maskormenace | O2 👶 VIDEO;

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O2 👶 VIDEO;

[technically, baba marta was a month ago and in another country. but it’s april fool in the united states which is close enough. according to his companion, this is better than shooting homeless people with paintball guns. when the video shudders into view, 10-year-old richard gansey iii stands on a heropa beach lit by mitsubishi headlights. the little boy is festooned in birds, a hilariously tall stork standing on his left shoulder, half a dozen tiny swallowtails running down his right arm. he looks very solemn and alarmingly adorable. from behind the cellphone camera, a voice (kavinsky’s) (drunk) (not more than usual) calls out:] Okay mini-Dick, telling your loving public what gives.

[ Dick is, in fact, more interested in the swallows than the camera. He seems relatively at peace with the stork, even when it starts to climb from his shoulder to the top of his head, but the swallows are running along his arms, and he has to keep moving to give them somewhere to go. ]

Are you sure the birds won't be scared of the fireworks? I don't want to make them -

[ Then he does look up, and sees the red light on Kavinsky's phone. His eyes widen. ]

We're already live?!

[ Concern is instantly replaced with the kind of smile that hints this is not his first photoshoot. ]

Hi, everyone! Joseph wants to tell all of you about the Baby Martha.

[ He pauses, looking expectantly at the boy offscreen. ]

Motherfucker I said no name-- fine. Fine, [kavinsky's disembodied voice is annoyed, but cussing at a smol child is just regular kavinsky. he never got pr lessons.] Baba Marta is a celebration of Spring. Life and renewal, bitches! March is a grandma who spends all winter fucking, shakes out her broke-ass mattress to make the last big snow, and the sun comes out when she smiles. [this is not the version you’re going to find in an encyclopedia. It’s also not child-safe. but everything is still mostly ok.] Me and homey here are bringing the Goddamn season.

[ Dick is wearing an expression of strong disapproval every time Kavinsky curses. It’s the kind of look you might see from your dad, which roughly translates as We’ve talked about this, son. But if they have, Kavinsky was clearly not listening, and Dick is not about to be put off by words alone. There are, after all, going to be fireworks. He was promised. ]

Okay, okay! Show them. Oh, wait.

[ One hand waves at the stork, getting it to fly, and then Dick starts to gather the swallows into the relative safety of his hands. ]

Fuckin’ sweet. [and then the camera fumbles. kavinsky clamps gansey’s little head between his elbows and puts his hands over his own ears, so that the camera winds up with a weird, skewed shot of the sky. the next instant, fireworks rip out of the mortar embedded nearby in the sand and up into the night overhead. deafening. red and white. the imports of heropa might even hear it, the distant pop-pop that goes with the flash of smoke and color over the seaside sky, punctuating the boardwalk lights and saturday beach club music. birds soar! the video goes out.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Just hang out with him.

[ Which Dick thinks is a pretty good trade, personally. Also, he thinks Joseph might have shot paintballs at homeless people otherwise, because Dick had to talk him out of it.

So, really, he's pretty sure he did a good turn here. ]

He didn't do anything bad. I wouldn't have stayed if he did, I swear.

Well, I should hope not.

[ She thinks another moment. ]

And...he didn't have to hurt anything to make them or anything, right?

[ Another shake of his head, this time with widening eyes. ]

No.

Is that what they do in your world?

[ She hesitates. Says: ]

Yeah...

[ And then amends to: ]

I'm...not sure. I don't know magic.

[ Hmm.

He tilts his head. ]

So...

Maybe it's not all bad, then. Maybe you could have good magic, too. Like birds.

[ She bites her lip. ]

Maybe.

[ And she thinks for a moment. ]

I think...it's just...that they never use it to help people. They always use it to hurt. But birds - birds are all right. I like your birds.

[ He nods, thinking about it. Then he looks at her, hunching up his shoulders. ]

They helped me.

[ But she already knew that. The swallow is getting agitated in his hands, and he transfers it carefully back to his pocket. ]

I like them too. And the fireworks. They're pretty cool.

[ A little reluctantly: ]

Yeah, I mean...I guess they are. I don't really like fireworks, but I guess those are pretty cool. The birds are way more interesting, though.

[ She likes magic, she likes magic. ]

Yeah! 'Cause they're alive, right? I can't believe anyone could do that, it's...

[ He searches for a word that's big enough, and bold enough. ]

That's marvellous. They're marvellous creatures.

[ Another tiny smile. ]

Yeah. They are, a bit. Can they fly?

Sure! The stork flew - somewhere.

[ Most likely away from the fireworks, honestly. It hasn't come back again.

But the swallows are smaller and easier to keep track of. He sets one down, on the hood of Kavinsky's huge white car with the graphic, and steps away. ]

You have to watch, though, they're fast.

[ He turns the camera to the swallow instead of his face. After a few moments, it does take flight - and zips off into the air, turning like a hairpin on the wind and flying off out of sight. ]

And will it...stay alive? Even without his magic?

[ Dick looks surprised. ]

Well, yeah! I mean, once it's created, it stays alive! You know, unless -

[ Unless he dies, Dick thinks.

But he doesn't say that, actually, because there's no good reason for him to know, and he doesn't understand why he does. He feels certain, though. The birds will live, unless something happens to the guy who made them.

Dick shifts, suddenly unsure.. ]

Um, they'll live. He's not...doing magic all the time. He only did it once, to make them.

That's good.

[ Another small smile. ]

I hope they have happy lives.

I'm gonna take them to our farm. There's other animals there. Other birds.

[ His life is full of birds, strangely enough. Dick is too young to remember why, but it's definitely a pattern. ]

Yeah. I know.

[ Her smile fades; her eyebrows draw down as she tries to remember. ]

I flew with them, before.

[ Um. ]

With...the birds?

[ Kitty, are you okay? ]

Yeah. Oh -

[ He's looking at her like she's crazy; she acknowledges his look with a wrinkle of her nose. ]

I can turn into a bird. Or anything I want, actually.

[ What!!! ]

What?!?!

And you're telling me now?! That's so cool!

[ Wait, that was very enthusiastic, and therefore probably not cool. He's trying to make a good impression on this sullen older-than-him, maybe-a-teenager. He coughs. ]

Can you turn into other people?

[ His enthusiasm, though, makes her push her hair back in a way that's supposed to look very indifferent and very nonchalant but which is actually a desperate attempt to look cool. ]

Yeah, I can do that, easy. I just need their name.

[ Man, she looks so cool with her pushed back hair. He needs to sound impressive.

He folds his arms. ]

My name is Richard Campbell Gansey the Third.

[ Nailed it. Not even a little bit dorky. His grin probably is, though. ]

Okay, do me!

[ Haughtily: ]

I know that already.

[ And then there's a little ripple of power, and - sitting there, behind the camera, is Dick himself. A perfect copy of the ten-year-old boy - except for the fact that when she speaks, it's with her own voice. ]

Not too bad, right?

[ It looks just right! He knows it does, because she looks just like one of his clones, and he's seen plenty of those. He looks delighted. ]

That's so cool! Except, you still sound like you. You're way too British to be me.

[ Because that's the problem, and not the fact that she sounds singularly girly. ]

Well, how about this, then?

[ And another ripple of magic, and she turns into Adam. With, again, a girl's voice. ]

I suppose I'm too British for him, too, right?

[ Dick's eyes widen. And not just because Kitty managed to get Adam just right, but because this must mean she knows who Adam is! Why does she know who Adam is?! ]

Hey! That's my best friend! How'd you get his name!

[ She probably just asked for it, like any normal person would. ]