A Thief of Clothes

Mr Black: And so I found many treasures hidden in the cave, but there were too many for me to carry home.

Marlowe: You must have been disappointed.

Mr Black: Most terribly!



Eric: Pardon the interruption, but have either of you seen my clothes?

Marlowe: Have you tried the clothing drawer?

Mr Black: Perhaps ask Elena, she has a history of eating clothes.



The most familiar example of reptile molting is when snakes shed their skin.



Elena: I like to think of new clothes as an opportunity to choose different identities.

Aurora: His trousers are too short on you.

Elena: All the better to display my toes. Next, I will try the jacket.

Eric: Ahem.



Eric: Why are you wearing my clothes?

Elena: I have no recollection of wearing your clothes. Especially not your jacket.

Eric: But the empirical evidence is here. And I have a witness.



Aurora: Even I am not sure how she suddenly came to be wearing the jacket.

Elena: Why would I wear trousers that are too short for my legs? Your accusations are absurd.

Eric: Oh. You know, Aurora, I am suddenly reminded of a dream.

Aurora: What was your dream?

Eric: There was a garden in Spring.



I feared there would be serpents in the garden. Instead, there was a lady amongst the flowers.



She told me not to be afraid.



I felt that she could help me, and I confessed to her all my deepest regrets and wishes.





When she had heard everything, she reached out with her small hand,

and told me to drink the dew from a flower.



I woke with the taste of an August sunset on my lips.





Aurora: I had the same dream. The sunset tasted like Chardonnay.

Elena: This morning I had a nightmare.




Eric appeared, wearing my favourite dress.

He left me his cast-off clothes.



Everyone said that he looked better in my dress than I ever had.

I asked for my dress back.



I pleaded on bended knee.



I offered him treasures untold.

Golden rings, radiant jewels, and ancient secrets.



But he said he would keep the dress.



So, to cheer myself, I decided to see how well his clothes suited me.

Marlowe: that case, Elena, listen to a re-occuring vision that I have frequently reflected upon.



It is an unseasonably warm evening.

So warm that you are not wearing many things.



Yet even being thus sensibly attired, you complain of the heat.

I advise you to remove all of your remaining garments and to instead wear three drops of French perfume.



And you agree that this is sage advice.





What do you suppose this delightful vision could possibly mean?



Elena: Probably that you really do think Eric would look better in my dress.

Marlowe: What? :-O No...

Eric: I have no desire whatever to wear anyone's dress.



Elena: Even if it made you irresistible?

Eric: There is no one I am trying to seduce. Here.





* * *

Later

Mr. Black: So what have we learned today?

Elena: Not to give undue credence to peculiar dreams. And to ask before I borrow other people's items.



Eric: To be more careful of where I keep my clothes and to stay out of Elena's dreams, if I can help it.



Aurora: I have been reminded of the importance of trust and of the many mysteries in the world.



Mr. Black: And you, Marlowe?



Marlowe: Well, disregarding that Elena's actions may be less irrational than they first appear . . .



. . . chiefly that you could not carry home all the treasures from the cave.



Mr. Black: Egads, after all those words, I did not expect such an insightful insight at the end!

Elena: I like how you explained everything, Marlowe.

Marlowe: Thank-you. It was nothing, really.


* * *

Notes: It's finally done! This photostory took so many detours, re-writes, and re-shoots, I have almost lost track. I enjoyed seeing (nearly) everyone tell their own mini-narratives. After this though, I may try to write slightly less strange photostories.

In other news, I have a Raurencio Studio Adonis head on order and am planning to try it on an EID female body. It's a rather expensive experiment though, so unless my mind is boggled with the amazingness, I might not be keeping the body and/or head.

Jungian Shadow Contest

DoA released the results, so I can post my pictures here.

I based my submission (the second picture down) on Henry Fuseli's series of paintings The Nightmare.












* * *

I'm not sure if it's clear, but there are some symbolic things going on in these pictures.

In the first image, the Dreamer is in a hazy half-conscious state where realities and unrealities are colliding and super-imposing themselves upon each other. As the dream deepens, the repressed character of the Shadow appears as a veiled and ominous figure.

The Dreamer is blindfolded because of her lack of agency, and the colour red reverberates from her blindfold to the hangings in the background. Due to the Dreamer's attempts to avoid looking her disowned Shadow in the face, this confrontation is full of horror.

The colour in the third picture is more lurid, to indicate that this is the most terrifying of surrenders: the changed, repressed shadow touches the Dreamer with both hands. The red feathers near the Dreamer's head indicate the disarray of her defenses and suggest that there may be something seductive about the touch of the Shadow.

In the third and fourth images, the colours are softer and the red recedes. The Dreamer has removed her blindfold and dares to look upon the face of the Shadow. When the Dreamer has seen the Shadow, he at last receives her acceptance, and the two can begin to learn from each other.

In Limbo

I'm starting a new term in a few days, and the dread of that has more or less paralyzed me.

Den of Angels is also hosting a contest, and I am nearly at my wits' end with curiosity. After the results are posted, I may or may not have images to share.

There is also a photostory in the works, and assuming that I can escape the paralysis of school-induced dread and doll-induced suspense, I will finish it quite soon.

Until I have something substantial to post, here is Mr. Black looking out of a window at an airport in San Francisco. He is in a bag because I disguised him as a carry-on.