#just not all of the full albums

[match-your-steps]

Ok I always thought the "I am ---" trilogy and the Clé trilogy were two separate things but I've also always been confused by "I am YOU," the featured track from the final "I am ---" album. Like, it's sweet and all, and it makes a little sense (the line "I see myself in you" really clears things up for that one tbh), but it's never really felt like a resolution.

If I think about it, though, the Clé trilogy seems to be another identity-finding journey that centers on separating your identity from others. I don't mean, like, uniqueness, but rather not relying on others for your sense of identity. If I'm right, then Clé is actually a continuation of the "I am ---" albums.

However, the I am WHO album kind of doesn't fit very well here, because the main featured track is "My Pace," which is about not paying attention to like. peer pressure and stuff and doing the things you want to how you want to do them instead without comparing yourself to others. That kind of feels like it fits better with the whole separating self from others thing Clé has going on.

I vaguely remember hearing that the other song they were considering making the main track for I am WHO was "Awkward Silence," which, don't get me wrong, I LOVE that song, but it does not fit the vibe of the album so I'm kind of glad they did not do that, but it's also about not feeling pressured in social situations.

I guess you could say "My Pace" and "Awkward Silence" fit the progression of the "I am ---" albums, in a way, because they're starting to realize who they are, but I feel like they're too far ahead for having a whole 'nother album left. To be honest, I've always thought "Question" fits the vibes the best.

Anyways, I have a sort of theory for how the progression goes and ties together between these 6 albums:

I am NOT - hold on a minute who do I really want to be? what do I want in life? are the things I want really the things people tell me I should/do?

Representative songs: "NOT!" "Awaken"

I am WHO - if I'm not who everyone says I am, then who am I? (starts discovering self a bit)

Representative songs: "WHO?" "Question"

I am YOU - forming a good relationship (of any kind; could be significant other, friend, parent, whatever), or perhaps returning to one. it could be like a new relationship they're very happy with or it could be reaching an understanding with the people they rejected in I am NOT. part of their identity comes from this relationship. a large part of their identity, actually, probably, because like. it's. I am you. uh yeah

Representative songs: "YOU." "I am YOU" "Hero's Soup"

Clé 1: MIROH - whoah guys I'm pretty rad amirite

Representative songs: "MIROH" "Victory Song" "Boxer"

Clé 2: Yellow Wood - wait actually something is wrong? life is not as easy as I thought (kind of like that)

Representative songs: "Side Effects" "TMT" (not gonna count any of the mixtapes bc they're really more like singles that just happened to be released in this album)

Clé: LEVANTER - I defined myself too much by my relationship with this person (maybe the person from I am YOU) and lost sight of what I wanted for myself, so when they left me (possibly in Clé 2) I no longer knew what I to do. However, I now realize this and can take hold of my desires for myself.

Representative songs: "STOP" "Levanter" (most of the other songs carry similar 'I'm gonna do what I want now' sentiments, however, they do not include the same ideas about breaking free as "Levanter" and "STOP," while it also does not in words, the fact that it is pretty close to being the same song as "Road Not Taken" from Clé 2 but with mostly different lyrics indicates a connection to the unsureness of that album with a sense of moving on from it)

From the resolution of the Clé albums, most of their albums follow a trend of confidence, like that in Clé: MIROH except they haven't gone back to an uncertain theme afterward. Not every song is so confident, but there were confident songs in the beginning, so why shouldn't it be the other way around?. Case in point: "Grow Up," from I am NOT didn't start with confidence, but it ended with it, and there's also "YAYAYA" from the album from even before their debut. In TOP, which, yes, is now like 3 years old or something (I'm really behind on their newer albums so idk what most of the songs are but I am literally actively working on it right at this moment) and was for an anime, there's "SLUMP," which was written/composed/arranged by Han and Chan so it definitely fully counts, and it's fully super not confident. Nevertheless, the fact that I knew all the songs up through, like, THUNDEROUS, and still had a really hard time thinking of less confident stuff means there's definitely a trend of confidence since the resolution of the clé albums.

[charminglyantiquated]

✨birthday playlist!✨

it's that time of year, baby! honestly it's been a rough few months, and I'm going to be spending the next seven months or so nose to the grindstone in the shipyard, so I'm looking forward to this year's playlist even more than I usually do. please, if you feel so inclined, share a song you love with me!

as ever, I'll make the whole playlist available on spotify and youtube in a week or two!

[beatrixshifts]

I randomly thought of having a photo album full of polaroids of the marauders in my dr and omfg. I need to take horrible mugs of sirius and annoy him about them so badly

[arilphys]

i haven't drawn caim in 3 years

[coochellati]

Okay but I would DIE to see Bruno drawn like this:

I think he would beautiful all splayed across a soft cloud.

[uhbasicallyjustmilex]

the tlsp cover of moonage daydream is quite simply one of the best things to exist. that is all.

