Day 17: The Queen of Wands

The Card

Well it appears that the Wands have finally decided to rear their ugly heads.  And it only took 17 days to do so.

I have no problem with the Wands, they just usually give me a major headache because they're so swift and fast moving.  But the actual story of the Wands has a dragon in it and you all know how I feel about Dragons, knowhatmsayin'?!

The Royalty of the Wands is severe.  Like way severe.  Like straight up badasses.  I mean, just take a look at this card:

You want this lady on your side.

Funny Queen of Wands story, I was reading a woman who had gotten recently engaged and I was like And I see the influence of this overbearing woman who's taking over and wants to make all the decisions and she was all "My mother-in-law" and I was all I am so. So. Sorry.

That's about all I gots to say about this lady!  Onto

The Process

This blog post SEEMS LIKE it's going to be late, but it's actually on time because  I began it in the morning of my BIG TRIP!  YAY!

Meaning I traveled for hours HOURS August 17th and then the next day I traveled some more hours and today I finally have a chance to catch up with everything, so haha in your face people who thought I couldn't hack it, I'm pulling a Jason hacking it up! 

Dude uncool.

Seriously

Whatever, somebody will appreciate my sense of humor!

Anyway, I wrote this play on the bus.  And it was grand.

Here's an Excerpt

WOMAN IN WHITE

Once upon a time,

There was a day that felt like sun and wind

Even though it was night

WOMAN IN BLACK

Why?

WOMAN IN WHITE

Why not?

WOMAN IN BLACK

Because.

I don’t like the light.

WOMAN IN WHITE

You can’t have shadows without the light.

WOMAN IN BLACK

One day you shall be my honeybee

And suckle me

You shall be my honeybee

And suckle me

WOMAN IN WHITE

No

WOMAN IN BLACK

Every single inch of me

WOMAN IN WHITE

Never shall I ever

Ever shall I never

Never shall I ever

Ever shall I

WOMAN IN BLACK

Ever you shall

WOMAN IN WHITE

I want to stop making shadows, I want to whisper secrets in the daytime, sundrenched with honeydew

WOMAN IN BLACK

No

WOMAN IN WHITE

Why?

WOMAN IN BLACK

I’d rather you not.

Never and ever

[The Lady in Black wraps herself around the Lady in White and smothers her, extinguishing the light until there is only darkness]

  

In Conclusion,

Well I didn't say it was any good.

Onwards!

Day 16: The Knight of Cups

The Card

Yaaaaaaay KNIGHTS.  Knights are awesome.  They are just as chivalrous, brave and adventurous as the tales all tell us.  But what's so badass about this knight is that SHE'S a SHEEEE.

BAM

Lady Knight

And, if you haven't heard, girls rule and boys drool.  It's true.

I think we're all getting quite well-aquainted with the cups, so by now you know that they're all lovey dovey and what not.  The Knight of Cups is like love times a trillion.  She's always pining over someone and always means to call but gets distracted by the next pretty face.  But she's not like Barney Stinson from How I Met Your Mother because she's actually chivalrous so she won't bang you and never call you, just recite some poetry, maybe kiss you and then never call you.   

So last week there were a load of swords and this week there's a ton of cups, and I just want to say that I shuffle these cards like a maniac.  Like at least ten times and then I cut the deck into three and shuffle again like five times.  So if you're thinking the reason these patterns come up is due to faulty shuffling, SCREW YOU YOU'RE WRONG! I highly doubt that is a possibility.

The Process

 

Thank goodness today was better than yesterday, like a million times better.  I think I also didn't put any pressure on myself so that helped a lot.  It was a pretty chill day.  Like sup.  Like hypothetical beer in one hand, beach in the other or something.  But I am stone cold sober.  So I don't know what I am talking about. 

All I'm trying to say is that I took this intense love as a gift and translated it into words as best as I can, and I came up with this

An Excerpt

RALPH

Well?

BECKY

What?

[Beat]

BECKY

Three weeks.

RALPH

Really?

BECKY

Yes.

[Beat]

RALPH

That soon?

BECKY

Yes.

