Browtober

A laptop sits open, a browser page displayed on its screen to the Seas’ most popular video playing website. The video currently on the screen is titled “first rehearsal.mp4,” and has very few views. Someone hits the space bar, and grainy footage begins. A young browbird with ivory tusks and hair the same orange as dying fire embers takes up a majority of the screen initially, clearly fiddling with the camera. She grins like a vicious beast as she ascertains that the equipment is working, and then turns away.

“Nadia! It’s working!”

“Mm? Oh, good. Where do I look?” 

As the browbird turns away, another young woman becomes visible. This one is a painted satyr with long curls of dusky purple hair. The browbird slings a bass guitar over her shoulder and then bodily movies Nadia, as she is apparently called, so that she’s properly facing the camera. Her hand goes under Nadia’s chin and tilts it upwards just slightly. “Right there.”

When she steps away, Nadia is very nearly making eye contact with the camera. She smiles prettily as the browbird sits next to her with her bass in her lap and plucks out a few grungy notes. The browbird begins to play, and as she does the deep bone-rattlingly grungy sounds are joined by Nadia’s light, sweet voice in a song whose lyrics are difficult to parse. The overall effect is surreal and dream-like, sticky sweet versus the deep dark sound of the bass. 

The video cuts off abruptly midsong, for reasons that are unclear, but begins to loop after a moment.