#there are also the milexers who just don't want Alex with a woman

[misskattylashes]

I've been noticing trends in this fandom and this isn't meant to call anyone out, we're all bloody crazy at the end of the day.

But I have noticed that fans who are fond of posting mainly AM/SIAS era Alex or just basically thirst traps, seem to have zero interest in his lyrics or their meanings. (Group A)

Those who are into Humbug/TBHC and The Car are really into deciphering his lyrics to get inside his psyche more. (Group B)

Group A usually have no interest in Miles but are either huge fans of Louise or consumed with hatred for her.

Group B usually chooses to forget she exists most of the time.

Group B are often Milexers.

I just find it interesting that one fandom can have two very separate groups of fans who see the same person in two different ways.

[skylarbee]

alex/milex and 'a singer must die'

this song from Leonard Cohen is Alex through and through, especially the fact that he uses.... body paint, instead of showing the public his real self. of course, it also reminded me heavily of milex. i will explain in this stupidly long post:

the song is about people who criticise Leonard and his songs, but also his lovers:

"This song is for my critics and for my judges and for those who give marks to us everywhere, who evaluate our performance whether it is in the courtroom or the cloakroom or the bedroom. This is for the judges." -> we also know someone who is severely criticised by the media, right?

the songs starts with:

Now the courtroom is quiet, but who will confess? Is it true you betrayed us? The answer is Yes

-> many British people, the 'judges' are bashing Alex for 'forgetting where he comes from' and not being proud anymore of his hometown. they think he's betrayed his people (who he once made proud with his debut album) by 'pretending to be American'

// Miles and Alex have never been official, but even if they are seeing each other, they are more often than not in relationships with other people. betrayal is inevitable and constant, and the confessions before it certainly don't come easily (a betrayal, maybe the biggest yet, happened in 2018?)

Then read me the list of the crimes that are mine I will ask for the mercy that you love to decline

-> these judges love to list the reasons why they think ill of him ('putting on a fake American accent', 'pretending to be Elvis', moving to America, etc.), and it seems like they will never get over the fact that he's changed since 2006

// during that presumably awful time for them, they both could've messed up and made mistakes - and for a while, maybe one of them couldn't forgive the other for some time. or simply, one of them asked for love again and again; the other refused and wanted to just stay friends.

And all the ladies go moist and the judge has no choice A singer must die for the lie in his voice

-> but despite the criticism, in 2013, thousands upon thousands of women went crazy for the way he sang and moved; but this didn't matter for the judges - he was still the person who was attacked and who they wanted gone, and he knew it. and as everyone knows, he sings these words in one point perspective: I suppose a singer must die

// all those love songs that Alex writes, or at least some parts of them could be about Miles - but it's no use, he always throws in a 'she', and all the ladies go crazy for the songs and the singer - so what is there to do except be ashamed in front of his real muse and himself: For a master of deception and subterfuge/ You've made yourself quite the bed to lie in/ Do your time travelling through the tanning booth/ So you don't let the sun catch you crying (There'd Better Be A Mirrorball)

And I thank you, I thank you for doing your duty You keepers of truth, you guardians of beauty Your vision is right, my vision is wrong I'm sorry for smudging the air with my song

-> rather sarcastically, in Sculptures of Anything Goes, Alex also writes about knowing that the judges think his newer music is bad: Is that vague sense of longing kinda trying to cause a scene?/ Guess I'm talking to you now/ Puncturing your bubble of relatability/ With your horrible new sound/ Baby, those mixed messages ain't what they used to be/ When you said 'em out loud

// even if things aren't always right, Alex might know and is grateful for the fact that miles is there to snap him out of anything he's struggling with or to call him out when he's being dishonest; and perhaps he's ashamed for the lies he sells to the judges with his songs

Oh, the night it is thick, my defenses are hid In the clothes of a woman I would like to forgive In the rings of her silk, in the hinge of her thighs Where I have to go begging in beauty's disguise Oh, goodnight, goodnight, my night after night My night after night after night after night after night

-> despite all this, Alex continues to write and sing about what has always been the main subject of his songs: relationships and women. being in love can make you act reckless and not care about anything else: And all my pals will tell me is that I'm crazy/ You bet I'm loopy, alright/ And I just don't recognise this fool that you have made me (Sweet Dreams, TN). it could be that Alex doesn't find himself to be that attractive, as he once jokingly mentioned that his nose is too big; hence 'beauty's disguise'

// Alex doesn't have to defend himself in the arms of a woman - he goes there to escape and delay facing the painful truth, the real him, goes there because it brings less consequences than going to him. he goes to these women often... or maybe he's saying goodnight to someone else, someone who is equally his 'night after night', but only in thoughts (or maybe in secret)? I stare up to the moon/ And my lonely heart goes boom boom boom/ Once again, yeah - anyone? (One Man Band)

I am so afraid that I listen to you Your sun glass protectors they do that to you It's their ways to detain, their ways to disgrace Their knee in your balls and their fist in your face

-> another thing that funnily enough, Alex is criticised a lot for, is him wearing sunglasses everywhere; which could be another way of him hiding who he truly is, feeling safer behind a pair of sunglasses. it can also make him braver, knowing that people can't look him straight in the eyes - like this, he might dare to face the judges. but at the same time, it's these sunglasses that he gets bashed for - they're not that useful after all

// whether it's literally sunglasses or body paint - they're a way for him to protect himself, but also a way to hurt himself even more: while he's avoiding the pain of looking the truth in the face, he's facing the pain of having to hide his true feelings and what his heart truly desires

and let me not even start on the song that follows this one, I Tried To Leave You (Is This What You Wanted is from here too, which TLSP gorgeously covered). i don't have to say anything more, do i?

I tried to leave you, I don't deny I closed the book on us at least a hundred times I'd wake up every morning by your side

The years go by, you lose your pride The baby's crying, so you do not go outside And all your work it's right before your eyes

Goodnight, my darling, I hope you're satisfied The bed is kind of narrow, but my arms are open wide And here's a man still working for your smile

[alexstorm]

Milex doesn’t come up anymore because I decided not to talk about it anymore because whatever you say people like you will misunderstand it. I also don’t want to repeat everything I said in the past and therefore will let you believe that I have different standards for my own peace. I know better and that’s all I care about. // If you did have the same standards, you wouldn't have believe Alex experimented, your words not mine, you don't have the same standards. If you did, it would have reflected in how you see things.

Well, I also said I'm not basing this solely on their relationship but pictures of Alex with other men which you conveniently ignored. Miles is just the one he trusts the most so it's plausible that if he were inclined in that direction to do it with someone he trusts and who himself seems to enjoy that. I never said they can't be physical with each other in a platonic way. That's just you misunderstanding. It works the same way with women. You can be friends with a woman for years and build trust and if you were so close to experiment it would be with someone who is open to that. I don't get what's so hard to understand. You're the one downgrading their friendship by saying any sexual relation can't happen because it would destroy their friendship or it's "wrong".