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7/31/2019 Omnia Zine 1st Edition
1/9
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Nancy the Londoner, spends a lot of her time on tumblr and flailing over a certain Mr. Tom Hiddleston, but
when shes not blogging she loves to write and aspires to being paid for it one day. Some of her favourite
things include; Shelock, Andrew Gower, theatre, cats and tea. God does she love tea. Bit of Nancy trivia, she
was on Newsround as judge for the childrens book award; needless to say the world of the BBC hasnt left
her heart since. She is a veracious reader, with an ever expanding mammoth book collection. She buys
different versions of the same ones sometimes, as they have pretty covers. Thats dedication for you.
Wherethewildnettlesgrow
@nancelarrikin
Inthisissue
PatrickWolf
TheAsteroidsGalaxyTour
TheHour
AndrewGower
Misfits
DoctorWho
Merlin
TheCatcherintheRye
ThePerksofBeingaWallflower
VFestival
FictionSubmission
Dead
-rotten
@thatminto
Daisy may live in Geneva, the quietest city everbuilt, but shes still a Brit at heart, demandingtea and tutting loudly at unsuspecting Swisspersons wherever she goes. She is addicted to
tumblr, Blondie, Being Human and TomHiddlestons face, and is often found face downon her carpet crying over British TV shows andhandsome actors. She wants to write plays for aliving, own lots of cats and be friends with peoplewho like tea as much as she does.
GETINVOLVED
Haveyougotsomethingyouwantto
writeabout?Great!
Writeusanarticleofnomore
than600wordsoracreative
pieceofnomorethan1400
words. Submitittodead-rotten
.tumblr.com/submit
Oremailitto
Werealsoonthelookoutfor
drawings,graphicsandphotos,so
sendusamessageonTumblror
Twitter,ifyoureupfordoing(free)
commissions.
NN
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A festival stage purple and blue
ights flooded the space, a little blonde woman
appeared in sequins beside a bald man in
shades. The Asteroids Galaxy Tour had landed.
The Danish band got their big break
when their song Around the Bend was used
n an IPod advert but their debut album Fruit
wrongly slid under the radar. Fruit introduces
you to their space age electro-funk sound,
coupled with the martian warbling of Mette their
ead singer. Its pop, but its funk.
When I first heard Golden Age a
homage to the heyday of glamour, I couldnt
believe that AGT werent better known as theywere the perfect balance of commercial pop
and galactic funk. Everything was nebulas,
brass and glitter. It was perfect.
From fruit to frequency, I waited for
The Asteroids Galaxy Tours second album
Out of Frequency wit baited breath; would it
be more of the same? Would it be more
poppy?
How could they top their smash of a first
album? The first single to be released was
Heart Attack and when I first gave it a listen a
little bit of me died and I thought I had lost my
AGT down the drain, and only some sequins
and quality left behind. It sounded like any
other pop song sung by a blonde female,
perhaps with a handful of glitter lamely
sprinkled on top.
Put out by the commercial sound of
Heart Attack I bought their album when it
came out in January expecting that they had
sold out to commercialism.
But thank the Glitter God that thereare some real AGT songs on Out of
Frequency. They kept their brass, sequins and
nebulas but added some extra galaxy and
bass, the batter came out as a perfect elctro-
funk meringue. And I really like meringues.
Patrick Wolf other-worldly, forever nineteen and utterly unique was born with
the rather unglamorous name of Patrick Dennis Apps. Not exactly fitting for the glittery
fairy tale character he was to become. So Apps had to go, replaced by Wolf, a tribute to
the werewolf stories in Angela Carters The Bloody Chamber which helped wolf through
the dark times and you can tell just by looking at him that hes had some dark times. He
was a 64, zine-writing, violin-playing, effeminate young man who wanted to be Debbie
Harry, at a conservative all boys school its not exactly a winning combination. And so
Patrick Wolf was born, as a remedy to his frustration at the world and an expression of thecreativity he couldnt vent through his education.
This year Patrick celebrates the
tenth anniversary of his first EP, and, at 29,
its hard to imagine him as the sixteen-
year-old boy who ran away from home to
live in a run down house and make music.