[Beat]

RALPH

I hate this

BECKY

Ralph

RALPH

No

I’m allowed to hate this.

BECKY

Who told you that?

RALPH

The internet

BECKY

Come here

[They hug]

BECKY

Are you sniffing me?

RALPH

Yes.

BECKY

Stooooop

RALPH

No, no I want to always remember the way you smell

BECKY

Like how?

RALPH

Like…wool and rain.

BECKY

Well that’s good news

RALPH

What?

BECKY

If you ever miss you all you have to do is put a wool sweater out in the rain.

RALPH

You’re so stupid

BECKY

No, YOU are

[RALPH cups her face in his hand]

BECKY

I’m not gone yet

RALPH

I know.

BECKY

Stop looking at me like that

RALPH

Why?

BECKY

Because I can’t stand that you’ll never do it again.

In Conclusion

I think there's a ghost in the house.  But that's nothing new, I've thought it for 25 years now.

ONWARDS AND YAY!

Day 15: The 8 of Cups

Zomg it's the mid-halfway point kinda!  15 days in a row! I've never done anything 15 days in a row except maybe breathe.

The Card

Yeah Cups, giving the Swords a run for their money!  GOOD.  I was getting sick of those pointy bastards.

Like I said, love me my cups and their complicated but ultimately beautiful and somewhat poignant love story.  All the cards in this suit make me happy.

And here is the 8 of Cups:

Now I don't know if you noticed, but that nymph is riding a dragonfly. 
Yes.
She is riding. A dragonfly.

I WANT TO RIDE A DRAGONFLY!

I mean, who doesn't, really?

Like seriously, if you were offered the opportunity to ride a dragonfly you're seriously going to tell me that you're not going to take it?
Seriously?

Please.

YOLO, YO!

Anyway,

I guess I should say some coherent things about the 8 of cups....

It's an interesting card because it's one that represents a turning point.  One where you have to turn your back on a choice you've made in your life in order to chase after something greater. It's a card that represents adventure, courage, journeying to the great unknown.  It's a card of excitement and reflection. Basically the premise of every Disney movie ever made.

Loving it!

The Process

I don't know if you noticed, but it's been raining like a maniac today.  Like intense, thunderous downpours, lightning cracking the clouds in half and oceans pouring from the sky.
Like, calm down.

  NEVER!

And rain has one of two effects on me:

1. I love it and am eternally inspired or
2. Sleep.

Today's been the first day of the challenge where I've been like But I don't WANNA write a plaaaaaay I wanna watch horrible TV shows on the netflix allllllllllllll daaaaaaaaaaaaaaay waaaaaaaaaaaaah.

Concentration has been like NOPE.  Not gonna be easy, fool.  Imma keep slipping out your mind and making you chase me.

CHASE ME!

DANCE PUPPET DAAAAAAAAAAAANCE

Ugh.

I didn't wind up pulling my card until about 3:00, which is pretty late for me.  And then I sat around, doing nothing for another couple of hours before I even opened my book to look for prompts.  And they were sooo dumbbb.  For a card full of adventure, you'd think prompts would be endless.  But they weren't.  They were like "Write about a blahblah" and "BLAH" and the last one actually said, and I QUOTE:

"....or stop writing for a while and go take a walk"

complete with ellipses.

So then I got angry and stomped around like WHAT.

First of all, I CAN'T go for a walk, it's monsooning out and secondly that's SUCH a counterproductive prompt for writers!  As though we need an excuse to NOT write!  What a DICK PROMPT, book! Jerk.

But then I sluggishly wrote something because it is a challenge and that's the point of my life for this month and

Here's an excerpt:

 

[A muddy man digs up a grave while a clean one takes watch.  The man digging stops.  Throws his shovel down.]

MAN 1

Well?

MAN 2

No.

MAN 1

What?

MAN 2

I know.

MAN 1

How?

MAN 2

Dunno.

MAN 1

She said

MAN 2

I DUNNO.

MAN 1

Sorry

MAN 2

S’ok

MAN 1

Well.

MAN 2

Now what?

MAN 1

Dunno.

MAN 2

Fuck

MAN 1

I know

.

I know.

