#your grandkids will be singing strange fruit | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

hedgehog-moss · 4 years

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The Neverending Story is so good! I've never actually come across anyone else who had read it, and I also agree with your analogy!

I loved this book so much as a kid! It had exactly the kind of surreal, "no rhyme or reason” worldbuilding that delighted me. Summarising it feels like attempting to describe absurdist poetry. The good part starts with the giant egg that vomits a ladder made of words, right? And each rung is a sentence and as you climb up you realise the Word Ladder is telling you to go away. You ignore it and get inside the egg and it contains the book (the one you’re reading). Then

you burst forth from the egg with the seed of the Night Forest which turns into a multicoloured desert during the day, with the Many-Coloured Death gallopping across (it’s a lion)

the lion carries you to his tomb, and dies. You go through a house with too many doors, including one that has to be unbuttoned.

beyond that door you get to a city where every house is a ship on a lake of tears (because the founders of the city were so ugly they wept all day long)

you send a friend to fight a kangaroo dragon with baby hands who lives in a castle surrounded by moats of nitric acid. You made this up so your friend could feel like a hero.

The dragon has an old man’s head and an old woman’s head where his eyes should be.

you get an old mule and meet the ugly beings who sob all day. They hate themselves and think they don’t deserve to exist and you basically agree so you turn them into butterflies. Inevitably they make hideous butterflies, with receding hairlines (yes) and clown faces.

you are joined by odd creatures (an army of ants with helmets, walking puddles, birds with flute beaks, etc) as you cross a forest of giant carnivorous orchids. The evil orchid forest is inhabited by a witch who lives in a castle shaped like a hand with eyes. She wears purple silk and mind-controls hollow people. She brainwashes you for a few months, she’s amazing

you get rid of your old mule because the witch said it’s ugly. Your ugly mule bursts into sobs. You tell her that at least she’s got a cool story for the grandkids and she’s like “Mules are sterile, idiot” so you promise her that a virile swan-stallion will impregnate her with hybrid babies and she’s all cheered up (whatever you say comes true, unfortunately)

You meet wise monks with bird heads. You

become Emperor

go insane

try to murder your best friend.

You end up in a gloomy city and a monkey tells you it is inhabited by former Emperors and Empresses who have gone insane. There are hundreds of them, dressed in crazy ways and busy doing crazy things (one is shaving a mirror, another pasting postage stamps on soap bubbles). The monkey uses them for his entertainment. Everything about this is creepy

the monkey sends you to the Sea of Mist, which can be crossed with ships propelled by thoughts. The mist sailors sing calm songs and are very nice so you find them boring (you’re a terrible person)

you reach an adorable pumpkin cottage! Inhabited by a woman who wears a dress made of fruit. As she happily waters herself with a watering can, you realise the fruit isn’t her clothing but is actually growing out of her body like other people grow hair. You feel a bit weird about having eaten so much of her fruit.

she’s like hey it’s cool, when you were a baby you drank milk that your mother made with her body and that’s exactly the same thing. She wants to keep you as her baby and she puts you to sleep in a crib. You stay with her for weeks and whenever something reminds you that you should leave, you suddenly get a strange craving for fruit.

you manage to leave and you meet a blind miner who extracts people’s dreams. You go down the mine shaft to grab a dream but it is destroyed by the ugly butterfly-clowns when they try to kidnap you because they love you.

you find your friend Atreyu who forgives you for the murder attempt, you drink rainbow water and you get to go home, but more importantly, what happened to the witch? Unfortunately she was trampled to death by the hooves of giant metallic horses. She mind-controlled the riders so it’s kind of implied she chose to die? Without anyone to mind-control them, the monstrous horses and their hollow riders remain motionless for all eternity, slowly sinking into the ground and eventually forming a landscape of eerie ruins that future generations will believe to be haunted.

#books #another example of a children's book whose plot can only be described as 'relentlessly surrealist' is #the french series peggy sue & the ghosts #the girl had a boyfriend made of sand that she hid in a suitcase under her bed and she had to water him regularly and at some point #he got too dry and the wind scattered his facial features so his nose was no longer in the right place on his face #at another point her blood was turned into grape juice and in the sun her body fermented it #and she became dangerously drunk from the wine running through her veins and nearly died #nightmare stuff but of the delightful kind. The kind of nightmares you have as a kid

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omegangrins · 4 years

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The Secret of the Spoons

youtube

Slave: Anansi... Anansi... Compe Anansi.... can you hear me? I do not have for you a gift. But, you are wise and though small, you know ways to crawl in and out of danger unharmed. These strange men have tied my hands. So I cannot dance or clap or cut fruit to place before you. But you can hear my voice. Help me from this place and I will sing to you all my life. I will bring you gifts. Gifts of leather, and stew, and silks, and best wine. Please, I don’t know where is my mother.

Anansi: Oh, she long dead.

She wouldn't give it up for Johannes up there so he threw her off the boat.

Did you know your momma couldn't swim? You all need to work on that.

Take swimming lessons.

This is how we get stereotypes.

You want help? Fine.

Let me tell you a story.

"Once upon a time, a man got fucked." Now, how is that for a story? 'Cause that's the story of black people in America.

[chuckles] Shit, you all don't know you black yet.

You think you just people.

Let me be the first to tell you that you are all black.

The moment these Dutch motherfuckers set foot here and decided they white, and you get to be black, and that's the nice name they call you.

Let me paint a picture of what's waiting for you on the shore.

