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Writing, MCU, Calvin & Hobbes, and Android vs. Iphone
1. Almost shaved my novel down to 700 pages. It was well over 800. This means, I've shaved off over 100 pages. And rewrote some bits, made them more succinct. My muse is back - yay! I was feeling "creatively constipated" which made mother laugh. I feel so much lighter and happier now. Creative constipation makes me cranky. And while there is some area for creativity at work - there's not nearly enough.
I write stories to work out issues and ideas that bug me. Also I'm weirdly interested in the darker side of human emotions, such as guilt, shame, remorse, grief, and yearning. I had a creative writing professor who told me once that I was an interesting writer - in that I was interested in examining the emotions most people didn't want to look at.
I also like to subvert tropes, and play with them. And work out why people do the things they do. My favorite trope is the back from the dead trope - where a person fakes their death, or is forced to pretend to be dead, then comes back years later - and everyone has to deal with it. Including them.
But they aren't the same. No one is. So here you are grieving the person, but they aren't dead, just the version you knew and loved is, and this is someone new, yet it is still them.
I write and tell stories to figure things out for myself, and often feel as if I'm channeling the story? I don't write for people to have something they want to read. I'm not a commercial writer. I can't write stories others want to read, only stories that I want to tell. While I do want to share it with others, part of me doesn't, and doesn't really care if they see it - because I'm writing it for the story...more than anything else.
Not sure that makes sense to anyone out there, but there it is.
I write this journal for the same reasons - I think? To work stuff out, and to somehow connect. It's why I wrote meta for television series. Or even fanfic. To work stuff out - that was puzzling me or bugging me?
Anyhow very happy muse is back. And I now understand why I need to work on this novel. I'm curious about the characters, and how they work out their issues. I'm also interested in figuring out how to heal someone traumatized by what they did in a War, and how Wars and violence damage people. And how sex can be used as a drug often to detrimental effect.
2. I've joined a Calvin & Hobbes facebook group - that just reposts comic strips from Calvin & Hobbes.
3. The guy taking over the editing duties for The X-men has a blog, and he's apparently a Rick and Morty fan, albeit not of the problematic fandom and recent issues. Anyhow he is interesting, and had interesting responses to questions about how he would edit the X-men and views comics. He also is a huge Doctor Who and sci-fi fan. Tom Brevoort's world or the Man with the Hat. I subscribed to his newsletter out of curiosity.
Question: Kind of a side bar question. You're an OG Marvel editor with A LOT of experience under your wings. When it comes to mutants and DE&I its come with a lot of expectations baked in. You have one side thinking that its woke and pandering and you have the other side that genuinely wants to see themselves represented on panel. For example, I am Hispanic/Latino and I've wanted the X-Office to really elevate a Hispanic/Latino character for a long time by spotlighting and giving them that character arc to get to A-list levels. (I know writer/artist combos are also vital in this). But to get them to the level of Cyclops, Storm or Jean would be great. IMO. They did this with Synch in this current era in a great way. How do you find that balance of wanting more diversity but making sure it doesnt come off forced. Is it working closely with the writers? Looking through your catalog of latino/hispanic mutants to see who has the potential and the blank slate to be properly explored? Or is it just bring in more writers that are Latino/Hispanic to get that perspective? Is that just not something that is really thought about? I know its not great to think "oh we need an asian character a black character a gay character" like your checking off boxes but if Marvel is the world we see outside our window it would make sense for those types of individuals to be vital in the X-Men line. We have Wind Dancer and Magma that could be spotlighted and elevated in new ways. Rictor is around. As well as a few others. But it would be awesome to have a Latino/Hispanic character elevated and spotlighted in a way that can have a lot of us reconnect with them. But that’s all. Just some thoughts I wanted to write out.
