10 Years of Decemberunderground

We made a cake to celebrate (in May, when we were together–not quite on time). Happy Decemberunderground to you all!

Lyric Cloud

So we can admire some word usage patterns. AFI + Blaqk Audio lyrics.

 

Break-up Photo

In most posed photos, publicity shots or not, Davey uses posture very similar to that in this picture, but oriented TOWARDS someone, like he’s going to tell them a secret; and by “someone” I mean, “usually Jade”.

In most posed photos, publicity shots or not, Davey uses posture very similar to that in this picture, but oriented TOWARDS someone, like he’s going to tell them a secret; and by “someone” I mean, “usually Jade”.

In this 2006-released DU promo photo, his head is tipped toward Hunter, but the way Hunter is in line behind him makes it a more normal/less romantic position; the intimate closeness his posture with Jade tends to evoke is not present here. He is turning toward Hunter, but he appears cold, composed, and removed; not connected.

He and Jade still take the center of the photo, as they often do. But here the space between them is not magnetic or buzzing, it’s barren. They are both oriented away from one another (D more strikingly). Davey clasps his hands to himself in the front–no more arms lost of in the blackness of clothing with hands that could be holding. The message of separateness is very clear here.

(The Jadam dynamic in these photos is what started me on my path of avid Jadam shipping. Fact! The positioning of Adam’s left shoulder and hand give him this protective relationship to Jade, and he’s tilted subtly towards Jade. Jade looks pale and empty here, as he does often in more recent photos. Needing the protection.)

Also of note is that Davey is the foreground, with Jade pushed visibly into the background. It’s not unusual for Davey to take the foreground in photos, but there’s usually some link between him and the other band members even then. Here, his and Adam’s shoulders appear to be on the same line, but there is a sense of “larger-than-lifeness” to Davey that I don’t pick up from the rest of them. Davey is the Subject & the Object of this photo without question. (Even his arms–his lovely sleeves–they’re the only color in this picture. If going for an all-black full-band aesthetic, he COULD’VE been in long sleeves. But instead he takes the focus to the exclusion of the others.

Also please note Jade’s dumb scarf. I love his his stupid face and his dumb scarves. That is all.

The Honeymoon Photo

This STS-era promo pic is an extreme example of the Javey-orientation that was prominent at the time in both posed and unposed group shots.

This STS-era promo pic is an extreme (but not rare) example of the Javey-orientation that was prominent at the time in both posed and unposed group shots.

D & J’s bodies are turned towards one another (vs. H & A, who stand with shoulders oriented towards the camera), their heads tilted together. Their clothes are similar as well, although opposite in color. Even the background of the photo draws the viewer’s eye towards the space between them, their nearly-touching foreheads. Hunter and Adam are off to the sides, not forgotten but not the focal point. The relationship between Davey and Jade, more than the men themselves, is the subject of this photo. I always refer to this one as “the honeymoon photo” because it legitimately looks like they are enjoying their honeymoon in Montreal or some other wintery metropolis and paused to snap a romantic photo.