Silmarillion

Today I felt like going a littel extra nerdy and taking a trip to Middle Earth. By now we are all familiar with the world of Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit, but what many do not realiz is these were a smaller part of Tolkein's magnum opus, the Silmarillion. I actually read this book a while back and it reads like the bible of Middle Earth. Hobbit fans will be disappointed to find that hobbits aren't a part of the Silmarillion at all, but rather focuses on elves, largely before the coming of humans. Tolkein actually started this first, but never finished it, his son published it posthumously. Tolkein made up the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings in the world he created, but really the storie that made him famous were only the tail end of his great mythology of what is actually supposed to be our world.

Let's start at the beginning, Iluvatar. Iluvatar is basically God, the being that all of creation came from. Iluvatar(never referred to by gender) created a flat Earh and populated the world with four races. The first race was the Valar, eight males, seven of which had wives, making fifteen in total, and they are basically gods of a lower rank than their creator, but between them they have all of the power over the entire world, and because of their power and imortality, hey could nto reproduce, their numbers were fixed eternally. The two most important Valar in the grand scheme ofthings are Aule and Melkor, we'll get back to them later. The second race were the Maiar, and they were like the Valar, only somewhat less powerful because their powers were controlled by the Valar. The Maiar were actually very important, particularly five that ended up being the wizards of Middle Earth, yes, that's right, Gandalf the Grey was actually a third rank god, really puts that whole coming back from the dead thing in perspective huh? Next in line were the elves, also immortal, but significantly less powerful, weak enough to be able to procreate. Once elves reach maturity they do not age any further and wil only die if they are killed, but they still don't really die, they just go to the realm of the afterlife where they continue to live. This place is actually across the sea and living elves can visit. However, before the elves could happen, Aule became impatient and created the dwarves, seven, one for each Valar, at least the ones with wives, apparently the sons of the Valar. Iluvatar pointed out that he had overstepped his powers and created flawed beings, but then corrected the mistake, fixing the dwarves and giving them wives that these immortal beings could spawn mortal progeny, the only rule being that they must stay underground so the elves could be the first on the surface, which wasn't bad because the dwarves like being underground where they can mine mithril, pure silver. Dwarves have more complicated immortality, they are mostly a mortal race, but seven are immortal and if any of those seven are killed, they reincarnate as the next in their tribe.

Now that we have established the first beings, before humans came along, there was the terrible reign of Melkor, Vala of darkness. Melkor was all about corruption, his Maiar became Balrogs, the worst being Sauron, and Melkor was also the one who created orcs by corrupting elves, and made wargs out of wolves. Melkor's favorite creation was Ungoliant the giant spider, mother of Shelob and the giant spiders of Mirkwood that Bilbo slew in the Hobbit. Apparently, not having a wife really made Melkor a bitter old bastard because Ungoliant was made to eat light because he hates light. The biggest confrontation involved two trees, one gold and the other silver that glowed so bright that all of Middle Earth was illuminated by the trees from the other side of the world. The elves loved the trees so much that one named Feanor actually captured the light in the Silmaril, three stones which would become the crown jewels of the elves. Of course, Melkor had Ungoliant eat the light of the trees and cast the world into darkness. Everyone did their best to bring light back to the trees, but the best they could do was grow one gold fruit and one silver flower. Feanor encased them to be protected and two maiar became responsible for carrying them through the sky bring light to the world, and that is the origin of the sun and the moon. Yup, that's Tolkein's story and he's sticking to it.

After this the Silmarillion goes on to tell a grand epic about how elves defended the Silmaril from Melkor. The story follows two pairs of star crossed lovers, human men who fell in love with elven women who bore them half-elven children. Against all odds, the half elven children, one male, the other female, fell in love with each other and had two sons, one of which was Elrond who would later rule over Rivendell. This meant a totalof four half-elves, the only four that would ever be. After years of conflict, a group of elves finally realized Melkor was the problem and sailed across the sea tothe western paradise to request of the gods that Melkor be dealt with. Only Iluvatar had the power to do anything and refused unless someone could speak on behalf of men as well as elves. Of course, humans aren't allowed on the far shores of Valinor, so this was impossible, until the half-elves decided to go and make the request. Iluvatar responded by sending melkor into the void, but in turn also decided that the half-elves would have to decide what they wanted to be because they could not live as both humans and elves. Elrond obvioulsy chose to be an elf, but his brother chose to be a human.