Answer:This is a complex and complicated question, CG, and I’m not sure that I’m going to be able to do it justice here. But let me at least take a run at it. I think the first thing you have to realize in a situation such as what you’re talking about is that as much as you might like to, you can’t be all things to all people. As you correctly point out, there are only going to be so many slots in any team roster—let’s say 6 just for the sake of argument—and some of those slots are going to be taken up by the most established and popular and long-lasting characters in the franchise. So you may want to be as widely diverse as you possibly can, but if you’re starting with Cyclops and Storm and Jean Grey, you only really have half as much space to work with. Beyond that, though, this typically comes down to which characters the writers that you bring on board want to write about—which ones speak to them, which ones they want to tell stories about. To use an example: when we were last lining up a new AVENGERS roster and writer, I had certain feelings about what the team make-up ought to look like, but they weren’t absolute. And in the end, Jed MacKay put forward a team that mostly colored inside the lines of what I’d laid out (I suggested that it was time for Captain Marvel to take on a leadership position, for example) but also put forward some characters that hadn’t been among the ones I’d initially spoken about. So I think this is the only way to be successful at this. And I’m following a similar approach on the X-Books. I have some specific thoughts, but there’s plenty of room for the creators I and my crew are reaching out towards to rebut and put their own spins on things. And just because there are some particular types of characters that I see a deficit of in the X-Line (I wish there were more viable black male characters, for example) that doesn’t mean that those deficits are going to be immediately addressed. They become more of a general guidepost for development as we go. And so long as the casts that we feature showcase a decent amount of diversity of background—which, let’s face it, with the X-Men isn’t all that hard a bar to clear—then everything will be fine in a general sense. There’ll always be more work to do, but you can only do so much at any one time.
I was actually impressed by how he answered it. Because he's right - when you are writing "commercial" fiction for a broad subscription or paying audience - then you do have to somewhat cater to what that audience wants.
4. Per the rumor mill, Marvel may have decided to rework their plans for Phase 4 and 5 after Quantiumania bombed at the Box Office, and Jonathan Majors got into all sorts of embarrassing legal trouble. They decided Kang the Conqueror was not really working for the audience or fans. (Most had no clue who he was - myself included - and I read comics. He goes too far back and is too obscure. Only true comic book nerds know who the guy is - and they make up maybe 1% of the MCU film going audience?)
So..guess who the new Big Bad Villain is going to be?
Doctor Doom could end up Replacing Kang as the new villain
There's also rumors that they are bringing back the original Avengers Slate, with the entire cast including Downy Jr as Iron Man (Which is actually possible - since comics do that all the time, I just didn't think the actors would return? All those characters are still active in the comics.) Lots of rumors about the Return of Iron Man film - but Downy Jr has yet to confirm any of them, nor has Marvel.
But I can see them doing Doom, since it is a way to bring in both the Fantastic Four and the X-men.
5. Posed a question out of curiosity on FB.
"Curious? Iphone or Android? And techie or not techie?"
And I got interesting responses.
* "Android. Not a techie, but iPhones just confuse me bc I don't have any apple products. I also wanted the flip phone this last time so android was the only option as far as I know. Got the Samsung z flip and so happy that it actually fits in my pockets and I can just use the front screen for time, calendar, etc without risk of getting sucked in."
"same as a regular phone. I can respond to a text from the front screen while it's closed or open it to have more room and a better keyboard. I will say, my techie husband helped me set up the apps I could add to the front screen, bc it is a bit of a process. It comss with a few standard, but any others you have to download a separate app and change some settings to be able to add. He sent me a YouTube video on it and was easy once you know the steps, but not something you'd ever know without looking it up."
*"Not particularly techie. I tried an android phone once and it made me itchy (metaphorically). I’ve been an Apple computer user since whenever (though frequently using PCs for work), so the iPhone fits seamlessly with my other devices and I’m familiar with its system."
*"I like them both for different reasons. Android is better for simple things like actually making phone calls (i.e. I can easily decline a call from a spammer, which is harder to do on an iPhone). IPhones have better built-in (comes with the operating system) apps & if you have other Apple devices (laptop, tablet), being able to sync them all really easily with 1 account is awesome. Android also changes settings annoyingly back to their defaults when it updates the operating system, whereas the iPhone tends not to."
