Devil Dogs Story 4

Finally got back to working on the story. I finished #3 a few weeks ago and had started #4 immediately. I actually have a rough draft for the 1st 'act'. It's fast and quick. The rest of the story, I'm at a bit of a crossroads. #4 serves as the end of the Devil Dogs phase (their story will continue under a different squad name; War Hounds). I had ideas on how I wanted to tell the next scene, but it's where to go with it all. I have a plot, it's the finer details of whether I want to go certain routes. I'm still formulating a lot of ideas too because in some ways, I have to set the stage for War Hounds #1. I'm hoping I can write it out and it'll all come together.

This kind of brings up something I've kinda been reading about studio-made tv shows and movies. That a lot of the story/script are written on the spot. Like, the writer or writers just bust it out in a short time. But I can't help question of the editing, rewriting, and revision processes involved. How many times have we heard that a scene is written on the spot? Is that how creativity works for some people in the entertainment industry?

Yet here we have other writers who can take a lot of time to work things through. Hours, days, weeks, months, years, etc. The things that I ponder...

*Firenado and Trainwreck*

 Demon Hunters Project: What is it?

I haven't explained what the Demon Hunters project is.

The Demon Hunters is a Marauder Task Force military squad that takes out really bad bad guys. The crew is made up for 2 primary soldiers; Lt Rocker and Sgt Hunter. They hunt down the baddest of the bad. If they can't take them down on their own, they call the rest of their team. However, the real story isn't about the hunters, it's about the entities they are after.

Originally, it was just going to be 1 group to focus on. When I decided to add 2 more entities for down the road, it changed how I had to look at the project. The breakdown of the project got very technical. I admit, it's ugly looking and sounding.

The 1st theme was based Warhammer 40k's World Eaters. As the premise of each story tells, it's not about the people that are remembered, but the name. Or title. I decided to have some fun with the 40k universe, creating a prequel that has very little to do with modern day 40k. 

In the future, there is only war.

 

 

The future is dark. The future is grim. The future is violent.

The universe only has war.

 

For centuries it was believed that people don’t exist forever. Philosophical types believe that the human spirit can be eternal in the form of energy.

 

Humans are not legends or myths. The names and titles become legends and myths. These transcend the ages.

This is the story of a group of soldiers whose name became bigger than them. Their group would be remembered millennia later…

 

To do this, I chose the World Eaters. I simply think they are neat and the Chaos chapters of mutated, manipulated, demented Space Marines are fun! It doesn't help that my Facebook feed when it pertains to JoyToy product, is often 40k stuff (or 30k but I'm not going there) and their World Eaters figures are very nice. This part of Demon Hunters starts with the Devil Dogs. They later become the War Hounds and finally evolve into the World Eaters. It is a series of stories.

Naming convention-wise, it reads like this:
Demon Hunters
Vol 1: World Eaters
Phase 1: Devil Dogs
Phase 2: War Hounds
Phase 3: World Eaters

Vol 2: The 4 Horsemen

Vol 3: 7 Orochi

The 4 Horsemen takes Cobra operatives who are doing outside of the usual fare. They are noticed by the powers that be and the Demon Hunters are sent after them. The story is what the 4 Horsemen are doing and to a degree, why.

7 Orochi is the evolution of the 4 Horsemen in that 3 more members join up. I haven't decided if they will be all Cobra. I might branch out. It's been months and I still don't know who member #7 is.

 Accomplishments (I finished something!)

I'm one of those type of creative artists that comes up with ideas and plans but has a hard time finishing them. That said, last week, I finished a Devil Dogs story called FOR THE GREATER GOOD OF GOD. This would be story #3 under the Devil Dogs phase of the Demon Hunters project. It took longer than I wanted. Finishing it was an accomplishment, something I don't give myself credit for usually because I have a lot of things in my mind. In terms of the Devil Dogs stories, I was thinking of #4 and how to wrap up the phase and to transition to the next phase of their evolution: War Hounds.

