Swinging Reality

One of my favorite aspects of Hellraiser is how swiftly reality alters when the puzzle box is activated. Walls will just swing open, revealing horrors behind them. Chains shoot out. Things happen very quickly.

I love this so much because it shows how, in this version of reality, OUR ideas about reality are very limited. They are also simply a veneer, one easily ripped away to reveal the dark truths underneath.

It's possible that the veneer only exists in our minds. It could just be a way for our brains to cope with all the weird nastiness going on around us. When you start messing with the Lament Configuration, it could be that your brain just stops being able to shield you from what's really happening all around you all the time. 

In Clive Barker's worlds, knowledge is a very grave thing.

I Spoke Too Soon

After I wrote my post last night, the sinks in the bathroom and kitchen clogged. So at midnight plumbing panic was happening. I guess I spoke too soon.

Today was lowkey. I got some writing done.I tried not to be too down. 

A Good Day

Despite stomach issues, I managed to accomplish the things I needed to do today. I needed some witnesses and signatures for things. Everything is signed. Rent is paid. I even found out some information about a phone company and made a decent suggestion to a friend.

Oh. I also sent my gift list to my stepmom. 

Beyond that, I may have figured out a reasonable docking station for the stuff I need charged that won't fall on the floor. SO yay. 

Productive Tuesday

I finished a fic today. It's edited and posted. I'm pleased. I worked on another fic as well. If I'm so inclined, I might do some more writing in a bit.

Tinkerbell needed a lot of attention today. She's mostly been on my shoulder. Right now she's sleeping against my chest. She made it through another summer and I'm so happy about that.

Loretta Lynn died. I loved that woman. I can't remember a time when she wasn't part of the cultural landscape. She came from nothing and did very, very well for herself. The world is a lonelier place with her gone. 

Really Now

Today sucked. 

Everything went wrong. Every public machine I needed to use was screwed up. Everything took three times longer than it should have. Every plan I had for the week blew up.

I think I've made alternative plans to get some stuff handled. I need some things to happen this week. Hopefully the alternative plans will work out. 

IwtV First Impressions

Thoughts on AMC's Interview with the Vampire Episode 1

Old Daniel is giving Anthony Bourdain vibes.

I'm okay with the framing of the earlier version being some kind of drug-induced fever dream/no one wanted to talk about the truth. As my roommate pointed out, I usually hate that kind of thing, but it usually comes at the end and usually as a way to handwave not having any kind of strong ending/way to fix things.

I'm not sure how I feel about them setting it in 2022 though. In some ways, that's intriguing, but does that mean that everything happening before this in the timeline won't have happened? No Lestat waking up, reading Louis's book, and deciding to become a rockstar? 

Has he been sleeping this whole time then? Will he wake up now and decide to become? What? Still a musician? That won't feel very modern for him. Will he go on Tiktok? Youtube beauty influencer? 

Okay, that could mean we get some kind of big vampire battle between Lestat and Jeffree Star...lots of hissing and ten-inch pink fingernails. 

The winner gets the branding.

Anyway.

The dynamic between Daniel and Louis is very, very good. Daniel is clearly terrified, but he's also old and bitter, and sarcastic now. He's also amazingly good at it. 

The lighting on the show is very good. The camera work is very good. A lot of shows recently and I won't name them here, have been really bad about jarring their sets (and your ability to be drawn into them) with pretty shoddy lighting choices. The showrunners know what they're doing.

I like that we see Louis's family. That adds a nice level of depth to the story, as does his complicated relationship with his faith. Complicated relationships with faith have always been a Rice theme, so we should be seeing it already. 

Everything line of Lestat's dialogue is ridiculous. But don't blame that on bad script writing. Lestat talking that way is canon. 'Overwrought and dramatic' is his default state.

Ohh mentions of Nicki made my heart twinge. I caught at least three. One was outright, the other two more subtle. It always seemed to me that a lot of Lestat's last hold on humanity was tied to his love/mourning for Nicki. Establishing that early on is a good idea.

In every direction, even before Lestat shows up, Louis's situation is impossible. He's miserable. He won't be less miserable with Lestat in his life, but at least the focus of why he's miserable mostly narrows to 'has to be around Lestat' and that will make everything else seem easier.

They did the trope of 'happiest of days and we watched the sunrise before tragedy' but they did it well. It pulled all the right heartstrings, even if you can feel the moves as they happen.

Lestat intruding into someone's funeral march to bitch because he's being ignored is absolutely something Lestat would do.  See, that's the key to this character. The only thing you can do to characterize him improperly is to make him act well-adjusted and reasonable. This is someone who thinks about HIMSELF and maybe a few other people, but only the in context of how they should be thinking about him/watching him/reacting to him. “Ohhh! I hope my beloved mother is well! She needs to continue existence so she can witness all of my adventures!” 

“Gabrielle! Maman! Did you see my review of the new Smashbox lip glosses? I got so many views. Did you comment? Did you watch it? Watch it again. No, no. Turn on your camera so I can watch you watch it. But pretend as if it is the first time you are watching it!!”

The last act of the show was a bit clunky. They need to work on getting their vampirism to look seamless and right now it just really doesn't. The eroticism level wasn't quite there. Close. It's almost, but not QUITE. 

Having said that, the look on Lestat's face right before he bit him was PERFECT.

In conclusion, for the most part, I was pleased. 

Keep in mind that my bar for vampire content is very very low and I enjoy dramatic trashy things in general. 

But for what I wanted out of the show, and by that I mean I wanted a beautiful dramatic sexy vampire romp, the show delivered. I wasn't bored. I wasn't baffled at why everything was so bad. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next.

October

Ahh, my favorite month of the year is here. Thanks to Hulu, I can basically watch scary stuff every day and I plan on watching/seeing as much as I can. I want my October to be festive af this year.

We've already put up our decorations, all six of them. I'm very pleased to see them back on display. Some things are sitting in new positions this year and I like that as well.

The weather is lovely. I'm sleeping well at night. It was a good start to the month.