*"Pretty techie. Had an original Iphone. Switched to Android, but it required too much maintenance. So being techie, I understood what I should be doing but didn't want to do it. Switched back to Iphone. Also handy to be in the larger arena of Iphone users to capitalize on Iphone features."
[My brother had the same assessment. He was tasked with writing a manual for an Android phone once - and studied it. Stated it wasn't intuitive and high maintenance. And advised mother and I to get Iphones and stick with Apple products.]
*SG (former engineer/techie) "I always thought it was about what you basic computer experience revolved around. If you did anything trying to link files between your phone and computer that was what drove you. If you were a PC person you went for an Android phone, If you were an Apple person you went Iphone. I have always been a PC person and like the inter connectivity of an android system (ie phone, tablet etc). All the other stuff ie Apps, are so similar no difference."
JG (former software engineer/techie): I generally agree, but I am an exception. My computer life revolves around the PC, but I choose to use an Iphone since I don't have to do as much Android maintenance. Also, I seldom get involved with the interface between the phone and computer. Maybe if I was 25 and just starting out in CS.
SG:I have all this experience/history with my android stuff and my pcs. If kids or grand kids come home and we try to do simple things like download pics from phones etc. All goes well until we have an iphone and it does not play will with Pc systems.
[Now..."true Android doesn’t sync with Mac and IPhone doesn’t with PC. I know because work is PC and home Mac and iPhone only syncs well with one. Although discovered both have issues syncing. Not a big issue - since like James Gill - I don’t tend to use it that way. Except for team’s meetings at work and it’s no been an issue."]
__
I prefer the Iphone, mainly because there are less choices. Too many different models of Android on the market. Also they have lasted longer than the Android phones that I've owned, which generally speaking, need to be replaced within two years - battery burns out. I have Iphones for 6-7 years or more.
The skinny? Preference doesn't matter if you are techie or not. In fact there is no discernible pattern regarding preference.
I write stories to work out issues and ideas that bug me. Also I'm weirdly interested in the darker side of human emotions, such as guilt, shame, remorse, grief, and yearning. I had a creative writing professor who told me once that I was an interesting writer - in that I was interested in examining the emotions most people didn't want to look at.
I also like to subvert tropes, and play with them. And work out why people do the things they do. My favorite trope is the back from the dead trope - where a person fakes their death, or is forced to pretend to be dead, then comes back years later - and everyone has to deal with it. Including them.
But they aren't the same. No one is. So here you are grieving the person, but they aren't dead, just the version you knew and loved is, and this is someone new, yet it is still them.
I write and tell stories to figure things out for myself, and often feel as if I'm channeling the story? I don't write for people to have something they want to read. I'm not a commercial writer. I can't write stories others want to read, only stories that I want to tell. While I do want to share it with others, part of me doesn't, and doesn't really care if they see it - because I'm writing it for the story...more than anything else.
Not sure that makes sense to anyone out there, but there it is.
I write this journal for the same reasons - I think? To work stuff out, and to somehow connect. It's why I wrote meta for television series. Or even fanfic. To work stuff out - that was puzzling me or bugging me?
Anyhow very happy muse is back. And I now understand why I need to work on this novel. I'm curious about the characters, and how they work out their issues. I'm also interested in figuring out how to heal someone traumatized by what they did in a War, and how Wars and violence damage people. And how sex can be used as a drug often to detrimental effect.
2. I've joined a Calvin & Hobbes facebook group - that just reposts comic strips from Calvin & Hobbes.
3. The guy taking over the editing duties for The X-men has a blog, and he's apparently a Rick and Morty fan, albeit not of the problematic fandom and recent issues. Anyhow he is interesting, and had interesting responses to questions about how he would edit the X-men and views comics. He also is a huge Doctor Who and sci-fi fan. Tom Brevoort's world or the Man with the Hat. I subscribed to his newsletter out of curiosity.
