Advent Challenge 2017

[winged-backpack]

What's in a gift?
They say -
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,"
And that's true of a gift

What's a gift to you
Might not be a gift to me
Is a gift material, an object
Or, is it something more?

Does it have to be real,
A physical thing you can hold?
Or can it be sentiment,
Love, compassion; something you feel?

A gift could be an apology,
It could be a compliment,
Or even just a hug.
Whatever, as long as it makes you happy

The perfect gift, for me
Is the day my dad stops
Saying "you'll find a boy"
And realises, I'm LGBT!

The day I can come out and say
'I'm not a girl,
At least not all the time...
Depends on the day.'

When I can bind my chest
Without the fear of my mother
Turning away from me, her child
The day she won't protest

What's in a gift?
The truth is, it's happiness
It's love for each other
It's something to set those bad emotions adrift

AN: Yooooo check out that partially accidental ABCA rhyme scheme (also I feel like I'm starting to bring the mood up here (also also, I realised that two of my prompts are essentially that same so I'mma change 'present' to sommat else)) okay *Alaska voice* byeeeeeee

[winged-backpack]

Gonna have to just censor this one fully - I'll link it but be aware that I've put a mature content filter on it because it deals with some sensitive subjects. Please, please, don't read it if you're easily upset or triggered (s/h trigger warning).

EDIT: it's also on my wattpad, but same warnings apply

[axelandria]

Gonna have to just censor this one fully - I'll link it but be aware that I've put a mature content filter on it because it deals with some sensitive subjects. Please, please, don't read it if you're easily upset or triggered (s/h trigger warning).

I love this so much omg

[winged-backpack]

Gonna have to just censor this one fully - I'll link it but be aware that I've put a mature content filter on it because it deals with some sensitive subjects. Please, please, don't read it if you're easily upset or triggered (s/h trigger warning).

I love this so much omg

Thank you! I was really debating whether or not to post it because it's so personal, but I'm kind of glad i did ^^

[winged-backpack]

AN: okay I changed the prompt, because I looked up what the lyrics for November Rain actually meant I completely misinterpreted them so I'm just going to write about music in general (also I kind of hate this and wish I had started earlier bc I literally cannot be arsed)

Why do we define ourselves by our music tastes?
Why does listening to hard rock qualify me as a metalhead?
But I also listen to pop punk, so that makes me emo, right?
Why should listening to pop make you better than me?
Music is not a monument, set in stone by people of old.
It's dynamic, it's fluid, it's ever-changing.
No one kind is ever better than another.
Think of all the different kinds!
Songs are not fixed to any sort of laws or restrictions,
They can be one minute long, or ten!
Music is eternal, never-ending.
We have music from centuries ago,
Music from decades past,
And new music being created every single day.
Music has emotion,
It gives us a voice, when we might not otherwise have one.
It's an escape, from the constant industrial noise of life.
Why does hating that artist you love make me a monster,
But you not liking one I love make you the same?
Sure, I'm in the unpopular opinion of your Ewok-without-hair musicians,
But that shouldn't define me as a person.
I'll listen to the music I love,
You listen to the music you love,
Our music tastes differ, but that's just life,
Not a cause for insult, nor a comment on what we're like as people.
It's a preference, one that's as dynamic as the music we listen to.
My taste goes from Metallica, to My Chemical Romance, to Maroon 5;
It's not set in stone.
It's there to be felt,
To be enjoyed,
Generation after generation,
To be loved,
To be preserved,
Forevermore.

[Ranger of the North]

@YouTube commenters :p

[winged-backpack]

I curl up in bed
Block out the noisy ramblings
Of this family I despise
With the loud, booming sound
The music I love allowing me to escape
Escape from the day

I pick up a book
The works of Poe, or Lovecraft,
Or Stoker, or Shelley,
I fall headfirst into their worlds
Even though I can't see them
I can hear them,
I'm lost

She's asleep in her bed
The one I bought for her eleventh
A black and grey ball of fur
She snores in her old age
Starts to jerk her leg,
Chasing a cat in her dreamscape

I wrap my blanket around my shoulders
It's older than I am,
My first blanket,
Is it wrong to be an adult
Yet still call it "blankie"?
Probably, but who cares?

