#i'd actually love to see how people interpret these lines not knowing what the song is

[e-dragoons]

lyric writing prompts!

... one line from every song on my spotify wrapped, in order! if you can guess the song you get... a thumbs up from me. these are REALLY RANDOM.

you mean like, like, [name] with the ass?

feel like i'm hexed

i've been looking everywhere for you

i'm not the right one you should wait on

edamame

was it something i said to make you feel like you're a burden?

i wouldn't hesitate to smile while you suffocate and die

no quiero estar aquí (i do not want to be here)

when i'm far too gone, can you show me love?

you can be the beauty and i could be the monster

a king with no crown

we are not the same

you take the full truth, then you pour some out

i died in your arms tonight

there's two sides to every story

fell in love with a girl i met in hell

we're so good at selling lies

this ain't no place for no hero to call home

i'm not okay

back on my bullshit

could i be a prisoner for the voices in my brain?

i try to tell you what i think and play it off like it's a joke

your kiss and i will surrender

c'est la vie (that's life)

don't follow me, you'll end up in my arms

i was just an only child of the universe, and then i found you

so when are you gonna sing for me?

can't turn down, i refuse to hold back anymore

would you pray before you twist the knife?

my poor heart is my only friend

i wanna know if i tell you a secret, will you keep it?

thought you were mine, love

you are everything you hated

i thought i was a fool for no one, but ooh baby i'm a fool for you

whine about it

my sanctuary, you're holy to me

numb you up until you can't feel a god damn thing

i cannot erupt, i must control

blood cold as ice and a heart made of stone

were we ever friends?

what's the worst that i can say?

everything i would give is everything you couldn't take

i'm living for you

you see, love isn't what i need as long as i can set you free

you better run

i got dreams of my own, but i want to make yours come true

i would brave the darkest night to make you a promise

i could be a better boyfriend than him

hurt and grieve but don't suffer alone

we met before but nice to meet you

if this is how you folks make art, it's fucking depressing

secrets i have held in my heart are harder to hide than i thought

emptiness is safe, keep it that way

all i did was try my best, this the kind of thanks i get?

that's a red flag bitch, olé

my high hopes are getting low

if i only could i'd make a deal with god, and i'd get him to swap our places

nothing to say when everything gets in the way

everyone that tried to fix me knows that i can't change a bit

tell yourself it's never gonna happen again

you gotta be so cold to make it in this world

i'll follow you into the dark

a shot in the heart doesn't make it unbreak

you say you won't but then you do

burn everything you love, then burn the ashes

when life gives me lemons, i don't make lemonade. i use them to make you cry.

i can't do shit right, i can't learn my lesson

sometimes all i think about is you

i don't talk about it unless i make a joke about it

arrogant boy, love yourself so no one has to

i think she really likes me, ask politely, can i--ooh?

best friends, ex-friends till the end; better off as lovers, not the other way around

love your eyes when you would look at me

there's a story at the bottom of this bottle

i can keep secrets that i know that you want me

hurts but i know how to hide it, kinda like it

i will leave you out to bleed

self sabotage is an old friend of mine

maybe i'm too emotional, or maybe you never cared at all

i lose my voice when i look at you

but i guess good for you

come break some hearts now, tear them out

there's really just one thing that we have in common: neither of us will be missed

and if we can't find where we belong, we'll have to make it on our own

don't waste your time or time will waste you

and as i arrived i thought i saw you leaving

it's too cold for you here and now

i don't want to be afraid

all my style, all my grace, all i tried to save my face

let's get mischievous and polyamorous

you can think that you're in love when you're really just in pain

the world tried to burn all the mercy out of me, but you know i wouldn't let it

i really fucked it up this time. didn't i, my dear?

somebody get me through this nightmare

when i start to tumble from the sky, you remind me how to fly

if you want, i'll keep on crying

take a breath, let the rest come easy

i'd rather be lost than to stay the same

have you ever wanted to disappear?

just another girl alone at the bar

screwing everything up and doing everything wrong

[moodymisty]

Heyoooo- I have a request, but totally up to you if you want to do it! Have you listened to Padam Padam by Kylie Minogue? Anytime I hear it all I can think about is how Hunter can definitely hear readers heartbeat. I'd love to see your interpretation of a spicy moment between Hunter and Reader based off the song :3c

[ 𝕸𝖔𝖔𝖉𝖞𝕸𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖞'𝖘 𝕸𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖙 | 𝕬𝖔3 ]

Author's note: Hey, thanks for stopping by! So first off I love this idea, so I was super excited to write this one and got it done fast lol. Decided to do a sort of Hunter being a badass and reader going 'oh shit I'm horny' moment, since that was what came to mind when I had a listen. I hope that's ok! ^///^

Summary: Hunter notices that your heart beats a little faster whenever you see him fresh from the fight.

Relationships: Hunter/Fem!Reader

Warnings: NSFW, Oral (female receiving), Hunter using his bandana as a gag, armor kink, Competency kink, Maybe some semblance of voyeurism? there's people in the barracks next door

Word count: 2400 exactly

The training droids power down without any fanfare, and you watch as Clone Force 99 stands from the respective covers they'd just been using. Hunter gestures with a hand to form up on him, the lot of them take their leave.

He has point, all of them forming up slightly behind him fiddling with their weapons as Hunter rakes a hand over his messy hair; His other hand flicking the safety of his blaster on with his thumb before slotting it in his side holster.

His lips are slightly parted as he breathes- tired, but not exhausted. Even after raking a hand through his hair it's still a mess, but then again, when isn't it. Watching he reaches one of his arms behind his shoulders and stretches, his armor plates pulling apart and showing a bit more of his black body glove than usual.

You tug at the collar of your top.

He didn't miss even a single shot out there; between keeping his squad in line and everything else, he manages it all like nothing else you've seen. Sure you've known the 99's for a bit now, but that doesn't make it any less impressive.

His shoulders are more rigid now, back straighter, and he has this sort of energy about him that's far more intense than the Hunter you usually deal with. You know it's still him; But this Hunter just put holes in a couple dozen droids like it was a joke, and he was barely even trying.

You don't know how you should feel about the fact that you're ceaselessly aroused by it, judging by the throbbing in your cunt, but here you are.

Suddenly you hear the hiss of the door sliding open, and you almost jump right out of your shoes. Having been so deep in thought you didn't realize you'd been staring off into space, and during that time they'd actually left the training room. You quickly stand up a bit straighter, brush the front of your top, before smiling and waving their way. They didn't even know you were watching until just now, judging by their noticeable surprise.

"Fancy seeing you here!" Wrecker his adjusting the armor plate that wraps around his bicep, while your neck sinks into your shoulders for a moment as you shrug.

"I saw some non-regulation armor down there, and decided to watch for a bit."

You aren't lying, but it isn't to say you're being perfectly truthful either. You had only meant to watch for a moment, but found yourself being so distracted and before you knew it, they were finished.

"Hope you were impressed." Crosshair is adjusting the scope of his rifle and not even looking your way when he speaks. There's a particular bolt in the wall that looks really interesting, and you keep glancing at it while trying to swallow this gigantic knot stuck in your throat.

"Always am. You're the best in the business for a reason." Taking a moment to look away at that fascinating piece of the wall your eyes move towards Hunter, who clearly isn't paying much attention to your attempt at a conversation.

His eyes are glancing you up and down, and there's a tenseness to his face that doesn't make any sense. You haven't said anything particularly odd, until you realize:

Oh fuck, right; He can hear your heartbeat.

It must be absolutely hammering in his ears right now, a thump thump thump that sounds like it's going to burst right out of your ribcage.

"You guys go, I'll catch up."

Hunter gives a nonchalant wave of his hand, staying with you as they return to what you would assume will be their barracks for some downtime. After they turn down the hall and the both of your are well out of view he takes a few steps closer, but still maintaining a good buffer of air between the two of you given your location. The look in his eyes is darker than usual and makes you struggle not to smile like someone caught red-handed.

"You know I can hear you and smell you, right?" Busted.

A group of troopers walks by down the hall and you take one step back, watching them pass by before you step back closer to him. Now more than any time yet, you wish you were back on Coruscant. You're stationed on Kamino for the time being while in-between missions, and now you're one of the only nat-borns here. It's not like you can just take him back home to your apartment, given it's lightyears away. A shame.

"If I knew you watching me practice would make you drenched like this, I'd have invited you to watch earlier." He makes a gesture with a jerk of his head.

"Follow me."

You have a pretty good feeling where he's going to take you, and quite quickly you turn out to be right; As the door to the 99's barracks is plain in sight. You would've assumed that the rest of the Batch had gone back here, but when he uses the code to open the door and the room turns out empty, it seems they must've returned to the Marauder instead.

The moment you hear the metal of the door hit shut Hunter is on you, his lips on yours and hands on your waist. it's so intense and fast; He must've been holding it in ever since he picked up how much you wanted him to fuck you back in the hall. You can feel him pushing you in the direction of his bunk, confirmed by when the back of your calves hit the cold metal. In response you automatically move to sit, and Hunter follows you his hands pressing down into the mattress on either side of your thighs. He leans over you, pushing your body ever so slightly over you and continues to deepen your kiss; Feeling his tongue brush across your lip. You can't help but moan in his mouth, before he suddenly pulls it away with a soft wet pop.

His hands move off of the stiff mattress that serves as his bed and starts playing with the bottom of your top, pushing it up just enough to expose a bit of skin before you speak up.

"Hunter! There's troopers right on the other side-"

You can quite clearly hear what they're talking about, which doesn't bode well. It means that more than likely, they can just as easily hear you.

"Just have to be silent then." Hunter's first statement is stoic, but when he looks down at you, there's a bit of mirth in his eyes. "I'm sure you can do that." Normally Hunter is the one who has trouble staying quiet, given his senses have a tendency to overwhelm him. Not as if you mind, but it's a bit inconvenient in situations like this; Where you could easily get caught doing something that in Hunter's case, could end up getting him in a lot of trouble.

