#Sleeping on the Blacktop verse

[colleenmurphy]

I may just do an offshoot verse for a new/old revamped pairing that popped up. I've not yet used Mr. Depp as an FC but I thought it was time. @aristobun I hope you don't mind! <3

I introduce to you Mr. & Mrs. Chanter of the Sleeping on the Blacktop verse.

Josiah Eaton Chanter

DOB: 7/22/4-

POB: Copperline County

Nickname(s): Joe, Big Brother, No Good Nickajack.

Occupation: Telephone lineman ( during the day it's amazing what you hear on that line when you're hooked in. ) / Law Abiding Sophisticate after dark.

Mary Colleen Grey-Chanter

DOB: 12/7/4-

POB: Copperline County, *throw a dart and there it is*

Nicknames: Mack, Col, and most notably The Witch to those that don't like her.

Occupation: School teacher ( formerly second grade at Copperline Community School ) now she spends her time tending the back acer of garden and feeding the chickens. When she's not driving the Black Beast that's parked under a tarp by the corn crib when aiding the Law Abiding Sophisticate after dark.

. In their off time the Chanter's have a very successful dairy and pumpkin farm.

. They don't have children of their own, they have a large immediate and extended family and their place is always the one hosting all holidays and gatherings of any kind.

. Joe and Mary have an agreement, he goes high meaning anything with heights is his and she goes low meaning if it's a small, tight or anything to do with water it's hers.

. Nobody in the town of Copperline is actually sure how long they've lived there. They never seem to age.

[academicgangster]

Hello ! Hope you’re having a nice day— but I have a question for you. I was listening to Colter Wall (Sleeping on the Blacktop, Devil Wears a Suit and Tie, and Johnny Boy’s Bones in specific) and had the random thought of “would resident u.s. marshall cowboy listen to this?” so I decided to consult the expert of said man; what say you sir ?

I say:

[soaringsearingphoenix]

7, 14, 16, 23! also ILY!

Hiiiiii alluy ily too!!!!!

7. A song that you love from a genre you don’t usually like

Gotta be Waltz about Whiskey by Mandolin Orange. It’s not exactly fair to say country is a genre i don’t like anymore; I didn’t listen to country because my parents didn’t, and I didn’t know any songs I liked, but now that I’ve made more of a point to listen it’s grown on me. Still, if you told me any component of this song it wouldn’t be the type i usually go for — if you said “it’s a slow country song about love and alcohol” i would be like wow the only part you got right for my usual tastes was “song”. But someone recommended this when i asked for melancholy songs and ive gone back and listened to it more than a few times. It’s just one of those sweet ones.

14.A song to sing to the sun

I have been thinking about this all day. It’s! It’s so specific. I love the sun. I’m trying to find a song with the right feeling. I might have to make a playlist. For now though, I mean, it has sun in the title, Golden Sun by Hotel Eden is one of those songs I feel so joyful listening to, and it’s close to the celebratory feeling I’m going for. To sing to the sun though?

In the dawn I think it is Beautiful by Christina Aguilera, and in the evening it is Warmth of the Sun by the Beach Boys.

In second grade we learned the song Bless Us All in music class (link to the Muppets Christmas Carol version) and I loved it a lot. I would sing it out on the playground, trying to catch the moments when the clouds parted with the line ‘the sun comes up’, and just watching the sky shift the way its light was cast across the field. So i guess that is a song I have sang to the sun.

Now that I’m thinking about it, I did a lot of singing on the playground. If my friends were playing a game i wasn’t interested in, or if they were home sick, I was happy to wander the blacktop on my own, weaving my way in circles around the puddles and singing little songs I made up to the rhythm of my footsteps. I hadn’t thought about it for a while, actually, but I still know the lyrics to my rainy day song. I mean, they’re pretty simple

Make the sun come out today, to play

Make the sun come out today, to play

If you don’t, it will be so gray

Make the sun come out today

I thought I might make uo more verses but I never really did. Sometimes I’d sing it back to back with other simple one-verse songs, but they were always just that, other separate songs in my mind.

I don’t think all sun songs have words, though. I think sometimes the songs you sing to the sun are the feeling that you get when you’re standing out facing it, eyes closed to its brilliance and perfectly content in the warmth. It’s when you just had an argument with your roommate the same week you’re going through a breakup, and your other roommate just went through a breakup too, and finals are next week, and your sleep schedule is a mess from pulling two all-nighters to get that 40-page research essay done, and you take a walk around the lake alone and buzzing with a frantic energy, and your song rises into the air with the first bars of color in the sky, the first sunrise you’ve seen in years. I think it’s when you’ve been in the house all day, working yourself into an overstimulated doldrum, and you set your phone down and step outside into the afternoon heat but even through the heavy press of summer, seeing the sunlight makes your head feel just a little bit clearer. It’s when little beams of light filter in through the kitchen window, catching on the glass jars you’ve washed and left to dry for some upcoming project, and as you walk by, your vision glitters with beads of refracted color.

When you sing to the sun then, you just take a deep breath and call out

Anyways, I also like Suddenly I See by K T Tunstall, I think that has a cheery loving vibe.

16.A song that you like that romanticises being a teenager

My first thought was Ocean Avenue by Yellowcard. It feels good to listen to. And i first heard it when I was 16 and it felt so right to be sleeping all day and staying up at night. Maybe it’s on my mind again because my sleep schedule is wild right now lmao

23.A song that when you listen to it you’re transported to a liminal space, time is pointless and you must sit and wallow in the void that remains

I have... a couple for this, for slightly different moods. A Self Called Nowhere by They Might Be Giants is a powerful one for me, i zone right out when it comes on. It’s one of those songs that I visualize the lyrics to more than most. Time Machine by Tally Hall came on once when i was driving home at 3am along a slightly-but-not-entirely unfamiliar route and I didn’t see anyone else on the road for almost the entire drive, and every light i hit was green, and I straight up felt like I’d made a wrong turn into another dimension and not realized it until two minutes away from my house i hit a red and a single other car passed in front of me at the very end of it. I’d known and liked the song before, but that cemented it in my mind as something I associate with the surreal. Then there’s Gopher Guts by Aesop Rock. I really like a lot of Aesop Rock songs, but while the other two songs I mentioned put me in liminal surroundings, this one in particular transports me to the liminal space I hold inside myself where the Self is something i observe as an outsider but can never escape. Plus it’s full of alliteration. It’s a good song.

