The Writer's Bloc

Sushi Says: "This is the Most Handsome Generation!"

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 23:35:22 GMT

Okay, she probably didn't actually say MOST handsome generation ever, but she thinks it. I've been playing the houses a lot over the last five days or so getting everyone up to teen. I'm not done yet; I still have the two Marian lines to do. But the rest of the Patricians have their eldest and usually second kid up to teen years.
First up the Imperial household. Leading off Nero:

He's not bad looking, but he got hit a little hard by Marina's hit or miss genetics. (By her own judgment) The eye/nose thing was fine when he's a kid but he will get a bit more awkward. Still it's not killing my gene pool. Nero just has a tough go because of the high standard this generation has set.

Next up his brother Britannicus:

According to Marina: "I take back my comment about Andrew being my best looking sim child. Brit is that by far."

Of course that's without the hairstyle he sports here, and as a young adult since she's seeing in her game before I have in mine. The strange thing is, I really can't tell who the kids get their looks from. They look like their parents, yet they don't, if you get what I'm saying.

On to the next kid, the first girl- Sabina.

Sabina always has looked rather angry. This pic she's smiling and well she should be. She and Brit went a long way to repairing Marina's shattered confidence in her simself's genetics. Messalina meanwhile was touch and go for a while...

Basically, Messalina is similar to Nero, but I think she'll end up wearing the features better. She looks less awkward now than she did as a child.

On to another family, and a pirate's curse!

Well not really, but Toast swore that anyone who bred her simself would be doomed to see the horrific results. And she's right as you can see from Titania, (daughter of Toast and Pertinax)...

Horrific results = Toast's simself breeding lots more. Sure, not in my legacy unless ACR has it's way (and they tried, but failed) but clearly Toast has no problem producing gorgeous girls. Can't say I was surprised, because Toast's simself is no slouch. But hey, maybe she was right about boy kids.

Constantine

Or not. Here the Constantine is channeling his inner Toast. Come on, ET, aren't you at least a little proud at what your simself can produce? It's not easy to mess around with the facial modifications as you say you have and have results THIS good. Now it's possible Pertinax just was a great match for her, (and that is part of it) but still.

But just to be sure, everyone go and breed Toast's simself in your legacy.

I'm kidding, really. No Toast... don't send the penguin after me!

Next family, one that I had high expectations for- the Severans. Dru was arguably the best looking sim of gen 5, and she married the son of the best looking sim I've ever produced, Scribonia Caesar. (Poor Sextus doesn't even have a name these days. He's just referred to in relation to his wife and/or mother.) This line is also loaded with simselves, so these kids can trace their lineage through such distinguished simselves as Renee, Candi, Emma, Brystin, Chicken Sensei and of course, my own.

So then, Septimius Severus, son of Drusila Caesar and Sextus Severus:

Septimius is definitely the best looking guy of the line thus far. But what about his twin sister Sextia?

Sextia Severus

I love Sextia because her mannerisms remind me of her grandmother Scribonia. (One of the few sims I regret having to kill off- not because of story, but because I liked her so much) She's also exceptionally pretty and probably is in the running for best looking female Roman of generation 6. And just for fun, here's a pic with her and Sabina.

Adorable, right? And now Dru's second set of twins Crassus and Gneaus Severus

Cute, and I think their features are a little easier to pin down than their elder siblings. I'm pretty sure Gnaeus (with the Caesar hair) is going to end up looking more like Dru, and Crassus like Sextus. Of course since Dru and Sextus share multiple common ancestors, it wouldn't surprise me if I just mistook one feature for another.

Moving along to their second cousins, the kids of Orphelia and Rhys Fitzhugh. I planned for one originally, but apparently the fortune sim minded Orphelia really liked being pregnant, because she kept trying for baby (ACR, what the hell?) I don't think it was Rhys' doing, as he's romance, but he never could maintain the fear of a baby either...

Anyway, Orphelia is good looking, but definitely has a lot of her grandmother Julia in her, while also reminding me a bit of Lucy Lawless, circa 2001. Rhys has breeded in De's and Marina's legacy, with a variance of results. It's no different here:

Julia Domna Fitzhugh

Julia Domna her father's nose and eyes but ended up with "the brow". For those not in the know the brow refers to Renee's brow that has become synonymous with evil in my legacy. For a trip down memory lane to prove my point:

Renee (gen 2)

Julia (gen 3)

Orphelia (gen 5)

And for kicks, someone born without the brow:

Okay, that was because I wanted to post my favorite Scribs picture ever. Anyway, so Julia Domna has the brow, not that it guarantees evil or anything. But the brow combined with Rhys' Fitzhugh's genes? I dunno...

Luccia Fitzhugh

Luccia avoided the brow and thus doesn't quite look like her mother even though I think most of her features are showing through. Actually, I think she might have some Fitzhugh in there. Marina, thoughts?

However...

Marcia Fitzhugh

As you can see, Marcia did not avoid the brow. Between the nose and the hair, she reminds me of a child form of Robin's simself for some reason. We'll see what she looks like as a teen.

And now, the last family I'll list here, the Scipios. First kid is the third child of Persephone Legencia and Publius Ameilianus Scipio, born of course posthumously.