In Conclusion

I like it.  The curt words fit my mood.  Do I feel like the card had anything to do with today's scribbles?
Not even slightly.
But that's how the ball bounces sometimes and blahblahblah inspiration. Kthxbi

Day 14: The Knave of Pentacles

The Card

I. LOVE. The Knave of Pentacles.  She is SO CUTE it makes me a little crazy.  Every time she appears, I'm just happy.  

I mean, see it for yourself,

I haz berries

Nomnomnom

AAAAAH AREN'T YOU DYING FROM CUTENESS?!

I am.

So the Knave of Pentacles is, like all these knaves, mischevious.  She's smart, but not as smart as the Knave of Swords .  She's the most childlike, being selfish and whiny most of the time.  She also has blame-the-world-itis, which is a real thing.  But she's youth incarnate and aren't all kids like that and you either love them or hate them and I happen to love them so there.

The Process

I have been listening to this song non.stop.today:

  And then I was also listening to this song non.stop.aswell:

And the combination has made my mind EXPLODE with happiness and I've been chair dancing for hours.  I think you're familiar with chair dancing, it's where you put on your soundproof headphones and ignore the world and bounce like a maniac in your chair and knock things off the table and scare the dog and have a grand ol' time.

And I was doing that as I meditated on this youthful, fun, card and all of a sudden, without any conscious thought about it at all, I started writing. 

This last week or whatever, I've been stressing myself out because I've been like Omg, all of these scenes are like THE SAME ISSUE OVER AND OVER can somebody do something effin' happy?! But nobody was doing anything happy, effin' or otherwise, because I'm not sure if anybody else feels this way, but, turns out, Death is kinda sad.  Which is NEWS TO MEEEEEE.

But today, when my mind was an autopilot, I was able to write a scene that's funny (maybe) and that has joy inside it (definitely).  And here's theeeeeee

Excerpt

[Three girls enter.  They’re wearing black clothes.  Look like they could be up to no good]

SYLVIE

Cindy.

Cindy.

BELLA

SHHH

CINDY

What?!

BELLA

Be quiet!

SYLVIE

Are you sure about this?

CINDY

Oh, come ON Sylvie

BELLA

QUIET

CINDY

Oh my god nobody can hear us

BELLA

There could be a security guard

SYLVIE

WHAT

I didn’t agree to that

CINDY

Oh my god THERE IS NO SECURITY GUARD

Stopppp iiiit

[The three sneak walk in silence for a moment before]

SYLVIE

Are you sure this is a good idea?

BELLA

Yeah, are you sure?

CINDY

We agreed to do this

SYLVIE

Yeah but

CINDY

It’s what she wants.

.

Wanted.

[Sneak walking]

BELLA

Are we almost there at least?

CINDY

Yes.

SYLVIE

It didn’t seem this far at the funeral

BELLA

We went a different way

SYLVIE

Why didn’t we go that way?

CINDY

Because we’re breaking into a friggin cemetery, that’s why.

BELLA

I can’t believe we’re doing this

SYLVIE

We’re gonna get arrested

BELLA

Expelled

SYLVIE

Shot

BELLA

Shot?

SYLVIE

By the police

BELLA

CINDY?!

CINDY

We’re NOT gonna get shot or caught or anything

In Conclusion 

I love to dance.  I'm that person dancing when nobody else is dancing and everybody's like Omg isn't that girl like embarrassing herself?! And I'm like Who's embarrassed, dancing is fcking awesome and then everybody's dancing.  Nobody cares what you look like when you dance!  Nobody's looking at you being like Wow, her form is horrible, and even if they are it doesn't matter because  a. that person's a douche, b. never see that douche again and c. you'll be DANCING and nothing matters when you're dancing.  And if you will see that douche again because that douche is your friend then hate to break it to you, but you have a douchey friend and you should get a new friend.  Like me!

That's really all I have to rant about today.  Onwards, upwards and etc!

Day 13: The 2 of Cups

The Card

Whenever I see Cups, I am put in an immediate good mood.  I mean, they're a love story, who doesn't love a love story?!

This Guy.

Yeah, I said it.