Now there is actually a great deal of significance in the brother of Elrond, because even though he became human, his bloodline had a touch of elven grace, living three ties longer, aging three times slower, and having a bit of natural magic. They were given their own island called Numenor, halfway between Middle Earth and paradise. The elves of paradise had been cultivating lesser silver trees and gave one to the Numenoreans and it became their symbol. All was well for a long time, until one king was brazen enough to break the one rule of never setting foot on the shores of Valinor. Realizing the folly in advance, a group of Numenoreans set sail back to Middle Earth and established the kingdom of Gondor with yet another white tree near their capital of Minas Tirith, and connected their cities with the palantir, seven stones of seeing gifted to them with the tree. It was a smart move because the moment the foolish king set foot on the forbidden shore, Numenor sank beneath the waves along with the king and all his crew and the world was bent round so that any man who dared to follow would simply sail around to the other side and never reach Valinor.

This brings us to the era where the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings takes place and we know how that went. Now you know the whole story, or at least the highlights. If you want the rest, find your own copy of the Silmarillion and check it out for yourself. Warnign: for real nerds only.

The ugly step children of Final Fantasy: Squenix fails

In the past I have mentioned how much I love the Final Fantasy series, and while the main series is the greatest ever made, there have been some unfortunate attempts to capitalize on the success of the series by making spin-offs that ended up being crap. Honestly, aside from the Tactics offshoot, I would say anything that Square Enix makes featuring Final Fantasy should probably be avoided.

The first misstep was Ehrgheiz, which was a fighting game that boasted a 3D system. This was actually a revolutionary concept when you consider that most fightign games actually lock the fighters in a 2D plane even when the graphics give the illusion of 3D, Ehrgheiz actually allowed characters to move around the 3D battlefield. This was a good idea that was executed poorly, and the game became more known for featuring characters from Final Fantasy VII. The thing that killed it the most was that the FF cast were bonus characters in addition to a main cast with their own story, which is hinted at being interesting, but unfortunately little is done to deliver on the original promise. The game relies heavily on a story mode with no real story, there is a bonus stage at the end that is hidden in the credits and it's very easy to miss out entirely. There are bonus games that are not worth the data that went into them. The most interesting part to me was a dungeon crawler RPG that was rather disappointing given that it comes from the makers of the greatest RPGs and they just seem to throw away everything they ever knew and made the crappiest mini game since before the original FF. The worst part of the RPG is that you have to pay in game money to save which I thought Squenix learned long ago was a bad idea when it dragged the original FF and they made saving free in every installment after. In the end the only thing worthwhile about Ehrgheiz is playing as Cloud, which is hardly worth renting the stupid piece of crap. The worst part of Ehrgheiz is Squenix was so slow o learn they attempted a sort of sequel called The Bouncer, which bombed just as hard for pretty much the same reasons Ehrgheiz did.

The next bad game that I actually played was Final Fantasy VII:Dirge of Cereberus. A much maligned game, it's not as bad as some people say, but as someone who doesn't play first person shooters, I will say that for those of you that do, you will think this is crap. This game was an attempt to make an FPS out of FF and there was some good intent behind it. The premise is that Vincent Valentine, the gun wielding secret optional character from FFVII has to save the world from an army of super soldiers for which he was apparently the prototype. The whole thing takes place a few ears after FFVII, the world is settling into peace, and then these soldiers leftover from the now totally defunct Shinra Power Company, known as Deepground, decide to attack now that they realize their masters aren't coming back for them. Ultimately the real problem was it just didn't translate formats very well. It might have been good to come up with a decent story to continue FFVII, but this one tried too hard to fit the FPS mold and resulted in a lot of identical generic troops with a few signature FFVII mobs popping in for what amounted to cameos. For FF fans, the whole thing was a bit of a letdown, FPS fans got even worse if they expected anything worthwhile here. Vincent gets a grand total of six guns to use in the game, and all but one can be customized to some extent, but three are practically worthless, the bayonet is basically a fixed rifle with a negligble melee bonus, the Ultima Weapon is too hard to acquire to be worth the trouble, and the machine gun called Griffin is too clunky to bother with at all, it can shoot a lot but rarely hits anything. The remaining three guns include the titular Cereberus, a handgun that shoots three bullets at once which eats ammo but does enough decent damage you don't really need another gun; the Hydra, a rifle which is a good long range weapon for those few foes that are sort of out of reach; and the Death Penalty which only comes in at the end and does it's job well enough, but it makes you feel like all your hard work on the other guns doesn't matter when Vincent just transforms and uses this ultimate weapon to end the game.

