#dan lisden

[n3on-graveston3s-calling]

Working on the Carrd with transcribing and the Livestream was such a fun subtle horror masterpiece with mind control.

Like what the fuck was this section huh? Haha what???

I love it.

In case the pictures don't load-

As soon as the song ends, the camera turns to static, resembling an interrupted broadcast or "Lost Signal" sort of static. We are suddenly back with Lisden and Sacarver, who look a little worse for wear. Sacarver now has much darker eye makeup, her hair is slightly messed up, and there is blood on her scarf. Good Day can be heard being played on the ukulele in the background. *"There is absolutely nothing missing from this collection. Every song that you remember is included."* An attempt to give a sort of nostalgia to this new album; Sacarver sounds hoarse and winded.*

*The camera pans to Lisden, who appears to have had a bloody nose during the time off screen. Blood is dried beneath his nostril, and blood is dripped onto his pale yellow sweater.* *"The first time I heard these classics-"*

*The camera pans to the table. The items (album, cassette, CDs) have shifted and fallen over. "Mhm!"*

*-"I remember, it brought tears to my eyes." Lisden turns his head, revealing a bruise that is forming on his left cheekbone and temple."*

*Sacarver sighs. "Oh, so many great memories." Another attempt at faux nostalgia."You know, I just felt TRAPPED not having these in my life!" She turns to look at Lisden, "Until now!"*

*The camera focuses on Lisden, who looks slightly panicked. "Sally!" He looks into the camera, and speaks in a nearly robotic tone, as if he were were reading off of a proctor. "We all will feel trapped if we do not get our hands on this MAGNIFICENT collection!" The camera focuses once more on the album.*

*"So many colors, so many special moments!" Sacarver speaks. "You can just FEEL," she runs her hands over the box set, "it."*

*"I know!" Lisden agrees.*

*The camera focuses on his face. He seems dazed as he blinks hard, his smile looking incredibly forced. Sally speaks, "So many classics like The Outside!" The camera focuses on Sally before drawing out. "It just filled me with so much contentment!"*

*The camera refocuses on Lisden, who still looks pained and slightly forced.. "Yes, contentment." He draws in a breath." Don't wait another minute!" Intense eye contact with the camera. "You need to get this collection in your life!"*

*The camera pans back to Sally, who is smiling before it drops very suddenly, her face almost drooping as her eyes are suddenly very clear. Her voice loses all forced joy or sense of showmanship. "But remember? You should-" The broadcast is suddenly interrupted by static once more.

[hype-old-posts]

GUYS GUYS I NEED HELP

i read somewhere that in the livestream experience the lights on the panel glow for sacarver because sally is there and (supposedly) for lisden cuz dan is there, and i was gonna make a theory about why nico's light also glows once, but i hit a wall--

LISDEN'S JUST DOESN'T????

help am i going blind or something

[f0linasahl0]

more things about the livestream experience before i go completely insane.

(warning: this is going to be a long one)

1: why is [bishop] lisden's favorite song mulberry street and why is [bishop] sacarver's favorite (if i remember) the outside or stressed out....i just want to throw that out there

2: i absolutely adore the piano spread whatever thing tyler does before he goes and raps to migrane. i dont know what its called but when he runs his hand across the piano, it was good. how did he make it sound so good and musical...

3: why is the shy away livestream version the only livestream version that is on their official "the story" playlist??? i keep thinking about that (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3roRV3JHZzaU_kQ4-7uv-ahPbFabFmRW)

4: also thinking about how they cut off holding onto you before the outro. basically all there was of holding onto you was the "entertain my faith" part...thinking about the lore THERE. how a "good day dema" ad cut off the ending as well then they talk about how happy they are !! then how it goes to mulberry street after dan LISDEN says its his favorite then how it goes so blurry BEFORE THE AD??? ----"entertain my faith" sounds something like he..wants more from the religion but they cut him off from continuing the rest of holding onto you..like he got in trouble or something? i dont know man

5: "dema is bringing you this music collection that is vibrant with saturation"... "dema wants you to enjoy this collection"..."i just felt trapped before having this collection" ... "contentment"...."now that youve heard some of this collection you must be just like us, completely saturated"..."sometimes i close my eyes to try to escape...you know you cant escape sally...yes i know!" PROPAGANDA

6: why is he holding and grabbing his head so much. past the literal deadpan ass stare hes got through the majority if not all of the experience (like even while doing his little dances you'd think he'd be smiling during...), why does he grip his head so often-- i talked about this before but like what are they doing to him man he like grips his head in almost pain so much

7: also thinking about what the lore implications of jenna and debby being in this...because im pretty sure its shown jenna in levitate is a bandito i only assume debby was one too. why are they there?? were they caught too? or did dema make clones of them to use against josh and tyler?

