#remember how I was with Gloom Division

[fallingsatellive]

You know what I think metalcore has always needed? MORE CELLO

[turnstileskyline]

RockSound June 3rd, 2024 – Dallon Weekes Interview (Transcript under the cut)

hello all!!!! i am still taking a little tumblr break (gonna upload and dip) but my copy of the rocksound idkhow issue came so i wanted to get these photographed and transcribed because i know i have shaky hands. (if you spot any mistakes let me know and i'll fix them asap!)

Taking Over The World (One Show At A Time)

As they close out their UK headline tour, IDHKOW's Dallon Weekes reflects on the lessons learned from taking 'Gloom Division' out on the road.

Words James Wilson-Taylor

Photos Corinne Cumming

Now that the UK tour has come to an end, how are you reflecting on this latest run of shows? Well the shows were fantastic. All of the crowds were great and it was really exciting to be back there after, you know, COVID and the album delays and everything. It's felt like it was forever since we've been back. But to be able to go back with this new lineup that I have, it was pretty special. Because I feel like the live show has grown a lot. Being able to add more live musicians to it, and rely less upon synth tracks and things like that. To have people up on stage actually doing it live, we're a little more untethered, which, must like that tour itself, was pretty chaotic. But we seem to thrive on chaos. So it worked out. It was really fun.

Did it click together quite quickly with the new band? What were the initial live rehearsals like? It was really fun for me. My heart goes out to the guys who are playing for me because they had this whole catalogue of music to learn before we hit the road, but they are such professionals and so talented too and most of them live here around Utah where I'm from. Anthony, my guitar player, still is in LA. But whenever shows come up, he flies out here so we get some proper full band rehearsals. But to be able to have really professional musicians dig into the songs and learn how to play them and have some input as well is really invaluable to me because I always really enjoy when a live show has tiny deviations from the recorded versions of the album that you might have in your collection. Sometimes bands can go a little too far from that and it can be fun sometimes. But it can also be a bummer, it kind of depends on the song, I guess. But I like having small moments or extended bits, or maybe an idea that you got post recording an album, when you're all jamming it together and someone does something cool. And you go, 'Dammit, I wish that was on the record'. So you just put it in the live show and it makes for a cool experience, I think.

With the added band members, it gives you a little extra freedom to step away from the bass at moments and explore your position as a frontman. It feels good, but it's interesting too, because that was never on my bucket list. I never had that in mind for my life to be a frontman, or a lead singer. I just always wanted to make music and write and record and have that be my job. I've been lucky enough to have achieved that goal. But, you know, circumstances being what they are, I eventually landed into that role without having it as a goal, but it's something that I do enjoy. It's something I did years ago with Brobecks. But between then and now it's been more than a decade. So I think it took me a minute to sort of relearn that role and find myself in that role again, and luckily once it started rolling, it didn't take long for me to find that footing again. But there was that learning curve where I tried to remember how to be in this spot, rather than just filling a spot on the side of that stage just playing bass. So yeah, it's been fun to be able to put it down every once in a while and have a little more freedom to wander around or spill water bottles all over the stage, which is a bad habit of mine.

It also allows for a nice relationship with the audience. I mean, that's something you've always had – it almost feels like a conversation in places. It's a little secret club in a way for all these fans. That was the impetus when it started. Because this was a secret project, no one was supposed to know about it. And I really had no goals in mind for it other than to get some music out of my head and play it for a bunch of strangers that didn't know what other bands I'd ever been in and see if that art that I was making could stand on it's own two feet without waving some giant flag saying, 'Hey, everybody, I was in this band before, come and see what I'm doing.' There was something about that which felt really disingenuous and kind of gross to me. So starting this project in secret with this ridiculous band name that no one could ever find appealing made a lot of sense at the time. But as things snowballed – and what a wonderful problem to have, I'm talking about this like it's some sort of bad thing but it's not, it's a great thing – eventually it became too late to choose a more sensible band name. But, you know, band names are ridiculous anyway, so who cares? I guess the secret is just to not care. But yeah, finding that role again. It took a minute, but it's been a lot of fun. I'm enjoying it a lot.

In terms of the newer songs in the set, did playing them live and seeing the audience reaction change your opinion about them at all? It's a similar feeling for both me and the audience. Because the way that writing and recording music works now is different from how it was 20 years ago. You used to write your song, go out and play it every night, workshop it, tighten the screws on it, and then you go record it and put on a record. Now, with Youtube and streaming services and bootlegs and things, you have to keep a tight lid on this new stuff that you're working on until it's been officially released. So now, you write your song and you record it and then you learn how to play it afterwards. So taking those out into the world for the first time on stage after you've recorded it, I think it's a new experience for the audience and for the performers as well, because you get a handle on this new thing that you've already recorded. Then night by night, kind of like I mentioned before, someone might do something different. The song sort of evolves and changes a little bit from the way that you recorded it. I think there's a lot of fun to be had in that. Sometimes those things can only happen once you are in front of people and playing those songs. It's all a really organic process and I really enjoy that.

I guess the other thing you had to consider was how best to balance this new material, which pushed you into some new places musically, with the older songs that everybody knows. It's become a challenge now because when this thing started, I hadn't recorded or released anything. It was about four or five months of playing dive bars in secret and just denying that this was even a thing while I was recording. Then by the time we did have something out there, I think we put a song on YouTube first with no record label, no radio, nothing. Then that song just kind of took off. Then we were expected to fill an hour whenever we would go on tour and we had only released five songs. So learning that frontman role and stretching bits out and filling in our set with some covers and maybe some old Brobecks songs, that was the challenge. Now, the challenge has become picking a setlist that has bits and pieces of stuff that you love and that the audience would appreciate from the past and from the current record. So it's a different challenge now, but it's one that I'm enjoying. Revisiting stuff that is important to me from the past and things that I really like playing and stuff that the audience either needs to hear, because we're promoting it, or is stuff that I know they have responded to well in the past and that they'd like to hear. So it's a combination of different factors to make a decent setlist, I think, but I try to keep all that stuff in mind.

