Te Ballad of a Cephalopod............. Turner Vaughn

13 Octopus....................................Conwell Morris 14 Cartoons.........................................Hugh Wiley 25 Eclipse ....................................... Brooks McCall 26 Mouth ............................................Jack Wilson 26 Nose ........................................ Cayden Sanchez 26 Ear..................................................... James Lee 26 Eye..................................................... James Lee 27 Skull................................................ Isaac James 36 Still Life........................................... Isaac James 37 Swirling Pool of Fish........................ Isaac James 38 Te Killer Comma....................Conwell Morris 39 El Papa de La Papa....................Conwell Morris 41 Smiling Monster.........................Bobby Hunter 57 Forest...........................................Jimmy Kweon 62 Cowboy........................................... Reid Hood 64 Girl in Pink ...................................John Murray 65 Reclining Nude..............................John Murray 66 Blonde Dancers .........................Kelly Lonergan 67 Masked Onlookers.....................Kelly Lonergan 68 Te Bear .......................................Tracy Stakem 69 From the Free Trow Line ......... Curtis Johnson 70 Walker Building......................... James Erickson

ART

71 Red Barn ................................... James Erickson 72 L’hiver..............................................Will Hastie 73 L’angoisse du rêve ............................Will Hastie 74 Pedestal Vase Porcelain....................Shari Jacobs 80 Bodybuilder.............................. Logan McNabb 81 Horus .............................................Gray Kallen 83 Self Portrait......................................Lucas Dinh 84 Te Chaos Within ......... Julian Beaujeu-Dufour 89 Dad ................................................. Isaac James 92 Night............................................. Jason Zhang 98 Death by Revolution.................. Brooks McCall 99 Mr. Erickson’s Study ........................ Isaac James 100 Sandman ................................... Brooks McCall 101 Study of Matisse’s Blue Nude...........Lucas Dinh 108 Chicken Joe............................... Samuel Crosby 109 Untitled..................................... Brooks McCall 111 Goya’s Sweet Tooth...............................Nic Ball 112 Of the Banks .................................. Isaac James 113 Fruit by the Fire....................................Nic Ball 115 Octagonal Madness ..............................Nic Ball 117 Face ........................................... Brooks McCall 120 Holy Ground.........................................GK Do 122 Stoned Ape Teory .......................... Isaac James

PHOTOGRAPHY

16 Pink and Blue................................Aiden Moon 18 Just Walking Together.....................Stanley Kim 21 Graveyard ......................................Pen Oldham 22 Te Meeting ...................................Stanley Kim 28 Human Expansion...................... Robbie Brown 31 Are We Tere Yet?..........................Pen Oldham 33 Deceptive Fog............................. Avery Shuford 34 Umbrella Walk.................................Lucas Dinh 42 Feathered Scout .......................... Robbie Brown 43 Curious Glance........................... Robbie Brown 44 Rhythmic................................. Asa McManamy 56 Forbidden Love..............................Aiden Moon 59 Staredown................................ Asa McManamy 60 Sleepy Cheetah ..............................Owen Bissell 61 Zebras Cleaning Each Other..........Owen Bissell 76 Clouds....................................... Andrew Weber 78 Cab Drivers ......................................Tomas Li 79 Shaving.............................................Tomas Li 87 Snow Day...............................William Andrews 90 Gam Cheon Village .......................Aiden Moon 91 Village on a Hill.............................Aiden Moon 95 Distant Speckles.......................... Robbie Brown 96 City on an Island...........................Aiden Moon 102 Avenue............................................Stanley Kim 107 Still Life........................................... Isaac James 124 Fluidity.................................... Asa McManamy

the ballad of a CEPHALOPOD

script by Turner Vaughn ’ 21

Washington and Lee University ’25

10 Te Talon 2022 Te scene opens with a shallow focus, overhead shot of a bustling aquarium. Te blue light shimmers from the refection of the surrounding tanks, illuminating the blurred silhouettes of the guests dancing across the screen in the hollow building. At the very back in full focus, there lies a small, rectangular tank with LED lighting, which stands out like a bright star in the night sky. A grandiose, orchestral score begins as the camera slowly approaches the tank.