Cyrus Ameilianus Scipio

Me thinks Cyrus might be the best looking one for the guys. He seems to want to spread it around to everyone as he is fully Bi. (I checked) Of course, I have a spouse in mind for him already so it may not matter.

Moving on to Metallus and Amelia Finch's kids.

Trajanus Scipio

Pretty boy comes to mind. He clearly has his mother's features, and they are extremely soft. The Scipios to this point have produced the most unique and generally best looking kids and Trajanus continues that legacy.

Medusa Scipio

I think Medusa will look like her mother as well when she teenifies. Those Finches have some powerful genes. Denise you should be proud.

I still have the Marians to go, so when I get them up to speed, I'll post their pics too.

For Your Viewing Amusement

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:06:19 GMT

A lot of people throw around comments when legacy writing like "A legacy's on break" when it's really done. I've thrown out the break comment too and my lack of frequency or... well being seen at Boolprop may actually have a few of you wondering if I will return to the Caesars. The answer is yes, and now I actually have visual evidence.

Over a month ago, I bought Bon Voyage and said I wouldn't install it until I got this gen to college. Then last week I said screw it and installed it anyway. After some tinkering around, that could eventually lead to the neighborhood blowing up (read installing two vacation destinations), I got one I liked. Then I built this:

That is the new beachfront Villa de Caesar, the extravagant vacation home of the Imperial family.

Me thinks Empress Marina approves.

It's a nice view, isn't it Pallas? The island of Capri I call it. Too bad Tiberius is dead.

This shot would be better if I had the hack that allows ceiling tiles. But it's still nice as is. That's Sabina and Messalina by the way.

Next up we head to the other home I built, for the Scipii. They deserved a vacation after the hell the good sister Ameila wroth on them.

I completely forgot to turn all the seasons to summer, so Trajanus got a nice little bit of skilling in the ocean. He, like most Scipii boys, is adorable.

Perse may have lost Raythew, but she still has her grandchildren, and what family sim doesn't love that?

Addie tagged along because she and Amelia make such a great team. They did not disappoint. I have a great set of shots that I would have included if not for the fact I'm not sure I want to go with that plotline.

On a side note, guests for the most part suck on these vacations because I kept the families only on their house lots and they starve if you don't make them food. Plus Addie kept trying to jump into bed with Meals. Where was poor Metallus going to sleep?

I love this shot. When I use it, I'm not sure if I'm going to actually give it any dialogue.

And there is one final shot. It's from the Caesar clan and involves a potential big event for the family down the road. But do not scroll down if you do not want to be spoiled. Or for those of you might peak and regret...

SPOILERS

SPOILERS

SPOILERS

YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!!!!

BUT AGAIN---

SPOILERS

SPOILERS

SPOILERS

SPOILERS

SPOILERS

LAST CHANCE TO TURN BACK!! THIS MEANS YOU MARINA!!!

SPOILERS!!!!!!!

So... What Would You Do?

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 01:39:02 GMT

People throw surveys out there all the time on things like My Space and LJ. I'm not a huge fan of them because they are gimmicky and/or can ask you to reveal too much info about yourself. Plus you see the questions coming, so you're naturally guarded.

Me, I like general "what would you do if you were in that spot." If you're honest with yourself, you can actually have some serious fun with them. So this long post is a hypothetical scenario from a movie that I watched a million times growing up. If you've seen it, I encourage you to answer and give your reasons.

This is a question for anyone who has seen the original Mighty Ducks aka The Bad News Bears for the kids of the early 90's. I thought of this question about four months ago and posed it to my friends. They all thought it was a good one because they could imagine going either way with the answer, so I'll throw it back to you all. There is no right or wrong answer; but I think it gives some insight into what you value in life.

At the end of the movie, we know that Charlie gets taken down, gets a penalty shot and coach Gordon Bombay decides to let him "finish what he started." Charlie of course pulls off the triple deke which Gordon failed as as a kid and wins the game. This of course, gives the Ducks the championship, redeems Gordon for his past failure (score one for adults vicariously living through kids) and gives the coach an even better chance to score with Charlie's hot mom, which he has been trying to do for the better part of the movie.

Now the decision was easy in the movie. Charlie was a good kid, the coach liked him, and the Ducks in general were all basically the same level of mediocrity that is youth hockey at ages 9-13. There is one exception to that; Adam Banks. But Banks was injured thanks to a cheap shot and not available.

But what if Banks were there? Suppose he didn't get taken out? What if he was available to take the penalty at the end? Do you still let Charlie take the shot?

This is the basis of today's question.

The logic of letting Charlie take the shot in the movie is solid. The Ducks are all the same talent wise. With that being the case, you might as well give the kid who will benefit you the most.

It's like being asking if you want to put five bucks down on a number between 1 and 5. Each number has the same chance of coming out on top, but number five pays ten times more if you hit on that one. You'd be an idiot not to gamble on five, since your risk is the same for a bigger payout.

But Banks changes everything. Now number five still pays ten times as much, but one other number (let's say four) has near certainty of hitting. You won't win ten times as much, but you're nearly guaranteed to come out ahead.

Enough of the money references. Let's put it in movie terms. What do you gain by letting Charlie shoot?

