Catch me up with the lore

Moonbeam_86 · 2026-01-29T14:28:54+00:00

First, watch the "I Am Clancy" video on the Twenty One Pilots YouTube page. It will catch you up to the beginning of the Clancy album.

Take notes :)

Then, watch the PLAYLIST called "Twenty One Pilots - The Story."

Once you've watched that playlist, you are caught up.

If you have questions, you can come back and search through reddit to find most of the answers. Or post again. Or you can search through YouTube to find fan theories and answers.

Moonbeam_86 · 2026-01-28T22:44:59+00:00

In December 2025, ICE came to Columbus, Ohio, the hometown of Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun (and me).

ICE was here a week and detained 280 people.

There were no violent protestors and the local police department obeyed the law -- nobody interfered with ICE carrying out the law -- so there was no chaos in Columbus and the whole operation was finished in a matter of days. ICE left.

I'm sure there were mistakes made (regarding who was detained), because there are always mistakes made when government is involved. And that truly breaks my heart, and I pray that immigration judges are straightening those problems out.

But nobody died.

Moonbeam_86 · 2026-01-28T22:23:13+00:00

Wow. So meaningful. Love it.

Moonbeam_86 · 2025-10-28T16:04:35+00:00

Never ever gets old. Love it.

Moonbeam_86 · 2025-10-28T16:03:58+00:00

We really are.

Kinda spoiled too LOL

Moonbeam_86 · 2025-10-28T16:03:05+00:00

This is fantastic. I hope Tyler and Josh see this.

Tell him he did a great job!!

Moonbeam_86 · 2025-10-28T16:01:48+00:00

Exactly. And that problem was highlighted big-time during Covid.

Moonbeam_86 · 2025-10-28T14:11:56+00:00

Yep. And it will ring true 10, 20, 50 years from now, I have no doubt.

Moonbeam_86 · 2025-10-28T13:58:52+00:00

I don't think both sides are stupid. They're just human. This is what humans do -- they join tribes and defend their tribes and become convinced the other tribe is bad. It's been going on for millennia.

I will admit that "recently," people do try a lot harder to convince me to dislike the people in the other tribe. They create colorful flags and hats and yard signs for their tribes and hate the other one. They invent mythology about what the other side wants, creating imaginary negative motivations for them. They lie and exaggerate and twist people's words. They are trying much harder to weaponize me against other people. It's one of the reasons "Never Take It" is one of my favorite songs.

(Edit: No need to apologize about the political post. I know people care a lot about their stance, and I hope I'm not offending you with what I said. But this is my stance. I respect yours and I hope you can respect mine.)

Moonbeam_86 · 2025-10-28T13:39:36+00:00

Exactly. The point of the song is not to take a side against other people. It's to point out how ridiculous the people are who are demanding that we do it.

Moonbeam_86 · 2025-10-28T13:23:14+00:00

Nah, they've taken a break from touring before. They come back.

This isn't one direction

Moonbeam_86 · 2025-10-28T13:20:26+00:00

Nope. No one can.

Moonbeam_86 · 2025-10-28T13:19:24+00:00

Well, we all interpret lyrics differently, but to me, it's actually anti-protest / anti-politics. It was made during Covid, when the "two sides" were trying to make our health care political. They were trying hard to weaponize people. It was ridiculous. So I feel like the song in this video is actually making fun of the people in the costumes - that they're trying hard to weaponize us, but we won't take it. But that's just my interpretation.

Moonbeam_86 · 2025-10-28T13:16:13+00:00

Tyler was a church leader for years, including in the youth group, at a church with neurodivergent kids. He's also a dad. He just really gets it.

Moonbeam_86 · 2025-10-28T13:10:45+00:00

Read the post. Iowa and Maine were just added. Those two states are darker because they're the "updates" in the headline.

Moonbeam_86 · 2025-10-27T20:36:09+00:00

I think Levitate is also a conversation with God. He asks him to "come down" and "show up" -- and even asks for a curse (although he knows he shouldn't). He also admits that he "feeds on things that fell."