To get technical, Demon Hunters Vol1 is a mouthful. I didn't see any other way on how to do break it down because it's that complicated. Well, it's probably not but it's multi-layered! That aside, I'm working through #4 which will be called FATES WARNING. Yes, that is an Iron Maiden song title. Yes, I have a habit of using their song titles for stories.

The other story I finished last week (or was it the week before), was a vignette (short diostory) for Demon Hunters Vol2: The 4 Horsemen (shortened, 4 Horsemen or 4H). The visual shorts are out-of-sequence prequels to the 4 Horsemen story. It will not be a series of stories like the World Eaters (which follows the adventures of the Devil Dogs). It will be a self-contained story but the 4 Horsemen, to a degree, show up in Vol1 in a preliminary way. That part of the Demon Hunters project deserves it's own blog post or 2. 

In the end, I finished up #3 which took a life of its own. In fact, that lil story starts to set up for Vol3: 7 Orochi. Vol2 and Vol3 are closely related.

Wait, what ARE the Demon Hunters?

Who writes a story about a squad who hunts demons but doesn't actually tell their story?!?

Almost better not to ask! (okay, the 2 primary Demon Hunter characters make a cameo in FOR THE GREATER OF GOOD only to introduce them and indicate what the future holds for the Devil Dogs. They won't get story time until Phase 3 when they are tasked with the hunt!)

At the moment, I don't have plans for a 4 Horsemen #4 vignette. Focusing on Devil Dogs #4.

*Lt Rocker. Leader of the Demon Hunters squad. 1 of 2 of the primary members*

 Action Figures: War of the Scales

I was just thinking about the scale issues that people have when it comes to action figures. When GI Joe released the Classified line back around 2020 (woo hoo, pre-covid!), I wasn't overly excited. I think it had more to do with price point than the increase in product size. At the same time, things weren't looking pretty for the 1:18 Joes; be it 3.75" or 4" or whatever Hasbro felt like making them. I remember trying a few of the figures out near the beginning. A lot of it had to do whether it had the same magic feel as the 8in Sigma 6 figures that Hasbro produced in 2005. Those things were fun and they were different.

I think I started with Snake Eyes, Scarlet, and Roadblock. I liked the updated look. Scarlet and Roadblock were fine. I actually liked the bulkiness of Roadblock. That was one big block of plastic and oddly, I felt it moreso w/ the Classifieds than I ever did with Sigma6. My disappointment was with Snake Eyes. Now, let's get this straight, I've bought this damn figure at least 3x. 1st time, I noticed that the chest piece was loose/wobbly (remember Big Hero6 when Hiro is putting his robot into the fight cage and it just flops around?) and the hands were so frakkin' stiff, I couldn't get the gun or sword in them. The 'use hot water to temporarily loosen them' is a bs solution because as a photographer, I'm not carrying a thermos of hot water with me outside, on a photoshoot, just to loosen up the hands. I love the Snake Eyes design. As a hobby artist who has done fan GI Joe stuff, coming up with a Snake Eyes design that I feel is good, acceptable, or something I can deal with, is incredibly hard cuz he's been made so many times. Thing is, those Classifieds still have hand issues. They also have stiff/locked joint issues too which bewilders me cuz that never happened in the 80s or even the 2000s (Theme Years!!!).

That aside, I realized that with Sima6, I didn't get held back by a scale change. I bought what I liked. I made stories with those 8in figures. I did photos with those 8in figures. I made memories with Kody with those 8in figures (gal's son; it was a common point between the two of us. Music, skateboarding, light sabers, GI Joe toys) because he was pretty much all in it. I'd buy doubles so he could have his own and we could do our thing with them. Eventually, that all went away and to move the story forward, I was at Boeing when I got into imports. In which, scale wasn't an issue cuz I wanted what I wanted. Be it cool-looking, weird, or that's just how things were. I have Kamen Rider figures in 2 different sizes. I bought SH Figuarts Power Rangers (movie outfits) which were awesome and so much better than the junk mass released for the stores.