-Win or Lose, Charlie's mom will be impressed: This is huge as Gordon definitely wants into that castle. (Heck he ASKED for a room- he said he wanted to live there. I know he was "joking" but read between the lines. He wanted into someplace else, not that I blame him). I say win or lose because if he scores the chances of Gordon scoring goes to 95%, but even if he misses the chances stay the same. Heck they might even go up slightly, since Charlie's mom might feel guilty about you pissing away the hopes and dreams of like 17 pre teens just to impress her or make her son feel good.

"You ruined the hopes and dreams of all those kids, just to make me happy? Oh Gordon!"

It's messed up, but it is just youth hockey, right?

-Win and you really, really stick it to Coach Riley: Let's remember, Riley destroyed Gordon's love of the game because he made it seem like the end of the world to lose. By letting Charlie shoot, you send a figurative message to Riley that you aren't like him and that his methods are wrong. It's trying to disprove the "Nice Guys finish last" axiom. The problem here, is unlike Charlie's mom, you only see a benefit here if Charlie scores. If not, Riley will just remind you how he always taught you to "Go for the W".

-Win and you show hard work and perseverance can pay off to those Ducks: Charlie clearly worked the hardest of the Duck players and by letting him shoot you are rewarding that effort. It certainly makes the coach look good when that pays off. If he misses, the message loses meaning in the short term, since the players want to win and probably could care less about Charlie's feelings, but they'll take a positive message out in the long run.

-Win or lose, you get to do Charlie's mom: Yes, this is essentially a repeat of the first reason, but I cannot stress this enough. Let's remember, you've been chasing after this woman for months in movie time. You lost your job partially because you developed an emotional connection to her kid and his bratty little friends. She doesn't know if you will stick around even though you actually LIKE her whiny son. These are the keys to the sports car so to speak.

-Win or Lose, it's a game: Kids hockey or a relationship?

Now what do you lose by having Charlie shoot?

-Quite possibly a chance to win: Let's face it, Charlie tries hard but he's not exactly the second coming of Wayne Gretzky. It's a coin flip at best. If you miss, you are probably going to lose in OT against a much better team. Fair play and all that gas is fun, but everyone wants to win. The game meant a lot for Gordon as he was putting his own demons to rest. Winning did that; losing would not have the same satisfaction.

Plus, you always want to go down with your best: If Banks is your best, how on earth do you justify letting Charlie shoot? A "Gut Feeling". Yeah... right. See who believes that one given the circumstances. Best case, they think he just likes Charlie. Worst case, they think he was just doing to for Charlie's mom. (Which is probably quite valid) Either way, in a city where apparently youth hockey makes the papers, you REALLY don't want that heat.

Now the Banks side of things:

-You are probably going to win: This seems small because in the movie Charlie makes the shot so we see it as a forgone conclusion. But you don't know that in movie world. What you do know is that Adam Banks is clearly the best player in this pee wee league. He's got future pro-prospect written all over him; so much so you almost had your team revolt on you just to get him on the team. (You also lost your job because of it) Banks could miss like Gordon did, but the odds are far more likely he embarrasses the goalie so badly the poor kid can't look Riley in the face as he skates back to the bench. But if you let Charlie shoots and he misses, you have to win in sudden death OT against a vastly superior team. In essence, you are guaranteeing yourself victory by letting Banks shoot, where you are taking a coin flip at best with Charlie.

-You are truly vicariously redeeming yourself: The movie has it be Charlie because they want to wrap it neatly, but Charlie was just the kid who latched onto Gordon. On the other hand, Adam Banks IS Gordon. It's implied multiple times, right down to where he lived. If Banks hits the shot, you are essentially letting your younger self erase history. And if he misses it, then you can make sure your younger self doesn't screw himself over because of his coach. Either way, you make up for your childhood. And who wouldn't want to correct a major trauma from their childhood?

-You want to give the team the best chance to win: Banks does that. The Ducks would likely rather their own guy hit the shot, but given the chance to win 95% of the time or see Charlie try and potentially fail, they'd ALL take the 95% chance at the W. The team gets nothing out of Gordon doing Charlie's mom and probably would use that against Charlie if he missed. You think their playful "Ooooh!" at the end when Gordon kisses Charlie's mom would have been that if the Ducks had lost cause Charlie missed the shot? Uh... yeah... didn't think so.

-You stick it to Riley: This is the guy that ruined your life because he HATES to lose. And now you made him lose. Sure it isn't in the wholesome way that gives total victory, but it isn't exactly Pyhrric either. You're beating him at his own game, with his own star player. Revenge is a best dish served cold and Gordon's been waiting decades for his meal.

-You lost your job to get Banks on the team: Come on, he'd better be a sure thing if you're going to do that.

Now what do you lose by having Banks shoot?

-Charlie won't be pleased: He plays the good soldier, but he'd want to finish it. He wants his coach to believe in him, since apparently mentally scarred lawyers who recklessly endanger themselves and others by drunk driving make great father figures. Imagine if your dad said "Well kid, you earned this chance, but I want to win so I'm going with my ringer. Sorry." You might rationalize it, but it will sting. And if it stings for Charlie, then it will reverberate through to his mom. And what happens when she asks why didn't Charlie get the chance to take the shot even when she knows the answer?

