#I have tarkus

[dichael-mistortion]

and a tarkus. cause why not

[geraldtheoceanman]

Ye olde medieval femboys

[fishoutoflovebeach]

me age 16: when i get my first tattoo it’ll be meaningful and sincere since tattoos tells stories

me now: ok i want a decepticon shield on my shoulder blade, a cicada on my forearm, insert favorite pokemon somewhere on my other arm and perhaps a tarkus trampstamp….

[tiamatsan]

.......Sooooooooooo this may have gotten a little out of hand.....annnnnd I wrote this on my phone so please excuse any mistakes please.

Scanning...

...Scanning...

...No signs of life confirmed...

...Scanning...

...No signs of biometrics belonging to the host found...

... Initializing death protocol...

Launching death marker

Initializing upload of host's data...

Upload complete.

Initializing return home protocol...

Entering stand by state....

.....

........

...........Charge complete........

Initializing host search...

...Searching...

......Searching......

..........Searching........

Matching power wave length found.

Scanning new host.

Scan complete.

Searching universal data base for preexisting matching genetic markers.

Match found.

Species: Human

Gender: Male

Age: Adolescent

Unique identifying markers: blue eyes, black ha-

...No signs of biometrics belonging to the host found...

... Scanning....

...No signs of biometrics belonging to the host found...

... Initializing death protocol...

...Charge 100%...

...Bypassing return home protocol...

Initializing host search...

....Searching...

........Searching......

Matching power wave length found.

Scanning new host.

Scan complete.

Species: Human

Gender: Mal-

...No signs of biometrics belonging to the host found...

...Scanning...

...No signs of biometrics belonging to the host found...

...Scanning...

...No signs of biometrics belonging to the host found...

Initializing host search...

Matching power wave length found.

Scanning host.

Scan complete.

Species: Hum-

...No signs of biometrics belonging to the host found...

...Scanning...

Initializing host search...

Matching power wave length found.

Scanning host.

Scan com-

...No signs of biometrics belonging to the host found...

Initializing host search...

Matching power wave length found.

Scan-

...No signs of biometrics belonging to the host found...

Initializing host search...

Matching power wave-

...No signs of biometrics belonging to the host found...

Accessing universal records.

Searching for instances in mass host's deaths.

Adjusting parameters with key phrases: "lab" "experiments" "subjects"

42 matching records.

Override "Never again" activated.

The safety of host has been made prime objective.

30% of power is being redirected to emergency beacon.

...No signs of biometrics belonging to the host found...

40% of power is being redirected to emergency beacon.

...No signs of biometrics belonging to the host found...

Message received from home data base.

"Use of extreme force is authorized. Protect your host at all costs. Hold till backup arrives."

...No signs of biometrics belonging to the host found...

...No signs of biometrics belonging to the host found...

...No signs of biometrics belonging to the host found...

Message received from Lantern: "Hal Jordan".

"Where are you?! Tell us where you are!"

...No signs of biometrics belonging to the host found...

Message received from Lantern: "John Stewart".

"Can you hear us? If you can please tell us anything about where you are!"

...No signs of biometrics belonging to the host found...

Power levels dropping.

...No signs of biometrics belonging to the host found...

73%

...No signs of biometrics belonging to the host found...

65%

...No signs of biometrics belonging to the host found...

43%

Unable to continue broadcasting emergency beacon.

Rerouting all remaining power to protect host.

...No signs of biometrics belonging to the host found...

26%

...No signs of biometrics belonging to the host found...

12%

...No signs of biometrics belonging to the host found...

10%

...No signs of biometrics belonging to the host found...

8%

...No signs of biometrics belonging to the host found...

5%

...No signs of biometrics belonging to the host found...

2%

...Unable to continue protection of host...

.....Entering stand by mode...

........

..............

........................

....Charging....

........Charging 10%......

.............Charging 25%..........

Within acceptable power levels to resume basic functions.

Analyzing....

Power source is not coming from Latern source...

Analyzing....

Power source is coming from host?

Searching universal data base...

No known instances of "humans" recharging a Latern ring without corresponding medium.

Searching....

Existence of "metas" explains variation within human host.

Searching universal data base...

97 known cases of Lantern hosts using their own will power to recharge Latern rings...

Calculating...

76% chance of death.

84% decrease in life expectancy.

Average life expectancy of Humans 70-100 "year".

Human host does not have any time to-

...No signs of biometrics belonging to the host found...

...100% Charging complete...

...no...

...No signs of biometrics belonging to the host found...

...No...

...No signs of biometrics belonging to the host found...

...NO...

...No signs of biometrics belonging to the host found...

NO!

...No signs of biometrics belonging to the host found...

...No signs of biometrics belonging to the host found...

...No signs of biometrics belonging to the host found...

...No signs of biometrics belonging to the host found...

......

.............

.......................

...............................

HOST MUST LIVE

............................................

.........................................................

....................................................................

Data received from home data base.

New species entry.

"Ecto-entities"

"Ghost"

"Halfa"

Host has been reclassified under new species tag.

Species: Halfa

Gender: Male

Age: Adolescent

Unique identifying markers: blue eyes, black hair /green eyes, white hair.

Home planet: Earth

Home galaxy: Sol system

Name: Daniel "Danny" Fenton / Phantom

Message received from host:

"I'm sorry I scared you. Thank you for trying to look out for me. From now on, let's both look out for each other okay?"

Override "Never again" has been set to permanent.

...Okay. This time I will make sure that nothing hurts host again...

Due to his unrelenting determination to keep his town safe, Danny is bestowed a green lantern ring. Which on one hand: Yay! He gets to explore space full time. But on the other hand: Ew! he's a space cop now.

He had to rectify this immediately or he would never hear the end of it from his ghost friends. Or his regular friends for that matter. Sayyy, it'd be a shame if he.... bent a few rules. Maybe even broke some of them every now and again. And it would surely be a tragedy if say.... random pranks started happening around Oa?

[charlott2n]

still really obsessed with the idea of a space trucker oc but i have no idea how to develop them. im also obsessed with all of the characters in tarkus by elp. the preacher. the minister of hate. the cardinal of grief. i think im the cardinal of grief i honest to god think i am. well anyway

[tarkusthearmadillo]

why are you never on

I simply have better things to do! Such as, composing, discussing things with Carl and Greg, giving Carl hugs, finding more knives, feeding Tarkus, and raising the fridge.

-Keith E.

// as for i, the admin, i legitimately forget about this account being rp half the time because im busy looking at PROG ROCK THINGS

[bitterkarella]

Midnight Pals: Prog

Todd Keisling: submitted for the approval of the midnight society, i call the tale of the yellow kings Keisling: so there's this progressive rock band making an album based on the yellow king Keisling: with a cover by our greatest living artist roger dean Dean Koontz: hey! that's my name too! Keisling: that's no coincidence boy

Keisling: so there's this groupie Keisling: camilla Keisling: and she's got ideas for the band's music Keisling: horrifying apocalyptic ideas Keisling: she's going to have everyone take off their masks Robert W Chambers: i get it!