[thegildedgun]

[34]Music Meme: Llewannth

[[Technically Myym tagged my sideblog: @mottledscales but...Llew has more music. So we’re compromising.]]

THE RULES:

You have to randomize, so no hand-picked theme songs! [Break the rule if you want though, because why leave this stuff to chance??]

Copy the text and post as your own! DON’T REBLOG! Give it some pizzaz! Grab a screenshot! Have fun with this~

Tag meeeee [@myymsaetayuun] [please?] so I can see the wonderful music that you all connect with your characters! I absolutely love seeing all the inspirations that everyone has out there. I also really love music!

It’s 34 prompts long. Why? I dunno, it seemed like a cool number to stop. Also, they have no rhyme or reason to the order to facilitate the shuffle effect! If you have more to add, ADD THEM! Go wild! Now then, let's get started:

[[Alright. But I’m not cheating. All music is how it showed up in my shuffle.]]

Llewannth Bonheur

1. How the world sees them

FIGHTING - Saints of Valory [Channelling the WoL/WoD ‘verse I see...]

2. A song to play on a good day

No Sugar In My Coffee - Caught a Ghost [That’s a Big Hmmm fam.]

3. What acquaintances and the random person thinks of them

Spirits of War - Thomas Vent 

4. A song for those who want them [sexually]

Take Me Back - Kongos [Also a Big Hmm]

5. When they make others happy

What Makes A Good Man - The Heavy

6. When they are happy

Sinister Kid - The Black Keys 

7. A theme for a life goal

River - Bishopp Briggs 

8. Giving bad advice

Whispering - Alex Clare

9. Giving good advice

Trouble - Ethel and the Chordtones, Ryan Levine

10. What they think their theme song is

The Garden - July Talk [Pffffthah. Alright. Sure.]

11. Their funeral song

That Old Song - Kassidy

12. What everyone else thinks is their theme song

Fire - Barns Courtney

13. When they see someone they love

Railroad Track - Willy Moon

14. When they are having a bad day

In The Cold, Cold Night - The White Stripes

15. A song about their life’s purpose

Horns - Bryce Fox [BIGGEST HMM]

16. When someone reminisces about them

Best Laid Plans - Art By Numbers

17. A song that might be constantly stuck in their head

Marked Man - Mieka Pauley

18. A song someone might serenade them with

Fly For Your Life - Gunship

19. A song they would serenade to someone else

Bad Things - Jace Everett [Hah.]

20. A song they might hum or sing along with

Vigilante - Josh Tarp and the Still

21. A song they would perform, or at least karaoke

Sniffing the Bushes - First Lady

22. A theme when they are in the general public

Consoler of the Lonely - The Raconteurs

23. A theme for them in private

Wicked Games - The Hot Damns

24. A theme for their deepest desires

Two Sisters - Fiction Plane

25. Thinking back on a traumatic, sad, or unpleasant memory

Sleeping On The Blacktop - Colter Wall

26. A song to their best friends

Bury Me Face Down - grandson

27. Waking up in the morning [Or night if they are nocturnal!]

Black Mud - The Black Keys 

28. Finally being able to fall asleep

Phoenix Rising - Calum Graham

29. When they fall in love/lust

Wicked Gonna Come - Blues Saraceno, Nine One One

30. Thinking back on a happy, serene, or pleasant memory

Give to Get - Stoplight Observations

31. A song to their family

Burning Piper’s Hut - Beltaine [...Huh. Well then.]

32.  Dissociation music

My Name Is Wind - Daniel Spaleniak

33. Manic music

Fury - Nico Vega

34. A final theme that means everything to the character [it’s especially okay if you cheat for this one]

It Will Come Back - Hozier [....]

                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thoughts: I admit to picking a lot of songs that tap into A. Llew’s cowboy loose cowboy/vagrant themes and B. His flirtatious/sexual nature and C. The lack of trust that goes both ways when interacting with him. Regardless, I wasn’t exactly expecting Shuffle to say “Yeah his entire existence is defined by being an unfaithful hoe that hurts people.”  It’s not accurate, but it was amusing.

Your turn!

Tagging: Let’s see. Who has been all over my activity feed lately. Since all the Sirens have been tagged already. Let’s go with... @trahja-tia, @trc-xiv, @shadowburgers, @silvertail-ffxiv, @keeper-of-the-lilacs, @cahli-tia, @ishgardianvices, @charm-in-spades, @illia-ast, and @teebster for good measure. But hey, if you don’t see your name tagged, feel free to snag this anyhow.

[primedspecimen]

NAME: Jamison Fawkes

NICKNAME: Junkrat, Primed, Shithead, Jamie, Rat, Idiot ♥ , Muppet

GENDER: Male

ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

PREFERRED PET NAMES:

Giving - Prime just gives names out like candy on Halloween. But for him, ‘Mako’ counts somewhat as a pet name, when he remembers it. He’s also fond of the traditional Aussie ‘possum’ or ‘poss’. It’s cute. Hoggy’s one, too. He refuses to call any other Roadhog ‘Hoggy’. Apparently, that’s reserved for Ochre.

Receiving - He’s still particularly fond to hear ‘poss/possum’ but he’s really not fussy with nicknames for himself. So long as they’re not like... putting you on a sort of... level above him? ‘Kid’ doesn’t sit well with him, even tho that’s not really something from a lover. But just as an example.

FAVORITE POSSIBLY CANON SHIPS: R........roadrat.........

FAVORITE NON-CANON SHIPS: Look. If you can get through to this idiot, you’re more than welcome to try. Just... be hella patient.

OPINION ON TRUE LOVE: It exists, but it can be super fucking rare and hard to find for some. For some people, with multiple people. True love can come and go, but the best ones are the ones that last. So long as the love is genuine, the love is true.

OPINION ON LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT: No love at first sight, though he may joke about it. Lust and infatuation at first sight, sure. But not love. Not true love, at any rate.