And I'm really glad that the 2 of cups appeared today because it is the 13th day of the challenge and, I don't know if you know this about the number 13, but it's considered kind of not the best luck ever.  Even though as a numerologist I know it's just a myth and the number 13 is no more unlucky than any other number in the bunch and it's actually quite magical, there are still about a million movies out there that contradict that fact. 

It's not so much that I'm superstitious than I am neurotic.

But the point IS,

Hurray 2 of Cups!

So the Cups tells a tale about a fairy who's in love with a nymph.  They come from different worlds, but they fall in love anyway.  And then there's that point where they break up, but they ultimately wind up together, she with a smile, he with a beard.  Remember? 

Yeah you do.

The 2 of Cups is just a beautiful card.  It's simple.  It's youthful.  It's hope. I like to take a minute to breathe in all the hope.

Smells like cotton candy.

The Process

I spent my morning watching this horrible/amazing tv show on the Netflix called "Who the BLEEP Did I Marry", which is just as bleep-tastic as it sounds.  It's basically about women who married men who turned out to be an array of bad things, like a con artist, a Cuban spy and a bank robber.

A frickin criminal, that's who

So that was fresh on my mind as I heated up my miso soup and poured my pepsi and sat down to begin writing, which is pretty much the opposite of the true meaning of the card, but still eerily relateable.  When we begin a relationship of any kind, we have to put our trust in the other person in order for it to work.  And it's so easy - soso easy - to lie. 

Which lead me to think about the complexities of relationships - how fragile they are.  And I began thinking about fights and anger and what causes them and what helps us forgive, and THEN I started to get really morbid and was all What if you had a fight with someone right before you were supposed to get married and then they died

And so I wrote this:

An Excerpt

WOMAN

I promise.

Promise.

[He shakes his head no]

WOMAN

Yes.

[He opens his palms to her]

WOMAN

No.

[He spreads his arms before him, palms to her.  Smiles]

WOMAN

No.

[He nods]

WOMAN

I can’t.

[He nods again.  She lets the flowers fall to the floor.  He approaches her, puts his hands on her cheeks.  Traces the outline of her lips.  Touches her chest.  Kisses the side of her forehead.  Points to her.  Points to himself.

Shakes his head no]

WOMAN

Don’t

[He nods his head again.]

WOMAN

Please.

[He opens his palms to her]

WOMAN

You

[He shakes his head no]

WOMAN

You

[He shakes his head no.  Picks up her bouquet and hands it to her]

WOMAN

Please?

[He blows her a kiss she doesn’t feel.  He begins to disappear]

WOMAN

No.

[He continues to leave]

WOMAN

No

[He’s gone.  She speaks to her flowers]

WOMAN

I loved you.

[Blackoutend]

 
In Conclusion

Words are becoming more and more unimportant to this story.  It's more about the weight of the single word.  How that word changes meaning when it's spoken.  When it's repeated.  I am excited.

It makes me excited.

Also, I just want to point out that despite his harsh exterior Grumpy does indeed love a good love story and he, arguably, cared about Snow White and her happiness the most out of all the dwarves.  YEAH I SAID IT.

See you tomorrow!

Day 12: The King of Swords

The Card

What can I say about the King of Swords?
Literally, what can I say?
I've actually been staring at the screen for a couple of hours trying to put into words how exactly uninspiring this card is to me.
I have no aversion to it.  I have no strong feelings for it.  Or against it. And therein lies the problem!

He's just...so....smart.  Like too smart.  Like that guy at a party that everybody hates.  Because he has an opinion about everything EVERYTHING and he thinks he wins all arguments because he has a steel mind for facts and logic and doesn't believe in made up words and is just not my cup of tea.

Let's take a look at him, shall we -

Nice sword.

Compensating for something?

I just want to point out that his scowl is actually an attribute that is shared by most King of Swords across the board, regardless of the deck.  He is scowling. Because. He thinks he's better. Than. EVERYBODY.  To me, that's unappealing.  It's just. Unappealing.

And uninspiring.

Which is a foreshadowing for the discussion I'm about to lay on you abouuuut

The Process

So it was just as rough going with the writing as it was with starting this blog entry.