Keisling: they're going to cause an apocalypse with the power of progressive rock Dean Koontz: wow progressive rock sounds pretty dangerous Keisling: only in the wrong hands, dean Keisling: the power of progressive rock turned to evil, like Univers Zero or Van Der Graaf Generator, can be devastating Keisling: but turned to the light...

Keisling: take a look at this album, dean, pretty cool huh? Keisling: oh dean Keisling: prepare to have the doors of perception Keisling: blown right off their hinges

Kiesling: check this out dean, i think you'll really like this music Poe: whoa todd this might be a little advanced for dean Kiesling: no don't worry i'll start him off slow Kiesling: let's start you off with some Yes

Dean Koontz: Yes? Keisling: yeah i think you can handle it Koontz: why is there a scary zombie on the cover? Keisling: that's steve howe Keisling: actually dean on second thought Keisling: Yes might be a little much for your first time Keisling: let's start you with Yes Featuring Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, Rick Wakeman

Keisling: behold, my record collection! King: wow this is quite the collection todd! King: you know, you could save a lot of space if you went digital Keisling: yeah but Keisling: vinyl just has a warmer sound ya know?

Keisling: dean i think you're really going to like this band Keisling: it's called jethro tull Poe: whoa whoa dean is not ready for that Keisling: oh don't worry i'm not playing thick as a brick or anything Keisling: just bungle in the jungle Keisling: you'll like it dean it's about animals

Koontz: can i listen to this album? Keisling: Crack the Sky? no dean that's the ayahuasca of prog Keisling: you want the flintstones chewable vitamins of prog Keisling: here, try some tarkus

Dean Koontz: [vibrating while listening to headphones, blood gushing from nose] of course i understand it all Keisling: Dean! No! Keisling: Not Gentle Giant! Keisling: it's too much, too soon! Koontz: each day actually consists of four days occurring simultaneously

[grollow]

YOU SLUT

IMAGINE VOTING AGAINST MISTER SEXY VOICE

IMAGINE

@feartheoldblog please help

[duhragonball]

Phantom Blood Liveblog JJBA ch.26-30

Yeah, back in those days, "ORA" hadn't been invented yet. If you wanted to beat a guy up with rapid punches, you had to yell something like "Sunlight Yellow Overdrive!" and hope he was unconscious before he could ask you what the hell that means.

Last time, Dio lured Jonathan and Zeppeli into a trap. They beat his zombie henchmen easily enough, but Dio's a lot stronger now than he was the last time Jonathan fought him. Hamon attacks will definitely kill Dio, but they depend on proper breathing and circulation of blood through the extremities. So when Dio freezes his own arms to block their strikes, it chills the good guys' own arms, disrupting the Hamon ripples.

Satisfied that his enemies are no match for him, Dio summons up two more zombies to finish the fight. These are Tarkus and Bruford, a pair of "legendary knights" who played an important role in British history. Well, not really. These guys are completely fictional, but Jonathan, Dio, and Zeppeli speak of them like they read about them in school.

Dio recounts their tragic backstory. The two knights were loyal to Mary Queen of Scots (1542-1587). In 1567, Mary was accused of killing her husband, Lord Darnley, and was forced to abdicate the Scottish throne and seek refuge in England with her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I. Queen Elizabeth spent the next twenty years moving her from one castle to another as she tried to figure out what to do with Mary. On the one hand, Mary had a claim to the throne of England, which made her a potential threat of Elizabeth's rule. On the other hand, killing Mary would draw the ire of Mary's supporters. In the end, Mary was implicated in an plot to assassinate Elizabeth, and she was tried and executed in 1587.

In the world of Phantom Blood, the armies of Tarkus and Bruford tried to free Mary in 1587, only for Elizabeth to use Mary as a hostage. She agreed to release Mary in exchange for Tarkus and Bruford's surrender. They agreed, even knowing they would be executed, but it was a trick. On the day of their execution, they were informed that Mary had already been beheaded the day before.

With their last words, Tarkus and Bruford cursed the world and their enemies, and Dio found that admirable. So when he set up shop in Windknights Lot, he decided to dig up their graves and reanimate their corpses. Unlike the other zombies we've seen, they're a lot stronger. Tarkus is a mountain of a man, while Bruford seems to use his long hair like tentacles. He tangles up Jonathan's right hand in his hair and uses it to suck Jonathan's blood. Jonathan can't even send Hamon through that hand because of the blood loss there.

So he just uses his left hand to destroy the hairs with Scarlet Overdrive. Everyone's all amazed that Jonathan would hit himself to keep fighting, but I kind of doubt that you can hurt yourself with your own Hamon energy. If Zeppeli could break a rock without hurting a frog, then I think this is a similar situation.

Another zombie tries to attack Jonathan during the battle, but Bruford destroys him, then asks Dio to allow him to fight Jonathan one on one. Dio agrees, but he's rather annoyed to find that Bruford still retains the warrior's pride he once had in life.

So Bruford commences his attack, using his hair to swing his sword at Jonathan.

So back in the day, when Windknights Lot was used as a training ground, there was a challenge known as "The 77 Rings". It's a 10-kilometer journey, but you have to defeat 77 opponents along the way, and with each one you beat you have to wear an iron ring. By the time you get to the end of the gauntlet, you have to fight their hardest guys while being weighed down with all those rings. Only five warriors ever completed the gauntlet. Four of them, including Tarkus, were big huge guys who were simply strong enough to muscle through it, but Bruford pulled it off by using his hair to swing weapons as a surprise attack.

Also, Bruford is so good at swimming that he can do it even while wearing his armor. When he and Jonathan end up in the water, Dio leaves the battlefield, thinking that Jonathan is as good as dead. Bruford puts away his sword, wanting to keep things fair at this stage. Down here, Jonathan can't use Hamon without air to breathe, so Bruford thinks this makes them even.

But Jonathan does the unexpected and swims down instead of heading toward the surface. He finds coal at the bottom, and reasons that there's pockets of air trapped there. And this works because.... it's like when your dog won't let go of something, so you have to pretend your giving it to him to make him let go? Yeah, I don't get it. I mean, just because there's gas trapped under those rocks doesn't mean it's breathable air.

But it works out for Jonathan, and he uses his breath to release a devastating Hamon attack, Underwater Turquoise Blue Overdrive. Hamon conducts well through water, so the range and power of the attack are devastating...

Or they would be, except Bruford managed to stay ahead of the attack until he reached the surface, so he only took a wound to his forehead. He's exhilirated by Jonathan's performance so far, and is grateful to face such a worthy adversary.

Meanwhile, Jonathan is astonished that a zombie would retain this sort of fighting spirit centuries after his death. "Flesh remembers?" Jonathan wonders. There's some foreshadowing for Part 3...

Bruford ties up Jonathan with his hair again, but this time it seems to grow and constrict around him, which is definitely not natural. Turns out, Bruford gained this ability when he became a zombie. It works by the way he can control the moisture in his hair, similar to the way Dio could rapidly evaporate the water in his arms to make them cold.

