What Have I Been Up To? Fanfics, Fanart, & More

So, if you’ve followed my blog for any lengthy amount of time, you’re probably wondering why there hasn’t been a lot of full articles as of late, and instead, I’ve mostly been posting vlogs of myself and N. Harmonik. Well, there’s a few reasons for that, but namely, I thought I’d address what I’ve been up to online in lieu of blogging. Because I haven’t just been sitting on my ass… … … …Well, okay, I guess technically I have, but I HAVE been doing stuff while on it.

My mother decided to make a cover for it. She made Mew’s eyes all sparkly, too. lol

First off, one thing I did recently was write a Pokémon fanfic for my niece. You’ll recall, she recently celebrated her 10th birthday, and I decided that, as a belated birthday gift, I would write a fanfic with characters loosely based off of her, me, N. Harmonik, and a few other people we know as the main characters. I even posted it on Fanfiction.net, so if you wanna check it out, I’ll leave a link just below this paragraph, so just click on it and it’ll send you on your way. Just know this: It’s a Pokémon Go-inspired fanfic (albeit very loosely) written for a 10-year-old, so while I wouldn’t call it my worst work (I’m very thankful that none of you have ever seen my worst work, lol), I wouldn’t necessarily call it my best work. In fact, I’m contemplating going back and doing a revision of it later on. For now, though, do me a solid, read the fic, and lemme know what you think of it.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12178992/1/The-Mew-Mechanation-A-Pok%C3%A9mon-Go-Story

I’ve also been playing around with JTmovie’s Superhero Creator 2.0 and making various DC Comics characters on it, which I’ve posted to Deviant Art as Devious Fun Adoptables. You can see them all by clicking on Superman…

http://jyger85.deviantart.com/gallery/60656547/Superhero-Adoptables

…and you can also let me know if you would like me to try to make anyone specific.

http://jtmovie.deviantart.com/art/Superhero-Creator-2-0-MALE-Dress-up-Game-530676189

http://jtmovie.deviantart.com/art/Superhero-Creator-2-0-FEMALE-Dress-up-Game-530676227

And lastly, I’ve been working on writing a few different projects at once. And I know, I tend to get very bothered by leaving certain stories to work on something else. But now, I’ve just decided “screw it, I’ll write stuff in batches”. So I’ll write a lot of Guardians of Gaia, and then I’ll write a bunch of Primal Strife, and then I’ll do some other project, and then it’ll eventually come back around to GoG and continue on in a circle.

Anyway, that’s all I’ve really been up to online, but don’t worry, I AM planning to try to get back to blogging. In particular, I got my hands on Volume 2 of The Darkseid War, so expect the long-awaited review of The Darkseid War to come soon. Until then, check out the other stuff I’ve been up to and lemme know what you think of it. Ja né!

What Do I Listen To While Writing Power Rangers Guardians of Gaia?

So, I’ve been writing my Power Rangers fanfic for a while now. Between the two ‘seasons’, the story is currently resting at 26 chapters long with 170,556 words. In other words, it’s the largest single project I’ve ever done, unless you count every article on my blog and add them all up together. However, one thing I’ve always liked to allude to is what I’m listening to while writing certain scenes. So, I’m here now to set the record straight as to exactly what I listen to as I write Power Rangers Guardians of Gaia.

http://bilico86.deviantart.com/art/Power-Rangers-Guardians-of-Gaia-logo-548959457

Now, obviously, while writing action scenes, I listen to a lot of Ron Wasserman. If you’re unfamiliar (which you shouldn’t be if you’re an old school PR fan, but it CAN happen), Wasserman did a LOT of the classic songs for Power Rangers, including the original Go Go Power Rangers, and came back to do the Power Rangers SPD theme and a demo for Power Rangers Mystic Force. He also did a number of remakes of his classic songs, which he released as Power Rangers Redux. Luckily, a lot of Wasserman tunes work perfectly for certain scenes of my fic. For example, in Chapter 9, ‘Knight of the Wind’ (which is also a song I listen to sometimes when I write Patrick in action, FYI), when Pat is making his big comeback against the monster, this is pretty much the intended tune to play along with the scene:

When the Wizard Ranger, who has plenty of gold on his suit and fights a lot like a combo of the Gold Zeo Ranger and the Solaris Knight, leaps in to help the team, a lot of times I listen to this:

And so on. However, on top of a lot of those themes, there’s also a mashup produced on YouTube of one of Wasserman’s songs that I’ve become rather taken with and listen to a lot…

Also, just the instrumental of Welcome To The Family on its own is a great song for writing PR action scenes to. Oh, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t bring up one of my favourite things to listen to while writing people kicking ass, and in particular during the opening to ‘Guardians of Gaia, Awaken! Part 2’: The soundtrack to Metal Gear Rising Revengeance, specifically…

Or hey, remember the two part finale to Season 1, ‘Into Darkness’, when they charged the Blots on horseback?

