I had a dream set during the Gerblins arc where Magnus kept trying to make awkward small talk and ask the others about themselves.
Taako was annoyed by it and sarcastically said “okay guys, how about we just stop the whole adventure and get to know each other better?”
Merle looked off into the distance and said “there used to be so much time for that.”
And the others were like “what” and Merle was like “what” and they shook it off and never mentioned it again.
And now because of that dream I have a headcanon that Merle “forgot his own last name, twice” Hitower Highchurch has a memory that’s already so full of holes and folds and blank spots that occasionally one of those holes works the other way around and he briefly has a thought like “this is worse than that mushroom planet” or “didn’t Magnus always used to wear red?” pass through his mind, only to immediately be forgotten again.
On rare occasions while the thought is in his head he’ll make an odd comment that others brush off and forget just as quickly.
And yes, he once called Taako Lup by mistake. Taako didn’t react and it didn’t stir any memories but later he looked down and realized he’d been clutching the handle of the Umbra Staff so tightly that the tiny raised pattern at the top had left a deep indentation in his hand.
I was re-listening to the Gerblins arc and at one point Merle says (to two people he’s supposed to have just recently met) “Can we talk? I feel like I don’t know you guys […] I just feel like we’ve grown apart.”
And obviously it was just goofing as is the case for 90% of the things that are foreshadowing in retrospect but that’s all I needed headcanon locked the fuck down.
Im 78% sure that when N03113 mentions liched Merle joked about being good friends with some liches
Merle’s brain: uselessly shouting vital information
just moving along like everyone else 