I stand up to light a candle
But which scent?
Cappuccino Truffle? Mulled Wine?
Black Coconut? Witches' Brew?
I choose and strike the match
The flame grows and glows

The rain lashes against the window
I stop my music to just listen
And in this moment, I appreciate
That no matter how much life gets to me
I can always escape to my room
My cave of comfort.

AN: I'm so looking forward to tomorrow's one! Just had to get that out there okay byeee

[winged-backpack]

For context, this is a music video plan for Life of the Party by All Time Low. I'm aware that one does exist, but this is what I imagine when I listen to it. (Next post is going to be a little commentary about my thoughts behind this one.

Intro (10 seconds):
The camera pans across a hotel room, with many people asleep/passed out all over it: on the bed, on the floor etc. There are a few jump-cuts to various partygoers. As the intro fades into the first verse, the last jump-cut reveals a GIRL WEARING LONG SLEEVES stood amongst them and seeming confused.

Fist verse (21 seconds):
All these people are passed out on the floor of my hotel room/I don’t know half of them but they all want to know me - The girl walks about the room, trying to work out why there are so many people in her room.

And it’s four in the morning, I’m just trying to fix myself - She sits on the bed and checks the clock for the time.

What the hell did I do?/I’m the life of the party – She looks around once more, then a look of realisation fills her face.

I’m the life of the party – she looks up directly into the camera, and there’s a flash of light as the setting changes to a party.

First chorus (28 seconds):
Somewhere in between who I used to be/and who I’ll be tomorrow when the champagne blows my mind/thrills don’t come for free/the price you pay for dreams/in a sea of strangers I can’t find me any more – the girl is pushed around by tens of partygoers, many of which were on the hotel floor. There are jump-cuts to various party games (beer pong, spin the bottle etc.). She is pushed around to the point where on the beat of “more”, she is pushed outside and falls forward onto the ground.

Any more/I can’t find me any more – she slowly looks up and runs through the party into the bathroom and looks in the mirror. She is dishevelled and panicked. She isn’t alone however, as she notices a GIRL WEARING SHORT SLEEVES is in there with her, sat on the edge of the bath.

Second verse (21 seconds):
keep thinking about you/how you level me out sometimes – LONG SLEEVES looks around at SHORT SLEEVES and realises that they are the same person, just the introverted and extraverted sides of that same person. The only difference between the two is the long and short sleeves.

When I’m out of my head/and I don’t want to face it – SHORT SLEEVES looks up at LONG SLEEVES and smiles. She stands up from the bath and faces SHORT SLEEVES, taking her hand as she does so.

You said it’s all for a reason/But what the (whoops) is the reason now? – LONG SLEEVES is still panicky and confused – why is there another her in here? She impulsively starts to back away, still holding hands with the other her.

Coming down, bring me back/I’m the life of the party – SHORT SLEEVES begins to walk back into the party, letting go of LONG SLEEVES’ hand. LONG SLEEVES mimes “what, where are you going?” then “wait, come back!”

I’m the life of the party – SHORT SLEEVES looks back for a second, then leaves.

Second chorus (38 seconds):
Somewhere in between who I used to be/and who I’ll be tomorrow when the champagne blows my mind/thrills don’t come for free/the price you pay for dreams/in a sea of strangers I can’t find me any more/Any more/I can’t find me any more/Any more/I can’t find me any more – back in the party, the camera pans to show SHORT SLEEVES dancing with a large group, having the time of her life. The jump-cuts are the same as the previous chorus, but show SHORT SLEEVES joining in with the party games - she gets the ping pong ball in the cup and gets cheered, the bottle lands on a girl she likes, and the two kiss. All through this, the shot periodically changes back to LONG SLEEVES watching this all happen, and her expression changes from panic, to realisation, to sadness. By the end of the second to last “any more”, she has broken down into tears, and the camera cuts away to SHORT SLEEVES laughing and panting.

