Downside Up

.......Bef
Of words..o
Skyscraper..r
I build this.....e
How high can...i
Far I can climb...t
I wonder how.......f
Their homes..........a
Come back to..........l
Away and don't........l
Why people go........s
I wonder things........t
World of ideas.........o
On this crazy............t
Another angle...........h
Or to look from..........e
To be weightless.......g
What is it like.............r
Why aren't you..........o
Why am I me.............u
Wonder things...........n
Sometimes I.............d

Ship Songs I

Harralie

Whoa, whoa, there's a ship
Perfect and supreme
Harralie, Harralie, Harralie, Harralie
I hope it's not a dream

Steak/Ghanith

When the rain is blowin' in your face
And the whole world is on your chase
I could offer you a warm embrace
To make you feel my love.

When there's a remnant and you disappear
There is no one there to dry my tears
I could hold you for a million years
To make you feel my love.

I know you're still a remnant, I can't fix that yet
But once you said, "with steak you can't go wrong"
I know you're still with Sanguine, I just can't forget
With not him, but me is where you belong

I'll wear Elder robes that make me look weird
I'll find a way to bring you back, my dear
If it takes me half a million years
To make you feel my love.


Ezter
Whoa, oh, oh
Toa-oh-sters
Whoa, oh, oh
Whoa

Ezter is what they should call us
We're not a ship, Hunter, shut up
But if it's a ship, Ezter is the name

[Exasperated sigh]

I'm teleporting, standing up, then looking around for my imaginary friend Bob
This is it, the apocalypse
What?

Hello, we are Ez and Hunter
Don't abbreviate as Ezter
Welcome to the new age, with lightsabres
What is your opinion of erasers?
Whoa, oh, oh, milkshakes whoa, oh, oh, milkshakes
Radioactive, radioactive
Whoa, oh, oh, milkshakes, whoa, oh, oh, milkshakes
Radioactive, radioactive

I raise my laser, look at those
It's a yellow shower curtain, I suppose
We'll paint it blue to fit right in
Whoa

Hey Ez, I found out how to shunt
Want to try it? Sure, I'll come
This is it, the apocalypse
What?

Hello, we are Ez and Hunter
Don't abbreviate as Ezter
Welcome to the new age, with lightsabres
What is your opinion of erasers?
Whoa, oh, oh, milkshakes whoa, oh, oh, milkshakes
Radioactive, radioactive
Whoa, oh, oh, milkshakes, whoa, oh, oh, milkshakes
Radioactive, radioactive

New dimension, go, Hunter's gonna die
Ez is stuck here too, tangled up in time

RedRays can heal all our broken bones
It hurts like torture, oh, we know
Welcome to the new age, with lightsabres
What is your opinion of erasers?
Whoa, oh, oh, milkshakes whoa, oh, oh, milkshakes
Radioactive, radioactive
Whoa, oh, oh, milkshakes, whoa, oh, oh, milkshakes
Radioactive, radioactive

Purple Carrots

So, in case you hadn't noticed, I really like purple carrots. This post sort of explains why and gives some background, hopefully.

For starters, they aren't figments of my imagination. Purple carrots actually exist, though they are not as popular as their orange counterparts. I first came across them at the local farmer's market, when my Dad randomly brought some home. They were good. And purple is my favorite color, so...

Later, I did some research on carrot history and discovered that carrots weren't orange until the 16th century or so. The original carrots, cultivated in the middle east, were mainly purple and yellow, with occasional other varieties of red, white and even black. Orange carrots were bred much later by Dutch scientists and rose to popularity as a national symbol. These are the kind you see in the grocery  stores today.

The analogy my brain can't seem to let go of is orange carrots representing the popular people that get recognized and such, while the purple carrots are the creative individuals who are seldom paid attention to and thought of as weird. So when I give you a purple carrot, it means that you're special.

And if I don't, then you're still special because you're still you and that's all that matters.

Sometimes the purple carrot analogy is so strong, I start to cry when someone hasn't heard of them or thinks they're dangerous or bad or something. I understand, though, that I live in a really great area and not everyone has the same privilege of locally-grown produce, so I guess I'm not offended.

You always have a place here, please remember that.

Snapshot I:

Produce vendors, flowers and
The smell of burning pastries
A man trips, spilling cherries
Peaches, plums and other tasties
Country music drifting softly
Above the humming of the crowd
A woman strolls her poodle
Past the sign "No dogs allowed"
A girl skips for ice cream
With her mother coming slowly
Two classmates turn their faces
Pretending they don't know me
I sigh, take up my sketchbook
And begin to sketch a face
As the mouth curves, start to notice
It's the friend I can't replace

Fairytale

SOMETIMES THERE'S A FAIRYTALE
BUT STERN COLD HARD GREY
REALITY CRASHING TO THE FLOOR
BUT YOU KNOW WHAT?
YOU CAN'T JUST SAY I HAVE NO HOPE
NO DREAMS, WISHES, POSSIBILITIES
INKLINGS OF CHANCE
I DON'T CARE HOW UNLIKELY.
THAT DREAM IS MINE
AND YOU CAN NEVER TAKE IT
BUT YOU CAN BUILD YOUR OWN
AND NEVER LET IT GO
NOT FOR ANYONE

I THOUGHT IT WAS A FAIRYTALE
A QUILT OF ALL THOSE LITTLE THINGS
TOO BEAUTIFUL TO BE TRUE
THREADS UNRAVEL, PIECES FALL OFF
BUT I WON'T LET YOU TEAR WHAT'S LEFT

