Writing Evolution?

I started writing stories, I think back in 8th grade. Probably the same with comic books, which never got far. But I think it was just me with a lot of ideas and needed a creative outlet. The artist side in me. By college, there was a catalyst that got me really working on my own story. Started writing it on paper and then later entered into a computer. Or rather computers. Cuz while it was a on lil 3.5in disk, it migrated from one computer to another. And back then, computers burned out pretty quick and the concept of saving and having back-up, wasn't quite a thing for people who simply used computers but weren't overly knowledgeable about them. That said, the story, the 1st in a series, had a full 1st draft. I think it was around 75 pages. All the times I tried to rework it, it got longer. It also got more in-depth as I had started reading Robert Jordan (I came from a Tom Clancy/Stephen King background). I think the longest it got was 250 pages and it was complete. I've lost the story so many times and had to restart it, I kind of ended up changing details. The initial story was a fantasy/sci-fi story (we'll skip the hard definitions here) started in 1993.

Throughout college, I did lil dittys here and there of different subject matter. Nothing ever panning out (ie; completing). Great at starting, never finishing.

I started doing diostories/diocomics around 2005. GI Joe-based. That's where my storywriting went.

Fast forward to now (and let's say 2024-ish), I'm rewriting the GI Joe stories. And then, I started this Demon Hunters project. It was just for fun, doing something outside the GI Joe realm. Yet, the Zedd Universe already linked Marauder Task Force and GI Joe (amongst a bunch of other toylines). I was, for the most part, thinking it was neat to break away from GI Joe and all their history and canon. Yet... it's still kinda there. 

AND then there's the VS story which  brings me back to writing GI Joe stories! What I was trying to get away from. As I write Vs #2 and Demon Hunters #3, they feel worlds apart to me. GI Joe: VS has the familiar GI Joe vibe (well, my vibe, not the GI Joe vibe). Demon Hunters usually references GI Joe and has some elements. It's just fun for me to write it all and make it all connect. (There's more to these writing projects but I'm out of time)

Will I get back to my own story? Someday. It's in my writing bag w/ 3-4 other stories.

 Distractions and STFC

Star Trek Fleet Command. Just hit their 7th year back around Thanksgiving. That's a long time to play a mobile game. Lots of hours logged in; it's not a casual game and it's definitely not a passive game. It's the biggest time killer probably in the same way World of Warcraft and Everquest are/were. Cept, STFC started as a mobile game which means, if you had any sort of connection, you could play it anywhere at any time (well, barring the game being down for maintenance and updates). It it also the ultimate distraction because, for the most part, you can jump on for awhile and end your session w/o worry about save points or not finishing something.

What's this have to do with anything. Well, I'm pretty sure my writing could be a lot further these last couple of years (when I started writing more). I find myself thinking more with what to do with the stories; parts and chapters to be created, etc. That's something I never really did, where I thought I had to meditate on what to do next or how to tell a certain scene, etc. I try to tell myself, as long as I'm able to do something semi-creative a day, that's good enough. So if it's not VS: Story2: Beach Head vs Zandar, I might be working on landscape photos or toy photos. Or I might actually draw something. That last one is a stretch because I really don't pick up a sketch pad often.

But, with the way my life is, it's hard to sit down and concentrate on something, like my writing or drawing because it's very possible to get pulled away a moment's notice. I'm sure there's some adulting getting involved here too. Makes me wonder how people work their regular 9-5 job and then have any time to do anything. It very much feels like, come home, make dinner, eat, and then we move into nightly chores. By the time I'm done, it's the night routine which means, I'm heading to bed in short order. And I swear, getting older, I'm going to sleep earlier?!? (yet, I can't sleep thru the nite; up and down...)

Back to the writing hobby. I tell myself, also, if I can even put down a few sentences, that's better than none. The thing will never get written unless I actually do something about it. I only got about a paragraph written yesterday; wanted to do more but had distractions give or take me looking up information (for this particular story).

Aaaaaaaand, gotta get ready for work...

 The 7 Orochi

The 7 Orochi project is part of the MTF: Demon Hunters project. It is an evolution of the project, this actually being Volume 3. When my mind isn't occupied with other things, it goes to this group and idea. Probably doesn't help that I have the figures on the dresser as photo'd. My struggle with the team, and I've mentioned this before, is that member #7 is a mystery to me. I'm not sure who to use. Aleph on the far right, is a, I think, a comic book character. He is a Night Creeper character; the toy even comes with a different head. Why he's #7 is because I'm not sold on him. Or rather, I'm not sold on the figure. The character, I think I'm ok with using (haven't thought real hard on it).

The 7 Orochi, like the 4 Horsemen that precede this group, each character has a purpose. The concept of Death, Famine, Pestilence, and War, I'm going a bit beyond that. When I start writing it, it'll make more sense. The 4 Horsemen has sneakily made their appearance in the 2nd Devil Dogs story. So back to the 7 Orochi... My issues with the Night Creeper are the colors and the figure itself. If you look at the characters involved, most are customs. Red 5 and Skull Buster were made from a culmination of parts from the GI Joe Classified HISS Strike Team. Mindbender's body is Dracula's from Operation: Monster Force. Lady Obitus is simply a movie Baroness that has been renamed (she's different enough from the original Baroness that she feels like someone else. Plus, the Walmart Classified Baroness is more than I'd prefer to pay these days. I wanted Baroness to be in the 4 Horsemen, but market prices changed that!) At the moment, that leaves Major Bludd as the only non-customized figure! His figure is so bad ass in the first place, there's nothing I would change. To make him special, I stole an idea from another creator and it's al about his primary weapon. (because the weapon and accessories can often make a character/figure unique)

Crystal Ball is waiting on a new body; the figure I'm after hasn't been released yet!!! Supposed to be sometime 1st quarter of 2026!!! It's for this reason, I have yet to photograph him.

