Live, Love, and Hate – by Orpheus
Week 42 (49) – horror movie marathon (10/30/04)
Halloween 5 – I have to admit, I probably would have enjoyed this movie more if I’d seen the other Halloween movies (except 4, which was on just before it). Also admittedly, if I’d seen what happened to that blond girl at the beginning, I would have probably understood more of what was going on. Y’see, I was watching the movie while reading the bit in Ravenloft about events that trigger Horror and Madness, you can see the killer in the closet, I read a bit more, then I look up, see the girl walk away from the closet, then the camera re-angles so you can see the closet in the mirror, and there’s no one standing there, when all of a sudden, this loud, shrill sound comes out of nowhere from behind me. I jump, then I realize that it’s just my cell phone, and the display screen says it’s R, so I have to answer it. While it was very sweet of her to call and wish me good-night, by the time I was off the phone, the movie had moved on to another scene. (A disconcerting side note: R’s voice sounds a lot like K’s, but slightly higher pitched and softer, sort of like First J’s). Overall, I’d give the movie 2 of 5 bad-stars.
’Salem’s Lot – I only watched about one scene of this. I cannot, therefore, give an accurate opinion, but I can say that I did not like what I did see. The book was sodding awesome, though. I say 4 of 5 bad stars for the movie, but I give the book 4 of 5 stars of awesomeness.
The Return of the Fly – How can you not love a movie that has Vincent Price in it? He’s been in all the classically bad horror movies, like the one I’m reviewing here, or the Tingler, or the Raven, or House of Wax (think that’s what that movie was called anyway). He was also in Edward Scissor-Hands, too, as I recall. The movie’s about a guy who figures out how to teleport stuff or something like that. Classically bad at 1 of 5.
Night of the Living Dead (the 1968 version) – Zombies… Zombieeeeeees…. I love zombies. And this movie had them in hordes, not your slow, brainless zombies that you see these days, but zombies who can go at a jogging pace, know how to open doorknobs, and can figure out how to throw a rock through a window. The ending really sucks, though. I’d give this one a 1 of five, definitely.
(11/01/04) American Werewolf in London – I really like werewolves. They’re right up there with zombies on the list of my favorite things. And I must say, I love the idea of werewolves being able to see the ghosts of people they kill, but this was ruined in American Werewolf in Paris, where any werewolf could see them, and they passed through physical objects. Like Night of the Living Dead, London was an awesome movie up until the end (if a bit cheesy), I’d give it a 1.1 of 5, but I’d give Paris a 3 of 5 at the very least. (Though, come to think of it, I suppose it was the same with seeing the ghosts of all lycanthrope victims in London, but you only had the one werewolf really).
My printer does not seem to be working, this could prove slightly problematic. PRINT THOSE PICTURES, DAMN YOU! If you haven’t caught on yet, the movies part of the column is over. Oh, I finally got the original versions of Mad World and Cry Little Sister. Both of those songs, I’d say, are about as good as their covers, better in some ways, but worse in others, for example, I prefer the faster, angrier pace of the Carfax Abbey cover of Cry Little Sister to the original one. And Mad World, I like the chorus on the original, but the rest on the cover by Gary Jules.
You know what? I’m just gonna restart my computer and hope that makes the printer work. WOOHOO! It works! My printer lives! And, of course, as always, it gets her hair color wrong when it prints, evil thing(note add 11/3, someday, I swear I will figure out how this thing manages to show her hair as strawberry blond on the monitor, but print it out as black). I CURSE IT AND ALL ITS PROGENY FOR SEVEN SCORE GENERATIONS! Wow, I’m feeling weird. (11/3/04) Well, Kerry gave in on the election, that sucks.
I finally got to modern times (well, relatively modern, 1999) in Vampire: the Masquerade – Redemption. I must say, modern is so far a lot more enjoyable than the medieval levels were. R says that I should use one of the pictures of her from Halloween in the next episode, so I guess that’s what I’ll do. Operation: PicK should be just about finished tomorrow when the Operative obtains the Objective, so far I don’t have pictures for a few members of the Orpheus group, or L C or either of the Js. Well, I guess it will be a work in progress like I supposed earlier that it would be (and if I didn’t say that in the column, well, I sure thought it [why do you pronounce the “s” in sure as an “sh”?]).