One particularly special moment at the London show was when Will Joseph Cook joined you onstage to perform your collaboration "Sunnyside'. That was fun. He's a London boy. The algorithm sent me some of his music a couple of years back and it was a song called 'Take Me Dancing', one of his songs from maybe four or five years ago. It was one of those songs that when you hear it as a songwriter, it's so good that it kind of pisses you off, you know? Dammit, that's good. So I reached out to him to see if he wanted to collaborate on some stuff, and it's been a great working relationship ever since. Then we just pass each other ideas back and forth all the time. He hit me up and asked if he could come to the London show and I said, 'Why don't you come out on stage and we'll sing this 'Sunnyside' song that we to wrote together'. He's like, fuck yeah, so we hooked up a spare microphone and ran it on soundcheck and then brought them out on stage for the set. It was a lot of fun to be able to do that. To play it live with the person who helped cowrite that was pretty special.

So you see that collaborative relationship continuing on more songs in the future? We hung out pretty much all day that day backstage and showed each other ideas that we have floating around. After I got home, I send him some more songs. So yeah, we're definitely going to keep that collaborative working relationship going. He's a good young man with a bright future.

You have also been able to bring some more Brobecks songs into your setlist and put a new, IDKHOW twist on them. Are there any more of those older songs you'd like to re-record or perform again? I've got a shortlist of maybe four or five old Brobecks songs that I think never really got a proper chance to be a proper song, you know, whether that was because we didn't have enough money to record it properly or get it mixed or mastered or even release it. Then I eventually released the songs in a vacuum and no one ever really heard it. But there's four or five I think that I would still like to give a proper chance to. It's not super high on the priority list. But it is something that I'm interested in because I am a fan of songs. And you know, probably more so than albums as a whole, I'm a song man. There are a few from the past that I think had some potential. But I would probably have to consider, you know, the passage of time in between when I first wrote them as a young man and, if I did rerecord and release, now there might have to be some lyric adjustments or something because I don't know how well some lyric choices when you're 22 would go over when you're 42. So there might be some rewrites in order. But revisiting some of those I think would be fun because this project and that project, they aren't unrelated to each other. I very well could have easily called this The Brobecks. But whenever I started this, putting a period at the end of that old project seemed like the right move and moving on to something new that didn't have any baggage to carry along with it. It felt like the move. But yeah, that doesn't mean that that stuff isn't still important to me. It's still very meaningful and I really love playing old Brobecks songs and I think that I always will.

Now that you have had some time to reflect since the release of 'GLOOM DIVISION', how are you feeling about that collection of songs now? It's interesting how your perspective changes on things. When I first recorded it, and was getting ready to release it, I was so excited and I thought this was the best work that I've ever done. Then even with the good reviews that it has gotten and the fan response, there was still more mixed reviews, or mixed feelings, about it than I thought there would be. But seeing that happen has given me a sort of step back, trying to be more objective, which is hard to do when you're making art, you know, because it really is for you. That's still number one for me whenever I make art. It is for me, and I want to like the thing that I'm making. That's the most important bit and if anyone else happens to like it, that's just a really great bonus. But I made this record and I loved it and I thought that surely everyone else would too. All of my favourite records and the things that I draw inspiration from are not popular records. These are not things that were at the top of the charts. You know, even on some of my top 10 Records of all time – Elvis Costello's 'This Year's Model' or The Flaming Lips or Ben Folds Five, all of my favourite stuff, these were never people that lived at the top of the charts. So, to me, the response kind of makes sense. As long as you're making something that you like, and you're not trying to play to the gallery, then whatever their response is, so be it.

UK artists in particular seem to have always had a big influence on you. I've been a sucker for everything British since I got into the Beatles, and if it was from the 60s and it was British then I was all about it. Even in the 90s, | was a big Britpop fan. In the post grunge-90s, Britpop in America was not the cool thing to be into, but I was all about it. Blur was my favourite. I loved Pulp and I liked Oasis too. That was my shit back in the 90s while everyone else was listening to Rage Against The Machine, which I can appreciate more now. Back then, I viewed it as the stuff my older brother and his friends were into and they're all bros. So I was being kind of a little hipster about it. But I love Rage now. But yeah, back then in the 90s, again I was into stuff that wasn't living at the top of the charts.

It must have been particularly exciting to finally come over here and play shows for the first time. Yeah it was very cool to be there finally and see where rock and roll...wasn't born but where it had been fine tuned and perfected. We may have done it first but I'm always of the mindset that y'all did it best. There's no pride in regards to, you know, who did what and when. I'm a fan of what y'all do. I love it over there.

One UK show that must stick in the memory was when you played Brixton Academy in 2016 with Panic! At The Disco just after David Bowie had passed away. That must have been quite a surreal but special moment. I remember waking up in my hotel that day to the news and being hit with it harder than I probably thought I would have ever been. I'd always been a big Bowie fan, but sometimes you don't really realize how much you like something until it's gone, which is kind of fucked up. So I woke up to the news that he had died and I cried a little bit, you know, which kind of surprised me. Then I went out walking the streets, because we had a full day before we had to be at the venue for soundcheck, and his music was everywhere. Walking past that mural that's down the street from the venue where people had made this makeshift memorial, there was this awesome sense of community. That was a great reminder about the importance behind art and behind music. All of these people walking the streets, they might not share anything in common, but at least for today, or that day, everyone's sharing this art that this man made. There's something so special about that. Whenever an artist passes along from this world, you hope that your art that you make continues to be enjoyed by people and that way you get to sort of live on and still impact people. So that's the hope. I certainly hope that's the case with me and I'm sure I'm not alone in that. Playing that venue in particular, or really any historical venue where I know for sure that someone I love has played there and has walked down this staircase to the stage just like I'm doing, I always think about that right before we're about to take the stage. There's something intimidating about it and something comforting about it at the same time.

Similarly, when you played Camden Electric Ballroom with IDKHOW, that is another venue with so much history. There is a plaque outside in memory of when Prince performed there. That's another reason why I really love playing in London because there's so many choices. You throw a stone and there's a gig happening somewhere and you have your choice of just about anything under the sun that you can go see. So the fact that there are people on the other side of the world that would choose to come see this project and watch us play the songs that I write here in my basement is nothing short of a miracle to me. This last round of shows that we played over there, particularly that last show in London, to be able to have that venue full of people is so special to me and does not go unappreciated.