I even looked at the prompts that the tarot book give and they weren't so much prompts as professions, like Doctor. Lawyer. Professor.  As though the tarot book were like Yeahhhh uhhh I just don't even knooooooow.

I was like Why you gotta deal me like that, Universe and the Universe was like

Even deities need a holiday, son

So it was like way slow going and since I am apparently too stubborn to oh I don't know, PICK A DIFFERENT CARD, I just did a lot of blahblah writing.

Blahblah writing is when I just write random words and try to make sentences out of them.

I also ripped up a lot of paper.  

Ran around in a circle.

Played with the dog.

Had an existential crisis.

And listened to a lot of Jason DeRulo.

I was like one of those Writer's Block montages you see on the Netflix.

And just when I couldn't blahblah write anymore,

I started to really write.

And wound up writing the most pages that I've written for these plays this month yet!

WHAT!

How?!

I dunno

but here

's an

EXCERPT-MANIA!

 [DOCTOR stands at a grave.  There are pictures of a smiling girl, about in her twenties.  Teddybears and pages ripped from books.  Candy boxes and piano keys.  It’s beautiful.  His hands are in his pockets.  He smirks at the engraving and shakes his head.] 

DOCTOR

Her suffering fell out of her body like a song

And filled the world with music.

.

Stupid.

[He turns to leave.  Doesn’t]

DOCTOR

It’s just that…What does that even mean, is the thing.

Does it mean anything? Because it sounds like a group of words, strung together by a shallow metaphor of music, is what it sounds like.

I bet you wrote it, though, didn’t you?   Either you or some of your hippie friends.

.

.

I never do this, you know.  Death happens.  All the time.  And I did my best.  No regrets.

There’s no such thing as saving a life, only extending it. And I extended yours over and over and over again.  In and out of the hospital, in and out of tests and surgeries and you, always there with your notebook and your smile.  The happiest dying girl I ever knew.  The most naïve dying girl I ever knew.

So…so…naïve.

[She appears.  They re-construct a memory.  They mimic and mime the movements they speak, but never touch, stand about three feet apart.]

In Concluse-balls

If I hear that "I am a paleontologist" song from the payless commercial one more time, I'm going to actually explode.

'Til tomorrow, all! 

Day 11: Strength

The Card

Ah, Strength.  What can I say about Strength?  I mean, it's a pretty straight forward card. It encompasses all types of strength including

Physical Strength

He's the strongest man I know

Mental Strength

How you doin'?

And of course, the elusive

Inner Strength

Yeah, I said it

Traditionally, the Strength card of a tarot deck shows a woman taming a lion LIKE A BOSS, but, as we've already seen and discussed throughout the course of this blog, fairies go by their own set of rules.  And they can't be bothered with real creatures like lions.  Instead, my fairy is taming a  

BAM!

DRAGON!

Now I don't know about you, but I happen to think that 

Dragons

 Are

AMAZING

Like, let's just take a moment and talk about why dragons are the best magical creature ever.
They are GIANT LIZARDS that BREATHE FIRE and FLY.
End of discussion.




And see, my fairy has so clearly tamed this particular dragon, I'm sorry but I'm going to say it again, LIKE A BOSS.  And, I don't know if you'll agree with me, but Dragons > Lions anyday because although Lions are giant cats, they neither breathe fire nor fly. 


Anyway, enough of this dragon talk because it's time for


The Process

So I'm not sure if you got this, but I was all excited about exploring the possibilities of what a dragon can represent in a dramatic work.  Because the only thing scarier or more powerful than an actual dragon is the person who holds an inner dragon within them.  

Because the Universe so desperately wants me to write a graveyard play, I just automatically began in a graveyard.  I'm not going to fight it because Why?  It's a good enough subject, lots of stuff happens in graveyards, and it's something I'm morbidly interested in anyway.  Because we can't live without Death, without walking side by side holding Death's hand every moment that breath leaks out of our bodies.  It's just the way it is.

Anywho, here's a picture of my dog surrounded by all her toys to make up for the above paragraph:

Where's Vivi?!

And here is 

An Excerpt!

MAN 2

I never want to die.

