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Snippets of Things That Were
Apr. 7th, 2012 01:15 pmTake 1: Plan For the Witch
There's something about the older ones. The dresses faded and worn from years of washing, outdated and shapeless. It's not the pull of the cougar, older but still vivid, everything still in the right place before gravity and age have taken their toll, with a knowing look that speaks of Experience, tricks not yet seen; it's more than that, beyond it. Some days it's the old witch with the gingerbread house, kindly grin to hide the sharpened teeth and bony claws, and on those days you stay away, find other streets to frequent because you don't want to wind up in a cage, poked and prodded and fattened up like a cow before slaughter, no matter how welcoming the outside. And no amount of pleading justification will pacify your brother for a broken granny, even if there was an evil witch lurking inside.
( But more often than not they're harmless... )
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Take 2: A Rabbit in a Dress at Least Has Principles
Richie wasn't picky when it came to cartoons. Not really; they were all kind of the same when you got down to it, just riffs on the same things with different talking critters to mix it up. Sure, some companies did it edgier than others, cut close to the things you weren't supposed to say on television while others steered clear and kept it to the kiddie stuff, but it was all the same when you rooted the rest out. Life lessons cut down to a few minutes with a candy coating of comedic violence where nobody ever died no matter how many times you blew up the duck or smacked the dog in the face with a hammer.
( Mickey used to be a rabbit, you know. )
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Take 3: Black and White and Red All Over
Richie dreams in black and white. In harsh edges and bottomless pits, in pretty faces with teeth lurking under the skin, in shapeless forms that linger at the edges of vision, just waiting. Watching. Sleep is as much a wild expanse of hostile uncertainty as being awake is, only the rules never apply, they're never written down and they're always changing. He can never keep up, no matter how hard he tries.
( Sometimes it's empty, blank. Pure nothing, whitewashed with the peace Seth promised but could never deliver on. )
There's something about the older ones. The dresses faded and worn from years of washing, outdated and shapeless. It's not the pull of the cougar, older but still vivid, everything still in the right place before gravity and age have taken their toll, with a knowing look that speaks of Experience, tricks not yet seen; it's more than that, beyond it. Some days it's the old witch with the gingerbread house, kindly grin to hide the sharpened teeth and bony claws, and on those days you stay away, find other streets to frequent because you don't want to wind up in a cage, poked and prodded and fattened up like a cow before slaughter, no matter how welcoming the outside. And no amount of pleading justification will pacify your brother for a broken granny, even if there was an evil witch lurking inside.
( But more often than not they're harmless... )
Take 2: A Rabbit in a Dress at Least Has Principles
Richie wasn't picky when it came to cartoons. Not really; they were all kind of the same when you got down to it, just riffs on the same things with different talking critters to mix it up. Sure, some companies did it edgier than others, cut close to the things you weren't supposed to say on television while others steered clear and kept it to the kiddie stuff, but it was all the same when you rooted the rest out. Life lessons cut down to a few minutes with a candy coating of comedic violence where nobody ever died no matter how many times you blew up the duck or smacked the dog in the face with a hammer.
( Mickey used to be a rabbit, you know. )
Take 3: Black and White and Red All Over
Richie dreams in black and white. In harsh edges and bottomless pits, in pretty faces with teeth lurking under the skin, in shapeless forms that linger at the edges of vision, just waiting. Watching. Sleep is as much a wild expanse of hostile uncertainty as being awake is, only the rules never apply, they're never written down and they're always changing. He can never keep up, no matter how hard he tries.
( Sometimes it's empty, blank. Pure nothing, whitewashed with the peace Seth promised but could never deliver on. )