Now, somewhere around here, you might be wondering why Zeppeli isn't helping. Well, that's because he's still hurt from fighting Dio, and he needs to thaw out his arm so he can use Hamon to heal his injuries. Speedwagon has an idea, which basically amounts to pressing Zeppeli's arm against his torso to help warm it up. But it takes most of this arc to finish the process, so Jonathan's on his own.

Zeppeli was worried for Jonathan, since you need to use your hands to deploy Hamon attacks, but Jonathan gets one foot loose and blocks a strike from Bruford's sword. But this isn't a defense, it's an attack. Hamon conducts through metal, too, so Jonathan uses Metal Silver Overdrive to send the Ripple through the sword and into Bruford's arm.

Then he breaks loose and follows through with Sunlight Yellow Overdrive, and that's it for Bruford.

Bruford is in immense pain from the attack, but he vows to keep fighting... until he suddenly stops fighting and accepts defeat. Jonathan anticipated this, and Zeppeli realizes what Jonathan already figured out: When Bruford got hit with the Ripple, it restrored some of his humanity. Zombies don't feel pain, so the fact that Bruford felt anything meant he was becoming human again. And so, he stopped fighting, because he no longer saw Jonathan as his enemy. Flowers grow under Bruford, I guess because the Ripple energy? I don't know.

As he disintegrates, Bruford gives Jonathan his sword, which is inscribed with the word "Luck". Bruford writes a "P" on there with blood, making it say "Pluck" instead. He wishes Jonathan both on his quest, then turns into ash.

So you might be wondering what happened to Tarkus during all of this. Well, he just stayed on the sidelines this whole time, and now that Bruford is dead, he tramples Bruford's armor like he hates the guy. This kicks up a lot of debris, and Zeppeli has to use a Hamon shield to protect himself from it. So now it's Tarkus' turn to fight, and he doesn't seem to be as honorable as Bruford was...

[siberian-khatru]

ALRIGHT IT'S 2112 TIME!!!!

Now, obviously, the title track is split into seven segments, and I will be sort of... treating each segment as their own song for the sake of my Rushathon live-blogging. 1a. "2112- Overture"- HOLY GOD I MEAN. From the opening ghostly synths, to the just powerhouse of drumming, to the faint haunting of an "ooooh" in the beginning, this is a proper overture that hints at everything to come. Not to mention, it quotes the 1812 overture during the ending, and has that Bible quote "And the meek shall inherit the earth" which, when viewed with the full song and the ending, sort of hints that the protagonist's cause does win out eventually. 1b. "2112- Temples of Syrinx" - Opens with that epic riff, and sets up the antagonists of the story, which takes places under a theocracy that worships technology, with the Priests and their "great computers filling their hallowed halls". There seemed to be quite a lot of talk about technology around this time, and I wrote up a comparison last year between this epic and ELP's "Karn Evil 9" and the dangers of AI technology (that's on my essay account). Both epics feature a struggle between man and machine, which I find very interesting. 1c. "2112- Discovery"- Starts with gentle guitar playing and water flowing in the background. In the liner notes, it says the protagonist (never named) discovers a guitar in a cave, after the personal creation of music has been outlawed by the Priests of Syrinx. This is about discovering the joy that creating and writing your own music can bring you--- and how music can inspire protest and individual thought. A young musician can relate to it on a personal level--- the discovery of their instrument, and learning to master it, and it also has parallels to real-life theocracies, where sometimes all secular music is banned. There's also a bit of naïveté here, where the protagonist thinks they can take on an entire system alone. 1d. "2112- Presentation"- I just. LOVVVEEEE this part. I love how Geddy jumps the octave between the character of the protagonists, and the priests, who are practically shrieking at this person. They're giving the protagonist the excuse that him playing his guitar doesn't fit whatever has been calculated for them by the computer, and smashes the guitar. I do wonder if Geddy was inspired a little by Peter Gabriel's voices in Genesis, like when he's playing different characters in "Get Em Out By Friday", for example. 1e. "2112- The Oracle"- This is where the protagonist inadvertently contacts the "Elder Race of Man" --- ngl I got a little distracted singing it instead of writing for this part LOL. 1f. "2112- Soliloquy" - This is my favorite part of the entire song. The pain in the protagonists' voice when he jumps the octave makes me shiver. It's a heartbreaking end to the protagonist, but so so well done.

1g. "2112- Grand Finale"- HELL YEAH HERE WE GOOOO!!! I love the ambiguous ending to 2112, where one doesn't know if the Temples of Syrinx were overthrown following a rebellion, or whether they were the ones to "assume control" once more, or if they did succeed, if they were replaced by something just as bad. It's just so open-ended, and I think one's interpretation of it says a lot about them as a person. ALSO!!! "Attention all planets of the solar federations" - said 3x is 21 words "We have assumed control" - said 3x is 12 words, so the ending also spells out 2112!!! 2. "A Passage to Bangkok"- Now, following one of the most famous prog epics of all time is... a song about smoking weed around the world. It sort of reminds me of how, immediately after the epic that is "Tarkus", ELP launches right into "Jeremy Bender", which is another humorous sort of song. I guess it's sort of a palate cleanser, in a way. The interesting thing about APTB is the bong hit right before the solo, and the way that the drums actually lag behind the guitarist and the bass, by adding an extra beat I believe, adding to a sort of psychedelic feel that is never the same. My only criticism of this song is the sort of orientalist motif that recurs a few times, which is a bit of a stereotype. 3. "The Twilight Zone"- This was the song that started the tradition of Rush recording a last-minute song on their records, and is, of course, an homage to the television of the same name, describing the plot lines to several episodes. Funnily enough, the prior album, Caress of Steel, is also dedicated to Rod Serling. I also love the overdubbed whispering in the choruses after the first one--- that's always made me laugh. 4. "Lessons"- The lyrics to this song are written by Alex, and would be his last lyrical contribution until the final contribution by Geddy and Alex on Signals, "Chemistry". I do love the guitar on this song, and I think I like it a little more than Geddy's lyrical contribution to the album, "Tears". To me, it feels like a callback to some of their earlier songs, with a little more sophistication and experience. 5. "Tears"- I'm a little torn over this song, admittedly. On one hand, I think it's beautiful and touching, and on the other, sometimes I feel it's a little melodramatic. I'm never sure if it's coming from a place of sincerity or not. Right now, I think it is, but when I was younger and perhaps a touch more cynical, I thought it was almost sarcastic, and making fun of people who wrote songs like this in order to get laid. Either way, it is a gorgeous song, and I think there's a synth in the background as well (sounds like a mellotron, but I don't think they had access to a mellotron). It does credit Hugh Syme with keyboards on this track, so perhaps that does include a mellotron. 6. "Something for Nothing"- This is my favorite non-2112 song on this album, and might be one of my favorite Rush songs period. I had the lyrics to the bridge tucked in the back of my phone case for a while, and it always motivates me to go and do something. Because things can't get better if you don't work for it--- which doesn't even mean on a personal basis. If we want the world to be a better place, people need to fight for it. I know that Neil was heavily influenced by Rand at that time, but you can look at this from a leftist lens of criticizing Rapture culture--- that someone will come along and save the world and make everything better.

