#the bandito letter

[midweastindigo]

clancy | newark | pt 3

[nerdylizard5]

Hues in Brushstrokes

A quick piece with the Procreate oil paint brush inspired by the Aria letter from the FPE exhibit!

[kiitchensiink]

ohh okay i love trench stuff i love lore stuff so tell me. Do u have any very specific headcanons u would wanna share on trench or dema. Whether that be the characters or the actual world im curious

since we're loreposting today let me roll up my sleeves and answer this lol

- Thoughts on the Inhabitants

It's said in Clancy's letters that the bishops mandated Vialism as a belief system, and the way he speaks of it implies he remembers it happening, or at least it was shortly established within his lifetime.

I think that one round of population control was enough for many of the inhabitants of Dema, especially those who knew nothing beyond the walls of their city. Many of them likely didn't need overt re-education, and just passively absorbed obedience through the constant buzzing hum of propaganda being plied into their minds. It's in the water. It's in their blood.

Tyler describes his waves of emotions, negative and positive, as seasons, and the way the albums currently established to exist in demaverse follow along this theme to me; Trench feels like the desolation and stillness of winter, and SAI feels like it exists in a perpetual summer.

However, the significance of this to me is that though Trench is cold and hostile, it's real. The chill on your skin is something you can really feel. Whereas SAI, and by extension Daytime Dema, feels like the commercialism of the perfect summer, the type you see in advertisements on TV; Ones of people dancing and smiling and surrounded by warm colours and pastels. But it's all plastered artifice upon a cold concrete structure.

We've seen both sides; First we saw the cold reality of both Trench and the city, Dema, itself. But the difference is that within Dema, there's this sense of coating this reality with a saccharine overtone.

The inhabitants who are allowed to live within the outer regions of the city itself get to experience "normal" things. They can go to bars and clubs, Clancy speaks of reading about descriptions of a "home" in books which leads him to his awakening, and they are seen to be living in comfortable homes.

However, the only time we saw this depicted was in the livestream, which is clearly shown to be a set. And even moreso, it exists within Tyler's mind as he dissociates during an uncomfortable interview with Sally and Dan... Whether or not this is the actual reality of what living in dema is like, we can't actually know for sure until we see more in the new era.

However, if we look at the previous depictions of dema, such as the VR bandito experience... The city is harsher and colder. If we rewatch Nico and the Niners, the place Tyler is held is dilapidated and brutalist.

Whether or not the world depicted in the livestream is real or not is up for debate but, operating on the idea that it IS real...

The inhabitants likely don't much realise they are being limited. They believe they have a certain amount of free will, despite the fact that propaganda meets them at every waking moment; That they are kept obedient in their comfortable lives... A happy populace has no reason to rebel or escape. Smart dictators know this.

Still though, once a person brushes up against those limits and meets the walls of resistance, they start to realise how small their allotted circle of "acceptable" existence is. They either return to the comfortable centre and keep navigating their known... Or they push up against it, and attempt to break those walls.

Which is what all of us should be doing.

[silkysong]

according to my sketchbook, orange

been looking through my 2019 sketchbook and

[velvetcake96]

Probably far away from “canon” but I see Clancy as a sensitive bad ass. Like yeah he’ll beat the shit out of someone, but he also names any animal that finds their way into the Bandito camp, uses the ashes from their fires to make sure their plants thrive, and will refuse to step on any plants because he loves all kinds of life. He’s cynical, he can handle himself in a fight, but he has a love for simple things and mellowed out for the most part.

Clancy is the most friend shaped of all the Tyler-sonas and I like to believe he’s a little softer because he seems like his own person from his letters.

[mysadblacksoul]

Twenty One Pilots - Overcompensate theories (whoo!)

It's a face of someone who put so much lore in the MV that I genuinely don't know where to start

Pt.1 - MV

So the MV takes place right after the end of The Outside MV, pretty easy - logical Now are we relly back in Trench? Seing all the maps, and the way back from The Outside to Jumpsuit? Tracing back the map? Being welcomed? lol. no

Tyler (or Clancy, am I deadnaming him now???) is using the powers, that were mentioned in I Am Clancy video and the one that Ned gave him in The Outside MV As we can see Bishops still wants him to lure people, to make them surrender to live how the Bishops wants them to

So since Tyler is just using someone else to pretend that it's him we can assume that Josh is also a projection

Why is Josh here? Maybe as a representative of Banditos

Now we play heavily in the symbolism of mask. Of course mask symbolizes the difference between a fictitious identity and a real identity. But here we can see something interesting. If Tyler is taking off his mask he is his true self, yet if someone else tries to take it off you can see a different person