Dissidia was...well recieved, but honestly, it's kind of crap. It's a fighting game that has bizarre mechanics and ignores the laws of physics which looks impressive but makes playing eaither frustratingly difficult or, once yu get used to it, makes you feel like what you're doing is utterly pointless. The system involves fighting with two gauges, bravery and HP. The idea is that you go back and forth with bravery attacks until one character is strong enought to take out the enemy with an HP attack. It makes vey little sense, even when you figure it out. The game's story, and I use that term loosely for a series that does well with stories, is that one hero and one villain each from the first ten FF games are locked in combat on behalf of the gods Chaos and Cosmos. Ultimately, it seems that the whole game actually takes place in a limbo in the time loop of the first FF game hat actually went for thirteen cycles before the original FF takes place and this game is the last cycle. It seems that everybody can fly so the actual battelfields ar mostly just irrelevant backgrounds and there is no clear connection between any of them. The only redeeming thing is that I get to finally see the epic battle between Kefka and Sephiroth, which is actually easy to make happen. You do have to unlock them, but to do so all you really have to do is finish any of the ten Destiny Odyssey story modes which will allow you to unlock caharacters for power points, which you should have accumulated enough of in the process to do two characters. From there, simply open an exhibtion match and watch Kefka prove his superiority prove Sephiroth.

The worst of all is Final Fantasy All the Bravest. I am a big enoug Final Fantasy fan to say this game isn't all bad, as a free app, it's a fun diversion, and I really appreciate the throwback to old school 16-bit graphics a la FFV. Howeve, other than graphics and music, it is a complete disappointment. ther is no strategy, the party is randomly assembled from available characters with each battle and everybody has a predetermined attack so all you do is touch them, not that it even really matters, it's really just an illusion that you're doing anything at all that actually makes a difference in the outcome of the battle. The worst part is that you have to pay for the bonus content that you might actually want, but it's randomized, so you'll shell out $40 just so Cloud can join your party.

Final Fantasy is great, but they need to be more careful about venturing beyond what they know and do well.

In defense of Dragon Ball GT

Dragon Ball Z, the greatest show ever, ended with Goku going off to train with Uub, the reincarnation of his last nemesis, Majin Buu. For those who do not know what that was about, MajinBuu waDNs an eater of gods, the series had been pushed to the absolute limit of what anybody should expect, and Akira Toriyama decided it was time to simply bow out. Yet, the fans still demanded more, so Toei Animation, who had the rights to make the animated series, and the filler and the movies which made for good eye candy despite being non-canon and irrelevant, decided they could keep making the series without Akira Toriyama. Somehow, the fans of Broly the Legendary Super Saiyan, were rather disappointed in Dragon Ball GT, the result of Toei's efforts, and yet it still happened because we DB fans are cheap whores that will take any crap that features Son Goku even when we hate it, we love it. Except the live action movie, apparently, we draw the line at live action, though I imagine I could match up the audio from Dragon Ball Evolution with actual footage of similar events from the anime and it would do well. In fact, it would probably get far more hits on YouTube than the actual movie. But this post isn't about that movie, it's about DBGT.

DBGT begins about where DBZ leaves off, with Goku and Uub training. Then Emperor Pilaf, Mai and Shuu, who have been absent since releasing Piccolo before DBZ started, show up and they have gotten old and pathetic and are no match for Goku. Pilaf is looking for the dark star dragon balls, which are just like regular dragon balls, except that they were made by Demon King Piccolo who added in an extar bit of evil; the dragon balls will scatter around the universe and if not returned to the planet the last wish was made on within the year the planet will be destroyed. Emperor Pilaf is willing to take the risk to finally wish to rule the world, but screws up and says to Goku "I wish you were a little kid so I could beat you up!" and Dark Shenron grants the wish. This is actually brilliant because it returns the seies to it's roots by making Goku a kid again and looking for the dragon balls, while it also keeps the growing scope of the Dragon Ball series universe. It is wierd that one of his companions is his granddaughter Pan who still calls him grandpa, even though they now appear to be the same age. Anyway, the series runs pretty aimlessly like it did way back when, but it's good for what it was meant to be, bringing back Goku. Then the Baby Saga starts. Baby is an android that possesses other people...blah, blah, blah...the only thing worthwhile that ets our attention back is the introduction of Super Saiyan 4, which Goku has to ascend to in order to defeat Baby when he possesses Vegeta. SS4 is awesome for a nmber of reasons, the most immediate being that Goku becomes an adult temporarily. Also, he turns into a monkey, sort of. I would argue this is the form Super Saiyan should have been all along, it's like mini-oozaru.

