there have been SO many posts going around the last few days about pumpkin anon (um, hello heist music video???!?!?!) but i haven’t seen anything about this particular overlap.
Castles Crumbling
this song SCREAMS pumpkin anon’s 8th message to me. being cornered by an “enemy” who has turned on you. the total acceptance that she must surrender everything she has worked for. the heartfelt self-deprecation.
🎃 Message #8:
“You’re a selfish asshole. So much of your fear is your own. You wince at your cowardice like it is a gaping wound. You so often find yourself unable to meet your own eyes. You scramble into shadows like a black cat. Scared, even, of being scared.”
💜 Castles Crumbling: “Power went to my head and I couldn’t stop. Ones I loved tried to help, so I ran them off. And here I sit alone, behind walls of regret. Falling down like promises that I never kept.”
Note: in this song, she writes about becoming perceived as “the villain.” she truly believes that she has done something horrible and monstrous to deserve the turn in public opinion against her. it is so completely self-critical, and we see that same raw critique in pumpkin’s messages.
more examples of lyrics from the song:
💜 Castles Crumbling: “Their faith was strong, but I pushed it too far. I held that grudge ‘til it tore me apart.”
💜
Castles Crumbling:
“Now they’re screaming at the palace front gates. Used to chant my name, now they’re screaming that they hate me. Never wanted you to hate…me.”
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🎃 Message #8: “Your team is cornered on the dock, surrounded by bad guys and bystanders.”
💜 Castles Crumbling: “My foes and friends watch my reign end. I don’t know how it could’ve ended this way.”
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🎃 Message #8: “Your ship is docked too far out to sea. You’d swim to it, but the waters are infested with sharks. Your life raft is long deflated.”
💜 Castles Crumbling: “Smoke billows from my ships in the harbor. People look at me like I’m a monster.”
🎃 Message #8:
“You have always craved destruction. Scrawled devil horns on photos of yourself.”
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🎃 Message #8:
“You are a coward, but you are not a fool. You make mistakes, but never the same one twice. You are not a hero. You never have been, and you never will be. You’re a selfish asshole.”
Note: interesting that pumpkin anon specifically says they are a coward, but not a fool. hello “foolish one”? it’s literally the next song from the vault.
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also, i’m literally not even going to MENTION that pumpkin anon sent an entire message about a melting ice castle that the protagonist had previously been stuck/imprisoned in….nope, not saying a THING. 🤭
OKAY. since she sang castles crumbling tonight i felt the need to reblog this.
also consider….last weekend at my show (seattle n2!!!) she sang message in a bottle and tied together with a smile aka “the water’s high, you’re jumping into it” and i made a whole post about THOSE connotations to the pumpkin anon messages…..but now at the VERY next show she plays another song reminiscent of THIS exact pumpkin anon message IN THE ORANGE OUTFIT??? i……..taylor i need a breather 😅
Can’t stop thinking about Isabela and Mirabel as reflections of who Alma is now and who she used to be before the tragedy. The way she clings to Isabela’s perfection is reminiscent of how she uses her own perfrct image to drive away the past that haunts her, and while her pushing Mirabel away is due to her own fears of the Miracle fading away, I wonder how much of her avoidance is because of Mirabel reminding her too much of who she used to be?
People often say that Mirabel mirrors Pedro, but I’d argue that she’s a perfect reflection of who Alma was supposed to be if only life hadn’t dealt her such a cruel hand. Does she look at her and think of simpler times? Does Alma look at Mirabel and remember how she used to have a girlhood that was taken away far too early in life?
It’s strange to think that despite Isabela having the life that Alma wanted to have for her and Pedro, Mirabel—the granddaughter that she has disconnected from—is the one that actually embodies her the most. And Mirabel herself doesn’t even realize that.
This is a touching anaylisis but it’s extremely racist as not only have you completely ignored the whole point of Maui’s character, but have managed to incriminate a man of color on a tumblr wide scale.