8: "i cant wait to see you again"

9: ”in a world where this is as good as it gets…we miss you. we really do.”

10: also can we discuss the "CONTROLLED by" dma org and good day dema??? this photo is blurry as hell but CONTROLLED BY! not PRODUCTION OF! specific word choice..also dma org...dmaorg.info...why are clancy's letters posted on a website thats directly correlated with dema...letters from his time inside as well as time outside...can we like talk about that--like other than the obvious showcase that they have his letters and are using them to lie to the people, why are they going through dmaorg?? if clancy isnt directly with dema why are they--why are they going through there???

11: the whole cutscene before lane boy "there was a wonderful structure to the city that put my cares to rest and the responsibilities of the day seemed to be accomplished with minimal effort. once a task was taught and understood, our obligations timely, and it felt secure knowing tomorrows duties would be accomplished with the same efficiency. we all worked to represent our bishop with honor knew that each inhabitant of our region had a like-minded dedication to consistency....why do i kneel to these concepts? tempted by control, control by temptation. stay low, they say. stay low," then the direct contradiction of the redecorate rap he inserts, “with the bells and the whistles scaled back like an isolated track, and he feels trapped when he's not inebriated fair to say he's fairly sedated most days of the week. he might have made it if he lived on a different street. i repeat, scaled back and isolated he says he likes an open schedule but he mostly hates it if you're running to his room, take a breath before you break-in put your ear up to the door, tell me can you hear him saying?” using clancy's letters to show praise to dema then clancy (tyler) directly contradicting being like "no i hold zero praise for this city" and saying how hes isolated and sedated when hes not preforming--how he ALMOST made it out. how if he lived A LITTLE closer to the walls he wouldnt be there right now-

12: the way the old songs are "SCALED BACK AND ISOLATED" ???? A SCALED BACK AND ISOLATED TRACK????

13: the way ned is missing in chlorine when he was such a big part of chlorine

14: AGAIN this shy away version. one-why is it so important to the story, two-the 9 chairs for 9 bishops around the table, three-i fucking love the guitarist by josh i love his energy, four-THE WAY HE BREAKS A GLASS WHEN TALKING ABOUT BREAKING THE CYCLE IN HALF???, THE SCREAM !!!! so many things

[so many things you guys]

15: the fucking bishop ass dancers to stressed out....can we discuss that too. ALSO HOW THEY DRAG HIM TO THE NEXT STAGE FOR STRESSED OUT?

16: "but remember you should- *cut off*" YOU SHOULD WHAT SALLY SACARVER????

17: also firstly, how beautiful the ukulele part was...it was so gorgeous, also the transition was amazing. though past that, can we talk about how fucking sad he looked on that little boat with his uke? was that a mock to his escape attempts? to him singing to an empty sky in trench? singing to the banditos as they boat someplace safer? like...

18: THE MOCKING OF THE BANDITOS WITH THE FUCKING JUMPSUIT/HEAVYDIRTYSOULD PART?? why would dema do that? why would the bishops actively make josh and tyler look like the banditos if it wasn't just a mock? they dont like the banditos i thought why would they have them dressed up like that? like torchbearer bringing the torch to the stage and the look josh has on his face-then tyler also being in a bandito outfit. like--it has to be mocking his attempts. mocking the banditos or SOMETHING

19: heathens being in the livestream makes me think a little too but i dont know. "all my friends are heathens take it slow, wait for them to ask you who you know. please dont make any sudden moves you dont know half of the abuse."

20: also first, what was that alarm that was sounded before never take it? what happened there? second, the lore people have posted about never take it and how it was about the bishops? the way it was played while the alarm was going off and it was almost messier filming...