So they collect the dragon balls, defeat Baby, and save the world twice at once, what's next? Android 17 comes back! Okay, I didn't actually watch this part, some scheduling issues, I am meaning to watch it eventually, it seems like a good idea. The thing is, all of Goku's enemies either became his ally or he killed them, all except Android 17, he is the last loose thread hanging from the previous series. So he comes back for one last battle. Another good thing, this makes the Red Ribbon Army the most persistent enemy as they appear in all three series. I can't say much more since I didn't actually see it, I'm just saying don't hate on it.

Finally the series ends with the Shadow Dragon Saga, which I would argue is the greatest of Dragon Ball ever. The gang goes to the Dragon Balls to wish away all the damge that's been done so far, but the overused dragon balls go dark and instead manifest as the seven shadow dragons. Yes, Dragon Ball has become about fighting against the dragons that are born of the dragon balls, for once the title actually makes sense! The absolute best part is when Goku fights Nuova Shenron, the four-star dragon. The whole story started when Goku was protective of this very dragon ball, and now he gets to fight the ultimate battle for this particular dragon ball. In my opinion this beats Broly out of the water. I do have a different idea of how the series should have ended though. I d like the fight with Omega Shenron, the ultimate combination shadow dragon, but I would have gone in a different direction when Nuova came back after Goku ate the four star dragon ball to keep it from Omega. Nuova should have brought Potara earrings from Supreme Kai on the other side after his brief demise, and then he could have fused with Goku to become Nuova Goku, and Omega could have used the seven-star's power of absorption to absorb Vegeta and become Omega Vegeta, and then there could have been an epic battle of Dragon Saiyans. Maybe that would be a good way to go with the rumored reboot...

S-CRY-ed

S-CRY-ed is one of the more unusual anime,and that's saying something. The thing is, it's never really clear what it's about, but if I had to guess, it's about two characters that are polar opposites, Kazuma and Ryuho. For those who are familiar with Dungeons and Dragons alignment system, in addition to good and evil there is also lawful versus chaotic, the latter being a better way to describe these two. Neither character is really the bad guy, both are the hero, it's just a matter of how they go about doing it.

First let's start with the back story to explain the world. Unlike many anime that explain the important parts in detail, this series just sort of throws it out there and you have to pay attention. The story takes place in the future after the Great Uprising, an earthquake that caused part of Japan to form a huge plateau isolating it from the rest of Honshu. The really wierd part is that some people born on the new plateau developed the ability to alter their surroundings and became known as alter users. Each alter user has a specific alter with specific limitations that can not be changed except through refining, which can be accompished twice, though it's very rare for anyone to achieve the second refinement. The first refinement is usually accompished by training with HOLY within HOLD, the organization that tries to regulate and control alter users. It is very difficult to tell whether HOLY is the good guys or the bad guys, as it depends on which character's point of view you have.

The first episode introduces us to Kazuma, an alter user with a harmonizing alter, an alter that actually assimilates with the alter user. It seems to be rare and we don't see very many in the series, my thoughts on that will come later, for now we will focus on Kazuma in particular. Kazuma's alter is the Shell Bullet, his right arm becomes armored and allows him to fight dierctly against other alters which is generally impossible because alers are usually formed out of any solid material by the alter user and can maintain their form as long as the user maintains focus. For extra power, Kazuma can propel himself with his three bullets, spikes protruding from his shoulder that provide him with bursts of power but each time one of the spikes disappears and when he uses the third and final bullet his alter deactivates leaving him defenseless, so he always has to get the job done in three hits and they have to be timed to count. He has gotten vey good at his, but despite his power, he keeps a level head and uses his power to work as a mercenary to provide for himslef and Kanami, a young girl who he cares for. Kanami is herself an alter user, but her power is very different from everyone else because she scries people's minds so she can always know what Kazuma is up to even when they are seperated, but the power is not known to many nor is it particularly useful at first, it's just enough to put her in danger.

