#Elephant Six

[calicoclovers]

the one book about the e6 that we had at my work for months and every time i walked by it i would go and read an interview with kevin barnes and giggle and kick my feet and then go to the cash registers.

[arcticfoxfacts]

The Elephant 6 Lost Release: E6-013 - The Clay Bears

Below the cut for more info!

Okay, well it was never released, only catalogued!

“The Clay Bears” was, per the Elephant 6 Instagram, an experimental noise band from Ruston, Louisiana featuring a rotating lineup of Elephant 6 musicians. They were “known for their unpredictable performances and room-clearing live shows.”

One of the more well known quotes about the band came from the Elephant 6 website, which used to read “Clay Bears - One of the big mysteries of the E6. Apparently a super-group of some sort from the Ruston-era. The band had a revolving door line-up which at some points included such people as Scott Spillane, Jeff Mangum & Will Westbrook. They are thanked in the liner notes of Neutral Milk Hotel's album On Avery Island.”

And they are thanked on the On Avery Island linear notes! Taken from my personal copy:

That quote is no longer on the website, but it is archived on NMH fansite neutralmilkhotel.org. That website also contains this snippet of information: "In a BBC interview in August 1998, Jeff mentioned the Clay Bears had a double album which was poised to be released. This never transpired, however. Ross Beach, a member of the band for a while, told me the following: 'As far as I know, the Clay Bears never had any official releases, though there were probably some 4-track cassette one-offs floating around Ruston in the early 90's. That was also a Jeff solo project, only noisier and more chaotic. The live version that I was in was purely an experimental noise improv band.'"

So based off this, we can assume that The Clay Bears was a project possibly spearheaded by Jeff Mangum and there may be demo tapes floating around the Elephant 6 sphere. The double LP Jeff mentioned is catalogued (but not listed in the database) as E6-013 on Discogs.

There is supposedly a clip of a Clay Bears concert on YouTube, but the video's since been privated. A Reddit post on r/Elephant6 asked about this clip (but got no replies). This redditor also did some digging, supposedly uncovering news from the 2006 Elephant 6 website about a DVD release with a Clay Bears snippet. Whether or not the supposed clip would be the one from the YouTube video is not known. The redditor further opines that the DVD was never released. Another redditor on a different post asked Jeff (because this was back when NMH were on their reunion tour) if Clay Bears would ever see the light of day, saying "it’s up to the people to decipher." The post itself speculates that the Clay Bears would appear on the Elephant 6 documentary. Admittedly, I haven't seen the doc, but I would assume it didn't end up appearing because there's seldom any discussion about the band or any resurfaced clip.

In another Reddit post, a user shows the University of Georgia media archive, which featured several Neutral Milk Hotel stuff in the Robert Schneider Collection of Elephant 6 Recording Co. Records. There is a Wayback link, but it's broken and while I can see the first recording is NMH instrumentals, I don't know what the second recording is. Apparently, the Clay Bears is somewhere in the archives, but the University of Georgia seems to have removed the collection and the Wayback Machine only archived the two aforementioned files. Although according to a commenter in the Reddit post, most of the links (including the Clay Bears) didn't work and would require going out to Georgia to listen to the physical tapes.

So that's about where the whole Clay Bears mystery stands. It's interesting how there's been multiple possible Clay Bears leaks, yet none of them seemed to survive. The Clay Bears is still listed as an Elephant 6 band under "The Collective + Extended Family" section of the website and there was an (aforementioned) Instagram post by the official Elephant 6 account last year.

Last thing, the image up at the top was posted by the Elephant 6 Instagram, but I don't really know what it is. They don't explain it and reverse image searching turns up nothing. It could be one of Jeff's demo tapes, but that's pure speculation on my part. I might try to contact them in the future for clarity, but I'm lazy and shy so I dunno.

Anyway, here's a few posters also posted by the Elephant 6 Instagram:

[toiletpapercosmos]

[cookieclickertutorials]

What if the apples in stereo were WOKE?

[caardamoom]

i cracked the code

[tweehearts]

yes. its one of their most famous songs. BUT! if this song doesnt make you giggle and do a cute little dance, there's something wrong with ya!!!

[amoebasareverysmall]

The Olivia Tremor Control - Green Typewriters X

[nataszaluiz]

Day 9: Tangles.