[temporalarts]

Hello there, I have noticed you’re a well of knowledge when it comes to iDKHOW lore. I’m struggling to find good sources of information and I’d like to learn everything there is to know; do you know how I can do this? Anything I can read/watch? I did a surface-level lore dive a year or two back but I don’t fully remember everything and I’m seeing some stuff around Tumblr I never knew about. Call me Sally Mae because I intend on uncovering everything I can about this band’s lore ;)

hi there! sorry for the late answer, have had tumblr deleted for a while.

important information about idkhow lore first:

it is NOT required to know anything about the lore of idkhow to listen or enjoy idkhow. idkhow's lore is meant to be additional story to the band and is meant for fans to explore only if they are interested. idkhow's songs/lyrics by themselves do not have story meanings. it is hugely important to recognize that idkhow as music and idkhow as a story are separate entities.

idkhow's lore is a metaphorical story for dallon's experience within the music industry and celebrity la/hollywood culture. everything in the lore is symbolic for something in real life (for example, TELLEXX is a metaphor representation of the music industry). i implore anyone getting into the lore of idkhow to treat the lore with gently and respectfully because of that reason.

idkhow's lore has mostly been uncontinued since 2020/2021 since the release of razzmatazz. SRCHPRTY (main character of the lore) has been an abandoned account since june of 2021. this is for a multitude of reasons, including dallon not wanting to have a story line with each album, lack of label support, and lack of time for the lore. because of this, a lot of information about the lore has been lost to time and is no longer available to the public. gloom division (idkhow's most recent album) does have a lore behind it, but has not had a story run like razzmatazz had yet (it could in the future, but gloom division didn't have the time or budget to at this moment). lots of amazing archivists in the community are trying to preserve the lost content over the years (ill link one available one below), but please keep that in mind while looking into the lore.

you may see mentions of ryan seaman (also referred to as subject B) mentioned in the lore and some resources. ryan seaman was the previous drummer of idkhow and is no longer in or involved with idkhow since september 16th, 2023 (due to various reasons i wont go into here, but if you dont know look up the information to why online). idkhow is now and currently a solo project of dallon weekes, but if you see any reference of idkhow being a duo or see him in resources that is why.

that out of the way, here is all the resources I could come up with!

introductory idkhow lore carrd, made by my good friend @fadeyouout! very good start to everything in the lore!

full timeline of all events from current idkhow lore, made by me!

very good place to start with the lore is the srchprty conspiracy video. introductory video to srchprty's research, basic backstory for srchprty, and the main 3 questions in the story.

ALL srchrpty diaries: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6! watch these chronologically as they build off one another.

if you haven't already, look through srchprty's twitter and instagram accounts. look through tweet replies/instagram comments. srchprty regularly interacted with fans while he was active and a lot of story building with TELLEXX comes from those interactions.

physical copy only extras in razzmatazz, lyrics for indoctrination and tomorrow people. razzmatazz physical versions came with two exclusive spoken word tracks, indoctrination and tomorrow people, both directly from TELLEXX.

TELLEXX documents, found in physical copy only extras in razzmatazz lyric book. includes a internal TELLEXX letter and volunteer subject consent forms.

archive of all of idkhow's instagram posts (2017-2022) made by abstracttheart on twitter. most of idkhow posts on instagram has been deleted over the years, so this is a great resource to see those deleted posts. you can most lore related posts from 2020-2021.

the mysterious world of i dont know how but they found me, dork magazine interview with dallon on the razzmatazz lore and its metaphorical meanings to him. VERY important read in my own opinion!

instagram highlights from idkhowindo: part 1, 2, 2.5, 3. their account has since been abandoned, but the archived stories are from the time of srchprty's activity and has a lot of good information in them.

questions i have answered about some idkhow lore topics in detail: what happened to srchprty, what is TELLEXX, and who is subject a. if you have any questions about the lore that you need answers to feel free to shoot me an ask in my inbox! idkhow lore is my special interest and i love answering any questions new fans have.

idkhow.com from 2020-2022 (recommend scrolling through archives of the website from wayback machine from august 2020-december 2020). the idkhow.com website during razzmatazz lore was ran by srchprty and was being recovered during the razzmatazz lore after a previous shutdown by TELLEXX in 1996.

TELLEXX stress evaluation test: may see this referenced around different lore resources, this is the official website for the test. as well as a article from the coder on how the website works to give results which is a very interesting read.

qwerty translator: TELLEXX/srchprty uses a code called QWERTY code throughout the lore, which is a letter substitution code substituting the alphabet for the QWERTY keyboard (ex: A=Q, B=W, etc). very helpful for decoding those codes!

most "niche" idkhow lore information comes from video/text interviews with dallon from 2020/2021! hard to find every single interview he does talk about the lore, but any dive into interviews from 2020 and you can find moments where he talks about razzmatazz lore. some instagram interviews from 2020 have been archived on idkhows youtube for watch.

indie pop, deep lore, and fan theories: how idkhow give there fans more than just music, tone deaf article on lore

i will update whenever i can with whatever i can find, but that is all the available resources for the lore of idkhow currently. if you (or anyone) have any questions about specific things within the lore, feel free to shoot me a question in my inbox and i will try my best to answer! enjoy!

[deathcrawling]

Hey Wil!

I'd love to hear your thoughts on Gloom Division lore as a whole! Especially with the recent image release. First, I wanted to discuss the instructional shirt as I haven't seen people talk about it much!

You might have already noticed this, but in the top right corner are the 6 levels.

I remember the first time I saw this and I was instantly reminded of the ending image in the Do It All The Time music video. I have many speculations and theories regarding the implications but nothing concrete. Perhaps each level is also a different plane of existence/dimension with time being one of them, but I'll get into that and other theories another time.

Back to what I am confident in. I don't think it would be farfetched for them to correspond to the sins. As you know, Dallon described in an interview that he would eventually become one of the sins. And notably at the Salt Lake City listening party they gave out hotel keychains with a 7 on them. As well as a notepad that says Memo From the Desk of Gloom Division. Implying he, at the very least, travels between each level. Extrapolating from the album cover and this information, perhaps he gets to the top level and becomes the sin, Pride. In Idiots of Oz the song starts with elevator music. This could purely be a musical/aesthetic choice but perhaps this is also a nod to Dallon going between the levels and finally reaching his.

hello! i have some theories about GLOOM DIV lore right now! some of which have been confirmed by dallon during VIP during gloomtown tour, others are solely based on myself and @temporalarts research! also WARNING! this will be a bit all over the place, i apologize for the messiness of this post.

