With Wafting Music

AKA: AKAM80's Author Page

One wrong turn and suddenly...

A green field framed by a thick tree line, only one clear trail leading into it, at the head of which you stand. Sitting in the center is a small, worn playground that rests on a circle of mulch. A large black walnut tree sprouts out from the middle, rising up high and reaching out so widely that the whole playground is dimmed by its shade.

As you walk closer to the little playground, passing an old swing set, and stepping onto the mulch meant to keep falling children from getting too hurt— though no children have been here in decades— you take note of the wood it's comprised of: old, dark brown planks that seem on the brink of beginning to rot, but that never pass the threshold..

From an open window with a wind chime hanging off of its sill, cut into the house-esque portion of the playground, music quietly spills out, filling in the gaps between the breeze whistling in your ears and complete silence.

You consider the ladder for a moment, before feeling drawn to the climbing wall, a wall of the dark wood with planks jutting out symmetrically. It creaks under your weight but you find you aren't concerned, much to your own surprise.

Having arrived at the top, you lean into the play house and see a young man sitting crisscross in a corner, a nearby speaker the source of the music. He sits hunched over a small desk sitting in his lap, writing fervently on a piece of loose-leaf paper. He's so engrossed in the task that he doesn't notice you peeking in.

You gently clear your throat, trying your best to not spook him, but he nonetheless jolts up and stares at you with wide eyes. No longer hunched over, you can see that he's a bit of a mess. His shirt is crumpled up, his hair is greasy and uncombed, and he hasn't shaved in a few weeks. The man quickly composes himself, trying to straighten out his shirt, hands running over an ugly tie.

"Sorry, didn't see you there," he says as he stands up, walking over and reaching out his hand to shake. "I'm Linus. Good to meet you. Don't see people out here all too often." You politely shake his hand, trying to ignore the sweat on it.

Linus walks back to his corner, sliding down the wall onto the floor. "Welcome to my little corner of the world! I don't leave here all that much so you'll have to forgive my, uh," he looks down at the floor and picks up a walnut, "Hospitality, I suppose. Mostly just spend my time here writing whatever comes to mind." He points to the opposite corner where a stack of loose-leaf papers sit, a rock weighing them down. "Feel free to stay as long as you want."

You move to the pile of loose-leaf papers and begin shuffling through the writings. The rough chicken scratch is all in pen, mistakes scribbled out and littered with smudges.

Linus continues to fiddle with the walnut, seemingly oblivious to your presence once more (or maybe avoiding it?)

Assorted Works

Some of the works you see barely take up half the page, others are multiple pages (front and back) that are stapled together.

These are listed in order of creation, oldest to newest.

The Rat King	From below, inhuman charisma dripping from his lips, he calls.
Logos, Ethos, Pathos	In the aftermath of an accident, three debate what it all meant and what it'll mean.
I'm Afraid I'll Miss It	There's nothing to worry about.
Notes Plucked to Hum, Heart Plucked too	The few that stick with you in perpetuity. — Debate Club 2023 Entry (Team Rare)
Editor's Second Choice	"We needed to meet a minimum."
Reverence/Revulsion	O holy rabble, we art ensnared. — Serpentine Sorting System 2023: TitanClash LIVE entry
Corrigendum	The author wishes to make a correction.
Phreaked Out	Doing LSD and making free long-distance calls.
Cartesian Dualism	Two parallel tales, held side by side. Humans don't change, only their tools.
In Their Wake	Misery, nothing else to be had. — Co-authored with Vishardsh, Serpentine Sorting System 2023: Titan Clash LIVE entry
Little Trouble in the Big Library	Missing: Pork 'n' Beans! — Yuletide 2023 gift for Dino--Draws.
Linus Daglen is a Hack	A tussle with self-doubt.
As We Dance	An intricate number performed to the tune of woe. — A Journal of the Walk entry
Noccalula	She will never land.
Presque Vu	Faded memories, stuck to the detritus. — ComboCon 2024 Entry, Leftover + Hideaway
Four Flush	A descent into Hinnom. — An entry into the Ironband canon and Owlpede's Summer Shebang 2024
Field Dressing	She bequeaths game upon the Hunter. — Phantom's Promenade 2024 Entry, Consumption of Flesh
Attached	Yuletide 2024 gift for Tyumen, co-authored with Gawain777
Sublime Limelight	A wish to be the best. — Yuletide 2024 gift for Din-Bidor featuring his Green Moon
All Worse, None Better	A journalist's katabasis amidst dogmatic madmen.
Eternal Return	A caravan guard and her protege. — Serpentine Sorting System 2025: Tracks Across the Sand entry.
A Crook, a Magician, and a Fool Walk into an Art Gallery...	Theft from The Wanderers' Gallery. — Yuletide 2024 gift for Dr Avenlee

Folder Labeled "Adrift"

Sitting in the pile of papers is a manila folder with the word "Adrift" scrawled on the front, filled with its own collection of sheets.

These are listed in the intended reading order.

Also on an indefinite hiatus, just like black midi.

ENTRY-1	Intracranial Snowfall	Wit's end.
ENTRY-2	Tizita All the Way Down	Haunted by the past.
ENTRY-3	Casus Belli	The beginning of the end.

A tattered composition notebook, the words: "THINGS I LIKE" is scrawled on the cover, beneath it: "Linus - 6th Grade"...