Hes moved from his original experimental,
organic noise to huge, ambitious orchestral
pop via some dark, synth fuelled folk
describing his music is very difficult, and
painting a picture of the man himself
almost impossible. Patrick is terrifyingly
fierce and passionate on stage, losinghimself in his performance and the
theatrical costumes hes so fond of, but off
stage and between songs is very humble
and polite, creating a bizarre but endearing
contrast. He also never fails to put on a hell
of a show.
There is no way for me to tell
you if youd like his music or not
because its not like anything else Ive
ever heard even iTunes Genius is
baffled so the best thing I can
suggest is simply to sit down and try
it, and with a 2 disc retrospectivealbum due out very soon, theres
never been a better time to make the
leap. But be warned you will lose
your heart to the sparkly bastard, and
you wont get it back.
Recommendedsongsfrom
Lycanthropy:
PigeonSong
ToThe
Lighthouse
WindintheWires:
TheLibertine
Tristan
P
TheMagicPosition:
Overture
Bluebells
P
TheBachelor:
Oblivion
Blackdown
P
Lupercalia:
TheFuture
Timeofmylife
P
Fruit:
LadyJesus
Pushthe
envelope
Sunshine
Coolin
Favouritesongsfrom
Outoffrequency:
Themefrom45Eugenia
GhostinMy
head
FantasyFriend
Forever
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This autumn one of my favourite shows from last year, The
Hour, will be returning for a second series. Set a year after the
events of series 1, it will feature the wonderful main cast as well as
new cast members Peter Capaldi as the show's new boss, and Tom
Burke (a bit of a favourite of mine) as the head of a rival show.
There are so many reasons to watch this show - the
clever, if a tad over dramatic, story lines, the brilliant dialogue,
the very, very well written and acted female characters - that I
can't really recommend it enough. Then of course there's the
small matter of it featuring one of my favourite fictional
characters, the very confident, very determined journalist
Freddie Lyon, played by Ben Whishaw. It's bizarre to see
timid little Ben playing such a volatile character, but he pulls it
off fantastically - to be honest, if series 2 ended up being
about Freddie making tea, I'd still watch it. He's that good.
AND
REWG
OW
ER
Manchurian actor Andrew Gower has done rather well for
himself. He graduated from The Oxford School of Drama two years
ago aged 21, and he's already taken part in the largest live television
drama ever made (the bizarre and frankly awful Frankenstein's
Wedding), become a series regular in the entertaining ITV medical
drama Monroe (New Series out this autumn, guys) and stolen hearts
(well, my heart, anyway) as the fantastically f lawed and charismatic
Nick Cutler in Series 4 of Being Human. Add onto that the fact that hewon the much coveted Spotlight prize in 2010 and gave a very
affecting performance in the surrealist play The Conquest of the
South Pole earlier this year and things are looking rather exciting for
Now, to soothe the pains caused by his unceremonious -
and very literal - roasting in Being Human, he'll be popping up in
Misfits. All we know so far is that his character will be called Jake,
and he's not one of the new main characters, which gives us a lot of
scope for speculation - But if he doesn't have an odd power, I'll be
rather disappointed. Also, a heart-felt plea to writer Howard
Overman: don't kill his character off, or We'll be having words.
And it doesn't stop there - after that, he's lined up for the new series of The Borgias and an appearance in Canadian
Crime drama The Murdoch Mysteries, which has just started filming - it's safe to say that, as a massive fan of his, I'm very,
very happy. The first time he appeared on screen in Frankenstein's Wedding my interest was caught - enough to distract me
from the terrible script, which is quite a feat - and so far he hasn't disappointed. He's very unassuming, small and skinny and
rather awkward, but he's an excellent actor, very emotive and funny, and absolutely deserving of everything good that comes
his way. I'm personally lobbying for him to be the 12th Doctor (I'm imagining nerviness and v-necks) or at least a companion,
but we'll take it a step at a time - I'm just glad he's on my television.
Misfits series 4 starts in autumn and
Im worried about it. As per usual with British
programmes all the characters have died,
leaving Curtis as the only character from the
original five and Rudy who Im not sure aboutyet. Theyre introducing three new young
offenders so Im looking forward to some
more weirdy powers (after Lactokenesis I am
secretly hoping for Telecatnesis) and seeing
the new actors they netted in from their
casting call oh and tangerine jumpsuits
worn in a number of slightly different ways.