SHATTER-SHARD-SPIRALING TOWARDS

AN UNKNOWN PLACE

WHERE DO DREAMS GO WHEN THEY DIE?
OUT THE WINDOW? INTO THE VOID?
BUT MY DREAM WON'T GO THERE
NOT WITHOUT DRAGGING ME ALONG
AND IF WE GO DOWN
IT'LL BE SOMEONE
TOUGHER, MEANER, GREENER
HARSHER, HARDER, SMARTER
WHO PUSHES THE PILE OF
HOPES DREAMS WISHES
AND UNFINISHED PROJECTS
ONTO IT'S FACE
IT WON'T BE YOU
DEAL WITH IT

AND BEFORE YOU TRY TO PUSH ME OVER
DOWN INTO THE GROUND
(BUT IF YOU DO, I'LL STAND)
THINK ABOUT YOUR OWN FAIRYTALE
IS IT THERE WHERE YOU LEFT IT
COVERED IN DUST, TEARS
MEMORIES, FRAYED AT THE EDGES
IS IT FALLING APART?
BECAUSE I'LL HELP YOU FIX IT
A BOTTLE OF GLUE, A NEEDLE,
A SPOOL OF THREAD, A HAND
ANYTHING BROKEN CAN BE MENDED
SEWN TOGETHER AGAIN
OF COURSE YOU DON'T TRUST ME
YOU LIVE IN YOUR OWN LITTLE WORLD OF LIES

YOU THOUGHT IT WAS A FAIRYTALE
A WISH COME TRUE FOR YOU TO BE
ON TOP OF EVERYONE ELSE
YOUR BUBBLE OF LIES
'CAUSE YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE
WHO STAYED BEHIND
LEFT TO LEAD, YOU SAID
BUT POWER HAS A PRICE
AND NOTHING WILL BE FREE FROM
BLOOD, SWEAT, TOIL
TRUTH THAT WE CAN'T FACE
SOME DAY WE HAVE TO

BECAUSE LIFE IS NOT A FAIRYTALE
AND HAPPY EVER AFTER
AND MAGIC WON'T MAKE IT ALRIGHT
THE WORLD OF LIES
THAT YOU TELL YOURSELF
AND MAYBE IT LIFTS YOU OFF THE GROUND
BUT MAYBE IT GIVES YOU FARTHER TO FALL
AND HIT THE GROUND ROLLING
THERE WILL BE STONES AND STICKS
BRIARS AND BRANCHES
THE STREAM CAN BREAK YOUR FALL
BUT SCARS ARE HEROES
AND SOAKED-WET, SHAME
SO YOU CAN MAKE THE SAME MISTAKES AGAIN

YOU'RE STILL STUCK IN YOUR FAIRYTALE
BUT AM I REALLY ANY BETTER?
I WON'T LET GO OF MY PARADISE
AND I SUPPOSE I'LL LEAVE YOU TO YOURS.
TEAR, PLUCK OUT, PUMMEL
IS THAT WHAT WE ALL DO?
I DIDN'T SEE MYSELF AS TRYING TO LIE
BUT DOES THAT MAKE YOU ANY WORSE?
CLINGING TO WHAT WE HAVE LEFT
WHEN THE WORLD SHATTERS US
MAYBE ALL IT IS IS A FALSEHOOD
WE TELL OURSELVES EVERY DAY
WE TRY TO RISE ABOVE OUR ROOTS
ONLY SO MUCH ROOM TO GROW
YOU DID YOUR BEST TO TEAR ME DOWN
BUT WITH YOUR WORLD
I DON'T BELIEVE IN WHAT YOU SEE
BUT AM I TRYING TO SHATTER
STAB, PUMMEL, BURST IT?
OR ARE YOU TRYING TO HELP?
LIKE I THOUGHT I WAS
BUT YOU KNOW WHAT?

I'LL LEAVE YOU TO YOUR FAIRYTALE
AND YOU LET MINE ALONE
I'LL STITCH THE PIECES TOGETHER
WHEN THEY MIGHT SHATTER
I'LL KEEP DREAMING WHEN IT'S GONE
BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT FAIRYTALES DO
THEY DISSAPPEAR INTO THE NIGHT
LEAVE YOU HANGING ON A THREAD
STOP A FEW LINES BEFORE THE END

My Collab Idea (for after MC is over, presumably)

Earth is polluted, almost to the point of an apocalypse, so Professor So-and-so decides to try an experiment to move the pollution to an empty dimension. The most powerful shunter in centuries. s/he arranges a demonstration to hopefully save the planet, but it goes awry (possibly through sabotage?), sending random audience members (aka the contributors) traveling from dimension to dimension, and no one knows how to stop it (until the collab is over)

Then, everyone could take turns coming up with a dimension. Like, anything. One person would set the stage and specify anything important they wanted to have in their dimension and then anyone else who wanted to try would have a turn and then we'd all be automatically shunted to another dimension. If the characters split up, they wouldn't necessarily appear in the same place in the next dimension, so different people can write at once (after the first person has invented the dimension) and if anyone was touching someone when everyone was shunted again, they'd join. And anyone who dies dies.

There can be anything in a dimension, alternate endings with SP characters, (Like Tanith with no remnant! :D or Sanguine being from somewhere other than Texas. That'd be weird, but the whole point of this would be a fun experiment-y thing, so weird is okay)

And that's my idea as it currently exists--subject to changes depending on what people want to do.

And if no one wants to do this, I might write it myself, because it sounds like fun, to me anyway. :-)