The second episode interestingly covers the exact time frame as the first episode only from Ryuho's perspective. Both episodes end with the definign first battle between these two alter users and Ryuho's alter Zetsuei, name after his dearly departed dog and taking the form of a humanoid in a straight jacket with tentacle like ribbons that allow it to do whatever Ryuho needs it to do. Ryuho uses Zetsuei to capture alter users for HOLY and this time his target is Kazuma, who puts up more of a fight than anybody else ever has. Ryuho is loyal to the govenrment and believes in following the rules and obeying the and enforcing the law. He actually is the son of a govenrment official and feels obligated to do what is proper.

After the first two episodes more alter users come up and all serve to push forward the conflict between Kazuma and Ryuho.For one thing, the alter users are being trained to refine their alters, but while making the alters more powerful it also makes the alter users more obedient to HOLD. For Kazuma this is a form of abuse, for Ryuho, this is the way of the law and order. The situation escaltes and Kazuma manages to refine his alter, turning the pikes into a wheel that allows him to use his Shell Bullet as many times as he wants without deactivating it. It also adds armor around his eye and apparently adds power in general. However, it also seems to put more of a strain on him, when he powers down his arm seems to be limp and useless and he can't open his right eye. Ryuho comes back at him with a refined Zetsuei which breaks free of the straight jacket and can now use its arms as projectile weapons. This finally leads to the final showdown where both of them refine their alters into full body armor. While they do fight each other in the final episode using all of their power, in the episodes leading up to that grand finale they actually join forces to fight an alter user who is trying to become the most powerful of all and take the plateau away from them. Another interesting plot point is that Kanami's power is part of this plan and halfway throug the series, Ryuho befriends Kanami, so he wants to protect her as much as Kazuma does which actually puts the two most powerful alter users on the same wavelength for once. It is epic and you have to see it to believe it.

Now about harmonizng alters as opposed to the standard alter, it would seem that it seems to reflect one's sense of independence. Only three harmonizing alters are shown in the series, Kazuma's Shell Bullet, Ryuho's final form of Zetsuei, and Straight Cougar's Radical Good Speed Unlimited. It should be noted that other alter users usually form their alters as separate entities and they all seem to feel like lonely outcasts due to their alter powers making them different from everyone else. Kazuma alone exhbits only his harmonizing alter and he is stubbornly independent, demonstrating that he doesn't need abybody, whereas other alter users are filling the void by creating a companion or a tool to accomplish their goals whereas Kazuma only needs himself. Straight Cougar uses a refined form of his alter to modify cars when he is with HOLY, but when he meets with Kazuma, he uses the harmonizing form to put armor on his legs, and at that point in the story, he is acting independently of HOLY. Finally, Ryuho develops his harmonizing alter when he breaks free of HOLY and acts independently himself.

Another theory, Kazuma's alter is actually his arm, not just the armor, but the arm itself, an later his eye. We see his arm splitting into three parts lengthwise between his index and middle fingers and between the ring and pinky fingers. The lines continue to be visible even when his alter isn't active and when he ends up joining HOLY briefly he agrees to wear the uniform but refuses to give up his glove, suggesting his hand may be held together by the glove. Later when he refines his alter he can't pen his right eye, suggesting that he may have lost his eye in the new alter. Also, in the finale Ryuho takes the arm clean off and Kazuma reforms it. I blieve Kazuma actually never really ahd an arm though tthe series, haing lost it the first time his alter manifested and he uses a sub form of alter to maintian his arifiicial arm.

One last thought before I go, go back and listen to the theme song again. maybe I've watched too many dancing shows, but I think it would make a good Paso Doble.

Mongoliad Book One

I am preparing to write another Kindle Worlds fan fiction and this time I will be taking a shot at a Final Fantasy type story set in real world history of the Foreworld Saga. Cid, Gilgamesh, Tiamat, a dragoon, and Gilbert the Spoony Bard will all be a part of a story I'm researching/brainstorming titled Dragon Hand. But I'm getting ahead of myself, first let's talk about the original story, Mongoliad.

