So Melbourne

So Melbourne

Contribution to Special Issue s

Special Issue s

,

2020

I come to you with the adrenaline of a mad cleric, rushing like a priest who has stolen relics. I have seen things, that cannot be unseen. For there is an entity in Naarm Melbourne only known by witness accounts, a being that is undefinable yet recognizable on sight.

This letter seeks to document the existence of this so-called myth, which lacks a name but we know it by the grunting sound of ‘so Melbourne’. Let us begin then, with extreme trepidation, what is this…thing, we abominably call ‘so Melbourne’?

Eats an assortment of global foods in a Marley Spoon box and feels superior about it? so Melbourne.

White couple in their early thirties spends their leisure time collecting vinyl and hooking up on polygamous adventures—which is totally cool, except they simultaneously hit on you and you hate them both, so you really wish they had a different arrangement? So Melbourne.

Invites you over to eat subpar vegetarian burritos (like you are a child and they are feeding you cereal), and watch The Holy Mountain? Ugh, god, so fucking Melbourne.

Only wears Beta 90 (or whatever) and perfumes sought in a shop that looks like a retro pharmacy fucked a cult and gave birth to a new brand of snobbery? so Melbourne.

Invites you to their wedding even though you were hooking up in the recent past, and you go with your new partner because whatever; only for them to start acting like dickheads and delete you from Facebook but—and this is a big BUT—they don’t delete your partner who they barely know (and you’re like, what the fuck is this shit)? The audacity, so Melbourne.

Wants you to worship Rick and Morty because—I don’t get it—and then gets disproportionately offended (they will stop speaking to you, for sure) when you question the popularity of the series? Yep, so very Melbourne.

Preys upon your personal life due to envy, infatuation or self-destruction yet excuses their behaviour with a convenient reasoning around love, alcohol, or the tarot cards when all you want to do is move the fuck on with your life, god fucking dammit? soooo Melbourne.

Has never liked you, and never will, but you started hanging out with their friend so I guess they should be nice to you now (sucks when it’s just the two of you though)? so Melbourne.

Reads this and connects a million paranoid dots to make it all about themselves?… so... Melbourne.