HOW ROMANTIC ARE THEY: Romance to Rat is not necessarily romance for the normal human populace. For one, just him sharing things on a regular basis is a good sign. Trying his damnedest to remember things you like, or things about you is another. A willingness to put your life before his if you’re genuinely in danger. You can touch him almost any time with no explicit permission. Allowing himself to be vulnerable around you, like not having his prosthetics on when it’s just you and him and not freaking the fuck out. Anything that involves you feeling safe to him. Sometimes he’ll ask for things instead of just yoinking them. He makes things he thinks you’ll like or find use for in your life. He’ll actively search you out when he feels like shit. He’ll die very softly inside when he makes you laugh. You’ll see less frantic, chaotic sides of him more often. Conversely, you’ll see him at his worst. He’ll look at you like this:

IDEAL PHYSICAL TRAITS: LORG. Raw physical power given physical form.

IDEAL PERSONALITY TRAITS: You 100% have to just... accept him. Put up with him at his best as well as his worst. Otherwise you’re not even worth his time. Willing to go with his stupid shit. Trying to understand how he feels and why he is the way he is. Willing to be “””owned””” while still being your own person, and being content to, at most, do the same. Don’t try to control him. Let him just... be. Let him live what little life he has left.

UNATTRACTIVE PHYSICAL TRAITS: I mean nothing’s really off limits.....

UNATTRACTIVE PERSONALITY TRAITS: Holier than thou types. Overly skittish types. Suits, authority... people who just refuse to accept who he is. Trying to make him a “””good””” person or “””heal””” him with love.

IDEAL DATE: Being gay, doing crime. Food is likely involved, maybe a touch of arson.

DO THEY HAVE A TYPE: Roadhog

AVERAGE RELATIONSHIP LENGTH: Ochre’s been his longest like... fully established “””relationship”””. Otherwise he’d only really ever had one other before that and it didn’t last overly long.

PREFERRED NON-SEXUAL INTIMACY: Kissing, love nips, cuddling, sleeping on the other, wrestling, head scritches, braiding long hair...

OPINION ON PUBLIC AFFECTION: MUST TOCH ALWAYS. BLS TOCH. B L S    H I M    B E G .

PAST RELATIONSHIPS: Jac in all ‘Junkrat’ verses. Otherwise, none.

Tagged by: another stolen from @no-lane-blacktop​

Tagging: U

[ubymyrose]

Get up for @presentham

[Verse 1: Daveed Diggs]

Game don't wait (heavy. wait.)

Eyes heavy but it's time to grind motherfucker

Can't be late (hold up. wait.)

Fuck a nine-to-five, push work state-to-state(shit)

No work, no food, still eatin' off paper plates

Banana clip is a paperweight, paper mate

Tell 'em how you're married to the game

She fuckin' everybody but you still put a ring on it, on it

Keep it one hunnit, homies, home is where the homies

Home is where the homies got your back

Get your backpack get

Back to the block, bring it back to the block, shit

Slangin' crack beats cracks into Sacroiliac

But the Glock cocked back, lay another body flat

[Hook: Mariel Jacoda]

Here when they turn on the street lights

Hustle 'til they cut 'em off, that's the street life

Got the chrome on my hip and a bird for sale

That's how I get mine, that's how I get it

[Verse 2: Daveed Diggs]

Hustlin' is a habit, so they say

This is for the G's who wasn't trippin' and never knew any other way

Other ways of gettin' money, not many do not require

A degree of separation from the streets you gettin' paid in

In which the degree of difficulty is extraordinarily high

And she high while doin' it so see why

Somebody who isn't from it might not understand

How you body a body in other words (how I could just kill a man)

And still a gram is a gram and nobody is Instagramin'

They killin' on Cypress Hill and they still is squeezin' the hammers

Police is beyond the scanners, these some obsequious bandits

And brandishin' flags of function

You fuck a figure, it's fashion then flash on a motherfucker

You fuckin' seeing the passion, forgetting the hunger

This the jungle, time to get active and crack it

So acrobatic, it'll flip in a sec, but set's up and no second guessing

Here in the street, people sweating for the money

[Hook: Mariel Jacoda]

Here when they turn on the street lights

Hustle 'til they cut 'em off, that's the street life

Got the chrome on my hip and a bird for sale

That's how I get mine, that's how I get it

[Verse 3: Daveed Diggs]

No time for wifey's babies or other collateral damage

Checking for snitches, they be the ones order tacos in Spanish

Always thinking that they blendin' in, but then sending them telegrams

To the rollers, they bitches, not meaning feminine

Meaning, fuck it, ain't no explaining, get the fuck up and push cocaine

All these fuckers gon' sleep all day

But if you suck up when one of you step up to these bucks

Knock if you lacing up them chucks, no Taylor Gangin'

This shit is grimy and dirty, clothes stankin' while you slangin'

Get up out to the blacktop, backpack for the crack rock

Take shot at the cops at a spot where they knock a neighborhood watch

Watch him, learn the code if them eyes are closed

That means he sleeping on his feet and been out in the cold

And if he flashin' the gold

He either new or want action and got back up on the toes

Study all of your fractions, get up on the honor roll

Roll the marijuana then flip the hoodie up and get ghost

[Hook: Mariel Jacoda]

Here when they turn on the street lights

Hustle 'til they cut 'em off, that's the street life

Got the chrome on my hip and a bud for sale, ayy

And if you trying to take this spot, better think twice

This ain't play time, you're fucking with my life

I'ma do what I gotta do to get my mil'

I gotta get mine, I gotta get it

[baskabrother]

remember how i mentioned brothers osborne sounded exactly like a country singer? this guy sounds so much like johnny cash it’s weird.

his acoustic guitar sounds very sombre and goddamn if i’m not a slut for a combination of clapping, drums, and a beautiful guitar. it hits me right where the child that was forced to grow up on country for ten years lives.

unfortunately, the lyrics make zero sense. i have some idea it’s about small town corruption (when isn’t southern gothic?) but only one of the verses alludes to it. even with lyrics that make little sense (fair to midland’s are just nonsense, this is nothing) his deep voice and beautiful guitar work more than make up for it.

