Haus of Decline

Two figures stand in an alleyway at night in winter. The trees are bare. The houses, stark and angular. A gigantic condo looms behind them, its facade lit up by the moon. Two young women emerge from the dark. A younger one and and an older one. The younger one has long dark hair, she wears a toque and puffy coat. She has rectangular glasses. She lights a cigarette while the older one looks on. The older one has her long dark hair tied in a ponytail. She has a fringe of hair resembling an up arrow. She wears a scarf and black peacoat. She has round glasses. She observes the younger one take a puff. The younger one says "Dad would kill me if he knew I was smoking." The older one implores "pleae let your big sister be a laign influence on you." She turns to look her sister in they and points out "you only turn nineteen once! Celebrate by indulging in newly legal vices!"

1

Hell yeah, we already got fan music

Yup. This is what we're doing now. This is gonna be a long ass comic. This is the prologue and I'll release new pages as I finish them.

We can now see the entire city and it is presented as if it were a map. It is a round peninsula between Burlington Hamilton and Stoney Creek. It juts out from the western corner of Lake Ontario. The neighbourhoods listed on the map for Hospital city are: Downtown, Strachan, Portsmouth, Chinatown, Outerport, Tecumseh, Lake McCaul, Fort Brant, Credit Hill, Little Odessa, Antilles Town, Iroquois, West George and Brock.

22 (Title Page)

We zoom out more and the block expands. We go higher and higher and we can see multiple neighbourhoods.

21

Alma, on the ground, in complete shock, looks up at the departing entity. We zoom out. Alma looks smaller and smaller as we go up past the rooftoops. We can see the layout of the neighbourhood.

20

The flying window lingers for a second, then it turns around and simply flys away. Singing, singing. It's song dissolves into the night.

19

The flying window looms over Alma who is taken aback and sitting down. Her face in a stte of utter terror, she reaches out to the monster in a weak attempt to defend herself.

18

The entity puts Miranda through its windown frame and she falls in. Deeper and deeper she falls into the void of the entity, as the flying window continues to sing.

17

The entity raises it's wings over Miranda and in a second, completely ensares her, ripping her away from Alma's grip.

16

Alma screeches "MIRANDA! PLEASE!" But Miranda refuses to move and the entity draws in closer. Miranda, weeping heavily, whimpers "mom? mama...? Alma shouts "MIRANDA!" But all Miranda can say is "Mom."

15

Miranda, hypnotized, reaches up toward the entity. "Alma snaps out of it and shouts "Miranda! What are you doing?!" She grabs Miranda's hand and yells "We gotta RUN!" But as she tugs her sisters arm, Miranda is completely frozen and unwilling to move as she reaches out to the entity.

14

Miranda craning her neck upwards lets out a meek "Alma..." She grabs her sister's shoulder and with great fear whispers "it sounds like mom's voice."

13

Alma and Miranda are transfixed by the entity as it hovers above them domineeringly. The entity's song writes itself out on the bed of Alma's cigarette smoke.

12

The entity gets close enough such that it's form becomes clear. It is an art deco window frame with drapes for wings. Within it's frame the notation of its tune repeats and reverbates throughout the seemingly endless void that lies within it.

11

There is something with wings in the black starless sky. Miranda asks "what's that?" The entity, which from far away looks like a rectangle with wings hums a tune. Quarter note G, Triplet B, C#, A. This repeats. Miranda observes "it's singing."

10

Alma hugs Miranda tight and says "I love you and miss you too, Miranda." Miranda smiles, the tears drying off. Her expression suddenly turns to confusion as she notices something behind Alma.

9

Miranda hugs her sister amongst a background of garbage can and fire ladders. She says "I love you and miss you."

8

Alma's smile illuminates the darkness and she says "Miranda... one day you will look upon your wish with deep regret... because you are absolutely STUCK with me and dad... remember this moment when you're a 38-year old pharmacist driving to an abandoned strip mall in Stoney Creek to bail me and dad out of Hockey Gambling debts." Miranda cannot hold back her tears for her dumb, jokester sister.

7

The little sister, wracked with seriousness, clenches her fists and yells "I want to preserve it by devoting love to the dumb things I find meaningful." She comes out of her rant, looking vulnerable. Alma points to herself and asks "and I'm one of these dumb things?" The littler sister pauses, look to the side and says "uh... yeah." Alma leans over with a mischievous smile.

6

The little sister goes on. "I worry that my time will erode to the point where I will fing myself alone most nights. I don't wanna lose myself in pursuit of an elusive security. I want to do things that make my soul sing. I want to be close to my family. And every day there's more work. And the work seems vaguely important. It seems important enough that it's worth making the sacrifice of hours. But I don't want to sacrigice anything. I want to honour the time I've been given. I don't want to burn it up like an expendable resource...

5

The little sister smile vacantly, but then becomes emotional once again. She says "no, but really, I miss you and dad so much." Alma sits in the moment with her sister, she smoke from her cigarette floating on top the alleyway's dark. The little sister starts. "as I get older, it geels as if everything around me tries to separate me from the things I actually love. Work separates me from friends. Science separates me from music. School separates me from you."

4

The little sister sinks into her puffy jacket. Mournfully, she confesses "I miss you and dad when I'm at school." Alma, deflecting asks "why? we stink. You won't end up a shifless musician like us. You're gonna use your weird, large brain to study computers or plastics and get outta art poverty... and then me and dad are gonna relentlessly mooch off you." The little sister, playing along, pumps her fists and shouts "That's the plan!" Alma repeats "That's the plan!"

3

The younger one coughs and hacks hideously. The older one looks amused. the younger one says "I don't think I like smoking, Alma." Alma nuzzles her face up to her sister's and taunts "of course you don't, you pure, innocent lamb." Alma's sister retorts "I had three beers tonight." Alma patronizingly says "I know, baby. You're very tough." Alma, prone to shtick, holds up her hands and continues "best not get addited to cigs anyway. They mess with the HRT." The little sister replies "they don't seem to have impeded you." "That's 'cause I'm physiologically perfect."

2

Two figures stand in an alleyway at night in winter. The trees are bare. The houses, stark and angular. A gigantic condo looms behind them, its facade lit up by the moon. Two young women emerge from the dark. A younger one and and an older one. The younger one has long dark hair, she wears a toque and puffy coat. She has rectangular glasses. She lights a cigarette while the older one looks on. The older one has her long dark hair tied in a ponytail. She has a fringe of hair resembling an up arrow. She wears a scarf and black peacoat. She has round glasses. She observes the younger one take a puff. The younger one says "Dad would kill me if he knew I was smoking." The older one implores "pleae let your big sister be a laign influence on you." She turns to look her sister in they and points out "you only turn nineteen once! Celebrate by indulging in newly legal vices!"

1

Here is a hastily recorded version of my song "I Hate You All" with AUTHENTIC poor quality audio. Come check out the show on March 5, 2026!

Caustic riff rockers Super Kill Me Now

New episode of the podcast! On this episode, we talk with caustic riff rockers "Super Kill Me Now" about attempting to subvert nostalgia, a musician's social obligation to community and the legacy of the Languorous Rock of the 2010s.

hausofdecline.ca/podcast

the lyric is supposed to be "ghouls" but "goo" is much funnier

if someone books us!

Here is a hastily recorded version of my song "I Hate You All" with AUTHENTIC poor quality audio. Come check out the show on March 5, 2026!