So let's see what the hell is Tyler even doing in the MV itself. Well he is doing both jobs. On the surfice, he is doing what the Bishops wants him to. But actually he is showing people some kind of code. (I am sure that all the gestures weren't just a silly choreography). He is showing them his true self (no mask) and giving a presentation on the secrets of Dema. I believe he is sharing the information that normal people were never supposed to know

Like the lyrics of Shy away, he is trying to "Just break the cycle in half". Break people's belief in the religion that the Bishops created and to ultimately take away their power

And after the lesson in the backrooms (lol I don't know how to word it differently) people have tape on their shoulders. But not only the red one. We can se the yellow tape. The legendary Bandito's tape

But what is the meaning of the end? For me people were so used to following the rulers, the rules and doing what they were told that after changing their mindset about the Bishops they still felt the need to follow somebody. That somebody will be Clancy

other small details will be nine red lights for nine Bishops

Tyler having a symbol for the band logo

So is Tyler tring to break the cycle from the very core? Well maybe, for sure what he does now is a complete diversion

Boy is ready to take a revenge, he even brought his best buddy to help

Pt. 2 - Lyrics

We need to start by translating the intro for sure so:

Diese kleine unheimliche Insel hat mich zu einer Waffe gemacht (From German) - This scary little island has turned me into a weapon

Wir glauben beide (From German) - We both believe

Cette petite île étrange a fait de moi une arme (From French) - This scary little island has turned me into a weapon

Nous croyons tous les deux que nous pouvons l'utiliser pour changer l'élan de cette guerre (From French) - We both believe we can use it to change the momentum of this war

So this is pretty much what we know from I Am Clancy video. Tyler and his powers are used by the Bishops to cause harm

And we already saw that first line, which comes from Clancy’s letter from 2022 posted on the dmaorg.info website.

I created this world / To feel some control /Destroy it if I want / So I sing, "sahlo folina" / "Sahlo folina" - This part comes from Bandito. It could be the call for Banditos, to tell them to beware of what is going on. Or it is the way of teaching the people the special code - which sahlo folina is for sure a part of

Earned my stripes - he earned his position in the city, possibly because of his powers

Bless your ear holes while you react, acting / Gobsmacked - maybe people were sent to this place by the Bishops to mess with their brains, but since Tyler is talking about something different to them they are confused

I feel like I was just here, same twitchin' in my eyes - he started just like those people, brainwashed with no sense of reality

Don't sleep on a boy who can fall asleep twice / In the same night - so he can die twice? Or maybe it is the dig that he is working on both sides, just undercovered

and won't hesitate / To maybe overcompensate - simply, Tyler is ready to kick some Bishops' asses and take revenge for everything wrong they ever did to him and other people

I said I fly by the dangerous bend symbol - the symbol that Bishops were making in Nico and the Niners Mv OR The symbol that Tyler uses (what he makes with his hands) is dangerous for Bishops, because it is a sign of rebellion OR (This one makes the most sense) it's U+2621 ☡ CAUTION SIGN, which was created by no other than Nicolas Bourbaki group of mathematicians. Nico is very important, since in Morph we have the lyrics of "He goes by Nico / He told me I'm a copy". So was Nico the first one to discover Clancy's powers?

And then by the time I catch in my peripheral - the peripheral vision is what you can see to each side or up and down without moving your head, or everything that you can see that isn't in your central vision. The peripheral vision might be the same as the rearview from Choker. So this is everything that he saw in Dema on accident, all the secrets that he cought with his eye. Once he saw them he is ready to change everything

Where am I from? I was born right here, just now / Originated right in front of your eyes - Clancy is from Dema, simple as that. He is the citizen and the escapee

If you can't see, I am Clancy, prodigal son - the reference to The Bible. Prodigal Son is "a man or boy who has left his family in order to do something that the family disapprove of and has now returned home feeling sorry for what he has done". Tyler for sure returned, bus is he really sorry? Or the Bishops made him act like he is?

Done running, come up with Josh Dun / Wanted dead or alive - JOSH DUN MENTIONED. But also comming to Trench with Josh could be a sign that Clancy wants people to see that Banditos are not bad people. Not someone who you should fear

So now you pick who you serve, you bow to the masses - make a choice if you gonna change your life or stay in the circle of madnesss

Half empty, half full, save half of your taxes - again, make a choice weather you're gonna think positively or negatively (glass half empty/half full)

Then overtake your former self - become a better person, better version of yourself and live your truth

Days feel like a perfect length / I don't need them any longer, but for goodness sake - just a perfect condition to make a change

Do the years seem way too short for my soul, corazón / Way too short for my soul, corazón - it is the reference to all the years Tyler lost while working and living in Dema

A wild ride, as always...

