Druids of Ganay

I have had a wierd week and can't really think of anything  for my blog. However, before my week got wierd I had a burst of creativity and wrote a prologue to a Shannara inspired story. As of right now, I really don't have anything more, but basically it takes place at roughly the same time as Elfstones of Shannara, except that it is located far away, to the west of any place the books have gone. I'm tempted to treat it as an entirely separate world to avoid conflicts with Terry Brooks, but still, it's far enough away they are unaware of each other even if they do exist in the same universe...unless the TV producers have any interest in using my characters, then we can work something out.

Col and Ami were excited as they went to meet their master. Today was the day they would receive their arms, the rite of passage from a scribe to apprentice, and most importantly they would have use of two hands instead of one. Their families were gathered, the entire order of twelve druids consisting of their parents and grandparents. The eldest, Widget, would preside over the ceremony of presenting the mechanical arms for each young druid. As eager as the children were, the master would not let them simply take these most sacred of treasures without the traditional pomp and circumstance.

“Today we gather on this auspicious day for the ascension of the youngest members of our order.” Master Widget began. “But before the presentation of their arms, let us first remember how we got here. Ganay is both our sacred home and a prison for the demons that are responsible for the condidtion of our world. Two thousand years ago, demons emerged and brought about the destruction of the world that was. The leaders of these demons, at least in this region, were two, known as Avidra the Mindflayer and Jotun the Troll King. There were many demons who sought to do nothing but destroy humanity, but these two were more insidious. It was not enough to simply slaughter humans, they sought to corrupt humans to slaughter each other. Before they were demons they were men who experimented on humans, replacing an arm with a machine and giving them the ability to generate electricity to power these machines. They started with one hundred and used the severed arms to create a monster known as the Hecatoncheir. The hundred soldiers were used to breed a new race to be their army, known to many as the Eels, for their similarity to electric eels, an animal from which it is rumored their powers originated. The war began as the army claimed the three cities and the world around burned.

“While Jotun was content to watch his creations destroy the world that was, Avidra wanted to erase all memory of it. He earned his title by claiming knowledge, destroying technology and the documents to rebuild them, even claiming the very thoughts from human brains to reduce technology to what he had created alone and no more. But what they did not expect was that their own soldiers would turn against them. Despite the changes to their bodies, they were still human enough to know that the way the world was going it would be the end of them all. Using the power they had been given, the Eels fought the demons, and the war reached new heights.

“At the peak of the war, it was clear that Avidra, Jotun and the Hecatoncheir were unparalled in power, as all other fell around them while they remained. They realized they could not kill the demons, but they could trap them. They drew them here to this place and sealed them within, though exactly how was lost with them and their sacrifice. But that sacrifice was well worth it, the demons were successfully sealed here. Without those masters to drive the war, it all came to an end, the lesser demons died off and the humans and the Eels were forced to coexist to survive.

“Then, a thousand years after the war of demons, came the elves and Hinu the Thunder King. By that time, mankind was struggling and feared the coming of elves that they were like demons. But fortunately, the elves were not malevolent at all. Hinu approached the Eels and facilitated a peace treaty between them and the elves. From then on, the Eels would be known as the Druids of Ganay, keepers of the last of technology and wardens of the prison of demons. Our way of life began and peace would continue between the three races of the land of three cities. The elves restored the land with their magic and though the cities remained in ruins, we built around them and a new world began that we could all be proud of. The only threat to our way of life are the trolls that dwell beyond the borders of our lands, and the warriors of both elves and humans patrol these borders to keep them out and protect our home.

“Then fifty years ago, someone found the secret grimoire that was held the secrets of the demons and attempted to use forbidden and forgotten magic to release the demons and take over the world. Although he was ultimately unsuccessful, the druids were divided in war and when it was all over, Hinu had been lost to us and only eight of us remained.

“This is our history, and you two are the last of us. This is your legacy, the secrets of electric magic and cybernetic technology you have transcribed over these past years and with these arms, you will be made whole. For the next five years, you shall learn how to make use of these gifts to live as normal a life as possiible as you protect this realm. Within these walls lie the greatest threat to our existence, but as long as we hold vigil, we assure that this threat remains contained and this world will continue.”