A Comprehensive List of References and Inspirations

The Rat King

• "Rat City" by Evolfo
• "Broken Hills" by Evolfo ("To cast myself out from my old home")
• Evolfo (the band) was named after the Shakespearean concept of "music is the food of love" (of love —> evol fo)

Logos, Ethos, Pathos

• Hamlet ("Infinite jest")

I'm Afraid I'll Miss It
N/A

Notes Plucked to Hum, Heart Plucked too

• Poem #1: "Interview With The Cosmo Cleaners" by Uranium Club
• Poem #2: "Sam Cherry's Last Shot" by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
• Poem #3: "The Pusher's Party" by Portugal. The Man
• Poem #4: "White Foam" by Evolfo
• The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County by Mark Twain ("Like birdshot into the stomach.")

Editor's Second Choice

• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams ("Betelgeuse") ((I know that's a real thing, but I was referencing THGttG.))
• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury ("What Beatty Forgot to Tell You")

Tizita All the Way Down

• The band Sun Araw (the city Araw)
• "Man Is The Loneliest Animal" by Uranium Club (the city Mitla)
• "Linda's Gone" by The Black Angels (Linda)

Reverence/Revulsion

• "Motor Spirit" by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
• "Road Train" by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard (the Australian crocodile kaiju Road Train)
• The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe (the American hyena kaiju Amontillado)

Corrigendum
N/A

Intracranial Snowfall

• "Zuma Loop" by Evolfo (the city Zuma)
• Justified (my love for the character Dickie Bennett inspired Gait's limp)

Phreaked Out

• Surrealistic Pillow by Jefferson Airplane
• Mars Attacks! (alien language)

Cartesian Dualism

• Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
• "Moonchild" by King Crimson

In Their Wake (on my end)

• "In the Wake of Poseidon" by King Crimson
• The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving
• Justified
• Inferno by Dante Alighieri ("Malbolge", "JUDECCA")

Little Trouble in the Big Library

• "The Misadventures of Prissy Chrissy" by Uranium Club ("Krissy")
• Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson ("Tracer Bullet")
• Pork 'n' Beans is based on my dog Willow :)

Linus Daglen is a Hack

• One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey ("Billy Bibbit" and "Martini")
• Disco Elysium (by name, the outfit was coincidence as it's what I had on hand)
• A Man Without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. ("SUE PALL MALL 4 A BILLION $$$")
• Pearls Before Swine by Steven Pastis (Messing around with comic formatting, breaking out, breaking down, etc. etc. Plenty of comics do this, but Pearls Before Swine is what really introduced me to the concept.)

As We Dance

• "27 Questions" by black midi

Casus Belli

• "Marlene Dietrich" by black midi (the city Dietrich)
• "MI5" by Dinosaur 94 (the city MI-5)

Noccalula
N/A

Presque Vu

• "Where Do You Go to (My Lovely)" by Peter Sarstedt
• "Want to Be Free" and "Burn, Baby, Burn" by Sea Power
• "You Are the Blood" and "We Are the Wreckage" by Castanets
• All Them Naturals, The Cosmo Cleaners, "Introduction", and "Michael's Soliloquy" by Uranium Club (the company Sunbelt)
• Disco Elysium, Shivers

Four Flush

• Kaiji: Gambling Apocalypse by Nobuyuki Fukumoto
• Yakuza 0
• Training Day
• Inferno by Dante Alighieri
• Hotline Miami and Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number ("Richter")
• "Beginner's Luck" by King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard ("… First-time drinks are free; so, even if you lose a few chips, it's still cheaper than going to the bar…")
• "John L" by black midi ("Fifty")

Field Dressing

• "Cables" by Big Black
• "Terra" by Geordie Greep
• "Cruising with God" by Milk Music
• "Moon River" by Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer, performed by Frank Sinatra

Attached (on my end)
N/A

Sublime Limelight

• "No Light to Be Found (Fare Thee Faith, the Path Is Yours)" by Castanets
• "Western" by black midi ("Flocks of Imbeciles" and inspired the concept)
• "The Phynx" by Sun Araw
• Faust (pt. 1) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
• Oedipus the King by Sophocles

All Worse, None Better

• Hell's Angels by Hunter S. Thompson
• "Hellfire" by black midi ("All Worse, None Better")
• "Quarantine" by King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard
• "Don't Look for Me" by Piano_WL from the page Collected Musical Manifestations of Thematically Cohesive Areas in Our Library, Circa 2020.

Eternal Return

• "Three Days, Four Nights" by Castanets
• "Worms" by Viagra Boys
• "The Hungry Wolf of Fate" by King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard
• JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run ("If your heart's waverin', don't shoot.")

A Crook, a Magician, and a Fool Walk into an Art Gallery…

• Crossword Puzzle Answer: Black Lagoon
• Forgotten Manga Title: Akagi

You peel back the layers of fiction...

Howdy, I'm AKAM80 (or AKA-M80, depends on the platform), previously known as Papa Gelatin. I changed it because I thought the name was stupid. Reeked of my early teenage years.

In reality, I'm a guy from Alabama, USA writing for the hell of it because I need a creative outlet. I don't have the classical Southern accent, but my use of "ain't," "y'all," and some double negatives in casual conversation betrays my home turf.

Not sure what else to put here. Just felt that I needed a smattering of the real me outside of the intra-universe image/character/author or whatever you want to call it.

I got called a tortured artist once. Not sure how to feel about that.

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