[graffjamie]

Sweet Baby James cover James Taylor tribute James Graff Takamine 12 string  "Sweet Baby James" is a song written and recorded by James Taylor that serves as the opening and title track from his 1970 breakthrough album Sweet Baby James. Taylor considers it his best song. Now the First of December was covered with snow And so was the Turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston Lord, the Berkshires seemed dream-like on account of that frostin' With ten miles behind me and ten thousand more to go The song is composed as a waltz, in 3/4 time. The chorus echoes the lullaby sentiment, with a reference to "Rock-a-bye Baby". "Sweet Baby James" was included on Taylor's diamond-selling Greatest Hits 1976 compilation. Invariably, the second verse mentions of the Massachusetts Turnpike, Stockbridge, The Berkshires, and Boston bring cheers from people in the audience who had lived in Massachusetts...concert in Tanglewood or Great Woods... He performed the song as part of his set on the first episode of Saturday Night Live's second season, which aired 1976. 15 years later, Taylor performed the song again on the Christmas episode of Saturday Night Live 1991. In the "Four Together" benefit concert arranged by Harry Chapin in 1977, John Denver sang the harmony part of the chorus on this song. Jay Leno requested Taylor's live performance of the song on his final The Tonight Show... Taylor performed the song when campaigning for Deval Patrick's re-election... Tom Rush, who made a practice of recording material from the best new singer songwriters of the era, put it on his October 1970 album Wrong End of the Rainbow. The Seldom Scene added harmony on their bluegrass version, released on their debut album Act 1 in 1972. Highway 101 closed their 1989 album Paint the Town with it. Daniel Greaves of The Watchmen often performs it a cappella during concerts. The song is sung by Hank Heywood (Thomas F. Wilson) in the season four episode "Tender Is the Nate" of Legends of Tomorrow, to lull a minotaur to sleep. It is later reprised in the season finale "Hey, World!" as "Sweet Baby Nate" to inspire enough love to revive the deceased Nate Heywood. Browne, D. . Fire and Rain. Da Capo. White, T. Long Ago and Far Away. Omnibus Press Morse, Steve "Sweet savvy James After 20 years, Taylor is still a New England favorite". Boston Globe "James Taylor: My Life in 15 Songs". Rolling Stone. White, T. "James Taylor Looks Back on His Classics". Classic Oldies Wmid. Easy 93.1 FM. James Taylor talks about Sweet Baby James 2007. JamesTaylor.com. Edgers, Geoff  "Sweet benefactor James". Boston Globe. Berger, Joseph  "When the Face in the Crowd Is Grandmotherly". The New York Times. Janovitz, B. "Sweet Baby James". AllMusic. Perrone, J.E., eThe Album: A Guide to Pop Music's Most Provocative, Influential, and Important Creations. Smith, Andy  "Sweet Baby James finds constituency". The Providence Journal. White, Timothy Long Ago and Far Away: James Taylor, His Life and Music. London: Omnibus Press. Poniewozik, James"Leno to America: Goodbye! I'm Not Going Anywhere!". Time. Finucane, Martin . "Patrick finds he's got a friend in singer James Taylor". Boston Globe. "Under the 'Covers' With James Taylor". Good Morning America. ABC. Shoemaker, Allison . "The Heywoods meet Hemingway in a rambunctious, slightly scattered Legends Of Tomorrow". The A.V. Club. Mitovich, Matt Webb  "Legends of Tomorrow Boss Confirms [Spoiler]'s Exit, Breaks Down Crossover Tease and Season 5's Big Bad". TVLine James Taylor Studio albums James TaylorSweet Baby JamesMud Slide Slim and the Blue HorizonOne Man DogWalking ManGorillaIn the PocketJTFlagDad Loves His WorkThat's Why I'm HereNever Die YoungNew Moon ShineHourglassOctober RoadCoversBefore This WorldAmerican Standard Live albums Live/Best LiveOne Man BandAmchitkaLive at the Troubadour Holiday albums A Christmas AlbumJames Taylor at Christmas Compilation albums Greatest HitsClassic SongsGreatest Hits Volume 2The Best of James Taylor Extended plays Other Covers Singles "Carolina in My Mind""Knocking 'Round the Zoo""Sweet Baby James""Fire and Rain""Country Road""You've Got a Friend""Long Ago and Far Away""Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight""One Man Parade""Hymn""Mockingbird" (with Carly Simon)"How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)""Mexico""Shower the People""Woman's Gotta Have It""Handy Man""Your Smiling Face""Honey Don't Leave L.A.""Devoted to You" (with Carly Simon)"Up on the Roof""Her Town Too""Hard Times""Everyday""It's Growing""Change" Other songs "Night Owl""Something in the Way She Moves""Sunny Skies""Steamroller Blues""You Can Close Your Eyes""Highway Song""I Was a Fool to Care""Bartender's Blues""Secret O' Life""Millworker""Summer's Here" Related articles DiscographyJames Taylor and the Original Flying MachineWorkingVote for Change TourTroubadour Reunion TourCarly SimonSally TaylorKate TaylorLivingston TaylorAlex TaylorIsaac M. TaylorTwo-Lane Blacktop Categories: Songs about Boston1970 songsSongs written by James TaylorJames Taylor songsSong recordings produced by Ashwar

[scriptmedic]

Injury Plots: The Inciting Injury

(This post is an excerpt from Maim Your Characters, which is out today!) 

At its core, the Inciting Injury is the catalyst of the injury plot. It’s the moment when the leg snaps, the hammer comes down, or the bullet strikes. It’s the blossom of pain, the initial moment of agony.

There are two significant portions of the Inciting Injury: what happens, and why it happens.

The what is going to determine the way the arc works. Is your character shot in the chest? Did they twist their ankle? Maybe they have a concussion, or a broken arm. You get the idea.

Of course, there’s also the why. The injury might be the effect of some other plot element that is causing your character harm. Did they poke their nose in the wrong badger hole? Are they simply a klutz, or is their injury a consequence of some choice they made earlier on, like going up against a mob boss or invading a foreign nation?

You don’t need to have a great why for a phenomenal injury story to work, as you’ll see in the form of an example: Steven King’s Misery, below.

 Injuries tend to happen for one of two reasons. Either they’re completely random (you slip in the tub), or they’re a consequence of some other cause (you ventured into enemy territory and got shot). Which one you use is completely up to you, of course, but I would argue that the best Inciting Injuries are the byproduct of other elements in the plot.

We’re going to go over the exact process of building your own injury plot later on in the book (with an example and the choices we might face along the way), but as we go forward I’m going to give a few examples of the way famous writers have approached each of the elements we need to look at.

We’re also going to take a look at the arc of a fictional character I’ve made up: Billy Badbones, Demon Hunter. Where the other examples are going to get summaries, Billy’s story will be told in shortened versions of the actual scenes.

