I don't know who would want to today, in all honesty. Today is Guy Fawkes day, and yet my attention focus instead on Fort Hood. A senseless waste of life, and then the news reported at 9 that the man responsible wasn't killed after all.

We live in a fucked up world, and that's not saying much. We live in a world of diversity that we will embrace in some aspects and kill over in too many others. The lessons of yesterday were that bigotry and closed-mindedness lead to great wars, bloody feuds, and generally a world of hate. There were ages of people that tried to fight against it, and in the end we made the world angrier. Our music is angry, our movies are angry, our books, the internet... it goes on and on. We have forgotten that a fight is something that shouldn't be done out of pure hatred, but a tempered purpose. A last resort brought on by a situation that needed to be changed. Violence for the sake of proving a point never actually proves anything. Yes, the world knows you vented your frustrations over something. What did it accomplish? What does taking the life of another do to prove to the world? You're a filthy killer, someone who murders for no reason. You needlessly took the lives of those who have done nothing to you or had any purpose.

Tonight, I hear they're still looking for an official motive as to why this man did it. I've heard that it probably had to do with the fact that he was being deployed to Iraq. I can understand not wanting to go into a pressure cooker. The guy sounds like he's Muslim or someone of descent. I can't say for sure, but it does spring to mind. Sorry if it sounds like me judging the book by its cover. I'm waiting to hear whys and wheres from the officials. Why did so many have to die? I want to hear the logic that he thought made this okay, or at least that made this his option.

I've said this before to you out there reading, and I'm going to repeat it a billion times before I finally shuffle off my mortal coil, there are always better ways. We have a history full of war and death, do we need more? We have become war-like roaches vying for the heap we all scurry upon. We no longer share that common bond with the apes, but with the insects to spread and destroy that which we touch. Infest with plague and kill for our own survival. Humanity is dying so that the Hive can live.

Today England burned Guys on bonfires as a tribute to the failed plot Guy Fawkes and his conspirators tried to enact. In their mind they were doing England a favor by ridding themselves of the Royals and Lords and giving them the chance to make their religious views more open to public consumption. Not openly condemned because it was not what the throne would have them believe in. Guy is burned in effigy for what he did back in 1605 and here in 2009 he still burns. Today we have a new person that made the 5th of November just as memorable. He turned an army base into a shooting gallery. In honesty, I wouldn't like to remember this. If I had to though, then it should be remembered as the last straw. Though my words will likely not do any more than anyone else that has said this repeatedly, let me say it again: Stop the hate. Stop the violence. Stop the anger. Yes, we feel these things. It will happen time and again, but you can stop it. Live life with a smile, love with all your heart, try and be a better person today.

This world is based in belief. This isn't religion folks, it's faith. No matter who or what you believe, it's belief and faith in that belief that makes it go round. We find something negative and we focus on it, that's what the world gets. Nothing but negative vibes and the subconsciousness of every individual picks it up. The strongest of the strong minds try to block it, but some still can't. If try to send a positive vibe into the world, maybe we can actually get somewhere. Let the world focus on the good for awhile. Anything that means one more life is spared. Let today be the day that everyone lived.

mood: contemplative

I've decided to use NaNoWriMo as the excuse to maybe get that much more writing done. But as of this point, I've written three chapters of the novel. Starting work on Chapter 4 tomorrow. I'm excited how this will turn out. Keep the chants of good thoughts and praise coming to me, I'm gonna need it!

mood: hopeful

I just want to let everyone know I've got the next chapter done for the Superman story. I'll be posting that probably tomorrow. However, it's in talking about that post that I wanted to bring up another point. A month or two back I threw in my hat for this years NaNoWriMo, and I wanted to reaffirm my dedication to that ideal. However, I won't be writing a fan fiction after all. No, it's time to break away from that for awhile. I've got a story that needs to get told and with a bit of collaboration from one or two people, I'm planning on making this one hell of a saga.

Here's the problem with this, NaNoWriMo isn't some sort of contest or anything like that. What it basically turns out to be is a month of people trying to aspire into something far greater. People from all over can write and post their story on an official website for reading, but in the end you get a certificate saying you've accomplished your mission. That was fun last year, a lot of fun. However, the original story I'm doing will never be posted here. No, this is going to be something that leads to actually writing for a living. At least something that gets me in a better financial position. I'm gonna be taking a person or two along the way, but I'm gonna do this. So you'll have to wait until after this for that particular Justice League story I've promised. I'm sure you all understand.

mood: determined

Here we have another example of an estate trying to take everything back from the company that hired them for this work. This time the estate of Jack Kirby. After the win of Siegel and Shuster's estates respectively Camp Kirby decided they wanted a huge piece of that pie. Let's face it, the fact that Marvel's being bought out by Disney isn't going to hurt either. I'm including the news story that I read, courtesy of Io9.

Let me just say something, yeah I know how this went down in the court case and what the Superman creators did and didn't win everything. It was a lot, but not nearly the whole enchilada. Yeah, there's a split down the middle of who agrees what they got was fair or they shouldn't have had it. Look, despite it all, they developed one Superman outside of DC's influence and once under their banner they got help and with a little collaboration with each other came up with a non-bald, non-evil Superman that the world latched onto. I've had this argument with many and I pretty much said the same thing repeatedly; yeah they didn't get that damned much, but give it time and they'll find posers trying the same stunt and with the right idiot judges they'll get laws changed up.

This is work-for-hire. Sorry, read a goddamned contract once and awhile and you'll get it! I don't know how to say that any more bluntly. Siegel and Shuster got their settlement when Superman: the Movie hit theaters. Stan Lee was freakin' Marvel. He did contracts and knew how to make sure he got his slice of pie. I'm sure Kirby did too, I am not believe one fucking second that this guy's been shafted so badly that he deserves this. I don't care who I piss of saying that. The guy knew what it was all about when he did the work. His family just wants to make sure that they get a slice of Hollywood pie and get a ton of cash so that the Marvel family will continue to use characters that Kirby had his hands in. We all know what the list is like there. Lee and Kirby were all over the place. This is horseshit and it needs to stop. The laws are their for a reason, and if it seems unfair, then yeah I agree to amend it. If you understand up front what all the laws are, maybe you don't like 'em, and you go with 'em anyway; screw you or the family members that can't get that through their skulls. I don't really see where these people have a leg to stand on here, but I'm sure that's yet to come. So I might be ranting at a surface argument. Still, the way shit's been going in the comic world recently I'm waiting to see what further coming royalty's families are gonna pull next and get away with. It's already happened in part with the Man of Steel. Now we aim for Cap too. Two huge icons of heroism. These characters that stood with us when things truly have looked bleak and we can't stop fucking up their stories, so now we get to fuck the characters themselves because while their enemies couldn't stop them, the all-mighty dollar can. Get 'em Marvel Mouse! Crush 'em under your boot heel!

Here endeth my rant. The news story follows...

( Read more... )

mood: pissed off

So I did the Disney/Marvel crossover, which was a ton of fun for me to work on! But SG-Guy said he wanted to see the WB/DC crossover happen and so I went to work happy to oblige. The thing is as it looks now, I've still got a ton of characters on both sides of the fence to go if I really want to extend it out more. We'll see what the future holds.

( Read more... )

mood: amused

There's a ton of stuff going on with this right now. lol Lawsuits being filed, and fanboys unsure as to what sort of horrors might await. Well, I'm not really going to get into that now, but I wanna toss this out because I figure, what the hell. lol

( Read more... )

mood: amused

I'll be returning to storytelling very soon. lol Today, this is just a bit of a ramble.

I've had an interesting couple of weeks. The subjects of love, wisdom, age, maturity, and respect have all been brought up multiple times. I've talked about every last one time and again. Still, I just wanna adjust my thoughts into a cohesive alignment, so here it is.

Love is like wisdom; it's experience that counts. I don't mean falling for every cute face or hot ass you see. It's simply every failed relationship you walk away from, you learn what it was that the other person did to unattract you, but it's also asking yourself what it is that you did wrong. You see, most people talk about how they want someone behind them all the way. I don't want someone behind me. I do want someone to support me, but that's not necessarily standing behind me. Simple way to put it, if you're standing behind me, then you're not standing beside me, which means you can't push me forward. If we got this momentum going, then can keep propelling each other. Love can do amazing things that way. It's caring, it's nurturing, it's understanding, patience, forgiveness, being friends, and supporting each other. If you can understand that, then you're good to go. In learning this we go through hurt, sorrow and pain before we reach this full understanding. If we're lucky, and I'm talking a roll of the dice for Donald Trump money lucky, then we find it right out of the gate. I've been through much sorrow, pain, and hurt over love. I feel like my heart was ripped out of my chest and crushed. Had a dream about that once. Tears stinging my eyes as if to say that I hadn't felt enough pain. What was worse was the fact that I couldn't just easily fall out of love. It lead me to realize something I've said many times here before; you never stop loving the person you fell for. It's the person they became that you didn't want anything to do with. Sometimes, they are one and the same person, it's the rose-colored image that made them that way. In other terms, it's simply that they grew or twisted into this individual that was nothing that you wanted anything to do with. You learn from this, you grow from it, you move on and when you meet the next person you give them the chance to express who they are and know that you're a bit stronger. You can't judge them by the previous, but you can look out for the signs that drove the wedge between you and the last. Perhaps change it, but that means taking into account that love is proactive.

Wisdom and love are much the same. I said it up there, and I'll say it again before this blog is over. Wisdom and love are both proactive. You cannot read about love from a book and expect to know it. You cannot claim to have learned sage lessons, had you not experienced them yourself. As I said in previous blogs, unless you possess a keen imagination, you cannot simply transport yourself there and live the life on command. I have only met two or three that could ever claim that. Before you ask, I don't claim it of myself. That's egotistical! Wisdom, love, and knowledge all tell us that ego can be a bad thing when left uncontrolled. If we allow our egos to get in the way, then we learn pain on a whole new level. How? Because eventually we just assume ourselves to be knowledgeable, wise, and loved enough that what else do we need? It's work and time! Proactive, seeking things out that we don't know. Wikipedia is great, but we are creatures of exploration. We need to search our own answers in whatever we deem worthy. Don't allow mere books and websites to tell us where we went wrong. Relationships are just that simple to figure out. We don't know what's wrong with the other person and we can't find out because they won't tell us? We figure it out, we are proactive in trying to find out. Truth is, if you've listened in the first place you've probably got your answer already. Age, love, wisdom and knowledge are the fruits of our ability to listen. Ponder this adage: There are none so blind as those who will not see; none so deaf as those that will not hear. That means we refuse to look and examine what's truly the heart of the matter, because that means looking into that mirror I talked about a few blogs back. We can't analyze ourselves. If we do that, we might figure out that we have fault in something that went wrong. Horrors! We can't have that can we? Did we do something that made this go down hill? Were we listening, do we look for signs that were obviously there? Now do I speak of love or learning? If you can answer the question, the perhaps that is the answer you need to explore within yourself.

Maturity and Respect: I'm not the most mature person in the world, and I admit that. We find ourselves at that crossroads, where we say that maturity and respect come with age. No, respect comes with our ability to give it as much as we receive it. Some people don't readily give respect, and they say punk kid. No, I'm sorry I've seen old people with the same issues. Generally towards younger generations because they've already decided that we don't deserve it. We are shunned by the very idea that we weren't going to treat them good in the first place, and that we'd act as bratty and devil-may-care as the rumor has all of us doing. That's bullshit. It's pure and simple. Age is no definition of respect or maturity, it's merely a marker in which people want to use. I give a person all the courtesies and kindnesses that they deserve until such a time as they prove themselves unworthy of such things. When they've done it, I drop all my manners and become a downright bastard. I admit this freely, and I don't necessarily like it about myself. However, I have my limits and I don't like them being pushed. We find our world using the world disrespect so much for any little incursion. Nowadays it's generally a reason used to shoot someone. 'They disrespected me, I'm gonna cap 'em. No one disrespects me and gets away wit it!' See, this is maturity talking. We're talking about adults that do this shit. We see in this example that they don't understand the meaning of the word. Now the meaning means if you don't like someone's demeanor and have something to prove, you can open fire and not think about it. You're allowed to act like an 8 year old with all the ordinance of an adult. You have to earn respect, and to do so it means you have to find some modicum of maturity. Yes, I act immature alot, I never said otherwise. However, when the chips are down I drop that quick and act like I've got a grain of grace in my soul. That means I will give you all due respect, but I expect it back. You'll find the world looks like that. You want to be respected, respect someone in return. My personal preference is to diffuse the most disrespectful person with their exact opposite demeanor. Why do that? Simple, because in the end, it makes me the better person. Yeah, I get pushed too far sometimes. I admit that yet again. Still, I make the attempt anyway. If it doesn't show the person that I'm talking to the level of maturity and respect I have, then perhaps others will notice and I might just gain a few friends out of it. Might find that such things lead to love and learning as well. I'll bet on it.

Bottom line comes to this; I don't care what age you are. You've got just as much chance to have lived and learned as someone who's lived 80 years. I know people that never left the confines of the small town they grew up in. Never wanted to, never saw the need. They married someone like that, and in general that seemingly lived happily. However, they weren't the wisest of old timers I'd ever met. Not very learned. I can't talk about love for them, but they made it one day at a time. Then again, I've seen people my age and younger that have proven time and again that they've gone out and done and learned amazing things. Came home wiser and richer for their experience. Found someone who cared for them and supports them for who and what they are. Life is not stagnation, it's adventure. No matter how you find it, adventure of any sort is good for the soul. It's magic or a prayer answered if you will. To all sides of the religious fence, you can't beat finding either accomplished. Magic and prayer aren't that far removed from one another. Magic believe that you marry a thought to an action and that through force of will and flow of your soul you can make the world provide. Prayer, it's the same, but we marry the thought to an action and hope that through it that God will provide. That's what makes wishes so damned dangerous. These are people that married a thought to an inaction and got something free in return. The problem is that wishes are rarely fulfilled. Hard work, determination, and understanding are the best keys. Believe that. Another philosophy I follow, wish I came up with the line myself: Nothing good ever comes easy.

Don't let life pass you by. Step outside and breath, try to meet someone new. Pass along the good vibe. Let 'em know that we love Money for Nothin', but it never really works that way. Even the Lotto, you have to buy the ticket. Good luck everyone, I'll post my next installment sometime soon.

Night!

mood: tired

So it's been a bit since I posted anything related to this other than just fan fictions and now I'm just inspired.

Today I was reading on Io9 about the fact that they've been grooming another Superman film.  Not surprising, nor very much news.  Since the Siegels and Shusters won their case, they've been granted the rights to their original works again.  That means bits of the origin story that remained inherently true and other bits will be ripped from the WB and DC unless hefty sums are paid.  Despite the B.S. that the defendants decided to toss out, that being that Superman is damaged goods that got a lucky break, the plantiffs got their money and rights to screw with the character all the live long day.  There's a great deal I could say more on this, but I've said a great deal on it already...

In any event, they've got to get a movie developed by 2011 before all the rights revert and they're stuck telling about a guy that can fly,  that comes from some place other than Earth because for some reason he jumped in a ship and headed here.   However, before they do that they're going to try and make the Superman movie of today, in tact (origin wise) and make him a little less Christopher Reeve-ish.  That means, because of the raving success of such films and Batman Begins and the Dark Knight, they're going back to the darker Superman approach.  Now again, I say unto you that this isn't something firm yet.  They've talked about this for awhile, nothing new.  Hell, they wanted to do that with Captain Marvel at one point.  Captain Marvel, to those who don't know the monicker, that would be Shazam.   I believe I discussed that at some length too, that means the optimistic kid would decide to become bitter and angsty so to give the world a Superman power level X-Man for all intents and purposes.  You want a dark Captain Marvel?  Look no further than his enemy Black Adam, depending on which version you're going up against, they're dark in their own different way.   Still, this isn't the only reason I wanted to give this diatribe of hero facts. The things that have happened to Superman have been but a symptom of a much larger level, and it's not just comic books that have suffered this, but all around entertainment and the real world too.

Before comics superheroes were huge, there was the pulp novels.  Dime store rags that told some amazing adventures of people with some real skill and the initiative to stop crime in ways too fantastic for the normal person.  They went by names like the Shadow, Doc Savage, the Avenger, the Spider, the list goes on and on.  Some of these character were memorable, all too memorable.  The Shadow's reputation gained such popularity that he was granted his very own radio show.  Orson Welles voice hit the waves and it made such an exciting splash they brought others up trying to see if people would take up on them.  I encourage you to read the full history on it, it's actually fascinating to see the character through his incarnations.  In any case, mobs and the gangland violence were so prevalent that these pulp heroes were as brutal as their adversaries.  They had flaws as much as their enemies, which allowed you to identify with the character.  However, their closest companions were usually the only ones to really get to see those up close and personal which you read a death-defying detail and watched eye for an eye justice get served to a crook that you knew had it coming.  What made them so thrilling was that they were showing some anti-hero tendencies, but it was supposed to be like that.  Heroes didn't mind carrying a gun or being living weapons themselves because it might come to killing the enemy and it was acceptable because none other than they could touch them.  Like if the Shadow had shot Capone instead of Ness bringing him to justice.    Ness brought him down within the confines of the law, and that's what it was all about.  The Shadow was swallowing evil and darkness, because he knew evil and darkness.  Doc Savage lobotomized his enemies to take out their criminal tendancies.  He was a genius, a perfect bronze giant that found it effective instead of releasing them back into society after a short stint in jail where they'd just end up repeating the offense.  Why is this acceptable and why bag on the Batman portrayal in the Dark Knight?  More to come on that...   We look at one fact, we don't necessarily agree with it, but some of us wouldn't have minded getting the psychophants off the street any way necessary.  Their methods were deplorable to the average person, but some people took them to heart anyway.   Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?  Every fan after the Shadow showed it to them.  Much like anything else they were a sign of the times, those people who wanted to find methods of dealing with things that they couldn't do themselves.  Doing fantastic things and discovering impossible places that captured the imagination.  Inspiring wonder in a place where the average person of the day could barely afford the book, much less going to exotic locations.  Luckily some of them found such stories taking place right in their backyards.  The kids that might've read these stories had the chance to look up at the Empire State Building and see Doc's floor.  If they crossed the back alley, they might catch a glimpse of a figure moving in with a darkened laugh and a slight glint of steel before some thug met his fate.  Scary?  Yeah!  Who wants to subject their kids to that?  But it was entertainment, and most people thought it was trash material anyway, except a few execs looking to put in on a network.  All they did was clean it up for family listening.  That too being a sign of the times.

The only thing they like to see more than a hero is to see a hero fail, fall, die trying. In spite of everything you've done, eventually they will hate you...why bother?  -- Green Goblin (Spider-Man the Movie) 