Ogedei Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, led the Mongols in an invasion of Europe in 1241 AD. First they entered Russia, then went through Poland at the Battle of Legnica and conquered Hungary in the Battle of Mohi(which involved the Knights Templar) before setting their sights on Bulgaria. Ultimately, the Mongols were stopped when Ogedei Khan drank himself to death; without their leader driving the invasion, the Mongols retreated. That is the true history of the Mongol invasion of Europe, the Mongoliad takes a unique angle on this history, by which I mean dramatic fiction.

The fact that Ogedei Khan was an alcoholic is part of the story, told in every other chapter from the perspective Gansukh, a Mongol who has been tasked by Ogedei's brother to monitor his drinking. The fact that Ogedei's brother arranged for someone to curb the great Khan's drinking is historically accurate, however little is known of exactly who this was. In this book, Gansukh was a Mongol warrior who was very used to a rugged life on the steppes, and is suddenly thrust into life at Kharakorum, the de facto capitol of Mongolia. While some might appreciate this turn of luxury, Gansukh has trouble adjusting and requires the assistance of Lian, a Chinese woman who used to be of high standing but has been reduced to a slave after her people were conquered by the Mongols. A romance seems to develop between them, further complicating Gansukh's life as does his rivalry with the leader of the guard. We know ultimately that Gansukh will fail to save Ogedei Khan, but the question is whether it was truly Ogedei's drinking or an assassination.

For the latter possibility we look to the main narrative of the Ordo Militia Vindicis Intactae, also known as the Shield Brethren, an order of knights and monks similar to the Knights Templar, but with a bit of Shaolin style thrown in. The very beginning of the book introduces Cnan, a Binder, while I don't know precisely what that means, it seems to be a person from India. Perhaps this reference was better known at one time, but I was not familiar with the term. In any case, Cnan was a survivor of the Battle of Legnica and is told by a man named Ilian to find the OMVI which she does manage to accomplish. The order was involved at the Battle of Mohi and have their own personal vendetta against the Mongols and decide to assassinate Ogedei Khan. The one catch is that they have been invited to a "Circus of Swords" the tournament in which the Mongols are forcing the remaining warriors in the conquered territories to fight for entertainment in an arena. If they don't show up, they know they will be found out, so the group splits up sending a contingent to fight at Legnica while a dozen quest to kill Ogedei Khan. Leading the group is Feronantus, a man who seems to be the quintessential leader, older and experienced and level headed enough to wrangle the warriors. Other notable members include Raphael the healer, Yasper the alchemist and Percival and Roger, a pair who you just can't help but love. Percival is a charming knight who seems to relish combat as well as women, despite the fact that the Shield Brethren take a vow of chastity. Percival is arguably the hero, if not the scene stealer.

The story alternates from chapter to chapter telling us the story of the various members of the Shield Brethren and the story of Gansukh, leaving us with a measure of tension as to exactly how the story will end. Interestingly, Gansukh's story makes the reader rather sympathetic to the Mongols and it's sad when you realize that he will have to fail for the heroes of the OMVI to succeed, but as he is isolated half a world away he is not in direct conflict and you can only wish he would achieve a victory that you know he will never have.

This is the first installment in the trilogy and I will have to read them before I can get to my own story, but so far I am planning on centering on Princess Catherina of Hungary who around age 12 or 13 was lost when her family fled from the Battle of Mohi. Lacking details of what actually happened to her, I am suggesting that she actually became a ward of the Shield Brethren, specifically Claude Dragonhand, named for his hyperkeratosis that gave him a scaled hand. Along with his healer Cidolfas, Gilbert the Bard, and a Binder(tentatively named Shiva), they struggle to protect the young princess while surviving the Mongol occupation of Europe, particularly a Persian mercenary named Gligamesh. Sounds fun huh?