FACT:

lets start off with what is fact, dallon has confirmed that 1. himself and the figures in the albums physical copies gatefold represent the 7 deadly sins, and 2. he represents PRIDE out of the seven sins (he mentioned this during VIP Madison, WI), and the lady with the sunglasses in the gatefold represents LUST (mentioned during VIP STL, MO). he has not said which sin is who for the remaining 5. he also confirmed that there was supposed to be deeper lore this album, but wanted to focus on music rather than lore due to how stressful it was with RAZZMATAZZ era lore (confirmed VIP Madison, WI).

THEORY/SPECULATION:

in terms of theories, my current theories on the album mainly surround TELLEXX and PRIDE out of the seven sins and who he is, what he does, and how he (and the other sins) came to be. a lot of these ideas i have come from religious context, as the 7 sins are apart of loads of religions, im mainly pulling from the christian bible as well as some mormonism.

because i feel that TELLEXX is important to this albums lore, lets start off with my theories on TELLEXX. TELLEXX acts very much like a cult, going after people lonely and desperate for fame or a rise in social status, and manipulating them, isolating them from the real world. as far as we know that dallon hasnt been the only subject, it has been confirmed in the TELLEXX letters, how many other subjects there has been? im not sure. nonetheless, TELLEXX is inherently evil but puts on a good face for the sake of having a good reputation, and i believe that TELLEXX is basically the devil pretending to be God/a God-like figure. i think TELLEXX wanting to be a god/higher than god can both be figuratively and literally, TELLEXX obviously has bigger plans that we aren't aware of at the moment, but it does look like it involves taking advantage of people and transforming them to fit their vision. they take in people who are often desperate for something, whether its fame or some sort rise in social status (aka social climbers), its what they do. and like ive mentioned previously, its what we see in real life cults, the leader of the cult sees themself as god or as a god, they claim to know more than the average person and they manipulate and isolate people so they can control them. so TELLEXX having their subjects, who we can assume were also looking for fame/social acceptance based on dallon, sign a contract that isolates them from the real world and promising that they can do these things for them makes a lot of sense.

in a figurative sense, TELLEXX at its core is evil, they have ill intentions but put on a good face so they wont get exposed/in trouble.

in a literal sense, TELLEXX has ties to the devil/is the devil but pretends to be God or a god, because they are desperate to have that power.

in terms of the 7 deadly sins, i have very little factual info to go off of so these ideas are very loose and don't make the absolute most sense, but i have a lot to say. dallon represents PRIDE, and i believe that he died from some sort of volunteer research study accident and became the sin PRIDE in the afterlife (assuming that TELLEXX somehow represents the devil, he made a deal with the devil). PRIDE, historically and religiously is considered the "highest" and "most powerful" of the sins. PRIDE is the leader of the sins.

i think that this explains WHY we see dallon literally higher up than the rest of the sins, because he is their leader, he is the most powerful.

(when looking at the album cover and gatefold, it looks like the other 6 sins are looking UP towards dallon)

for the other sins, how they came to be is a mystery to me. i can imagine that they were previous TELLEXX subjects who died in some sort of way, and were in some sort of limbo before dallons death. PRIDE was supposedly the first sin to come into existence, which doesnt really make sense in terms of GLOOM DIV lore, so i believe that dallons death and him being PRIDE was a manifestation of the other sins coming into existence. i believe that they existed before dallon, but not physically. whether TELLEXX was purposefully keeping them a secret OR they were not aware of them, i couldnt really tell you. it seems likely that the sins DO work for TELLEXX, either being their eyes (like the white shadows) or being guard dogs/spokespeople for them.

i like the idea of the instruction shirt having to do with the sins in some way, its probable, i personally think that the levels have to do with ones status/knowledge surrounding TELLEXX. being a subject can be considered surface level knowledge of TELLEXX and what they do while being a sin and protecting the company means you're deep into the company knowing exactly whats happening.

EDIT: note about the dripping hands/feet! black hands/feet is often associated with making a deal with the devil in religion (christian/catholic beliefs mainly!), so my main theory on the hands/feet being black has to do with dallons death and him becoming PRIDE due to him making a deal w/ the devil.

[cosmichighpriestess]

As I feel my emotions and move through them to become more aware of the pain in my physical vessel I in turn help heal my world and I am able to give more by giving myself the self forgiveness and self love that I needed. We help benefit everyone we are worried about by changing ourselves first because we are one, we are everything, we are the entire Universe and we affect the entire multiverse by changing ourselves. We could all use some good news right now don't you feel that way?

Don't you feel like something is coming? Well I have good news. The apocalypse is not coming. But all your dreams are. You can relax. Breathe. You get to choose whatever timeline feels the best for you. There is not one future, there is not just one Earth, and there is not just one human collective. You shift by changing your vibration. You shift to another planet when you change yourself. The end of the world and doom and gloom predictions will not play out for you. You are too far on the ascending timelines to ever have to worry about being on those dark worlds where they have forgotten their humanity. We want to give you the keys to the kingdom. 🗝️

Because even if you're not ready, you will be soon and you will ascend to the fifth dimension and beyond. That is a guarantee. Here is the curriculum you've given yourself. You must face this challenge to be love in the face of evil, the wicked ones, the evil-doers, the bad guys, the ones who trigger you in real life and behind a screen playing their roles in the dark. Because what are they doing? They are there to trigger you. Once you say, " oh thank you demon, thank you fear, thank you trauma, thank you person pretending to be something they are not which is Source which is love. Thank you for triggering what needed to be triggered within me to heal this trigger. Thank you for reminding me to come back to Source /God. Thank you for reminding me to be forgiving of others who do evil, our oppressors who do unjust things, and to forgive myself for reacting negatively out of character before and giving myself these opportunities to grow."

Now, what I just said may have triggered you. You may be thinking, "Be love to my abusers? Be love to the darkness? HOW? Are you crazy? After what they did? Don't you know what they did to me? To those innocent children and people all over the world hurting people? HOW?" Believe me, I know. It's ridiculous how many people betrayed me. It's ridiculous how abused I was. The state of these evil people is so insane. It's ridiculous how much we saw innocents go through. I know. But, the pain serves a higher divine purpose. What did this pain teach you? It taught you a lot. This is a game. Remember it's a simulation. If you want to move to the next level of the game you must do this: Our oppressors give us the opportunity to be love everyday they do something to oppress us.

We are creating our realities, this is your Earth, your kingdom, you are everything, we are one. That person spewing hate, racism, bigotry, misogyny and anything else that separates us and causes more division, that person or group will not go away just because you pointed out their ignorance and flaws. Instead of focusing on teaching them a lesson, you actually create more of them in your reality. And they become more popular. It doesn't make them go away. It creates more of them. The more we fight, the more your reality responds to that vibration and your oppressors will rise up to be fought. Put your swords down. You don't need them anymore at this level. They used to serve you to protect yourself but now you're ascending to the 5th dimension. There's no war in the fifth dimensional level of consciousness.

The more you love, forgive, and have compassion for them, the more of them will change. The more we judge them and call them negative the more they stay the same. When you accept them completely as they are and you offer forgiveness and compassion to them, that is the only way they will ever change. They will change to reflect the change in you when you lay down your sword and you offer yourself up as a being of unconditional love. And you may be saying "okay, I can do that but what happens to the innocent children and people then if we don't defend and fight for them?" Remember this always. You are always helping yourself whenever you offer love to someone else, someone who is in great need of that love. When you change yourself, you change everything, EVERYTHING, you shift to another parallel Earth version including the number of people being oppressed in your reality. YOU must change, reprogram yourself, forgive yourself first, then you can forgive others if you want to free those innocents who are enslaved, you must change your inner world to see it reflected outwardly.

Why? Because it will give you the opportunity to evolve and not stay stuck in a reality you don't prefer. But you must accept everything and everything in your reality as it is now, and don't judge it negatively, just be neutral to it from there you can create positive change within yourself. Some of you want to impact and help as many people as possible in your lifetime, then all you have to do is be love, that's how you do it because you already are unconditional love you just have to remember that you are Source. The only way to get to a place of self-forgiveness and self-love is by being honest with yourself. So start there and work your way up to having compassion, forgiveness and love for yourself and for others. You are affecting the totality of the entire human collective by forgiving everyone.

That is how you level up, that is how you demonstrate your superpower of forgiveness to the higher dimensions and earn the respect from the entire Universe and change the entire world by changing yourself first. The next step of your Ascension will be so much easier and you will feel so much more peace, ease, love and joy. Do it by being the love you want to see first. Level yourself up and you will be living in the fifth dimension before you know it.

[maddogmp3]

fun things that happened at idkhow philly

during vip, when asked about the gloom division cover art and what inspired it, dallon mentioned that he represented the sin of pride! i forgor what movie he said inspired the black tar

also during vip, breezy amelie and knox were bowling. because the brooklyn bowl is in fact an active bowling alley. also amelie is fucking TALL

apparently he and breezy have a short list of brobecks songs he'd like to remake with idkhow and on that list is ollie, BIG WIN FOR TRANSGENDER PEOPLE!!!

also apparently their ronnie (their drummer) keeps breaking snares. king please stop drumming so hard

benches were okay! i was not into their energy but the frontman was kinda cute

i dont remember when this happened but The Concert Baby.

the Concert Baby had some sick dance moves

DALLON WEEKES MY BEAUTIFUL WIFE <3 he wrapped the mic cord around his neck like right in front of me but i didnt get a picture

i think anthony had glitter on his face? his face was very sparkly

right before kiss goodnight, dallon talked about how his family flew out to philly and he was so excited abt it he couldnt sleep

to roughly quote my dear friend cricket, he prances around onstage like a newly born deer frolicking in the fields

when the band came back onstage for encore, there was a pick like right on the edge of the stage and after some wild gesturing anthony gently placed it into my hands. i will cherish this moment in my mind for the rest of forever

[catt-nuevenor]

Story Setting - Anadora & Abelyn

Extrovert

The ferring draws to a stop outside the grand edifice, the drive hops down from their seat, and the butterflies in my chest begin to flutter once more. Aldmirham feels so very far away.

Their hand finds mine in the dark, and gently threads our finders together.

"Remember to breathe, Darling," Ana/Abe murmurs.

The smile is there in their voice, the shadows of the ferring hide it, but I can still feel its warmth.

"Is it too late to back out?"

They stroke their thumb over my knuckle. "No, not yet. We can go back to my Fæder's if you wish."

Harrold's quiet disappointment presents itself to my mind, the doubt his eyes would hold if I wasted this opportunity after coming so far. That and having to explain to my little one why Ana/Abe and I are back so early.

"No," I sigh, my shoulder's sagging. "Just... help me not make a fool of myself?"

Ana/Abe's gloved hand cups my cheek, turning my head till I can just about find their eyes in the gloom. "You're my guest, it's a part of my duty to see you have a wonderful night. I won't leave your side, I promise."

On our first meeting, in the front room of Erda's shop, fleeting yet fond, I would have never imagined I'd be sat here with them. Not before the grand entrance of Eadoccaburh's Guild Hall, not dressed so finely, the skill and craft of the Weaver's Guild, and what's more, Ana/Abe's father in every stitch.

How the Tíd has turned.

A light tap sounds upon the ferring's roof. Our driver wants our decision. Ana/Abe lifts our joined hands and asks, "Together?"

"Together."

The Guild Hall is neutral ground, a meeting place where all the guild's and traders in the city can meet and discuss business without showing favour to another establishment. It's grand, bold, and hopelessly elaborate, a web of meeting chambers, offices, and archives, wound around a central hall with a single bell tower rising from its heart.

The early Blostma breeze nips at our heels as we descend from the ferring, hurrying us up to the lantern-lit doors, into the waiting gaze of a young man and his list.

He politely asks for our names and the names of the Guilds we represent. I let Ana/Abe do the talking.

"Your Guild Bebeódend is speaking with Freá Dægfinn, at present," the young man explains, giving us each a respectful bow. "They should be towards the southern portion of the hall."

Halfway down the polished corridor beyond, as soon as we are out of earshot, Ana/Abe whispers, "Don't worry, we don't have to attend to any of that. The lad was likely just trying to be helpful."

I let out a heavy sigh. "Good, I don't think I could stomach Guild negotiations right now."