I loved this line when I first heard it, because I've read too many comics where that's all too true.  But right now I want to look at a real world hero; Elliott Ness.  The leader of the Untouchables, and the man that brought Al Capone down.  The glory days when he would bust into the speakeasy and make Capone's life a living hell, are the stuff of legends and several movies.  Not to mention the book written by the man himself.  However, to go with the Green Goblin's example here, we find that Ness himself actually left the world in disgrace by many people's minds.  He went from FBI agent to being the Saftey Director in Cleveland.  He took on the mobs and tried to deal with the ever growing problem of the Cleveland Toro Murderer.  Someone that was killing drifters, at least 12 to 15 kills were credited to this guy.  Ness tried everything he could to nail the guy, at the cost of his marriage, the start of heavy social drinking, and basically becoming obsessed.  He burned down an entire shanty town trying to find this guy if memory serves.  He never caught him, and for it he was never the same.  He went to job after job, and finally settled to write a book about his experiences taking down Capone.  He died a month before the book was published due to a heart attack.  Everyone remembers Ness for his time, but the historians dig this in that his taking down of Capone was for tax evasion and that when challenged to bring down a really big threat, he failed his last crusade so miserably that it ruined him.   Of course that's what people do to their heroes.  They never look at the bigger picture, regardless of how it was done he too down the bad guy and legally!  How much better can you ask for?

The lesson people miss isn't that the hero should fail, the ticket is that the hero should overcome all his own personal issues to be the bigger hero that he is.  Sometimes these heroes fail to do that which can twist them into shades of their former selves.  We either try to regale them of glory days, jeer them for their failures, or say how sorry we are that they're not what they once were.  It's a shame, crying and otherwise.  It's beyond unconscionable to me to do these sorts of things, but these tragic events happen.  It's the next part of the story, we live with it and hope the inner hero finds itself.  Instead, today, we latch on to heroes like the guy from the Shield.  We want more Punisher type heroes, we've wanted to see our heroes as violent and bloody as the villains they fight.  Well hell, the Shadow did it right?  Didn't you just say that Doc Savage lobotomized his enemies?  What about the Spider?  If he was like those guys, then can't we accept that all our heroes should be that way?  No, no we can't.  This is a misconception and goes with the fundamentals that heroes and characters are built on.

These days in real life we've got military heroes, police heroes, firefighters, EMTs, hell even the movie stars for the celebrity they use to try and boost charity events.  Then we go back to the Goblin's famous words, and that's when we start looking for the corruption of these heroes.  How an officer was taking bribes, involved in some sex scandal, or killed someone he shouldn't have.  Then there's the military guys that have been too brutal or the movie stars that've been blowing cash on enough drugs, cosmetic surgeries, or some weird shit they're currently into that they could've inspired a bit more help if they'd stop buying stupid shit and just hand it over to these charities.  What I'm getting at is, that for all the good these agencies do, and I support our military, firefighters EMTs and police, somehow their greater deeds get overshadowed by the crap that some guy did that doesn't understand what being a part of one of these is about!  I don't know that I made any sense right now, but we're going with that.  We've been beat down by this stuff, and so much so that we put it not only is it put on the shoulders of  these real men and women heroes out there (thank you all again), but to the fictious ones we grew up with.  

Marvel and DC Comics have always had two seperate approaches to their heroes.   Marvel heroes always had the more heavy character flawed individuals, they were always trying to rise above what it was that held their demons to be better than what they were.  Iron Man it was the bottle, X-Men were hated for being them, Hulk was all about anger, Spider-Man was balancing himself between hero and real life plus trying to be confident in himself.  Most every hero out there at Marvel had some issue that would take over and they could remind the reader they were but a mere accident away from being just like them.  DC was about aspiring to higher ideals and if there were real issues involved, they tackled 'em head on in their personal lives and the hero life was seperated to do what needed to be done.  Superman's roots back when showed a guy growing up to be the man's man.  The definition of everything the times needed him to be, when the science fiction age came around, they made him more science like and let him sprout new powers every issue.  With Batman and Wonder Woman, it was the same sort of thing.  Wonder Woman was treated like a second class citizen hero, being a secretary one moment and then when the 70s hit she was in the middle of women's lib.  Batman was this dark figure who lightened up when Robin showed up.  Once he did the Dark Knight started to become a bit more happy go lucky, then Adam West came into play and it turned into one huge freakin' joke.  It was camp where there shouldn't be.  But people stuck with that, because they like the 'simpler' times that the character represented.    