[blurryfce300]

ok torchbearer time

so like we need to talk more about torchbearer’s ability cause i feel everyøne just went “forest fic canon haha” and brushed it off like

when tyler called it an ability i feel that wordage constitutes it being in the same category as clancy’s ability, yknow the one where he can be seized whilst alive. thats a big thing, and torchbearer alsø having an ability, the ability tø guide, is a big thing tøø.

but what exactly is that “ability to guide”, as tyler put it? i know people were saying its like a mental thing like he can make people think hes really there, but i think it goes further than that. i do think its an actual physical thing, he can physically project himself to people because remember, the letter from ned specifically addresses BOTH clancy and torchbearer being there. not just clancy. ned saw them both, keons knew they were bøth gøing tø be there. a hallucination wouldnt do that.

there’s the my blood parallels, too, and my blood stems playing at the end, but we have to keep in mind clancy is the protagonist, hes telling the story and this is all from his perspective. so him vanishing isnt him never being there, its more just a way of showing that clancy now realizes it wasnt the real torchbearer along with him since levitate. torchbearer is real, økay. josh is real.

now i have other questions that i, @gonerbird , and @tylerssblurry talked about.

firstly, does torchbearer and/ør clancy know? i think torchbearer definitely knøws, its his ability after all, but i clancy didnt until nøw in navigating. maybe he was told previously, but dema makes you førget things, so maybe he forgot about it.

secondly, do the other banditos knøw? im not sure about this, maybe they do, maybe they don’t. we don’t knøw if this is an ability torchbearer uses før every bandito tø guide them tø the øthers in trench, ør sømething he uses sparingly for clancy and øther peøple he ør the øther banditos deems important to their cause. theres a lot we døn’t knøw and i døn’t think we’ll get a straight answer about it, like most things in this story.

and if he didnt tell clancy, well we can kinda understand why clancy is mad at torchbearer, like you imagine thinking your best friend has been by yøur side før years through all this awful shit, being held captive and forced tø write and perform against yøur will and then having a near death encounter, then discovering you’ve been under attack from an external force this whole time, and før all that før him tø nøt have been there. it was him, but it alsø wasn’t. yøu’d be kinda mad, right? maybe mad enough to start your own rebellion, a more violent one that we might see.

alright thats all i have to say about that for now byeeeee

[f0linasahl0]

so i have been looking through old clancy letters because i am writing that story thing for the twenty one pilots lore to get the worldbuilding. i was looking at things and there's a line in the letter from "022 03MOON 18" where clancy says "though its been years since he last spoke with them, i hope they have not lost faith in the torchbearers plan." and remembering the navigating mv and how the torchbearer that was with clancy during the outside (which was around when this letter was posted onto the website) was clancy really fully seeing a hallucination of torchbearer? if i understand correctly from that, it would've been. he has not seen torchbearer or any of the other banditos for years and it was only him. i dont know if this was coherent train of thought, but i was just thinking that if he wasn't real, this is an interesting part of the letter. really shows that it was a hallucination.

(also i have started writing that story i was talking about in a previous post about the twenty one pilots lore and i am even more excited about it after i started writing it.)

[artist-issues]

Quick question

“WE MUST DESTROY THEM OR WE WILL BECOME THEM AND IF WE BECOME THEM WE MUST DO BETTER”

What?

Is this why he was wearing red at the end of the Time to Say Goodbye Skit?

Is this what he means by “we’re going to use red to win?”

I’m processing this while typing:

I understood the bishops to be different bad thoughts in the bad-thoughts center of the brain. With their end goal being your destruction, and their leader being Blurryface/Nico/Insecurities-Which-Just-Means-Self-Focus.

But now the idea of “becoming a bishop” has become super prominent in the story. The letters are supposed to be written by the citizens of the city who are becoming/already are banditos. Banditos are devoted to the destruction of the bishops. I guess I always took that to mean they want to destroy the whole city—burn it down.

But Clancy’s later letters—where he’s all in on the cause because he’s starting to have revelations about the plan—all describe “burning out old teaching” and “taking it back.”

So the plan might not be to destroy the city? Even freaking though we’ve been talking so long about leaving the city? Not going there, not living there anymore? Because the city is “The Place Where Bad Thoughts Have Control?”

But now we want to take that whole thing “back?” And not just take it back, but “retake it?” Take it over? …Like it didn’t used to be this way, with bishops in control?