 So let’s look at some examples of Inciting Injuries in fiction.

 Example: Misery

Misery is a phenomenal piece of writing from Stephen King. (It was later adapted into a film, starring James Caan and Kathy Bates.) It’s a horror tale: a writer, Paul Sheldon, suffers a terrible car accident and is trapped in the house of his Number One Fan, the disturbed and disturbing Annie Wilkes. Wilkes is a nurse by trade – but an Angel of Death, a nurse who kills her patients. To survive, Paul must write Annie a novel all her own, resurrecting her favorite Sheldon character, Misery.

For Paul Sheldon, the what of his Inciting Injury is a car crash, which gives him a head injury, two broken legs, and a broken pelvis.

The why is a simple accident: Sheldon, who has just finished his latest and greatest novel, goes driving in the snow. The storm picks up, and he crashes his car into a ditch. (Sheldon has just finished his latest and greatest novel). There’s a point to be made about hubris here, but King makes it subtly: it is Paul’s pride in his work that causes him to start driving in a Colorado snowstorm.

One thing that’s unique about Sheldon’s plot is the way in which it’s told. When we first see Sheldon, he’s waking up in a haze of pain and painkillers, at the beginning of his Rocky Road to Recovery. King chose to begin the tale in media res, in the middle of things – which meant starting at the heart of the story: the beginning of Sheldon’s relationship with Wilkes. We get the earlier phases as glimpses later on.

 Example: Men of Honor

Men of Honor is a 2000 film that follows the career of real-life Navy diver Carl Brashear. Brashear, the first black diver in the Navy, faces struggle after struggle because of his race. He suffers unending injustices at the hands of the racist institution.

Nearly two-thirds of the way through the film, Brashear is on the deck of a ship when he sees significant tension being put on a line. Two other sailors are standing over it, and Brashear shoves them out of the way just as the line snaps – and brings a hunk of metal hurtling toward him at high speed.

The what of his Inciting Injury is that the piece of metal breaks his leg, causing Brashear to immediately fall to the deck screaming in agony.

The why is that Brashear is, in this portrayal of him, a hero. He saves two other men from a fate that could have been similar, or could have been worse. The why of his injury shows us who Brashear is: he throws himself into danger. (This scene immediately follows one in which he is on a dive and almost gets run over by a Russian nuclear submarine.)

 Example: The Empire Strikes Back

The story of Luke Skywalker’s hand amputation is an interesting one. It’s not going to be presented here as a positive example. If anything, it’s closer to what not to do. We’ll see why that is later on, especially when we talk about magical healing, but for now, let’s just tell the story.

Luke Skywalker is a Jedi Knight taking on the evil Empire. He’s having a lightsaber showdown with one of the biggest bads in the ‘verse: Darth Vader himself, the Emperor’s right-hand man.

They’re dueling, fighting. It looks like Luke is going to have the upper hand… and then Vader gives Luke his Inciting Injury. He cuts off Luke’s hand with a lightsaber. Luke’s hand – and his own lightsaber – go sailing over the railing of the catwalk where they’re dueling.

The what is an amputation of the right hand, conveniently cauterized by the blade.

(Isn’t sci-fi neat?)

The why is that Luke is fighting for the freedom of all mankind – and facing an enemy far more powerful than he is.

 Now what about our own example, Billy Badbones?

 Homebrew Example: Billy Badbones

Billy Badbones is, well, a badass. He digs motorcycles, especially his late father’s Indian, and he guns down demonic drug lords. He rides across the nation, delivering grievous bodily harm and destroying heroin reserves everywhere he goes. He’s the Jack Reacher of demon drug busts.

He’s chasing the Demon Lord Shigure all along I-40, from Arizona to the East Coast. It’s been four days of hard rides and little sleep, and Billy’s exhausted. But he’s close on the demon’s heels, so he keeps going.

And, doing 60 down I-95, Billy Badbones falls asleep on the bike.

He does his best to keep his face off the pavement, but the fall lands his body weight on his arm. He can feel the bone crunch, feel the white-hot searing pain as his arm snaps under the weight.

He scrapes across the blacktop, ripping through his leather jacket. His favorite demon-killing gun goes skittering away, off the side of the road and into the underbrush. He and his bike go rocketing down the road, the metal sparking, his arm and leg screaming in agony.

He tries to slide, to take it on his back, but the bike has trapped his leg, and he’s getting crushed by the weight of it.

When he finally comes to a stop, the bike is mangled and so is he. He can only thank the gods that his bike isn’t on fire, that the driver behind him slammed on his brakes. The car stops ten feet shy of him.

Billy lays back on the pavement panting. He’s breathing heavily, but he’s alive. It could have been worse, he thinks.

It’s going to get worse.

In The Hero’s Journey, Joseph Campbell writes about establishing the regular world before transitioning into the New World. Here we’ve talked about Billy’s regular world (health), and we see him come crashing into the New World (his upcoming disability). He’s begun his journey, even if it wasn’t his idea.

So the what of Billy’s Inciting Injury is that his arm and leg have been crushed, burned, and ripped up by road rash, and he’s been dragged by his motorcycle — he’s gonna be in some hurt!

The why of his injury is his own exhaustion. Billy’s so driven to accomplish his goal – killing the Demon Lord Shigure – that he takes a spill off his bike on the highway at speed. It’s up to the reader to determine if that’s madness (working way too hard), or a marker of dedication (he must chase the demons!), or both.

Next up, we’re going to talk about the second half of the Beginning: the Immediate Treatment!

This post is an excerpt from Maim Your Characters, out TODAY from Even Keel Press. If you'd like to read a 100-page sample of the book, [click here]. If you’d like to order a print copy, it’s available [via Amazon.com], and digital copies are available from [a slew of retailers]. 

xoxo, Aunt Scripty

[nyxkaikaos]

American Gothic, I think it's called. I cannot recommend enough to listen to Colter Wall's joint album "Imaginary Appalachia," or artists like Brown Bird or The Devil Makes Three. Even the non-supernatural songs have a very John Jenry vibe to them of American Demigods.