Gordon might be a good lawyer, but he won't win that case.

-It's selling out: The Ducks were about getting the guys no one wanted and turning them into winners. Charlie had the chance in the first game Gordon coached and whiffed. Now as he says at the end "Who would have thought we'd make it this far?". Ideally, you let Charlie and the team prove how far they've come by letting him shoot and win. But if you go with Banks, you're essentially tossing aside the kids you brought up and hitching your wagon to the meal ticket. In the real world, this is how things work of course. But we're all idealists at heart right?

-You are dumping the weight of the world on Banks, just like Riley did: Even if you give the nice speech, you're still saying that you think he's their chance to win, so win the game. Of course that is what stars are supposed to do, so it's questionable whether this is a negative.

-Should he actually miss, you really roll snake eyes: You lose the game, you don't stick it to Riley, you sold your soul and it becomes even harder to convince Charlie and his mom that you made the right call, thus making it much harder to score with her. This is the least likely outcome of course, I'd put it at like 5-10% tops, but that's still 1 out of 10. Let's put it this way; it's over 3 times more likely than rolling the same number twice in a row on a six sided die.

Now, to be clear, if you choose Charlie, there is no guarantee you lose the game. And if you choose Banks, you are not forever barred from Charlie's mom. But both cases, the chances are diminished. Obviously scoring on both is the ideal result.

All things considered, I tell Banks that it's his shot and to do what he always does. Let the chips fall where they may.

But who would you let shoot? Charlie Conway or Adam Banks?

Also, feel free to come up with a question like this of your own. Create your own set of circumstances, situations, whatever... go wild!

I'm It?

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 05:13:49 GMT

So I got tagged by Ms. Marina on this one. A top 15 of fictional characters you would have sex with (or Marina's choice, date). Novels has never been my favorite reading material (surprised?) but I figure I've taken in more than enough other forms of popular culture to suffice. I'm also going to rank this list going from 15 to 1.

But first:

Honorable Mentions:

Sakura Street Fighter Series: I love Sakura, but she's too young. The Japanese school girl thing just isn't for me. I love the fact she's a crazy school girl who beats people up, and her exaggerated nature in the Alpha Series cracks me up. But date/bang? No, not now. Try again in 6-10 years Saka.

Gwen Stacy: Spider-Man comic: I do like blondes, but Gwendy is a little before my time. She's going entirely off reputation and hearsay is a dangerous thing.

Elissandra Kyalus: From my own Legion saga, the physical appearance of Elissa was based off my dream girl in high school, though their hair color is distinctly different. However since Elissa's personality is entirely my creation, I'm not ready to enter those levels of narcissism.

And now the list:

15. Catalina: My Name is Earl Pure hotness in Latina form. But she's also a caring person to boot who seems to have an optimistic view of the world despite her rough life to this point.

14. Chun Li: Street Fighter Series Just think of all the things she can do with her legs. She can contour herself into all different positions... she's strong willed and determined... yeah... I was a Cammy guy for a long time, but then I found out that she was a clone of Bison. Yeah... even if it's not an exact clone, that kills the image.

13. Agent Dana Scully: X-Files An intelligent, take charge, red headed woman who seems to pride herself on being the logic and reason behind her partner's delusional conspiracy theories. Hot damn, she's made for me. Unfortunately Scully slowly degenerated into Mulder's realm of paranoia and insanity. Then again, considering who else will end up on this list, that really isn't a disqualification.

12. Lisa Miller : Newsradio I don't care how famous she got because she's been on E.R. Maura Tierney will always be that perfectionist reporter with the strangest quirks on Newsradio. Now only is she good looking, strong willed and opinionated, but she gets turned on by arguing. ARGUING! This is one date even *I* couldn't mess up.

11. Kaylee: Firefly/Serenity Seems like an upbeat, always have a smile on your face type gal. But she's got that hardcore side- her rant in the beginning of Serenity is pretty darn solid. (Yeah Jayne's right, I could stand to hear a little more) In addition, she's an ace mechanic. That's good, because I could barely put together my own bed, let alone repair anything.

10. Fox: Gargoyles For those of you that watched the show, you know that Fox is Demona lite. Still a rich, beautiful, fit, aggressive red head but with half the psycho and bit less of the murder. Also, she only turns into a monster on the full moon when wearing mystical gems made from Norse Gods eyes. (But on the downside, she is far less bangable in that state than Demona is in her gargoyle state--- I'm just saying) She also is the only cartoon character I can remember that got married and had a kid; I’m not sure whether that’s a turn on or a turn off, but at least it shows she can settle down, right?

9. Jarael: Knights of the Old Republic A tough as tails, loyal, take no lip type of gal with a very pale complexion. (She's white in the actual color, or lack thereof) She also possesses all those qualities without being psychotic or even going through a psychotic phase, which makes her a stand alone here since pretty much everyone woman listed was/is certifiable at some point. Her breasts also seem to be increasing in size as the Knights series continues, which might the great biological secret about her that everyone seems to be amazed by.

