Friday, August 28, 2015

QD:Season 2, Chapter 14. (Eidolon meets Alfredo)


1930-something.

Elisa Jack stopped at a sign that said "free kittens".
She picked out a black kitten with a white diamond shape on its belly, a white bib over its chest, a white half-mustache, and white paws.

She named it Phoebe.

Weeks later, looking at Phoebe, Elisa got out a sketch pad, and began to design an outfit.

Weeks after that, she paraded around in her outfit, and gave herself the code-name of Miss Pique.


1994

Elisa Jack had passed on, and Phoebe's descendants numbered in the dozens.

Elisa's great grand niece took them in, and distributed them all to good homes.


2007

Dr. Herbert stopped at a sign that said "free kittens".

Seven year old Winnifred/Eidolon picked out a black kitten with a white diamond shape on its belly, a white bib over its chest, a white half-mustache, and white paws.

She named it Alfredo.

Little did she know it was descended from Phoebe.
Nor could she have guessed the significance of that had she known.


July 1st, 2014.

Eidolon and Dwindle got bored with their parents lame superhero party, and took off with Alfredo to Eidolon's room.

They listened to The Cure and Joy Division for awhile, then at around midnight, they took off to Hannalee's.

Alfredo took a nap.
He figured it would time travel him to when Eidie came back.

He was right.
As always.

6 comments:

B. D. said...

There's no "the" in Joy Division dammit! I hope it was Unknown Pleasures they were listening to. I recommend "She's Lost Control" and "Disorder."

Diacanu said...


>There's no "the" in Joy Division dammit!

Fixed!

>I hope it was Unknown Pleasures they were listening to.

Um...YEAH! Yeah, it was! Yup!

>I recommend "She's Lost Control" and "Disorder."

On it!

B. Dee said...

Just FYI Joy Division put out two albums, "Unknown Pleasures" (1979) and "Closer" (1980) before the lead singer Ian Curtis legendarily killed himself at age 23 (depression, suffered from epilepsy something fierce, destroyed his marriage) and then the band turned into New Order.

If you want your characters listening to dark but energetic postpunk Goth rock, "Unknown Pleasures" is your album; it's also the better of the two IMO. If you want them listening to really sad depressing sepulchral Goth dirge-type stuff, "Closer" is your album.

Hey, it wouldn't be the first time a creator has known what his favorite characters listen to...

Diacanu said...


*Listens to the recommendations*

Yep, perfect, just what I was going for.

Diacanu said...


And while we're on goth-y sounding stuff, here's a new song from Siouxsie Sioux from the final scenes of the final episode of Hannibal made especially for Hannibal.

If you weren't watching, you missed something fucking incredible, and need to go catch up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5f8dMw_Zz4

B. D. said...

*listen to Siouxsie Sioux* Well that's pretty depressing indeed. I gotta go do that show too...

I had heard Siouxsie Sioux's debut album, "The Scream" (1978). It predates both The Cure and Joy Division (though Joy Division's debut EP and the Cure's debut single were both in 1978, neither had a full album out yet) and sounds very similar to the Cure's debut album from 1979. I didn't get around to doing the rest of her discography or at least the "golden years" stuff but I probably will someday as "The Scream" was a pretty good album, tinny scratchy postpunk guitar sound and all.

Joy Division predate Bauhaus though, with the latter usually being argued for as the quintessential "Goth-Rock" band but really most of their stuff doesn't sound like "Bela Lugosi's Dead" which remains their biggest song by far. In fact the only other really, REALLY "gothic" song I heard in their catalogue was the funeral dirge "Hollow Hills" which references Arthur Machen, the guy who wrote "The Great God Pan" (1894) the creepy short story which influenced HP Lovecraft and which Stephen King has called the greatest horror short story ever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yuFrrsXJQQ

If you heard the two Joy Division LPs and cared for them be sure and don't forget their 1988 compilation album "Substance" which has the pure-punk debut EP in its entirety along with all their singles/B-sides, including their two most famous songs "Atmosphere" and "Love Will Tear Us Apart," both of which featured synthesizers. I'll bet anything you're probably already familiar with those...

The Cure: they started as postpunk on their first album "Three Imaginary Boys" (reissued in America as "Boys Don't Cry," 1980, with that song and "Killing An Arab" and "Jumping Someone Else's Train" on it, which were missing from 3IB) and they were still teenagers, but likely after hearing Joy Division, Robert Smith replaced their bass player and turned them into Goth rockers for the 1980-82 period, the albums "Seventeen Seconds" (which sounds like "Unknown Pleasures"), "Faith" (which sounds really quiet but sorta sad) and most crucially, "Pornography" (1982), which sounds like huge pounding drum machines, suicidal wailing lyrics, overdistorted guitars and big blaring cathedralish synthesizers. If you can stand that one (I love it, personally) I'll bet ANYTHING one of your characters listens to it. After that the Cure turned into the sissy pop act we all know and love beginning in 1983 when they put out a weird dance pop EP and were doing "Just Like Heaven" type stuff four years later.

I don't count the Smiths as goth rock though some Goths no doubt loved them. Morrissey's persona, whatever you think of it, was sort of calculated anyway.

Depeche Mode, however, I do think mixed a lot of Goth elements into their sound. I've heard all their 1981-90 stuff; the first album was fruity pop like "Just Can't Get Enough" (please note that "What's Your Name" is possibly the single most embarrassingly fruity song I've ever heard in my life--I'm NOT joking!!!) but the guy that wrote all their hits left after the first album to go form Erasure, then the ugly dude with the blonde mohawk took over the songwriting. I'm a huge defender of the very dark "Black Celebration" (1986) and "Violator" (1990) but "Music For The Masses" (1987) really blows as an album and really put me off them; the critical acclaim for that one is inexplicable, IMO.

That's all!!!

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