cupcake_goth | Entries tagged with drama

cleolinda has a big long post about the convoluted mess that is going on with LJ and FB here: http://cleolinda.livejournal.com/902653.html. I really, REALLY suggest that you go read it.

The part from her post that I'm quoting here? Is very resonant for me. Because yes, Gothic Charm School is separate from LJ, and this LJ started out as a purely personal indulgence for me. But it has become more than that, so I'm looking at this whole mess as someone who is concerned about privacy and a writer who uses social networking sites for cross-promotion.

So what's upset me the most about all of this is the idea of
people getting pissed off and leaving Livejournal. I mean, they
should, if LJ is going to screw around like this, and I'm going to keep
telling you everything I find out; I'm upset about people having
to leave. I can get pissed off and storm off to
Dreamwidth, but if no one's there, that doesn't help me in terms of what
this journal is for in the first place. But if I stay here and a
significant number of people leave, that's no good either. I've been
fretting about this for months--every time LJ does some new stupid
thing--but I'm finally just to the point where the best answer seems to
stay here and establish a mirror site on Dreamwidth. Because
it's clear to me now that I'm going to have to set up camp on
Dreamwidth--there are a lot of people who are not going to be able to
ignore this. On the other hand: "we will get twice maybe 3 times as
many people joining because of that." That settled it for me. I have
to stay here for that. Meaning, "fandom" as fandom knows itself may leave
Livejournal, but Livejournal is not going to turn into a ghost town,
which is what I was most afraid of. If you're going to stay, I'm still
going to be here. If you're going to leave, I'm also going to be over
there. Maybe this makes me a terrible person for not flying the
colors and Taking a Stand, but I had to give follower counts and page hit
numbers in a publisher query the other week. These numbers actually mean
something for me. It is not in my best interest to pick either
Livejournal or Dreamwidth; it is in my best interest to stay on
both of them. Kind of like taking a second job to back up a
really crappy one, I guess.

As I mentioned in yesterday's "Name four comfort-reading books", I find Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles strangely soothing. But I haven't read all of them. I stopped reading them, I think, after Tale of the Body Thief.

Thanks to the Vampire Chronicles tumblr (clicky-link!), which sometimes post quotes from the books, I came to the realization that I wanted to catch up. One trip to Goodwill later, and I now have (first edition!) hardbacks of The Vampire Armand, Merrick, and Blood and Gold. Since I made my word count goal for writing last night, I rewarded myself by starting The Vampire Armand during bath time.

Whoo. Bombast! Lurid purple prose! Shimmering preternatural flesh and flashing jewels of eyes, all wrapped in gold tissue and red velvet! I am going to have all sorts of silly fun with these.

I think part of my fondness for bombast is because I love dipping my toes into a state of extremely heightened, overwhelming emotions, but I know I don't want to stay in that state. (In fact, I think it's safe to say that a lot of the REALLY STUPID AND CLUELESS decisions that I have made in my life, at the core, were about me trying to get a drama and bombast fix. Which is NOT sustainable or sane for extended periods in Real Life.) Books and music let me indulge in my fondness for such feelings, without the unfortunate repercussions OR feeling like a complete idiot. (Hey, I own my gothy clichés and am proud of it.)

So! 'Fess up, folks! What are your favorite Anne Rice books? What are your favorite bits of silly, bombastic escapist media?

When real things happen to imaginary people

Yet more on the LJ/FB thing

Bombast! Of a literary type!

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