8. Mary Jane Watson: Spider-Man comicsI like red heads, Spider-Man comics rock and she's got plenty of spunk. I should clarify a bit though; pre death of Gwen Stacy, Mary Jane is a really unlikeable character. She's self centered, untrustworthy and unreliable for much of anything. Post Gwen's death they repaired the character to make her Peter Parker's main love interest. So for the interests of this post, we'll say Mary-Jane after the age of 24. Also this is strictly comic MJ; movie MJ got on my nerves.

7. Princess? Leia: Star Wars Trilogy I still don't know what she was a Princess of, since neither her birth mother nor her adoptive parents were royalty. (Well Padme was... but not when Leia was born) Anyway, some might be surprised to see Leia over Padme because Natalie Portman is hotter than Carrie Fisher circa 1980. But really; you wake up the next morning and she wants to get breakfast. Who would you rather deal with, Padme or Leia? Sure, you can brag to your friends about Padme, but is worth having the deal with her drama queen ways? Oh and what happens if you break up with her?

Me: “Padme, you’ve been great, but really, you’re not worth turning to the dark side over.”

Padme: “Oh you’re breaking my HEART!!!”

Me: *snicker*

No wait…

Me: *breaks out in full laughter*

Padme: *dies from heart break*

So in summary, Leia is good looking enough and easy trumps her mother in the personality department. So it's Leia, and it's really not even close.

6. Willow: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Alyson Hannigan plays very convincing shy girls that are pretty, but not hot. Willow is in the down to earth type girl that can *only* cast magical spells. But hey, you don't have to bring that up with the parents! On the other hand, beware of her past relationships; her first serious boyfriend got turned into a werewolf and her subsequent girlfriend got killed. Then she went insane. Cursed? I dunno, but she is a witch.

5. Mary Camden: Seventh Heaven Before she was named the sexiest woman in the world, Jessica Biel was sweet innocent Mary Camden on Seventh Heaven. In high school I used to go on and on about her but no one listened. She even got me to watch maybe a half a season of a show I otherwise would have zero interest in. Anyway, Mary was smart, athletic, and at least at one point good natured, though I always got the sense she was rather arrogant too. Eventually she even went towards the dark side, which is good because she was a little too light sided even for me. The kicker here is that you'd have to survive her family, which outside of her older brother, might be rather difficult to do.

4. Elliot Reid: Scrubs She's somewhat crazy and the perfect complement to my pseudo JD persona. Of course, she'd probably cause my head to explode. But since she's a doctor, couldn't she prescribe something for that? Actually Elliot, Carla or Jordan would be acceptable. I love the women on Scrubs.

3. Aeris Gainsborough: Final Fantasy VII Okay, I admit it, I would if I could.

What? Don't look at me like that. At least I didn't buy Tomb Raider just to see Lara Croft!

2. Demona: Gargoyles Human form. She could probably still beat me up, but at least there's a chance I might be stronger than her. Anyway, here are some plus sides to dating the villainess from Gargoyles:

1. She's in great shape.
2. She's a red head.
3. She's immortal, so she's going to look the same thirty years from now.
4. She's experienced. The woman is over 1000 years old. She's got to have some tricks of her sleeve.
5. She's filthy rich. It's an overlooked fact on the show, but she's probably in Xanathos territory with funds.
6. She hates humans. Bad thing? Maybe. But you know she's got to be a little curious, especially with Goliath and Eliza pseudo hooking up.

Now the bad things:
1. She turns into a gargoyle at night. This is a rather large problem.
2. She hates humans and is a murderer. This is also a large problem. Is it larger than the first? You decide.

Of course if she learns that I worshiped her character to the point where she influenced a great deal of my female fictional characters, maybe she wouldn't kill me?

So that leaves one left. Drum roll please... The winner is.......

Gabrielle: Xena Warrior Princess I like strong women but Xena would kill me. Callisto would kill me even faster. Gabrielle has the right mix of smarts, savvy, fighting skills and down to earth cuteness that clearly makes her the woman you can take home to meet the folks. (I mean come on, can you imagine Xena? That would be a disaster- either because your family would hate her, or your mother would love her, and thus she'd own your soul) Plus Gabby is a red head and a writer.

So in the end Gabrielle (played by the lovely Renee O’Connor) takes home the coveted #1 spot. Let the psycho analysis and judging begin.

I Hate Crossovers

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 00:31:07 GMT

The title pretty much sums up this post. I hate crossovers.

When I was a kid, I sort of got into them. I bought all 14 issues of Maximum Carnage. (Admitting it is the first step towards beating it) I bought the Clone Saga crossovers. I read when X-Men did their crossovers. So it hasn't always been this way. However, I fully admit, I was young and inexperienced. And it was my parent's money anyway.

But as I got older I realized how terrible crossovers can be. Maybe because I matured. Or maybe I look back at those comics and see how flimsy some of their storylines were. Maybe I got tired of reading about characters I had little interest in reading. Maybe it's because I never ever started reading other comics as the result of crossovers. (I know, shocking I resisted the temptation to pick up Deathlok because his appearence in Maximum Carnage!)

So as you can tell, crossovers leave a bad taste in my mouth.

What has drawn my ire these days is the Vector crossover taking part in the Knights of the Old Republic comic right now. I'm sure you all remember how glowingly I spoke of the series just a few weeks ago. Well for as much as I loved the first 24 issues, the last two have been an exercise in patience.