But when he kneels in front of you and begins reaching for the waistband of your pants, you quietly begin to realize why he specified just you, and blood begins rushing upward heating your neck and cheeks.

He helps you and assists with taking your trousers off, pulling them down until they hang over just one ankle. In doing so he catches one glimpse of your pussy between your thighs, before your legs rest against the bunk again.

You feel his hot breath brush across your thighs once they're open, the rough texture of his stubble scratching your skin. He grasps your hips and pulls you just a bit closer to the edge of the bunk, giving himself easier access as he spreads your thighs even farther apart. You instinctively attempt to close them, but his strong grip keeps them firmly in place.

"This scent never won't drive me fucking insane," Surely his heightened senses come with their share of downsides, but they aren't always in the way you would traditionally expect. Drifting up your thigh soon his lips brush against your outer folds, teasing you with his touch as your cunt clenches around nothing in the anticipation.

"Hunter..." You mumble in threat, but perhaps it's louder than you think with your blood pumping in your ears, as he shushes you.

"Quiet, beautiful. I don't wanna stop right yet." You know being in here doing this is playing with fire, so you purse your lips and your head lolls back. Your hands press into the mattress behind your hips trying to support yourself as Hunter's tongue traces along your pussy lips, teasing you even more so by giving one the softest little bite he can muster.

It's all so infuriating, so when he finally dives his tongue between your folds and his face presses even harder against you, it's impossible not to let out an overwhelmed gasp. He seems to know almost every single way to make your body shake, the blunted nails of his fingertips digging into your thighs. It's almost like he's drunk off of it, and maybe in a way he is, as you can barely see his face thanks to his mop of hair and how much he has his face dug between your legs. You can hear him moan against you, deep in his throat as his eyes flutter closed for a moment.

"Gods, Hunter- you're going to kill me-"

Pulling away for a moment and hearing the way his mouth makes a soft pop, he takes a quick breath before he quickly goes back for more; Lapping up the juices dripping from you as he moves to tease your clit. You purse your lips tight the moment those words leave your lips, trying to calm the racing of your heart just a bit more.

The bridge of his nose presses against you, as his tongue presses against you. Your hand grabs a fistful of his hair, fingertips brushing against the fabric of his bandana. It doesn't untie itself, but it's already shifting awkwardly on his head.

"Ah- Fuck!-" You gasp and instantly clap a hand over your mouth, realizing how incredibly loud that just was. Hunter jolted at it as well, both frozen as you listen to see if anyone heard it.

Thankfully, that doesn't seem to be the case. Though Hunter isn't going to take the risk again.

"If you can't manage be quiet, here-"

Hunter unties the bandana around his head, before suddenly reaching forward to tie it around your face like a makeshift gag. It's enough to significantly muffle any noise that comes from your throat, as your teeth sink right into it.

His head soon returns to between your legs, diving right into your cunt again. between his tongue circling your clit and the rough stubble of his chin scratching your skin, one of his hands comes up after he pulled his glove off out of view, gently toying with your entrance before slipping two fingers inside of you.

You have zero hope of stopping the way his fingers pull every single lewd noise imaginable, slopping wet as they curl inside of you. Every single thing you want to say goes flying through your mind, as even if you could say it, it would only end up by the worn piece of red fabric tied tight against your mouth. Meanwhile Hunter thrusts his fingers into you at a brutal pace, intent to make you cum against his face and giving no mercy.

It feels like your stomach is tightly wound twisting in knots, ankles crossing behind Hunter's head. He has your legs thrown over his shoulders, tugging you even closer to him and balancing you precariously on the edge of the bunk. It wasn't as if it was a large sleeping area to begin with, however.

You just need that little bit more, hand unconsciously tightening and pulling on Hunter's hair. He groans at the feeling, enjoying it as your hips press upwards towards his face. Your thighs tighten around his head, hand clamping over your mouth to avoid moaning out into the room.

He can feel you cum against his mouth, the soft velvet of your cunt tightening around his fingers. Your heart is absolutely pounding in his ears, racing like a speeder engine as your breaths are short, cut off pants. He takes a secret amount of joy in unraveling you like this, in such a short amount of time.

You now sit limp on the edge of his bunk, legs heavy and head still lolled back slightly. Hunter pulls his face away from your sloppy cunt, and you can see the slickness of the lower half of his face making it obvious what type of meal he enjoyed.

Gently reaching one of his hands under your knee he pulls your leg off of his shoulder, before he does the same to the other. He reaches forwards and unties the bandana from behind your head before tucking it into one of his pouches; It's wet with spit, he'll get one of his others for the time being. He has multiple spares hidden away, from whenever they get too dirty, or ruined from being singed or torn.

With the back of his un-gloved hand, he attempts to wipe away some your wetness that stains his face. He's going to be able to smell you on his face for hours now, no matter how many times he washes. In one way heaven for him, and in another way hell. A reminder, either way.

It's not as if he didn't enjoy himself, as he tugs the small exposed part of his body glove between his groinplate and thighplate to adjust himself.

He gets off of kneeling on the floor, and instead rests a knee on the edge of the bunk, watching you adjust your hair and your top that is a wrinkled, bunched mess. When he speaks he watches you look up at him dazed and flush faced, eyes still hooded and lips ever so slightly parted. Your heartbeat is still so loud in his ears, but he can listen to it slowly fade away to a more relaxed pace.

"We have live combat training tomorrow as well," He says so out of the blue, until you suddenly realize why he mentioned it, and purse your lips.

"Consider me there."

[richie-shitlips]

darling can you please tell me about My High School Sweetheart. i am so normal about Sweetheart.

yes definitely absolutely

i feel like i've told you a lot of this but shhhhh no i haven't

as you know i see the show as marvin telling his story to whizzer (which i haven't actually said in these posts yet! just hasn't been necessary, but this is the one i have the biggest evidence for actually)

but it starts out in sweethearts perspective! marvin has trouble figuring out what's real and not throughout the musical (i'll make a different post explaining why i think he's schizophrenic at a later date) so the repetition of "i'm a person" is sorta a mantra for him. and in the process, he forgets that other people are real too (*cough* npd *cough*)

this whole song is confusing cause i also get the boys in the band vibes from the first verse ("Michael, you are a real person" "Thank you, and fuck you!") but that doesn't fit anywhere else in the analysis so it's going here

"i want to hold him, but he's not alive" is a line only in the 1985 version, and i think it's foreshadowing for I Feel Him Slipping Away! but also it just ties into the general metaphor of love and death in in trousers :)

"i say a person has her wants and needs, i'm not a greedy person! he says i'm just ridickalous!" i'd assume this is marvin calling her greedy for wanting/needing affection and love from him

"put me onto your bed, not a pedestal" is just a really good line in general but like. she's still saying to treat her like a person. even in bed, don't worship her, she'd be happy with just being treated decently. it's really fucking sad

then we meet miss goldberg for the first time in the show, and wow what a way to introduce a character! you get high expectations of her and also jealousy from sweetheart and also makes you wonder just what her relationship with marvin is?

"she gave me words to say" could mean just lines in the play, but i also see it as her telling him to lie about what happened between them. if you're new here, i see miss goldberg as a groomer, and i'll talk more about that if you ask me about set those sails or the r of miss goldberg...

unrelated but i like to think that marvin's moms name was nina and that's why he gets so happy about the boats! (in the dialogue. for fans of only the 1979 version, it goes as such: "Queen Isabella, as you recall, had three ships: The Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. The Santa Maria being the best looking of the three, lots of gold and carved wood. Even the Pinta had its admirers. But it was the Nina Christopher was fondest of- for it was named after his mother, Nina Columbus!" which is a blatant lie but shh he's infodumping)

another interpretation of that dialogue is that it's a metaphor for the ladies, as in the trinity college production he gestures to wife, sweetheart, and goldberg respectively as he talks. which says that he sees goldberg in a sort of maternal way at first, which is really sad

then, after goldberg sings her part, marvin repeats it with her, which is what i say him telling whizzer about. bragging about what a good actor he was and such "i love the way marvin acts, i do"

the second dialogue is interesting cause goldberg is compared to isabella in a way, and marvin is obviously columbus, which implies that there was something romantic or sexual between them (which there was, no matter how you look at it)

[wingsoverlagos]

Lewisohn vs. Wenner Pt. 2 of 2

Part 1 // More Tune In analysis

You probably know the drill by now: I'm looking at the quotes from Tune In against the source Mark Lewisohn gives for them, and seeing if they're faithfully reproduced. This post deals with the multi-source Frankenquotes that are partly attributed to Jann Wenner's interviews. Five of the quotes here are from the infamous Lennon Remembers interview, with a sixth from a separate interview for Rolling Stone. Lewisohn combines John's words from these interviews with a myriad of other sources: a televised interview of John by Jean-François Vallée (1975), Hunter Davies’ The Beatles (1968), an interview/cohosting spot on The Mike Douglas Show (1972), and an interview with Lisa Robinson for Hit Parader (1975).

Before I get into it, I wanted to take a moment to discuss how I ‘grade’ Lewisohn’s quotes based on the type of source he cites. If Lewisohn is using a recorded interview, there’s some wiggle room in things like punctuation and word stress. When transcribing the same interview, two people might listen to the same phrase and come away with slightly different versions, e.g. “My favorite color was blue, but that changed after the accident in the paint factory,” vs. “My favorite color was blue. But that changed after the accident in the paint factory.” Both of those could be correct interpretations of the same recorded audio, so I can’t fault Lewisohn for changes along those lines when he’s working from an audio source.

There isn’t the same wiggle room when working from text. If I pull a quote from a book, and the book reads, “Now, I love green. It’s so lush,” I can’t change that to, “Now I love green; it’s so lush.” I’m not actually quoting the person who said those words originally—I’m quoting the transcribed and published version of what that person said.

I've taken this into account with these Frankenquotes. If there are punctuation differences between Tune In and the printed version of Lennon Remembers pictured here, I haven’t made note of them. Those same differences in a quote pulled from Davies’ The Beatles will be noted, since Lewisohn is quoting the printed source and not an original audio tape. This becomes a bit confusing when a single “quote” is compiled from different sources, and the bits from one source are graded on a different rubric than the other, but such is the thrill of fact-checking Mark Lewisohn!