[swkbiggestdefender]

honestly in the end of day I can only fully blame wukong for one thing and it's keeping the samadhi fire in mei a secret witch he showed big regret for and immediately tried to fix it by putting himself in danger (a very sane thing to do) by fighting lbd alone he seems like he actively tried to fix his mistake and he did unlike alot of other characters in the show wukong isn't above admitting he's wrong when he's completely wrong and it looks like mei forgave him

But now let's talk about his other "mistakes" hurting his old friends you can completely justify all of them if you think about how complex the reasons were like macaque and wukong fight there isn't enough revealed but you can tell from what we have that wukong didn't even want to fight/hurt him it was macaque who wanted that the whole "macaque stop don't make me do this" and macaque just laughing make It seems as if macaque forced wukong hand somehow now I'm not saying wukong is innocent but macaque obviously isn't ether

Now I don't get why the whole brotherhood thing would make you think wukong was in the wrong like yeah sure they were friends (really awful ones) but they were also using the life out of the land and it's animals to keep their kingdom intact with it energy there were actual animal skeleton in that scene so you can't really argue that wukong and the pilgrims didn't do the right thing also you can't trust azure pov that was the entire point he twist stuff to convince himself that he was the hero that was his whole character

This might be a bit controversial of a take but like wukong wasn't wrong to imprison dbk under that mountain yeah sure dbk have a family but he was literally attacking the city and putting innocent people in danger at this point honestly what did he expect like in a moral stand you can't argue that wukong in the wrong dbk have a family yet he decided to do something beyond stupid and it back fired on him I don't really have much sympathy for him I do think wukong did kinda use imprisoning dbk as a way out that's way he left his staff behind in disappeared for centuries

Now I'm not saying wukong is innocent he definitely did alot of mistakes I know jttw i know he fuck up alot but I hate when people act as if his so called old friends weren't villains because they were in all these stations he was in the hero the only time he was fully in the wrong is to mei the others not so much

[dwsavideos]

With successful Broadway shows closing more and more frequently, it makes me wonder how long Hamilton would last on Broadway if it opened this year- or how long Back to the Future would’ve lasted if it opened in 2016. Makes ya think.

[arcticfoxfacts]

[rever-krd]

Hand practice with the brotherhood, because I wanted and I needed some sort of reference for the animatic.

[gallusrostromegalus]

In honor of the season, what are holidays like in the spirit world? Have they been infected by Christmas yet? I imagine they inherit some popular ones from the world of the living, but also the unique holidays of the afterlife must be wild.

You come to me, on the eve of the High Holiday of Halloween, and ask me about Christmas??

I'm kidding, you're asking about holidays in general but my unsuspecting Agnostic Ass just got jumpscared by Mariah Carey, and I'm sensitive. It's not the season. Not for another 48 hours at least. Do Not Violate The Sacred Treaty.

.

..

...

Anyway, this ended up in my drafts for a few days, so: Christianity has not really gotten a foothold in soul society, but via cultural osmosis "Xmas" has. Nobody in a Shinto afterlife believes in monotheism, but they love a holiday and a Saint is practically a Kami anyway, but.... It's "Xmas" because the holiday in no way remotely resembles Christmas as practiced in the living world.

---

Scene: 4th Division hospital, a few days after Rukia is rescued and Aizen departed for Las Noches:

"-CHAD!!" Ichigo bellows, almost falling in through the doorway of the hospital room, wheezing.

"I am very sure you are not supposed to be out of bed." Chad frowned, looking up from the copy of the history of soul society Captain Komamura had lent him to read while he recovered.

It was strange, to be in the care of the very people he had thought to be senseless killers not two weeks ago, but he was finding the Shinigami a generally agreeable lot. Even if the captain that controlled the hospital reminded him unpleasantly of a nun with her chaste dress, soft voice and understated but constant threat of violence.

"YOU NEED YO HEAR THIS-! He- hee-" Ichigo stumbled over to his bed and curled up on his side overcome with giggles.

"... I'm beginning to think I am incorrect." Sighed the pale-haired man at the door, frowning down at Ichigo.

"Jushiro Ukitake, I don't think I've had the pleasure of your acquaintance yet, Mr.-?" The man introduced himself and offered Chad a hand.

"Uh. Yasutora. Sado Yasutora. But everyone calls me Chad." He mumbled, cautiously shaking hands with the stranger. "You're um. You're Miss Rukia 's boss, right?"

"Yes! I believe you are her friend with the pet parakeet and good throwing arm, yes?" Ukitake beamed at him and Chad was suddenly struck by the idea that he'd seen Ukitake at a family reunion before - Impossible, obviously, but the man had the intense aura of a distant uncle. "Good show that, she loves being hurled at an opponent!"