The problem lies, of course, in the nature of the crossover. (The art doesn't help either) Crossovers are usually done in large part to bring in new readers. The hope is of course that the people who follow one comic will be interested enough after buying the comic's part in the arc, they will continue on when the comic returns to its "own world" so to speak.

Now, if you are writing a simplistic or relatively new story, this works. For example, the comic book Darkhawk back in the early 90's managed to leech off the multiple appearances by Spider-Man and many of his villains (the Hobgoblin, Tombstone, Venom) to gain a little niche for itself. But Darkhawk was just starting up as a series so it was less of an issue. Everyone is being introduced to the character, so simplicity and explanation is required.

That is NOT the case in Knights of the Old Republic. The comic is two years old and one of the series' strength is its highly developed and involved storytelling. Right now there are at least two major subplots going on in addition to the main one, which just had it's first major climatic event in a while back in issue #24. (We're on #26 now) It is also highly invested in it's main cast, which has slowly been developed over the arcs. Reading the characters in issue #4 and comparing them to themselves in issue #24, they've all come a long way.

But crossovers make continuing those two elements hard if not impossible. By the nature of the crossover, the story must connect to the other comics. How can you connect two completely separate and extremely complex stories on a whim? Or in the case of Dark Horse' Star Wars comics, four separate stories??

In defense of the creators, they found a way. The stories can be connected through a certain object, it appears. They deserve props for that. So what's the problem if that major hurdle has been cleared?

The problem is that you are still trying to draw new readers in. And in doing that you simply cannot hurl them into a story as complex as Knights' has been and expect the majority of them to swim. Readers want to be able to pick up and understand what is going in an issue. I doubt many will enjoy the story if little hints as to what's Jarael's secret or the Rohlan mystery are being dropped with the reader expected to know who these characters are. As a result, you don't see Jarael, Rohlan, Alek or any of the Knights supporting characters except for Griff really.

Which brings us to the next issue; characterization. As I mentioned, the characters have come a long way since they started. But to get the gist of who these characters are, they tend to get portrayed as caricatures of themselves. In this case, Zayne is completely inept and near useless. In fact he has done nothing except get saved by the other Jedi hanging around in this two parter thus far. Now that might have been acceptable back when the series started, but Zayne's not the same guy he was when he was tripping over himself in issue one. The guy managed to fend off a horde of invading army with no weapon except a tree branch, sparred with Jarael (who beat another Jedi in a sparring match)to a near standstill, survived a brief fight with his old master, and lasted more than two seconds against a Jedi Master. Now look, is Zayne a world class fighter? No. But he SHOULD be able to fight off a Rakghoul when he's armed with a light saber and not beg for help like some helpless school child.

But one gets the sense that in the desire for new readers to understand Zayne isn't a great Jedi, he has been made into one so bad he'd have flunked out of the academy years ago. He certainly would not have survived this long avoiding five Jedi masters with the skill set (or lack thereof) he has displayed in these two issues.

The only character that is looks anything like himself is Griff. But I'm not reading Knights because Griff, I'm reading it because I like Zayne.

The sad thing is Vector as a standalone would not be terrible. I found myself towards the end of the issue saying "Alright, we're going somewhere." The story isn't a bad story, but it's right now a bad Knights story. The story's quality would not rise or decrease if you took Zayne and Griff out and stuck in two random characters. Zayne has done nothing or said nothing that shows us who he is. It's a major let down after issue #24 was simply incredible in it's story and perhaps most importantly, it's characterization.

So it could be that if Jarael, Rohlan and Alek were in it, or Zayne were being portrayed halfway competent it would seem better. But they're not, and it feels alien, no pun intended.

Maybe things will improve in parts three and four. Maybe those side characters will show up. I mean Zayne's got to hook up with them again somehow, right? But as it stands now, I'm just waiting for this crossover to end so I can get back to reading about the Knights of the Old Republic story lines I'm so enthralled by.

So What Is the Legion Saga?

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 03:49:13 GMT

Okay so I've long alluded to this mystical novel I'm writing- a novel that's only proof of existence is my word and Marina and Sushi's mentions in their sim writings. A few people who have read the Ten Caesars have probably wondered what the heck it is I'm writing, just out curiosity since I've given it as an excuse in the past as to why Caesar updates were not frequent.

So what is the Legion Saga? It's a novel that I dream of one day being one of many, hence a saga. When I say dream, it's more than just idle thought. I actually have the basic progression of the principle characters over three books planned out. What's going on around them after book one and how it fits into their storyline is something that I am still working on for my future writings.

It's a fantasy style book; from the lands of warriors with big swords, armor, magic and all that stuff which LOTOR made popular. (Ironically enough, I've seen neither the movies nor read the books) Inspired by my many hours of video game playing and early attempts at fanfiction, I decided I had ideas and should put them to use. That was back when I was a senior in high school.

Now, some 6.5 years later, I have finally finished a first draft of sorts. I say of sorts because it's misleading- the story has already been revised and nearly completely rewritten once already.

It began as a set of short story ideas. I wrote one and a half stories, the first and lone complete one featuring two of the eventual Legion principles. The other story had characters that found themselves in the current incarnation but the role they played was not finished and in the end not used.