These days, it feels like there are tons of gourmet toy companies out there. As far as I can tell, they are all good. 6in is the current trend but like 4in, these companies are stretching the sizes. Some seem to doing 6.2in. One is doing 7in. 4in makers are even pushing up, which is really weird to me. I've pretty much made peace with GI Joe Classified. 

I see it like this.

I am not a toy collector. That saves a huge headache right there. I see posts on FB from the collector side of things and their rants towards every lil thing and detail. Some I can understand but others, it's like, "ha! good thing I'm not a hardcore collector!" I prefer that the product I buy has a use. Stimulates the creativity. Never been much of the type to just put on a shelf for dust to gather on it. I'd be far more the type to create dioramas on a shelving unit to show stuff off.

I am not a completionist. This one is tough because it's easy to get into this situation. I don't need all the Classified Dreadnoks to satisfy myself. In this particular case, I've been trying to fight it pretty hard. But I admit, they do look good. It'd be nice to have the Z family and the 3 original noks plus a Thrasher (if they ever make him). I have the family and I kind of fell in that trap. However, I do like Zandar, Zarana, and Zanya in general. Speaking of the GI Joe O-13, that's another matter. The figures look good. It's hard not to want them all and end up with all of them. It's probably a good thing I'm not a hard Warhammer 40k fan and completionist cuz that would suck!

I buy what I think is neat. I buy what makes the Zedd Universe deeper. It's about the creativity and the stories to tell. Therefore, I don't feel I should be held back by scale. It's about fun. People probably forget that.

*Red 5. Unused image from 4 Horsemen: Vignette 3*

 Thinking...

When I started this Demon Hunters project, the plan was for a series of fast-paced, short stories following a Marauder Task Force squad called the Devil Dogs. Over a short period of time, they would evolve into the most hunted rogue squad in the world. They'll have also have changed their name twice, not to elude the good guys, but because each stage they attained. The end name would be World Eaters and that name would become legendary.

I had writer's block for some time on this one. A week or two ago, I figured out a go-around. That 'revelation' led me thinking of how I'm doing this entire project. The initial focus was, as stated, short and fast stories. Writing the current chapter, I realized that this is the perfect vehicle to build the Zedd Universe. Why in this project as opposed to the GI Joe stories I'm rewriting (from the existing diostories)? Because the GI Joe stories are very narrow in focus and doesn't really build the world. But with Demon Hunters, it's a chance to do a lot of stuff that I couldn't tell/push/explain/explore in the GI Joe diostories (or written stories in which, only TRANSFORMATIONS has been finished). It's a fascinating thing to me to realize this. The chapter I'm writing is actually fun. It's different, slightly dorky, definitely unusual but it explains a lot. It also helps flesh out the Andromeda Quest project that I never got underway (because that was turning into a massive entity that I didn't have time or money to do).

For those not familiar with the Demon Hunters project, here's the premise:

*physical representation of Devil Dogs (in toy form, duh)*

 Demon Hunters, 4 Horsemen, and Star Wars 7-9 Projects

I'm one of those guys that love coming up with projects, but horrible at seeing them through.

These 3 projects are often on my mind. I tend to do a lot of thinking in terms of them. Fill my mind with something, right?

I've been taking photos of the 4 Horsemen and doing some 1-page vignettes, but nothing canon-hard. I'm thinking of changing that and how I do the project. But let's back up for a moment to discuss Demon Hunters.

Demon Hunters is currently suffering writer's block. I think I found a way to get around it about a week ago but haven't put pen to paper yet. While I know in my head, it occurred to me (again), that the Demon Hunter story with the Devil Dogs is a 3-tier story. Meaning, the team will change names as time progresses. What I realized is, this project is going to get long. Not so much bigger, just longer. It's not just the Devil Dogs stories I have to get through, it's the 2 iterations afterwards. I'm not a fast writer so it could take years to get through the Devil Dogs stories. I plan on 10 or less short stories!