Citations at the end. Time stamps refer to this upload of the Lennon Remembers interview.

Tune In 4-12 vs. Wenner p.76 (2:14:41), 18 (36:24)  + Vallée Interview

I haven't been able to track down the source for the middle section of this Frankenquote (it’s from an interview by Jean-François Vallée for the French TV Series Un jour futur, in the episode “Il était une fois: John Lennon.”), nor did I find the first sentence of the third part of the quote. It isn’t in the printed version of Lennon Remembers, and it doesn’t appear before the final sentence in the audio, though perhaps it’s elsewhere on the tape.

This has several classic Lewisohn offenses: stitching together multiple sources, combining distinct sections of a single source into one quote, and phrases omitted without ellipses. I've noted these on the images above.

What I'd like to bang on about is Lewisohn's choice not to clarify who John is referencing at the start of the quote--the "somebody" discussing black music and white bodies. In the original interview, John credits it to either "Michael X or Eldridge Cleaver" (Lennon Remembers gives this as Malcolm X, but it's clearly Michael X on the tape--see end of post for some background on Michael X and Lennon). It's common practice by many authors to clarify ambiguous references like this; Mark Lewisohn even does it in Tune In. He mostly does this in the endnotes (e.g. P-4, 2-22), but he uses a footnote to clarify a song lyric he himself uses in the prose of Chapter 4 (see footnote 4-c). Lewisohn not only fails to clarify who John is referencing here, he does not quote John's attempted attribution.

But maybe this falls under Lewisohn's inconsistent policy of not referencing the future. Still, even without naming the black activist who John references here, this quote is not a reflection of John's mindset in his adolescence: he wasn't sitting at a Quarry Bank chum's house in 1956, thinking "gee, thank goodness this black music has reconnected me with my middle-class white body!" The use of the above quote is foresight in and of itself, so why not credit the person who originated that line of thinking? Are Lewisohn's footnotes only for pronunciation guides and details of how demonstrably effeminate certain Beatles' relations were? For someone proclaiming their book a "social history", it's a bit of an oversight.

It's Eldridge Cleaver, by the way, in his prison memoir Soul on Ice (1968). It's in the chapter titled "Convalescence," in a discussion about the Beatles and white rock 'n' roll. Be forewarned if you seek it out, that section is also heavily homophobic.

Tune In 6-7 vs. Wenner p.133 (3:53:54) + Davies p.33

Hunter Davies did not record his interviews with the Beatles, as described in the introduction to the 2009 edition (p.lxiii): “I also wish now that I’d used a tape recorder. I never have done, which is silly.” Since we know Lewisohn was working with Davies’ written word, he was not at liberty to make changes like the one we see here: Davies starts a new sentence at the word “But”, which Lewisohn combines with the preceding sentence. There are changes like this throughout the quotes pulled from Davies’ work, but that’s a matter for a later post.

The other change Lewisohn makes here is more consequential. When discussing how Paul came to join the Quarrymen, John says, “That decision was to let Paul in.” Lewisohn gives the quote as “[my] decision was to let Paul in.”

Perhaps you’re thinking, “He’s used brackets! It’s fine!”, but I disagree. Brackets can be used when changing the tense of a quote, or when changing a word to clarify the meaning of a quote, so long as doing so doesn’t change the meaning. Clarification isn’t necessary here: the quote, as stated by Lennon, would make sense in the context Lewisohn provides. There’s no confusion about what decision John is discussing here.

But this change isn’t simply superfluous—it actually changes the meaning of the quote in a way that’s only clear if we look at the source. Here’s what immediately precedes the quote:

“I met Paul, and I made a decision whether to—and he made a decision too—whether to have him in the group or not.” Emphasis mine.

So John is not talking strictly about his decision, he’s talking about Paul and his mutual decision to work together. Without this context, even without the change from “that” to “my”, John seems to be discussing his own decision. Lewisohn’s change is completely unnecessary to get across his point. It’s as if he made this change specifically to push back against John Lennon’s assertion that a young Paul McCartney had autonomy and didn’t simply exist to satisfy John’s whims.

Tune In 8-4 vs. Wenner p.133-4 (3:54:42) + Davies p.44-5

Color-coded to show the absolute chopped salad Lewisohn made of these two sources.

Also of note is Lewisohn’s follow-up to this quote, “Despite this frank if uncharitable purge of his feelings….” Lewisohn does this elsewhere (notably with John’s quote about hitting women): he follows up a self-critical quote from John with an authorial “Aw, don’t be so hard on yourself, buddy!” It’s unnecessary.

Tune In 8-28 vs. Wenner p.140 + The Mike Douglas Show

Lennon: He’s the greatest rock ‘n’ roll poet, and I really admire him. Douglas: Do you feel the same today as you did years ago in Liverpool about rock? Lennon: When I hear rock, good rock, of the caliber of Chuck Berry, I just fall apart and I have no other interest in life. Y’know, the world could be ending if rock ‘n’ roll’s playing, y’know. It’s a disease of mine.

I wasn’t able to find this quote in the interview audio, but I’m sure its there somewhere. I used Lennon Remembers as a guide to find the correct location of a certain segment in the 4+ hour audio, and it is apparent that certain parts of Lennon Remembers have been reordered.

I transcribed this section of the Mike Douglas Show from a video posted on the Shanghai-based streaming app BiliBili - see link in my source list.

Lewisohn uses an ellipsis to indicate a transition between two totally different sources here but does not use an ellipsis to indicate the phrases he left out of the Wenner interview. There are several small changes to the quote from the Mike Douglas show as well, but the meaning is retained.

Tune In 22-78 vs. Robinson 1975 + Wenner p.122 (1:33:20)

The first source here is Lisa Robinson’s 1975 interview with John for Hit Parader. You can find a version of this interview here. Note the lack of ellipsis between the purple and pink sections, despite the lengthy omission between them.

Lewisohn does use an ellipsis in the Wenner-derived portion of this quote, but he doesn’t place it correctly. The omission occurs between “and” and “Brian”, not between the rest of the quote and “and Brian.”

It wouldn’t make sense to include Allen Klein and Yoko Ono in this quote as it appears in Tune In, since they won’t appear until much later in the series, but I do wonder if presenting the quote without their names truly preserves the quote’s meaning. However you feel about them personally, Allen Klein and Yoko Ono are two of the most controversial figures in Beatles’ history. Within a few years of this interview, John would be on the outs with Allen Klein. John describes himself as someone who “make[s] a lot of mistakes character-wise”, and goes on to list three examples of his good judgments. Two of those are Allen and Yoko. Is it intellectually honest to delete those two names from the list and present Brian as the one example of John’s character judgment?

And our final Wenner Frankenquote. This one isn’t from Lennon Remembers, but from a 1970 Rolling Stone article titled “The Beatles: One Guy Standing There, Shouting ‘I’m Leaving’.”

Tune In 22-72 vs. Wenner 1970 + Robinson 1975

This one is audacious enough to warrant its own post—and we’re in luck! I defer to @mythserene's post for proper analysis. You can also find this one discussed in @anotherkindofmindpod's "Fine Tuning: Ep 7 Spanner in the Works."

In brief, in the ‘quote’ lifted from Wenner’s interview, John is using “Epstein” as a stand-in for Klein. John’s not saying “Three of us chose Epstein”—he’s saying “Three of us chose Klein, throw aside your assumptions about him for a minute.” It’s not the sort of quote you can divorce from its context if you have any credibility.

Some Context on Michael X and John Lennon:

Michael X (a.k.a. Michael Abdul Malik, born Michael de Freitas) was born in Trinidad and became a prominent member of the black Power movement in 1960s London. Lennon met Michael X early in 1970 and became a devoted supporter and advocate until Malik’s death in 1975 (Wiener 1991, p.115-123). Here’s a brief rundown of their involvement:

Since you’re the sort of person who reads citation-by-citation analyses of Beatles books, you have probably seen pictures from early 1970 of John and Yoko sporting matching pixie cuts. In January 1970, John and Yoko shaved their heads (as a publicity stunt, I assume?), and kept their shorn hair in a bag. This bag of hair was the centerpiece for their first public interaction with Michael X: in February 1970, Lennon and Ono gave Malik their bag of hair, and he gave them a pair of Muhammad Ali’s shorts. The press was very much present, but they failed to make headlines (Doggett 118). The hair was supposed to be auctioned off at Sotheby’s to support Malik’s Black House, but this fell through (see Lennon on The Dick Cavett show here.) Pictures of the event can be seen at The Beatles Bible.

Malik fled London for his native Trinidad when legal issues loomed in 1971. He started a commune there, which John visited in April of the same year. In 1972, the bodies of Joseph Skerritt and Gale Benson were found on the commune (Weiner 1991, p.118). Malik was convicted of ordering the killing of Skerritt and would be hanged for that crime in 1975 (NYT 1975 May 17).

Malik may or may not have ordered Skerritt’s murder, but regardless, he did not have a fair trial. John and Yoko campaigned from the time of his conviction up until his death for clemency, without result (Weiner 1991, p.119-123).

Sources:

Cavett D [host]. 1971 Sept 11. Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. The Dick Cavett Show. Accessed online on 2024 Feb 23. Available from: https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/7kXCnKfdGOY.

Cleaver E. 1968. Soul on Ice. New York (NY): Dell Publishing Co., Inc. 210p. Accessed online. Available from: https://archive.org/details/soul-on-ice-by-eldridge-cleaver/

Davies H. 1968. 2009 Edition. The Beatles. New York (NY): W.W. Norton & Company. 408p.

Doggett P. 2009. You Never Give Me Your Money: The Beatles After the Breakup. New York (NY): HarperCollins. 390p.