Bridge (35 seconds):
Now it’s four in the morning/I’m just trying to fix myself – SHORT SLEEVES walks back into the bathroom to find LONG SLEEVES on the edge of the bath crying.

What the hell did I do/I’m the life of the party – she is overcome by guilt, and kneels down to look LONG SLEEVES in the face, and take her hands once more.

It’s so hard to imagine who I’d be if I walked away – SHORT SLEEVES shakes her head, and mimes the words “I’m sorry” to her old, introverted self.

Never know what it’s like to be the life of the party – LONG SLEEVES smiles though the tears, revealing that they are really tears of joy, celebrating the new, extraverted her. She mimes “it’s fine, go.”

I’m the life of the party/yeah – the two share one final hug, to say good bye.

I’m the life of the party – SHORT SLEEVES lets go, and returns to the party, finally leaving her old self behind without any guilt, but with a little sadness.

Third chorus (38 seconds):
Somewhere in between who I used to be/and who I’ll be tomorrow when the champagne blows my mind/thrills don’t come for free/the price you pay for dreams/in a sea of strangers I can’t find me any more – more shots of SHORT SLEEVES at the party, having an even better time than before. She’s seen dancing with the girl she kissed during spin the bottle, and smiling more than she ever has before

Any more/I can’t find me any more/Any more/I can’t find me any more – LONG SLEEVES makes her way through the party to the exit. She is not pushed around this time, rather the partygoers move so she has a direct path to the door. Under the light of the moon, she walks to the end of the garden, and stops to look back one last time.

Outro (14 seconds):
LONG SLEEVES looks up to the sky, closes her eyes, and fades into the moonlight, the old self leaving this world forever.

[winged-backpack]

(I've been listening to Life of the Party on repeat for 3 hours I'm going insane)

Anyways, I just wanted to write up a little commentary about this prompt because I wanted to add a little bit of context as to what inspired this.

So, I'm actually going to see All Time Low live in march, which is awesome because they released Last Young Renegade a while after I saw them in February 2016, but the thing is I avoided listening to the album for months because I just could not be bothered, and when I fist heard Dirty Laundry, I kind of hated it. Then my friend and I got the tickets for March, and I was like "okay, yeah I need to listen to it now..."

I freakin loved all of it (apart from Afterglow). I'm doubly excited to see them this time around and I just cannot wait until march now.

As for the inspiration for this prompt, there are 2 sides to it really.

The first side is a condition I have called "aphantasia" which really sucks as a writer and an artist because it means that I have no visual imagination. My mind's eye is blind, if you will. It means that I can't see things in my head, and so to compensate, I tell myself stories, and a lot of them are influenced by the music I listen to. And so after a few times of listening to Life of the Party, I started to form this story in my head of a girl who is completely introverted being turned into the life of the party.

Here comes in the second side of the inspiration. I'm an ambivert, in that I can be introverted and extraverted in different situations. It always depends on the activity and the people I'm with. For example, when I'm out shopping, I'm completely introverted, but when I'm in the queue to a gig, I'm the complete opposite (I actually even made a good friend when I was in the queue to see Panic! at the Disco). Anyway, I'm always battling with these two sides of my personality, and that's where these two characters came into the story, being the same person.

The two characters only have that one difference between them - the long and short sleeves - mainly because I have a huge pet peeve for those movies that show girls being more confident by changing everything about them, so I just changed that one detail. The long sleeves represent the introverted self hiding away and not showing her full personality to everyone because of her anxiety. The change to short sleeves for her extraverted self shows her blossoming into her full self and showing that she isn't afraid any more.

That's about all I can say about it really, I really hope you liked it, dear reader!

[Ranger of the North]

Ooh! I like how you added some background to it; that's cool c: