A Guide to Keposhka: MCR’s Fictional Language for the Long Live The Black Parade Tour

Welcome to the second part of my series on My Chemical Romance’s Long Live The Black Parade tour. This time I am deep-diving into all things Keposhka. As someone who loves learning languages this is one of the parts of the tour that I have been eager to learn everything about.

If I had a nickel for every time I became fluent in another primarily written fictional language, “I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice”! (the other is Aurebesh)

What is Keposhka

Keposhka is a fictional language created by My Chemical Romance as part of the Long Live The Black Parade tour’s stage production. The language is mostly written, and has not been widely used as a spoken language (we’ll get into the one time it has been spoken). In the world created for the tour, Keposhka is the language spoken in Draag, a fictional country from which the band are citizens.

Keposhka was created by graphic designer and comics letterer, Nate Piekos. Having previously worked with Gerard Way on other projects like The Umbrella Academy, Gerard hired Nate to help create the fictional language and design its lettering.

The Keposhka alphabet is comprised of 26 non-English letters. Most of the uppercase / lowercase pairs are the same glyph just varied in size, though some do differ, as with Dd, Ff, Tt, Aa, Hh, and Bb. Additionally, Keposhka has single glyphs for the ch, gh, sh, and th characters. To learn more about how Nate Pieokos created Keposhka visit his website, Blambot.com.

Keposhka was created for the Long Live the Black Parade tour and was used on merch, items promotional material, on stage, on story-important items such as the yea/nay signs, and on tour material such as on the GA admission wristbands and crew clothing. The all-encompassing use of Keposhka throughout the tour was an immersive way to set the atmosphere for MCR’s world-building and story-heavy performance.

In an interview with Kerrang, Nate Piekos stated, “When Gerard first emailed me about this MCR tour, he said he wanted a language for it that felt oppressive, but brand new. He didn’t want to use an existing language that people could easily figure out: the universe should have its own language.”

While the band have not done any public interviews regarding the tour, Gerard did take a moment to talk about Keposhka on the Boston stop of the tour. In a moment between songs on the B-stage, he shared:

We got, we got something off the first record tonight, but we want this one to go out to Nate Piekos, who is, um—he’s the letterer on Umbrella Academy, the comic I do with Gabriel Bá. But, he—he helped, well, he created the alphabet for Keposhka, which is the language of Draag. Which I have not spoken yet once on stage. Maybe I’ll have to one night, maybe next one, who knows. But, uh, we had a lot of a fun doing that. I feel like we started doing that a long time ago. Like, a year and a half, I don’t know, yeah . . . But, he did an amazing job, he’s an incredibly talented letterer, and thank you Nate.

To fully understand how Keposhka works, I studied Keposhka in a few ways. I researched what inspired its creation, how it was formed, how the different font styles and case styles work, how MCR used the language on the tour, and how fans are interacting with it.

The part of my research that took the longest was studying Nate’s Keposhka article and analyzing the different fonts along with other enthusiast’s decoding efforts to create an alphabet translation guide. I ran into a big issue with one specific character, the ‘Sh’ glyph variations, that has been translated a few different ways by other fans, so I also dug deeper into that as well (see the section further down in this guide).

The result of my decoding research is this handy guide that includes the Keposhka Regular uppercase and lowercase translations as well as an ‘Sh’ comparison as well. Enjoy 🙂

What Inspired the Style of Keposhka

The style, design, and overall feel of the language are inspired by (as stated by Piekos) 1930s and 40s lettering on European and Russian posters, brutalist architecture, and period typefaces. Gerard had a very active hand in the creation process of the language and even chose the lettering for the ‘M,’ ‘C,’ and ‘R’ letters.

I went and found some original posters from 1940s England, Italy, and Russia as well as brutalist architecture to try and put myself in the same headspace as Gerard and Nate. And when looking at original ‘40s inspiration material, it is very clear how inspired they were by these styles. It’s extremely evident that the entire world of Draag and the stage production was inspired by those styles and themes, but even looking at just the Keposhka lettering it is impressive how they were able to create a new distinct style of lettering while also clearly paying homage to those 1940s real-world designs. 

The Mysterious Case of the Keposhka ‘Sh’

There has been a significant amount of discourse surrounding the translation for the ‘Sh’ digraph. As I was doing research while making the above translation guide, I found several different translations for ‘Sh’ being used and a general sense of confusion among fans regarding which is correct. And, after some extended research, the answer is simple yet so easily overlooked.

