throughout 
the show that Bela has shown 
everyone how much maturing she 
has left to do. She pushes away 
nearly everyone who cares about 
her because she fails to see how her 
actions harm others until it’s too 
late — hence why Swift’s “Tell Me 
Why” perfectly encapsulates this 
series of events from Eric’s point of 
view. He opened himself up to Bela 
and trusted her with his feelings, 
only for her to turn around and 
stomp on them, revealing to him 
and everyone else who she really 
is. I’m rarely one to side with the 
man in relationship drama, but 
I’m team Eric all the way. Bela has 
some serious cleaning up to do. 
“You’re Not Sorry” — Ross 
Geller 
and 
Rachel 
Green, 
“Friends”
I’ve been giving out chances, and 
all you do is let me down.
I don’t think Ross (David 
Schwimmer, “Six Days, Seven 
Nights”) was sorry. I watched 
“Friends” on repeat throughout 
high school, the feeling of loss 
when the six friends walk away 
from the camera at the end 
inevitably forcing me back to the 
beginning every time. Had all the 
characters been like Ross, I would 
have been glad to see them go. 
Swift sings, “You can tell me that 
you’re sorry / But I don’t believe 
you, baby,” and Rachel (Jennifer 
Aniston, 
“Murder 
Mystery”) 
shouldn’t 
believe 
him. 
Ross’s 
insistence that the two were “on a 
break” from their relationship just 
hours before he slept with another 
woman, which he refuses to admit 
was wrong, is reason enough to 
dislike him. Swift sings, “Now 
you’re asking me to listen.” 

DAILY FILM WRITERS

The Swiftie Project Part Two: Fearless

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

puzzle by sudokusnydictation.com

SUDOKU

WHISPER

“Have a great 
day!”
 
“I hope it’s 
sunny 
tomorrow.”

WHISPER

By Prasanna Keshava
©2023 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
03/15/23

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Patti Varol and Joyce Nichols Lewis

03/15/23

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

Release Date: Wednesday, March 15, 2023

ACROSS
1 Meal
7 Near mist?
10 Old PCs

populous city
15 “Blessed __ the 

offer

23 Windy City 
commuter org.

Margaret

singer Anita

residents

abbr.

username from, 
on social media

52 Areas that may 
be irritated by 
shirt tags

reproducing 
signatures
64 __ star

destination

DOWN

who calls Charlie 

4 Cathedral 
niches
5 Add interest

etc.

 

soap

tradition, and 

four longest 
answers literally 

treaty, perhaps

shout
43 Center

couple nights, say

49 Inherent 
character

 
greeting
55 Clueless

specialty

By Beth Rubin & Will Nediger
©2023 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
03/08/23

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Patti Varol and Joyce Nichols Lewis

03/08/23

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

Release Date: Wednesday, March 8, 2023

ACROSS
1 Roughly
5 Skin blemish
9 Poetic contraction
12 Inheritance 
recipients
14 Slurpee-like 
drinks
16 Astronaut 
Jemison
17 Parade with strict 
precision
19 Body shop fig.
20 __ Lanka
21 Conclusion
22 One providing 
misguided 
support
24 Milan opera 
house
26 Pull up stakes for 
one’s co.
27 Hint
30 Starbucks size
31 Gains a lap
32 “Stay right there!”
34 Fuel economy 
meas.
35 Tropical storm
36 More inclusive
40 See red?
41 Sorting factor in 
some directories
42 Blessing
44 British noble
45 “Saving Private 
Ryan” event
46 Medical pros
47 Opens, as a gift
49 Sound bite, e.g.
51 Sked info
52 April 15 payment
55 Original Beatle 
Sutcliffe
56 Metaphor for 
something that 
can’t be changed, 
and what’s found 
five times in this 
puzzle?
59 Keystone figure
60 Lofty nest
61 Shrub that may 
be toxic
62 Informer, maybe
63 Saxophone insert
64 Repair

DOWN
1 Electrical units
2 Caboose
3 Virtual assistant 
on Apple devices
4 Goblinlike fantasy 
creature

5 South Dakota 
national park 
known for its air 
currents
6 Rm. coolers
7 Share again, as 
a joke
8 “Ooo La La La” 
singer __ Marie
9 Brunch dish
10 Stands in a studio
11 Nostalgia-
inducing
13 “__ Butter Baby”: 
Ari Lennox/J. 
Cole song
15 Hydrotherapy spot
18 Not negotiable
23 Bandits
24 Live it up
25 Pub choice
27 Public health 
agcy.
28 Poet Mina or 
actress Myrna
29 Chapel Hill sch.
31 Ad
33 Like freshly cut 
lawns
34 Fred Flintstone’s 
boss
36 Raced (along)
37 Family man
38 Horvath of “The 
Rings of Power”

39 Marina del __, 
California
41 Bar code?
42 Cereal eater’s 
proof of purchase
43 Keep busy
44 Unabridged
46 Secretaries, e.g.
47 __ Peninsula: 
Michigan home 
of Yoopers
48 Cushions
50 Pretoria’s land: 
Abbr.

52 Umpire’s cry
53 Mathematician 
Turing
54 Randall 
Munroe’s 
webcomic of 
“romance, 
sarcasm, math, 
and language”
57 Two truths and 
a __: icebreaker 
game
58 Autumn flower, 
for short

’

“
’
”

’

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

14
15
16

17
18
19

20
21
22

23
24
25
26

27
28
29
30

31
32
33

34
35
36
37

38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45

46
47
48
49

50
51
52
53

54
55
56

57
58
59
60

61
62
63

64
65
66

Design by Abby Schreck