MAN

Oh, come on

MAN 2

I don’t.

MAN

You want to live forever?

MAN 2

Sure.  More people should.

MAN

Sure.

MAN 2

I’ve just decided.

MAN

What?

MAN 2

I’m never going to die.

MAN

Oh yeah?

MAN 2

Yeah.

Most definitely, yeah.

MAN

How?

MAN 2

I will refuse.

Request denied.

MAN

You’re going to fend off impending death by refusing to die?

MAN 2

Yes.

MAN

You think that’s going to work?

MAN 2

Yes.

MAN

I don’t think that’s how life works

MAN 2

Nobody’s ever put their MIND to it before. 

You just watch, you know how people are always like Stay with me, just stay with me and then they die because they close their eyes or whatever, I’m gonna totally STAY.  I won’t be going anywhere.

MAN

Which is why you died with your eyes wide open.

[MAN 2 disappears.  MAN just sits at the grave]

MAN

I wish you had tried harder.

I miss you.

In Conclusion,

Hakuna Matata just came on the Pandora! 
What more could you really ask for?

Day 10: The 4 of Swords

DOUBLE DIGITS, YO!


You know what that means?


Something poignant, that's what that probably means.

The Card

Holy crap, ya'all. Holy crap.  That's all I can say about pulling this card because I pulled the

DUN DUN DUN

  FOUR OF SWORDS

First of all, I'm like Yo, swords, what is up, why are you all appearing all the time, I mean give the other suits a chance but they're all nah man, this is what's UP and I'm all I guess and that's where the conversation ends because I realize I'm talking to absolutely nothing concrete.

Secondly, I like the four of swords generally because whenever they appear it lets me know that you need to take a frickin break. Like seriously, you have to take a chill pill and go to sleep.  Like shut up and take a nap.  And any card that indicates sleep is a-okay by me.  

And yes, these fairies are actually asleep as opposed to their friend later on in the suit whom you met a few posts ago and who is definitely door nail dead.  The swords have an interesting story and one day I'll cliffnote it for you, even though it seems like we'll probably get through the entire suit with the way this is going.

But the real reason I was all Holy crap is because....well, we have to take a look at the Process to really understand that.  So without further babbling-

The Process

Because the fairies are sleeping and I relate sleeping so much to this card, I decided to look at my Tarot for Writers book in order to get a less passive prompt.  Because sleeping is pretty passive, even if it does rock.

And when I looked in my Tarot for Writers book, the prompts it gave for this card were the following:

Write about:

•  Life AFTER DEATH which made me go like: o.O
• A crypt which made me go like: O.o
• And.  A. 

GRAVEYARD!

And I was all O.O

SHUT. UP.

 I mean, they did have like one non-death related prompts, but this shiz is getting too real.

Like double-you tee eff, Universe, what are you trying to tell me?

 Write a play about a graveyard.

Duh.

And then I was all

WHATEVER UNIVERSE, YOU DON'T OWN ME

And the Universe was like

Yes I do

-_-

Anywho, I wrote about a graveyard.

And

Here's an excerpt

 

WOMAN 2

Are you praying?

WOMAN

Yes.

WOMAN 2

What are you saying?

WOMAN

Sis

WOMAN 2

What?

WOMAN

You gotta stop.

WOMAN 2

I just don’t know what to do!

WOMAN

Just say something like that you miss her or something, I don’t know!  

[....]

WOMAN 2

I just don’t want to say the wrong thing

WOMAN

Oh my God just say SOMETHING NICE.

[WOMAN prays but WOMAN 2 fidgets]

WOMAN

WHAT?!

WOMAN 2

Why’d she do it?

WOMAN

Do what?  

WOMAN 2

Betray us

WOMAN

Oh please

WOMAN 2

She made us believe in something.  She made me believe in something that she apparently at the end thought was bullshit

WOMAN

HEY

WOMAN 2

I’m sorry, bullsquat.  Is that better?

WOMAN

You gotta. Stop.