Oh, that’s why all the focus on nostalgia. Because you didn’t always used to have all these bad thoughts. The “Bishops” want to convince everybody that they’ve always been rooted in this part of your brain, always in control—but it’s a lie. There was a lie somewhere that gave them a foothold, and they took control, but things can go back to the way they were?

Anyway, that’s an aside—

—the point is, Clancy. Blurryface wants Clancy to put on a robe and replace Keons? Is that what he’s after at the end of Paladin Strait?

I guess you can make an argument for that. “He told me I’m a copy,” and all that. Plus, the whole lie that you might never be rid of your Self-Focus and dark thoughts, that that’s all you are and erasing them would “be like erasing a part of yourself.” Except yeah, it’s a rotting part, a cancerous part, you should want it erased, you need it erased. But maybe that’s part of the lie. The Dark Thoughts go, “you are us, you can’t get rid of us.”

So I can see why in the story their plan would be to make Clancy wear the robe next.

I can also see why that would make sense in a meta sort of way.

If Tyler’s saying bishops are the dark thoughts, and his gift has been music—the good side is that he can exorcise his demons through music, but if that’s all it’s used for, then can’t his image, his music, become entangled and identified with the “demons,” and then if he ever tries to stop making that the topic, that the use, of his music, he’ll lose it? So in that sense, who’s puppetting who—is he killing the dark thoughts with his music? Or are his dark thoughts keeping themselves alive because he keeps focusing on them in the music?

I can see why the bishops might be trying to get Clancy to be a bishop, if that’s what’s happening. I can also see why they’d win, if that’s the case. I just don’t love the idea that Clancy would embrace it and that would somehow be a good end to the story. Like, “now that Clancy’s in charge, he’ll do better.”

I don’t want it to be “now that I’ve understood the dark thoughts, it’s the same as conquering them—and I can use dark thoughts.”

That’s no good. No you can’t. Capture, then kill.

These have been random thoughts.

[floq]

Can you explain what the whole Twenty One Pilots thing is about? I thought they were a music group but from your posts it seems like there's something else going on.

oh you want me to explain the lore

well i'll try to keep it as simple as possible. you see, the band has been telling this overarching narrative throughout their latest 4 albums (although the story does later incorporate themes from their previous albums and they seem to be connected to the lore in some way). the story is about Clancy, a citizen of this dystopian cement city known as Dema located in the fictional continent of Trench. Dema is ruled by 9 bishops which govern the city under their religion known as Vialism, this religion teaches that self destruction (suicide) is the only way to paradise, and encourge their citizens give in to Vialism and become one the Glorious Gones (this is how they call the citizens who give their lives in the name of Vialism). Nico is the ruler of the nine bishops and the main bad guy of the story.

the story is told by letters written by Clancy in which he recounts his life in Dema, how miserable he is living in there, and his attemps of escaping the city [all the letters can be found in the dmaorg website]. After he succesfully breaches outside the walls, he is tracked down by Nico and made to return back to the city. it is at this moment where he sees a group of people known as the Banditos, these are rebels that leave outside the walls, only known as legends inside Dema. they wear yellow tape around their clothes and live in camps within the wilderness of Trench. Their leader is The Torchebearer, he's the character that firsts sees Clancy and who primarily helps him throughout his journey (that ultimately culminates on overtaking Vialism and the bishops). Here the Banditos help Clancy escape from Dema once again and accept him into their rebellion.

it's all a metaphor for depression and battling your inner demons.

the story keeps going from there, but i think those are the basics to understand what the heck is going on, plus i don't want to spoil everything if you are genuinely interested on learning more. I do recommend watching the music videos related to the lore and the I Am Clancy video, that one is only 4 mins long and it recaps the story pretty well.

that's all i hope it's comprehensible,,

[oldiesstationlover11607]

Hello. What’s up? It’s me. Anonymous. You’re good old pal (okay I’ll stop). The Josh drum lesson fic was so cute btw! Gosh I wish I had writing talent. Btw, I’m not sure if you want me to pick an emoji to identify as or if you will pick it, but feel free to assign me one if you want.

So………I had another request………but it’s Tyler this time…..kinda.

Could you do a angsty one shot from when Clancy is in Dema and is forced to make propaganda (Scaled and Icy era. Look, I like Tyler with pink hair okay). He meets the reader (how? It’s up to you. Makeup artist, manager of some sort, etc.). They bond, he tells her in secret about life outside the walls and stuff and sort of gets her on the Bandito’s side. After he escapes (as seen in Saturday), she expects him to somehow get in contact with her again and help her escape Dema, but he never does.