My brother just got back from watching a school play, and he says it was good. Someday, I’ll have to go watch one of them, but not soon, because I really don’t feel like it. I finally got a new mouse for my computer, which is good because with the old one, the you had to click the button, like, 50 times before it would work. The current mouse, however, is much smaller than the other one, so it’s gonna take a while to get used to putting my hand on this one.
In German class, we have to cut out pictures from magazines and make a collage (though what this has to do with German, I will never understand, except for them being German magazines), I have chosen “eyes” for my theme. It’ll be pretty disturbing for people to flip through those magazines and notice that all the pictures have their eyes cut out. I’m not sure I have enough pasted on my poster that it screams “unhealthy fixation” quite yet. If you’re wondering, yes, I am trying to make it as disturbing as possible for anyone who looks at it. I swear, someday, I am going to wring C’s scrawny, scar-covered neck.
(11/5) Now, we move onto the menagerie section. Our first piece will be the song “Through the Black” by Demon Hunter. Quite an interesting piece, really.
“I've never been the type
To turn my back and runIt's never appealed to me To be the same as everyoneWhen it comes to shove and I can't see you Through the blackI'm gonna scream your name 'Til you come backAnd every time I play with fireI'm gonna burn, burn, burn until I learnAnd every time I'm killing myselfI'm gonna hate, hate, hateTime to set it straight Bury the sick sideTear from the inside outFollow the downsideWaiting for something else I know that you'll be hereAnd I'll be waitingI know that you'll be nearAnd I'll be waiting I turn it back and question Everything in sightIt's like I try to fall again When everything is going rightAnd everything that mattersIsn't everything in sightIt's taking every bit of meTo keep this all insideI've never been the type To turn my back and runIt's never appealed to meTo be the same as everyoneWhen it comes to shove and I can't see youThrough the blackI'm gonna scream your name'Til you come back Bury the sick sideTear from the inside outFollow the downsideWaiting for something else I know that you'll be here And I'll be waitingI know that you'll be nearAnd I'll be waiting Lost my mind and I lost trackI'm gonna scream your name 'til you come backLost my mind and I lost trackGonna scream your name Lost my mind I know that you'll be hereAnd I'll be waitingI know that you'll be nearAnd I'll be waiting(Lost my mind) I'll be waiting
Gonna scream your name 'til you come back”
Next, we move onto a song that is very similar in style, but quite different in lyrics, “Undeceived” by Extol. I had some comment to put here, but I forgot what it was while I was watching cartoons. Anyway, here’s the song:
“She lies in her bed staring into nowhere
Tears running down her faceAn open wound bleedingHer body turns paleRecalling the road leading away from rightAs the dark had appeared as lightTricked to cross the line, dragged further inThen trapped in a swirl of wicked lies Now, no sign of light, no sign of hopeAs a dark shadow enters her roomA freezing chill runs down her spineThe smell of death fills the room The shadow encircles her, pale of fearSlowly draining the last drops of lifeHer last strength she forces throughAnd cries out to the Lord she used to know Overwhelming light annihilates the darkImmediate rest fills her heart My dear child, come to me
I will restore you and embrace you with my love”
Now, we have another Demon Hunter song, “Infected”:
“I still wonder when the medicine will take its effect.
And the injection they made, it's all just left me the same.It’s hard to concentrate with echoes of your voice in my head.From all you said, I’m still paralyzed.But I’m almost out of breath from saying things that I’ll regret.My time is over, I can’t do this alone.I'm infected with you, pull the plug already.Tell me before I go, that your infected with me.I can’t remember if I ever took a minute to say.That if it had to be now, I’m glad it had to be me.I can’t recuperate, I’m never going to leave here alive.Just help me through this, don’t let me die here.But I’m almost out of breath from saying things I’ll regret.My time is over, I can’t do this alone,I’m infected with you, pull the plug already.Tell me before I go, that your infected with me.I'm killing time just trying to find the words that fall so short of you.
I'm loosing sleep, I can’t compete, I’m giving out, I can’t do this alone.”