21: HIM ENDING THE LIVESTREAM WITH "nobody's coming for me" and his deadpan look (sobbing)

22: again, bringing up sally sacarver and dan lisden. sacarver and lisden being bishop's names and hosting this livestream. then showing directly how the bodies they are controlling are deteriorating as the show goes on. "The rules are that you can only seize or control a dead body, and only for a short while."

23: also just the heavydirtysoul part. starting to think about the: "I tricked Nico into taking me outside the walls. I created a fiery diversion. I escaped." i just keep thinking about that and:

24: "we've come for you, we've got people on the way, no chances, none at all" the way this is direct quotes from dan and sally, who are bishops, and it is also direct lyrics (or close to direct lyrics) from no chances. it just keeps cementing itself on everything ive already thought about

25: past just the livestream experience what is with josh and the bucket hat lol. i love it but like.-

26: "you ask me if its real, i see your shifting eyes, you dig in your heels, i dig my hole to die" also wondering why the "live from the outside" version is here rather than the original.-is it important

27: his little dances are my favorite thing-

28: CAR RADIO...car radio. thats it thats the point. just the car radio part is everything to me--its giving old car radio performances and im living for it. though also old car radio performances? did they put it together like that on purpose?

29: NEVER TAKE IT HAVING A BURNING CAR HOLY SHIT FIREY DIVERSION? LMAO just how close he is to the camera during this too...so many thoughts

30: "...you know you cant escape sally...yes i know!" IS THIS LIVESTREAM SHOWING CLANCY AND HOW HE DIDN'T ESCAPE EITHER?? SHOWING THAT HE HAS BEEN CAUGHT AND IF HE CANT ESCAPE, THE NOTORIOUS CLANCY, THEN YOU CANT EITHER???! SO MANY THOUGHT!!

[sorry for how long this is-]

DID THIS SHOW HOW MANY THOUGHTS I HAVE HERE. im going insane like i keep thinking about the lore implications of this goddamn livestream. i have more points (i will make a essay list whatever for it all so i don't go any crazier) but this is already a lot for one post. just wanted to like...throw this out there. i know some might be a stretch but please just hear me out. just hear me out :,)

[mossandteeth]

Livestream Experience: the Hosts, the Escape, and Seizing

This was rotting in my drafts for a year, I haven't been bothered to finish it but I'm still happy with the theory so here's the rough draft anyway.

A post on DMAORG explains the concept of "seizing".

The top left corner deciphers to say "SIEZE KEONS", and the text at the bottom says: "Seize available vessel / at Voldsøy eastern cove / intercept bishops / glorious gone = available vessel / bishops control the available vessel! / intercept and seize / they will make you a weapon". There's a stamp that says "DEMA / SACRED MUNICIPALITY OF DEMA / UNITED VIALISTS". And finally, Greek text under the left most diagram that says "ψυχή κίνησις", which translates to "psychokinesis" or "mind movement".

In the livestream experience, Dan and Sally are hosting. In the credits it confirms that Dan is Lisden and Sally is Sacarver.

(under the assumption that a vessel can be seized if its not completely dead - part of the soul still remains) - unsure abt this part, bit of a plot hole

sally + dan have been siezed by sacarver and lisden

they are fighting back - repeated words: sally and dan repeat certain words back to each other in the breaks; "escape" is a cue. she then begins reciting "no chances" lyrics - a song considered Not part of the dema propoganda. Tyler is obviously curious about this based on his reaction to it while watching her on the TV.

alarm goes, bandito perimeter alarm? triggered by sally's cue? tyler not surprised because he heard the cue and expected it.

[iwontfall-inlovewithfalling]

I always knew Lisden was a bitch but now I just want to 🤛

[lionsonjupiter]

the synth in no chances that sounds like dripping??? i don't how to describe it but uh it has my heart <33333

[thekadster]

cliquetober day 29 & 30: jump & stage

Fandom: Twenty One Pilots

Word Count: 605

Trigger Warnings: Implied death, mention of human decomposition

Author’s Notes: Wrote something about Dan and Sally! This was inspired by the part of the livestream where their eyes turned yellow and they started decaying, so I wanted to expound on that and humanize them a little.