Douglas M [host]. 1972 Feb 16. Season 11 Episode 123. The Mike Douglas Show with John Lennon & Yoko Ono. Accessed online 2024 Feb 23. Available from: https://b23.tv/mQMUDg9

Militant Is Hanged by Trinidad After Long Fight for Clemency. 1975 May 17. New York Times.[Internet] [cited 2024 Feb 24]. Available from: https://www.nytimes.com/1975/05/17/archives/militant-is-hanged-by-trinidad-after-long-fight-for-clemency.html

Robinson L. 1975 Dec. Interview with John Lennon. Hit Parader. Accessed Online from www.beatlesinterviews.org. Available from: https://web.archive.org/web/20230409044146/https://www.beatlesinterviews.org/db1975.1200.beatles.html

Wenner JS. 1970 May 14. The Beatles: One Guy Standing There, Shouting ‘I’m Leaving’. Rolling Stone. Accessed online. Available from: https://web.archive.org/web/20231017203039/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/the-beatles-one-guy-standing-there-shouting-im-leaving-43403/2/

Wenner JS. 1970. 1970 12 08 John Lennon Interview, Rolling STones Lennon Remembers, Complete Unedited [video]. Youtube. 2022 Apr 18, 4:26:50. Accessed 2024 Feb 18. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YelhzUbrCE

Wenner JS. 1971. 2000 ed. Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Lennon Remembers. London: Verso. 151p. Accessed online. Available from: https://archive.org/details/lennonremembers00lenn_0/

Wiener J. 1984. 1991 Illini Books ed. Come Together: John Lennon In His Time. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. 379 p. Accessed online. Available from: https://archive.org/details/cometogetherjohn00jonw/

[sarabencze]

I saw a lot of discourse around Seventeen using AI in their comeback trailer, and I thought I'd share my take on it.

If you're interested, keep reading, it's a lot 😅

Also, please excuse any grammar mistakes, it's almost 2 am lmao

BUT once I watched the teaser as a whole a few more times and slowed it down to really look at each scene, I'd like to think that I understood the artistic vision behind it.

So, do I like them using AI? I don't know, not really if I'm being honest. I'm not a big fan of people using AI for commercial purposes, so I was a bit thrown off at first.

From my interpretation, it's their way of saying how much AI harms the arts.

First of all, let me bring out the line in the very beginning of the video that goes

"In our current reality where anything can be created with AI, who's the real maestro?"

It kind of highlights the fact to me that with music creation becoming more and more "accessible" to people - even those who have literally zero musical sensibility - with the help of AI, being "good" at creating music slowly loses its uniqueness and creditability. People won't look up to others who are good at writing lyrics or creating beats and they won't "idolise" them because they can have it with just a click of a button. It highlights that if we keep going down the route of using AI to create music, people could get credited with little to no music skills, and those who are actually skilled could lose their jobs.

It would also be hard to tell if the songs are actually created by living-breathing musicians with the help of human minds and emotions, or they're just a cheap AI copy that STEALS and uses already existing pieces of art to create something else.

Next, I'd like to talk about the trailer itself.

If you slow down the trailer to the slowest setting and just pay attention to the video, you can see a scene for a fraction of a second where Hoshi is kneeling with his hands tied in the middle of a bunch of robot looking soldiers(?) with their rifles pointed at him.

It's just one scene I distinctly remember, but most of the cuts looked like they were all somehow "controlled" by various types of electronic devices(?).

There are also AI created scenes in between some actual scenes of the guys themselves showcasing robots making music, also somewhat symbolising that people creating music with AI is just like as if it was robots creating it and it has zero human emotions involved whatsoever.

I also saw people saying that "since they used AI, they could've used something better quality so it doesn't look this ass" and all I can say to that is I think that was part of the point they're trying to make?

Like it's kind of symbolising that AI can never truly be as good as a piece of art created from human emotions BY a human? Idk that's just my opinion honestly.

In conclusion, all I can say is that I hope they only used AI for this one trailer alone, or like we'd only get a few seconds of AI in the MV AT MAX.

I'm not really fond of the idea of AI being used for commercial purposes, so I hope they only used it just for this one trailer to make a point.

I mean, we've seen many K-pop groups have trailers to music videos that had literally nothing to do with what was in the actual music video, so I'm hoping it's one of those cases.

I hope it's like a "prologue" to set the scene/tone for the MV itself.

Anyways, if anyone read the whole thing, thank you, I really appreciate you.

I'd also love to hear your thoughts in the comments/reblogs, it's an interesting topic to talk about.

I might also follow up with some new thoughts in a reblog if I remember something else.

[kiawren]

Hi... Im no legitimate poet or anything...Was listening to these deft.ones songs and started writing something about kiawren on the bus home

This is so self indulgent I'm sorry.. idk if you can understand my abstract writing and it's okay if you don't 😭😭

For anyone that bothers... I'll try to explain the poem but you can interpret it how you'd like :))

These are some of the lyrics inspiring it (romantic dreams, diamond eyes, sextape)

The title—I was thinking that the only constant of his between real life and my self insert world is his name, I can say it here just the same as I can there, everything else about him otherwise isn't real.. Hence the two realms, and the inspiration from the lyric "I'm hypnotized by your name" (more to add to this towards the end of the poem!)

The Vermillion bird (basically a phoenix) is from Chinese myth, I think it represents both of us becuz fire and bird.

'Take me one more time/Take me one last wave/Take me one last ride' is from Sextape, I heard it as I started typing the poem, so I just added it in hehhee .... for 'wave', I often think about us sitting in Wela volcano park overlooking the ocean together. It's vast and beautiful. For 'ride', I also like to imagine us going for rides on char.izard together.

'rilles' are from volcanic flows on the moon, with i learnt when Googling while writing this. Actually I thought they were for normal volcanoes too, before I googled again when typing this, well they're only on the moon, lol that gives another meaning (kiawren sun/moon dynamic loll). The rilles here are in my veins cuz he just has that impact on me☺️

There's stuff like 'burning a visage on skin', 'place my tongue where you blaze' 'bleed the sea whole' cuz that's what people would typically do for their lovers you know. (/sarcasm) I just mean I would go to such lengths for him.

Synonyms of red—cherry, ruby, cardinal, in a way those lines are getting more intense.. The plush of youth (our young love and its dreaminess) and the clush of rubies, then cardinal in my head also alludes biblically like 'cardinal sin' that's why I wrote 'cardinal hell', the red becomes so red! And yes more on the hell later.

Clush is also a song by Isles & Glaciers that makes me think of kiawren so I added that word :)

'rose-cauterized eyes' — I like the phrase 'rose-tinted eyes', took a different way here with the cauterization, something more graphic like those other stuff I had up there, I feel like if you'd cauterize eyes you'd see through foggy, patched-over, maybe painful vision. But if you cauterize with roses... There's also layer of romanticism.

'meteors-heavy stubborn blue sky'... When I listen to 'diamonds reign across the sky' in the song diamond eyes I think is us watching miniors together (a poke.mon that's basically a meteor). Hmm, it's hard to explain it, but the red-rose overworld downturning into stubborn blue sky kinda has the feeling of the worlds and skies turning and colliding, and the red/blue kiawren you know... like a merger, something dynamic and disorienting... Anyway it kinda leads into the last part too!!!

'My heart' —yes it's both my literal heart going up in flames when I love him and also him, becuz this is also my term of endearment for him. And he burns in his passion. He burns brighter than I ever can.

Ok last part that Im excited to type out

While a mythical being all proud and overbearing yet unhelpful in the alluded Nirvana, and 'romantic' people look up to this fictional mythical heaven-ruler (they're idealistic hence the word romantic, also that this 'romance' is more insincere),,,,,,

I have independently travelled inside the Earth to unite with my Kiawe!!!!! Orpheus and Eurydice!!!!!!!! I am Orpheus for real.....i'd cave so hard.

Last two lines are interesting becuz I 'see my baby', but Orpheus doesn't get to see Eurydice..... Meanwhile don't 'turn back to a blue sky', I reject the reality of a blue sky, like how the red overworld downturns into it earlier, for the fantasy of a red realm with my loveeee... Instead of not being able to turn to 'Eurydice' which here is Kiawe!!!!!, I *can* see him!!!! instead I do not face a reality, and I succeed in uniting with him away from it.

Also I've been wanting include the Vermillion bird in writing for kiawren. Didn't expect to be hating on it in the poem LOL

[drugstore-love]

The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived

so many people, including those who say they are fans dislike TTPD and refer to it as lazy but I find it to be some of Taylor's best work. I appreciate the metaphors and how vulnerable she is with the narrative. She's not hiding; it's poetry. It's about emotion and the musicality really does come second.

Here's my song by song break down of things that I enjoy (and don't like) about the album for my own future reference so that I do not cave into peer pressure and start to hate the album on principle. Here are my personal interpretations and what the songs mean for me.

In no particular order The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived:

I think people keep calling this album lazy because it's really about the ending of relationships and the changes that you go through personally when a relationship end. They may be different relationships but I think people wanted a narrative change and that's not really what most albums are about?? Like unless they are complete capitalist ploys (which.......I digress) and Taylor now has the fanbase and the freedom to write whatever she wants, so this album, to me, was therapy.

Anyway, this song is when you see a completely different perspective of a person and your relationship once said relationship is over. I hate the production on this song and I'm usually an Aaron girly but the drums and strings feel forced and while I appreciate them for production value within the Eras tour they felt jarring and misplaced during the album listen. I think that they were went to convey emotion and raise the listeners blood pressure so they also felt agitated with the subject but the way they fade out with the song leaves a lot to be desired and kind of feels like the author is fizzling out during what, lyrically, can be argued as the most empowering part of the song. They succeed in capturing the audience's attention after the lullaby nature of the rest of the song but honestly are a distraction from the lyrics. However, I love the piano, especially at the beginning where it's almost a staccato, until the notes are played rhythmically together, it truly feels like poetry set to music. Lyrically, I find this song to be one of the most honest and telling. It feels like a letter one would write to their former partner with no intention of ever actually giving to them.

Was any of it true?

Gazing at me starry-eyed

In your Jehovah's Witness suit

Who the fuck was that guy?