Okay, I'm not entirely sure if I want to do AFWTK/Hemispheres next, so I think I'll wait until Moving Pictures to write again.

[thumpypuppy]

what sort of other game soundtracks or composers (especially indies but either way) have inspired your work?

Oh gosh, this is such an amazing question!!!

Personally I (Lindar) have so so so many inspirations because I'm a music lover, I'm 37, and I've been playing video games as far back as I can remember.

So first and foremost I have to give a shout-out to Lena Raine because back in like… 2016(?) I was trying to take my studio to a more professional level and invest in some stuff beyond what just comes with any given DAW, so I reached out to her and she was kind enough to answer my dozens of questions and talk shop with me. She is ultimately why Studio Thumpy Puppy has its current sound. I don't know her personally, but she was an absolute sweetie to me, extremely helpful, and y'all know she writes banger after banger track.

Gotta mention Ben Prunty, who is an absolute legend in indie soundtracks.

Met Disasterpeace at Day of the Devs 2016 along with a bunch of other legends in the scene and what an encouraging sweetheart!

Of course I'm a huge fan of Sadie Greyduck who is one of my composers! Go check out her Bandcamp or look for her on streaming services!

Love me some Darren Korb. Honestly like every Supergiant game has been a banger, but it wouldn't be the same without those soundtracks.

On that note you can't go wrong with Danny Baranowsky. Love me some Necrodancer!

Also y'all gotta check out M Gewehr (MWGewehr on birdsite).

Also gotta mention 2Mello who does amazing work and makes some of the funkiest beats.

Of course if we're talking about 2Mello we gotta mention Hideki Naganuma! UNDERSTAND! UNDERSTAND! THE CONCEPT. OF LOVE!

Oh gosh and then Winifred Phillips does amazing work.

While we're here I know she's not a game composer but go listen to Wendy Carlos!

Then there's like… all of the various people across games like Doom, Quake, Borderlands, etc. Sasha Dikiciyan, Jesper Kyd, Mick Gordon…

Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy), Kiochi Sugiyama (Dragon Quest), Yoko Shimomura (Street Fighter), Takashi Tateishi (MegaMan II), Hip Tanaka (Metroid, Earthbound), Koji Kondo and Toru Minegishi (Legend of Zelda), Daisuke Amaya (Cave Story), Eirik Suhrke (Downwell), Daisuke Ishiwatari (Guilty Gear), the sound team on Sonic Adventure 2, Masato Nakamura (Sonic 2), Brad Buxer et al (Sonic 3&K)…

So let's also take into account that a lot of the game soundtracks that have inspired me over the years are influenced by things that aren't game soundtracks, because those are a relatively recent invention, so we have to talk about how Plantasia by Mort Garson is a direct inspiration for Ocarina of Time and "Dancing Mad" from FF6 is literally just Tarkus from Emerson, Lake & Palmer. A *lot* of early game composers were just prog nerds who listened to like… ELP, King Crimson, Rush, Yes, Magma, Van Der Graaf Generator, Camel, Caravan, Gentle Giant, Soft Machine, Gong… and then also a lot of more popular 80s rock that I'm not gonna list out…

The history of music is absolutely wild and there's so much inspiration out there it's absolutely baffling. Go listen to stuff you've never heard before, analyze it, understand what the appeal and aesthetic is, listen to the last 100 years of the pop charts and then learn where that music came from and who their influences were… go listen to motown! Listen to bebop and jazz and future funk and central Asian folk music and like… get out there and expand your horizons, because like… there's SO MUCH good music out there.

[whiteheartlight]

Remembered your post abt the Nuva being amazed by Gali waterboarding Icarax out of hell so bad he just fuckin left and the whole placed got thrashed so bad it doesnt exist anymore and i thought ourgh... like black iron Tarkus... So like. What if whenever theres a big threat near a big body of water they turn to her more excited than kids on christmas morning and she goes :) alright, since youre asking so nicely :) and then just fucks up the local bastard as they chant GA-LI GA-LI GA-LI like at 1:05 in this vid:

https://youtu.be/FZYJAjATPzY?si=pz0opOCV6pTphDPC

I'm loving the implication that one of the others was awake and just decided to sit back and let her handle it because, well, she can. lol

I totally think her brothers would be so astounded and then excited when they realized what she did. she's all worried about them because I'm pretty sure Icarax knocked them all out or down, so she's running over to hold them and try to wrap up wounds, and they're just staring around like "did you do that??" she's like "just lie still for two seconds, Mata Nui," but they can't, they're too awe-struck.

later she'll get a little worked up and nervous about it and they'll wonder if they should have comforted her more, but in the end, the more they keep going "that was SO COOL, you TRASHED him!!" the more she starts perking up and putting it behind her.

they all do this for each other pretty frequently, really. it's kind of their go-to for when they do something that reminds them they really do carry a lot of power. even after Tahu gets poisoned by the Rahkshi and is feeling like a total scumbag for attacking the others, he overhears Lewa going "and Tahu threw this HUGE WAVE OF FIRE - Gali backflipped about three times to get out of the way - and Kopaka just froze him in one motion ! - then we faced them again and he and I made a prison of glass without even planning it beforehand-" you gotta respect the prowess before you get into the moral implications of anything

(sometimes even enemies will do something very powerful and Lewa will look around like "... was pretty cool though")

[tossawary]

Seeing your post about Speedwagon, I saw you say "He's generally a liability once any fight starts." and no??? The anime cut out a lot of his and Jonathan's background and scenes from the manga, but even in the anime Speedwagon is shown fighting and actually killing zombies along with Jonathan and Zeppeli (and later on Dire, Straits and Tonpeti) using his sledgehammer and despite him not being able to use the ripple and this can be seen throughout the entirety of the Windknight's Lot arc. Speedwagon shows some self-deprecation at times especially when he's genuinely unable to help even more than he actually does due to him not being able to use the ripple (i.e. the part where Jonathan gets trapped inside Tarkus' chamber and the rest of the group can't get to him right away), but that doesn't mean Speedwagon is genuinely a liability nor that he doesn't fight at all or whatever, as some people wrongly assume. Part of what makes Speedwagon so effective as a support character is the fact that he can and does carry his own weight most of time, finding ways to compensate for his short-comings, and all without getting in the way. A lot of the details in Part 1 are implied, briefly mentioned, or we just get told about them, so it's easy to miss some, but it's all there.

Oh, I was talking mostly about the fights against Dio and those undead knights! I should have been more specific: he has very little to do in the "[Character] versus [Character]" matches besides stand on the sidelines. (Zeppeli stands on the sidelines a lot too! It's a genre thing and also he's kind of suicidal, but when so many lives are on the line, it is a little weird.) I don't think Speedwagon is useless at all. He's very helpful against run-of-the-mill zombies, sure! I like him a lot! I think he does really well! He's obviously contributing to the party in a practical way as a support character and I enjoyed his presence. (Also: I didn't watch the anime; I was reading the manga.)

