3 March 2013
So here is the behind the scenes of the last Funday. First I will write the final piece then we will explore together what was going in the writers' minds (in their own words) as they were writing their verse.
Cold shells buried deep, buried deep under iced sheets, Snow covered body limbs, body limbs no longer heat. @yikici
Footsteps leading away, leading away from devilish play, Guilt no longer felt, no longer need he pray. @EDogg
For no redemption for such a man, such a man with gruesome plans, Seeking out his next warm soul to sink them deep into a hole. @ckahn
So he walks free in this land, in this land under his command, Looking for a shade of red, a shade of red for desires unfed. @sarahgamal
His whispered wish lay ripped apart, ripped and torn to match his heart, A heart that once showed him the way, but that way's deadened, come what may. @leelee101
The sun arises and bodies thaw, bodies thaw and up they claw, Hunter hunted revenge they seek, revenge they seek, no longer weak. @burrfoot
Dragging their tortured souls, their tortured souls will play out their roles, Darkness shades their world, shades their world as their vengeance is hurled @sjw
The game with mere mortals, mere mortals who entered our parallel portals, Nows the time for war, the time for war, blood pain and gore @sammielee46
He murdered them on just a whim, a whim was all it took for him, Now the tortured have returned, returned to rip him limb from limb. @BVHarding
On the other side she runs in fire, crosses and she feels desire, She walks and walks and will not tire, waits for him upon a pyre. @HeatherAnne
One by one the others appear, they feel his heart, his heart so near, They've waited so long, so long to hear his heartbeat gather pace with fear @BethyBoo
They slaughter him and end his plight, end his plight without a fight, He returns to hell with his immortal bride, immortal bride by his side @burrfoot ------------------------- And now presenting the writers thoughts:
Cold shells buried deep, buried deep under iced sheets, Snow covered body limbs, body limbs no longer heat. @yikici Yikici : "For this verse I was thinking along the lines of a shooting taking place -a war, in a snow landscape. Cold shells referring to bullet casings and also doubling up as a metaphor too -the bodies becoming shell casings and also implying the bodies are riddled with bullets -so much so that the bodies are like bullet casings. The next parts are self-evident: bodies lay dead under a snowstorm, covered, iced in, they, no longer alive." She also added "the bodies are of innocent civilians shot attacked by military-type people"
Footsteps leading away, leading away from devilish play, Guilt no longer felt, no longer need he pray. @EDogg EDogg: "Well.. I interpreted your (yikici) section as describing the location of body parts, buried in ice and snow.. Where no human or animal could scent out until months later. My stanza is about the truly sick and twisted pedophile priest who dumped the bodies of school children there."
For no redemption for such a man, such a man with gruesome plans, Seeking out his next warm soul to sink them deep into a hole. @ckahn Ckahn: "The first stanza gave me such a strong visual. You understand instantly what is afoot. Then, in the second stanza, the line " no longer need he pray" is what sparked my inspiration for the first two lines, then I finished it with a tip of the hat to the first stanza's powerful imagery"
So he walks free in this land, in this land under his command, Looking for a shade of red, a shade of red for desires unfed. @sarahgamal sarahgamal: "was just gonna write Politicians really. Anyway when tagged thought that's tough cause it sounds dark and I have never explored this genre. So to relate it to me I had to think of something dark and instantly thought of politicians and current leaders in Arab world who are killing their people following their "gruesome plans" without an ounce of guilt or remorse. So described a leader walking proudly killing freedom"
His whispered wish lay ripped apart, ripped and torn to match his heart, A heart that once showed him the way, but that way's deadened, come what may. @leelee101 Leelee101 : "I just thought that the character was pretty soulless and empty inside, so that's how I wrote him, with a heart that showed him no direction."
The sun arises and bodies thaw, bodies thaw and up they claw, Hunter hunted revenge they seek, revenge they seek, no longer weak. @burrfoot Burrfoot: "The first thing that struck me was the rhythm, it had a real folky feel to it for me. Then the topic so far.. We had dead bodies buried under ice, which led unto a murderous man, leaving a trail of destruction in his path. In my turn, I referred back to the start and had the bodies thaw from their iced graves. I saw a metaphor for guilt, and wanted to show that even victims can be strong if standing together, hunting their hunter."
Dragging their tortured souls, their tortured souls will play out their roles, Darkness shades their world, shades their world as their vengeance is hurled @sjw Sjw: "I got that it was about a killer until Burr put a twist on it and it became about the victims, so my line was about them seeking vengeance"
The game with mere mortals, mere mortals who entered our parallel portals, Nows the time for war, the time for war, blood pain and gore @sammielee46 Sammielee46: "the word portal in my mind was to create a division between the living and the undead, I could imagine a war of the two beginning! If that makes any bloody sense :) xx"
He murdered them on just a whim, a whim was all it took for him, Now the tortured have returned, returned to rip him limb from limb. @BVHarding "My initial thought on this composition was that it was a tragedy. I anticipated that it would be about the circumstances that led to someone's icy death. But the poem shifted gears to being more about the criminal that perpetrated the horrible crime. This took things in a great direction as his disturbed character was developed by some of the writers. I was honestly taken by surprise when the poem's plot again shifted to being about zombies. So by the time it came to me I decided that I wanted to build some suspense. After my piece I was glad to see that suspense continued to build until the zombies finally got their revenge. And of course the plot twisted once again when they were united in an undead marriage. It was a very fun piece overall and I was glad to contribute...although I think I would have named it "Best Served Cold" "
On the other side she runs in fire, crosses and she feels desire, She walks and walks and will not tire, waits for him upon a pyre. @HeatherAnne HeatherAnne: "I had fun writing my entry. I read through the parts before mine about four times before I realised I knew exactly what I wanted. I think my entry of a female protagonist opened up a lot of the plot line, too - which is gratifying. I didn't put many details in at all, preferring the anonymity and giving everyone else freedom to expand on it... I'd do it again (the challenge) in a heartbeat!"
One by one the others appear, they feel his heart, his heart so near, They've waited so long, so long to hear his heartbeat gather pace with fear @BethyBoo BethyBoo: " I was mostly thinking "what am I going to do?" Was so hard lol. But I was thinking about how there was more than one after the man, so where were they? :/ lol"
They slaughter him and end his plight, end his plight without a fight, He returns to hell with his immortal bride, immortal bride by his side @burrfoot Burrfoot: "You (me/Sarah) mentioned the political undertones, and it struck a cord. The theme of victims rising up against the oppressor continued and heather introduced a female role. I tried to tie it all together in the end, with the murderer giving up without a fight against his guilt. Then joining the female, his bride. I think it's ambiguous as to whether any of them are happy or punished and think it still applies to political doctrines as they die..."
Big hand of applause to Burr for the idea @Burrfoot
Behind The Scenes With The Writers Of "From Hell And Back Again" • Opuss № I