[masterfuldoodler]

Happy half•alive!!!

[good-beans]

Kudos to anyone making ocgrams, that's really an impressive amount of content 👁👁

[sainteclectic]

What is Whole, Exactly?

Part 1 - Calamity

Disclaimer: This series of posts are meant to be my own personal interpretation of the album! I'm just one person, and the beauty of this album is that there's so many interpretations. I don't want to come off like I'm stating facts about the story here- it's all my personal thoughts, you're free to have your own!

that said, let's get into it!

Time Machine Reprise

(Soul)

Oh, live the dream in a time machine I've been waiting forever But I can't seem to find my footing back on one What's the time? Where's it gone? When's beat one?

This is the very first mention of Whole, or at least the concept of Whole. Here, “one” refers both to Whole and the first beat of the song. This sets up the idea that Whole is the end goal of this loop (whether it be a literal or metaphorical loop), and that the splitting of Whole is what causes this loop to continue. Soul has been waiting forever for the harmony to last, but he can't find his footing (i.e. ending the cycle). This segues into the next song nicely.

Dream

(Soul)

There’s still another sunset to be found inside this tangent, so I will try again. And perhaps when we become whole, it’ll hold.

Soul’s determination here defines this song. The first half of this song is chaotic and frantic, the middle half bitter and mournful. Here though, he finds his resolve. He knows that being Whole isn’t permanent, implying Soul knows something about the loop. This is further supported by the fact he says he “can’t go another round of cacophony.” It puts a lot more weight into his words: He knows that this is pointless. He knows that it won’t hold. Whole is an unattainable goal that Soul knows won’t last. But he still tries. This devotion in the face of futility is what defines his character.

Perhaps we’ll meet at Tycho, or somewhere more solar, yet colder. This world’s hard to shoulder. But when Harmonia shines, Atlas beholds her, so bathed in serenity; beauty, in synchronicity; blissfully entwined. Divine. So I will try one more time...

This is the reference most people think of when they think of Whole. Obviously, Atlas refers to Soul in this metaphor. People think of Atlas as holding up the earth, but he actually holds up the sky. He keeps the sky from crushing the world below. Now, what characters are represented as the sun and moon, the two main things you see when you look at the sky? This metaphor is even evoked in this very segment: Tycho is a crater on the moon, and the “solar, yet colder” is a clear reference to Mind, who’s directly referred to as cold despite being the sun. Soul holds up Heart and Mind, keeping them from crushing Whole—his world, the thing that he’s shouldering this burden for despite knowing it’s fruitless.

Now, Harmonia. Harmonia is the goddess of concord and harmony. In fact, she's also called Concordia—which could be the inspiration for Concord as a name. It's unclear here whether Harmonia represents Whole in this line, or she's the abstract concept of being Whole. Either way, Atlas seeing Harmonia is Soul clinging to the image of Whole as a beautiful, serene, divine thing. The perfection of Harmonia is what keeps him going. Becoming Whole is also referred to as “harmonizing” several times in the album, furthering the connection that being Whole is seen as a harmonious and beautiful thing.

{I had an entire paragraph interpreting the mythos around Harmonia before realizing it's probably not that deep, but I digress.}

My point is, our first descriptions of Whole come entirely through Soul and his determination to make it through Cacophony again. It's not until Cacophony that we hear Heart and Mind's thoughts on what Whole means. Next time... we hear those! I was originally going to make this all one big post, but I'm already at 2k words and I haven't even finished my analysis of Cacophony yet. So... no, we aren't doing that.

...I have no idea how to end this post. Ok bye

[stackslip]

ive never been a metalhead but maybe i should become one

[cantquitu]

.

[rad-roche]

have you played 1999 yet? what are your thoughts on women

i have!! i got the true ending yesterday. i've been saving it for a bigger post because there's a lot to chew on but in short and spoiler free: thrilled with it. could not possibly be happier with the update. i went into it thinking eh, the hex are okay, and came away adoring how all of them are written. music fantastic. writing fantastic. god willing they keep this chat system going forward. in short:

also i treated myself to the eleanor gemini skin despite not having a good build for my nyx yet. shhh... keep this a secret

[petrodragonicapocalypse]

if i say ive only listened to my top song on spotify 76 times are you all gonna kill me 😭

[gothoffspring]

I've never had an NPC ask to move in before... I was literally just about to have him ask!? 😭 I guess she couldn't wait any longer to get this next generation started and I'm on the same page honestly. Things are about to start progressing a lot faster, I want BABIES y'all.

[midnightsslut]

red is just such a good album. it’s a level of artistry that is just jaw-dropping at any age, but for taylor to release it at twenty-two while very much focusing on (and indeed achieving) reaching new commercial peaks at the same time… that is enough to cement anyone as a musical legend

[anambermusicbox]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 二专！！！