Wait why does everyone hate brendon urie again?
i was tempted to just say "google it" but honestly panic's pr team is working doubletime to sanitize this bastard so here's a quick primer for those who are out of the loop.
this got long so i’m putting it under a cut. as a warning, this is going to have discussions and screenshots of people saying and doing extremely morally reprehensible shit, including racist, homophobic, and transphobic language, sexual harassment of minors, and more. tread with caution.
i'm also going to top this off with the caveat that brendon has a history of saying generally stupid and casually shitty things that a lot of people have noticed and called attention to, but these were largely unremarkable in the sense that they were the sort of things that i was not surprised to hear a privileged cis dude say. so while that's definitely a factor - the guy has said very shitty, openly racist, gross things, etc., numerous times and on numerous platforms and i do not want to overlook that - i also don't want to pretend like that’s the only thing going on here because there is a lot of other heinous shit at work.
i’m also not going to go into the intricacies of song meanings or lyrics and the like aside from a couple touchstone examples. it’s pretty public knowledge by now that i don’t know how but they found me (henceforth referred to as idkhow, fronted by dallon weekes, who worked/toured with panic for a good eight years as its bassist) has quite a few numbers that take implicit and explicit aim at panic, most prominently the video for their single “do it all the time,” which featured dallon setting fire to all the suits he used to wear on tour with the band. it’s an open secret that dallon was not treated very well during his time with panic, but we’ll get to that. the point here is that i don’t want to focus on conjecture of speculation when we have a wealth of very hard evidence at our disposal.
so let’s get into it.
the real Poop started up late 2019 iirc, when numerous panic fans started passing around stories about zack hall, panic's bodyguard and security guy who had been with the band since the fever era. as the only person who had actually been with the band as long as brendon himself, zack had a fair amount of sway with the fans and was notably very very close with brendon. as more and more people spoke up, it became apparent that zack had done a whole lot of things that i would term as "incredibly fucked up" over the years with people being generally afraid to say anything. it’s been pointed out to me that these accusations only picked up traction around that time; fans have been raising flags about zack’s behavior for years without any reaction from panic’s management.
around this time, discussion began circulating that brendon himself had sexually harassed/assaulted multiple fans (many of them minors at the time). some of these accusations, such as his attempt to solicit nudes from fans, have proven to be way muddier to and harder to confirm, seeing as brendon was allegedly not in charge of his socials for some of this time and one of the people using his handles to solicit fans for nudes was reportedly a former stalker of his, chelsey lynn.
i think it is worth noting that brendon has brought up his history with “stage gay” with founding member, guitarist, composer, and lyricist ryan ross and mentioned that brendon’s attempts to get handsy on stage were not always taken kindly (emphasis mine):
For our first headline tour I would go up to Ryan our guitar player, and like kiss him on the neck or kiss him on the mouth and he would be so mad. I was like, I just want to kiss you bro.
(that’s also the interview where brendon tried to both-sides the issue of roseanne being a hideous fucking racist. so, fun stuff.)
in any case, it took brendon four months to respond to any of the accusations leveled at him and zack. he ended up doing so by filming a two-minute apology on his twitch account (which was locked to subscribers only, meaning it was essentially monetized) [twitter thread summary for those who can't stomach it], only to say that he was just too anxious to say anything and that while zack had been removed from his position, he and brendon would remain close friends. he did not respond to any of the allegations against himself, and proceeded to basically go completely radio silent on all social media until reemerging in 2022 to promote viva las vengeance.
(contrast to this to how speedily he fired touring guitarist kenny harris in 2018 when multiple allegations arose that he was soliciting underage girls. he was removed from the tour in less than twenty-four hours. while the expediency of this was praised at the time, it retroactively raises a lot of questions as to how much brendon and/or zack knew about this behavior beforehand and were simply waiting for a good PR call to do something about it.)
brendon seeing no issues with zack’s behavior and only doing something about it when backed into a corner is very much not a good look, and is suggestive of the possibility that he’s complicit in or at the very least tolerant of this kind of fuckery.
but wait. theres more.
beyond the genuine fucked up behavior, brendon also has a history of severely mistreating his bandmates. we could get into the politics of the infamous schism that split founding member ryan ross (along with bassist jon walker) from brendon and the band’s drummer, spencer smith, but that is its own bag of worms and this post is long enough already. that drama is very well-covered. however, i think it’s worth noting that out of every single member of the band that has come through it, both creative contributor and touring member, the only former member to depart the band amiably was spencer, who took his leave because of struggles with alcoholism. he’s the only one who remains on good terms with brendon to this day, but he’s also technically brendon’s boss at this point since he helps manage the label dcd2, of which panic at the disco is a part.