I also sometimes listen to music from Super Sentai. For example, in ‘Sisters’, there’s a moment where Layla and Madilyn team up to fight a monster, and for whatever reason, this was what was playing in my head as I was writing and I HAD to put it on:

Then there’s that scene in ‘Always A Ranger Part 3’ where…well, I don’t wanna ruin it too much for anyone who hasn’t read it, but let’s just say that the Gaia Rangers band together with some new allies to fight a horde of monsters led by Dradarius himself, and I HAD to use this song. And you’ll have to forgive the quality, since there was never an official release of this, though there IS a piano cover on YouTube…

And during the fight scene that followed THAT up, I listened to THIS awesome mashup:

But enough of the action scenes, let’s talk about some of the other moments in the fic. Now, this is a case where I wish there was a lot more of the background music for the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers available, but unfortunately, for whatever reason, many of those were never released to the public. So, a lot of times, I gotta go outside the box with other stuff. Now, obviously, for moments like Dradarius sitting on the Dark Throne in the Abyssial Fortress, there’s only one theme that could fit the scene perfectly, which thankfully IS available, and has actually been covered and remixed a few different times on YouTube:

However, for other moments of the villains plotting or being menacing, particularly Walker and Darkea, I find myself listening to this more often than not:

And that’s not the only scene I’ve used music from Kingdom Hearts for. For example, remember that heart-breaking scene from ‘Sisters’ that I thought people were gonna kill me for? Well, here’s what I was listening to during that sequence. By all means, re-read that scene with this playing in your headset:

I actually use that for a lot of sad scenes, especially those centered around Layla and Madilyn. And remember in ‘Indigo Nightmare’ where the team entered the Well of Regret? Well…

Anyway, that’s enough of Kingdom Hearts. For other emotional scenes (not necessarily sad), like Drayden and Nikki’s talk in ‘Crying Out For Mummy’, here’s a nice little tune I like to pop in and listen to:

And lastly, for relatively silly moments, like when Madilyn is being…well, Madilyn, here’s a pretty on-the-nose song that I turn on:

So yeah, that pretty much covers everything, other than a few random songs I listen to here and there. Lemme know what you think about this unofficial soundtrack for my fic, as well as if you ever do the same thing while writing or drawing or the like. Ja né!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…Oh, and last of all, for the Lightless showing up in the next chapter…well… … …:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pulling Out Of NaNoWriMo 2013, But Wonder Woman Fic Is Still On The Way

So, as I tweeted earlier, I’ve decided to officially and graciously bow out of National Novel Writing Month. Why? For a number of reasons. First and foremost, however, the story I’m writing is reaching its natural conclusion, and I’m not even at the halfway point for the word count. While I’m way behind, I’m sure I COULD reach the 50,000 word minimum by the end of the month, but I’m already pulling filler out of my ass to extend the word count as much as humanly possible, so I don’t think the quality of my work would be any good.

Reason #2 kinda spins from the first one, in that I’m really NOT good at working with a deadline, be it a date and time, word minimum, or in this case, all the above. I’m a very ‘my pace’ kind of writer. It’s obviously something I’ll have to work on in the future, it just isn’t something I can overcome RIGHT NOW.

Reason #3…Well, to be honest, I kind of decided to just jump into it spontaneously this year. I had only just heard of it when I decided to officially enter. Now, that having been said, I can tell you I’ve enjoyed the heck outta this, and it’s definitely something I wanna try again next year, once I’ve thought about what went wrong this time and I’ve had some more time to improve.

And finally, reason #4, I wanna get back to blogging regularly and writing the other stories I was plotting for Infinite DC soon. Birds of Prey: Dark hasn’t been updated in forever, my blog hasn’t been updated very much at all, there’s a really great Batman and Robin story I wanna do, I STILL need to get back to editing me and DorkynProudOfIt’s Thor: The Dark World vlog, and then there’s Justice League that I wanna get to. However, before I do all of that, I still need to finish Wonder Woman.