"Oh. Thank you." Chad mumbled, Ichigo finally catching his breath. "...What are you incorrect about?"

"Christmas, apparently." Ukitake frowned, and Ichigo dissolved into snickering again. "He says you're something of an expert on the actual mythology, I only have third-hand accounts, you see-"

"No!" Gasped Ichigo, reaching over to tug at Mr. Ukitake's sleeve. "You gotta tell him!"

"I am Catholic, yes." Chad nodded. "-go on. It can't be less accurate than the version Dr. Kurosaki- Uh, Ichigo's dad- gave me last year."

"Yeah it can-" Ichigo wheezed.

"Well, ah- Christmas is a birthday celebration for an important religious figure, right?" Ukitake tried.

"Yep!" Chad nodded, giving Ukitake a thumbs up.

"The birth of Rudolph, the Star-nosed reindeer?" Ukitake tried.

Chad stared at him blankly for a moment, before his thumbs-up slowly wilted into a thumbs down and Ichigo vibrated silently with hysterics. Chad opened and closed his mouth a few times, hand waving, then covered his mouth, searching for words. Eventually he reached out and gently put his hand on the captain's shoulder to explain as delicately as possible-

"...No." Said Chad.

Ichigo rolled off the bed with a dull thud.

"-I am, however, fascinated." Chad elaborated. "Please continue."

"...I'm really sorry that I am this ignorant of your religious dogma." Ukitake winced.

"It's- don't worry about it. Tell me what you think happens on Rudolph's birthday." Chad said, sitting back and pressing his hands together.

"Well- oh, how does it start? Right- there's the Monks- Saints? that give out presents to well-behaved children during the winter holidays- Saint Claus, Saint Nicolas and Saint Kringle. And they're all very old men, and with good judgement about who does and does not deserve presents, so they're called the three wise men!"

Ichigo made a noise like a teakettle from the floor.

"Oh. Oh no." Chad giggled.

"And they travel the entire world giving out presents, but that's A Lot of houses and it was taking them longer and longer so they prayed to... I forget the name Catholics have for Amaterasu. Guadalupe?"

Chad made a noise not unlike a violently squeezing a rubber duck, and started to shake.

"-So they pray for some help getting all the presents to the children, and Whoever She Is says they're doing good deeds, but she wants to see if they're REALLY worthy of that kind of miracle, so she sends them on a journey to recover some lost holy treasures, and on the way each of the holy men wrestles with and tames a demon representing some vice or another-"

"-I. I think you've gotten the Star of Bethlehem mixed up with The Journey West." Chad realized, hands pressed together in front of his face.

"Yes that's right! She marks the direction they're supposed to be going with a bright star! So they go West, following the star! "-Ok the three wise men traveling from the east following a star part is, in fact, accurate. What's this about demons?"

"It's some sort of allegory about how all the Saints are virtues so the demons represent the vices people fall into around the holiday- Being punitive or penurious and ruining good things for others. They all had weird names-" Ukitake frowned.

"What's going on?" Captain Kyorauku asked, sticking his head in the door.

"You'll know!" Ukitake chirped with excitement. "-What are the three demons the saints conquer in the Christmas myth?"

"Krampus the Child-beater, Scrooge the Miser, and... Ah fuck I always mispronounce the last one. He's green and he sucks? The Goonch?" Shunsui frowned.

"THE GOONCH?" Ichigo shrieked from the floor.

"I. I think you mean The Grinch." Chad said, experiencing a brand new combination of horror, delight and fascination that felt like the emotional equivalent of a shrimp color.

"That's him! Oscar The Grinch!" Shunsui nodded. "Why, its only August? Also, what's Kurosaki doing on the floor?

"We are apparently very misninformed about the mythlogical origins of Christmas. This amuses Kurosaki to the point of hysterics." Ukitake explained, lightly nudging Ichigo aside with his foot and sitting on the foot of Chad's bed.

"Your version is so much better." Chad said, vibrating with excitement. "What are these treasures they're supposed to get?"

"Oh you had to ask- Shunsui love, you were the one that heard it all from Captain Kuchiki when he did his tour in the living world."

"Oh for fuckssake of course it's Byakuya-" Ichigo groaned from the floor, and Ukitake gently kicked him in the ribs to shush him.

"Uhhhh... Let's see-" Shunsui scratched at his beard."There's Eight Lost Treasures, they're all magical bells that give anyone who rings them supernatural abilities- there's the Bell of Speed, Bell of Grace, Bell of Balance, Bell of Cunning, Bell of... ah fuck. I always forget the two in the middle... -Oh! Bell of destination- not like fate, like, always being able to find your way to where you're going. Bell of Affection, Bell that gives power over wind and Bell that gives power over lighting!"

