A Peek Beneath the Duct Tape: Love Like Winter

And so...another inspiration for The White Album that I had to wait until now to explain. Oh, I teased you right from the start with this video by AFI, and many of you guessed that Love Like Winter would be the title of the concluding segment (As a matter of fact, my first idea was to use LLW as the title for the whole trilogy, but that was before Jukebox told me he wanted each segment to be a separate story with its own title). What you didn't know until now was just how many ways this song influenced the trilogy's origins.

Watch the video again, if you like. Notice the images, and especially think about the lyrics. Listen to that talk about blood and biting and "drinking my war." Although the symbolism of drained color was part of my idea from the beginning, I did originally plan for a vampire that drank blood. Then, a little later, when I came up with the idea of Dalila's slaves posing like statues and dummies, the line "Press your lips to the sculptures and surely you'll stay" became eerily prescient.



Yeah, you knew the statue/dummy idea was mine, didn't you? ;-) Geoff Coen had the "Jukebox" stamp across his forehead, and the statues and dummies have the "thrall" stamp across theirs. Originally, I was going to take them even further into fetish territory and have Abby dressed in a full-body latex catsuit with goggles over her eyes. But just as we began to write the first mannequin scene, I realized it would be more powerful to have Abby wearing the dress Dalila used to seduce her. So no latex. Sorry. But you know what? I liked the dress idea so much that I don't even miss the alternative.

And you know what else? Even though the statues and dummies have that great big "thrall" stamp, Jukebox still managed to sneak his own signature onto them, too. I've said before that it's almost impossible to talk with J for very long and not have the conversation turn to Dr. Who. Now, I watched a lot of the show in college, myself (mostly Tom Baker, with a bit of Peter Davison and John Pertwee), and even though I don't watch it now, I'm still curious enough to read articles online - and to chat with Jukebox about current developments in the series.

So. Early on in our discussions, Jukebox started raving about the Weeping Angels. At first I thought he wanted to talk about them just because they were really cool monsters, but then I got curious enough to look them up online. I found some pics, some detailed descriptions of the episode in which they first appear, and eventually an extended video clip. By then it was hilariously apparent that where I was thinking mindless minions posed like art, Jukebox was thinking Weeping Angels. Take a look at the clip compilation below, and you'll see just how thoroughly "Blink" worked its way into "Love Like Winter."



And now, one last thing before I hit the "Publish" button. I understand that some people have been...miffed...by the dark tone of The White Album. Hopefully, that doesn't apply to anyone reading this blog; I have to think that if you like my stuff well enough to follow me here, then you're not afraid of the dark. You might actually like it. You might even - and this is my fondest hope - appreciate the pathos of Carly's sacrifice. I think it's a much more powerful ending than if Carly and Abby had just ridden off into the sunset together.

As for those folks who always want fireworks and dancing Ewoks, all I can say is this: I've been posting on the EMCSA since 2002, long enough for regular readers to know my style and know how few of my stories have traditional happy endings. So if you're that scared of getting your feelings hurt, then why the hell do you keep reading my stuff? Go rent Twilight instead.