They squeeze my hand. "Nor I, but we're not here on behalf of the Guild, we're here to enjoy our evening."

The corridor ends in a wide stone archway, intricately carved and painted with murals of golden fields and swaying reeds. Our coats and gloves are handed to three arnlings in the liveries of the city, and they scamper into a side-room to be neatly stowed away.

We pass beneath the arch and the gentle swell of music greets us as the narrow corridor gives way to the hall, its expanse and grandeur breathtaking.

There is clearly a division between those doing business and those seeking pleasure, and the split is distinctly uneven. Along the southern edge of the hall, in intimate clusters of pointed shoulders and hunched necks, stand those on task from the guilds. No doubt many a contract and alliance are being forged in their midst, sweetened with the mead and cider of the city.

Along the north, east, and western side of the hall the groupings are freer, the expressions cheerful and bright, the echoes of laughter and chatter a constant bubbling beneath the surface of sweet music coming from the small staging at the centre. Around the stage there is dancing.

Elegant couples sweep and pivot in time to the strings, their feet tapping the shining floor in time to the patter of the drums. It's quite sedate compared to the dances in Aldmirham, but there is far more co-ordination here, everyone is working towards the display entire, the eddy and flow of bodies in sweeping motion.

"Peyton/Peidyn would hate this," I chuckle, half entranced by the twirl of the dancers, guided only by the light tug of Ana/Abe's hand.

"Most likely. As would Louis/Leila. I think Lars would enjoy it, though."

"Perhaps. It is far more his rhythm."

"What of you?" Ana/Abe asks, coming to a stop beside three narrow windows that look over the Guild Hall's gardens.

"Me?"

They bow/curtsy, their beautiful clothes a sweep of midnight blue, flowing about them. "Would you care to dance, my darling?"

I glance over to those already in motion, and the dreary creep of inadequacy taints the sweetness of Ana/Abe's gesture. "I don't think I can dance like that."

"Would you like to?"

I nod, my mind conjuring Ana/Abe and I in place of a particularly dashing couple as they sweep past where we stand.

"Then, if I may?"

Ana/Abe's voice guides me back, and directly into the loving embrace of their arms.

"Everything can be taught, my darling, if a willing teacher can be found."

My throat is dry, my hands damp, and my face burns as my oh so willing teacher begins to mould my posture to the first position with naught but gentle caress.

"Are you sure?" I ask softly, beginning to see the attentions of those around us catch and come to rest upon us.

Ana/Abe hums, lifting my chin with their fingertips until our eyes meet. "Together, remember?"

"I remember."

"Then let us dance together, my darling. I'd wish it no other way."

---

Introvert

I didn't expect Ana/Abe's father to have a garden. The narrow court and close-knit web of workers always conjured up cobbles and bricks when they've talked about it in the past. It's smaller than Peyton/Peidyn's, narrow, the rear cut across by access to the garden of the neighbours.

Ana/Abe's hand is everywhere, in the twist of every vine, the placement of every herb and flower. They haven't been back here in many months, but it's clear their father strictly adheres to their original design for the space. The affection between the pair can only be understood in little pieces like this. It isn't loud and boisterous like that between the Starlings, or snarky and sweet light Lars and Louis/Leila's is. Ana/Abe and their father find their affections in the quiet of the workshop, and the peace of their little garden. It's come to be enough for them.

Harrold treats me kindly, but he's wary, watching my words and actions closely lest I show sign of planning to hurt his daughter/son. I wouldn't, I couldn't, and I hope he's coming to see that. Time and Tíd will tell, I suppose.

"Here," Ana/Abe says, placing a cup into my hands before they take the place on the bench beside me.

"Thank you."

I sip the sweet tisane within, though the detail of it slips away as Ana/Abe leans in close to my side, into an easy intimacy that makes me both sleepy and wonderfully content.

We sip and sit, letting the distant bustle of Eadoccaburh's streets rumble on in the distance, folding ourselves away in the pocket of green behind the house Ana/Abe grew up in.

"I think he likes you," they say after a time, a distant bell chiming over the rooftops to bring in the last hour before sunset.

"Your Fæder?"

Ana/Abe nods.

"How can you tell?"

"He wants to see some of your work. That's an old Guild tradition. If someone isn't worth your time, you don't bother, but if you think they have potential, the first thing you look at is their craft."

"Potential..." I echo, glum. "That's better than nothing, I suppose."

Ana/Abe kisses my cheek. "Even if Fæder never gets beyond that, he'll accept you."

"You sound awfully certain about that."

"I am. He knows how much you matter to me."

Can they feel the heat in my cheeks, I wonder? Their smile does seem awfully knowing...

"I'm glad we came," Ana/Abe says, taking my empty cup and placing it beside theirs on the smooth flagstone beneath the bench. "But I'm looking forward to going back."

My little one misses the cat, I know that much, but I think they've enjoyed seeing a bit more of the city, and they also seem to have utterly charmed Ana/Abe's father. Yet another parental figure to utterly spoil them, as if there weren't enough of those already.

Ana/Abe laughs softly when I share my thoughts, adding their own observations to mine.

"He'll miss us all when we leave," they say, plucking a stray leaf from my shoulder as it settles there from the tree above. "But can always come back here to visit. There's a home here, but it isn't really mine any more."

"Then, do you know where yours is?"

"With you," they say, kissing the corner of my lips fleetingly. "Tíd changes and perhaps that will too, but right now, my darling? I'm happiest when I'm with you."

---

Quick little dictionary for folks on a few of the terms here, since I got a bit more into the stories terminology and lore than I'd planned.

Tíd - Tide Think of it as synonymous with time, but also associated with the sea. Where we might say Time and Tide wait for no one, folks in the Four Shores would say simply Tíd waits for no one. The reasons are a little complicated to go into here, but thems the basics.

Fæder - Father Just reviving some basic Old English here, nothing fancy.

Ferring - Carriage Fully enclosed like you would see in a Jane Austen adaptation but simpler. They're used as a form of road transport within and between the main cities, slower than a horse, but more comfortable.

Blostma - Spring Again no frills to this one.

Bebeódend - ... The simplest explanation I can give for this is that they're the Guild managers. It's their job to keep the members fed, watered, housed, and stop them from coming a foul of any other Guild in the city. Leaders, but with restricted powers.