So far though, Misfits has managed
to stick to the original premise and feel but
still keep us interested. I hope that as they
are into their fourth series they dont think
they need to do some really over the top epic
shit because that sort of thing always ends
badly and Misfits really doesnt need it. Thatmeans no stupidly complicated story arcs, no
spaceships or aliens, and definitely no
explosions (unless completely necessary).
On a more positive note we can look
forward to Seth The Power Guy being a
series regular, and thats good because hes
pretty.
Comingbackin
November
(apparently)
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I've got to admit that I'm a little worried about the newseries of Doctor Who - I'm worried by all the talk of
each episode being like a mini-movie, and I'm worried
about the complex and sometimes unnecessary twists
that Moffat insists on. I'm worried about weak story
lines and bad jokes and that the Pond's exit from the
show will be too big or too sad or too ridiculous. In
short, I'm terrified that the magic of Series 5,
somewhat misplaced at points in series 6, will be
completely lost this year, and that Doctor Who will
cease to inspire love and passion in my poor whovian
heart. Moffat seems to be getting a little carried away
with his own mythology, last year giving us a series
finale that left me, and many others muttering Really?
at our TV screens whilst longing for those moving twopart finales of series past.But I know I'm being si lly really - no matter what
happens with series 7, we have daleks and dinosaurs
on a spaceship to look forward too; Rupert Graves and
Mark Williams; the departure of two wonderful
characters and the arrival of a new one; We have new
adventures and jokes and, I'm sure, a lot of tears; We
have space and time and monsters and villains; And
most of all, we have a mad man in a box who just
wants to help - and somehow, no matter how worried I
am, that will always mean the world to me.
Merlin comes back onto our screens for its fifth series
on 29th of September. The first episode takes place three years
after the end of series four, Arthur and Gwen presumably
settled into their new roles as King and Queen of Camelot. As
with series four, it is starting with a two-parter. This worked
really well last time, throwing us straight into the action and
showing the darker tone which the show has taken.
Its not only the show that has grown-up. Mordred
returns this series as an adult (now played by Alexander
Vlahos) and it looks like he has an important role to play this
series. The Slash Dragon- sorry, I mean Kilgharrah -
prophesised Mordred was to kill Arthur and in the legend
(although this show is by no means faithful to it) he is notorious
traitor. This really ramps up the stakes for this series (which
could well be the last the original plan was to have five series,
although the producers have been in talks about having more
even having a Merlin movie trilogy). The trailer warns of
Arthurs Bane you would do well to fear it (sadly I dont think
it will turn out to be Tom Hardy in a mask), and with Morgana in
the trailer looking more badass than ever, its safe to say that
our heroes will have a lot on their plate this series.
Other characters turning up include the returning
Queen Annis (the brilliant Lindsay Duncan), Ruadan, played by
Liam Cunningham (Ser Davos The Onion Knight to those of us
who watch Game of Thrones) and Arthurs once-betrothedPrincess Mithian (Janet Montgomery). There arent as many
guest roles this series, which I think is a good step it enables
the main characters to be explored in more depth, and means
less of the silly comedy episodes that never quite work (I do
actually find them hilarious. But not in a good way). I think they
realised this when they made series four, which I really enjoyed,
so I have high hopes for this one!
NN
MarionCromb
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Iwass
atatFarringdontubest
ationandIread
thelastlineof
TheCatcherin
theRye.Iwas
puzzledasto
whatI
hadjustread;
Idontmeanth
estorypersay,butwhati
twas.Whatwas
itallaboutrea
lly?Ithoughta
bouthowIfelt
towardsthech
aracterofHold
enCaulfieldbu
tIdidntfeelanything,no
tpity,notsadn
ess,notsymp
athy.Sothatw
asnt
thekey.Then
Ithoughtabou
thowIfeltabo
uttheeventsin
thebookbuttheywerents
hocking,excitin
gordareIsay
it
interesting.Ico
uldntundersta
ndit.Igotonth
etube,tooko
utmybookmar
kandputthebookawayi
nmybag.
WheneverIfin
ishabookIalw
aysfeelalittle
empty,butth
ereonthetub
eTheCatcher
intheRyehadmadem
efeel
emptierthanev
er.Inthatmom
entsurrounde
dbycommute
rsinsuitsand
utterlyalonein
thecity,Ifeltli
keHoldendid.