There are three main Keposhka font styles (not including Keposhka English or Keposhka Hybrid): Keposhka Regular, Keposhka Condensed, and Keposhka Extra Condensed. By comparing the three font styles, decoding the full letters given by Nate Piekos, and using process of elimination to assign ‘Sh’ glyphs for each font (image below) I then discovered that the Keposhka Regular uppercase ‘Sh’ is significantly different than the Condensed and Extra Condensed uppercase ‘Sh.’ Therefore, the ‘Sh’ digraph glyph CHANGES based on the style of Keposhka font being used. This is why some will claim one glyph or the other is correct, but they both are! This makes a difference when using the print font, but not so much when hand writing the letters, which I believe is where much of the confusion stems from.

This is purely speculation on my part, but in the interview with Kerrang, Nate noted that he spent a great deal of time with kerning (how glyphs are displayed side by side) when designing the Keposhka letters. He explained that “some need to get closer together and others further apart, based on the space around them. Like if you imagine a T next to an A, they have to scoot together because the T is wide at the top and the A is wide at the bottom – otherwise it looks like there’s a big space between them.” Based on that, I think it’s possible that the Keposhka Regular uppercase ‘Sh’ glyph is different than the Condensed and Extra Condensed uppercase versions for kerning reasons! And in the interview, Nate even said that he “spent a lot of time on the uppercase fonts.”

Note: In officially used Keposhka (such as on merch and stage images) ‘Sh’ is often written by using the two separate Keposhka letters for ‘s’ and then ‘h’ and not always an ‘Sh’ glyph. There seems to be no hard rule of when to use the individual letters or the digraph letters.

How Keposhka Was Used On The MCR Tour

TOUR TRAILER

MCR introduced Keposhka when the tour was first announced on November 12, 2024. As part of the announcement, they released a tour trailer that created a preface for the tour’s premise which included a short clip of the dictator walking to a balcony while a crowd is cheering followed by a list of the tour dates. In the first three seconds of that video, the first written and only spoken instance of Keposhka are introduced. The onscreen Keposhka text in this video translates to: MEN / AT ATTENTION. Also introduced in this tour trailer is ‘MCR’ written in the Keposhka letters. 

TOUR RULES

As fans piled into the T-Mobile Park arena in Seattle, WA on the first night of tour, the world was introduced to Keposhka in a new way. As the crowd waited for MCR to take the stage, a list of rules appeared on the large screens to the sides of the stage. A set of rules began transitioning on the screens and were written in English or Keposhka. These were in-world rules (which I will refer to as The Rules from here on out) that invited the attendees into the world of Draag and prepared to transport them into a reality where the real band MCR were the fictional band The Black Parade. The Rules would sometimes change at different tour stops, but there was always a set of rules on screen before every show of the tour.

For more on the MCR tour rules, check out my previous post that goes in-depth into The Rules and how they were shaped throughout the tour!

STAGE SCREENS

Throughout the show, MCR performed not just a concert but an entire production with a full storyline. As part of the world-building, the screen behind the band would occasionally contain story specific images, videos, and text in Keposhka.

Here are two different decoding efforts I’ve seen for this big Keposhka wall of text during “Sleep.” I am linking to these two sources instead of decoding them myself, but I do intend to do my own translation eventually.

• via twitter
• via reddit

YEA/NAY SIGNS

During the show there is an interactive moment where Gerard asks the crowd to vote on whether or not to execute four candidates on the B-stage. These signs all say YEA on one side and NAY on the other in both English and Keposhka. As these signs were handed out to everyone in the audience of each show (remember, these are giant baseball stadiums), they are probably the most prominent usage of Keposhka throughout the entire tour.

TOUR MERCH

Another way that Keposhka was prominently used on the LLTBP tour was on the merch. Several of the tour shirts included Keposhka, including the “Keposhka Dateback” shirt which is completely written in the language. The “Dictator Tour Tee” and the “Draag Dateback Tee” also include the Keposhka version of “MCR.” One other merch item that prominently features Keposhka is the “Draag Enamel Pin” which translates to the phrase “Long Live The Draag.”

Perhaps one of the more obscure yet prominent usage of Keposhka was on the inside “tags” of the tour shirts and hoodies. This is where, usually, the shirt material and washing instructions would be located. However, MCR took this opportunity to incorporate an extra treat for the Keposhka enthusiasts. The MCR tour merch inside tag translates to: “100% Wheat / Grown under gloom / Transported by livestock / Milled in Draag with broken fists / Machine wash cold, do not bleach / Long Live The Black Parade.”

Fan-led Keposhka Decoding Efforts

One of the most interesting aspects of the introduction of Keposhka to the tour was how the MCR fans interacted with it. Before the first night of tour, there had been no way to translate Keposhka to English (aside from the letters M, C, and R). Fans frantically began comparing The Rules side-by-side to decode the language. After the first few shows, the language had been completely translated. This then allowed people to interact with the language creatively for the rest of the tour.