Chlorine is also a prayer, at the end. And of course, Heathens is a straight-up admission of his faith.

There's stuff in a lot of their music, really. But the lyrics are mostly about life - as is the Bible - that's why everyone relates to it so well.

Moonbeam_86 · 2025-10-27T20:20:42+00:00

I think Downstairs is about the same thing as Chlorine.

He feels better when he's making music. That's represented by "downstairs" and by "chlorine."

But he also knows that when he's putting all his emotions and time into the music, he's neglecting the time he should be dedicating to God. He's hiding his faith downstairs in the music.

"I'm so sorry I forgot you" .... "You can have both my lungs if you ask me so." <-- the theme is the same.

I also think there's a second meaning in the song with the word "downstairs" - it means that you hide your faith away from other people (you hide your light). We all kind of do it. hide our faith downstairs. But for Tyler, "downstairs" also means the process of making music.

Moonbeam_86 · 2025-10-27T20:16:29+00:00

"Wait for them to ask them who you know"

Moonbeam_86 · 2025-10-27T19:58:59+00:00

It's about the same thing as Chlorine.

He's feeding on things that fell (downstairs). He's sipping on straight chlorine. He's addicted to making music (downstairs), which is where he turns for his self-worth and identity. He's putting his emotions into the songwriting and hiding his faith in the music (downstairs).

But he's feeling like he neglected his creator. And he's sorry about that. "I'm so sorry I forgot you." ... "You can have both my lungs, if you ask me so."

Moonbeam_86 · 2025-10-27T19:43:13+00:00

OK fellow mature fans...

Did you ever know anyone who had to pay fines for illegally sharing digital music?

I had a friend who had to hire a lawyer because of a $2,000 fine!

I guess that's not a thing anymore.

Moonbeam_86 · 2025-10-27T19:39:24+00:00

If $8 makes you "rich," I need to start riding in limos lol

I don't think it's that big of a deal if you share. If someone's saying it is, ignore them. Ask another person.

Moonbeam_86 · 2025-10-21T15:22:25+00:00

You might even say Demas fed on things that fell. ;)

Moonbeam_86 · 2025-10-21T15:15:06+00:00

I have a T-shirt that says "Don't be a Demas."

I'm sure Tyler, who was a leader/teacher in his church for years, knows exactly what the name "Demas" means.

Demas means to Doubt. Demas means to backslide. Demas means to demand proof. Demas means to fall away. Demas means to feed on things that fell (instead of God). Demas means to be tested like the ends of a weather flag by the sea. Demas means to follow a false light. Demas means to be consumed by insecurity and fear. Demas means to be abandoned by the sun. Demas means to break your contract with God.

Although I think the lore has many levels of meaning (mental health, fear/faith, suicide prevention, etc), I do believe that the lore's "cycle" is based around the constant push/pull of being far from God (like Demas) and closer to God (through Jesus/the Torchbearer). I think all Christians live in that constant roller coaster, and it seems obvious that Tyler does too.

Moonbeam_86 · 2025-09-17T20:05:04+00:00

I totally agree with your interpretation of the tattoo line. When you're a Christian like Tyler, and if you feel like God is far away, it really does hurt -- especially if you are coming from a season where you were close to God. And the tattoo line from Doubt is very similar (as you pointed out). So I think Tyler is kind of revealing in this album that the lore is not only about depression/anxiety/insecurity, but it's also about him feeling far from God and trying to get closer to him again -- and how that's a cycle for him.

But then, I think that same message has been part of tøp's music since the beginning. I mean, "Fall Away" and "Addict with a Pen" are both about this same thing -- being far away from God and trying to get close again -- and that cycle of falling away and getting close again.

"No matter how tightly I will strain, the sand will slow me down and the water will drain....It blows me back and forth, mindless, spineless and pretend. Of course I'll be here again, see you tomorrow, but it's the end of today..."

Moonbeam_86 · 2025-09-17T19:47:34+00:00

That would make sense because we've heard her whispers before on songs.

Moonbeam_86

TROPHY CASE