Whenitwasp
ublished,The
Catcherinthe
Ryewasmetw
ithdamningcri
ticismsandth
ehighestprais
emakingit
oneofthemo
stcontroversia
lbooksofitst
ime.Neverbef
orehadanado
lescentbeeng
ivenavoicelet
alonebeena
mechanismtoe
xhibitthehum
ancondition.S
adlythoughthe
controversial
naturethenov
elhadwhenpu
blishedislost
on
usreadingitno
wadays,butIt
hinkitisprecis
elyforthatrea
sonthatithas
amoreprofou
ndeffect.We
gointoreading
The
Catherinthe
Ryelessbiase
dandsotakef
romitsomethi
ngdifferent,co
ntemporaryan
dmoreperson
alsoitresonat
es
stronger
withinus.
FormeTheCa
therintheRye
isaboutseeing
theworldforw
hatitreallyis,b
utstillbelieving
,withinthepa
rtofus
thatwillalway
sstayachild,thatitcoul
dbesomuchm
ore.AsHolden
triestomakeh
islifemorespo
ntaneous,mor
e
exciting,more
likehewantsi
ttobe,heisconstantlym
etwithdisappo
intment;butev
eninthefaceo
fdepressiona
nda
mentalbreakd
own,Holdenk
eepswanderin
gthroughhislife,because
itsnotquiteb
adenoughto
wanttoleave.
Ithink
thatalotofpeo
plefeelthesam
ewayatsixtee
n,likeHolden,
astheglimmeringlights
ofadulthood
wesawasach
ild,are
revealedtojus
tbelowenergy
bulbs,wered
isappointedwi
thwhatthewo
rldhastoofferbutwerun
atitheadon,in
hope
thatonedayit
llturnoutbette
r.
Imalittlebitt
oooldforthis
novelnow,Iha
vefallenovert
heedgeofthe
ryetoppedclif
fHoldendescribes,into
theworldofbe
inganadult-b
utstillthatfee
lingofemptine
ssinthefaceo
ftheworldisst
illwithme,and
Iwonderifit
alwayswillbeI
suggestthatif
youhaventre
adityetandyo
ureovertheag
eofsixteen,th
atyoushouldr
eaditbutit
wonthavesuc
haprofounda
ffectasifyour
eaditwhenyou
werefourteen,
maybefifteen
.Andifyoure
fourteen/fiftee
n
youshouldrea
ditbecauseyo
uwillcometo
understandit
later.
AlthoughTheC
atcherintheR
yedoeshavem
elancholyandr
atherdepressi
ngundertones
,Holdencome
s
acrossasnav
elyperceptive,
honestandqu
itehumorous,
sothebookiss
tillanenjoyabl
ereaddespite
.
With all the excitement of the film
adaptation of Perks of Being a Wallflowercoming
out soon, featuring our much beloved Emma
Watson, what better time to read the book. The
book is an easy read, set out as a collection of
etters that you can just zip though, and the story
moves quite quickly too. Perks is in the same vein
as The Catcher in the Rye fitting into the coming of
age bracket. But Perks is different to Catcher,most
noticeably as being more up-to-date, having a more
relatable and sympathetic narrator and feeling much
more close and intimate. Not only that, but Perks
has a happy ending in contrast to Catcherthat
fizzles out with Holden just accepting the world for
what it is.
I like Perks because I like Charlie. The way Chbosky writes
him makes it so easy to like and mentally befriend him, so as the plot
unfolds (unlike Catcherthere is actually a plot in Perks) you cant help
but root for little Charlie.
The message the novel broadcasts is that at some point we
all have to get up, get over our fears and start living our own lives; we
have to start participating, and when I read the book I realised it was
my time to do just that. That feeling wasnt as profound as the
emptying one I had from Catcherbut at that point in time it just made
sense. So you could see Perks as a less depressing, more straight
talking reincarnation of Catherbut that would be lumping the two
together and that wouldnt be right as they both have different thingsto offer a reader.
So to sum up, I liked this book a great deal (no so much as a
delicious piece of literature more as a good story) and I suggest that
everyone should give it a try. At least if you dont enjoy it, which I
highly doubt that you will, you will come away having learnt a bit and
with that damned quote We were infinite scaled into your brain.
