Friday, February 10, 2012

An Emotion for All Seasons

Alright, it's the last day of the I'm Hearing Voices blogfest, and today's theme is Emotion. I realized that throughout Rosetta I'd written Quinn as scared, nervous, concerned, depressed, drunk, tired, worried and contemplative, but I'd never written her as simply happy or content. Today I figured out why: because she's neurotic, and she worries about everything. It took three drafts for me to find a situation where she might not be worried about something for a few minutes. So hopefully you'll all enjoy this.

Trick lounged on the old, squishy couch in flannel pants and a worn T-shirt that may or may not have been his. Ben and Lucy were squabbling for space on the loveseat, while I put in the movie.

“What are we watching?” Ben asked as he pinned Lucy’s arms and slid back to take up as much room as possible. She elbowed him in the stomach, eliciting a groan. They’d wind up sharing the loveseat; they always did.

“A true gem this time,” I began, but Lucy cut me off.

“Not like Lobster Tale, right?”

“Ah… no,” I agreed. “That was a mistake. But this movie comes highly recommended by my best bad movie expert at the video store,” I rushed on. “It’s called Santa Claus Defeats the Aliens.”

They all stared at me incredulously. “That’s a real thing?” Ben demanded.

I grinned. “Prepare to be amazed.”

I hit the play button on the remote and the song that began to play over the title credits made us all laugh. I lifted Trick’s legs and settled onto the couch, draping his feet over my lap, the position as familiar to me as Lucy and Ben’s bickering. Ben threw popcorn at the screen when it got to be too bad, and Lucy and Trick took turns heckling him for his rotten aim. I propped stockinged feet on the coffee table and let my friends’ laughter wash away the hellish week.

Both those movies really exist. I watch Santa Claus every Christmas. It is a truly fantastic bad movie.

Also, keep an eye out for some changes to my blog this weekend (maybe... hopefully...). More on that in the next day or so.

Have a good weekend!

11 comments:

  1. I like a happy scene! Most of the others today have been pretty tense, so this is very refreshing!

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  2. I want to be there watching the movie with them. Good work!

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  3. YAY! I'm glad you did a happy scene! I really felt the content-ness(pretty sure thats a word...maybe?) of it! I fall into the hordes of people that chose to do intense. I really wish I could be their with them, I've had that kinda week too.

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  4. I know what you mean - my mc is a neurotic mess, so I have a hard time writing her in a normal/happy situation! Nice job! I liked the familiarity of the seating positions.

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  5. That movie is real?!?! Wow--just WOW! I love that you did contentment as your emotion. That is a subtle one to pull off, but you did it :)

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  6. I love this! I'm with Angie. Contentment is a FAB emotion and you pulled it off so well! I want to snuggle with the hubs and watch a bad movie now :)

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  7. Your contentment scene is a lovely contrast to most of the other entries ... including mine (end of the universe!) I have a scene in UNDER A VOODOO MOON for the same reason you did your entry : I wanted to show my young heroes just having fun ... of course then, the Devil acted as chaperone for their first date --- contrast is everything, right? LOL. Roland

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  8. Contentment is oe of the most difficult emotions to capture while holding the readers attention. You did it. I applaude you. I have tried this and have never pulled it off.

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  9. Glad to find your blog. This is great. I love when you are truly comfortable with someone. That's not an easy thing, so I love when it exists. Great entry. :)

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  10. So far all the posts have been rather miserable (mine included). It's a nice change to read something with contentment. :)

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