You tried to buy some pills

From a friend of friends of mine

They just ghosted you

Now you know what it feels like

It feels like you were playing me this whole time. All the shit you said, the way you looked at me, fuck even the way you dressed. I thought that I got to see the real you, I trusted you, I believed you and the way you left reinforced what everyone else told me about you that I wrote off as untrue. (Insert vampire by Olivia Rodrigo)

Also appreciate the dig about this person being addicted to drugs because I interpret that line as "Oh you got ignored when it came to something important that you love? Karma, because I loved you and you ignored me"

And I don't even want you back, I just want to know

If rusting my sparkling summer was the goal

And I don't miss what we had, but could someone give

A message to the smallest man who ever lived?

All the effort that was put into wooing the author and winning them over and learning them and "loving" them. It feels like everything was a game, a joke, a plot in a rom-com that the protagonist was too dumb to figure out at the time.

I could never go back to what we were and if I thought you'd listen openly and respond honestly I'd ask questions, but mostly I'd ask why

You hung me on your wall

Stabbed me with your push pins

In public, showed me off

Then sank in stoned oblivion

'Cause once your queen had come

You treat her like an also-ran

You didn't measure up

In any measure of a man

You made me feel like the prize but once you had me you treated me like shit behind closed doors. You made me feel like your insecurities were my fault but it was your choice to stop considering me once you had me. You promised me better than my ex and then didn't fulfill that promise and made it my fault.

And I don't even want you back, I just want to know

If rusting my sparkling summer was the goal

And I don't miss what we had, but could someone give

A message to the smallest man who ever lived?

This bridge is pure poetry.

Were you sent by someone who wanted me dead?

Did you sleep with a gun underneath our bed?

What was real? Were you just waiting for me to let my guard down?

Were you writing a book? Were you a sleeper cell spy?

What were your motivations? This is almost begging for clarification

In fifty years, will all this be declassified?

And you'll confess why you did it

And I'll say, "Good riddance"

'Cause it wasn't sexy once it wasn't forbidden

The only rationale I can think of is you got bored and I know I'll be better off without this but even 50 years from now, even when I don't care anymore I'll still read your reasons. Once again reiterating that I only wanted what you promised before we were actually together and once I was yours, it wasn't worth it to you

I would've died for your sins

Instead, I just died inside

I would've done anything for you, and you're the one who stabbed me

And you deserve prison, but you won't get time

You'll slide into inboxes and slip through the bars

The way you made me feel should be illegal but instead you'll continue on as you did before

(really driving in the feeling of inadequacy one can make you feel, especially when you're a person who people idolize and then are disappointed in when they meet the real you. this is exactly what happened here, taking out speculation what's discussed in the song is: before we got together you praised and complimented and lusted after me and once I gave my actual self to you and opened up it wasn't what you wanted and that is detrimental to one's self esteem)

You crashed my party and your rental car

Never having to take accountability for your actions, you ruined good things for both of us

You said normal girls were boring

But you were gone by the morning

You said I was what you wanted, that I was different and as soon as I gave in, you left (giving into the discord:this is exactly how H describes Matty so..)

You kicked out the stage lights

But you're still performing

You ended this, you wrecked us and yet you're still lying you're still placating and manipulating me trying to save your own skin

And in plain sight you hid

But you are what you did

You never disagreed with the rumors but you really had me fooled about who you were. However, at the end of the day actions speak louder and when a person shows you who they are you should believe them. I always should have known who you are

And I'll forget you, but I'll never forgive

The smallest man who ever lived

I'm gonna move on, I'm gonna grow, I'm going to be happy but it's for me and I'll never forget the way you treated me.

[rockwgooglyeyes]

(I think I'm kinda asking too much, but it's very fun talking with you!!! Or at the very least reading what you say!!!)

I love it when you can like. Semi dissect characters by a few words, and stuff. So- uhm. The song The Court Jester, and having that with Flor. How do you think it fits her? (General clown/jester vibe is ofc one of them, but I think the lyrics can be interpreted in many ways and I'd like to see yours!)

Ohhhh I like this . . . also don't worry, I have fun talking with you too! I'm just a little slow today haha. Thank you so much for the compliment by the way analysis is immensely fun for me so the fact that you say I do it well is so flattering, Kellie! Oh and the song is the one with Fukase, right?

It might be horrible but I kind of can't help but associate "the king" character in the song with Rosca and her princess attitude combined with her princess airs. Not only that, but the unwillingness to let go, the clinging onto relics of the past and vestiges of an old world that is no longer relevant, that feels very Rosca to me. Also the "a world you have tainted with your sin" line feels like Rosca because out of Florosca's relationship, Rosca seems to be the more problematic one. Also "but in my time away, you've ended up alone" really hammers home how Flor is one of the only people who Rosca actually cares about.

Of course, the jester role is taken by Flor, the lilting vocals, the vaguely menacing air combined with the consoling words that have a hint of condescension in them. I don't really think of Flor as condescending but at the same time, she can present herself in a very jovial, surface level way as if she doesn't have any idea what's going on, while in reality she knows more than a lot of others do. Why else would she create her own clothing with veiled symbolism, dripping with blood and bitter caramel?

Not only that but the shift in lyrics where the singer wakes up after being buried, witnessing a world they don't know and laughing, that feels immensely fitting for Flor. Her rose-colored glasses finally being ripped away and crushed under heel, showing her just how empty and hollow the world is, filled with people who are going insane or already there, and it would make sense for her to laugh manically at realizing this. Also the repeated image of memories and them being incomplete/pieced together gives me the feeling of puzzle pieces which again, is very Flor to me (she gives me very Stitches Animal Crossing vibes. im sorry. the 'kid playing house in order to cope with the reality of crushing loneliness' feeling is too strong.)

The latter half of the song, where the jester sings "and as such, I have now taken it upon myself / to reinstate the reign of laughter and in health I will return" and "Soon, you will see the world will turn upon it's head again / just you hope that you can see it before you're dead," that seems very Flor to me as well, because after her realization, I can imagine her standing up and vowing to make meaningful change before her own end. She will make a point, she will make people realize how wrong the world is, and she will make them remember her. The "I have now taken it upon myself" feels very Flor as well because for some reason, I feel as though she has a big sense of responsibility? as though she does feel like she's the one who has to make this change?

god fucking damnit this is so long . . . this is a banger song though thanks Kellie haha I hope this fits your desire for dissection of character!!

[taylortruther]

just ignore if you’ve never heard the song lol but if you have, how do you interpret the song first day of my life by bright eyes?? Like I’ve seen people say it’s just a pure hopeful love song while other people say it’s actually pretty sad/ cynical.

I always get confused by ‘ I’d rather be working for a paycheck than waiting to win the lottery’ line like I sometimes think I get what it means but when I try putting it into words I just can’t.

as a matter of fact, i do know this song, because my bf is a gigantic bright eyes fan. so i asked him! (also he was really excited to know y'all listen to bright eyes haha.)

'i'd say it's hopeful. if you watch at the music video, you'll see that it's very hopeful and optimistic, and he probably had a hand in making it, so i think the song is optimistic too. i think that line about the lottery just means you're going to put effort into making your relationship work, rather than believe you'll one day wake up and find a perfect person. he's really excited to be with this person and wants things to work. plus, almost all of his music is fundamentally hopeful, he deals with a lot of really difficult and heavy things, even self loathing, but there's very little despair. he's not a very cynical songwriter. he's earnest.'

[littlesparklight]

<3 thank you @papillon82fluttersby :D

The Rules: Tag (9) people you want to know better and/or catch up with, then answer the following:

Four ships:

Zeus/Ganymede: feel like it'd be a crime not to start here, haha. I've always been into mythology, but randomly thinking about Ganymede's myth a couple years ago now (that long!!) got me wanting to read Greek myth stuff, and I started with the Iliad (for the Trojan-related angle) and the Bibliotheke, and so. I might currently be more focused elsewhere but this is still my beloved ship <3 You can do so much with them, and, especially, I'd say, by interpreting them as mutually in love. There's obviously other m/m couples in Greek myth and even one of those that at first looks tragic doesn't need to end that way (Apollo/Hyacinthus) but there are so many reasons Zeus/Ganymede is the one that has me by the throat.

Menelaos/Paris: Honestly, looking back I'm not quite sure how I didn't zero in on this one from reading the Iliad itself the first time, because this is definitely one of the flavours of ships I love. This ship is also what led to, first, Helen/Menelaos/Paris for me and then Helen/Paris, because 99% of the time I just don't care at all about het ships. This ship is also why I currently am like I am about Paris! Make no mistake, I didn't hate or dislike him before that, either, like the majority of Tumblr (and elsewhere) seem to do; reading the Iliad I mostly thought him kinda hapless and inoffensive, so going from there and liking him wasn't that big of a step. The possibility of them having bonded during those nine days in Sparta (or in Troy!), going from friends (or more) to enemies with complicated feelings still in the background is just so damn juicy to me.

Carmilla/Laura: original novella flavour! One day I hope to do a rewrite/retelling of my own, that would definitely end with Laura going or otherwise together with Carmilla, one way or another. The way Carmilla talks to/about Laura and what they feel for each other is just. so great. The caterpillar quote. The one about Laura loving her or hating her, and especially "love will have its sacrifices; no sacrifice without blood". And you know. The boob-biting to feed is extremely inspired and very hot, even if Le Fanu undoubtedly didn't mean it that way. I don't care. They're mine now. :)

Darth Vader & Luke Skywalker: Since I am so deeply into gen&family ships aside from romantic/sexual shipping, it feels, again, like a crime not to mention these two. The ST might have broken the back of my fannish engagement in SW currently, but these two? I love them. I love Luke's impossible and earnest belief in his father's inherent goodness, I love that fucking scene at the end of ESB where Vader reaches out and Luke reflexively, despite everything, says 'father?' HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE IT???

Last song: Oh, uhh... I don't remember, but it's possible it was Teeth by 5 Seconds of Summer (happens to be one of my Helen/Paris songs for late war lol). I end up listening to a row of songs while drawing, sometimes (which is the only time I can listen to music and actually do something else at the same time), but it could have been another one, just as well.