When it boils down, we've always made the characters follow the times to keep them up to date and fresh.  The problem is that eventually we ran into an age we didn't want them to follow the times.  Superman was definitely a man's man back in '38, but the reason was because the little guy needed someone to defend him that wasn't like the pulps.   They needed someone in a bright costume that would not only defend the innocent, but was trying to be a good samaritan at the same time.  When Batman came out, they tried to make him like the Shadow and they nixed it because they didn't want that sort of stigma.  Batman then became the detective that's legend would grow into something far bigger than I believe the creator could have ever anticipated.  Wonder Woman's equality for women still stands as firm today as it did back then, only it improved thanks to the works of George Perez.  He took the Greek Myths and better incorporated them into her background and made a really shining character.  Superman was the science fiction hero, Wonder Woman was the mythical, Batman was the human who strived to be better, all three combined together by their common want of Truth and Justice.   They were the perfect compliment, the big 3, and no matter what age they were in they were always up on the front lines as a part of this new age.  Flashes changed, Green Lanterns changed, new heroes were added to compliment those that didn't get updated to the next generation.  These 3 remained as a beacon of hope.  In the midst of all the darkness, they were still a ray of light.  Something to strive for, because the real world needed someone like that.  And that's where the modern take has come in.

Much like our TV and movie heroes, they've made these heroes -- all of them -- as dark as that which they fight.  They allowed brainwashing, decided to turn their backs on their mission, sunk into the darknesses that they fought against for so long.   It's real world psychology applied to people that were meant to get us away from that world.  Characters long since dead have been brought back because writers want to remember this age of way back when.   Comic law says that heroes never really die, they're just waiting for the moment to return.  It cheapens the sacrifice after awhile.  Superman died fighting Doomsday and they brought him back, yeah we knew it would happen, but they tried to make you understand how it happened.  Was it comic cheese?  Yeah, in most every concievable way it was.  That's comics for you.  However, they also stated from the get go that Superman's return wouldn't be repeated should such things happen again, because the means were destroyed.   Yeah, still cheesy, but it needed to be said too.  Superman, the man, is not actually immortal.  The ideal is by far, as is Bruce Wayne's Batman, as is Diana of Themyscira's Wonder Woman.  They're modern myth, just like the stories from Greece back in the day.   And to me, it used to feel that way because things were so big and so bold.  Now if it's big I probably want to avoid it due to the fear of the craptastic nature of it.  We've got DC hero zombies now calling themselves Black Lanterns.  Yes, dead heroes can return as zombies since resurrecting them is now considered passe.  What the hell?

We've allowed things like the Dark Knight to become popular because that's the sort of hero we think is necessary, that means emotionally disturbed and ready to let the villain die.  We accept that now Superman himself has given up being a mild mannered reporter and is now Commander El of New Krypton and that he's working with General Zod.   We look at Wonder Woman and see that she's lost touch with humanity, even though out of the three she is by far the most down to Earth of them all.  She bests Superman in that category by far, that's right, the S-Man fanboy is admiting that outright!   The Green Lantern now is the one that everybody remembers from way back when that fell from grace, turned into a villain and died returning to the side of heroes.  They brought back the Flash that died during one of the most epic stories ever told because they wanted to relive the age again and again.  Now they have their classic heroes and they can do so much.  What that means is they drug them into the real world that they've made and now have the opportunity to drag these characters further down into the dregs with the rest.   These heroes are getting movies now because we want to see them on the big screen with the rest of the big budget extravaganzas and for what?  So we can see them turn into the dark and twisty thing that was Batman Begins?  We want to see Superman melt someone's face off with Heat Vision?  Flash vibrate his hand through someone's chest and see it explode?  How about Green Lantern tossing an enemy into the sun?   This is what we've come to expect.