For instance, one of Colter's songs is called "Sleeping on the Blacktop," and it's about a man singing to some wildflower of a woman he met in a town he's about to leave. And while most of the song sounds like cowboy blues fare with the best fucking beat I've heard in country outside of Johnny Cash songs, I'll post the very first verse:

"High-heeled lady spittin' at a nickajack,

Bidness man with a needle an' a spoon,

Coyote chewin' on a cigarette,

Pack o' young boys goin' howlin' at the moon"

And another of Colter's songs in the same album:

"The Devil- wears- a suit an' tie!

I saw 'im drivin' down the sixty-one in early July

Whiiite as a cottonfield an' sharp as a knife-

I heard him howlin' as he passed me by!"

And that's just some of the country music that fits the theme, completely ignoring the artist who was hired specifically for the soundtrack of American Gods. (Blues Saraceno is a gift)

Fun fact, WORLD'S BEST SHOW Gravity Falls is a lighter version of this same trope, and IT GETS BETTER. GF itself was based on and has multiple references to Twin Peaks, which was built ENTIRELY around this trope. Townsfolk acting wierd for no reason out-of-towners can find? Pseudo-fey who resent humanity, especially after what we did to the land and the First Nations who were here first? Check. Out-of-towner trying to get to the bottom of the mess and nearly getting everyone's soul eaten for his troubles? Check. Weird location at either the physical or spiritual heart of the Town that has internal rules stranger than those in Warhammer 40k's Warpspace? Fucking check.

And that's completely ignoring the fact that us country folk see ourselves as the normal, rational, decent people, and see bigger cities or even college towns as the REAL eldritch abominations with a mayor.

AND DID I FORGET TO MENTION LITERALLY ANYTHING BY STEPHEN KING? WELP. JUST PICK A BOOK AT RANDOM. IT'S THERE, I PROMISE

Thank you to whoever put this on my dash, because this is one topic I will stan for even more than 40k, Gravity Falls, or Brandon Sanderson. Like, I'm seriously considering makong this my personal sideblog and focusing my main entirely around discussing/writing stuff based on this.

america sucks and is a hellhole but i do appreciate … the loose mythology that has formed around how artificially weird everything outside of big cities is. where i think it’s safe to say most folktales worldwide tend to form around nature or at the very least older towns, in america the modern folktale is, from my very Californian observation, generally formed around things like 24 hour diners… beach boardwalks… giant metal sculptures of dinosaurs… static-y radio stations… government bases out in the desert. 

am i saying other, more nature-centric folklore doesn’t exist or that this never happens in other places? of course not. am i saying that Welcome to Night Vale and Jordan Peele’s Us are the modern american fairy tales? that the setting of Hotel California, taken literally, is the Americana equivalent to the forests of medieval fairy tales? that claims of alien abduction is simply the modern, technologically reasoned form of being taken by the faeries ? fuck yeah my dudes and dudettes 

[colleenmurphy]

I may just do an offshoot verse for a new/old revamped pairing that popped up. I've not yet used Mr. Depp as an FC but I thought it was time. @aristobun I hope you don't mind! <3

I introduce to you Mr. & Mrs. Chanter of the Sleeping on the Blacktop verse.

Josiah Eaton Chanter

DOB: 7/22/4-

POB: Copperline County

Nickname(s): Joe, Big Brother, No Good Nickajack.

Occupation: Telephone lineman ( during the day it's amazing what you hear on that line when you're hooked in. ) / Law Abiding Sophisticate after dark.

Mary Colleen Grey-Chanter

DOB: 12/7/4-

POB: Copperline County, *throw a dart and there it is*

Nicknames: Mack, Col, and most notably The Witch to those that don't like her.

Occupation: School teacher ( formerly second grade at Copperline Community School ) now she spends her time tending the back acer of garden and feeding the chickens. When she's not driving the Black Beast that's parked under a tarp by the corn crib when aiding the Law Abiding Sophisticate after dark.

. In their off time the Chanter's have a very successful dairy and pumpkin farm.

. They don't have children of their own, they have a large immediate and extended family and their place is always the one hosting all holidays and gatherings of any kind.

. Joe and Mary have an agreement, he goes high meaning anything with heights is his and she goes low meaning if it's a small, tight or anything to do with water it's hers.

. Nobody in the town of Copperline is actually sure how long they've lived there. They never seem to age.

[ecotone99]

[RF] How about a tour?

First, you walk down that black asphalt path, with short-trimmed grass on either side. The HOA makes everyone keep it like that, no matter how sickly it makes it look. A strict line of long-stemmed yellow flowers hugs the perimeter of the house, contrasting nicely with the freshly power washed brick exterior. Not as elaborate as some of the other house’s gardens, but I think it goes really well with the vibe of the lot.

You probably noticed this is one of the smaller houses on the street, but it’s by far the best maintained. We rent it from this Puerto Rican couple who take the curb appeal so seriously that when my roommate tried to start a vegetable garden, they made her cover it up because the patch of dirt threw off the symmetry of the front entrance.

It’s a strange little house, but the layout works for us.

Once you come all the way up the blacktop walkway and get to the concrete steps, you can just start to make out our stove through the semicircle window on the front door.

Thanks to the placement of the stove in relation to the window, I can always see if my roommate is cooking something. If she’s cooking in a frying pan, I know she’s not expecting anyone. If she’s cooking in a sauce pot, I know she’s either expecting a man, or her sisters. Either way I know I’ll be hiding out in my room all night trying to air out the smell of Indonesian food.

Once you push open the door (don’t worry, it’s normal for it to take a couple tries, use your shoulder) you’ll be in a narrow corridor that opens into our semi-spacious living/dining room.

You can’t miss the artisan shoe rack my roommate bought before she even had money to buy a mattress that didn’t have to be inflated. Please use it, or she will throw you out. No, I’m not kidding. And then we’ll have to vacuum every room, even the rooms you weren’t in. So just put your shoes on the rack.

Perfect, so that clears up pretty much the only house rule (for guess at least.)

Step over the faux-Persian rug at the end of this hall and you’re in our living/dining room. The kitchen is kind of depressing to look at, but my roommate makes magic in that sad little rectangle. Sometimes I wish there was a door, but if the door were ever shut, there wouldn’t be enough space to move around.

You know what, let’s just get the kitchen out of the way since it’s the lowest point of the tour. Right this way, just keep going straight, perfect. So here we are. The solid white tiles with the little grey flecks remind me a lot of my school cafeteria’s floor which might contribute to my distaste for this room. You can go in front of me, we won’t both fit in here.