Chad blinked at him, then slowly crumpled into a ball.

"...Mr. Yasutora?" Ukitake asked, gently touching his shoulder.

"This is amazing. I love it. I'm going to die." he whimpered, voice high and tight as he struggled to breathe from laughing.

"We may have already lost Mr. Kurosaki." Shunsui muttered, poking Ichigo's shoulder with his toe. "Anyway, they conquer the demons, get all the magical bells and make it to the distant city, aand Amaterasu says 'Great job!" Ukitake continued, enthusiastic as they approached his favorite part. "-But she says 'Here's your final test: I'm going to give a special gift to one of these creatures, you tell me which is the most deserving of my favor.' and then she turns them loose in some kind of farm with talking animals. They're all good and noble animals that have done many brave deeds- dogs saved children from drowning, horse that ran across a battlefield to deliver a message that stopped a war and so on- eventually the saints find a brand new baby fawn with a bright red nose. Since it was born just that morning, it's never done anything of note, and the other animals don't really like it because it's red nose means its kind of sickly and it cant see well so they don't want to play with it."

"YES!" Chad cheered, making the connection.

"Oh, that part is right?" Ukitake perked up.

"Not even remotely, but it's amazing. They pick the fawn right?

"That's right! The saints tell Amaterasu that the Baby deer Rudolph is the one that deserves her blessing, because while all the animals here are noble and good, no good deed is better than another, and of all the animals, the sickly little deer is the one that really needs her help."

"Oh no." Ichigo whimpered from the floor. "That's actually like. genuinely heartwarming."

"Amaterasu applauds them, because they've made the right choice, and she gives the power of the star to the baby deer so it very literally glows like a headlight, and She turns the eight magical bells into a herd of deer that all have the powers the bells they were made from had, so Rudolph has a family and the three wise men have a team of nine magical deer to pull the flying sleigh she gives them, and then they are able to deliver all the presents to all the children of the world in one night, and they do it every year on Rudolph's birthday, because he was the first one to receive a proper Christmas present!" Ukitake finished, giving Chad an excitable two thumbs up.

Chad, slowly tipped forward, faintly hissing with silent laughter, then rolled off the bed to join Ichigo on the floor. Ukitake peered after him with concern, until chad slowly raised a weak, shaking hand up to give Ukitake a thumbs up back.

"-What I can't figure is how the bucket of fried chicken fits into all that?" Shunsui pondered, and the boys shrieked with laughter.

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Round Six: Championship

Sperm Whale vs African Forest Elephant

Arena: Arctic ice

Remember, it's not a popularity contest-- it's a fight to the death!

[stromuprisahat]

Love the notion that there's this tightly-knit group of elite, heavily xenophobic soldiers, who won't notice a mole right in their midst:

Who's barely old enough to be a fully-fledged member of their order.

Walks with a limp even though their members seem to be the perfect specimen of their nation.

Doesn't speak a word in Fjerdan.

All during the no. 1 event full of foreign visitors, therefore possible spies.

The most serious alarm just sounded, an explosion blew off a chunk of the inner castle and they've found a traitor kidnapping their most important secret asset.

But hey- I get it. Someone had to fix Helnik's total failure to act as soldiers mid-action, and save them from conveniently distractable losers in fancy uniforms...

[quitealotofsodapop]

Just imagining, in a world where Wukogn wasn't immediately trapped in the scroll of memory after Azure freed the rest of the Brotherhood, he'd have some things to say. I'm thinking TMKATI au post Wu is Wikong reveal

Wu: MK... who helped you get me out of there?

MK: Oh, this only friend of yours. Called himself the Azure Lion?

Wu, immediately going pale as a ghost: Azure Lion!? MK, please tell me you didn't listen to him or make any deals!

Pigsy: What? Why would it be such a big deal? He's your friend isn't he?

Wu: Azure is anything but a friend! He's the reason I was trapped on the Furnace and under the Mountain to begin with, him and his rebellion!

Tang: Uh, what? But all the stories say it was because of the Havoc you caused!

Wu: The Peach Festival I crashed and ruined was hardly important enough for Heaven to do what they did to me, even with the pills and immortal peaches and wine I had stolen. It was just the catalyst. I was still a cub back then, a stupid, reckless cub who was impressionable enough to trust the wrong person. And then Azure had left me to take the fall for the rebellion he had started! Whatever you do, don't trust Azure!