Magic of Rochester: Red Ellen and coming soon Waking Dream

It's Valentine's Day again and I thought I should write about something romantic. It occurred to me this would be a good time to remind you all of my paranormal romance, Red Ellen, the first in the Magic of Rochester trilogy. I confess, it didn't actually originate as a romance, just paranormal. I have seen many interpretations of the supernatural world as it might work in modern times and one thing I found they all have in common is that the only supernatural creatures that seem to exist in the modern world are the ones that at least pass as human. I wondered why this was, and then I realized the answer was simple, we hunted all the others to extinction. I don't know if you realize this, but much of the mythology of the world suggests that in days of yore, legendary heroes made a name for themselves by killing monsters. Given that mastodons and dodo birds didn't survive humans over hunting, it seems likely that if dragons ever existed they probably got hunted too, and even unicorns probably weren't safe from poaching. So it would seem that if anyone would survive it would be those that had enough human nature to hide in plain sight. This narrows down the pool to five groups, undead that used to be human, shapeshifters that appear human when not in alternate forms, fairy changelings that use the illusion of glamour, spirits that are incorporeal so it doesn't matter, and wizards and other magic using mortals that actually are human except for powers that are only a giveaway when used. So once I figured out the basics of who and what could actually exist, it was simply a matter of figuring out a story to go along with this. My first idea was simply a war between undead and fairies with the others caught in the middle, but that went nowhere, I just simply didn't have any one party to actually care about. Then came the new genre of paranormal romance, all I had to do was put a girl in the middle of the action and watch the boys fight over her, it practically writes itself. Seriously though, I did eventually figure out a way to use it as an allegory for coming of age with the boys representing stereotypes of what a girl wants. Hey, after all these years of one-dimensional female characters in supporting roles in male driven stories, it's about time to turn things around. I really do like this story, I like having a fairy princess defend her kingdom against undead with the aid of werewolves and wizards. This isn't a parody, it's a sincere effort, although I really hate how vampires are romanticized beyond recognition, so my vampire is a hardcore villain, but much as in real life, the bad boy has his charm. Also, I want to point out Rochester, my hometown, is the setting because I feel there is just way too much focus on New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Miami. Seriously, if aliens read our media, they would think 99% of Americans live in those five cities. The rest of our country needs to start representin' especially upstate New York. Yes, world, there is a New York outside of the city, and it's pretty cool up here too, so stop ignoring us.

Now I already talked a lot about Red Ellen when I was writing about in back in November, so I'm going to use this opportunity to give a preview of the sequel Waking Dream. "Changelings always come in pairs, the one the fairies take, and the one they leave behind. For the three changelings of Rochester, their other halves have come back to claim the lives that were stolen from them. Ellen must face her true heritage as a fairy princess in the realm of her birth and her cousin Jasper's loyalty will be tested when he realizes that his true relative is the one Ellen replaced. The real question is, why are they coming back now?" This book will take place in the year Ellen turns 18 and introduces the other half of each changeling pair. Slate and Shale are the ones who were swapped with the dragons that were Jasper's and Jade's great grandparents, making them 97 years old by this time, but fairy magic has been sapping their humanity with each subsequent generation of the dragonkin and now they are only one more generation from losing their last shred of humanity and becoming full dragons. The only physical human trait left is their left arm, mirroring the dragonkin Jasper and Jade, although the glamour allows them to appear s if they were 18-year old humans. Jasper and Jade will need the help of the spirit Fickle Luna of the Ever Changing Moon to defeat them and protect their place in our world. Ellen's situation is very different, and a lot more complicated, especially since she was swapped for the daughter of the brother of Jasper's actual mother, meaning that his loyalty is divided between the girl he's known for two years and the one that actually shares his blood. Of course, the boys are all dragged into this, and Nate the vampire may actually be more involved than anyone knows.

Read Red Ellen and prepare for part two Wakign Dream due sometime after November National Novel Writing Month.

Monty Oum

A few months back I wrote about RWBY, a computer animated American anime series. This series was created by Monty Oum who also provided the voice for a character in the series, Lie Ren of team JNPR(juniper). Tragically Monty Oum passed away this week. I don''t know if RWBY will come back without him, but if it does, it will not be the same, and Ren will not be the same without Monty Oum providing the voice. I never met him, but he truly inspired me with RWBY, proving that it is possible for someone who is truly passionate about anime to make their own independently regardless of nationality(yes he was Asian, but he ran the entire project out of America). RWBY wasn't just a fan made show posing as the real thing, it had incredible action sequences rivaling some made by Hollywood studios and featured music that was set perfectly for the mood, it is a masterpiece that I believe was underapprecaited because there is no way we could have ever appreciated it enough. Oum made waves throughout the anime community during his life, and the tragedy of his death has made waves thorugh our community as well. In his honor, I have nothing more to say this week than, "We all miss you Monty."