So, with all that being said, this does not mean you won’t be seeing Infinite DC – Wonder Woman. In fact, because I’m not writing it for NaNoWriMo anymore, I can begin the process of posting chapters of it to Fanfiction.net right away. So, expect the first chapter to be posted before the day is out. I hope you all enjoy it, as I put a lot of work into this.

So, this gives me a year to ponder what I will be doing next year. I will think hard about that over the next 12 months or so. Rest assured, though, one way or another, you can most definitely expect to see me entering NaNoWriMo 2014. Until then, look out for Infinite DC – Wonder Woman on Fanfiction.net, and plenty more blog entries on here. Ja né!

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NaNoWriMo Project Revealed: Infinite DC – Wonder Woman + Basic Rundown of Wonder Woman’s Origins

So, if you’ve been following my Twitter today, I’ve decided to throw my name in the hat and write a story for National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo as it’s called. This unfortunately means updates to Birds of Prey: Dark will be a little less common, and What I Bought Today will be pushed to every other week instead, covering what I bought within two weeks of each other. But, comic fans that follow me can rejoice, for I’ve learned that among the MANY forms of literature accepted for NaNoWriMo is Fanfiction. So, for the month of November, I will be aiming to write a 50,000 word fanfiction of a DC Superhero I have never written before. My friends, I give you Infinite DC – Wonder Woman!

Dammit, that needs to be on an album cover. lol

So, what will this story be like? Well, like with Infinite DC- The Man of Tomorrow and Infinite DC – Tales of the Caped Crusader, it won’t be her origin story, instead taking for granted that you know her origins…However, because I know that Wonder Woman’s one of those trickier characters with an often changed back-story due to retcons, reboots, and just different interpretations of the character, here’s the basic rundown of her origins, and get ready to hear me reference changes to it in different continuities A LOT. lol

Wonder Woman, AKA Diana, is the daughter of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons inhabiting Themyscira, an island cut off from the world of man. The Amazons are a group of immortal warrior women that had been slaves at one point (to whom changes depending on continuity, but it’s usually Heracles), but managed to free themselves with help from the Greek Gods and escaped to Themyscira, or Paradise Island as it’s alternatively called. At some point, Hippolyta had a daughter named Diana. The usual story given is that she moulded her from clay and the Gods brought her to life, though in recent years with the 2011 reboot, AKA The New 52, it’s been retconned that this was a lie to protect Diana from Hera’s wrath, as she was actually the bastard child of Hippolyta and Zeus. Now, while I don’t necessarily mind what it does to Diana specifically, making her a demi-goddess, I probably won’t be incorporating THAT into my fanfic version of Wonder Woman since it carried with it some seriously bad changes to her mother and the Amazons in general.

The birth of Diana

Anyway, the point is, they were cut off from the rest of humanity, though they were able to watch from the island, usually through some sort of device or magic or a combination of the two. However, this all changes when a man named Steve Trevor, who works with the US military (be it as an Air Force pilot or an intelligence agent), crash-lands on Themyscira. After it’s determined that Trevor is no threat to them, Hippolyta decides that the greatest among the Amazons will escort him back to America. Thus, a tournament is held, and while Hippolyta forbids Diana from entering, she does so under disguise anyway and is able to emerge victorious. Hippolyta’s reaction changes based on continuity, but the one I like best is probably from the 2009 animated film, where she accepted Diana’s decision and recognizes her as the one best suited for the job.

…Okay, I know Linkara already did this joke, but tell me you don’t hear porno music in the back of your head while reading this. XD

Thus, Diana becomes Wonder Woman, and is granted many gifts to assist in her new role, as Steve Trevor’s escort, as an ambassador for her people, and as a champion against the forces of evil. First, she is given her costume (again, in the movie, it’s supposed to resemble the American flag to honour the land she visits), along with a tiara that doubles as a throwing disc and can grant her some telepathic abilities, a golden lasso that she can use as a whip or noose, and a pair of bracers made from Athena’s indestructible shield that reflect all manner of attacks. In some continuities (specifically the TV show from the 70’s), she could immediately change clothes into her costume by spinning really fast, which I’m SORELY tempted to include here. As for the version of the costume I’ll be going with…Eh, I suppose the classic swimsuit-like costume works best, though probably with the Gladiator-style skirt, a nose-guard on her tiara (which is actually one thing Frank Miller did with Bonkers Betty that I kinda liked), and the ponytail she’s been seen rocking in the upcoming Justice League: War animated movie.