I swear tomorrow's writing is going to be a happy one this is the last angst I promise KJDFGHDF

❝ Dan and Sally were two of many who pledged their faith to what was real, as cold and harsh as it may be. They were willing to fight for a life outside of Dema.

But their leap of faith would cost them.❞

also read it on ao3!

Every Bandito has a choice to make.

In the world of Trench, there are always two options: faith and sleep. One must pick between the world inside Dema’s walls and the world outside it; allegiance to one means animosity to another. Faith to the Bishops, or faith to freedom? Remaining asleep to the truth, or remaining asleep to what vialism dictates?

Dan and Sally were two of many who pledged their faith to what was real, as cold and harsh as it may be. After finally seeing Dema for the deathtrap that it was, sleep felt more like a betrayal than anything. So, they promised each other that somehow, someway, they would find a way out.

Working with the Banditos in any form was strictly prohibited, so they had to keep their plans under wraps. But when the two of them heard about Clancy, they only grew more intrigued.

Rumor had it that their friend was able to escape through the underground tunnels and breach the city walls. They wanted to ask him so many questions about the outside; how it looked like, how it felt like, whether it was anything like what the Bishops had told them. They’d only heard of it in stories, the mountains and rivers and forests left entirely to their imagination.

The thought of following after him was daunting, but they were willing to take that leap of faith. If he did it, they figured they could, too.

But life turns plans upon their head, as they say.

Their spirit and drive were undeniable, but they got caught. One unlucky turn, one guard that just so happened to be there, and their whole mission fell apart. The act of defying the Bishops in such a way was unforgivable. Their life would become nothing more than three letters and the four walls of a cell, isolated from each other and the rest of the world.

And so, until the very end, that’s how it would be.

But their story wasn’t over yet.

The Bishops had an idea for a talk show. It was one of many ways of showing their followers that the city was worth staying for. This new wave of television and music appeared almost innocent, the saturation trying to match the picture-perfect idea of “home”. They would prove to the citizens that life in Dema wasn’t as bad as one might think, that the rebels were liars all along.

And what better way to do that than with two of their own?

Dan and Sally, even after their passing, still had a use to the Bishops. They were the hosts of this new show, the poster children for this new era. Dressed up in their Sunday best and bright smiles, they became nothing more than puppets on a stage. Every action of theirs was controlled by the invisible strings of the supernatural, and yet it appeared so uncannily human. Like their eyes were never empty, like their hearts were still beating.

And they wouldn’t be the last, either. The Bishops’ power could only maintain them for so long before their bodies would begin to decay at an alarming rate. The human body cannot sustain so much physical activity after rigor mortis, no matter how artificial; and it would eventually give in to natural rot. Besides, Good Day Dema always needed new faces for their episodes.

The only ones who knew the truth were their family and friends, those who knew them personally. But they could only watch as the two smiled and laughed for the whole city to see, advertising the very thing they always swore to hate.

[mx-misty-eyed]

A bunch of SAI livestream observations

I literally just copied and pasted the notes I took so I'm sorry if they make no sense.

Chronological notes:

-livestream starts by showing a birds-eye view of Dema and playing Good Day

-Tyler looks really depressed

-bishops (Sally/Sacarver and Dan/Lisden) introduce TOP as “the popular band, Twenty One Pilots” - trying to portray them as popular and likable to get more people to listen

-Sacarver says the dragon (Trash) is “kinda dark” - implies that Trash is good

-Tyler’s hair is “number 16 cotton candy” - further shows how Dema controls/catalogs everything

-“there’s not twenty one pilots, there’s only two guys!” - maybe it doesn’t mean anything but that phrase is *the* phrase that will piss off almost any clikkie

-bishops ask where Josh is and if he’s hiding, Sacarver says “come here, you little moron” - Josh isn’t with Dema because they don’t know where he is, plus they wouldn’t call him a moron if he was on their side

-Sacarver wants Tyler to play Stressed Out because she’s always stressed (due to working with Lisden) and because “it’s my favorite” - Stressed Out is the song that made TOP popular, she may be stressed due to working with Lisden because she’s the one that seems to want to escape Dema more, while he seems to buy into the message/concept of Dema more