Col and Ami stepped forward and allowed their cybernetic arms to be attached to the stumps on their left shoulders. They charged the arms and started using them, feeling the charges through the circuits of ancient arcane technology that made them feel almost real. They flexed their hands and compared their fleshy right hands to their metallic left hands. It felt good to be whole as their people were meant to be. They each released the retractable blade that ran the length of their forearm and took a few practice swings, sparring and playing at the traditional druid sport of fencing. Over the next few years these skills were among those they would perfect in preparation for their sacred duties as guardians of this temple built among the ruins of some ancient edifice with a long forgotten purpose.

The rite was concluded by all members of the order reciting their creed in unison. “May the lightning strike from the earth to the sky, and the thunder pulse in my veins until I die!”

7th Moon dream cast

It's been a while since I actually used this to talk about my original project, 7th Moon, which, by the way, you can get in various formats from the links on the side so please buy the book, play the game and/or get involved with any social media you aren't already a part of. So, this week I'm going to say what I would like to have happen to make 7th Moon for real and fit my vision. To be clear, some of this may be somewhat unrealistic and above what I should expect, but I beg you suspend disbelief and just think how awesome it would be if we stopped thinking of impossible and this just happened.

First of all, I want it on Toonami and have it animated by one of their Japanese partners, either Studio 4C who made the ThunderCats reboot, or Production IG who made IGPX. These studios are obvious choices because they have a history with the network and that means it wouldn't be unprecedented, but after viewing their work, I honestly believe they can make it look the way I want. Also, knowing that Square Enix was involved in Ful Metal Alchemist, I'd like for them to be involved in producing 7th Moon so that the series can be attached to the company that makes Final Fantasy and I can use that to my advantage with game production, including possibly being promoted with Hidariude, Keisei and Seichei being put into Dissidia and/or Brave Exvius.

Now that I've established the look, I need to go over the voices. I would love for either Funimation or Viz Media to be able to handle the voice work, alhough I'm not sure if either is willing to work on an American production as it may be out of their wheelhouse. I want Funimation just for the name and connection to Dragon Ball and my tremendous respect for their stable of actors. But Viz Media, while it may not have quite the prestige, still has the ability and moreimportantly, if we partner I can work with them on Naruto:Duel of the Caged Birds, my concept for a Naruto live action adaptation revolving around a shot for shot remake of the fight between Neji and Naruto during the chunin exam, which I found to be one of the most moving pieces of anime I have ever seen.

Okay, now the moment we've all been waiting for, who will be voicing the characters:

Hidariude/Seichei/Ryu - I have always wanted my main character to be Steven Jay Blum, the man in anime voice acting, TOM from Toonami, and since Seichie is his doppeganger and he isa clone of Ryu, they should all go to the same actor. But since I started getting to know the voice acting industry better, I am getting ambitious enough that I think I should play Hidariude myself. To be clear, I do not think I am better than Steven Jay Blum, but this is my project and if I only ever get to do one professional acting job, it should be this one, because if I cant have the confidence to cas myself, how can I expect anyone else to believe in me either. Having said that, if Blum is still willing to do Ryu and Seichei, the roles are his.

Kichiku - Chris Sabat is the number one choice, if he is not available, then Patrick Seitz, the only voice actor I imagine can get the same power in his voice to dare take that place.

Keisei/Baz - Monica Rial and Brynn April. I don't know which would do which, but if I could get both of them to agree to work on this project, they each get one, and I don't know how we would decide it, but ladies, when the day comes, I will use all my power as a producer to make sure you both have a part.

Douji - Colleen Clinkenbeard who proved herself as Gohan and has a legacy as strong as anyone else on this list, I need her in this.

Suki Zokushou - Mary Elizabeth MacGlynn, because I wrote this character with her in mind, inspired by Major Motoko Kusanagi, it would take one bad ass actress to fill this role and she is the only one that fits the bill. Good luck to everyone else if she is not available.