Wonder Woman as seen in Justice League: War

Her other gifts change depending on interpretation, but I’ll be going with the blessings the Greek Gods gave her in the Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths interpretation of the character for the most part: Demeter grants her superhuman strength and rapid healing. Athena imparts great wisdom, intelligence, and tactical skill, both in armed and unarmed combat. Artemis blesses her with enhanced senses far beyond normal humans. Hestia grants her control over the “Fires of Truth”, which not only protects her from flames, be they natural or supernatural, but are also channelled through the Lasso of Truth to reveal a person’s true intentions, make them tell her secrets, or free people from mind control. Hermes gives her great speed, enough to deflect bullets with her bracers, and the power of flight. Finally, Aphrodite bestows great beauty (so if you ever wondered how she can be so hot, you can thank the Goddess of Love, lol) and a seemingly endless amount of compassion for the world and the people around her.

Lastly, Wonder Woman possesses an invisible plane. Again, this is something that changes between continuities. Sometimes, it’s a jet that Batman built her. Sometimes, it’s a pegasus that transforms into a jet. In the movie, the Amazons just kinda had it sitting around with no frigging explanation as to where it came from, which is both a little annoying and funny as hell. Me personally, I kinda like the version where it was a mass of magic, malleable goop that took the form of an invisible jet, or other invisible vehicles and objects if the situation called for it, and was actually self-aware and worked freely alongside Diana. I thought that was really neat, and provided for one of the most awesomely surreal moments you’ll ever see in comics, when she looped it with Green Lantern’s constructs around the moon and all the super-powered heroes PUSHED THE FRAKKING MOON.

Look, it’s Dotted Line Girl! (Infinite geek points to the first person that gets it, ROFL)

But yeah, that’s the basic rundown of the character’s origins. So, what’s my story gonna be about? Not telling, partly because I want it to be a surprise, and admittedly because I’m still going over it in my head. Oh, and the reason I’m not giving it a fancy name based off any nicknames or titles of hers, like The Man of Tomorrow or Tales of the Caped Crusader, I just do not want any confusion as to what this is. Also, I’m not really planning on doing any other solo stories for Wonder Woman, but if I do, I can just call it Infinite DC – Wonder Woman II or something like that.

The first issue of the Post-Crisis Wonder Woman comic

Anyway, wish me luck on this one, and we shall see if I make the 50,000 word minimum by the end of November. Ja né!

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What Am I Doing Wrong? PLEASE TELL ME. (WARNING – ANGRY RANT/WHINING AHEAD)

Okay, what am I doing wrong? Honestly? Why do people care less about my writing that I put actual creative effort into, and more about the most basic frakking thing I can make: Taking a screen capture of an internet show and using a demotivational poster generator to make a poster out of it, like THESE:

In their first day up on DeviantArt, these get anywhere from 3-4 times the number of views a chapter of my story gets. On top of that, I hardly ever ask for comments with those and get ’em easy enough, yet when I ask for comments on my writing (usually my stories, though oftentimes with my blog), asking people what they think or if there’s anything I can do to improve my work, I’m EXTREMELY lucky if I get a comment from anybody outside of my personal circle.  And it doesn’t matter what I do, how I pander, who I ask for RTs on Twitter, or who actually goes out and advertises my stuff (and yes, this HAS happened on occasion without me having to ask), I can’t get people to give a damn. Nothing changes.

Do people not understand that this is the only thing I’m good at? Just writing? And by the way, without a job (having Asperger’s Syndrome and a GED as my best achievement in school doesn’t exactly inspire people to hire me), this is basically what I do for a living, and I don’t even get paid for it? It’s a hobby, plain and simple, but while I wait to join a course run at a place that has failed to help me in every conceivable way for EIGHT YEARS, it’s all I have to do everyday so I don’t go crazy! And even then, I find myself not wanting to do it because apparently it equates to jack shit!

So please, I am begging every person that reads this, tell me what I can do to improve my work. Tell me what I’m lacking, what I need to be better, why people might not care about the work I’m actually passionate about. Because if nobody is gonna care, then I pretty much have no reason to have anybody follow me on here, on Twitter, on Tumblr, or on Facebook.