Other character options for the 7 Orochi, as I've mentioned before is Firefly, Scrap Iron, and Storm Shadow. I thought today, "what about Zandar?". For me, his look is too different. Looking at the photo, there is a visual vibe which just kinda happened. Night Creeper doesn't fit. Even more random thoughts would be a BAT that has become self-aware. Not sold on that because I'd need to find a different BAT to fulfill that role.

I might just do an entirely new character in the end.

On a slightly different note, when the 4 Horsemen evolved into the 7 Orochi, the Horsemen titles might get lost. I might not even call them by the titles. Storywise, might be more of an analogy when the characters are being talked about. It's really weird to think about it; how closely related Pestilence and Famine are. Pestilence can be looked as the sickness of the mind and body. Famine can be starvation of the mind and body. That latter will start to come into play in the Devil Dogs stories.

 VS: Story2: Beach Head vs Zandar

As I was working on it today, man, I wasn't joking that the way the story goes is rather organic. I just do stuff and it goes its own way. At the moment, the Joes have found their target. At the moment, I have to think and decide just what the target really is. Not to give too much away, but the Joes are at a Cobra underground bunker/outpost. It's not meant to be some big, elaborate maze of a thing nor is it a gnarly high-tech place either. I am asking myself, is a concrete bunker or something more like a mine and its got dirt walls and floors? But another question I'm asking, just how deep do I want to go into the ZEDD UNIVERSE on this one. The original plan for VS were quick stories. I hadn't really considered using VS as a way to flesh things out. I guess I was with Story1 when I referenced the VSS. The visual version of it had a bit more explanation and details. The VSS is not my creation, it is someone else's. For me to cross over to Andre Bynoe's 'baby', I'm trying to be very respectful and not go too deep on it. It's his story to tell and his physical model to show.

Eventually, I have to get to the guts of the story. At the moment, it's very much all prequel-ish. Kinda like in Predator where you meet the posse then they go and blow up the camp. Then the story starts after, right? Yeah, same idea here. Want to see if I can get the reader (not that anyone will ever read it) to think it's just a straight forward mission/story. I also want to throw in a little Star Trek VI in there too. Might have some fun with Zandar once he shows up. 

"Can you see me? Oh, now be honest, Beach Head, warrior to warrior. You do prefer it this way, don't you, as it was meant to be? No peace in our time. "Once more unto the breach, dear friends."

Here's a raw teaser image

 Rambling On...

I'm one of those types that is good at starting things, but not finishing them. The creative projects that I do finish, they are often rushed. I fully admit, I start with all this energy and by the time I get near the end, I'm tired and thinking of the next big thing(s). It's been said that for people like me, accomplishing small things can really help mentally. In fact, I had just read advice from a 1990s comic book artist; don't try and do a whole comic book or series of stories, tell a story in 3-5 pages. I won't say my diostories are too long. But they have gotten bogged down due to lack of technology, money, time, whatever. AI, these days, has nothing to do with it, surprisingly. In fact, I found how limiting it can be from a proper 3d diorama set that I built with my own hands.

The VS series I'm working on, it was originally to be a 3-5 pages diocomic. (I use the term diostory too. same thing). I was struggling with getting the figures posed right; those darned GI Joe Classified figures have really stiff joints to the point, I can't get them to bend. Hot water technique, yes, but it doesn't last long). VS is just a fun lil series of pitting GI Joe vs Cobra. Or rather, the bad guy world. Because it's more than just Cobra out there. The original version of this was in 2002 when Hasbro relaunched GI Joe: Joe vs Cobra (aka JvC). I got back into GI Joe at that time and I loved the idea. Now I'm playing with the idea.

I wrote in a post on Facebook that I was moving to the written format for the story. I, for the most part, retired from diocomics. They take too long, too expensive, and I have no space to build stuff (or a decent place to store them). I dabble in shorts and I mean they are short. (compared to 20-some pages; hundreds of photos, etc). The 1st VS story, Storm Shadow vs Helix was a fast write. It took a little bit of thinking on how to make things work. Otherwise, I think I wrote the 1st draft in a day or two. Then entered in WORD, revised it (there wasn't much), and published it. An accomplishment to get the 1st one finished!

I'm working on the 2nd one. I chose to restart it because it wasn't going the way I wanted. Each story is an exercise, it feels like. But almost as interestingly and I never noticed this in the past when I was writing on what I consider my real story (it has nothing to do with toys, started in 1993. Written on different computers, had been on floppy disk, and well, lost on multiple computers too), the stories sometimes write themselves. And with that mindset, the 7 Orochi story project, which is over a year away, I've been struggling with the 7th member should be. This should be for another post but since I'm in the groove... The 7 Orochi stem from an upcoming project called the 4 Horsemen. The full title, I suppose, should read Marauders Task Force: Demon Hunters: Vol 2: 4 Horsemen. Vol 3 is 7 Orochi. Vol 1... uh... errrrr, did I actually call it World Eaters? Or did I call it Devil Dogs. Uhmmmm, anyway, 7 Orochi is the evolution of the 4 Horsemen. I've decided that as I write the story, I might come up with an idea of who #7 should/could be. 

All these ideas to write...

Want to see how Story1 was going to look? Doing the visual version is much different than the written version.

The Lair still exists?!?

 I'm finding myself more and more frustrated with Facebook. Just jumping on here to see if I still had an account. Which apparently I do and it logged me in right away. Now, how do I do this again?

Relaunch the Lair blog?

Has it really been 6 yrs since the last post.

I'll make this quick.

Considering relaunching this old blog so I can use it as a record of what I was doing in life. Probably with a heavy emphasis on the GI Joe stories.