Whether real or imagined, our heroes have become that which we should jeer more than revere.  We don't allow the real heroes get cheered that often anymore.  Those that really keep us safe, or the ones that allow us the few pages of escapism.  The question a lot of comics, novels, movies, and other such have been trying to ask recently seems to get lost in translation; do we want heroes to be as bad as their counterparts?   I put forth to you all this, knowing only one person will truly answer this post.  Do you want to see the hero that will fail?  Is that all it is to you?  And in truth, if these heroes of yours are bound to fail anyway, do you believe that you too will fail?  I mean what are we if not the heroes of our own stories?  That precludes by this that we are doomed to this outcome.  Do we finally remember a brighter place that make these phantoms go away or do we stay status quo and fall further into our own darkness?  I ask this because I want to see a paradigm shift.   The questions are on the table, who will answer that call?

mood: contemplative

Tuesday is my least favorite.    The reason is because Monday sucks because it's Monday.  It's the beginning of the work week, so you know that's gonna be bad.  Wednesday is the middle of the week which means you're on the down slide towards the weekend.  Thursday is that much closer to Friday.  Friday is the beginning of the weekend right after work ends and that continues right through Saturday.  Sunday is good even though you know that Monday is only a short time away.  Tuesday sucks because it's not Monday so it's the beginning of the week, but it's not Wednesday so you can't say you're on that down slide.  It's just there, it's the day that does nothing but sit there. 

I guess that would make Friday my favorite day.  It's the end of work for the weekend and the beginning of whatever fun I've got planned.   

mood: amused tags: writer's block

Hey everyone!

I just got done with the latest installment which is probably the hardest one I've ever had to write. This is the Flash's part of the story so far and it occurred to me when I started writing that I knew diddly about this particular Flash. I did a lot of research, but it's not the same as actually starting with the beginning of Barry Allen's tenure and working my way back to Crisis on Infinite Earths. No, I'm just going with what I do know and taking a personality base that I thought matched. In this case Michael Shanks and James Spader as Daniel Jackson from the Stargate movie/SG-1 franchise. In any case, i realize this one is probably going to be the most harshly graded of all the entries which is fine, I want honest opinions. I still hope you enjoy.

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This is the wrap-up to the Bizarro Story: Already in the works for the DCUFF, the coming of the Justice League!

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mood: hopeful

I'm finally on my way to finishing a story I started a long time ago. I'm reposting the whole of the Bizarro story and hoping that you enjoy!

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mood: hopeful

Tonight's post is going to be really short. I plan on expanding this later, but I think some people need to hear it.

In recent days/weeks/months/years, a ton of bad shit has happened to me and mine. Sometimes I've managed to move past items, but as some of you know me, I dwell on a ton of others. It puts me in a place that I and other friends call the abyss. The abyss is a place deep inside your soul where all the bad stuff goes and sits like a whirlpool or black hole if you will. It'll feed on anything and tries to draw you into it. Simon and Garfunkel wrote an entire song dedicated to it.

I've read some people's journals and had some conversations with others, and I've seen recently that people have been sitting on the edge of that abyss. They've almost become so acquainted with it that they've become friends. Sometimes they think it's all they have left is their sorrows and miseries. I know what it's like, I've been there a lot in my past. I sometimes still got there out of old habits that are hard to break. What saddens me, and what I've seen worse with people is that these recent times have gotten so many down that they fall victim to it. They've impaled themselves upon the mediocrity of this world and became V'Ger in the process. "Is this all that I am? Is there nothing more?"

Stop! Life is out there, it's not passed you by yet. If you're reading these words, then know there's color still in the world. Find a new cartoon and laugh, go and see flowers and trees and marvel, cry at the beauty of a piece of artwork. I'll have done it too. You are not alone. Guaranteed outside that door is someone that needs the perspective. If you can find it in yourself to love life a little more and give no further time, love, nor hate to wallowing in self-pity then you can pass that on. Make someone smile, it doesn't matter who. They need it as much as you do. Just remember, I and others have felt the same way you do; some of us all our lives. We know what it is like to have your pains and heartaches, we know the bleeding in the soul and the inkiness that awaits you in the abyss. Take our hands and pull yourself out, we've got a world to see and change. You are not alone.

mood: contemplative