Sora Ijirimawasu - Todd Haberkorn or Sonny Strait, but only if Sonny goes into his Krillin/Usopp range, and Todd has to go into the range he used for his character in Summer Wars. Basically I need a nerd with just enough confidence to sell it.

Han Toromi - Crispin Freeman, who's smooth tones fits for the most part, but he proved he can handle the full range of the role later on with his performance as Alucard in Hellsing. Basically, when we get too that part of the series, I'll just go Hellsing on him and say "Alucard I release your limits, seek and destroy, you have your marching orders, seek and destroy!"

Aka - Vic Mignogna is my first choice, Ian Sinclair is probably my next choice if Vic isn't available.

Hime - Tia Ballard, because I've met her and it's sort of a Maron, daughter of Krillin sort of role.

As for the other characters, they are all one shots so they won't really matter so much, but anyone I mentioned who doesn't get the main role is at the top of the list for an NWE big bad.

So that is the dream, all there is now is to get one person in the right postion to greenlight it and help me pull it together...

Kevin (Probably) Saves the World

This past week was the season finale of Kevin (Probably) Saves the World, and I hope that there is a second season, because it is a very good show. To catch you up on the first season incase you missed it, Kevin moves home to live with his twin sister Amy and her daughter Reese. Kevin recently tried to commit suicide after losing his job and his fiance in one day and it has been recommended that he get support from his only family which means leaving New York City for Taylor, Texas where everyone he knows appears to have hit a sort of dead end in a small town compared to his life in the big city. But then thirty-six meteors of considerable size hit the earth within hours of each other and the last one lands within sight of Kevin's home. Kevin goes to check it out and is surprised to find out that the meteor is actually Yvette, a celestial being from Paradise who has come with her friends to help protect and guide the thirty-sixrighteous souls who guide and protect humanity, and Kevin is one of them. Yvette appears normal, but only to Kevin because she is invisible to everyone else, and she has the power to protect Kevin from harm in any way necessary. Kevin on the other hand has no power except bizarre visions that remind him of the small tasks he needs to do to help others and make the world a better place. Kevin's weakness is that while he gets intense nudges in the right direction, he is not given any special resources to make anything happen so when it counts, it's all on Kevin to save the day the way any ordinary person would be able to, and Kevin is not at all equipped mentally to figure out the best way all on his own, so there's a lot of trial and error. And one more thing, the other thirty-five righteous souls are MIA and Kevin must find them and annoint them, and by the end of the first season, he has found three of them, which means thirty-two to go and he's making good time.

The supporting cast for Kevin includes Kristin, his ex-girlfriend who is now the principal at Reese's school and a large part of the story is Kevin getting a second chance at the one who got away who may be his soul mate. Then there's Amy's possible soul mate, Nathan, the sherriff who went to school with them and knows Kevin well enough to look the other way when he does something bordeline illegal for the greater good. But possibly the best is Kevin's best friend, the unbelievably optimistic Tyler who is fat, lives with his mom, works at a diner where his boss treats him like crap and got dumped by his girlfriend and yet still thinks his life is perfect the way it is and probably should have been chosen over Kevin. Each character helps bring out out something special in Kevin that leads to him becoming a better person, saving himself as much as he saves the world.

The show is great because despite the tiny miracles that help Kevin along, the major impact is an ordinary guy performing ordinary good deeds. He is not the brightest and he is very flawed in many ways, but he tries to do the right thing and while he is somewhat reluctant a first he quickly gives in to the universe and the good feeling of helping people even though he gets nothing in return and often gets into trouble. The quirkiness of it all, punctuated by an equally quirky soundtrack of happy and often comical woodwinds, sends a strong message of hope, to think maybe all we need is to just be good and listen to the universe when it nudges us in the right direction and we can all be everyday heroes like Kevin. One great moment is the episode where Kevin finds his first righteous soul and people he helped earlier in the season help him along the way in return. Basically everything happens for a reason, we just don'tusually know what that reason is, but sometimes from the worst moments come the best things we never expected.

