A More Permanent Hell

Last weekend, I went to the theater to see Project Hail Mary, on which I was almost completely unspoiled. I hadn't read the book and had seen only one preview; also, I'd been assured that it was hopeful, not doom-y, sci-fi. Overall, I recommend it as a good, satisfying, enjoyable, self-contained movie.

More than one moment felt like it might be the story's climax, but turned out not to be. This was not dissatisfying while watching; I mention it in order to observe, first, that I found myself consciously drawing on that reassurance that the story was indeed ultimately hopeful and not doom-y, and, second, to wonder whether perhaps, while I did enjoy it as a movie, would it have made an even better TV mini-series, with each such event capping an episode, perhaps even as a cliffhanger? I'm not sure, but it occurred to me later.

Another thing that occurred to me only later was that it is a pretty long movie: 2.5 hours (plus previews). I did not realize that while watching. Didn't cross my mind. My attention didn't wander. But as I walked out, I checked my watch, and whoa! Apparently, it was over 4 hours in initial audience previews; they trimmed it down.

I like seeing movies in theaters surrounded by other people, sharing the same story in the same space, sharing laughs or gasps and the experience, even if we share nothing else. Sometimes, folks behave poorly, with their phones or noise, but when everyone behaves well, the experience is a treat.

allbutromance, a gen exchange, has closed nominations and opened sign-ups. I didn't nominate, but I thought I'd participate if fandoms I'd like to write were nominated. Check out the tagset.

There's a fairly broad mix of recent and older stuff, including Highlander: The Series and the Buffyverse, as well as across media types, that I think a lot of people might well enjoy.

However, looks like a washout for me, personally, as a writing opportunity. There are several books and movies that I could offer/request to pad out a sign-up slate, but nothing I'm personally sufficiently jazzed about the chance of to jump aboard. I should have made time to nominate The Legend of Zelda, Dungeons & Dragons (Cartoon, 1983-85), the characters I personally enjoy most in HL, and a few other things. Ah, well. Lesson learned again!

I'll keep an eye on for stories to read.

I unfortunately got a weird (and inevitably mildly distressing) spam reply on the AO3 today, but the good news is that, between the last time I got one and tonight, the AO3 launched a convenient "Spam" button right there on comments. No fuss, no looking up how to report it. Excellent UI addition. Much appreciated.