#bamboocounting

20: A song that has many meanings to you

Agnes Obel's The Curse is very pretty and also very mysterious! I think it might be about the Christmas Truce of 1914? But it might also be about some sort of Innsmouth situation or possibly psychic aliens. I admit I misheard the lyric about "on the moon" as "on the move" but that did not actually make me think about the science fictional implications of it less.

I actually tried writing a story based on it once; I did not ultimately feel it was successful, but here it is:

Agnes dropped into the hide, and her boot hit something firm, but with too much give to it to be metal.

“Ow!” It was Efren’s voice.

“Sorry!” Agnes’ eyes adjusted to the dim blue light of the LED strip enough to identify the sheepish expression on Efren’s face as he rubbed his shoulder. “What are you doing down here?”

For that matter, what was she doing here herself?

A noise from the surface made Agnes back away from the hatch, and Efren followed her example quickly enough to avoid getting hit by another mud-and-frost-covered boot.

“You too, huh?” said Agnes as Sona landed and pulled the hatch closed behind her. The whole team was here now.

Sona peeled off her hood and freed her braids from the neckline of the suit. “I just got this feeling…” Never happy without something to do, she went over to check the instruments. “More seismic activity from the shore. Looks like one of those aquatic creatures is coming in real close. Maybe I should go out and see if I can observe--” She cut herself off as Efren came to hover at her shoulder. “It’s coming ashore. I didn’t know they did that.”

“Semi-aquatic,” said Efren. “Have you got visual?”

“Not yet. If it comes in a little closer, maybe.”

“Not sure we want it any closer,” said Agnes. The sound of snow ticking against the hatch was muffled now. They were going to have to dig themselves out, after. “Those things are big.”

“They never bothered the probes,” said Efren.

The nameless feeling of unease that had sent Agnes down into the hide was growing. She swung herself up on the ladder, double-checked that the hatch was sealed. “Maybe the probes didn’t look tasty.”

Efren chuckled. Nervousness poured off him like a smell, sharper than the cleaning chemicals. Sona said--and Agnes knew she would a second before she spoke, knew exactly what she was going to say--

“Visual range! We’ve got--”

Sona was looking at the little screen. Agnes wasn’t. But she saw it anyway: a flash of white, of sinuous movement.

Efren plucked at the fingers of his gloves, and Agnes felt his palms prickle with sweat. Felt the clench in Sona’s jaw as she tried to process the data the instruments were feeding her. And in the storage cubby, the botanical samples they’d taken--and the other ones like them, outside, still threaded through the soil--Agnes felt them curling into themselves expectantly, waiting for the warmth and the light that would set them seeking the sky.

What was going on?

“What’s going on?” said Efren, echoing her thought. “Do you guys hear--” But words sounded strange in the cacophony of feelings, and he broke off.

The ground shook. At least, Agnes thought it did. It was hard to separate her experiences from the others’. Her consciousness grew wider, and she felt the slow pulse of things sleeping, barely warmer than the dirt that enclosed them. Skittering creatures just above the surface. The insistent pull of the tide on the shore.

Then it hit like a wave: hunger, bottomless and all-consuming. Sona scarfed down a protein packet, and Efren tried to press himself into his bunk, and nothing helped. Agnes gripped the handle of the hatch with fingers gone numb, as if she could keep it closed with her own strength if the seals failed, if the claws that screeched like metal on metal tore through--and there was nothing but hunger. Hunger, fury, frustration. Resignation.

It left as quickly as it had arrived. When Efren opened his mouth, Agnes had no idea what he was going to say. Nothing very coherent, as it turned out: spinning theories faster than he could talk, babbling about mind fields like magnetic fields and echolocation hunting techniques.

Sona lobbed her empty protein packet towards the disposal unit with a disgusted look. “Guess I’ll message base. Let them know we made contact. Of a sort. Maybe they can make something of what just happened.”

Sona clearly wanted to put the weird episode behind her. Efren wanted to analyze it. But Agnes--

or mantis shrimps

the thorn and vine stuff is aesthetic but not the most imo!

Eschros is an ugly city, a city that makes you worse if you live there. There are no trees. The water is poison-green. The sky there is always gray, the clouds always low and swollen with moisture that never falls. In the center, the buildings are too tall and constructed badly, leaning on each other like drunks coming home from the bar. And the outskirts stretch out for miles, spreading a miasma of smoke and grime into the air. There is nothing to redeem Eschros. 

@bamboocounting​

俗丽 sounds very apt for gaudy, actually - the translation back into vulgar might be somewhat distorting?

since 俗 on its own has the connotations of custom as well as tackiness (for the ostentation bit) and 丽 for gorgeousness/beauty for the other aspect of gaudy

but then it misses all the actual implications of the Gaudy QWQ

Interesting! I figured “vulgar” was highlighting the wrong connotations, so it’s fascinating to see how it really does pick up on the various valences of the English word.

@greaseonmymouth

Væld doesn't mean vault, it means "abundance". So it's "an abundance of evidence"

@yozegami

Seconded!                                                    

That makes more sense! It’s still a bit “pick a random mystery title from a jar,” but at least it is accurate.

@miss-ingno

for the record, as a German I’d translate Aufruhr as tumult or commotion rather than rebellion

Aha, that is much more apt. Plenty of commotion going on.

bamboocounting said:

I was literally thinking before I got to this post about how admirably rigorous you are about tagging <3 and how nice your tags sound  

Super delayed reply, I do apologise!