Then I got to college. I was in the midst of really plowing into FF7 fanfiction, having at that time completed two multi chapter stories. The Legion Saga, which was not named, was on the backburner. It might have remained there had I not learned of a program called RPG Maker. A nifty little program that allowed you make your own RPGs using extremely basic functions and simplistic early age Super Nintendo/Genesis graphics, it inspired me to continue my story. It was altered and changed to be made into a video game. Characters were created, developed and the general plot of the story was finally created.

This took me three years; around my senior year of college I had finished the meat of the game. All I had left to do was make the final dungeon and sub quests. But many things, including my own health, unfortunately conspired to prevent me to making much headway.

Also around this time, I completed yet another FF7 story, which was actually my sixth! Since my college roommate was giving me a hard time about writing fan fiction I decided to stop with it and return the Legion to it's novelistic roots.

Okay, it isn't THAT simple. But in the end, I found the world of fanfiction writing unfulfilling. I enjoyed my stories- and still do when I go back and reread them. But there's something lost when it's not your creations. As I mentioned in the previous Knights of the Old Republic post in reference to why early EU stuff in Star Wars isn't well received except by die hards, it is someone else's vision you are taking to make your own. After writing 6 stories and multiple side projects set in the FF7 universe where I was making things up to suit my vision, I decided to just scrap it and make my own world.

The world was already partially created thanks to the game I was making. I had names, places, a history and characters. I knew what I wanted, so now I could make it happen.

Now not everything that works in a video game works in a novel; namely number of characters. It's an issue I'm still struggling with and I may have to revisit in future drafts. Plus writing involves description, which I've always been poor at.

It took me another 2.5 years to bring it over. Along the way I already did a serious rewrite, taking out a character when I was 2/3 of the way done. I also removed one character and replaced her with another character who as it turns out will be very prominently featured in second half of the novel and plays a huge role going forward. I also started to develop my own universe for the characters- a history of people and places, things. Much props go to De (fireflower314) for sending me a website link on universe creation. It has been instrumental in forming ideas and themes that have been or will be developed as I go forward.

So where does it stand now? 49 chapters (48 and an epilogue), single spaced, many hundreds of typed pages. I've already decided on a few storyline changes (mainly dealing with villain rationale, which was horribly underdeveloped in some respects). As a result, I have not given anything thus far to the people who have requested it, outside of Marina and Sushi, because they asked first. And they saw the last work in progress, since I've only started the most recent changes.

But that sort of changes now. I dunno when/if I'll post full length chapters, but I will post character descriptions and excerpts as I perform my rewrites. I may also post short stories dealing with the characters. I haven't decided since, while they tell part of the backstories of the characters, it's sort of copping out of what the novel is supposed to hint at. In other words, I'm writing a novel that is supposed to explain the characters well enough; if I post the other stuff first, then I'm giving the back story in something separate and not finding out how well the novel does its job. On the other hand, short stories provide insight into the world without having to read 50 chapters.

In any case, coming soon, Legion Saga stuff.

Sims or Prose?

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 01:50:25 GMT

As a writer with a full time job, one can only have so many projects open at once. Otherwise it clutters your desktop, everything slows down and nothing gets done. It's true on real desks, computers and life unfortunately. You are forced into some tough decisions and in the end something gets the shaft.

That has been the battle between my prose writing (The Terrax Legion) and my sims story. (The Ten Caesars) I'm stuck in a situation where my sims story has suffered neglect as a result of devoting my free nights to writing the Legion Saga. To put it in perspective, I'm a video game addict who played three times in two weeks; once on a Friday, once on a Sunday a week later a friend's apartment and then for an hour last Saturday.

To make matters worse, I actually organized an update for the Caesars... almost a month ago. If you asked me then how long it would take for me to finish, I'd have said maybe a week, two tops. Yet here we are, with no update in sight. I got bogged down trying to write it well then decided to go full steam with writing something down for the Legion. (At Marina's insistence) To my surprise, it all started to come together.

I got near to finishing the first draft and that became priority. And then I was on a high from finishing, I wanted to revise. Marina has advised me not to, but I can't let the fervor die. So I'm still crafting ideas for stories, terms, and general universe filling things. Also props go to rubbersushi has made it even sweeter by doing drawings of my characters. (The handsome fellow in my avatar is one of the protagonists. Sushi made it on request in about an hour. She's really, really talented, if you couldn't tell)

So what does this mean for the Ten Caesars? Well, it does not mean anything right now. This is to serve as more of an explanation as to why I haven't produced an update in a while. The majority of my legacy's biggest fans either know about this space or know someone who does. *coughMarinacough*. I played up to the boys becoming teens, as well as the same point with a few of the neighborhood's families. So I still want to continue on. I just have decided to focus on my prose for now. That could all change in a week, but I'm riding out the writing hot streak for as long as it lasts.

But don't worry, the Caesars are not dead. They will be back, sometime soon.

My New Old Addiction

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 18:20:45 GMT

So the people who talk to me on a routine basis know a few things about me. I am trying to write, but never seem to finish. (Hopefully changing) I like sports too much. Scrubs is my favorite comedy outside of classic Simpsons. And of course, Star Wars has had a profound impact on my life. Specifically the Knights of the Old Republic series.