You could end it there or maybe flash forward to the events of Paladin Strait and do something with that, it’s up to you. Thanks for always taking my silly ideas to the next level and making me smile with your work.

Number 16 Cotton Candy - Clancy x Reader

Relationship: Tyler Joseph/Clancy × Fem!Reader

Warnings: Violence, anything related to Dema or the Trench story that's generally triggering

Word Count: 1813 (it’s a big one!)

Summary: Check the request!

PART 2

A/N: I’ll give you the 💛 emoji for the yellow banditos! And you’re definitely not alone anon, I freaking love pink hair Tyler (I have a whole pinterest board section dedicated to SAI and Ty’s pink hair) :)

I’d never expected to be working on ‘Good Day Dema’. My family had a long history with the bishops, working for them that is. I remember when the letter came, asking me to be the talent manager for the next season. This ranged from making sure makeup and hair was done to keeping talent company before the show. Except, they didn’t tell me the talent was Clancy, the Clancy. We’d spent a couple days together, me running him through the show, him not saying a single word but listening to all instructions. He’d learnt the choreography, every step and change for the show, but not spoken a single word to anyone but the bishops when asked. I was escorted to a light blue door in the hallway of the soundstage building. 

“He’s in there. You’ll be dying his hair number 16 cotton candy and ensuring he’s ready to film,” one of the assistants said. 

“Thanks,” I smiled sheepishly before walking inside and closing the door. Clancy sat in the corner of the room, his blank eyes staring me down. I nodded over to the chair. He rose to his feet, quietly wandered over and sat in front of me. I’d heard things about him, how he’d escaped into Trench, and was dragged back here. I’d also listened to the new album ‘Scaled and Icy’, a complete 360 from the themes of his letters–not that we were allowed to be reading them. 

“It looks like they’re wanting number 16 Cotton Candy. We’ll have to bleach it,” I said, grabbing the bleach and color from the cabinet, “You good with that?” His eyes darted up to me. 

“You’re asking me?” he asked, his brows furrowed. His voice sounded exactly how it did on the record, except tired. I tried to hide my surprise that he’d responded at all. I nodded. 

“Of course I am. It’s your hair.” Deep down I knew I shouldn’t have been talking to him like this. I was being paid to ensure he looked exactly how the bishops wanted him to, not asking his opinion. 

“Why don’t you just do your job and we can both get this over with?” he spoke with sarcasm dripping from each word. I nodded and got to work with the bleach. The room was quiet except for the radio which was playing SAI on repeat–it was up to Shy Away. 

“I’m sorry about what you’ve had to go through,” I mumbled, completely unsure if I was overstepping a boundary. 

“That’s the price of attempting to escape,” he shrugged and I nodded knowingly. “Have you ever dyed your hair?” he asked, watching me place the foils on his head. 

“Once before. It was a hotter pink, back when we were still allowed to have coloured hair. Do you remember that?”

He nodded. “Yeah I do. My friends were the reason they banned it. They dyed it yellow.” Everyone in Dema knew yellow was a color of rebellion, the color of the banditos (if you even believed in them). Wearing it was almost an instant detainment, or worse. 

“Ah, I remember that,” I smiled softly, remembering the story on the news. “So the bleach is going to take about 30 minutes and then we can do the color. I’ll stay here though, there’s not much for me to do.” The song on the radio switched to Never Take It. “It must be weird to hear your own voice on the radio,” I commented, glad that I was a manager rather than a talent.  

“Yeah, it kinda is. Especially since it’s full of the bishops’ propaganda rather than my own thoughts.” I had a feeling the changes in theme were related to the bishops. “It’s hard to be creative when they’ve got you locked up and use you for entertainment.” The sigh that escaped his chapped lips revealed a level of exhaustion only he knew. 

“Your letters are so different from this,” I spoke, knowing I’d crossed a line and couldn’t go back. He turned around to face me, a confused look on his face.

“You’ve read my letters? How? They’re not allowed in the city.”

“They passed by me when they were first here.” The letters were initially spread from house to house before the bishops found and burned them all. 

“And… what did you think?” I couldn’t tell why he was asking this. What his intentions were. But I could tell he was trying to piece something together. 

“You have a lot to say about our lives here,” I paused before adding, “and Trench. It didn’t end well for you to end up here though.” 

“That’s because I believe everyone deserves to know the truth, whether or not I’m taken back here and used for propaganda is irrelevant. People need to know the truth.” He was ambitious, I’d give him that. I removed the foils and washed his hair before starting with the pink. I grabbed some gloves, mixed the color and started applying it evenly. “You know, you’re pretty for a Dema girl,” he remarked. 