most apparent and well-documented of brendon’s spotty history with his own bandmates is his treatment of dallon weekes and his wife, breezy weekes, while the former was writing and touring with the band. in that little zack hall clusterfuck above you can see places where breezy talked about being repeatedly harassed but electing to keep quiet so that dallon wouldn't risk losing his job. reportedly they both went to panic's management to put a stop to it, but the bad behavior continued, with both zack hall and brendon’s wife, sarah urie, as propagators. there was public outcry as people insisted that dallon and breezy were making this up for attention. however, eventually former touring guitarist (from 2009-2012) ian crawford (along with his sister), both spoke up to corroborate that zack's behavior (and brendon's enabling of it) were very much recurring issues and were part of the reason that ian left panic in the first place. ian's twitter is no longer active, so all i have are screenshots on tumblr for this one.
dallon has not spoken of his time spent with panic with much fondness. he replaced bassist jon walker in 2009 and contributed creatively on both vices and virtues (2011) and too weird to live, too rare to die (2013). for the former, he was responsible for the concept and album art. for the latter, he got writing credit for all but two of the tracks (casual affair and end of all things), and you can even find an early version of "far too young to die" that was originally penned for one of dallon's earlier projects, the brobecks. the controversial track "girls/girls/boys" (as well as “all the boys”) from too weird was written for dallon's wife, breezy, as a celebration for her pansexuality. the finished product would end up being about an alleged threesome brendon had.
in 2015 dallon stated that he would no longer be involved in panic’s writing process but would continue to serve as touring bassist before departing officially in 2017 and focusing all his efforts on the aforementioned idkhow along with former falling in reverse drummer (and former fellow brobecks bandmate) ryan seaman. while dallon has remained relatively cagey about his time with panic (as is entirely within his rights), he has on occasion commented that he often felt bullied and belittled in the workplace, and once referred to zack hall as "the actual worst person [he had] ever met."
breezy has been more frank about what dallon had to deal with during his time with the band and over time, dallon has been more up front about this as well. turns out dallon was underpaid to the point where he had to take up a second job cleaning carpets while touring with panic, and working side jobs and donating plasma for gas money between tours. this continued well into 2010 and possibly for longer. the ratio was reportedly something like $400 a night compared to brendon's $15k paycheck, so take that as you will.
that's most of what i can remember. i tried to sauce everything i could but please let me know if i missed anything. i also tried to embed the images but doing so kept breaking the damn post cause this is a webbed site so you only get links SORRY
tldr brendon urie is self-absorbed prick who hoards credit, mistreats his musicians, shelters predators, and may very well be a predator himself. fuck him.
also, while i definitely don't want to downplay the severity of just how horrendous a lot of this shit is, in the interests of not wrapping this on a totally down note i do want to mention that people were writing brendon and panic out of the "emo trinity" legacy as early as mid-2019 because everyone hated pray for the wicked that fucking much. after having to endure the musical travesty that is high hopes innumerable times during every single 20-minute grocery store run i was ready to chalk up my dislike of him to sheer annoyance so you can imagine my surprise when i learned that not only was this annoyance justified i wasn't actually hating him nearly enough.
3K notes
·
View notes
nico robin and her smile
hiiii ok has anyone else ever thought about the person robin was before joining the straw hats? like who she was when she was at her worst? because i do. a lot. so go along with me here
from her introduction, robin has this very small smile that feels cunning and is seemingly meant to taunt luffy and co. it creates a sense that there's a canyon's depth of difference in power between her and the others.
robin's is a subtle character in her expressions compared to most other major characters in the series. and i think it fits her background of having to work in subterfuge. (???)
she maintains this expression throughout multiple scenes. the same shape of her smile that is so exact that it has to be with intention. this is the face of ms. all sunday. this is the person robin had to be in order to survive.
and yet each one still has it's differences and that's robin being not so perfect at hiding her true feelings (which btw i love that robin will always be exactly who she is). she's stressed or even strained at times. while also feeling perfectly at ease, but still performing a role.
i think for the most part. robin didn't mind what she had to do or who she had to be. because she's pragmatic, but she was definitely bothered by vivi and the strawhats. they're the ones who cause robin to show anything other than that static smile. notably when she is faced with vivi and luffy's determination.
and i've rambled about it once before robin is a kind woman at heart and who has a soft spot for the crew + vivi. their earnestness breaks through her own desire/need to not care for the effect her actions have on the lives of others.
notably the only times robin does seem to genuinely smile is in small sudden outbursts around luffy when something he does makes her laugh.
and throughout the rest of the alabasta arc. robin's clearly uncomfortable with facing the real destruction of alabasta at crocodile and her hands. later revealing that she never planned on helping him obtain the poseidon weapon. she never once smiles, instead dropping everything to focus on getting to the poneglyph.
after that though? she does her miss all sunday smile one last time when she asks luffy to join his crew. it's a famous panel, we all know it, we all love it.
the longer robin was with the straw hats. the more she began to genuinely smile. it's well established that being on the crew brought back joy and laughter into robin's life, that being with them gave her a reason to live again. but it was a slow start until we got to see this robin more often and more freely who is cheered by everyone's bright youth and excitement in being alive in a ways that she never had been allowed.