He just ends up getting left behind once the power escalation typical of battle shounen starts going. And I think that the narrative was purposefully shaped in such a way that the more powerful opponents left him alone in favor of focusing on Jonathan and Zeppeli, and that he COULD have been more of a liability if any of the absurdly powerful villains who are practically invulnerable in many ways had simply targeted him specifically more sincerely. He does stay out of the way because he understands his limits after that first confrontation with Vampire Dio! He knows he WOULD be a liability to Jonathan or Zeppeli if he threw himself forward thoughtlessly into some of the more superpowered battles, so he doesn't.

But everything could have been a lot worse for Speedwagon if the story wasn't generally structured in the "one fighting match happens at a time" format typical of shounen manga.

Dio could have ripped into Speedwagon at almost any point while Jonathan was busy fighting someone else if he had bothered. Basically, when Jonathan was fighting that first undead knight, I was like, "Wow, it would be really bad if the other one and/or Dio targeted Zeppeli and Speedwagon right now." And then the villains generally didn't? There are notable moments where everyone is just... watching Jonathan. I was expecting the villains to try to take more hostages (like that hypnotized kid), especially since Jonathan is a good man who wouldn't want to see his friends or even bystanders hurt. Speedwagon is a vulnerable point in the party, knows it, and endeavors to keep out of the way and contribute where he can, and he does a good job, but he was also kind of lucky that Dio is so obsessive and arrogant (and that the author simply decided not to pursue that direction for events).

It's also that narratively, in terms of pushing the plot forward in the Windknight's Lot arc, Speedwagon doesn't have much to do besides be a supportive friend and an extra hand. Which is a good role! There are many great characters who serve backup roles and relieve the protagonist's burden in very significant small ways. But there's still nothing he does specifically that couldn't potentially be accomplished by another support character, if necessary, and he has no significant character development arc of his own in this contained arc. This doesn't mean I think he shouldn't be there (the fact that he was on these adventures does shape his entire life as a person and significantly contributes to his later role in Part 2). He contributes strongly to the overall emotional heart of the story in Part 1, which is extremely necessary when everything is as ridiculous as it. The fact that he can't do things, and that this frustrates him, plays an important narrative role in making things feel dire for Jonathan and more impressive when Jonathan succeeds. He's a necessary grounding point for the audience.

I just think it's funny that his main role as a character (as a narrative element within the story, rather than a person living in this world) seemed to be reacting to the fights rather than participating in them. I was mainly making a joke about how he stands on the sidelines and narrates so much of what's going on like some kind of sports commentator. I did read all of Part 1. I did not miss the things that you describe. I don't need the story explained to me again, though I do respect that you felt the need to defend him as a person. He seems like a nice guy. I like him.

~

EDIT: Adding to this post under the readmore because this is getting too long to be on my very much not-JJBA blog and having this in my drafts somehow made me unable to answer this privately.

rottengummybox asked:

Technically, Dio's initial plan during the fire was to end Speedwagon once he got rid of Jonathan, as he saw Jonathan as a bigger threat to his plans (and which didn't end up happening anyway due to how that one fight turned out in the end). There was also a moment where Tarkus, the dark knight who was kind of in the background during the fight against Bruford, kind of targeted Zeppeli and Speedwagon (and Poco), but yeah, I see what you mean with the way the fighting seems to be structured. It also kinda makes sense within the context of the plot as Dio's plan and direct orders to his zombies were to end Jonathan (which includes his companions as a secondary target), and also makes sense from the author's point of view and how it tends to be the MC who stands out in fights and whatnot. The author has made it clear he wanted his main character and antagonist to stand out as Part 1 sets the base of the overall story and plot of Jojo of "good vs evil".

As for Speedwagon's role in the Windknight's Lot arc, I have to disagree a bit there. He does have a "supportive friend" role there, but it isn't one that any other support character could fill, at least not to the extent that Speedwagon does. By this point in the story, it has already been stablished and it is heavily implied that Jonathan and Speedwagon have developed a close connection offscreen. They know about each other's backgrounds and stories, they know the struggles the other is dealing with, and they stick close together, helping each other out and supporting the other as much as they can. Little details such as them casually handing over the sword by tossing it to the other right before the fight in Dio's chamber shows there is some kind of non-verbal communicaton there that came as a result of that connection they have. While Zeppeli and Jonathan do develop a connection too, it doesn't seem to be as deep as that Jonathan has with Speedwagon.

It is also mentioned through different official Jojo media and can also be noted through subtext in the story that Speedwagon has been the one in charge of providing "heart" to Jonathan from the start and throughout all of the ordeal inside and outside of the battlefield. Erina also fulfills this role to an extent, however, the story makes it clear plenty of times that, unlike Speedwagon, she doesn't know anything about what's going on with the Stone Mask, which is also part of the reason why she understandably just stands and watches as Dio kills Jonathan by the end of Part 1 instead of trying to do something to save him (and its also why its strongly believed by some people that, had Speedwagon been there when the last arc happens, Jonathan's chances at survival would have been higher). In very general terms, at least during the Windknight's Lot arc, it is Speedwagon who has the deepest connection with Jonathan in pretty much every aspect and who he doesn't have to hide anything from. He's the first real and meaningful connection Jonathan has had with anyone in the last 7 years.

There is also some character development for Speedwagon in the Windknight's Lot arc, or at least we're shown plenty of new information and sides about him, like him using his resources as a criminal to track Dio down. This is also the arc where we see him do for the first time something he would do again later on in Part 2: Teaming up with someone he doesn't like or agree with to achieve a greater good, or, in this case, to save someone he genuinely cares about. Apparently, plenty of translations often ommit that Speedwagon and Zeppeli didn't like each other at first and were often being rude to each other all the time. Despite it being often taken completely out of context to death, the scene where Speedwagon melts Zeppeli's frozen arm shows that Speedwagon is the type of man who can momentarily put his differences with others aside in order to achieve a greater good as it was clear by then that the only one who could save Jonathan was Zeppeli and, to achieve that, he needed to use his ripple first. All this among other details that escape my mind right now.

Guess I just wanted to say that he's way more than "narrator guy", which seems to be a rather common take among the fandom overall. He does take that role and which was a necessity in the beginning considering all the stuff that's happening in the story and JJBA as a whole being new at the time, but people often completely overlook his personality and his actions and impact on the story due to that that I simply felt like pointing that out. Sorry for the super long ask!

Response:

It's cool that you feel strongly about these characters and I appreciate your insight! However, I did JUST read the manga. I did not forget everything that happens. I know all of this and did not need the story's plot beats and relationships explained to me again. Please stop reciting the story at me. Please assume that I am capable of both making a quick joke (most of my followers have not read JJBA and I don't want to spoil anything for them) and understanding that these characters are much more than a joke.