-Tyler tunes out bishops and then starts singing Choker

-Bishops grab Tyler after Choker and force him onto another set, where Stressed Out plays.  Bishops stay onstage during Stressed Out - again, Stressed Out made TOP popular, which is what the bishops want

(okay i know the bishops are bad but that last image would make a badass computer wallpaper)

-Stressed Out fades into Migraine

-“thank God it’s Friday/because Fridays will always be better than Sundays” - probably doesn’t mean anything, but the livestream was on a Friday

-Josh counted for Tyler on “depressssssing”, but not verbally like in the studio version

-Migraine background has the psi symbol

-Migraine transitions into Morph, with a video of a crowd from the Trench era (Tyler interacts with the ‘crowd’ with a call and answer)

-Tyler doesn’t say “Josh Dun” in Morph

-Morph turns into Holding on to You (“entertain my faith” part) with a rain/lightning effect

-right before “lean with it rock with it”, there’s static and it cuts to the bishops who advertise SAI on the second set (blue/pink/yellow rainbow)

-“they just don’t play hits like this on the radio these days” - “this song will never be played on the radio” from Fairly Local

-after, a ‘commercial’ plays

-the first commercial has the black slipcase on the right and the blue slipcase on the left.  In the back, from left to right: cassette, three cd’s stacked on top of each other (white on top, pink in the middle, blue on the bottom), blue box (limited edition box set sold on their website), lyric booklet

-“Dema is bringing you this music collection that is vibrant with saturation” - the Twitter banner was slowly desaturated while in the process of announcing the album, ads for SAI said “feel the saturation!”

-Shy Away, Choker, and Mulberry Street are mentioned during the first ad - two out of three singles released before the album dropped and the most propaganda-like song

-After commercial, Tyler plays Mulberry Street - Lisden said it was his favorite (likely b/c it’s propaganda)

-Mulberry Street starts inside but Tyler goes outside to a street (Mulberry St.) with extras that are ‘frozen’ in place

-Mulberry Street was the whole song (or almost the whole song), while most songs played were only a small segment - again, it’s Dema’s propaganda, so they want it to go on longer than older songs

-after Mulberry Street, the intro to Lane Boy plays (“why do I kneel to these concepts?  Tempted by control, controlled by temptation.  Stay low, they say, stay low”)

-Lane Boy has people with gas masks in the background

-“Don’t trust a perfect person and don’t trust a song that’s flawless” is repeated several times - later, Sacarver calls the album “perfect”

-Lane Boy transitions into Redecorate

-Chlorine plays next, background has barrels like in music video

-“Running for my…” (Tyler himself doesn’t say the word “life”)

-After Chlorine, Shy Away plays with obviously fake snow/mountainous background.  Chandeliers are hanging and a fancy dining table is set

-Bishop commercial after Shy Away (“break the cycle in half”) plays, bishops have nosebleeds

-Sacarver says “nothing is missing from this collection”, yet SAI has 11 tracks while past albums have 14

-cd’s in front are swapped (black on left and blue on right), and the three cd’s are in a different order (pink on top, blue in the middle, white on the bottom)

-“But remember, you should-” *static* - bishops are likely being controlled by someone else, as it’s unlikely that the Banditos would have the power to cut them off

-Cuts to Mulberry St. set but darker (dusk/nighttime)

-The Outside plays next with Josh wearing skeleton hoodie - The Outside was mentioned in the commercial

-when water is poured on the street after The Outside, it forms a footprint

-Tyler sits in a boat named “Oh” with a lamp and an artificial night sky

-Plays Heathens with a ukulele (no frog croaks)

-transitions into Trees, which is normally the last song

-during Trees, the stars start to blur together (it looks like a timelapse of the North Star)

-Josh in Bandito clothing with a torch is shown (torch looks slightly different than in music vids), then it cuts to Jumpsuit

-Jumpsuit background is a valley like in the music video but it looks greener and more manufactured

-After, Heavydirtysoul plays with a flaming car on set (kinda like in the mv)

-Tyler looks upwards during “can you save my heavydirtysoul?”, looks like he’s pleading (sorry the last pic is so blurry(face))

-background is a road similar to the one in the music video

-Josh keeps crossing his drumsticks during HDS

-Commercial break with hosts (bloody and Sacarver has overexaggerated makeup, plus they have yellow eyes)

-“Now that you’ve heard some of this collection, you must be just like us”

-”Sometimes I close my eyes to try to escape, I just can’t believe how unbelievably perfect this collection is!”  “You know you can’t escape, Sally.”  “Yes, I know.”