WOMAN 2

I bet this is what finding out Santa isn’t real is like

WOMAN

I’m pretty sure it isn’t

WOMAN 2

I believe what I believe because she made me believe it.  She told us stories, she had the Seders, she spent a million dollars on our STUPID Bat Mitzvahs

WOMAN

A million dollars, she rented out Uncle Danny’s basement in exchange for a dozen of her rugelach

WOMAN 2

Whatever! 

She still made us do it!

All the lessons, do you remember it?  You couldn’t play soccer because we were stuck in a room with twenty other bored out of their mind girls learning how to read scribbles and spit when we spoke!

WOMAN

You really gotta stop

WOMAN 2

It doesn’t matter, I'm not offending anyone or anything because you know it’s a CATHOLIC CEMETERY, so THIS God doesn’t care! He’s probably up there with Jesus drinking some of his blood or whatever and laughing it up, we are actually comedic gold just by being here, TWO JEWS IN A CATHOLIC CEMETERY: A New Comedy by Neil Simon 

In Conclusion

That was actually a lot of fun.  And kind of scary because I'm not comfortable writing about religions/genders/races that aren't my own.  But I did it.  And now it's on a blog.  Which is scarier than writing about ghosts.   In more ways than one.

ANYwho, back to writing my epic play.

Until tomorrow!

Day 9: Knave of Swords

The Card

Knaves rock across the board because they're young, mischievous and adorable, if not a little naive.  I love whenever the playfulness of youth shows up in my cards or, you know, in life.  Which is why and how I can turn into a five-year-old on command.  And how and why I'm wearing a Minnie Mouse t-shirt and listening to the Tangled soundtrack.  And the Brave soundtrack.  And Pocahontas.  And why I have a faerie tarot deck.

MY POINT IS Knaves rock.

Traditionally, the knave in a tarot deck is really referred to as the Page, but faerie lineage is different, I guess? I don't really know, sometimes I don't question things as much as I should or use google as much as I should, usually because I get distracted easily, especially with the Olympics going on omg I can't wait for them to stop because my life has been consumed for the past two weeks and I have never watched so much sports in my LIFE but...what was I talking about?

OH YAH, this little cutie:

  
Look at her, being all flexible and adorable, WASSAP GRRRL!

Out of all the knaves, she is the most mischievous, probably because she is the smartest.  Or the most smartest if you're feeling rebellious against the English language.  But the Knave of Swords would never do something like that because she's too intelligent.  But, like all the knaves, just because she's smart it doesn't mean she's experienced!  Even if she thinks she is.  Which makes her a really interesting character and a great segway into a discussion about

The Process


Just to point out, the Knave of Swords doesn't have Romantic naivity, she has The Way Life Is naivity.  She's much too sharp for that.

GET IT?! SHARP!
Swords are sharp

ANYYYYYYYYWHOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I decided to take a great exercise out of  my tarot book today, the perfect one card exercise.  Basically, you imagine yourself entering the card, describing what you see/smell/taste/touch/hear.  So I did that and guess where I ended up.

You'll never guess.

It's like so unbelieveable that you won't even believe it.

I

ended

up

in

   

 OZ! A graveyard.

On a side note, it would be really appropriate for graveyards to all be in black and white all the time.
I'm just. Saying.

ANYWHO, obviously all the muses in the world are like Girl you gotta write this graveyard play and I'm like Yeah okay as long as you keep helping me and they're like WE are the muses, goddesses of the arts and proclaimers of heroes, heroes like Hercules HONEY you mean HUNK-ules WOOHOO I'd like to make some sweet music with-

I'M DONE I SWEAR

Okay maybe not

There we go.
So I'm in this graveyard and I'm walking around and

Here's an Excerpt

DAISY

Hi.

LITTLE GIRL

Hi.

DAISY

Watcha doing here?

LITTLE GIRL

Nutthin.

DAISY

You visiting?

LITTLE GIRL

[Nods]

DAISY

Me too.

I’m Daisy.

LITTLE GIRL

Hi

DAISY

You singing?

LITTLE GIRL

Was

DAISY

It was pretty.

Wanna cake?

LITTLE GIRL

[Nods. Holds out her hand. DAISY scampers over.  LITTLE GIRL holds the cake]

DAISY

You comin from a funeral?