“Does that mean bandito girls are prettier?” I laughed. He shrugged, clearly showing his perspective. “I’m surprised you’ve still got a sense of humor after everything you’ve been through.” His face dropped slightly at that. It was clear that despite being held in a prisoners’ cell this whole time he still had the spark that made him Clancy. It had to be hard but he still had it. 

“I mean it Y/N, you’re pretty… but you should try to leave this place. Out there in Trench everything is different. The colors, the freedom, the creativity. You’ll never want to come back.” His eyes were full of hope. It was clear he was the right person to lead the rebellion. 

“I–I can’t… I’ve got a life here, Clancy,” I sighed. I wanted to, I did. But if he was caught and sent back here then there was no chance I’d even make it out of the walls. He nodded knowingly. 

“I understand. Just know there is always a place for you at the camp.” I finished up his color, washed the dye off in the sink, and styled it for the show. We continued talking about Trench and the banditos, what life was like out there. I reminded him that the bishops wanted a performance for the annual assemblage, slightly disappointed that I hadn’t been invited to manage him. Once his hair was finished and makeup done I turned the chair around. A soft smile grew on his face. 

“I like it. Thank you,” he got up and pulled me in an embrace. His hair smelt of the shampoo I’d used, vanilla. 

“You’re welcome. I’ve got your jacket over here,” I reached to the side and picked it up, the brown fabric soft against my hands. He turned around as I helped him into it. What he did next surprised me. His hands reached up to cup my face. His forehead leant against mine, a few tears escaping his eyes before turning into sobs, his face scrunching up. “Hey, hey, you’re okay,” I hushed, trying to calm him down. 

“I’m scared Y/N,” he stuttered. His eyes darted left and right, searching for something. I tried my best to reassure him that it was okay. 

“You don’t need to be,” I lied. He had every right to be scared. At any minute the bishops could kill and seize his vessel. It was then that I made the decision to kiss him. It was a quick kiss, an unsure one. 

“Oh so now you decide to do that,” he chuckled before pulling me close and walking us back till we hit the wall. Our bodies pressed together, breathing heavily as our lips danced. I could feel the thud of his heartbeat, terrified of the consequences if we were caught. The song on the radio switched to Redecorate, my favorite on the record. I ran my fingers through his coloured hair before pulling away. 

“You’re going to get called on soon,” I said, knowing that I’d likely never seen him again after today. 

“Ok,” he nodded. “I need you to know that this,” he gestured between us, “wasn’t just for the sake of today. I like you Y/N, there’s something special about you.” There was a loud knock on the door and we stepped away from each other. 

“Are you nearly done in there?” the assistant's voice chirped from outside. 

“Yep, we need about 10 more minutes and he’ll be ready to perform!” I shouted back. I could hear her footsteps leave. 

“I like you too, Clancy,” I hummed, once I knew we were alone again. 

“If I ever get out, just know I’ll come back for you. I promise, I’ll get you out,” he vowed. I embraced him and pressed my lips to his one last time before escorting him out to the soundstage. 

“Good luck out there,” I tried desperately to not cry, saying goodbye for the last time. 

Two years later the bishops had released a search notice for Clancy. The submarine that the annual assemblage had been held on sank due to “an unknown number of errors on board.” It took everything in me not to believe he was dead. The bishops insisted he wasn’t and what would they gain from lying about their enemy’s death? I was sure he would reach out, tell me he was okay, but it was radio silence. I’d removed myself from Good Day Dema’s set and spent all my time in my room. It was the same thing every day, work. Working to please the bishops and brainwash the entire city that Vialism was the only way. Except for one night, exactly one year after the notice was issued, three years since I’d heard anything from Clancy. I was reading through a new manuscript for the show and making notes for the new episode. The air in the room went still, I wasn’t alone. A man with curly brown hair with the underside dyed red stood by the door. He was wearing a black vest and a bandana with ‘torchbearer’ written on it. It had scared the shit out of me.

“I know you,” I stood up, “you’re Clancy’s friend.”

“Indeed I am,” his expression remained blank, a calm and stoic leader—exactly how Clancy had described him. I couldn’t decide whether to hug him or kill him.

“He’s alive?”

Torchbearer nodded. A wave of relief flooded over me.

“We request your presence at the town hall tonight. Please do your best to come. I was directly asked to ensure you attend.”

I was going to see him. Clancy had survived. He was coming back. Coming back for me. I was getting out of here. I was going to get to hold him again.

Except it wasn’t him. He’d seized a boy and pretended to be there. Clancy wasn’t even in Trench.

//

Hope you liked it 💛! I’m definitely open to writing a part two but not sure where it would go… keep requesting tho bc ur requests brighten my day!