-”We’ve come for you”, “We got people on the way, no chances” - “We come for you, no chances”, “We got people on the way” (lyrics from No Chances (which they didn’t play))

-Commercial zooms out to show that it’s on a TV with Tyler, Josh, and others watching - we don’t believe what’s on TV

-Saturday plays, during Jenna dialogue, Jenna has a pink streak in her hair and her top is half-blue, half-white

-Jenna has a yellow phone (Trench) while Tyler has a red one (Dema)

-stutter/pause between “might get” and “loud” happened twice, not just once

-after, they dance onto another set and play Level of Concern

-LOC background looked kind of like Josh’s in the music video (glow in the dark stars against a dark background)

-“In a world where this is as good as it gets, and we miss you, we really do”

-Fades into Ride, background is pink scales and what looks like sideways palm trees?

-Car Radio plays, Josh and Tyler are wearing black masks instead of white ones

-pause after “I liked it better when my car had sound”

-right after Car Radio, an alarm sounds and red lights flash, people run around in the background as Tyler walks onto Mulberry St. set

-Never Take It plays, Tyler comes up close to the camera (almost like in LOC music vid)

-Heavydirtysoul car is on fire to the right of the set

-Trash figurine is on the ground, it looks larger than usual

-Tyler walks back to first set and sits between bishops, who are frozen, and sings “I know it’s over/I was born a choker/nobody’s coming for me” from Choker

-fades out and cuts to bird’s-eye view of the set with crew members clapping and cheering, although even that feels subdued and fake

-shows Josh and Tyler with bishops in background, then credits roll

Various observations:

-Josh’s drumsticks are yellow - furthers concept that he’s against Dema

-SAI songs were generally played longer than older songs

-Bishops call it a “collection”, not an “album”

-Guitarists/trumpet player have one of Tyler’s tattoos on shirt

-Tyler has a pink ring and a blue ring on his left ring and index fingers, respectively (Shy Away music vid)

-various easter eggs on Mulberry St. set (sorry for the quality/size of the pictures)

(says “Rosie’s lounge)

-The door numbers on the Mulberry St. set coincide with the dmaorg.info error message numbers (at the bottom of the message)

-Josh’s bandito mask looks different (has a design on it that looks like a lion?) (unless I’m dumb and it was always like that)

-FPE: the Few the Proud the Emotional (Blurryface), Failed Perimeter Escape (Trench), now Food Petrol Etc (SAI)

-Tyler looks less energetic when singing SAI songs (because it’s Dema propaganda)

-after the show, instrumental versions of The Hype, We Don’t Believe What’s on TV, and Doubt were played.  WDBWOTV is obvious, The Hype has the lyric “just don’t believe the hype”, and Doubt has the lyric “gnawing on the bishops”

-in the Q&A, they said Josh would backflip off the piano, but he didn’t.  They also didn’t do the deathdrop (thing where Tyler just kinda falls backwards)

-Stream was exactly one hour long (started at 8 PM EST, ended at 9 PM EST)

-The livestream ad doesn’t have a crossed O in the only of “one night only”

Josh’s drum set designs:

Trash:

Alien:

Psi symbol 1:

Psi symbol 2:

FULL SONG LIST:

[song number]. [song title] - [album] ([design on Josh’s drum]): [additional notes]

Asterisks indicate songs that transition into each other smoothly

Good Day - SAI (Josh not present): not sang by Tyler (live, that is)

*Choker - SAI (Trash)

Stressed Out - Blurryface (alien)

Migraine - Vessel (alien)

Morph - Trench (alien)

Holding on to You - RATB/Vessel (alien)*

[Dema commercial 1]

Mulberry Street - SAI (Trash)

*Lane Boy - Blurryface (alien)

Redecorate - SAI (alien)

Chlorine - Trench (alien)*

Shy Away - SAI (Psi Symbol 1)

[Dema commercial 2]

The Outside - SAI (Trash)