And now, the song that I was listening to during the second visit from Eurydice, “Spiral (Don’t Fall)” by the Crüxshadows:
“So I am lost,
And I am found,
With contradictions I can’t resolve,
So many paths,
So many doorways to the truth,
And when I dream,
I know her face,
But the mist obscures my way,
Reaching out to wipe these tearful eyes,
Once more.
And here we go,
Around and around,
A bitter struggle plays out beneath my smile,
And here we go,
Around and around,
Don’t fall, don’t fall for me.
And with this sword,
A raging fire,
Carried by my soul’s desire,
And visions of a world,
Inscribed to breathe.
(chorus1)
(chorus 2)
I do not feel,
Tell me what’s wrong with me.
A dream of silver swans,
Lying in the dark,
Lost in separation,
They follow me home,
A dream of silver swans,
Swimming in my mind,
Filled with isolation,
They follow me home.
And when we touch,
The shadows flee,
The clues submerged in mystery,
The physics of this second sight,
Has led me here.
(chorus 1)
(repeat chorus 3 until end of song)”
And finally, “Fall No More” by Bella Morte:
“Find the end,
Let us start again,
Feelings lost now surge as oceans,
So grey, she rises to the world,
And her name shattered years ago,
Scattered with the northern snow,
Fragments hidden well within our minds.
‘Til the rains fall no more,
‘Til the nights no longer find us here alone,
‘Til the rains fall no more,
‘Til the night no longer finds us here alone.
In Death’s eyes sorrow lingered once,
Seeing her life torn apart,
The shackles fell to see her free to walk the earth,
In her eyes life is present still,
Through the
day I watch her sleeping,
I hold her close forevermore.”
(11/3, yes, I am aware that is going back in time, but I added the menagerie after I started the Oblivion) Orpheus had left Charon’s Folly in quite a strange mood, very similar to the one that he found himself in now. He was hungry, starved of the voice of Eurydice. The warmth of her sweet embrace still clung desperately to his Corpus. Her hands had wrapped around his body and then, then he’d lost himself to her desires. Desires that had changed so much from when he’d been subjected to the Harrowing, so many months ago now, or it might have been a few weeks, he really wasn’t sure, keeping track of time by the passing of the Tides was just too much of a hassle.
(11/5) Orpheus grunted with exertion as he pulled himself back through the Nihil, to the place he’d been so long before; before he’d tried to go down into the Labyrinth in search of Eurydice, before what little remained of his courage had failed him. “When people run in circles, it’s a very, very mad world,” he whispered as he came through to the other side. After spending so long wasting away in the Folly, he’d forgotten how bright everything on this side of the Tempest was.
He ran his hand along the ghost-skin of his neck, as if expecting to find the golden chain that he’d once suspected his Shadow would use to lead him into the Oblivion. He’d decided that he would go quietly, not kicking and screaming like so many of the other wraiths. All that had changed during his binge at Charon’s Folly. Too many notions of what he could accomplish during the time that he held his Shadow at bay; this was, however, probably just all the Pathos going to his head.
Still, even with all those fantastic notions whirling about his mind, he longed for, lusted one could almost say, his Shadow. Every time she came, it had taught him something about himself that he’d desperately needed to know. And beside all that, her presence was a comforting one, as if somehow, she was always standing in the eye of the storm of the afterlife. “When people run in circles.”
And now, we move on to the final part of this, the last true LLH of season 2, conversations with Eurydice.
“What the hell do you see in that fucking whore, anyway?” the girl shouted, standing up and slamming her fist against the wooden table hard enough that one would almost think it would crack under the force of her blow.
“She, unlike you, is a nice, sweet little girl.”
“Well, I don’t think you’d be happy if when she said she’d be gone for a week, then after three months you had to go looking for her, would you, especially if she said she didn’t love you anymore when she came back! So how the fuck do you think I’m feeling?”
“okay, okay…”
“You made me perfect for you, [Orpheus], whatever happened to ‘nothing could ever stop me from coming back to you’?”
This is Orpheus, signing out. (11/6) A note, the above conversation had been edited both for language and to protect the identity of R.