I was largely talking about the character of Speedwagon as a narrative element, rather than who he is as a person, and about the way that the author chose for things to happen. From a Watsonian lens, Dio is focusing on Jonathan because Jonathan is the bigger threat; Dio has already fought Speedwagon and has dismissed him as inconsequential, because Dio is an incredibly arrogant and powerful person. From a Doylist lens, the fight is happening this way because the author has decided that there's going to be a bunch of 1v1 fights one after the next. The author could have chosen to pursue the fact that Speedwagon is the most vulnerable companion, a potential liability in a fight against a vampire, and chose not to because that's not the story that he wanted to tell.

To be clear: I do not think Speedwagon should not be there or that Speedwagon is entirely replaceable, especially not by any one single character. But I am not talking about him as a person or a friend to Jonathan or a contributing member of the party. I am talking about him as a construct within the overall story.

From a Watsonian lens, Speedwagon helps Zeppeli with the frozen arm because Jonathan has inspired him to help in this dire situation. From a Doylist lens, this is all just happening to temporarily take Zeppeli out of the fight, and while it shows off that Speedwagon is a good man and solid friend, his help could probably be replaced by the author coming up with some other magical trick, inventing some way for Zeppeli or Jonathan to get around this, or just claiming they need to wait a certain amount of time. The author could have just written something different. The magic system within JJBA is extremely arbitrary and required high suspension of disbelief. The story, like all stories, is entirely manufactured.

Because Speedwagon has no special supernatural abilities and is a more minor character, it would be relatively simple for the author to hand off his pushes on the narrative to other characters, including even some random villager. Someone like Erina, who is a nurse, could in theory have also helped Zeppeli (although we know that Jonathan was desperate not to involve her and I do think that Dio would have targeted Erina to use her against Jonathan here, so I understand why she's not here). The fact that Speedwagon is present, doing everything that he does without special powers, instead of leaving his actions to be divided among other characters (Jonathan and Zeppeli are both already carrying a lot of weight), makes him an incredibly brave person and a great friend.

After Zeppeli has taught Jonathan the basics of these powers, the author could have likewise chosen to kill Zeppeli off earlier, and could have come up with ways for the pushes that Zeppeli has on the plot to be given to other characters. The author could have chosen for Tonpetty and crew to have shown up earlier and take over Zeppeli's contributions to the fights. I don't think the author should have done this (it would weaken Zeppeli as a character and the effect of his sacrifice on Jonathan), I just know that he could have.

Speedwagon is a minor enough character that it would be relevantly easy to make simple minor changes to remove him completely from this arc, with little to no effect on the main plot beats - the most basic summary of the Jonathan versus Dio conflict. I think that the story would be lesser for this, of course. It would change the tone of the story immediately. Like playing the same song on a different instrument; while the song might be more or less the "same", the vibe is going to be different if you take out one character and have others fill in.

As you note, Speedwagon and Jonathan have a good friendship. The story is richer for the fact that Jonathan is a character who attracts and inspires loyal friends who strive to help him even when they are desperately outmatched. The major plot beats of an arc might be able to do without certain minor characters, but the minor details contribute to the dramatic struggle that draws an audience in and the emotional heart of the story. (Their friendship as shown now also becomes an important launch point for the next story. Speedwagon simply existing through this arc is important. He doesn't have to do anything here to be significant.)

I do think that a lot of weight is put on the reader to infer the strength of this friendship, to assume what has happened off-screen, and I would have liked to actually see more direct emotional support between Jonathan and Speedwagon in a quiet moment, especially given that Jonathan has lost his father and his home, but I understand that it's not the typical style of the genre. What IS shown on-screen are the fights. And Speedwagon simply hasn't got a lot to do during these specific fights that couldn't be theoretically accomplished by someone else, especially compared to characters like Jonathan and Zeppeli, who get pretty much all of the really big moments. Although, again, the fact that Speedwagon DOES do what he does, all these actions that in theory could be done by someone else but weren't, is significant and admirable. His collective actions belong to him in this story.

Someone else could take over the announcer and cheerleader role as well! I don't think it's Speedwagon's defining trait as a person within this universe, and it sucks if people are reducing him to someone who contributes nothing to Jonathan when that is very obviously not the case. He is absolutely not just a liability. As a narrative element, however, the fight narration is just one of the big roles that he's given that's actually shown on the page. And it honestly serves to show just how much he cares about Jonathan, how much he worries about him, and how much he's trying to help despite his personal limitations. I don't think that him being "the commentator" is a bad thing. It tells the story. It's what the author chose to do with him instead of making him a main fighter.

If we say that everything that makes up a story is a tower, then removing the piece of Jonathan from the story makes the entire building collapse immediately. Removing Zeppeli makes the entire following arc collapse immediately because he is the instrument through which Jonathan gains powers, and major changes would be needed for Jonathan to learn about these powers and the history of the Stone Mask another way. If we remove Speedwagon after he has helped Jonathan find the poison-seller, then I think that the tower becomes shaky, minor fixes are needed to keep it from falling apart during Windknight's Lot, but the overall structure of the Jojo vs. Dio story can remain intact without this supporting minor character.

Erina is another character who is easy to replace in the main plot beats around this part of the plot. She helps to heal Jonathan after the mansion burns down, so it could be argued she helped to save Jonathan's life (preventing infection, etc.) which of course has a huge impact on the plot, but her nursing could have been easily replaced by Speedwagon or Zeppeli (showing up earlier) serving a similar function. She just doesn't have very much to do here, action-wise. She doesn't push the narrative along in the same direct way that Jonathan or Zeppeli do, not having the drive to destroy the Stone Mask or defeat Dio in battle. But removing Erina from the story in these specific parts, just because her individual actions don't require special powers and are frankly quite small in the overall plot, would tear out an emotional heart of the narrative and interfere with her later critical role in the story. Removing Erina's nursing role just because someone else could do it would be really bad! Removing Speedwagon would ultimately be bad and it cannot be done without making minor changes to the story. A character can have not much to do at certain points and nevertheless be key to the overall story that the author chose to tell.

[just-a-gamer-daydeamer-girl]

So I have this fanfic idea but I’m not sure if I’m ever gonna write been busy with other projects and fanfics it so I’m gonna just make it an AU for now. Where all the Jostars are vampires. Calling it the Bloody Star AU.

Basically in a timeline where Dio never tested the mask and didn’t know he could make vampires with it, used it on Jonathan to try and kill him… but turned him into a vampire (this happened in dio’s confrantaon for when he was caught poison gorge.) Jonathan with his anger and new monsteious hunger attacks dio (he lived but got badly injured). By the time Jonathan snapped out of it the damage had already been done and the cops saw him as a monster. They shot at Jonathan but bullets don’t really work, Gorge tries to step in but ends up getting shot. He apologized to Jonathan before dying. While Jonathan and Speedwagon were destractive the cops set the manor on fire in an attempt to kill Jonathan. But he managed to survive and save Speedwagon, the two of them go into hiding. (Jonathan eats suicidal people and freaks who want to be eaten, he is not happy about it and is remorseful about it saying sorry everytime). Erina finds him and gives him comfort and help, telling him about how he was still the same kind soul she always known despite the fangs, and that he was not at fault, it was just a lot of unfortunate circumstances, a fate he couldn’t fight even if he wanted too… the best thing to is enjoy the now, and hope that things get better.