Fun fact, when we moved in, the two countertops facing out towards the living room weren’t here. This was all shelf space. But then there was only the one counter next to the stove and we kept having near misses with pot handles. We had to fight tooth and nail to get permission to install these, I don’t think the landlady appreciated our challenging her interior decorating sense. She finally agreed to let us take the shelving out if we paid her husband to install the counters. A little sketchy, I know, but he was actually cheaper than anyone else we looked at, and the counters work fine.

I’m not thrilled with this beige on brown look, but hey, they have a lot of drawers, so I just like to think functionality won out.

Watch your head on those hanging baskets. They’re actually just strips of mesh we bought from a fabric store and stapled to the ceiling. I can’t believe they’ve held up so long. You can probably tell the one with the apples and bananas is mine. The ones with unidentified root vegetables and stuff are my roommate’s. This first one is cassava. Underneath that scratchy brown stuff there’s this starchy white flesh. My roommate eats the entire hanging bag’s worth every month. Cassava would definitely be her desert island pick.

This middle one is just different kinds of rice, which she swears are all unique and serve different purposes that are not interchangeable, but between you and me I think they all taste the same.

Oh! Ok, this is the fun one. So these three vegetables find their way into just about everything she makes. The long prickly squash is called oyong, she doesn’t know an English term for it. It tastes like an okra and zucchini hybrid. These football shaped pale green buddies are called calabash. It’s pretty mellow. The feather lettuce is actually called dragon bean. She says if you eat it raw it’ll kill you, so, watch out for that one. I’m too scared to eat it cooked even. And the garlic is just garlic.

Stacking the toaster on top of the microwave was her idea. We definitely wouldn’t have had space for both, she eats toast every day, and I need a microwave for survival, so this was a good compromise.

There isn’t really a story to the fridge magnets. One is the Indonesian flag and the other is a running grocery list. Nothing exciting.

Alright, so the living/dining room is potentially our landlady’s greatest achievement.

This space is actually smaller than our entire bedroom yet there’s this nice blue couch we bought at an estate sale. It fits both of us and the dog. There’s the TV which , while small, can get really loud. And before you even say it, yes, it was my roommate’s idea to stack the tv on a shelf so we could keep books.

The dining room table and chairs were already here and when we moved in — the landlords basically said “we own this table and have nowhere to store it, so it’s staying here.” But that was fine with us. It’s nice to have a separate space to eat and study than right in the living room.

Plus, I can’t count the heavy objects I’ve dropped on this table, and still no dents. Whatever it’s made out of is solid stuff.

All those paintings of flowers are my roommate’s. She’s a great embroiderer too, but she refuses to hang any finished pieces because she thinks they look tacky. You can tell my family photos from hers because, well, they’re the ones without Indonesian people in them. And, yes, the framed Bible verses are mine, don’t judge. It’s mostly to keep my mom happy. She has a key and I never know when she’s going to decide to drop by.

We should really throw these flowers out, they’re starting to smell. They don’t look dead, but they smell dead. These side windows don’t open all the way, so if we get dead flower smell in here, we’re stuck with it for at least a week.

Oh, sorry I should’ve mentioned, that little door across the hall is the bathroom if you need one. Just, knock first, because it’s the only bathroom so it has the shower and everything. We have more magazines in there than underneath the tv. That other door, the one that looks too thin to walk through, is kind of an illusion. It’s not really a room, it’s a pantry.

So once we head up the stairs, you see the clever dividing plan my roommate dreamed up. It’s basically just a series of freestanding shower bars, but these curtains really do function like a wall. They don’t block sound, but they block light.

I don’t know who designed this house to have everything on the first floor then a weird little bedroom shoved into a second floor like an afterthought. It’s too separate to be a loft but doesn’t have enough to really call the second floor.

Right hand side is me, lefthand is her. I know this treadmill is kind of the elephant in the room, especially wedged between these two curtains, but I’m a personal trainer and I just had to have some equipment in the house. It can get logistically complicated. Like, if I’m running and she wants to come out of her room, I’ve got to stop the machine so she can step on it to get downstairs.

Ok. Let me just pull back both curtains so you can see everything.

Our bedspreads say a lot about our personality. Her sensible, temperature controlled beige plaid blanket made total sense for her. She likes things organized and practical. I picked this frilly leafy green one, and while I have to wear a sweatshirt to sleep in the winter, I love looking at this thing. I think this year I’m just going to suck it up and get a heavier blanket to use over it. Oh, feel the rug right by the bed, it’s so soft.

It was originally a bathmat, but I liked the texture so much I use it as a bed carpet.

I’ve had that blue bunny since I was 6, but the teddy bear I didn’t get until high school. That one’s a long story for another day.

I’ve got a rack of weights pushed up at the end of the room, and they’re worth every inch of space they take up. I’ve been using these suitcases as a modular dresser, but as you can see, my roommate has plenty of space for a dresser. Not that she cares.

This aisle between the bed and the weights is where I put my yoga mat when I make my YouTube videos, recognize the poster that’s always in the background? I don’t even really like that band, I just loved the album cover art.

My side is usually the emptier one. I feel like the less stuff I have out, the cleaner it is, the bigger it feels. She’s the opposite, she feels like the more stuff she’s got spread around the more she’s taking advantage of the space.

She’s a freelance programmer, and that computer is the most expensive thing in this house by far. More than the car out front.

Her art supplies double as her decor. She can’t stand trinkets or desk toys because she thinks they don’t serve a purpose. Ten mason jars of perfectly sharpened colored pencils, one for each color of the rainbow plus one for black, one for white, grey, and silver, and one for brown. Every time she uses a pencil, she immediately sharpens it into a perfect point again before returning it to the mason jar.

She’s got paint pens stashed behind the jars, her last roommate always used them up so she got into the habit of keeping them back there. That way if her jars are disturbed she knows someone’s been messing with them. I can’t draw to save my life, so she’s really wasting her breath hiding art supplies from me.

She keeps her clothes in these clear plastic drawers stashed underneath her bed. I’d show you but I don’t want to mess up her covers, she’s sensitive about that. They’re basically like the kind of drawers you’d find in a school supply closet.

That speaker may look small but damn it gets loud. Especially when she gets in her feelings and starts playing gamelan. I can’t even tune that stuff out with headphones on.