There’s a lot that can be said about the immersive world-building of the Long Live the Black Parade tour (for a future deep-dive), but one of the quickest ways to build the world was through this new language.  Keposhka became a way for the concert attendees and fans to become involved in not just the show but in the entire world that MCR had created. 

Fans didn’t just decode The Rules, they learned the language. Some fans studied quickly so that they could sight read the language and lead in translation efforts to decode the abundant Keposhka usage during the shows. Others built translation guides and translators.

• Keposhka Translators: Keposhka-Translator / Keposhka.online 
• Learn the Language: Keposhka exercise book

Band Communication With Crowd via Keposhka

One of my favorite uses of Keposhka during the tour was how it was used to immerse the fans into the story. This is an effort that took place during the show, but bled into fan-led translation efforts after the show and online.

During the shows the band (or specifically, Gerard in these two examples) communicated with the crowd via Keposhka through the use of beaded friendship bracelets and paper notes.

These items were crafted before the show, used onstage as part of the story, and then thrown into the crowd, brining the audience into the story in a unique way. We weren’t jut watching a concert or a stage show, we were now part of it. By throwing these items into the audience, the fans were given a task: find the items, share the items (photos online), decode the messages (they were all written exclusively in Keposhka), interpret the meaning. Its such a brilliant way of keeping fans interested in not just one show, but every show for the whole tour, since the notes and messages changed each night.

Notes

At the first show of the tour, in Seattle, Gerard was handed a note before “The Sharpest Lives.”He read it (not out loud) while singing the beginning of the song, then crumpled it up and threw it out into the crowd. The note was later found in the crowd and discovered to be written in Keposhka . When decoded the note was revealed to say, “Mother doesn’t love you anymore.”

At the next show, in San Francisco, Gerard also threw another note off stage and into the crowd. The paper contained a note typed in Keposhka that translated to “Mother wants you disciplined.”

This scene went on to play out at every show from Seattle through the Atlanta show, all at the start of “The Sharpest Lives,” with each show’s note saying something different.

• Seattle: “Mother doesn’t love you anymore.” (x)
• San Francisco: “Mother wants you disciplined.” (x)
• Los Angeles 1: “Everything’s gonna be okay.” (x)*
• Los Angeles 2: “A horse with a silver tail neighs on a high hill.” (x)
• Arlington:
• East Rutherford: “To avoid further premature shift departures, a time-card system is being introduced to the MOAT work release program.” (x)
• Philly:
• Toronto: “Congratulations! You have completed your second operation of the MOAT MCR work release program time card system. If this feels familiar like you’ve done it before trust us you haven’t.” (x)
• Chicago:
• Boston: “Welcome to your first day at work! Here are some helpful tips to get you started. 1. Listen. 2. No popcorn.” (x)
• Tampa:
• Atlanta:

Gerard threw custom handmade Keposhka bracelets into the crowd a few times on tour: Chicago and Boston, to be specific. This was a fun gesture possibly inspired by the wide-spread bracelet trading trend among fans at the shows but also a cool way to progress the wider story arc going on throughout the tour (more on that in a different article to come). The Chicago bracelets translated to: “blood” and “please help” and “we are stuck.”The Boston bracelet also translated to “we are stuck.”

Fan Art

As the tour progressed past the first show, fans quickly took to decoding and creating translation guides. Many creative fans began crafting amazing My Chemical Romance art pieces that featured Keposhka. Those who had tickets to upcoming LLTBP shows quickly made custom shirts written in Keposhka and custom Keposhka beaded friendship bracelets (in the same style as the ones Gerard had had thrown into the crowd).

All these creative uses of the language in some way circled back to the tour through imagery, theme, and style. It allowed fans to interact with the distinct style of the world of Draag and feel immersed in this entire world built around the tour.  

Here are a few fan art pieces that feature Keposhka that have been shared with me:

Keposhka is, perhaps, the greatest thing to have been born from the Long Live the Black Parade tour. It is an unbelievably creative example of extensive world-building and also a genius way to invite the fans not just to show up for a concert, but to immerse themselves in an entire universe. I only went to four of the 11 shows, but I watched all of them online through social media posts and youtube videos and spent hours decoding and theorizing about the language along with other fans.

With the next part of the tour starting this week (today, as I am publishing this!!), I am sure there is so much more that will include the expansion of Keposhka. So, I will keep updating this page with any major additions.

Thanks for reading, and please follow me on any social media under the username @sammyliterally to follow along with my other adventures.

If you have any addition information regarding Keposhka and or would like to get into contact with me, feel free to dm me on instagram or send me a email.

All photos and graphics by me unless otherwise sourced.