The plan was, near the end of the run, the 4 Horsemen aspect would come in. I'm deciding now, that's a bad idea. The 4 Horsemen need to be told at the same time. Because the Horsemen have a hand in what happens to the Devil Dogs. So I'm going to start working the 4 Horsemen story which I'm realizing now is going to be a bit bigger than I had thought it'd be. Which is fine, I'm still figuring out how I want to tell the story.

At the moment, I have photos I took last week for another 4-Horsemen vignette. I've decided that these are designed to start, lay the ground, and move the story forward in a visual fashion. It also gives me a reason to go outside and work on photography skills and well, just get outside.

The Star Wars project is still going. The chapters are all introductory to the main characters. I admit, I didn't think most of it through so having not figured out the finer details is slowing me down.

Until then, here's a raw image of an upcoming 4-Horsemen page. Major Bludd & Lady Obitus.

 

I got something to say...

I hate to say this triggers me. But something about it bugs me and I'm not sure what it is. Maybe I'm just in denial and this is truth.

But.

When I got back into GI Joe in 2002 with the Joe Vs Cobra themed toys, my love and fascination with it was with the modern. It was with the current. For me, this meme implies the old. The past. It's a nostalgia thing, yes. But I'm not attached. However, GI Joe as a toy brand is a childhood entity. What GI Joe did for me as an adult (other than meet people, have good times in the discussion boards, etc) was give me a vehicle for creativity. It started with photography and that's only because I saw others doing it. It never occurred to me as a kid to take photos of my toys (that had to do with how I grew up and the era). From photographic singles of my GI Joe toys, it led to telling visual stories and even some art stuff. My toy interests meandered and evolved since 2002. I may not be doing visual stories (as much) but I'm writing stories. 

Btw, this image has been circulating lately. I pulled it from Checkpoint Alpha on Facebook.

 Trying new things...

Haven't been able to work on much for the last week or so.

I'm working on a lil photo project, nothing spectacular. As I was getting the photos ready to work on, well, people who know me know that I've been creating diostories for over 20 years. Around 5 years ago, I backed way off. To the point that I don't do them anymore. I do some very small projects (which oddly still take a lot of time).

Now, to get to the point, when I do the photos, I add all dialogue/text/etc onto the actual image. That means, all the text (w/ boxes, word balloons, etc) are on the photo itself (and not usually saved as layers; it's fully merged into 1 image) and it is all within the constraints of the photo. This is my anal thing. But I'm working a 3-photo page and I'm thinking a bit more outside the box. Or I'm trying to be flexible even if it'll be a headache in terms of file naming. I'm considering trying some of the text so that it breaks the photo's borders. It's something I know of doing, but my 'style' isn't like that. I think it's worth a try. My thinking behind it is, the text doesn't have to be constrained to the image itself.

To note, when I started diostories, they were done as a slide show. I learned early on, clicking NEXT for each image to get the story could be a long and tedius endeavor for the readers. 100 images were too much but it was also really hard to tell a story in that fashion. At some point, I realized I could make a large canvas (page) and put the finished images on it like a comic book. That's kind of how "diostories" became "diocomics". Once I realized I could do this, it really opened my mind and the stories got better. I also was shooting 2-3x as many photos for it and per chapter for a story were usually between 180-225 images. As for chapter length, it varied. I set a goal at 25 pages. Due to how long a single chapter was taking to produce, I moved to comic book-length chapters. Which I admit, I'm not really sure if the standard is 22 pages or 23 pages. By the time I decided to do 20-page chapters, a lot had happened in life and I moved to writing stories instead. Photography in general, was no longer a priority. I still do photoshoots but nowhere near as often as 10-15 yrs ago. And for the record, I'm procrastinating on a bunch of household chores too. Here, have a random image that has nothing to do with the post. Dr Mindbender! I'm still working on 4 Horsemen/7 Orochi. Just a hint, if this is how I'm envisioning Mindbender, then how might some of the others look? (Okay, I'll play fair. Some don't get any changes. Crystal Ball, however, is waiting for a new body.)