The dog likes it though, and it never likes any of my music. Why did we get a dog when the place was already so... cozy? We didn’t really have a choice.

We were at the park one day passing by this adoptathon for pets and it was just finishing up and this one sad dog was the only one who wasn’t adopted. We didn’t even ask any questions about her, we just adopted her there and then. Thankfully she was housetrained.

We’re pretty sure it’s because she didn’t go up to potential adopters so people thought she was standoffish, but really she’s just arthritic. We’ve got her on supplements now and she’s doing so much better. But we still keep her bed downstairs, because you never know what kind of day she’ll be having. She usually only ventures up here if she thinks we’re eating food.

I think her name had something to do with it too. Octavia is a weird name for a dog. It’s not comforting. The first thing we did when we brought her home was change it.

Oh, it’s funny you ask, we thought she was a mutt at first but we just found out she’s a Brittany. They’re usually medium sized but of course we get, like, the biggest Brittany ever created.

So, where I have weights and where a normal person would have a dresser, my roommate’s got this collapsible easel she paints her flowers on. Sometimes she takes it to the park but things have been so busy this summer. And then yah, that’s all computer stuff, it’s really sci-fi to look at but I can’t open it. She keeps it all locked in this titanium locker thing so if we’re robbed they won’t get taken. That stuff is her livelihood. If we’re gone for more than a day somewhere she even locks her desktop in there as well.

So, yah, that’s pretty much it. I’m so glad I got to show you. Thanks for sticking with me through the whole house. It’s small but it’s got a lot going on! And you should see it on Nyepi, that’s this Indonesian holiday, to this day I’m still not sure exactly what it’s for. But she takes it really seriously, decorating and cleaning and stuff.

Anyways, let’s head downstairs and I’ll take you around the rest of the neighborhood. There’s a cute little park, there’s a cool coffee shop if you want something to drink, there’s a hair salon that also sells flautas that are great. But the guy who sells them doesn’t keep regular hours so we’ll just have to try our luck. You can’t really walk anywhere else interesting from here but the bus stop right at the end of the street where you turned to get that spot goes to pretty much anywhere in the suburbs and right into the middle of the city.

Let’s head down, we’ll figure it out as we go.

Man, I really wish I could’ve shown you her computers. There’s a spare key behind one of these paintings, but, eh, you can imagine what it looks like, right?

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[americanahighways]

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photos by Lisa Davidson

I walked out of the cold, rainy Nashville night into The Basement East just as Colter Wall started to sing. He stood there on stage, alone, with only a guitar between him and the audience. You could have heard a pin drop between notes and verses as he instantly held the crowd in the palm of his hand. I kept looking at him and thinking to myself, “there is no way that voice is really coming out of him” but despite my disbelief it indeed was emanating from this kid from Swift Current, Saskatchewan. I looked around and it seems as everyone else was standing there with a wowed look on their face. Kicking off the first of his two sold out shows at the Basement East, Wall went into “John Beyers” an outstanding cut about lost love and revenge from his stunning new album Songs of the Plains. As the rapturous applause erupts, he seems almost invisible on the stage, head titled down, almost as if he is trying to avoid the adulation. Once the noise dies down a little, he plays another new song, “Wild Bill Hickok” about the storied western figure. It reminds me a little of Johnny Horton and the types of songs he was known for.

Now it was time for “bringing up some friends” as his band joined him on stage. Backed by Jason Simpson on bass, Patrick Lyons on steel guitar, Jake “the Snake” Groves on harmonica and Jordan Levine on drums, they added a fullness to Wall’s sparse acoustic driven songs. “Thirteen Silver Dollars” a true song about being drunk, in a park, in the snow and having the police wake you up shakes up the crowd and the band is off on a tear. As if on cue they rip into some Texas swing with a rollicking cover of Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys “Big Ball’s in Cowtown”. The steel guitar and harmonica act like a time machine and I can only imagine myself in a Texas roadside joint in the mid 70’s drinking a Lonestar.

I am shaken from my moment by the drunk guy with a thousand yard stare and an uncomfortable intensity standing next to me who has been screaming for “Motorcycle” basically since Wall came out. Not sure if it was time for the song or if Colter was trying to shut the guy up, but the opening notes seemed to do the trick and calmed his squirrely ass down for the rest of the show. The show keeps building with one great song following the next. “Kate McKannon” a sparse, excellent murder ballad and “Wild Dogs” follow before the band takes the roof off with a stomping rendition of Townes Van Zandt’s “White Freightliner Blues. Lyons on steel guitar and Groves on harmonica stretch out and you can tell the band is having a blast on this country classic.

“Me and Big Dave” is as perfect a moment as I could ask for. Classic country stylings and Wall’s baritone come together and gift us with one of the show’s standout moments. And just as I thought it could not get any better, he threw in the chorus from “Red Headed Stranger” just to seal the deal. Damn. But where do you go from there? My question was quickly answered as the band slipped into George Jones’ “Burn Another Honky Tonk Down” which made itself right at home. Over the course of the evening I really enjoyed the choice of covers as they blended with his original works and were anything but predictable. His reverence for the material that obviously inspired him was especially nice to see on a night when the Country Music Association was across town handing out awards to people in tuxedos and $700 jeans who wouldn’t know authentic country music if it bit them. “Sleeping on the Blacktop” with its haunting sparse guitar and stomping drum beat, closes the show in a grand fashion.

I could have walked out at that moment, totally satisfied with what I had seen and heard. But the night was not over yet. After a minute or two, Wall came back for short encore with “Up Against the Wall Redneck Mother”. The Ray Wylie Hubbard penned song made famous by Jerry Jeff Walker found itself in the more than capable hands of Colter Wall that night. His deep voice and relaxed delivery did the song justice. With this he ended the show and I just stood there with a big smile on my face. It was classic country and it had to come all the way from Canada to a club in East Nashville to remind us of the power of country music. If you have a chance do yourself a favor and catch this show if it comes anywhere near you.  http://www.colterwall.com/

  Show Review: Colter Wall Held Crowd in His Palm at Basement East in Nashville #colterwall @colterwall @sacksco @basementeast #americanamusic photos by Lisa Davidson I walked out of the cold, rainy Nashville night into The Basement East just as Colter Wall started to sing.