posted September 02, 2014 02:29 AM            

I've read all sorts of grim fiction, and sometimes I can get really into it though that's virtually always because of the characters rather than the setting. But one that haunted me was a series technically for children (I'm convinced those who classified it as such never read it) which was incredibly disturbing (I even experienced horror over some scenes that may have even disturbed Goya, the famous painter who did Saturn Devouring His Son, some of the scenes in this so-called children's series graphically described much worse), and it included the very worst barbarism and atrocities of both the ancient world and the modern (from Aztecs ripping out so many Viking hearts that the stairs became slippery to Neo-Nazis brutally invading a peaceful Irish village that was more or less medieval and thus unprepared for machine guns, though at least they were used to the tortures inflicted on them next, and damn, the way one witch made a kid from Chicago with Obsessive Compulsive disorder start cleaning his face until he bled...), and just the very concepts of such a land have seized my mind. I wouldn't call it an obsession, but I can't forget the details, and I still remember a lot of it.

Though when it gets somewhat annoying to me is when I invent it. For example, a read a novel that was obviously written by a historian who probably had impressive academic credentials (or was a very good researcher) but not the least bit of street smarts. I was metaphorically biting my nails as some innocents of modern Los Angeles traveled back in time to enter an ancient city blissfully unaware of the dangers of having done so (and apparently so was the author who treated it as a live action museum exhibit) with me reminding myself over and over it's just a novel, don't worry about it. Though I've forgotten most of the novel that part is still vivid in my imagination and sometimes I mull over what would almost certainly happen if such an incident were to actually occur (and it's not pretty).

posted September 02, 2014 03:04 AM            

But I am fine with it, as long as this is my only obsession and it doesn't ruin my life, then its fine. I think more about astrology on a curious way, it doesn't dictate my life, but I just always found it very interesting with all the planets and space and stuff I'm a real sci-fi nerd after all

posted September 02, 2014 01:12 PM            

Even if I got an A+ on that paper and other prizes/accolades, if I didn't live up to my own expectations, it would annoy the hell out of me.

Like I was asked to come back to my college and lecture about a particular author because I was so obsessed with him, and my teacher was impressed with my work. That's an achievement, but to this day I regret that I didn't write a book about him. MORE than that, I feel like I could have changed the way he was perceived in literature textbooks...that it was "my calling" to obliterate a lot of misconceptions surrounding him and promulgate some new perspectives.

Attribute this to my:

3H Libra Pluto
6H Aqua Mercury
11H Gemini Mars

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I also fall into temporary obsessions pretty easily. When I first became an Elvis fan, I probably read about 20 books on him in the first few months of it, watched movies, bought a lot of Elvis kitsch that's still in my closet because I still like it, and I pled with my hubby to take me to Graceland. And I'm still a fan but not like that.

And then there are other ways my mind just gets fixated, more like this:

quote:

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Originally posted by PixieJane:
I wouldn't call it an obsession, but I can't forget the details, and I still remember a lot of it.

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This is when the residue of an experience stays in my mind for an unreasonable length of time. That happens a lot.

For example, I remember reading the Flowers In the Attic series when I was about 13, and I just lived inside the mood of the book for weeks and weeks afterwards. It colored everything around me. It was more of a passive fixation since I couldn't shake it off, and even if I didn't think about it, I was feeling it on some level.

This is probably a bit like what overcomes Harry Potter and Twilight devotees.