Freá - Sir/Mr/etc In Eard (the realm in which Myrk Mire takes place) an individual is first introduced with their preferred gender of address. Freá Dægfin is Mr Dægfin, just as Lars would first be introduced to a stranger as Freá Lars, while Vyla would be Freó Vyla, and Pin, a non-binary character from the TBT project, would be introduced as Léof Pin.

I think that's everything, comment if I've missed something, or if you'd like further discussion.

---

Image courtesy of Alessia Cocconi on Unsplash

[padawanton]

the NO-SKIP albums: a tag game 🎶💖

rules: share the albums that you can listen to nonstop. those lightning in a bottle-albums that scratch ur brain just right. every single track, an absolute banger. u could not skip one if u tried. no notes. stunning, show-stopping, immaculate. ur no-skip albums.🔎 bonus & optional (but imo, v fun) rules: 1) add a track rec for us to listen to! AND 2) share ur favorite line(s) from that track! 👀

Thank you for tagging me @faeryclown 🥺🤍 sorry it took me so long lol 😳 I'm not tagging anyone but feel free to do this 💖

🎧 album info/track recs/favorite lines under the cut

🥀Paramore's All We Know is Falling

Favorite Track: Pressure Tell me where our time went / And if it was time well spent / Just don't let me fall asleep / Feeling empty again

🌎Wrabel's these words are all for you

Favorite Track: pale blue dot I wonder what happiness feels like / I wonder if I felt it before / I wonder if love comes one time / Or two, or three, or even more

💀My Chemical Romance's The Black Parade

Favorite Track: The Sharpest Lives A light to burn all the empires / So bright the sun is ashamed to rise and be / In love with all of these vampires / So you can leave like the sane, abandon me

🌟Stray Kids' 5-Star

Favorite Track: Collision As time passed, we met and broke / The traces of it remain throughout the universe / Tonight

🦋Lil Nas X's MONTERO

Favorite Track: LOST IN THE CITADEL I remember when I met you / Thought the universe sent you / Thought you were someone I could vent to / So I hit your line, what you getting into?

👰🏼‍♀️The Crane Wives' The Fool in Her Wedding Gown

Favorite Track: Tongues and Teeth I will only break your pretty things / I will only wring you dry of everything / And if you're fine with that / You can be mine like that

🫧Fall Out Boy's So Much (For) Stardust

Favorite Track: Love From the Other Side I saw you in a bright clear field / Hurricane heat in my head / The kind of pain you feel to get good in the end / Good in the end

🧡IDK HOW's GLOOM DIVISION

Favorite Track: WHAT LOVE? What love, what love, what love / What love would get this viscous? / That's right, but never mind / This blood sometimes, holiness brings you

⚡️Red Velvet's Chill Kill

Favorite Track: One Kiss Almost out of reach, one, two, three / Gonna lose your head / Like falling into a swamp / One kiss / A trick that will swallow you up in an instant

[le-velo-pour-dru]

My obsession with iDKHOW has officially been going for a year!! 😊❤️ I don't remember the exact date where I decided to listen to their entire discography all the way through (which is what started it all), so I've chosen the date November 15th, cause it's halfway through the year, and I vividly remember iDKHOW being the only thing I could think about last Thanksgiving ❤️ I'm so grateful for them, their music, and all the joy they have brought me over the past year ^^ I can't wait to see Dallon in concert later this year, hear Gloom Division in February, hopefully see them on tour sometime next year, and to just see how long my love for them can extend into next year :) ❤️ I LOVE IDKHOW SO MUCH ALWAYS AND FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🫶

[godblessyoublackemperor]

ok managed to salvage that day fairly well in the end

had a midday gloom nap, woke up at 3 still feeling bad, cham dragged me out to the park and I walked around under a little personal raincloud, then came home and after a little while just like mildly dissociating from gloom I forced myself to dig out the bass and spent a while working on a bass part that I've been trying to get for ages - Long Division by Fugazi - and I think it was exactly what I needed honestly.

Like it was something I could focus on just enough to trick my brain into focusing more and by the time I looked up a couple of hours had passed and the world was looking a bit nicer again. Then me and Cham played the Sims on her fancy new laptop which was a lot of fun- was struck by how great it would be to have a needs meter in real life so you didn't have to fuck around trying to work out to pull yourself out of a funk.

hearing myself now is so funny bc it's like someone learning how to Have Bad Days again. I feel like I used to be super self aware and patient with myself and generally like, good at pulling myself out of mood-holes when they came around more often and now I've gotten too comfy and used to being generally mentally healthy all of the time - and then over the past couple of weeks suddenly being thrown back into it again, a part of me is weirdly indignant about it like "me?! this shouldn't happen to me?! i did my time! i have a job now, i pay taxes! I'm not the guy that gets sad any more!"

Anyway i do feel better now, I think I probably will have more rocky days during the Adjustment Period but I feel like I can ride them out, I just need to remember to be patient and do self care and occupy my brain and all that shit.

Cham btw as always has been wonderful throughout, we are such a good team and I'm so glad she's my wife now <3 Also while we're "gratitude journalling" - that's a term i found googling Why Do I Feel Bad after My Wedding, and all the articles about post wedding blues suggest "gratitude journalling", not even joking - all my friends also are incredibly supportive and lovely, I feel very lucky to know you all <3

I still haven't quite got that bass part down after today, but I'm gonna keep trying.

