Americans

Written 54-K07 [2023-05-03], Edited 54-K07 [2023-05-03]

Image credit: Twitter Twemoji

Violet Steele stared at her text editor in confusion. She didn’t bother using a word processor, just a text editor, because her task required no fancy formatting nor the grace of a higher power.

“Untitled.txt” the window said. The machine didn’t care that Violet was out of ideas, or that she had a deadline, or needed to sing the algorithm’s tune again and again to earn her bread.

“Untitled.txt” was not optimal given Violet’s audience. But there’s a market for it, she thought. The Brian David Gilbert and sonic.exe crowd, the edgy teens who were probably flocking to TikTok, they’ll be curious.

After day after day spent writing draft after draft, Violet sent Untitled.txt to her assistant. I have an assistant now, Violet thought, as she was still getting used to how far she had come. Violet was no amateur, she was the founder, CEO, and brand ambassador of the Violet Steele company.

She started looking for stock videos to accompany her words. It was only the next day when her assistant finished assessing her script.

“A bit of a change of pace, but looks intriguing. I’ve corrected a couple spelling errors,” the email began.

“Oh and would it kill you to use Microsoft Word?”

Violet carefully rearranged the items on her set, a place she used to call her bedroom. Years ago it was a smorgasbord of dirty laundry, with a few haphazardly stacked books threatening to fall into the lutfisk. Yesterday the set was a sushi plate of Funko Pops and plushies, arranged in symmetrical rows and columns. But “Untitled.txt” demanded a different aesthetic. Violet painted a single black dot on the wall, a lone forgotten caviar.

While Violet recited the script, she felt she was wearing another woman’s skin. After years of analyzing billion dollar franchises for the benefit of nerds, poetry might as well have been a foreign language. Violet’s toes curled as if gripping the edge of a precipice. But neither her tripod nor her microphone pushed her over the cliff.

How many takes? How many takes? Violet thought. None of them were ideal. Her furrowed eyebrows and hesitant voice were all wrong. Have to try it again, she thought. She recited her poem until it was as familiar as her name. When rewatching the final take, Violet noticed her past self blinking asynchronously 20 seconds into the video. But that take would have to do.

The sponsor had a script for their section of the video. Except, they’re not having a section of the video, thought Violet. She did the ad read, it was for some company delivering toys based on multibillion-dollar movie franchises. They only served the continental United States and Canada, much to the annoyance of all the loyal Americans of Honolulu.

The editing process was a lot quicker than Violet’s regular video essays. “Untitled.txt” was only a minute, there was no sponsor, and Violet was only using the final take.

Then at last, the day of the upload. “Untitled.txt” was finally on YouTube. What would the audience think? Would this be a welcome departure from pop culture dissection? Would this be rocking the boat, fixing what was never broken? Violet couldn’t help herself, she had to read all the comments.

Wow this is a lot like Tangerine Iron’s poem if it was spoken underwater.

Amazing how similar this is to Tangerine Iron’s poem.

Anyone else think it’s eerie how Tangerine Iron made a poetry video just yesterday? Kinda hits the same beats… but worse.

Violet Steele? More like Violet Steals From Tangerine Iron.

The moon landing wasn’t real because the moon is an optical illusion.

Who else was recommended this from Tangerine Iron’s poem?

Feedback from the Joy of Writing group

• Who is Tangerine Iron?
  • the assistant?
  • just another YouTuber?
• other social media such as Instagram also has a lot of staged content
• American art is often minimalist - could the dot be a reference to that?