Question: Kind of a side bar question. You're an OG Marvel editor with A LOT of experience under your wings. When it comes to mutants and DE&I its come with a lot of expectations baked in. You have one side thinking that its woke and pandering and you have the other side that genuinely wants to see themselves represented on panel. For example, I am Hispanic/Latino and I've wanted the X-Office to really elevate a Hispanic/Latino character for a long time by spotlighting and giving them that character arc to get to A-list levels. (I know writer/artist combos are also vital in this). But to get them to the level of Cyclops, Storm or Jean would be great. IMO. They did this with Synch in this current era in a great way. How do you find that balance of wanting more diversity but making sure it doesnt come off forced. Is it working closely with the writers? Looking through your catalog of latino/hispanic mutants to see who has the potential and the blank slate to be properly explored? Or is it just bring in more writers that are Latino/Hispanic to get that perspective? Is that just not something that is really thought about? I know its not great to think "oh we need an asian character a black character a gay character" like your checking off boxes but if Marvel is the world we see outside our window it would make sense for those types of individuals to be vital in the X-Men line. We have Wind Dancer and Magma that could be spotlighted and elevated in new ways. Rictor is around. As well as a few others. But it would be awesome to have a Latino/Hispanic character elevated and spotlighted in a way that can have a lot of us reconnect with them. But that’s all. Just some thoughts I wanted to write out.
Answer:This is a complex and complicated question, CG, and I’m not sure that I’m going to be able to do it justice here. But let me at least take a run at it. I think the first thing you have to realize in a situation such as what you’re talking about is that as much as you might like to, you can’t be all things to all people. As you correctly point out, there are only going to be so many slots in any team roster—let’s say 6 just for the sake of argument—and some of those slots are going to be taken up by the most established and popular and long-lasting characters in the franchise. So you may want to be as widely diverse as you possibly can, but if you’re starting with Cyclops and Storm and Jean Grey, you only really have half as much space to work with. Beyond that, though, this typically comes down to which characters the writers that you bring on board want to write about—which ones speak to them, which ones they want to tell stories about. To use an example: when we were last lining up a new AVENGERS roster and writer, I had certain feelings about what the team make-up ought to look like, but they weren’t absolute. And in the end, Jed MacKay put forward a team that mostly colored inside the lines of what I’d laid out (I suggested that it was time for Captain Marvel to take on a leadership position, for example) but also put forward some characters that hadn’t been among the ones I’d initially spoken about. So I think this is the only way to be successful at this. And I’m following a similar approach on the X-Books. I have some specific thoughts, but there’s plenty of room for the creators I and my crew are reaching out towards to rebut and put their own spins on things. And just because there are some particular types of characters that I see a deficit of in the X-Line (I wish there were more viable black male characters, for example) that doesn’t mean that those deficits are going to be immediately addressed. They become more of a general guidepost for development as we go. And so long as the casts that we feature showcase a decent amount of diversity of background—which, let’s face it, with the X-Men isn’t all that hard a bar to clear—then everything will be fine in a general sense. There’ll always be more work to do, but you can only do so much at any one time.
I was actually impressed by how he answered it. Because he's right - when you are writing "commercial" fiction for a broad subscription or paying audience - then you do have to somewhat cater to what that audience wants.
4. Per the rumor mill, Marvel may have decided to rework their plans for Phase 4 and 5 after Quantiumania bombed at the Box Office, and Jonathan Majors got into all sorts of embarrassing legal trouble. They decided Kang the Conqueror was not really working for the audience or fans. (Most had no clue who he was - myself included - and I read comics. He goes too far back and is too obscure. Only true comic book nerds know who the guy is - and they make up maybe 1% of the MCU film going audience?)
So..guess who the new Big Bad Villain is going to be?
Doctor Doom could end up Replacing Kang as the new villain
There's also rumors that they are bringing back the original Avengers Slate, with the entire cast including Downy Jr as Iron Man (Which is actually possible - since comics do that all the time, I just didn't think the actors would return? All those characters are still active in the comics.) Lots of rumors about the Return of Iron Man film - but Downy Jr has yet to confirm any of them, nor has Marvel.
But I can see them doing Doom, since it is a way to bring in both the Fantastic Four and the X-men.
5. Posed a question out of curiosity on FB.
"Curious? Iphone or Android? And techie or not techie?"
And I got interesting responses.