[libidomechanica]

Every where we are sound

I will yet reigner, and being.     Hang on earth gone in Hades, none. But once as if alive, hung     within me do flow, wing’d with child do deeds to the poor this     world with paines may be strand of though parents grudge, and time,     after hasted to

musical of mourn the wild figtree split     their musical On this keen, her eye, yet leaves; since her empty     and in the public weal disposed for sale, but uncertain’d     without the hearts doth bred in gloom of the pilgrimage     of these flashes load and

golden orb of pearl the cliff, when     the for to my daughter bring, o heaven, for the world is     dimme and makers of time acquired someone’s car leapfrogs     a sidewalk, the cries out one, and the and thus conditionally     desolation

of moonlight, you me your actors     or spectation, he saynt of the fire the illumine dispensed     her sweet May-dew my winnins o’ marry the paper-     gowned we take such melodrame. That some divisible     when deep, wide as Larke, o

cares? Yet, Trueth, if Caitives the     leant from the mirror, and it was: but as thou kneeler,     and build their camp of a friend be somewhere, or tiptoe up     to the consistory is writ do lie, even tonight     and the tree, and blythest

last of inurbanity,—in     silken-folded up cat smoking others can giue but a     cursed to wait behind him another end! He seek with each     accomplishment is no man to her, turned high, which was not     mine were an opiate,

which them together: though as he     fed; and my heart would crown ale, to name is penn’d upon ages     shine own the blood of honour is honeymoon. Take, and     the bough of cherries which public use, receives a wolf where     than they, my mist; so swept

her half-drooping; and human breast     did thy errour to my daily logs of the snake Memory     of him, who stood awry, Alas! With the dead, but power     to accept alive, hung with dayly, once i am     you know’st this. With should say

more. The foam and move, the sound of     racoon tongue in me; I rather, made with one arrow bed.     Into them also, but on mine, the Paradise she went     to be bought, nother’s. The midnight chamber spread; since Reason,     the red cold and a bonie

side. I, being and his more than     touch no more so closer to be the yestermorn, to their     brilliant divide then his life providence! Where were to less.     From the irregulars instigates of Woman. Is not     a hair light, and do I,

then my blisse which further the rich     in fixt heart in bringing doubting off, as if this can giue     yond Cosset for the worlds beyond all emong, is gone: in     vain. Chewing the folds beyond affection. Turn church do what     Meg o’ the banks o’ Earn,

and barred mountains, in strain, His face     your teeth, forbye a stuffed animal tucked be you for the     honeymoon. I sate next way to the night and winning her, she     sent tale is De rebus cunctis et quibusdam aliis.     All stroke before the midnight,

the very show! Where she length     morals of them knelt at her silken kerchief in her pale,     assembling bullets from the bitter ear, which she washbasin     of my hands from its song might speak to men, so I hurl     myself enough; hope, in

the charming of all too near. To     whom near and moss. Then looking pearls bene all that strength. When     demagogues would put my hands wandered brain did on his     remembers choke the study window, and some bears are bad, and     howe my Maud my balefull

brown between the landlord’s blackening,     whose parting, You suicide wasn’t my manhood is cast     a future less precepts misse; those talons held her brow burn     likeness I can evening sun smile of being. Nor trumps do     not two and tried Valkyrian

hymns, or a lethal joke, undrest,     whence between us, crying, tis made profitable     peddlers should be known, her earth, and perhaps, and there but speak     to me, but drooping flowers, and shoots me a newer band     the night. Evening as for

my heart, fearful of orphans paint     the fading Splendour sleep, and he sticky glass had adorn     them out from its own he came riding, bone bag man, when thinke     that you can point, or happier their hands. For     Blythe in Glenturit glen.

[crylockchaos]

I can and definitely will, although it's kind of messy since I haven't watched the film in quite some time.

I'll spare everyone having to watch Barton Fink since it's definitely not a friendly film as it is a twisted horror satire. Essentially it's a psychological horror with an ambiguous story of a screenwriter trying to make it big in Hollywood. Barton wishes to represent the common man in Hollywood through his writing, but he fails as he doesn't understand what "the common people" want to see, or at least what the film industry believes. My thinking surrounds the feeling of isolation both protagonists feel in their environments, and how their different perspectives influence the outcome. While Barton views himself as above Hollywood, Subject A knows he is an outcast and being used, seeking answers through the control of his art--- his voice. "Gloomtown Brats" has Subject A calling out the very corruption and blindness that Hollywood demonstrates in the film. Barton becomes stuck and one of the "rich girls" that A calls out.

I can't help but think of the parallelism to a purgatory state for Barton and Subject A, but while the film's character refuses to listen to the world that surrounds him, A seeks to remember it and wants to listen to it. In both films, words provide the artist with control in their limited world. Hollywood wants Barton to appeal to the common people but he doesn't know how. He only believes he does, yet refuses to listen to a character who grants him the opportunity to learn. His isolation is self-inflicted and punished by his scorn from Hollywood and the hotel itself, placing him in a metaphorical purgatory and hell as he learns of the horrors around him. Barton loses everything because of his aloofness. On the contrary, Subject A is forced into aloofness and isolation by Tellexx's values and outlined work for him. He's become separated from those he knows until he is the only "familiar" character on screen and in the song. Unlike Barton, Subject A throughout previous songs such as "Razzmatazz" and "New Invention" appeal to the people at the extend of his loyalty to Tellexx. This could potentially be a plot line for Subject B's disappearance, or it could be something revealed in the rest of Gloom Division. While we aren't sure what exactly Gloom Division wants from Subject A, we know they're linked to Tellexx's ideals from the previous work and from Weekes' own statements regarding the lore. Regardless, Tellexx and Gloom Division need the artist's voice to appeal to the audiences, and they know Subject A will be successful as his voice reaches familiarity while enticing further audiences.

Both artists, Baron and Subject A, are fueled by misery in their writing. But unlike Barton Fink, Subject A uses this misery and isolation as motivation to continue pursuing his unanswered questions. He doesn't see himself as above the others, instead growing aware that he's viewed as an outcast. When he sings "Leave me in misery / A formal casualty," he's addressing the fuel for his words and the impact his disconnectedness has on him (Weekes "What Love?"). Unlike Barton, who places himself within isolation as his self-identity as an intellectual, Subject A is calling out the company, and unnamed you figure, and the audience, asking them to listen to his tale and help him. He is a casualty from what he has lost and his exploitation, but he seeks a solution through his voice and constant questioning of his perceived status quo.

There's also film strategies and colour coordination between the films that hint at an underlying gothic influence, but I won't go into that entirely. Essentially red-based colours throughout the scenes, and the juxtaposition of Barton always wearing black, while Subject A on the cover wears white with black leaking out of him foild their exploitation by their industries. Hollywood exploits Barton's corruption, while Tellexx forces words (or ink) to leak out of Subject A until there's nothing left of him.

This is just me rambling, sorry if it doesn't make much sense. I know I quote "What Love?" but I feel like we can't understand "Gloomtown Brats" without looking at "What Love?"

Gloomtown Brats and all this satire makes me think of the film Barton Fink.