AsPerkshasacoupleof
sceneswheretheganggo
toseeTheRockyHorror
PictureShow,weareabit
worriedthatthefilmwill
sparkanewfounded
interestinRHPSfrom
hipsterseverywhere.Itjust
doesntseemrightthatthe
meaningfulnovelshouldbe
pairedtothegender-bendingcultfilm.Wellas
longastheylikeRHPSfor
therightreasons.TheRock
yHorrorPictureShow
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7/31/2019 Omnia Zine 1st Edition
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What attracts people to festivals, is it the musicor the booze? Personally, I go to festivals to see my favourite
artists perform and soak up the atmosphere. But witnessing
the amount of drunken men and women blundering about
the park, I began to rethink what festivals mean to people.
Many people would suggest that the drink is what makes a
festival, but surely a festival is about the mass enjoyment of
this music. Seeing the amount of people so wasted that they
could barely walk made me think,
how can they enjoy the music in this condition; will they even
remember anything when they make the long journey home
along with the crippling hangover they will most probably be
nursing? In all honesty, I felt slightly sorry for them, thinking
about the amount of money wasted, and the fact that
they missed so many fantastic performances.However even though the countless groups of drunk people
did bother
me slightly, I was there for the music, and it was fantastic. I
shall stick to the two artists I was dying to see. Childish
Gambino and Tim Minchin. Childish Gambino, the rapper
who is known to many as Donald Glover put on a
spectacular show. I managed to sneak into the front row and
get some brilliant shots of him. He was pretty amazing and is
a great showman, able to hold the crowd. What I love about
Childish Gambino is that, he has a live band who are
ncredible, it added to the rawness of his music.
And now for something completely different, Tim Minchin. Another incredible
performer, able to capture an audience with his charm, witty lyrics and ridiculously mind-
blowing piano skills. Like with Childish Gambino, I managed to weave my way into thefront row and I was so glad I did because his performance was magical, and after he
finished I nearly cried tears of pure happiness because I had seen these two fantastic
artists up close and personal.
FromNancy FromDaisy
SamuelBarnett
Bewitched
Botheredand
Bewildered
ArchadeFire
Neighbourhood
1-4
TheBeatles
Sgt.Peppers
LonelyHearts
ClubBand
TheSmiths
Cemetery
Gates
PatrickWolf
Thickets
Vampire
Weekend
CapeCod
KwassaKwassa
Blondie
X-Offender
TheKinks
Waterloo
Sunset
TheVelvet
Undergroud
IllBeYour
Mirror
Echoandthe
Bunnymen
APromise
AlexTurner
HidingTonight
LeonardCohen
SistersOf
Mercy
ThePlaylist
SiobhanEardley
SiobhanEardley
SiobhanEardley
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7/31/2019 Omnia Zine 1st Edition
8/9
Ifperhapsgiventheo
pportunityata
laterdate,itwo
uldbewisetos
ayNo,thanky
ou,andmovea
long;rather,it
wouldbemore
thanwise-itwouldberight.If
perchancean
elderlywoman
approachedon
thestreet,claim
ingthings
thatcannotbe-
thatcannotund
eranycircumst
ancespossiblybe-itw
ouldbenatural
todeclineand
declareherinm
y
ownmindentir
elysenile.Imig
htconsidercal
lingsomeoneto
declarehersuch,butthe
n,Iamunawar
eofany
organisationst
owhomacallis
ofuse,andmo
resoIamunaw
areoftheirtelep
honenumbers.
Thenwhyisitfeasible
thataman,dres
sedinpastelgr
eentailsandat
ophattorivalt
heheightofTh
eShard,declar
ingthesamein
tentions,
mightjustbete
llingthetruth?