*Heathens - Suicide Squad soundtrack (Josh not present)

Trees - RATB/Vessel (Josh not present): usually played at end of concert)

[Josh as a Bandito]

*Jumpsuit - Trench (alien)

Heavydirtysoul - Blurryface (alien)*

[Dema commercial 3]

Saturday - SAI (Psi Symbol 2)

*Level of Concern - single (alien)

Ride - Blurryface (alien)

Car Radio - RATB/Vessel (alien)*

[alarm sounds]

Never Take It - SAI (Trash)

Anyways, thats all I have for now but if I missed anything, let me know and I’ll add it!  (I’ll be sure to credit you ofc)

-Admin Crow

[topweeklyupdate]

TØP Daily Update #143: Wow (5/22/21)

Now that was a show.

Plain and simple, the Scaled and Icy Livestream Experience represented the pinnacle of the band's technical and creative achievements. It achieved everything I have ever wanted out of a Twenty One Pilots show and then delivered even more than I could have dreamed of.

Even Tumblr eating the entire first draft of this recap will not deter me from raving about just how impressive everyone, but especially Tyler Joseph, was last night. Let's get into it.

The Livestream Experience, directed by Jason Zada, essentially summed up every part of the Twenty One Pilots canon in what was at once a tight one-hour concert and a sprawling Broadway narrative spectacle. It featured almost every song off Scaled and Icy (justice for "Formidable"), contextualizing and expanding on them in a way that won over even the band/album's haters, while also bringing into the fold all of the necessities for a TØP show (the Big Three Hits, "Car Radio", "HOTY", "Trees") and a few more favorites (after 2020, I needed to hear "Migraine" live again). It featured tons of familiar faces (Mutemath members Paul Meany and Todd Gummerman, Dr. Blum, and cameos from Debby and Jenna) and a whole bunch of exciting new talents (kickass bassist Skyler Acord, guitarist Dan Geraghty, backup vocalists Kenyon Dixon and Danielle Withers, an awesome ensemble of dancers and performers, and Mark Geiger and Jo Young as Good Day Dema hosts Dan Lisden and Sally Sacarver).

It's more clear than ever that all the theorists got a lot more right than wrong, as the set-hopping narrative of the show (and especially the deteriorating appearances of Bishops Lisden and Sacarver) made clear that Scaled and Icy is very much a part of the Dema narrative. It's still more than a little muddled exactly what role Tyler/Clancy/saturation plays in this whole thing, but it is clear that there is a direction that all this is heading, and I'm excited to see where it all goes.

I'm also excited to see if/when this gets released. FBR has been doing its best playing Whack-a-mole with YouTube uploads, but I can't help but feel like they're missing major revenue by not either putting this up for sale or getting it on a streaming platform. (Especially since they honestly didn't do the best job selling exactly what the show was going to be until Thursday, which probably cost them some tickets.) I'd absolutely buy a physical copy of this if it was available.

Another thing that may have undercut the financial performance of the show: the general reviews for Scaled and Icy have been rather mixed. NME was positive with a 4/5. Clash went for a 7/10. Kerrang gave a 3/5, as did The Guardian. This is not the near-universal praise of Trench, and the streaming numbers are not as high as the last release, likely not helped by it being so overshadowed by the same-day release of Olivia Rodrigo's Sour to much greater critical and commercial acclaim. The only thing that makes me sad about that is the worry that the band won't always be able to afford to put on spectacles like last night's stream, but so long as Tyler continues to explore and express his full creativity, I will be content.

Power to the local dreamer.

|-/

[db-andromeda]

🔱 COFFEE MOONSTONE 🔱

A gem that fought in the war, was corrupted in the attack of the Diamonds and healed in CYM. Him nickname is: Lisden (Dan Lisden) , now he is the owner of “DEMA” sect, what it’s about?

[ciderlikethedrink]

GUYS!!! the counting at the beginning of mulberry street,,,,,,sounds like it could be the bishops,,,,,,am i smart or does everyone already know this?? cuz mulberry street is like- the most dema propaganda-y song on sai (and dan lisden's favorite) so it would make sense.