Tang, taking in the implications: ...I'll kill him.

+Bonus:

Even if Azure did not realise it himself, he had built Wukong up in his mind to be the matyr of the Rebellion. And when Wukong surrendered, rather than die for it, Azure became convinced it was a great betrayal.

There's even hints of Macaque recognising/suspecting this sort of manipulation all the way back during their carefree Brotherhood days. There's a split second in "New Adventures" just after Azure convinces the others to make Wukong the leader of the rebellion, when Macaque is clearly unhappy/thinking about the situation. The only reason he doesn't speak out then and there is because Wukong seemed so sure of it. We see a similar look again just before they head out on their first attack.

And of course there's the memory Tang wanders into in "Court of the Yellow Robed Demon" thats very telling;

Peng: "Wukong is a traitor! He'll end us the first chance he gets!" Yellowtusk: "Yes. The Stone Monkey is unpredictable. Now he's thrown his lot in with the Celestial Host, there's no telling where his true allegiances lie." Peng: "You're characteristically quiet, Macaque!" Macaque: "I just think we should consider all our options before we—" Peng: "What's to consider? Wukong's made his choice. I say we strike him down now while we have the chance!"

The Trio are discussing attacking Wukong for aligning himself with "the Celestial Host" [i.e helping Tripitaka on the Journey so he can do parole] - the memory taking place within Camel Ridge.

Macaque's reaction brings up a super interesting twist to the story told in JTTW. Was the whole plan of disguising himself as Wukong and taking the scriptures not his own? Did the other three or an unknown villain working in the background insist he do so? Did he do it to stall Wukong so that his best friend/mate did not fall into a trap from the rest of the Brotherhood? Did Macaque die trying to give Wukong another option less the Monkey King risk being captured or worse at the hands of his former sworn brothers?

Macaque recognised that *something* was super wrong in how the Brotherhood treated Wukong, especially how Azure directed the situation. But being the same, barely-a-cub, age Wukong was at the time, Macaque wasn't sure/confident enough to speak out about it.

And ofc this whole thing with the Brotherhood would come to a boil in the TMKATI au when Macaque and Wukong are having their Big Fight.

Wukong/Wu had long since recognised that Azure was grooming/manipulating him for the fall, but isn't sure why he tried attacking him afterwards. Macaque is a bit proud in a "I told you so"-way and says that Azure had expected Wukong to *die* in the war as a matyr rather than live as a prisoner.

Wukong: "Why didn't you say anything!?" Macaque: "I was as young and stupid as you were! I only wanted to see you happy!" Wukong: "Oh yeah! Like you did when you left me under that mountain!" Macaque: "You weren't exactly grateful for the company at the time." Wukong: "Uh, need I remind you that before I was imprisoned, I had just spent 49 days being broiled alive!? I wasn't exactly firing on all cylinders. You could have atleast tried to visit me after a few years!" Macaque, uncharastically quiet: "I wanted to..." Wukong: "Huh?" Macaque: (*goes silent and leaves the room*) Wukong: "Wait! Mihou! What do you mean "you wanted" to!?"

note: Tang is accidentally privy to this convo cus he was in the stairwell when it started and got nosey. Then he kinda gets kidnapped by a baby bull demon before he can ramble his discovery to Pigsy and/or Sandy.

Wu gives the clipnote version of events to the gang as he's trying The Big Stupid, and they are horrified. The Monkey King, one of the most infamous tricksters in folkore, was ultimately a groomed teenager at the time of his punishment! And the Macaque was in the same boat, just more cautious...

When things are said and done - Wukong and Macaque go out of their way to tell their kids to always be wary of powerful people who put you on a pedestal. Perhaps not delving into their personal history (they are Normal Demon Parents™ afterall), but using the story of the Monkey King and his Brotherhood as an aesop. The Monkey King had many friends who thought he should lead them, but they shrunk away for whatever reasons when he chose to live and not die in heaven.

MK thinks its the saddest "superhero backstory" ever.

So when S4 of TMKATI comes about and the memory curse gets loose...

Azure Lion: "Ah, Monkie Kid-" MK:

Legit the only reason Azure is able to get away unscathed is because he's the only one who knows how the Scroll works and MK and the rest of the babus want their parents back.

Red Son is on standby (fire ready) outside the Scroll in case Azure tries some sh-t. But of course that doesn't last long.

Tang, Pigsy, and Sandy: (*released from the scroll. Sees Azure Lion*) All three: "YOU."

Then again this is all with the idea that someone else was additionally pulling the strings to ensure the demons downfall...