Perhapsitisthe
garishlights,t
heinsistentthu
dofrainatopth
ecanvastentin
g,thescreams
andlaughsand
themusicandt
heclownsand
thered,yellows
,muddygrassa
nddeepgreysk
ies.Thetravellin
gcircus,Ifind,
isaplace
inwhichtimeits
elfceasestobe
.Theworldout
sideofthisplac
e-ifthereisind
eedaworldout
sideofthemud
that
sticksto
yourshoesand
thelightsthatb
lurandsmudge
intherainthat
aresoyellowa
ndbrightthesu
nmightjustbe
poweringeachone-simp
lyceasestoexi
st.Hysteria,for
itmustbehys
teria,thereisn
osimplerexpla
nationgripseac
h
andeveryentra
ntintothisaren
aiswithinitsclutchesimm
ediately.Noton
epersonwithin
theboundaries
ofold,musky,
tobacco-yellowe
dcaravanshas
anysmallertha
ntheirbiggestsmileupon
theirfaces.Few
childrenattend
thecircusat
night,forwhilet
hemaskofjolli
tiesandchildish
gleeremains,
theclownsbeco
mesomewhatmoresinister
atnight,their
smilesmoreath
reatthananinv
itationforfun.I
tisdangerous,
too,foroneto
beamongpeop
lewhoattendcircusesat
night.Rarelyar
etheylookingfo
rtheexcitemen
tandsillinessp
rovidedinthed
ay.They,rather
,lookforthethr
illsand
thedangerstha
tthenightprovi
des.Groupsof
teenswithalcoh
olnowsurround
therideswhere
as,notthreeho
ursago,
childrenwithbo
ttlesoffizzydri
nksandthesuc
hwouldtugupo
ntheirmothers
skirtsandaskfo
ronemoreride
,please,
beforetheygo.
Ratherthana
placeoffunan
dfreedom,thec
ircusatnightb
ecomesacage
whereinmore
dangerous
animalsthanth
elionsnearthe
big-topprowl.
Needlesst
osay,therain
ismostlikelyth
efactorthatmo
stinfluencesth
edecisiontofo
llowthisstrange
rinto
theshelterofh
istent,theplasticcoatingspl
atteredwithmu
dandrainandt
hedebrisfrom
anover-fullbin
sittingnextto
it.Thecriesand
hollowlaughte
rareimmediate
lyquelled,anditwould
appearthat,ha
vingenteredthe
worldofthe
circusfromthe
realworld,Iam
enteringanoth
erworldoncem
ore,deeper,deeperstil
l.Theatmosphe
rewithinthis
worldisstuffy,
warm,sweaty-
mostuncomfort
able.Itisassin
isterasMrsBag
wellsRhumba,
thetentmufflingany
externalsound
andlightandc
astingwhatligh
tcanpenetrate
itthroughanau
reolingel.The
stenchoftrodd
en-down
grassandmud
,petrolandthe
sugar-coatedn
utssoldsomew
herewithinthe
vicinityisacrid
,strongerhere
inthis
container.Wro
ng,somehow.I
tseemstobea
partofthehum
iditywithinthe
tent,orperhaps
thehumidityisp
artofit.In
eithercase,ito
nlyservestofu
rtherheightent
hedizzyingsen
sationundoubte
dlyduetotheh
ysteriathatapp
earstobe
pumpedintothe
air.
Theman-thiss
trangeman,look
sakintosometh
ingfromadream
.Theonlysettin
gsonewouldim
aginesuch
alankyfellowinwouldb
einastrange,a
bstrusedream,
orotherwisew
ithinalutescen
tcircustent,sm
okywiththe
tobaccofromth
ecigarbetwee
nhisthumbandforefinger
.Hisskin,forit
ishismostnoti
ceablefeature,
isthickand
congruoustohi
ssurroundings;
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rackingliketheexteriorof
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anexcessof
thetobaccotha
tundoubtedlyf
uelstheentirec
ircus,buttanfr
omtheexposu
retothesunhemustendure
toattract
customersduri
ngthedaytime.
Aroundoneey
eisastar,and
itisimpossible
totellwhethert
hisispaintedonwith
make-up,perha
psstolenfroma
clown,orwhet
heritisatattoo
.Thelightsare
toodimtotell,
andtheatmosp
here
removesones
curiosity,maki
ngsuchathing
asafacialdec
orationunimpo
rtant.Themanh
asastarround
hiseye,and
thatisthat.His
suitisapastel
greenandhish
at,onceremove
d,revealsabird
snestofgreyh
airwhichtouch
esthetop
ofthetent-such
istheextentof
hisheight.
Submission
CharlotteT
idmas
-
7/31/2019 Omnia Zine 1st Edition
9/9
Thetentitselfemployst
hegrassasits
carpet,untrodd
enandbareof
anymudother
thanthattrodde
ninby
myself.Itmight
beaprivilege.
