200 CCs - February 2016

More documents

Recommendations

Info

y Nolan Liebert We talk about love like we know what it is. Dopamine and serotonin and pulse upon pulse, the way we measure the distance and the strength of our longing. But there is more to it. That is why we tell stories, write sonnets, and sing songs. February brings forth jewels and chocolates and singing telegrams. But we forget that love is more than some bond that exists between two people. We try, again and again, to put words to something wordless. “Going Home” talks about the love of a planet, the love of the past, and, unsurprisingly, the love of home. In an increasingly divided culture surrounding the changing ecology of our planet, this is incredibly important to recognize. Why don’t we talk about our home and the world that sustains us in the same way we talk about a partner or a lover? Why don’t we talk about making up with the soil and the sky? There is a nostalgia to this piece that makes one wonder if they are seeing the future stare back at us in judgment. The love of our children, but also their own young love is touched on by “The Valentine’s Massacre”. We forget what it was like to be ourselves from ten or twenty or thirty years ago. We forget what Cupid’s arrows felt like when they pulled us closer and closer across the perfume-riddled floor of the gym. When we are young, we don’t worry about our parents the way they worry about us, in the caretaker sense, in the policing sense. We don’t talk about the fear and the risk that weigh love down, and we wonder why people get hurt so easily. “Pa’s Boat” talks about the love of family, and also the how it continues when part of it is severed. By putting a traditional funeral rite in a modern context, it’s made plain for us that something lives on, even after we surrender or sacrifice the artifacts of the departed. The things become tethers in the same way that living memories become still-frames. We have all lost someone and there are no words for describing the way that grief drills to the core of something deep inside us and twists it. We do not feel the same loving a memory as we do loving a person, but we keep trying, because it’s still love, and the lost need it as much as we do. the plunge Hero worship and the love of myths, legends, and how we deify someone are the tip of the iceberg we meet in “Týr/Fenrir (UST, Dubcon, Squick)”. What happens when our idols fall? Where is the line drawn between our perception of someone and the reality that we try to ignore? We spend a lifetime building our own image, multiple lifetimes sustaining the idea of others, and for what? A love of history? A love of what could have been? A love of what once was? These idols become our guilty pleasures, and we shy away from talking about them, but if it is love or was love, then why do we not meet another’s gaze when we talk about it? There are lessons to be learned from the image of this fallen hero, and we have to look at it if we are to be taught. There is love everywhere, but it must be sought. Can we categorize or itemize or create a dichotomous key to dissect it? No. But that doesn’t mean we should stop trying to see it, especially in unexpected places. We need to talk about love like it’s more than an emotion, because it is – it’s a way of living. 8
Acknowledgements A great many people are owed thanks for their support and contributions to this issue of 200 CCs. Whether through donations, submitted work, signal boosting or just encouragement, the following individuals were instrumental in helping me bring this thing to life. Many others not mentioned here were also invaluable in their support. I thank you all. G.V. Anderson Mickie Bolling-Burke Nancy E. Brown Vajra Chandrasekera Ralan Conley Jeremy Cook Georgene Smith Goodin Thom Hall Mike Hawthorne Lisa Heidle Jinapher J. Hoffman Kevin M. Jackson Lancer Kind Martin Lariz Violet Lariz Nolan Liebert Jim Milligan Bob Moulesong Aaron Nascimento Shannon Nascimento Dave Noble Jeanne Owens Ella Peary Melanie Rees Jason Rief Nina Shepardson Clive Tern Natalia Theodoridou Lisa Vooght George Wells And, of course, my wife Nikki and our daughters, who provide the spark to keep pushing. To help show your support for 200 CCs, visit http://ironsoap.com/200-ccs/support/ 9
Page 1 and 2: February 2016 Vajra Chandasekera
Page 3 and 4: the draw Editing: Creation Through
Page 5 and 6: The Valentine’s Massacre by Georg
Page 7: Týr/Fenrir (UST, Dubcon, Squick) b

200 CCs - February 2016

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?