Currently reading: Iliaden - en cover, by Dimitrios Iordanoglou, which is a (pretty heavily, sometimes) abridged and modernized version of the Iliad where the language is extremely slangy sometimes and the setting has been moved into "present day". Everyone uses guns and stuff. Apollo's main epithet is now "the Bomber" lol and he uses bombs and grenades. It's both extremely fun(ny) and really interesting, even if the language used sometimes make me wince even when I get why he's chosen it. But it's exactly because I know the changes he's made etc. that makes it extra interesting. When he keeps lines word-for-word from the Iliad they both stick out and fit in very well and it's interesting to see that, too. Also, and much longer than the above, is Paris in the Epic Tradition : a Study in Homeric Techniques of Characterization by Roberto Nickel, his thesis from 1997! I've mentioned it before; Nickel is exploring the possibility of the Iliad having changed/presented Paris (a lot) differently from how he might have been in traditional oral epic material. It's really interesting!

Last movie: Dungeon and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves! Loved it, a lot of fun, and despite how long it was, it all moved along at a good clip, nothing dragged.

Craving: Uh... :C Fics/art for my rare pairs? lol

Tagging: @a-gnosis @battlinghurricanes @crowlilies @my-name-is-apollo @scribeprotra @kebriones

[sonicrainbooms]

for the ask game - W Q P and as many OOOOO’s as u want!

Hi, thanks for the ask! (game)

Sorry this took so long! I started to type and it ran away from me. It's VERY long. The rest is under the cut.

P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas).

Hmm... this is hard HAHA I can't think of any atm! I always love Pokémon au's, so anything I love in the Pokémon universe will be fun! Oh, and the other day I watched Death Note right before I went to sleep and had a Light Yagami!Hemlock dream which was...an experience. Not sure how a Death Note Star Wars universe would work, a lot of stuff would need to be changed, but it would be funny as hell.

Q - A fandom you’ve abandoned and why?

Another hard one, I don't really abandon fandoms, I just...stop liking shows as much and don't feel the "need" to interact with them anymore. I guess I still really enjoy Gravity Falls, but don't engage with the fandom at all anymore except when I'm feeling nostalgic. I didn't even know about the current countdown on the website until last night! I used to be ALL on top of that!

W - A trope which you are virtually certain to hate in any fandom

I'm not sure if the question means fanfic tropes or au's or what. So I'll just list some stuff in general fandom spaces I don't like bc I'm a hater. If you like these, MORE POWER TO YOU! I'm sure there's HEAPS of stuff I like that you don't! Live laugh love <3

I don't like coffee shop au's, florist au's, the "omg they turned into a baby and the other/s have to look after them!" trope, honestly not a huge fan of soulmate au's, dont like a/b/o at all sorry.

I HATE it when certain characters (COUGH COUGH WRECKER, COUGH COUGH PINKIE PIE) get get infantilised/woobiefied despite being grown adults just because they're a bit silly. I DO NOT LIKE IT when grown adults are reduced to The Mum Of The Group™ for...no reason. Yes, that last point is about fanon Echo. I do not like fanon Echo and I am not in the mood to talk about why rn HAHA.

Anon, honestly there are more but saying the real heavy-hitting will get me assassinated by the fandom secret service.

Again, if you like these, I do not care. I'm so glad you do, honestly.

O - Choose a song at random. Which ship or character does it remind you of?

I don't really think of pre-existing characters or ships when I listen to music, to be honest! When I listen to music, I primarily see if it can remind me of one of my oc's. And you know, if I actually enjoy the song or not. So I won't be able to answer this question, either!

That being said, Brutus by The Buttress (I LIKED THE SONG BEFORE TIKTOK FOUND IT!) reminds me of Captain Rex. Not because of the "My name is Brutus, but the people will call me Rex" line, but because the theme and story of the song matches up with my personal headcanon of the clones secretly holding grudges against the Jedi for always, even if unintentionally, being famed and loved throughout the galaxy for being peacekeepers and fighting the war while it was actually the clones on the front line dying, with lifespans too short for the senate to seriously consider actually giving rights to. For most clones, it was a mild annoyance. For others, it was a real grievance.

I like to think, in my interpretation, the line "I don't want want you have, I want to be you" has two meanings. The first: Those jealous clones maybe didn't mind carrying out Order 66. Of course, it's wrong. The Jedi did their best. But if I were a clone...yeah. I might harbour some ill feelings towards the sect of people using me like that. I would want to be appreciated as more than a solider, I'd want the right to choose. I'd want to be them.

The other meaning I have relates more to Rex himself. I wonder how much pain and guilt he's felt since the ship went down with Jesse and the others still in it. He is one of few left to pick up the scraps and continue fighting what seems to be a hopeless battle without resources or assurance. He's the one people turn to, now. How often does he think of Jesse, or Cody, or Fives, or Kix? How many times has he remembered the total lack he had when he was trying to kill Ahsoka, and ordering his men to do the same? Watching his own body and voice act unable to stop it... I think it eats away at him. I think he has major survivors guilt. I think he sometimes, privately, secretly, wishes he were Jesse or Ridge or Fives. I think he wishes he were dead. "I don't want what you have, I want to be you". He wouldn't feel as horrible. He wouldn't feel anything. He'd see them again.

I know neither of these headcanons are popular, nor well-thought out atm HAHA but that's what I feel!

On a lighter not, Lynchmob by KMFDM reminds me of Wrecker <3

Thanks for the ask!

[27-royal-teas]

YET !!! ANOTHER ANALYSIS!! And for good reason this time because people keep misinterpreting Pete’s work to be about Mikey and it makes me fucking PISSED can you not let pete have one thing in his goddamn life i get it its fine to have headcanons and opinions but PLEASE for the love of god please stop discrediting all of his hard work & good writing to be about a white boy he fucked back in ‘05 this CONSTANTLY happens with poc artists and it makes me mad to no end

yep, that’s right. today we’re talking about I Am My Own Muse. writing this essay i have listened to it a grand total of twenty three times 

i like this song a lot specifically because i do kind of relate to it a lot frequently i feel like smashing a guitar until i go insane but i dont have a guitar and i dont know how to play one regardless so. uh yeah

The thing about IAMOM is that it’s saying that in the TITLE. Hes his own muse. And obviously no one can take that away. sure , some of his songs might be inspired by someone, but in the long run, who do they come from? pete. romance songs might not be about anyone in particular. I know ive wrote songs that could be interpreted as romance, but they’re actually me talking to my younger self or my future self or my friend, and the point is, even though songs written by pete may seem like they were about someone that doesnt mean they are and you cant, you CANNOT discredit the fact that he is his own muse. just like the song title says.

The song begins with a BANGING orchestral arrangement. I think the intro to IAMOM is my favorite song intro on the album. It's just very well thought out and clearly carefully planned, and quite honestly I think patrick did an AMAZING job and I'd love to see him do a breakdown of the composition here because I am IMPRESSED. Not even to mention the vocals, he is on FIRE. anyway in the rest of this essay I’ll be interpreting the lyrics and tying them back to the central topic i just opened with: How Pete Is His Own Muse. 

The first verse is quiet, and it begins like this:

“Here i am, not sure you should take a chance

I like playing dumb, letting you figure me out

But i was faded in my own defense

So drop a bomb on the things we dreamed about”

I feel as though this verse is very clear. He isnt sure that the person he’s referring to should take a chance on him, should think that he is worth it, and he likes being able to be up to someone else’s interpretation with no outside influence. i do this frequently with strangers- i stay quiet so that they can make up their own idea in their head about me. They can figure me out themself, since i clearly cant figure myself out, and i think that’s the idea pete is really aiming for here. ‘So drop a bomb on all the things we dream about” can be referring to himself or someone else, but here let’s take it in the context that he’s discussing himself. This line is repeated in the second verse, so it’s clearly one of the main points that needed to be stated here; here he is saying to himself that (again, it’s that self sabotage) he should give it up, give it all up, it’s not worth it, destroy it all, drop a bomb on all our dreams because they aren’t going to happen. Taken together with the previous lines we can basically say that pete is saying that because he is leaving himself open to interpretation from the public, the things he truly meant to say are lost. And i think that’s the main thing here, especially with the title, and obviously im doing it myself, maybe this isnt what he meant at all, but i definitely do think it correlates along those lines to some degree. 

The chorus is repeated several times throughout the song (3 times to be specific) and it goes like this:

“Smash all the guitars ‘til we see all the stars

Oh got to throw this year away

We got to throw this year away like

A bad luck charm” 

And then that repeats twice. 

I think i can safely say everyone reading this right now has gone through the pandemic. I assume three year olds dont go on tumblr. The entire smfs album references 2020 and 2019 time and time again, most critically in What A Time To Be Alive, and it’s heavily present in this song too. “Got to throw this year away (like a bad luck charm)” vocalizes the wishes of pete and everyone else who wishes to cut those years out of their brains- pete has expressed in interviews how taxing the pandemic really was on his mental health, and i think that “smash all the guitars” could symbolize the frustration and pain he really felt in that time; destroying music (one of the main things he loves) until he can sink into that despair and just float away (“‘til we see all the stars”). Another way this can be interpreted is an act of rebellion (a lot of musical artists smash their guitars during shows, cough ryan ross cough) but i dont really think that that makes as much sense in this context. 

The next verse:

“The trumpets bring the angels but they never came

No one let them in ‘cause they didnt know my name

I know i keep my feelings so tucked away

Just another day spent hoping we dont fall apart

So drop a bomb on all the things we dreamed about”

Another very pete based verse (BECAUSE HE IS HIS OWN MUSE). This kind of links to Heaven’s Gate because it’s related to the same thing- not making it on the list, not feeling worthy of getting into heaven, because this sort of self deprecation is reflected throughout most of Fall Out Boy’s albums. I could give a million examples of this, but I don’t want to be here forever. “The trumpets bring the angels but they never came/ no one let them in ‘cause they didn’t know my name” sort of brings to mind the image of a person waiting to be carried away to something they’re not entirely sure they deserve, and they’re proven correct because no one ever came to carry them away, no one ever decided that they’d be on the list to get to heaven and the angels just went marching past and pete can hear their horns, know theyre there for people who deserve heaven much more than he does. How sad is that?