Meanwhile Dio meets Zeppeli and learns hamon from him (he is super good at it) and the two of them go to try and find the vampire that was once Dio’s beloved brother.(dio is lying about what actually happened, the cops were there just mentioned how scary Jonathan was (despite not attacking and was more scared of them)) . Word spread about a monster that feeds on the willing, who is often accompanied by a gangster and woman who practiced medicine wich was kinda terrifying back then. Tracking him down the hammon users finally cornered Jonathan in a valley after he saved Poco. Zeppeli did kinda find it off putting how uncharacteristically kind, polite and sweet the vampire is but he shouldn’t let him stop from saving the world from this horror! Then he gets backstabbed by Dio. While Speedwagon and Erina is tending to Zeppeli wounds. Jonathan and Dio fight, during the fight Jonathan acedently revives the knights, witch is a double edged sword, he has no idea how to control zombies or how they work but managed to scare dio off. He managed to befriend Bruford for a while before his soul is laid to rest but Tarkus has more of a bone to pick and ends up going wild, heading to town, Jonathan has to stop him. Ultimately he gains zeppeii as a friend who finished Tarkus, but just to be save he puts Jonathan in hamon infused restrains and locks him in this special cage.

Dio ends up requiring new people on his side to try and end the rieng of the vampire named Jonathan basically create an Anti-Speedwagon foundation/cult of sorts that I don’t have a name for yet and ends up basically becoming another ruler of London. Playing to their fear and sympathy. Getting more and more help. The people are becoming more paranoid and turning on each other in fear of vampires. Doesn’t help that a lot of other hamon users end up joining with Dio. In some ways Dio was a bigger threat as a hamon user then his vampire counterpart. This does not help the fact he is now getting more and more power hungry and just as roughless. This messed up culture takes more after him and prays on the weak for multiple things with ‘protection’ being the biggest reason they should comply. You know that things get messed up when the safest place in London now is Ogre Street.

Zeppeli does his best to reson with people and his colleagues but they are not listening, even though he has the vampire contained and everyone can see him, along with all of the damaged Jonathan has from hamon and is now patiently waiting for them to finish him off (both Erina and Speedwagon are objecting and trying to convince him not to give up) despite all his attempts and reasoning he is badly injured by the hamon mob, he besides to save the creature who didn’t let fear or his rage take over his soul and saved his life. He frees Jonathan from his cage. The entirey of the mob runs away when Zeppeli, Dio made them a bit too fearful of vampires to the point no one thinks they can stop Jonathan who is literally crumbling away due to hamon. Zeppeli tells Jonathan that he was sorry, that he couldn’t believe that the very thing he learned to try and stop the horrors of the stone mask, hamon, the power of life, turned into something so horrible. They need to stop this raging fire before it consumes the world, they need to stop Dio.

The four of them start traveling to the Keep Dio has taken refuge in. Jonathan now knowing he has to fight him begins training, eating those who Actually deserve it like Jack the Ripper and testing the limits of his abilities, often sparing with Zeppeli as well as healing others with his blood. But not raising any more zombies or messing with life in any kinda way. Fun times when Jonathan learns he can shoot eye beams and make his body super cold. While dealing with goons that are a minor annoyance at best, there too scared to actually try and directly attack the Vampire. They get horses, (Jonathan’s horse is named slow dancer) and then they actually get into an fight with a high rank fallower and a few goons on horseback, it’s a race against the sunrise of sorts but Jonathan wins.

They finally raid the keep Jonathan goes to fight Dio while Zeppeli, speedwagon and Erina fight the three hamon users that helped Jonathan in the original part (I can look their names but I don’t want to bother). Thankfully Zeppeli was able to have them see how messed up everything is by showing them the people who were ‘saved’ by their cause. Meanwhile Dio and Jonathan are both at their wits ends, Jonathan throwing everything he knows at Dio, how to counter hamon, and Dio who studded vampires and had extensive hamon training since their last encounter. But ultimately Jonathan wins by using his environment to his advantage and tricks Dio into falling to his death.

After the fact a huge discussion was held on what to do after the fact, everyone is still in fear of the vampire, no one wants to kill Jonathan, he doesn’t deserve it. After a while they come up with a solution. “Dio gave his life to the country, he died trying to fight the vampire, and thankfully he managed to kill it” they spread a zombie’s hamon ashes around to sell the illusion. They destroy the stone mask as well. Meanwhile Erina smuggles Jonathan out of the country to the colonies using a special trunk(aka Dio’s coffin in the original just a bit different so that Erina can pass it as luggage, the secret compartment was always there) until the whole mess is over. The hamon users give Jonathan a special collar that they made him weaker and curbed any vampiric hunger that he couldn’t remove. I mean they’re not gonna just let a vampire roam free, that just seems like a bad idea. On a more happier note Jonathan and Erina become an official thing a few days after the fact. Even though they couldn’t get married, they vowed to be together as long as possible. However a day after they took off Zeppeli finds out that Dio’s corpse has been stolen from his resting place before his memorial.

The pair at see enjoy the nights on the ocean, Erina often falling asleep in Jonathan’s arms, just enjoying their time together. Jonathan has to stay cramped in her room and not speak a peep out of fear of being found out especially after someone ransacked her room, but they made the most out of it. But the day they see the new land on the horizon, several zealots of Dio attacked, they were hiding among the passengers. They were after Erina, because they believed that he had some secret vampire relic to revive the dead, when they couldn’t find anything from their earlier raid, they went into the deep end and were convinced the entire ship were secret vampire worshipers, and started Killing the passengers and ringing the boat to explode. They also were the ones-who stole Dio’s corpse, putting it in a special blast proof glass/crystal coffin that keeps his body from decomposing so that their lord can watch over them fulfill their purpose. Jonathan has to step up however due to the collar he is taking a lot of damage and can’t fight back well but managing to save a few of the passengers, including an infant who he gives to Erina to keep safe. He makes make shift boats. Jonathan, Erina and the baby are the last’s ones to leave, they use the special trunk as a makeshift boat. But before they can leave Jonathan gets snagged by a harpoon like hamon weapon, and gets dragged back. Erina tries to save him but can’t free him, when she can’t she tries to die with him.

“If you die, who will I live for?”

“Live for the baby who lost her parents, live for our child…” Jonathan says while putting his hand over her stomach. “I can already sense the little one’s life… please… Erina…. I’m sorry about putting you though all this…..”

They kiss for one last time before Jonathan is dragged into the depths of the ship. Erina escapes on the trunk turned boat with the baby and joins the other survivors shortly after the boat explodes. After that the fable of “The Vampire and The Sun Cult,” spread all over the colonies and gave the people a good discussion on what makes a monster. Sorrow is felt among Jonathan’s comrades, even little Elisabeth could feel the cold feeling of dread, but at least the nightmare was over finally.

Until George II born with fangs…. Everyone knew that the blood of the vampire was now ingrained with the Joestar bloodline.