LITTLE GIRL

Nods.

DAISY

That’s cool.  We had a funeral for my momma when she went away.  But Daddy says that she’ll be back again someday.  And that she’s never too far away.  Do you like clouds?

LITTLE GIRL

Shrugs

DAISY

I like clouds. 

I think that every time someone dies, you can see their face in the sky for like a split second.  So that everyone has their time in the sky.  Do you think that?

LITTLE GIRL

Dunno.

DAISY

It’s okay to be sad.

That’s what Daddy says.

I like being sad sometimes ‘cause it makes me feel better.

LITTLE GIRL

Smiles.

Picks apart the cake.

Thank you.

DAISY

You’re welcome

Why?

LITTLE GIRL

You made me feel better.

In conclusion

I like Disney. 
Sincerely though, really enjoying creating a new piece, full of silent moments, odd pacing and multiple characters.  I wonder if they'll start showing up in other people's stories.  Only time will tell!

Day 8: The 10 of Swords

 Why you gotta play me like this, Universe?  I thought we was on good terms, bro, but then you deal me this?!

 

I mean, doesn't that image just evoke happiness and good thoughts?

OR IS IT THE SCARIEST STUPID THING EVER?!

Well, not ever, but maybe in this deck.

Remember way back at the beginning of last week when I was all Oh man I'm sad that I pulled the nine of swords and was all "It's such a hopeless card" blahblahblah HAH. This card puts its predesesor to shame.

SHAAAAAAAAAAAAME

I mean look at it. Look!  It's a fairy being stabbed to DEATH BY THORNS!

Ugh.  Whatchoo doing to me, Universe?

 

Don't hate the playa

Whatevs.

At least it makes for good dramatic action and a great segway INTO

The Process

I mean, it's the card of nightmares.  Whereas the fairy in the nine of swords was on the verge of death, this card is just her being dead.  Even the Mystic Faerie Book can hardly make it sound better, being all "Oh, you know, she might just be sleeping" CHAYAHRIGHT sleeping.  Yeah, just like Mufasa was sleeping RIGHT?! RIGHT?!

.

.

.

.

I was going to post a picture of Mufasa's death scene but then I started crying so I didn't.

You get the point, though, right?!  

But, I do have to say, it added to this whole Scenes in a Graveyard thing that's been happening with the work that I've been producing for this adventure.  Maybe I will have a play when everything is said and done.

For now, though, all it has come to is

An Excerpt 

MAN

The year went by fast.  Can’t believe it’s October already.  

I retire in May.  Got all the paperwork in.  I think they’re going to get me a cake.  Probably get a buncha retirement gag gifts for Christmas.  What’m I supposed to do with them once I’m retired?  Wrap them up and give’m off to the next guy?

[She laughs, despite herself. It sounds like wind.  She jumps over him//He feels wind.]

MAN

Forty years.

Has it really been forty years?

[She shrugs, does some sidesteps]

MAN

Forty years since I had to say good bye to you.

[She blows a raspberry at him.]

MAN

You’re angry I got married.  I never said it before, but I know you are. 

I didn’t mean to, I swear, it just…happened.

Well what was I supposed to do, not get laid for forty years?

[She shakes her head yes]

MAN

Cheryl hates that I come here.  Calls me an old fool bastard.  Only when she’s really angry.  Which justifies it.  It does.  I call her a frigid bitch when I’m angry.  Sad part is we both mean it.  Even when we aren’t. Angry.

Why did you have to die?

[She shrugs.  Doesn’t dance anymore, just watches him]

MAN

I

.

.

.

Love.  Is…something that I don’t…understand.

She was never….

[He slowly takes off his wedding ring.  She gasps and the world shudders but he doesn’t notice.  He looks at the ring, turns it over in his hand.  She comes up to him, watching his fingers close.]

MAN

She was never….you.

In conclusion

Legit the most fun I've had writing one of these excercises in a while.  I played a LOT with typography and placement of text.  I had forgotten how much I love to do that.  I had forgotten.  But it was SO MUCH FUN AAAAH!!!!!  I could dance!  AND I JUST DID! And and and and....

YAY!