Time passed.
...
Do you want an art fact?
We want a hit.
Okay.
In 1964, a woman named Dorothy Podber visited Andy Warhol at The Factory. Warhol had recently completed five portraits of Marilyn Monroe, each one brightly colored in the usual Warhol style. Podber saw four of the Marilyns stacked on one another, and asked Warhol if she could shoot them. He said yes, thinking she meant photographing them.
Podber promptly drew a revolver from her purse, lined it up with the four Marilyns, and fired. The bullet went through the red-backgrounded Marilyn, the orange-backgrounded Marilyn, the light blue-backgrounded Marilyn, and the sage blue-backgrounded Marilyn. The turquoise-backgrounded Marilyn wasn't in the pile, and thus it remained unshot. Podber was then banned from Factory premises.
Three years later, a woman named Valerie Solanas visited The Factory, looking for Andy Warhol. He wasn't there, though an associate named Paul Morrissey was. Morrissey was an avant-garde pornographer who often collaborated with Warhol on projects. He asked her why she was there, and she answered she was waiting for Warhol to pay her for the script of a play she'd asked him to help produce (which he'd lost). Morrissey responded by telling her Warhol wasn't coming in that day, and then he entered the building while Solanas stayed waiting outside. Eventually, Solanas entered the building too, and then rode the elevator up to Warhol's studio. Morrissey, who was in the studio, told her to leave. She got back into the elevator, and rode it down to the lobby. Then she rode it back up and down again for a while until Warhol arrived.
He entered the elevator, and complimented Solanas on her appearance. Most days, she didn't wear makeup, but this day was different. They arrived at the studio, where they were met by Morrissey, along with Mario Amaya (an art critic), and Fred Hughes (Warhol's manager). Morrissey threatened to beat Solanas if she didn't leave, and then he went to use the washroom. After Morrissey left, the phone rang, and Warhol picked it up.
Solanas promptly drew a revolver from her purse. She lined it up with Warhol. She fired. She missed. She fired again. She missed. Warhol fell. She fired again. The bullet went through Warhol's lungs, esophagus, stomach, spleen, and liver. She turned and lined the revolver up with Amaya. She fired. The bullet went into Amaya's hip. She turned and lined the revolver up with Hughes's head. She pulled the trigger. The gun jammed. Hughes asked her politely to leave. She left.
...
...
...
Luanne whispered to herself.
"...Stephanie? I - um, sorry if you're trying to fall asleep or whatever, you don't have to answer, but is it okay if I ask you a question?"
The Barque of Dante
Sometime during the night between the first and second announcements. Private unless it stops being private.
Pippi is still sick.
She still shivers in a cold sweat,
while being too warm to keep
her blanket on.
She doesn't know what's wrong with her.
Sleeps claims her again,
faded against the ground,
her throat choking out a snore.
She still shivers in a cold sweat,
while being too warm to keep
her blanket on.
She doesn't know what's wrong with her.
Sleeps claims her again,
faded against the ground,
her throat choking out a snore.
-
Wham Yubeesling
- Posts: 1257
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- Contact:
A voice comes out of Luanne's collar:
"I'm here."
"I'm here."
A voice from the exploding plastic inevitable.
...
Luanne inhaled.
She hesitated.
She didn't want to do this. It was a dumb question and it wasn't the kind of thing she'd ask someone in real life.
But this wasn't real life. This was reality television. So she had to be a plastic person, for now, because that was what the producers wanted. It was what they thought would make good television. And if she capitulated, they'd only put enough obstacles in the way of her and Pippi's escape for it to look unscripted to the audience.
...
Well keep fucking going then.
She exhaled. And then she inhaled again. And then she whispered.
"Okay. This is probably, um, a weird question, but it's something that's been bothering me and I think you're probably in, um, like, one of the best positions to have a perspective on it, so..."
She fidgeted.
"...um, yeah. Okay. So, okay, um, there's this Andy Warhol quote where he says, like,
"Before I was shot, I always thought that I was more half-there than all-there. I always suspected that I was watching TV instead of living life. People sometimes say that the way things happen in movies is unreal, but actually it's the way things happen in life that's unreal. The movies make emotions look so strong and real, whereas when things really do happen to you, it's like watching television. You don't feel anything. Right when I was being shot and ever since, I knew that I was watching television. The channels switch, but it's all television."
She was quiet for a few seconds.
"OH, Stephanie, actually, you should totally pass this to Jewel too, since she answered my Warhol question on Twitter, and, ummm, if she doesn't answer this, we'll all know she's a poser.
"Anyways, back to the quote. Sorry, um,
"Was he talking about almost being murdered by Valerie Solanas, or do you think he was talking about being shot by a camera?"
...
Luanne inhaled.
She hesitated.
She didn't want to do this. It was a dumb question and it wasn't the kind of thing she'd ask someone in real life.
But this wasn't real life. This was reality television. So she had to be a plastic person, for now, because that was what the producers wanted. It was what they thought would make good television. And if she capitulated, they'd only put enough obstacles in the way of her and Pippi's escape for it to look unscripted to the audience.
...
Well keep fucking going then.
She exhaled. And then she inhaled again. And then she whispered.
"Okay. This is probably, um, a weird question, but it's something that's been bothering me and I think you're probably in, um, like, one of the best positions to have a perspective on it, so..."
She fidgeted.