This show can be compared to a lot of other shows, most notably Joan of Arcadia which also was about an ordinary person who was doing good deeds for God thanks to an invisible guide, and also starred Jason Ritter as a character named Kevin. More recently though was Eli Stone, an unfortunate victim of the writer's strike about a lawyer who had visions that directed him to do the right thing, although that show played with ambiguity whether these visions came from god or they were just hallucinations resulting from an aneurysm. If it hadn't been for the writer's strike, Eli Stone probably would have had as good a run as Joan of Arcadia, and Kevin could last longer than both combined, and I hope it does, because we are in a time that we need this ray of hope.

Black Panther

I got a chance to watch the latest Marvel movie, Black Panther and I must say I was impressed. I might as well say what we're all thinking this is the black super hero movie, but having said that, it was the most bad ass superhero movie the black community could ask for on every level. Black Panther is sort of the African Tony Stark, he comes from a legacy of wealth and technology which gives him his power but also is the source of his problems. Vibranium, the ultimate metal that has been important for Captain America's shield, Ultron and the Vision, and I believe probably at least one version of the Iron Man suit, comes from a place in Africa known as Wakanda. Wakanda is awesome because it is in stark contrast to the Africa we know, a place where Vibranium has allowed for technology that makes Stark Industries look like a third world mom and pop shop. While this makes King T'Challa a superhero that is badass enough to stand alongside the Avengers and leave half of them with envy, it also begs the question, why ae black people suffering so much in the rest of the world if T'Challa can afford to live like this? This question is the driving force behind the entire movie, Wakanda pretends to be a poor third world country to protect their secrets and way fo life, but when they send out spies to see the rest of the world, some find the outside world to be ugly and demand that their brothers stand up against oppression, and in at least one case the spy gets involved in crime, a downfall of the black community in the real world that simply must be addressed. The story gets complicated, much like the real world, it gets a little unclear who the bad guy really is, the criminals who are willign to kill to get what they want, or the royal families of Wakanda who seem to be as selfish as those who oppress the black people in the rest of the world. T'Challa is not just some black guy with super powers, he has to deal with the ultimate struggle of black people today, when you have what you need to succeed in this world, do you take care of yourself first or do you help your community, and how far do you have to go when your people are starting at the bottom of the world to begin with? It's not simple, the comics have been dealing with this for decades and the movies are just scratching the surface, but they are scratching with fully extended claws.

Overall, this movie is good for the black community not only because it has a large black cast introducing a black super hero to the biggest super hero club in the world right now, but also because Wakanda is a country of wealth, technology and intelligence, things that black people don't always get to have in the real world, but the way it is presented suggests that this is possible and should be what they should aspire to. T'Challa's little sister Shuri is the genius behind the technology, and a great role model for young black girls. I couldn't help but think if every little black girl who watches this could be inspired by her, that would be a great thing, especially right now when there's a push for STEM, Shuri is the face of that movement. All of the females in the movie are strong characters who make good role models for women in general but especially black women who can be proud of who they are and where they came from. The villain, Erik "Killmonger" Stevens is a second generation Wakanda-American who is torn between the paradise he should have lived in and the harsh reality most black people have to deal with and his story reflects the possibilities of where the hero could have gone if life had gone differently, in fact his accusations against T'Challa is what makes him question if he himself is the villain after all. W'Kabi and M'Baku he other major tribal chiefs add more layers in between T'Challa and Killmonger, M'Baku appears to be an antagonist but proves to be a valuable ally, while W'Kabi seems to be T'Challa's best friend but goes to the other side not because he's a bad guy, but because he actually believes the other guy may be right that Wakanda should help the world.

This is not a simple story of good guys versus bad guys, but it does wade through all of the complex issues to finish on a message of hope, T'Challa does the the right thing, for himself, for his people, for the world. The point is that the key to being a hero like T'Challa is not Vibranium or a heart shaped herb, but the wisdom to do the right thing even when it is hard. In a lot of ways, this puts Black Panther in line with his fellow Marvel heroes, each one coming from a background with problems choosing to do the right thing, and in presenting this similarity makes him relatable for those outside of the black community so that we can all get behind him and root for him. The journey ahead may be a long one, but this first step is a very important one in the right direction, and we all need to keep going forward.