132 notes
·
View notes
worldbuilding in 5 tag
tagged a bit back by @tabswrites, thank you!
Rules: post 3-5 images of a place in your world and tell us a bit about it!
for this one I’m going to do Voi’xindiiri, otherwise known as the Draconic Empire, from Valloroth!
Source 1 - [ID - A low angle photograph of a pagoda temple against a bright blue sky. The stone is grey, the roof gold with green supports.]
Source 2 - [ID - A path lined by short stone columns, wooden fencing, and tall, straight trees.]
Source 3 - [ID - The front of a large building with four pillars in front of a wooden door. Incomplete text is visible above the columns. The readable words are ‘I. ACAD. CONDITORE. POSUIT.’]
Source 4 - [ID - A Roman bath beneath an overcast sky. Statues line the encircling open roof.]
Source 5 - [ID - A stone monument of four carved figures sits in the foreground of a city vista.]
Voi’xindiiri is what remains of the dracari empire, created—and still ruled—by the Earthbound god, Sirsassa the black, who is the only living dragon left in the world. The Empire has forgotten more magic than the rest of Valloroth knows, and used to cover the entire eastern half of the continent before it fell to the destructive betrayal of the now-dead dragon, Ruvosha the Green.
Currently, Voi’xindiiri remains the most magically advanced nation, though it rarely shares its secrets. The most unique feature is the network of teleportation Waystations that criss-cross the country. Every major settlement possesses one, and the larger cities—especially the capital—have multiple. Travel across the Empire is fast and efficient for those with the coin to make use of it, and the most successful merchants always do. The secret of their creation has, unfortunately, been lost to time.
It covers a vast swathe of Valloroth, and a multitude of diverse environments. It’s divided into 15 provinces, the largest being Sahlizivara, where the capital of Kashoskalya holds the Imperial Palace of the God-Empress. Until recently, Mohaade and Fygek were also considered part of Voi’xindiiri, and many in the Empire still don’t recognise their independence, not least because the Zarahmin took control of the Mohaade Waystation and corrupted it to kill any dracari that uses it.
[ID - a green and black decorative banner]
Valloroth taglist: @cherrybombfangirlwrites @reininginthefirewriting @memento-morri-writes @foxboyclit @lawful-evil-novelist
@at-thezenith @morganwriteblr @fayeiswriting @serenanymph @sam-glade
@viscerawrites @thegreatobsesso (ask to be +/-)
8 notes
·
View notes
Yes 100%. My other pet peeve is when people claim expensive programs that would benefit society “pay for themselves” like no! On a dollar amount they won’t! But we should fund them anyway because making people happier+healthier? that’s worth spending money on
I mean, the research has been done, repeatedly, and it's my understanding that funding a lot of programs (like Universal Basic Income, or housing-first solutions, or preventative medicine) is actually less expensive in dollars, year over year, than paying for the social programs that prop up the current state of affairs...
...but that also doesn't mean that the current social programs shouldn't be funded, because they help people! Even if they don't solve the problem entirely!
If we can't make everything perfect in the future (we can't, because perfection doesn't exist), but we also can't make things less bad for people right now, then what are we even doing.
30 notes
·
View notes
I'm so glad that the tumblr side of the fandom seems to be catching up on the Randy-specific brainrot I seem to have slowly fallen into lol. I assume most people got here from That One Spiritworld Clip or from That One Halloween Costume 🤣 Here's what I've found so far in case others haven't:
Bandcamp has 2 songs, neither of which are on spotify. One is kind of a joke from spring 2020 telling motherfuckers to wash their hands (read the description and credits it's hilarious), the other is a cover of Cherry by Harry Styles (idk the original but I love his cover)
He doesn't seem to have any other solo music (unless you count covers on instagram) but he does have a public playlist of his discography. ...He used to have a lot more public playlists like his girlfriend's discography as well but I guess they aren't there anymore?? That's new
The other example i've found of his singing is when Dan Andriano and the Bygones does live shows, sometimes they cover Burnin For You by Blue Oyster Cult and he takes lead vocals on that (and seems to need the lyrics printed out in front of him lol)
The Moore Family Band's about section on spotify. Also their instagram is where at least one of those Marilyn Monroe costume photos came from. (I could've sworn I saw the color one somewhere before it started going around but I can't find it.) Also his little sister is bi and these photos are adorable :D They also have a little interview with some songs interspersed.
Get Married's song Jeezy Beach is hilarious because it calls out Randy specifically. He doesn't want to go to the beach he wants to watch tv (and honestly? Mood. Sand sucks- Anakin was right- and NorCal beaches are always cold.) (it's also funny for anyone who's done the drive down to Santa Cruz. it's a terrible drive fuck that lol.)
23 notes
·
View notes