You arrive in America, land of opportunity, milk and honey, and guess what? You all get to be slaves.

Split up, sold off and worked to death.

The lucky ones get Sunday off to sleep and fuck and make more slaves, and all for what? For cotton? Indigo? For a fucking purple shirt? The only good news is the tobacco your grandkids are gonna farm for free is gonna give a shitload of these white motherfuckers cancer.

And I ain't even started yet.

A hundred years later.

You're fucked.

A hundred years after that.

Fucked.

A hundred years after you get free, you still getting fucked out a job and shot at by police.

You see what I'm saying? This guy gets it.

I like him.

He's getting angry.

Angry is good.

Angry, gets shit done.

You shed tears for Compe Anansi, and here he is, telling you, you are staring down the barrel of 300 years of subjugation, racist bullshit and heart disease.

He is telling you there isn't one goddamn reason you shouldn't go up there right now and slit the throats of every last one of these Dutch motherfuckers and set fire to this ship!

Slave 2: But the ship will burn. All of us will die.

Anansi: [chuckles] You already dead, asshole.

At least die a sacrifice for something worthwhile.

Let the motherfucker burn! Let it all burn!

#american gods #gods #god #anansi #orlando jones #bryan fuller #Showtime #ricky whittle #ian mcshane #odin #neil gaiman #Youtube

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xtenyasha · 5 years

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Anansi Monologue, season 1, episode 2

https://vimeo.com/217950394

« -Anansi, Anansi, Compe Anansi… Can you hear me ? I do not have for you a gift but… You are wise and though small, You know ways to crawl in and out of danger unharmed. These strange me have tied my hands, So I cannot dance or clap or cut fruit to place before you. But you can hear my voice. Help me from this place and I will sing to you all my life. I will bring you gifts, Gifts of leather, and stew, and silks, and best wine. Please, I don’t know where is my mother. » « -Oh she long dead She wouldn't give it up for Johannes up there so he threw her off the boat. Did you know your momma couldn't swim? You all need to work on that. Take swimming lessons. This is how we get stereotypes. » « -Anansi .» « - You want help? Fine. Let me tell you a story. "Once upon a time, a man got fucked. " Now, how is that for a story? 'Cause that's the story of black people in America. [chuckles] Shit, you all don't know you black yet. You think you just people. Let me be the first to tell you that you are all black. The moment these Dutch motherfuckers set foot here and decided they white, and you get to be black, and that's the nice name they call you Let me paint a picture of what's waiting for you on the shore. You arrive in America, land of opportunity, milk and honey, and guess what? You all get to be slaves. Split up, sold off and worked to death. The lucky ones get Sunday off to sleep and fuck and make more slaves, and all for what? For cotton? Indigo? For a fucking purple shirt? The only good news is the tobacco your grandkids are gonna farm for free is gonna give a shitload of these white motherfuckers cancer. And I ain't even started yet. A hundred years later. You're fucked. A hundred years after that. Fucked. A hundred years after you get free, you still getting fucked out a job and shot at by police. You see what I'm saying? This guy gets it. I like him. He's getting angry. Angry is good. Angry gets shit done. You shed tears for Compe Anansi, and here he is, telling you you are staring down the barrel of 300 years of subjugation, racist bullshit and heart disease. He is telling you there isn't one goddamn reason you shouldn't go up there right now and slit the throats of every last one of these Dutch motherfuckers and set fire to this ship!" "- But the ship will burn. All of us will die" "-[chuckles] You already dead, asshole. At least die a sacrifice for something worthwhile. Let the motherfucker burn! Let it all burn! ».

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ascen-sion · 3 years

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“Your grandkids will be singing strange fruit.”

#text #the us vs billie holiday #10/10

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omegangrins · 4 years

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I couldn't find one, so I made a transcript of the opening to s01e02 "The Secret of Spoons"

Anansi: Oh, she long dead.

She wouldn't give it up for Johannes up there so he threw her off the boat.

Did you know your momma couldn't swim? You all need to work on that.

Take swimming lessons.

This is how we get stereotypes.

You want help? Fine.

Let me tell you a story.

"Once upon a time, a man got fucked." Now, how is that for a story? 'Cause that's the story of black people in America.

[chuckles] Shit, you all don't know you black yet.

You think you just people.

Let me be the first to tell you that you are all black.

The moment these Dutch motherfuckers set foot here and decided they white, and you get to be black, and that's the nice name they call you.

Let me paint a picture of what's waiting for you on the shore.

You arrive in America, land of opportunity, milk and honey, and guess what? You all get to be slaves.

Split up, sold off and worked to death.

And I ain't even started yet.

A hundred years later.

Fucked.

A hundred years after that.

Fucked.

A hundred years after you get free, you still getting fucked out a job and shot at by police.

You see what I'm saying? This guy gets it.

I like him.

He's getting angry.

Angry is good.

Angry, gets shit done.

You shed tears for Compe Anansi, and here he is, telling you, you are staring down the barrel of 300 years of subjugation, racist bullshit and heart disease.

He is telling you there isn't one goddamn reason you shouldn't go up there right now and slit the throats of every last one of these Dutch motherfuckers and set fire to this ship!

Slave 2: But the ship will burn. All of us will die.

Anansi: [chuckles] You already dead, asshole.

At least die a sacrifice for something worthwhile.

Let the motherfucker burn! Let it all burn!

#american gods #orlando jones #anansi #slavery #america #gods #trickster #ship

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