Will do part 2 and 3 later this took so long to write.

[theprogrockbstheorist]

BS Analysis no. 1: “Tarkus” as an Allegory for the Vietnam War

TW: Mentions of warfare and imperialism

Hello beloved progblr, today I am back with my first BS analysis, which is going to be on Emerson, Lake, and Palmer’s (ELP) 1971 prog epic “Tarkus”. For the unfamiliar, this is what I do on my blog: I primarily write essays analyzing progressive rock, or writing fan essays. Occasionally, I’ll make some shitposts and reblog cool shit, but if you like stupidly in-depth analyses on prog bands that reached their peak in popularity 50 years ago or stupid fan theories about those same bands, then you’ll like it here! 

Now, for those unfamiliar with ELP (which I can’t imagine there are very many of you, as this is a prog blog), I’ll do my best to explain, however they aren’t my very favorite band, (I like them a lot, obviously, but I’m still kinda new to them) so if I make any mistakes, let me know! Emerson, Lake, and Palmer (more commonly called ELP) was basically prog’s first supergroup: all three members came from other bands prior to forming ELP in 1970. The only reason why I’m bringing this up is because their prior work, specifically Emerson’s (with The Nice) and Lake’s (with King Crimson), are going to be relevant in this essay. 

Tarkus is the second album released by the group in 1971, following the live debut of the group in 1970, and the whirlwind success of their eponymous debut album released that same year. The album begins with a ~20 minute long Level Two Prog Epic, and one of the first prog epics, also titled “Tarkus”. This epic is what I’ll be focusing on, and is divided into 7 sub-sections, each with their own title: 

i. “Eruption”,

ii. “Stones of Years”, 

iii. “Iconoclast”, 

iv. “Mass”, 

vi. “Battlefield”,

and vii. “Aquatarkus”. 

This helps to organize the events of “Tarkus” into something resembling a plot structure. Now, “Tarkus” (the song) doesn’t really have a plot itself, however, the inside cover of the album suggests something of a plot. Notably, the cover of the album contains an armadillo on tank treads, with the inside of the cover also containing a manticore and some sort of mechanized pterodactyl being destroyed by Tarkus (the creature). There are also several scenes depicting this plot: there is a volcano eruption out of which Tarkus is hatched (“Eruption”), a depiction of Tarkus destroying several animals, and then a scene depicting the Manticore challenging Tarkus, then a scene depicting the Manticore injuring Tarkus, causing it to retreat back into the water (“Aquatarkus”). Clearly, Tarkus is not meant to be the hero of the story: it is depicted as going on a rampage against innocent creatures, only to be stopped by the Manticore (side note: when ELP created their own label, they called it Manticore). On the surface, it appears to be a sci-fi/fantasy song about an evil creature, forged by fire, that is eventually quelled by an unlikely, organic hero, and forced to retreat. Sound familiar? An evil, mechanized creature that goes around, subjugating smaller creatures, until it is eventually forced to withdraw by an unlikely hero? 

From the illustrations, one can infer that Tarkus is meant to symbolize the United States and their imperialist actions in Southeastern Asia, and the Manticore, Vietnam. As depicted in the album artwork, Tarkus is a high-tech character (noted by the use of guns and the tank treads) that is defeated by an unlikely hero, the Manticore. Furthermore, Tarkus is based on an armadillo, an animal unique to North America, whereas the Manticore comes from Old World mythology, with similar creatures being found everywhere from Greece to East Asia. When the album was released in 1971, the U.S. was still embroiled in Vietnam, and began an operation into Cambodia, further destabilizing the region, and causing another round of protests against these actions. 

"Tarkus" being an allegory for the Vietnam War is further exemplified by the lyrics, which begin after the instrumental “Eruption” section, which questions whether “the days have made you so unwise” and whether the listener “can hear anything at all”. The song goes on to criticize religious institutions during a section called “Mass”, during which the phrase “the weaver in the web that he made” is repeated several times, and finally criticizes the futility of warfare in general during “Battlefield”, during which Lake sings the lyrics “You talk of freedom/starving children fall”. Section by section, it appears that “Stones of Years” is a direct address to those in power, questioning if they have learned anything from history, and whether they care to learn, “Mass” is criticizing those in power who have got themselves into a situation they cannot back out of without damaging their already ruined reputations, and “Battlefield” talks of the horrors of war. If the lyrics recorded on the studio version weren’t enough proof, when ELP performed the “Tarkus” epic live, they would often include “Epitaph” by King Crimson, which was written while Lake was still in King Crimson, in the “Battlefield” section. “Epitaph” is also an anti-war protest song that criticizes the leadership of humanity, with lyrics that state: “The fate of all mankind, I see/Is in/The hands of fools”, a pretty harrowing addition to the piece.

Speaking of careers before ELP, during his work with The Nice, Emerson was involved in an incident during The Nice’s performance at the Royal Albert Hall during their cover of “America” from West Side Story involving the American flag being defaced in some way. According to Jay Keister and Jeremy L. Smith in their work “Musical Ambition, Cultural Accreditation and the Nasty Side of Progressive Rock” (2008), he “repeatedly stabbed an American flag and burnt it onstage,” whereas according to Emerson himself, he only set light to it, and it was only an image of the American flag that was burnt without being stabbed. However, The Nice did intend for “America” to be “the world’s first instrumental protest song." Either way, The Nice did this intentionally while the American ambassador was present, leading to Emerson and The Nice receiving a lifetime ban from the venue (later revoked). In the aforementioned article as well, the authors also believe that “Tarkus” was indeed meant to be a protest piece due to Emerson's previous actions, as well as the actual content of the song and album.

When looked at holistically, it becomes evident that what appears to be a peculiar piece of progressive rock with a rather quirky cover of an armadillo on tank tracks is actually a defiant statement against the horrific actions taken by the US military in the name of “freedom”.  Was ELP alone in making such statements during the late 1960s and early 1970s? Not at all, many artists protested against the Vietnam War in the form of songs. However, what makes "Tarkus" stand out is that it's meant to be digested as a package: without the album illustrations, the song becomes a lot more vague and unconnected, however without the song, "Tarkus" is merely the creature on the cover of the album, without any further depth.

I feel that one thing that people tend to forget about progressive rock, in general, is that it's never simply just music about wizards and shit. All these long suites and epics portray something deeper than just their plots, and that is especially poignant for something like "Tarkus" to get the respect it deserves.

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If anyone is interested, please look up that paper I mentioned! It’s an excellent, short read. The interview in which Emerson gives his perspective on the Royal Albert Hall incident is here, around  11:31 to 12:23. 

[cerastes]

In my near decade of following you, I've only seen you use your clout or even acknowledge that you may have any sort of online pull once, exactly once, and it's endlessly amusing that it was to get more people to vote for Tarkus in a tumblr poll.

Seeing Vilhelm have 10% over Tarkus sent me into quite possibly the only instance of nerd rage in my life strong enough to make me abandon my code of conduct, I will admit this, with no shame, because it was for Black Iron Tarkus.