[beginnerblueglass]

My TØP lore theory…

The whole Tyler/Clancy thing has been melting my brain, but I spent a good three hours in the car today listening to like, three and a half albums, so I had a lot of time for my thoughts to stew.

So we have Tyler, Clancy, Nico, and the Torchbearer. Nico is not Blurryface, Blurryface is Tyler when under Nico’s control. The bishops have the ability to control dead bodies, but there is something special about Tyler, which allows them (or at least Nico) to control him even though he is alive.

We just learned that the Torchbearer has the ability to project himself. I think that Tyler, who we know has escaped Dema, spent time with the Banditos, and been recaptured many times, learned from the Torchbearer how to project himself. He created Clancy, a normal guy who lives under the kindest Bishop, Keons, as a defense mechanism, someone who can’t be controlled by Nico. Clancy eventually gained sentience and became his own person separate from Tyler and unaware that he’s a projection.

Morph is very important to the lore. “If I keep moving they won’t know, I’ll morph to someone else, what they throw at me’s too slow, I’ll morph to someone else, I’m just a ghost… defense mechanism mode.”

Eventually Clancy, who was supposed to be able to have a normal life in Dema, also became enamoured with escaping and joining the Banditos. He escaped, per the early letters, and happened across Tyler in the ravine. This is when the confusion began for him, and he ended up wandering through Trench in a daze until Keons found him and brought him back to Dema.

So here’s where I don’t know if 1) Tyler is dead (at the end of Levitating mv) and the Bishops have captured Clancy in an attempt to bring out Tyler from his subconscious, 2) Tyler and Clancy have somehow merged, or 3) Tyler is not dead, but Nico has decided to keep him completely under his control at all times, so he can’t escape.

At first they kept Clancy in a simulation (Shy Away mv) complete with a fake Josh, but it collapsed when he realized it was fake. Then they tried another simulation (Choker mv), but it didn’t fool him either. After that they kept Clancy drugged, making him write SAI. Keons rescued him from the submarine (Saterday mv), and then he met the Torchbearer’s projection on Voldsøy and learned psychokinesis (The Outside mv).

Clancy is on his own now and is coming into his own as a Bandito, having learned psychokinesis and using this to spread rebellion inside Dema. The one we’ve seen all throughout SAI and Clancy is Clancy, not Tyler, except for the one who performed in the livestream. Clancy was the one sitting on the couch with the hosts, Tyler was the one who put on the show inside Clancy’s head.

I’m interested in finding out how much the Torchbearer knows about the whole situation, and I predict that the person Clancy runs into in the tower at the end of Paladin Strait is going to be Blurryface, ie Tyler being controlled by Nico, which will be very cool.

[neon-merrick]

Sometimes I just like to think about the fact the pilots live shows pull us into the story as well.

Bandito tour was our intro to the world, of seeing banditos for the first time, becoming part of the world, within dema being led by the torchbearer into trench.

takeover and icy tours were us in dema seeing the live stream event in person, the assemblage performances, and the cold treatment of Clancy behind the blue door.

clancy tour has started with overcompensate, bringing us into the music video in a way. we are the citizens he's teaching, we are the letters we find in the fpe bandito lounge, we are part of this story of duality of recovery of working with instead of against.

I think I might even go as far as to say, in our own ways, WE are clancy. Whether we currently are or are going to be handed the title to continue on, we are part of this story, of the dema citizens, of the banditos, of the bishops, of clancy.

so when the time comes who will you become?

[justachoker]

backslide really feels like a letter from clancy to torchbearer and the banditos and i wanna cry and then die because of that

[xproskeith]

This is an excerpt from something I wrote that I thought people may appreciate on its own:

Clancy was determined. He was going to find Nico and defeat him and the rest of the bishops. He was going to break the cycle. He had no problem using the power he'd been granted to swiftly handle the 7 other bishops. He was ready for Nico.

Or so he thought. When Nico burst through that door, Clancy froze. And then Nico's cold hands were around his neck. It happened so fast. Did Nico really move that fast? Or did it only seem that way because he froze when he finally saw Nico? Clancy couldn't be sure and in the end the answer didn't change anything anyway. Clancy closed his eyes, trying to gather himself and what he would do next. What he COULD do next. Then Nico began to speak, his monotone voice distorted and as cold as ice.

"So few..."

Memories of the banditos getting ready at the basecamp flooded Clancy's mind. Before the attack. There were so few compared to what they would be facing. Yet, they were all so resolved. They believed. In the cause, in the Torchbearer, and in Clancy. But there were still so few...