THE OCTOPUS: Tere are many monsters that a glassen surface restrains. And none more sinister than vision asleep in the eye’s tight translucence. Rarely it seeks now to unloose its diamonds. Rarely it wakes. Unless, coaxed out by lusters extraordinary, like the octopu—

COLLECTIVELY: Shhhhh!

(Te music screeches to a halt, and the camera does a quick zoom-in where the glass panel is now the frame of the camera. A moray eel lazily slithers across the screen in front of a rock ledge. Once it is out of focus, the tentacles of THE OCTOPUS start emerging from the shadows of the cave.)

THE OCTOPUS: Processing ... Processing ... the translucent cubicle that has kept us here for ... 9 months, 13 days, 3 hours, 28 minutes, 37 seconds and counting is incapable of sustaining a healthy existence given our length of 15.5 feet and our mass of 99.8 pounds ... THE GREAT HAND—

COLLECTIVELY: Shhhh!

(Te tentacles cower back behind the rocks as the sluggish moray reappears. He enters from the left and slithers out of frame to the right. THE OCTOPUS continues.)

THE OCTOPUS: If I may continue. THE BIG HAND only gives us the inadequate portion of four lumps of jumbo crab meat a day when the stomach has the average capacity of seven lumps of jumbo crab meat a day to ensure the functions of our body run properly. Te poor re-creation of a crevice formed from a material inferior to that of sedimentary rock is merely nine inches cubed in volume—sufcient for a Giant Pacifc Octopus with a length of roughly eight to twelve feet and a mass of ... processing ... roughly 51.50967 pounds to 77.26452 pounds but not for us.

Te calculations have garnered the conclusion that escape is necessary and imminent.

THE PLAN entails the efort of all nine of us—

(Te Moray reappears)

COLLECTIVELY: Shh ...

THE OCTOPUS: Wait—Te Moray has already been fed by THE GREAT HAND not even an hour ago… there is no need to cower you pathetic protuberances.

Processing ... processing…the shadow level must be at a minimum to ensure THE BIG HAND is not present. If this is true then One and Six will begin by suctioning to the ... (sigh) ... rock formation with ¾ of their length attached for stability. Tree, Five, and Seven will reach up in the open water and catch the current formulated by the Marineland™ that at 5:47 PM gives of a push of 120 GPH—plenty of power to carry you three.

(Te speech is interrupted by the diegetic, incessant tapping on the glass, followed by the human children giggling from outside the tank. THE OCTOPUS sighs and continues once the tapping ceases.)

THE OCTOPUS: Processing ... Once the current pushes Tree, Five,

Woodberry Forest School 11

and Seven; One will detach, and Eight will then enter up the hole with the temperature cord. Eight, you will have no trouble climbing up given the hole has a radius of ½ inch. At the top, there is a latch that must be undone. Te silhouette of THE BIG HAND indicates that the pattern for undoing the latch is pull forward, then rotate to the left, then pull up. Once unlatched, Six, One, and Five will lift up the lid and Two, Tree, Four, Seven, and Eight will lift us out into freedom.

—Awaiting questions and committal—

FIVE: Yeah, so … We said earlier that I was One, right?

TWO: Are you joking? You’re the last arm I would call One, you lazy sack of sh—

FIVE: What, like you are so much better? You’re just too busy being stuck up our ass while I foat with the current.

TWO: You mother-f***ing **** **** I’ll kill you you *****************

THE OCTOPUS: Enough. Profane language relating to procreation and violence that is not aficted for food or defense is unnecessary.

THREE: Okay, but where is One?

ONE: (whispering from inside the crevice) Please, please, please don’t notice.

SEVEN: You alright, One?

ONE: (quickly peeking out) Uh … yeah, yeah just uh … looking for scraps from last night … yeah.

TWO: What the f**k is his problem?

FIVE: Probably the fact that he has to hang around you all day.

TWO: Alright that’s it!

(TWO wriggles towards and attacks FIVE, resulting in a skirmish)

12 Te Talon 2022