I’m so glad you liked it - it’s such a good value find as well, right? I also have it in the ‘Beneficial Care Oil’ version, but I think Couvent des Minimes changed owners in the last year or so and they may have changed up/planning to change their line? I’d check supplies if you’re devoted.

Anyway, faves, ok, here’s some on my shelf that get most use/give most pleasure:

Histoires de Parfums - 1725 (aka Casanova) - this is fundamentally a lavender perfume, so depending how one feels about that it’s either a big yes or a big no. Additionally, it could be classified as what’s called a ‘barbershop’ lavender rather than a floral lavender, so again YMMV a lot, depending on your associations. It’s basically a clean cologne vibe, but there’s a creaminess to it from an almond croissant note that stops it being too post-shave-clean. Think like a lavender earl grey tea cleanliness vibe, but with a pot of cream on the side.

Miller Harris - La Fumee - the the resinous incense-lover who doesn’t want to go all the way to church (if you do, try Comme des Garcons - Avignon, which is also great), LF is a spicy, smoky incense which is so bone-dry that the sweetness of the resin-y drydown never becomes sugary, but stays woody and clean. Lots of nice cardamom and sandalwood for the kind of person who opens boxes and spice jars and inhales happily, but wants to wear a herbal sauna spa vibe rather than a spice market or liturgical censer.

Aedes de Venustas - Iris Nazarena - I was enabled here by the truly lovely @fireofspring who blessed me with a sample long ago, and whoops now I have a full bottle? It’s probably the top example of the ‘dark iris’ type of Irises, meaning it’s leathery, incens-y, and warm (rather than fresh or cool). It’s plush velvet. It’s a candlelit room. It’s a soft leather Venetian glove. it’s deep without being heady, the coolness of the iris and the warmth of the incense. Smoke and velvet. It might be my favourite?

Bottega Veneta - Bottega Veneta Eau de Parfum - lest this get too niche, this is the one that will actually be in most larger department store beauty halls, online discounters etc. SUCH A GEM. In a sea of caramel-drenched abstract white florals that is 90% of the stock on beauty counters right now, BdV is the mossy cool retro vibe of opening the nicest suede purse you’ve ever seen and inhaling the sweet leathery goodness. Soft, cool, woody background. I reach for it a lot. It goes on scarves too, as the development on fabric is lovely.

Beaufort London - Coeur de Noire - this is for the sort of person who might not like ‘perfume-perfume’, but likes, say, the smell of petrol, or adhesive, or bitumen, or snuffed candles more than actual lit candles? In theory it’s a perfume on the theme of books/paper - paper and ink, specifically, and though it would need more vanillin to be a proper ‘old paperback’ smell, it does drydown to something of that vibe. However: if you’re familiar with the smell of industrial inks, it uhhhh does go though that phase first. It’s a little odd, and a little difficult. I love it.

Olfactive Studio - Chambre Noire - sweet plums and soft leather, it’s a dark and quiet room, the sweetness of dried fruits and resin, and the plushness of a new leather sofa. One of the only overly fruity scents I have, and it’s more dried than juiced. More leather, soft and dark. OK though, between us, this is the smell of Cairo Time. Not the smell of Cairo the city, I mean the smell of the 2009 Alexander Siddig/Patricia Clarkson film Cairo Time. Specifically that film. Specifically that hotel room. *BITES FIST*

Histoires de Parfums - Ambre 114 - I’m going to come out and say this is the ultimate amber scent, as far as I’m concerned. I have never worn this and not gone ‘oh god yes’ when first applying, and then at multiple points throughout the day as it develops. It’s more dry and transparent than sweet or heady, so it manages to be office-ready even as an amber, and won’t overwhelm, but the quality is *chefs kiss*. It’s not a floral or gourmand amber, but aims for the old-school actual ambergris vibe: slightly salty, rough and smooth at the same time like a kitten’s tongue. There is vanilla, but it’s way in the background behind the resins (on me). The softest cashmere scarf, the smoothest whiskey.

Chanel - Paris-Deauville - this was baby’s first Chanel, as I’m not generally into their line-up, but this one got me. It’s part of their cologne range based on travel (the others being Paris-Venise and Paris-Biarritz), and they’re all very light splash type citrus-y colognes. It’s the herbal freshness of the basil that really sells it on this one. I’ve worn this on some very hot days and it’s still refreshing like a glass of iced minted lemon tea. Very decent longevity for a cologne. Nice work.

9. The historical production you’d most want to see live 

Unsurprisingly, they are all of Richard II:

1. The one I referenced in my previous answer, commissioned by supporters of the Earl of Essex on February 7, 1601 as a prelude to his disastrous rebellion attempt. (Scholarly rigor compels me to say that we don’t know for sure that this was Shakespeare’s play but honestly I don’t think there’s a great case for “a now-lost play on the exact same subject matter as an extant play that the company already had in its repertoire,” despite the occasional effort to make it).

2. John Gielgud in the 1930s, because of course.

3. The famous RSC production where Richard Pasco and Ian Richardson alternated as Richard and Bolingbroke, although of course I’d have to see that one twice in order to get it both ways round (most of the photos have Pasco as Richard, as does the audio excerpt on that CD compilation the RSC released some years back). I feel like any claim to authority I have on Richard II in performance is severely undermined by my having been born six years after that production was staged, because there’s been a ton written on it.

Non-Shakespeare honorable mentions: the now-lost Richard II play Simon Forman saw at the Globe in 1611, because that sounds like some hilariously crazy shit; Thomas of Woodstock because I want to know how it canonically ended. 

wait do you mean there’s a bunch of — humankin maia/elves in valinor