Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Day 12 - Barely There, Lovecraft

Woke up from the strangest sleep this morning, groggy and confused. I blame writing weird crap at 4 AM. It was raining, so I decided to walk my way to an amazing class at Vega. I'm so grateful for my students and my job there. I've been part of a few studios, all good, but Vega is the topper. I just resonate with it. Anyhow, post class I walked home in the rain for a good hour, taking my time and enjoying the sounds of a mostly vacant Portland that was well drenched by breakfast. I forget sometimes how relaxing it is for me, walking in the rain. 

But something weird hit when I got home, burrowing like a tick in my head. I don't know what brought it on, but I've been massively scattered the remainder of the day, confused even. I tried explaining to Sena a story concept I'd been working on, but couldn't get two coherent sentences out in succession. I've felt like a good ol' fashioned dumb-ass. No clue why. I need a shower and a real nights sleep.

Habbit RPG update. This thing is the shit. Simple enough? I'm now level 11, have a fancy cotton candy blue lion (not kidding), and a magic blue sword. I get so many things done when they're gamified. And no, the rewards aren't really material, as in, can I use them in real life, but a sweet blue sword in any reality is a-okay with me. That being said, I think I need to amp it up and turn my attention to writing. This blog is a huge help, and I feel a daily sense of accomplishment because of it, but I need to get back to my sequel and other projects. I can practically taste, touch, fondle and otherwise feel that APEX is real, but dammit I haven't really done jack beyond chapter 1. It's such a good product and I can't wait to really start it.

Speaking of projects, my crew is insane. By crew, I mean my friends, and by insane, I mean brilliant. Though I did feel like something of an annoying ass after a point the other night (been a strange week in my head), I still feel like the group is something right with the world. They all have such a way with story, or theme, or music, or characters, or setting. It's a good thing. Must keep the project on a hush for now, but soon enough there'll be things to rave about.

Ravings...And I'm back to that thing I wrote last night. A tad depressing, yes, yes it was. We were talking about HP Lovecraft, the boys and I, last evening. I love Lovecraft's stories, his creatures, even his radically over-stuffed sentences (he wrote like he was getting paid by the word). But I love his concept of two things more than anything, and that is perception and godhood. His characters, be they man or otherwise, live in a universe rife with ancient beings and beasts whose power is so great man reveres them as gods of a sort. The most popular of his is the tentacle mouthed Cthulhu, who at one point is described as indescribable. More than that, for the man who sees the mountain sized creature goes insane from simply looking at the behemoth, he can't actually comprehend what Cthulhu is. I love that! Even looking at a statue of the beast for too long can drive one insane due to his very existence being communicated through said statue, regardless of where Cthulhu may be! Dayum! 

But my all-time favorite concept that Lovecraft touched on was the concept of gods and their followers. In the Shadow Over Innsmouth, the fictional story in a fictional town where fictional zealots worship a fictional (though real in their world) fish/sea beast/god (kind of)/monster. The people are talked about by those from other towns as having the "Innsmouth Look," effectively possessing sea creature like qualities. And here's where those good looks come from. The more time and effort you have spent worshiping Dagon and Mother Hydra, the more you look like their children. That's fuckin' rad! Lovecraft basically takes the thought that "God created us in his own image," and flips it. He proposes that we look like god due to our devotion and worship, and that should our faith be significantly diverted to say, I don't know, a fish monster of substantial power, we would take on aspects of that things appearance, in this case eventually becoming an amphibious creature known as a Deep-One. 

Marinate on that!

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