“I know i keep my feelings so tucked away/ just another day spent hoping we dont fall apart” carries the feeling of not wanting to be a burden with every emotion thought and expressed, even the good ones, and ‘we’ can be referring to himself, every single aspect of himself, hoping he doesn’t fall apart into shards of the stars his guitar is made up of. and then of course it’s the line about the bomb again, although this time it feels even more internalized and personal because it’s the second time he said it, and he dreams of getting into heaven but how can he make it up there if the angels themselves know he does not deserve to and so. drop a bomb on all the things we dreamed about, folks, because they aren’t going to happen. 

The bridge: 

“So let’s twist the knife again, twist the knife again

like we did last summer

So let’s twist the knife again, twist the knife again

Oh, i’m just trying to keep it together

But it gets a little harder when it never gets better I'm trying

To keep it together, to keep it together, oh”

To me this entire bridge just feels really deeply confessional and personal. Im going to start at the bottom because i like it the best. 

He’s trying. He’s trying so damn hard- to be optimistic, to be hopeful and stay full of happiness and love but it’s SO HARD when there’s no light at the end of the tunnel to motivate him. This is still talking about quarantine, i think; i remember i was in middle school at the time; they said that we would be back in two weeks. I remember i was grateful to get a break and time off. Then two weeks turned into two years and it got really, really hard to see an end to the pandemic. When things stop improving it gets harder and harder to keep it together when you can’t see the results of any of your actions, when you’re trying your best but it still gets you nowhere. Wouldn’t you stop trying? i know i would.

And let’s talk about “let’s twist the knife” just a little bit. “Last summer” might refer to the last album release, which is Mania (even though it was released in January). Another album cycle, another twist of the knife; another bit of words that pete has to pull out of himself like ribbons, and although he loves it, that’s his job, it still feels like dredging up all the pain again. So let’s twist the knife again, dig it in just a little deeper, just like we did before. 

So, yeah. Pete is his own muse and i truly do think that that is heavily reflected in this song, even this whole album. A lot of songs in smfs seem more him-centered, because he is the writer and he is talking about himself. So Good Right Now and What  A Time To Be Alive are especially good examples of this. 

And the interesting thing about the title is that it’s pulled from a Frida Kahlo quote, which goes like this: 

“I am my own muse. I am the subject I know best. I am the subject I want to better.”

And isn’t that just it? This whole album, it’s an album of self discovery and going back to your roots and staying current anyway. It’s patrick pulling pete out of his funk and getting him back in the game; it’s an exploration of a new style, a new fall out boy. And like a phoenix, every album they rise again, still the same but somehow completely brand new. The orchestral arrangements displayed in IAMOM and SMFS and LFTOS showcase this, the new feeling but still the same, something bettered, and I’m really, really happy with how far they’ve come not only in their expansion of music but also with themselves. And I feel like this song and this title- I Am My Own Muse- is really a stand up, it’s a show of how far they’ve come. Because they are the subject they know the best.

[tsintotwo]

(Part 4/4)

(Earlier: Parts 1, 2, and 3)

Okay, finally getting to the 4th and last post talking about Tom Sturridge in his projects. There's not too much left to say as these are mostly cameos.

Vanity Fair (2004)- This was the first movie Tom was in as a grownup (edit: nope, this was the 2nd)- in period clothing (and looking like a million bucks, as you would suspect). Screentime: 2min. You can tell he's still finding his footing in all this. But he's got the it factor already.

Journey's End (2017)- Movie about Brit soldiers stuck in trenches waiting for death during WW2. Sam Claffin and Paul Bettany are in this and I recognized neither before seeing credits 🤦‍♀️ Anyway, Tom plays a bad soldier: drinks and girls are his forte, fighting- not so much. His character is in this movie to basically show the bone-chilling, hope-crushing, cruelly pointless side of wars. He uses his 3/4 scenes to drive that point home like a master. There's one super emotionally charged scene with Sam that sears into the mind- they both absolutely chew it up.

Song to Song (2017)- Tom being in this movie is just the most RANDOM thing in the world, guys. Song to Song is about the music industry and rockstar life, and Tom shows up for like 2mins to play Ryan Gosling's hometown farmland brother of all things??? Wut. 2 lines of dialogue. Cute hair, tho. Cute everything.

Hello Apartment (2018)- Slice-of-life short film about how we all leave our mark in the spaces we move through. Dakota Fanning made this and asked Tom to be in it- they've been friends since doing Effie Gray. Tom is MC's stormy bf- a bit of kissing, a bit of pouting, a bit of shouting. Worth it. (Aside: some STUNNING shots in this, kudos to Dakota). This is on youtube.

That's it, actually. Only movie of Tom's I haven't gotten to is Junkhearts (2011). It's on Amazon Prime for $4 which is worth it, but it seems like an intense movie and I'll take a break before trying to watch this one.

A significant part of Tom's career has been theater work. From what I've gathered, seems like he's done some phenomenal work there- both in UK and US. Got cool awards and noms. Of course, if your play isn't Hamilton, it doesn't get to be on any screen, so there's no way to see any of those now. The one I'm most gutted about is 1984 (2017) on Broadway. I love the og classic by George Orwell, and by all accounts this adaptation/interpretation was banging (AND controversial!). Tom playing a role like Winston Smith... I'd have loved it so fuckin much * screaming-into-pillow break*

How does Tom choose his projects?

"The first thing I’m drawn to is a piece of writing, to an author, to a director. Weirdly, it’s rarely a character. I want to work with people or with texts that push me and make me learn things that I think I can’t do. Because if I think I can do it, then I can’t surprise myself. And if I can’t surprise myself, then I’m definitely not going to surprise an audience." -Tom for Interview magazine, 2022

Why does he often do troubles characters?

"... I think what I’m attracted to is being able to explore a spectrum of emotion. It’s easier to find comedy in something sad than it is to find darkness in something funny. I can be all kinds of people when the darkness is there. Also, the first character I ever played onstage was a boy who murders all of his schoolmates [in Punk Rock]. I do think there’s something to be said by, “You get stuck in a gorge that you start with.” People have always gone, “Oh, yeah. He’s the fucked-up guy.” - same

Here's something about me: I love falling in love with men on silver screen. It's the only space where it's okay to be in love with a version of someone you made in your head because you're not going to know any other version. The only space you get to channel your feelings six ways to Sunday: write posts, write stories, draw, make any art- people will actually celebrate those (whereas try talking to your friend about a new irl crush for five days straight, on the sixth they'll smack you upside your head). The feelings are intense because these men are deliberately performing for you, the emotions forever unsullied because they're not gonna come hurt you (unless they're being cancelled lol). And they're all the finest specimens! So, yeah, I love it, and it happens periodically. What's rarer, tho, is that I get attracted to an actor's whole personality. I mean, like, all of these hot men are hella charming, and you can yassify almost anyone based on interview moments. But, idk, it doesn't always click with me, and I love a character, ship a couple, then move on. Tom, tho, is going to be one of those 2/3 permanent ones. I just find him interesting which to me, is the thing. (And also, he turned out to be one of those rare people in life who lets you know things about yourself that you didn't know before. Huh. Who knew?) And yeah, okay, he's very hot and insanely talented which started this whole intense phase but while this won't last, a genuine fondness and love will. He has a place in my heart forever. It's been such a good time discovering him that I'm legit grateful to the universe.

I'll do a bonus post with links to Tom interviews/vids/ stuff that are worth checking out. Until then, guys.

[idontwanttospoiltheparty]

Well then… :)

Re: In My Life - I think it makes a lot of sense that the song is a parent talking to a child - recounting their memories and also “when I think of love as something new” (could be referencing parental love?). But while I think it’s possible that John would write a song for a child despite being a distant parent, I am also not sure if that reading of this particular song is not too gracious (as in I’m not sure John would put parental love above love for his soulmate coded companion - in reference to “in my life I love you more” [than anybody else]). But songwriting does not have to be that literal, I guess.

The songs I did not know about are:

- Remember (listening to it, I don’t feel strongly about it either way - it’s about some sort of a disillusionment and betrayal, interesting Guy Fawkes reference - could be about The Beatles given the context, ig).

- Who Can See It (yeah, no objection)

- I was aware of No Words and Denny Laine credit and... what an interesting coincidence, huh. 🤨

- Crippled Inside (hmmm, a good one. Just by looking at it - I think the first verse applies to Paul better than John, the second one has an interesting reference to Instant Karma, verse 3 seems generalized - but yeah, if it’s in some way about Paul or John, it’s pretty heavy)

- Some People Never Know I knew about, but I always felt like John might be only referenced (he’s “some people” lol, maybe “only fools” if we are willing to open our minds), but otherwise it’s addressed to Linda.

- Another Day how???

Could you tell me more about Day Tripper? Or post a link if you talked about it before? I can kind of see where your interpretation is coming from but I want to know!

Oh I hear you re: In My Life and John's take on the "levels" of love. I do think the song is interesting because, while it's placing the person on a pedestal it's specifcally not outright dismissing the past. And yeah, reading the song from the perspective of a parent does generate my probably favourite reading of "When I think of love as something new". I'll say, I think he may have only adopted that soulmate attitude after meeting Yoko. Like, clearly Yoko shifted how he approached relationships, so it's possible he had a less all-or-nothing attitude before he realized that was an option. I'd even say the way he described meeting Yoko as "teaching him" that someone could be everything to him would even indicate that.

WELCOME TO THE NO WORDS CIRCLE! lol

Nice catch with the Instant Karma! parallel. That's another song I forgot to mention actually. I feel I'd place it in the "I like to think it's about Paul but I'm not sure" category.