"...um, yeah. Okay. So, okay, um, there's this Andy Warhol quote where he says, like,
"Before I was shot, I always thought that I was more half-there than all-there. I always suspected that I was watching TV instead of living life. People sometimes say that the way things happen in movies is unreal, but actually it's the way things happen in life that's unreal. The movies make emotions look so strong and real, whereas when things really do happen to you, it's like watching television. You don't feel anything. Right when I was being shot and ever since, I knew that I was watching television. The channels switch, but it's all television."
She was quiet for a few seconds.
"OH, Stephanie, actually, you should totally pass this to Jewel too, since she answered my Warhol question on Twitter, and, ummm, if she doesn't answer this, we'll all know she's a poser.
"Anyways, back to the quote. Sorry, um,
"Was he talking about almost being murdered by Valerie Solanas, or do you think he was talking about being shot by a camera?"
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MurderWeasel
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- Team Affiliation: Jewel's Leviathans
Some long moments pass, and then a new voice emanates from Luanne's collar:
"Why, hello, Luanne.
"Without context, which could change things a whole lot, I tend to assume Warhol was probably being literal. My impression is that he was someone clever, with a big ego, and in my experience clever people with big egos really desperately want to be understood, or else misunderstood in very specific ways, and slowly go mad as they realize that nobody else pays enough attention to pick up anything that isn't explicitly spelled out. At a certain point, you just start saying what you mean and marvel as people still don't understand.
"And, you know, I get the wordplay with the metaphor about the violence of the camera, but personally I don't think it fits. Being filmed doesn't really resemble getting shot at all.
"It's much more like being gutted."
"Why, hello, Luanne.
"Without context, which could change things a whole lot, I tend to assume Warhol was probably being literal. My impression is that he was someone clever, with a big ego, and in my experience clever people with big egos really desperately want to be understood, or else misunderstood in very specific ways, and slowly go mad as they realize that nobody else pays enough attention to pick up anything that isn't explicitly spelled out. At a certain point, you just start saying what you mean and marvel as people still don't understand.
"And, you know, I get the wordplay with the metaphor about the violence of the camera, but personally I don't think it fits. Being filmed doesn't really resemble getting shot at all.
"It's much more like being gutted."
-
Wham Yubeesling
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- Contact:
"If anybody is listening please send me help Jewel is holding me hostage in my own mentor room."
-
Wham Yubeesling
- Posts: 1257
- Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2018 9:15 pm
- Location: there is a man standing behind you
- Team Affiliation: Stephanie's Buccaneers
- Contact:
"I think she's going to make me wear fishnets."
-
Wham Yubeesling
- Posts: 1257
- Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2018 9:15 pm
- Location: there is a man standing behind you
- Team Affiliation: Stephanie's Buccaneers
- Contact:
"I think I'm going t-.
"...
"...
"I'm going to, um, not say that, actually."
"...
"...
"I'm going to, um, not say that, actually."
...
Just like that.
Wow, um... okay. Wow. Okay. Okay. Um. Wow. She wasn't expecting Jewel to, um, answer in-person. Oh no. Oh no? Ohhhh no. Jewel was scary. In a lot of ways. She was a very important person, because she hadn't lost her novelty with the public yet. They weren't bored of her like they were Stephanie. She was also scary because she was a mass murderer. She could kill Luanne ten times and not bat an eye. And she was talking to her. She knew her name. She knew her name? Of course she did. OH NO. Oh. Oh wait. Okay. She was less scary now that she was talking about Andy Warhol.
...
...Hm.
OH. Luanne got it. She saw what she was doing. She was doing the thing. The thing that she was talking about.
...
She smiled accidentally.
...
Oh, now she was frowning.
...
"...Um, okay. I'm, um, ignoring Stephanie," she sputtered quietly.
...
...what was she going to say again?
Oh right.
She smiled again, this time softer. Barely there. There was a lopsided feeling inside her chest. She was holding in tears, but also she felt okay but kind of numb too.
"I'm happy that you're still an artist, Jewel."
Just like that.
Wow, um... okay. Wow. Okay. Okay. Um. Wow. She wasn't expecting Jewel to, um, answer in-person. Oh no. Oh no? Ohhhh no. Jewel was scary. In a lot of ways. She was a very important person, because she hadn't lost her novelty with the public yet. They weren't bored of her like they were Stephanie. She was also scary because she was a mass murderer. She could kill Luanne ten times and not bat an eye. And she was talking to her. She knew her name. She knew her name? Of course she did. OH NO. Oh. Oh wait. Okay. She was less scary now that she was talking about Andy Warhol.
...
...Hm.
OH. Luanne got it. She saw what she was doing. She was doing the thing. The thing that she was talking about.
...
She smiled accidentally.
...
Oh, now she was frowning.
...
"...Um, okay. I'm, um, ignoring Stephanie," she sputtered quietly.
...
...what was she going to say again?
Oh right.
She smiled again, this time softer. Barely there. There was a lopsided feeling inside her chest. She was holding in tears, but also she felt okay but kind of numb too.
"I'm happy that you're still an artist, Jewel."
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MurderWeasel
- Posts: 3449
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- Team Affiliation: Jewel's Leviathans
The response is quick and quiet, but the warmth sounds more or less genuine.
"Thank you. I mean it."
"Thank you. I mean it."
She nodded her head.
"Yeah. You too."
She was quiet after that. She wasn't sure if she believed Jewel. She didn't think it mattered if she believed Jewel.
Time passed.
((Continued in The Next Thread))
"Yeah. You too."
She was quiet after that. She wasn't sure if she believed Jewel. She didn't think it mattered if she believed Jewel.
Time passed.
((Continued in The Next Thread))
Is it cold in the water?
Is it cold?