Theairisheavy,soggy,nea
renoughsoso
lidthatyoucan
feelitasyoum
ove.Thereisa
sweetnesstot
hestenchofit
thatsuggestsin
cense,somewh
atsimilartothesmell
oftheseaside,
anditonlyserv
esto
furtherconfuse
thesenses,hei
ghtenthedistan
ceofthisworld
fromtheworld
ofthecircus,andevenfurthe
rfromthe
realworldoutsi
deofbothofthe
se.Itsmellsofm
agic,ofmischie
f,andofthings
rarelywitnessed
bythosefromt
hereal
world.Thereal
worldsmellsof
concrete,ofca
rs,ofcomputers
andcoffee.Th
istentsmellsof
noneofthese.
Thisenigmatic
gentlemanofth
ecircusnighta
sks,mostpolite
ly,withallofth
eextravagance
ofatheatre
luvvie,forasing
ularpoundbefo
reheistobegi
n.Compliance
isfitting,anda
coinispassedfr
omhandtohan
d,asmile
exchangedfora
grinarmedwith
goldenteeth.
Thefuture,th
emanbegins,
ispredictable,
hepacesther
oomwiththere
servedenergy
ofahyena,the
ugliestandgauntestofthean
imalkingdom,h
aggardbutawa
shwithlife,wai
tingforthemom
enttounleashi
t,the
powertounder
standit,ahan
dflicksout,ahandkerc
hiefwhippingth
eair,admirabl
e,aflourish,a
skeletalgrinth
at
shinesgoldenfr
omthecavern
ofhismouth,t
hebeliefinsuchapowe
r,hechuckles,
debatable,wa
ndersovertoa
trunkinthecor
ner,theattrac
tiontomyknowl
edgeis,hefum
blesinside,retu
rnswithanenvelope,ir
resistible,a
momentlaterit
isinmyhand,
andforapound
?helaughsno
w,Itismosta
ttainable.His
voiceissandpaperand
glass,amounta
insideinthecol
d,dryair,entire
lyimpossiblea
ndaltogetherm
agical.
Theenvelopeis
crisp,white,an
dasnewasite
verwas.Ittake
samomenttoc
omprehendtha
theis
expectingmet
oopenit,andI
grapplewithth
ehypnoticpull
ofhisstarredey
etoforcemyfin
gersintoaction
.A
singular,jerking
tugofmythumb
ripstheenvelop
eopen,andits
eemsalmostw
rongtomutilat
esomethingso
perfect.
Thereis,howev
er,distinctapp
rovalinthema
nsgaze-anear
smugnessrad
iatingfromhis
verybeing.Thi
smaybea
naturaloccurren
ce-hemayben
aturallyarrogan
t-ormypresen
cehasmadehim
such.Aswithth
econundrumof
his
tattooedorpain
tedstar,itisoflittlecons
equencetome
forIaminhist
entforareason
.Areasonthat,
withsomeeffo
rt,
Idivertmyatte
ntionto.Itisru
detostare.Insideisaslipo
fcard.Oncerem
oveditappears
creamandthic
k-potentially
expensive-and
itismarkedin
oliveink.Theha
ndwritingsnake
saboutit,allcursiveandflo
urishes.Itisas
theatricalas
themanbefore
me,andappear
smostfitting.
Inthefuture,w
hatwillhappen
isthatyouwill
lookatmewit
hbewilderment.
Thenyouwilll
eavethistenta
nd
continueonwi
thyourlife.
Asiswritten,Ip
eerupatthema
n,baffledbeyon
dcomprehensio
n.
Thefutureasw
ritten,theman
laughs,recove
rshimself,andla
ughssomemor
e,pluckingthe
cardfromme,
biddingmefare
well,ahandon
thesmallofmy
backasIamgu
idedoutintoth
erainandthel
ightsandthela
ughterand
thescreams.Fo
ramoment,the
reisnothingto
dobutgape,s
uddenlyexpose
dagaintotheo
nslaughtofnois
eandlight
andrainandpeople,andthe
nitmakessens
e-thetrick,the
game,thehoa
x,illusion,andg
immick.Theen
trancetothe
tentbehindme
ismannedoncemorebyask
eletalgiantina
pastelgreensu
itwithtailsand
atophattoriv
altheheight
ofTheShard.A
ftermymomen
tsconsideratio
n,itisallIcandotolet
outahootofla
ughter,continu
eonmyway
throughthecirc
us,declaremy
selfthoroughly
duped,andreg
ardthemanin
greenthewisestmanIhav
eevermet.
Submission
continued
CharlotteT
idmas