No yeah, that's what I meant with Some People Never Know. If John is anyone he's the person who "never knows" (which, if it IS about John is actually kind of harsh lol… though also apt for Mister Divorce Prediction)

Huh, did I mention Another Day?? (outside talking about the line in (Just Like) Starting Over?)

Re: Day Tripper

the source for the highlighted quote is David Sheff's book (so the full Playboy interview).

Basically, given the period when this song was written, I don't see how the fact Paul had recently outright refused to drop acid with him wouldn't be at the forefront of his mind when writing a song about this concept. Paul would have epitomized the subject matter at the time of writing. I sort of think of it as Paul up until now having been fine trying out drugs with John (prellies, weed) but suddenly backing out. That's how I read the "one way ticket" lines and "she took me half the way there".

Also, and I have no clue how much they discussed what this song was about, but the way they trade off the vocals is delicious lmao.

[aftaylorglow]

get your shit together

these past few weeks, i've been seeing tweets about how joe loved taylor when she was at her lowest, but he couldn't love her when she's at her highest. then a few days ago, i was listening to renegade and thought about that.

i tapped on your window on your darkest night the shape of you was jagged and weak

i think one of the things that folklore and evermore taught us is that taylor can write from any perspective. but it's easy to assume that because she's singing, she's talking from her perspective.

the song has been out for two years so i'm sure i'm not the first one to come to this conclusion, but renegade makes so much sense if you see it as taylor talking about herself from the perspective of a partner.

i'm saying it's joe purely because of when this was written/released and the whole he loved her at her lowest thing. we also know that in call it what you want, she also used "darkest night" as a lyric.

there was nowhere for me to stay but i stayed anyway

one of the biggest mysteries of my swiftie life is the summer of 2016. breaking up with calvin, meeting tom and joe at the same time, dating tom, breaking up with tom, getting together with joe, possibly cheating on one of these men with one of these men...the timeline is unclear to me and i fear we won't ever really know, especially with joe now out of her life.

anyway, i interpreted the above line as her meeting him at a point in her life where she didn't have space for him. maybe when she was still with someone, maybe when she's freshly out of a relationship and didn't want to be in another one yet. but he stayed anyway.

and if i would have known how many pieces you had crumbled into i might have let them lay

taylor tends to be hard on herself. oftentimes, she knows she's that bitch but she has moments where she's so insecure, especially about how her celebrity affects her relationships. i mean we've gotten a ton of anxiety-induced songs these past six years. you're losing me is the latest example with the line, "i wouldn't marry me either, a pathological people pleaser."

sometimes i think she thinks she's not worth everything her partner has to go through just to be with her. i see the verse above as the perfect thesis statement for this observation. it's like, "if i'd only known just how deeply you're messed up, i wouldn't have bothered."

and this hurts because we don't know if her partner actually thought of these things. it's what she thinks her partner must feel toward her, which says so much more about how she views herself.

are you really gonna talk about timing in times like these? and let all your damage damage me? and carry your baggage up my street?

this supports my previous statement about how this is how taylor views herself. she's damaged. she has a ton of baggage. and these are what she's bringing to the relationship. is it worth it? she probably thinks not. it's why she probably said the timing isn't right for them right now. and why he's asking, in incredulity, if now's the time to talk about timing. after all, he's already stayed. he's proven he can tough it out.

you wouldn't be the first renegade to need somebody

this reads as something very dismissive of the other person's feelings. but remember, in this interpretation, it's taylor talking to herself in the perspective of her partner. so she's basically telling herself to stop being so self-centered. hold up her end of the relationship and try.

is it insensitive for me to say "get your shit together so i can love you" is it really your anxiety that stops you from giving me everything or do you just not want to?

i feel like this verse shows her fear of being found out. she has made up all these excuses about why she couldn't give everything to this relationship and she's scared that the time will come when her partner will call her out and discover that maybe, after all they've been through, she's just not willing to try.

which is a very interesting thing to think about! from previous albums, we've gotten songs and explanations from taylor about how early in their relationship, she was the one who wanted to give up. to save him from herself. but he didn't want to leave. he wanted them to work. when taylor was explaining peace, it was clear that eventually she wanted to make the relationship work by making herself and her life seem as normal as possible and not be this elephant in the room. and then, in you're losing me, she begs him to "do something babe, say something." eventually, he gave up on them, too.

you fire off missiles 'cause you hate yourself but do you know you're demolishing me? and then you squeeze my hand as i'm about to leave

once again, this has taylor's self-loathing written all over it. "you fire off missiles 'cause you hate yourself" is similar to "my words shoot to kill when i'm mad, i have a lot of regrets about that" she's aware of her self-loathing and how she turns it outward and hurts her partner. the use of the word "demolishing" implies intent, too.

the last line also supports what i said earlier about her thinking she's self-centered. because isn't it selfish to deliberately hurt the person who held you through your darkest moments and then stop them from leaving when you've been pushing them away this entire time?

anyway, it's 6:41 am and i just wanted to let all this out because listening to it a few days ago and thinking of the song as her talking about herself from the perspective of someone who wanted to love her made me sad.

[il3x]

vibes is Nilbogposting

So, you know the album The Great Tale of How I Ruined It All, right? If you don't, check it out, it's neat. Storytelling album about a Pianist rebelling against the cult that took over his city.

Several songs on it are such Nilbog songs. Primarily, These 4 Walls:

I’ve found my home Inside these walls, the world is my own I write the rules alone in here I sit atop a throne

Both the Pianist and Nilbog consider exile better than the alternative, and “start(s) to believe (they've) always belonged there, that (they've) found (their) real home.” (Genius Lyrics). Nilbog places great importance on being the “king” of Ellisburg, on stewardship, ownership and control - an emphasis captured by these opening lines.

I’m safe and sound Despite the battlefield that surrounds

I could be misremembering, but I’m pretty sure Nilbog views the outside world as a war that he doesn’t want Ellisburg pulled into. He definitely becomes agoraphobic, viewing both Ellisburg and his body’s underground prison as sanctuaries.

Hiding beneath the ground

He, ah, does that.

All my thoughts inhabit these floors (...) They howl and roar

In the original context, this anthropomorphised the Pianist’s freedom of thought - in my interpretation, “my thoughts” is Nilbog referring to his creatures, and the anthropomorphic description is literal.

The possessive language (of the Pianist's freedom of thought; or, of Nilbog's power and creations) throughout the song makes me Sad thinking about how much these meant to them, and how they were eventually lost.

I can’t give up what my mind creates I won’t be captive, won’t be dead I’ll trap myself instead

Nilbog refuses to restrain or part with his power, leaving him three options: Birdcage, death, or quarantine. I think the wording “I can’t give up [my creatures/my power]” particularly slaps - see prior "how much this means to him". I mean... dude's creations are his Only source of social interaction for Ten Years, messed up as that interaction is. Plus, Shard-based protectiveness. And then he has to leave them.

Ouch.

“I’ll trap myself” also has interesting implications. Fits the impression I got, that the only reason Nilbog is successfully quarantined is because he’s chill with it.

It houses a single sorry soul (...) Water-damaged off-white ceilings Crumbling crown molding Faded paint and threadbare linens and There's no place I'd rather sleep

His situation is fundamentally one of degradation - of his mind, body, creatures, and city - which he refuses to acknowledge.

SCREAMING. It fits so literally!! I feel a bit bad for the Pianist for foisting a Nilbog interpretation onto his narration, but hey, it works too well to ignore.

Secondly, The Marching Dolls gives the same “creepy city” energy I got from reading Taylor’s perspective on Ellisburg. Notably, the perversion of biology:

The trees don’t grow they kill instead

Weird trees are actually one of the first things Taylor notes about Ellisburg (26.04).

Plus, although Nilbog’s minions are sentient and he loves them (much too literally, at times), this is fundamentally a town populated by minions. Extensions of the will of one man, who rules as their absolute god-king. Yikes. The chilling uniformity of the Marching Dolls, while not entirely analogous, captures this image of a city bent to a single will. 

Oh, and, notably - Ellisburg is a disaster zone. It was a regular town until it got Nilbog’d. People lived there, and people died. The ravaging of a much-loved city is the core theme of The Marching Dolls:

(Stand in the ashes of your city that burned to the ground).

There is, however, a more far-fetched Nilbog Interpretation of The Marching Dolls: Nilbog's, or Rinke's, impression of society pre-trigger. As Taylor says (26.4):

“The man had been a loner before, a loser. He’d rejected the trappings of society long before he’d become this monster.” 

(Brutal. She really assigned him Freak on sight.)

Begs the question, what specifically did he reject, and why? Well, Ellisburg is colourful, chaotic, and unpredictable - a rejection of the conformity expected (particularly of men) in adult, professional society.

Taylor describes Nilbog's fairytale fixation as "rooted in some primal part of his childhood that had been taken from him" (26.04). I think this is the freedom of expression (and subsequent ease of connection) he had in childhood, and he blames adult social norms for removing/corrupting it, without even realising:

The marchers walk the streets in reverse with their heads down Blind to the color they’ve painted this town

Rinke had no connections outside a professional environment, so he likely generalised those expectations to society at large, assuming everyone will mindlessly and mercilessly enforce them:

Happily police the streets With vacant eyes and plastic smile

They'll soon do to you what they've done to me

Furthermore, his lack of connection means he doesn't see others as any more than their surface-level masks:

They stare in mirrors wearing masks And prudently perform their tasks

Hence viewing people as mindless automatons - The Marching Dolls.

Interestingly, TMD would suggest he pities them, as (fellow) victims of societal pressures. Unlike the Pianist, though, he doesn't see them as capable of saving - or worth saving - and instead destroys them, to create Ellisburg from their biomass.

There is so much thematic overlap between The Great Tale and Nilbog's story. Destruction and rebuilding of a society; isolation; control, power, and responsibility... You can link pretty much every song to Nilbog, usually from his own perspective. City of Ashes? Ellisburg takeover. Goodbye? Leaving Ellisburg, leaving his “children”, to join the Wardens. The tone also matches his mental state (unhinged).

Tl;dr: this album is good enough to make me emotional about goblin guy, of all people. 10/10 recommend.