First of all, Maui’s character does not represent male violence—it represent human greed. Maui did not take the heart because he is a man, and Te-Fiti is a woman. He took it because the humans asked him to. The humans asked Maui to do everything for them, not caring how greedy or selfish their requests were and in the end it was Maui who suffered for it. Maui is supposed to show the flaw of humanity.
This has nothing to do with sexism, it has everything to do with the fact that Maui gave and gave to the humans who could never stop being greedy. Moana giving the heart back wasn’t supposed to be her “making up” for the male violence that Maui represents. It was her making up for the greed she and her people represent. It was touching however because yes it was an important moment between two women, but you missed the point and you’ve come off racist and very disrespectful to a culture at that.
Yes, Moana is an empowering movie for women, especially women of color. But the last thing this is about is Maui being an abuser/rapist or whatever. That is not the point of Maui’s character.
And to assume so is racist. You are a white woman completely dehumanizing a man of color and ruining his image because of how you see him. And other white girls here on tumblr have happily picked up that image and interpretation and rolled with it. Maui’s character is now seen as an abuser or as someone who is violently because of white girls here on tumblr—which it doesn’t surprise me. (an in a historical context this is even MORE racist because white women would always make Maui’s people out to be savages and abusers etc., simply because of the color of their skin and their culture so yea, this is bad).
You can see the morality of the movie however you want, but do not be disrespectful toward a character and in this case a culture.
@i-want-cheese Please don’t write this off as another “butthurt comment” or “male guilt”, because this is really messed up. I see how you’re brushing off some other people’s comments and I honestly hope that you don’t see mine the same way because this is an issue I think you need to face/realize. You are being racist and brushing it off isn’t going to change that. the
I read a post somewhere on this site about how Te Fiti’s situation (as Te Ka) can be interpreted as an abuse victim lashing out after being hurt.
(“They have stolen the heart from inside you,” anyone?)
And then the post went on about how the movie showed that Maui’s machismo and brute force had no redeeming effect on Te Ka, and instead it was Moana’s gentle understanding and acceptance of Te Ka’s pain that allowed Te Fiti’s heart to be restored.
Anyways, I can’t find that post, but it got me thinking about Maui and his portrayal.
See, the movie doesn’t depict him as the “bad guy”. In fact, he’s actually framed rather sympathetically? He was abandoned when he was born and he never found out why. He was raised by gods and goddesses and yet, because he was part-human, he probably didn’t feel like he fit in with them. And then when he went to hang out with humans, well…
(“Far from the ones who abandoned you, chasing the love of these humans who make you feel wanted.” - Tamatoa, Shiny)
Anyways, everything he did, he did because he wanted to feel accepted. He wanted a place to belong, if you will. And this makes us sympathize with him, yes, but!
The movie then goes on to show, through Moana, that even though the reasons behind your actions are understandable, they do not excuse you from the consequences.
Maui fucked up, and yeah we get why he did what he did, and he was probably ignorant of the effects of his actions, but that doesn’t mean he gets a free pass.
I just want to ramble about YAIL and Cornelia Street really quick
I’m sorry but this specific part of YAIL always makes me cry because of how I process it:
“And for once, you let go of your fears and your ghosts. One step, not much, but it said enough. You kiss on sidewalks.”
I hear it as kissing in public is a small step that she was afraid to do before.
I get emotional in the same way when I hear this specific part of Cornelia Street:
“You hold my hand on the street walk me back to that apartment. Years ago, we were just inside.”
Like I’m getting emotional just typing this out. Holding hands outside the place where they hid their love for so long is just something special. It is a step anyone who was in a closeted relationship recognizes so clearly. It’s just 😭it just leaves me in a puddle of tears every time.
I’m just gonna add that I think YAIL is one of the greatest love songs ever written. (I know this is a bold statement).
👀 Well, that’s one way to put more eyes on last night’s surprise songs. You know, the ones on August 3rd?
WELL THIS POST AGED LIKE FINE WINE 😅🍷
Fuck me, the way it was a massive hint for tonight’s show too. 🙈😂
Interesting how TN didn’t post anything like this before yesterday’s show, only the day after the very loud Karlie’s birthday show. They wanted us to focus on the Our Song is You Are In Love of it all. 🤭