"So proud..."

Clancy's mind drifted to the Torchbearer. His first time seeing him after his escape. When he rescued Clancy from DEMA. All the times he fervently told him about the Banditos and the cause. How he stood there looking at him so proudly when they reunited at the fire back in Trench after his long journey. He was so proud. Of the cause, of the Banditos, and, for some reason Clancy still didn't understand, the Torchbearer was proud of him as well. He believed in him. But this is where Clancy found himself now... Clancy felt the antlers slip from his hands.

"So... Emotional..."

To Clancy's own surprise, he thought of himself in this moment. He thought back to the surges of emotion that spurred him to first try and escape DEMA and of the journal entries and letters he wrote. He remembered being enflamed by the Torchbearer's words and his cause. More so than even the other Banditos. His desire to defeat the bishops and Nico. Yet all he could feel in this moment was fear and despair.

"Hello, Clancy."

It felt like Nico's hands tightened around Clancy's neck. What was he going to do? He'd already released the antlers. He couldn't use the power he'd been granted. Nico had him. Clancy thought he'd been ready, but he wasn't. He froze. And now his chance was gone. It was over.

His eyes still closed, and lost in a sea of his own fear and anxiety, Clancy's mind found respite when it drifted to the memory of him and the Torchbearer's reunion.

---

"You're finally ready," said the Torchbearer, handing him the mask. "I knew you'd push on through and make it back safely."

Clancy looked at The Torchbearer, somewhat confused as reality kicked in.

"You were never there?" asked Clancy, not fully comprehending what was going on.

The Torchbearer smiled warmly and reassuringly at Clancy and said, "I told you I'd always be by your side going forward. Even if I can't be there physically, I'll still be there. I'll always help guide you like I did this whole time."

"But you couldn't physically get to me until now?"

"Unfortunately, no. After the bishops recaptured you again with their plans to use you, they made it impossible to get to you physically. But I was still able to project myself to you and with a little help from Keons, I was able to help guide you out."

"I see. Well, thank you. But how are you so sure I'm ready to face them now? I just barely escaped and made it back here."

A grin spread across The Torchbearer's face. "You may not fully realize it, but you're ready. You've changed and I've borne witness to it. You were able to harness the same power as the bishops, sure, but the most important part has been that change in YOU."

"I guess I'll have to take your word for it," said Clancy, laughing nervously.

"Trust me," said The Torchbearer. "When the time comes, you'll be ready and you'll know what to do."

---

That's right. Clancy couldn't give up. Not yet. He had to find a way out of this. Another way to stand and fight. Clancy had no idea how he was going to do it, but his resolve had never been stronger. Nico thought those words would discourage him, but instead they empowered him by reminding him of everything he was fighting for.

[hype-old-posts]

i can't post in the community with this account but anyway listen

new theory:

all the mvs and songs in this era are somehow lore related, even if not fully

they reflect something about the lore

next semester is about a panic attack through college metaphors, it also reflects the anxiety clancy feels as a whole now, bringing him back to his memories

backslide is about fighting the urge of going back to difficult times and learning to let go, which is what clancy has been trying to do since he got out of dema

midwest indigo is about the struggle of tyler's hometown, which well, clancy also struggled back in dema and is trying to move on, a cold town with no livelihood

ritn is about insomnia, struggling to sleep and navigating your memories instead. I'm pretty sure clancy mentions dreams in his letters, i wouldn't doubt he also suffers from night terrors

vignette (my beloved) is about addiction and, well, you can get addicted to dema, believe it or not. the dark mv also reminds me of that one line from hype "i don't know which way I'm going but i can hear my way around" and the vulture screech

snap back is about, again, not falling into bad habits and staying strong when seeing anxiety coming back, and reflects how clancy needs to remain resilient so he can fight and save everyone. the way he talks to the mirror (himself with long hair while he himself has it shaved) reminds me of a theory i had that the boy from the lemonade stand on backslide is past tyler, perhaps even blurryface, and they're talking as he notices how much he's changed, and yet the feeling is back. makes me thing clancy might actually be nico

oldies is about growing old and AGAIN talks about past habits, but now it's about getting used to them as you grow older and stronger and starts focusing on the good side, hmm i guess it could fit in how clancy will start getting more mature and starting to realize he might not be able to destroy dema, but that doesn't mean he and everyone can't be happy ig? like escaping in small groups, one at a time

atrofd is about checking in on friends to see if they're doing alright, it also reflects how clancy felt left out in dema by the banditos, his friends

the only ones I can't fit are lavish and the craving, but tyler doesn't have blurryface paint in those mvs