[mx-misty-eyed]

SAI livestream things that I noticed (ongoing post)

we’re going to edit this post with more stuff we notice.  everything is going under the cut, since this is gonna get pretty long.

during the dema “commercials” (when it cuts to the bishops plugging the album), the cd’s are subtly getting rearranged

during the first commercial, the black slipcase is on the right and the blue slipcase is on the left.  all the way in the back going from left to right, theres the casette, stack of three cd’s (white on top, pink in the middle, blue on the bottom), what appears to be the limited edition box set (sold on their website), and what im 99% sure is a lyric booklet.

during the second commercial, things appear to be the same at first glance, but there are some subtle differences.  the black slipcase is on the left and the blue is on the right, and the three cd’s in the back are in a different order (pink is on top, blue is in the middle, and white is on the bottom).

during the third commercial, the three cd’s are still stacked on top of each other but it looks less neat.  the order is white on top, pink in the middle, blue on the bottom, like in the first commercial.  the products appears to be more centered (before, the blue box was more to the right and the casette is now fully on the stand), except for the central cd’s.  the cd’s are now on the right, stacked underneath the lyric booklet (blue on top, black on the bottom)

we have no idea what this means yet, but its too deliberate to be insignificant.  we’re going to add to this post with other things we’ve noticed, but for now that’s it

first edit: it seems like the bishops are being controlled, too.  during the last commercial:

-“sometimes i close my eyes to try to escape.”  “you know you cant escape, sally”

-”you need to get this collection in your life.”  “but remember, you should-” *static* (if the bishops are in charge of dema and genuinely trying to spread its message, why would they get cut off?) (of course, its possible that the banditos cut them off, but who knows if they have that power)

-the *control room* has nine buttons, with the bishops’ names on them.  the control room.

it kinda seems like sacarver (sally) is the one that wants to escape more, while lisden (dan) is the one thats either buying into dema more or is hiding his will to escape better.  also, the bishops were getting more and more beat up every time, and sacarver/sally’s makeup was getting more, uh, conspicuous?

first commercial (completely normal looking, unless you count their fake smiles):

second commercial (notice the blood on the front of dan’s shirt/sally’s scarf):

third commercial (notice the, uh...everything (yellow eyes, more blood, sally’s makeup and hair, etc):

bonus pic of sallys eyeshadow, which is a lot more noticeable than in previous commercials:

second edit: the songs they played at the end were pretty interesting.  after the livestream, they played instrumental versions of some of their songs.  two of the songs they played were the hype and we don't believe what’s on tv.  wdbwotv is pretty self-explanatory, and the hype has the lyric “just don’t believe the hype” repeated several times in it.  they both have the “don’t believe” theme going on, which i think is a pretty big coincidence.  honestly, i could be reading too far into it (especially since i hooked up my computer to my tv and watched the livestream on my tv), but i dont think that the similar meanings of the song are an accident.

they also played the song doubt, which has the lyric “gnawing on the bishops” (thanks to @myrebelred​ for pointing that out)

third edit: @isdreamingfree​ pointed out that josh didn’t do a backflip during the livestream.

in the q&a, they specifically said that he would, and then they didnt.  they also didnt do the deathdrop (that thing tyler does where he just kinda falls backwards), and they didnt end the concert with trees like they normally do (instead, it was a little more than halfway in).

fourth edit: during lane boy, tyler keeps repeating "dont trust a perfect person and dont trust a song thats flawless”.  maybe thats nothing special on its own, but a) the livestream seemed way too perfect/smooth (at least to me) (although it was done live) and b) sally/sacarver, one of the people trying to market the album, mentioned during one of the commercials (i believe it was the last one) how “perfect” the collection was

which reminds me, why do they call it a collection instead of an album??

fifth edit: in the beginning when it shows the twenty one pilots livestream intro while he’s singing choker it says who the stream is presented by, but on the other side it says “controlled by: DMA ORG and Good Day Dema”

sixth edit: i (crow) have made a list of all my observations of stuff that happened during the livestream, its a lot longer than this but like half of it is pictures lol.  it took me forever, so id appreciate if you took a look at it!

https://mx-misty-eyed.tumblr.com/post/651931663100723200/a-bunch-of-sai-livestream-observations

seventh edit: during chlorine, ned’s silhouette appears in the background

-admin crow and admin frankie