For those who don't know, KOTOR was a video game that was released for the XBOX and PC set 4,000 years before the time of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. This was important in making it as popular as it is. Why? Because frankly, even though the Star Wars Expanded Universe (novels, games, etc) has grown in popularity over the last 15 years, the novels and all that stuff come off as exceptionally dork-ish.

Why, you ask again?

Because they're glorified fan fiction. They are stories that are attached to the main trilogy and thus can never truly stand on their own. Overrated as the wise Sushi said George Lucas is the other day (and she's partially right), he still is the creator of Star Wars and all of these other writers, no matter how talented they are, are just leeching off his creation- characters, storyline etc. It never feels like something worth reading, but these are other people writing Lucas' characters. What makes these people any different than you or me, really?

So a while back someone came up with the bright idea of taking Star Wars outside of the established time period. Guess what? People loved it! Why? Because it allowed the creators, whether they were of comics or games, to use the Star Wars universe but show us storylines that were different and most of all, did not involve any Skywalkers. Darth Malak will always come off better than some writer trying to resurrect the Emperor for lack of storyline ideas. Even if the base plotline has serious similarities to the original in breakdown, the details and characters are new. That changes everything.

The Knights of the Old Republic series is the culmination of that. The games create their own conflict with their own core characters at the center of events. I'm one of the few who think the sequel (The Sith Lords) is better than the first, but if you have a PC and like RPGs, I encourage you to play the games. You will enjoy them.

In any case, now that I've gotten THAT out of the way, I can get to the true purpose of this post--- hocking the Knights of the Old Republic comic series.

Comics and I have a long and somewhat painful history. Amazing Spider-Man ripped my heart out with the lousy end to the Clone Saga and I never could get back into it. I tried, and have kept up with events, but they never could keep my interest. (And never will, with the storyline disaster that is One More Day. Suffice to say, it offended me as a Spider-Man fan and disgusted me as a writer) Over the last six months I had heard about the KOTOR comics and that they were pretty good. Being a huge fan of the games, I had to check it out.

And now, I am hooked.

Over the last week I have read all 25 issues of the comic. I bought the three trade paperbacks. The writing is solid, artwork mostly excellent (two great artists, mediocre fill ins) and it's providing back story to the games to the games I love so much.

The comic features the adventures of Zayne Carrick, a jedi who has some similarities to a pair of characters from the Sith Lords. (More on that perhaps in the future) Most importantly, he is a refreshingly different character. If you were not a fan of Anakin Skywalker being the second coming (right down to the virgin birth) and think that not every Star Wars main character has to be a ridiculously powerful individual, Zayne is the guy for you. He's a pretty mediocre Jedi (at best) who gets caught up on the wrong side of a prophecy. Now Zayne somehow manages to rise above that, it wouldn't be much of a comic if he didn't, but the fact that he has a unique and misunderstood connection to the force makes it all the more interesting. Whether that prophecy will lead to him discovering how to use his unique talents remains to be seen. Like I said, I have some suspicions, but time will tell if they are borne out.

I think I like Zayne because reminds me a lot of the Peter Parker from Spider-Man that I grew up with. Wise-cracking, good natured and though not always the luckiest of guys, he always looks at things in a positive light. This pic here is from the first pages of issue one, and probably is the highpoint of Zayne's existence so far, since he looks far cooler and more competent than he actually is.

I won't delve into the plot too much beyond that and that it's set in the early stages of the Mandalorian Wars (for those of you that have played the games), because I would hope you read it. But it had a good base plot line, a interesting characters (good and evil) and my favorite subplots and mystery! Also Jarael rocks.

I recommended it to a co-worker of mine who is a big star wars fan. He read the first arc (issues #0-6) and was hooked. I suggested it to Sushi and she also very much enjoyed the first arc, so much so, she accused me of using Jedi mind tricks. If that's not a recommendation, I don't know what is.

So, check out the series. If you are a Star Wars fan, the odds are good you'll enjoy it. Even if you are not, it's an entertaining read.

And Into The Fire Again

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 07:08:11 GMT

And here we are again....

Well sort of. In the past I've used the internet to blog about sports. I like to think I was/am, good at it. But it may be time for me to branch out a bit and I've been pestered by Marina to start LJ thing forever now. I guess I've finally fallen to the dark side. *switches off green lightsaber, summons the red lightsaber*

So what will go on here? I have yet to decide fully. I figure this will be a place to randomly drop ideas that come to mind about the shows I watch, stuff I read or games I play. Lord knows I've had way too many demented opinions on who Cloud really loved in FF7 that have gone unspoken for too long.

My hope is to figure out a way to post my original writings here too. As some may know I've been working hard on my Terrax Legion Saga, now over seven years in the making. (I started it back when I was in HS, I'm not three years removed graduating college this May) There's a lot to the story, but suffice to say it's taken on a lot of forms in that time and I finally completed a first draft last Sunday. My thoughts have already moved on to my next story in the Saga, (it IS a Saga, right?) but that's not all bad for reasons I'll explain another day.

So yeah... that's the long and the short of it. I think I know where I'm heading with my first real post. But we'll see about that tomorrow. Until then...