Adventures in self-hypnosis

Lately I've been tinkering with my morning session, creating a more sinister second version as if the first version wasn't sinister enough! But I've had a very strange problem when I try to use it.

I've written a new scenario for the last part of the "suggestions" section that's loosely based on this Sorayama image, and I added into the script just after the part that puts me in deepest trance. At this part in the original morning script, I'm totally zoned out staring at spirals and subliminals; so I was hoping I'd still be deep enough when the Sorayama scenario kicked in to buy into it 100%.

Unfortunately, every time I've run morning2, I've still been so zoned out when the Sorayama part kicked in that I might as well have been fast asleep. I can't enjoy it because I can't pay enough attention to enjoy it. Even adding commands to pay close attention now don't help. The previous passage had just taken me too deep for anything else.

Now I've revised morning2 to put the Sorayama bit before the zoned-out bit. I haven't had a chance to run it yet, but I have high hopes. Meanwhile, as I was rearranging my script, I tweaked a few other lines and ran across one in the zone-out section that made me roll my eyes. Right there, in the original set of commands, was the suggestion that eventually I'd be able to go deep enough to become a mindless drone, just like I'd always wanted to be. I guess that command took hold of my subconscious a little more strongly than I'd intended.

I never know which suggestions are going to stick and which aren't, and the fact that I've commanded myself not to notice the deep suggestions in my morning program means that I hadn't thought about them consciously in ages. I'd forgotten that line was in there, but damn if I didn't zap myself good.

Anyway, this is all part of my continuing quest to find just the right level of trance. If I'm not deep enough, I tend to analyze the script instead of enjoying it and my mind occasionally wanders. On the other hand, if I'm too deep, I don't even know what I'm experiencing. I know there's plenty of middle ground between those poles, but I'm still trying to home in on it.

Everything you need to know to write an EMC story with sexual imprinting is right here

I found this on io9 a few days ago and saved it up for my weekend post:

Maryland politician is not, I repeat not, becoming a lustful cockmonster

In my continuing quest to provide you with grade-A ammo against (maybe) self-hating closet cases in high office, I bring you the delightfully blistering takedown of Maryland delegate Emmet C. Burns Jr. by Baltimore Ravens punter Chris Kluwe. Please give Kluwe (and teammate Brendon Ayanbadejo) a great big standing ovation...then share this link with as many people as you can.

Vell, Zaphod's just zis guy, you know?

Callidus and Mrs. Callidus are fantastic people (though he does look more than a little like the Techno Viking. Don't make him angry. You wouldn't like him when he's angry.), and we had a fantastic visit. I am sooo glad I got to meet this online friend in person after years of emails, and I look forward to meeting him again in the future. We could have talked all through the night - and probably for several more days - if time had allowed. I wish I could tell you all about everything, but a) I have to leave some things for him to blog about, and b) we'll both want to keep other things to ourselves.

So let's see, where should I begin?

We had lunch at a nice local restaurant where I got so exciting telling Callidus about my next story that I sat for five minutes with a forkful of salmon in my hand and never brought it to my mouth. He asked a lot of incisive questions and gave me all kinds of great ideas to flesh out one of the character's arcs. It was great having the chance to share my ideas with him at such an early stage of the process. This story is going to be huge, probably six chapters and maybe more, and more complex than anything else I've attempted for the EMCSA. Having Callidus' input was fantastic. (BTW, because it is so huge and complex, it's going to take an extra long time to complete. I'll post updates from time to time, but it might take me a year to finish the thing. I just don't know yet.)

Anyway, back to the current narrative. I gave the Calliduses a tour of the city, including some quirky shops where I dropped tentacle in-jokes that made Callidus snigger. Mr. and Mrs. C. found some nice souvenirs and we all had a great conversation about the Coen Brothers' movies with a store clerk who heard me quoting the "Her womb was a rocky place in which my seed could find no purchase" line from Raising Arizona. We also toured some local landmarks, took pictures, talked about ghosts and UFO's, got rained on hard, and ended up back at my place for Round 2 of the epic Meeting of the MC Minds.

Somewhere in the middle of that discussion, Callidus suggested we make a Top Ten list of the best MC scenes in mainstream media. One of the ideas he offered was this scene from the otherwise execrable 1998 Avengers movie starring Uma Thurman and Rafe Fiennes. Prepare to pause and start screen grabbing in earnest at 0:53. ;-)

We brainstormed our list for awhile and came to instant, enthusiastic agreement about #1 and #2, then did a lot of forehead-smacking as we tried to remember other scenes that should have been right at the forefront of our brains. One of my ideas, James Spader's hypnosis scene from the mostly forgotten Jack's Back, turned out to be harder to track down than I thought. Last night it looked like we'd found the whole movie on YouTube and I started downloading it while we talked about other things; but when I tried to watch it after the Calliduses left, I realized I'd just captured some damn kids' movie with the same title. :-/ Apparently, the Spader Jack's Back isn't online anywhere safe and you can only buy it in VHS format unless you live in the UK, where it's available in PAL. If any of my readers can give me that one scene (just not via a link to a sketchy torrent site, please), I'd be eternally grateful. I'm almost positive that that clip would still push my buttons. Plus, Spader was a steaming hot young thing at the time. If you don't believe me, just follow this link.

Besides our Top Ten list, Callidus and I talked about real life friends and adventures, online friends and adventures (Tabico's ears must have been burning like crazy, but don't worry, Tabs: it was all good. :-)), and our continuing amazement at internet culture in general. It was such a great conversation, like we'd been friends all our lives and were just catching up after a year or two apart. I'm sure it will be the same when we meet again, which we almost certainly will.

And that's all for the moment, I think. Again, if anyone out there can find me a clip of the Jack's Back hypnosis scene, you'll have my undying gratitude. And if anyone out there has suggestions for our Top Ten list, just post them below. We are still smacking our foreheads to remember some of them.

A Sunday school teacher and a Hell's Angel walk into a bar...

So...here I am with Callidus. He told me ahead of time that he looked like a biker, and I told him ahead of time that I looked like a Sunday school teacher. Actually, he looks more like a roadie for a death metal band, but I do still look like a Sunday school teacher. ;-)

We'll be off in a little while for lunch and touring, but until then, we're at my place chatting about Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, and comic books.

And now, over to Callidus....

I'm sitting at thrall's computer trying to reconcile the blog I visit regularly, the EMC fiction I've enjoyed for years, and the epic email discussion I've shared with the clever, cheerful person sitting next to me. In some ways she is exactly what I expected and still a complete surprise. It is so...fun to finally be connecting in-person with this lady I've known for years through her messages and website.If the past hour is any indication, one day isn't going to be nearly enough to talk about all the things we have in common and all the things we want to share.

-Callidus

thrall again. I'm having just as much fun getting to know the real-life Callidus and Ms. Callidus. They're very sweet and funny people and clearly have a wonderful relationship with each other. I'm looking forward to spending the day with them. So now we're off (after I give them a quick tour of my Virtual Hypnotist setup). More to follow.