* "Android. Not a techie, but iPhones just confuse me bc I don't have any apple products. I also wanted the flip phone this last time so android was the only option as far as I know. Got the Samsung z flip and so happy that it actually fits in my pockets and I can just use the front screen for time, calendar, etc without risk of getting sucked in."
"same as a regular phone. I can respond to a text from the front screen while it's closed or open it to have more room and a better keyboard. I will say, my techie husband helped me set up the apps I could add to the front screen, bc it is a bit of a process. It comss with a few standard, but any others you have to download a separate app and change some settings to be able to add. He sent me a YouTube video on it and was easy once you know the steps, but not something you'd ever know without looking it up."
*"Not particularly techie. I tried an android phone once and it made me itchy (metaphorically). I’ve been an Apple computer user since whenever (though frequently using PCs for work), so the iPhone fits seamlessly with my other devices and I’m familiar with its system."
*"I like them both for different reasons. Android is better for simple things like actually making phone calls (i.e. I can easily decline a call from a spammer, which is harder to do on an iPhone). IPhones have better built-in (comes with the operating system) apps & if you have other Apple devices (laptop, tablet), being able to sync them all really easily with 1 account is awesome. Android also changes settings annoyingly back to their defaults when it updates the operating system, whereas the iPhone tends not to."
*"Pretty techie. Had an original Iphone. Switched to Android, but it required too much maintenance. So being techie, I understood what I should be doing but didn't want to do it. Switched back to Iphone. Also handy to be in the larger arena of Iphone users to capitalize on Iphone features."
[My brother had the same assessment. He was tasked with writing a manual for an Android phone once - and studied it. Stated it wasn't intuitive and high maintenance. And advised mother and I to get Iphones and stick with Apple products.]
*SG (former engineer/techie) "I always thought it was about what you basic computer experience revolved around. If you did anything trying to link files between your phone and computer that was what drove you. If you were a PC person you went for an Android phone, If you were an Apple person you went Iphone. I have always been a PC person and like the inter connectivity of an android system (ie phone, tablet etc). All the other stuff ie Apps, are so similar no difference."
JG (former software engineer/techie): I generally agree, but I am an exception. My computer life revolves around the PC, but I choose to use an Iphone since I don't have to do as much Android maintenance. Also, I seldom get involved with the interface between the phone and computer. Maybe if I was 25 and just starting out in CS.
SG:I have all this experience/history with my android stuff and my pcs. If kids or grand kids come home and we try to do simple things like download pics from phones etc. All goes well until we have an iphone and it does not play will with Pc systems.
[Now..."true Android doesn’t sync with Mac and IPhone doesn’t with PC. I know because work is PC and home Mac and iPhone only syncs well with one. Although discovered both have issues syncing. Not a big issue - since like James Gill - I don’t tend to use it that way. Except for team’s meetings at work and it’s no been an issue."]
__
I prefer the Iphone, mainly because there are less choices. Too many different models of Android on the market. Also they have lasted longer than the Android phones that I've owned, which generally speaking, need to be replaced within two years - battery burns out. I have Iphones for 6-7 years or more.
The skinny? Preference doesn't matter if you are techie or not. In fact there is no discernible pattern regarding preference.
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To recast - you have to have the audience be willing to accept it. Wonder Woman, Spiderman and Superman, Batman - had enough time in between, so not that big a deal, also they have a history of recasting and to date no one who has played them is necessarily pitch perfect. (I think Christopher Reeves was very close on pitch perfect for Superman, but other than him? No. And there were quite a few Superman's before him.)
I don't believe the rumor - because Downy Jr sounded like he was done with the Avengers. And he's not hurting for roles. Also he liked the Sherlock franchise better. (In a recent interview - he kind of downplayed Marvel, and said he was done with the universe. He could change his mind of course, but I doubt it. He's in his late fifties, early sixties, and is getting better roles.)
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I have an iphone but at this point, it's just because I'm used to it and I am not interested in learning a new system. I loved my Razr back in college, but even the return of it in hot pink couldn't get me to switch. I was tempted though.
no subject