Zero Hour: Your New Blogging Schedule

It's the last day of the A to Z thing (finally), which means that starting tomorrow, the blog will begin its new schedule.  I'm going to do more like my very first blog, which had three posts a week.  Only instead of doing Monday-Wednesday-Friday, I'm going to just lump them in the middle of the week:  Tuesday-Thursday because no one seems all that interested in Friday posts and hey, most of us are probably not all that alert on Mondays anyway.  I'm bringing back the clever (or not) names too!

So here's the schedule:

• Two-fer Tuesdays:  to keep promoting the book, I'm going to use a random-number generator to pick a page from it (and a paragraph) and then pick out two sentences to post.  If it goes on long enough you might be able to assemble the whole story!
• Wild Card Wednesday*: A rotating mix of posts, details below.
• The Thursday Review:  Dedicated to book and/or movie reviews.

*Wild Card Wednesdays explained:  I was actually thinking of rotating different themes, a different one each Wednesday.  So it'd be something like this:

1. First Wednesday:  Insecure Writer's Support Group thingy.
2. Second Wednesday:  Superhero trivia:  random facts about superheroes with fabulous prizes at stake.
3. Third Wednesday:  Everyday Heroes:  a blurb taken from a newspaper or something about real people doing good in their communities [Contact Me if you want to nominate someone!]
4. Fourth Wednesday:  Practical Superheroism:  a tongue-in-cheek guide to becoming a superhero (don't try this at home!)
5. Fifth Wednesday (May, August, October):  Something random.

And there you go.  You should know that me being me, all but the Thursday entries are already written.  I wrote the first Thursday one but I'm not sure what else I should review.  I want to try and review newer stuff people might be interested in because sadly most people don't care as much as I do about '80s GI JOE episodes or Deep Space Nine or anything like that.  Losers.  I was thinking I should get a subscription to a comic book or two; that would help fill some gaps and go with the blog's theme, right?  I wonder if I can get that on my Kindle?

If you want to do a guest post, Mondays and Fridays are open, so just let me know when you'd want to do it.  Go to the Contact Me page if you want to set something up.  Or leave a comment if that's easier.

Tomorrow being Tuesday will be the first two-fer post!

Youth is Served: How Emma Lost 10 Years

Original Emma

In the first story to feature Emma Earl, she's about 28 years old and had been the Scarlet Knight (Scarlet Lady) for a few years.  Since A Hero's Journey was the origin story, she would have to be younger than that.  Then through some circuitous process I decided to make her much younger--19--and have her be this genius who had already earned her doctorate in geology.

New, improved Emma!

Making her younger did more than change her age; it pretty much reshaped the whole character.  In the Heart of a Hero story, Emma is a lot more confident and in some ways even arrogant when she confronts the Watchmaker.  In making her a young genius who had skipped quite a few grades, she became a lot more shy and withdrawn, because when you're the youngest in your class (especially in college) by a few years it can be pretty intimidating.  Of course being a genius she could have been really overconfident, feeling superior to everyone, but that wouldn't fit with the idea that the Scarlet Knight has to be someone who is really, really good inside.  And it didn't really seem to fit in my mind with someone who was traumatized at a young age as she was when her parents were killed.

The added benefit to making her younger came in the sequels, where we get to watch her grow up.  At the start of A Hero's Journey, she's only been on one date, which was a disaster.  In the novel she falls in love for the first time and in the sequels has to deal with some consequences of love.  That's something that wouldn't really be possible if she had been a fairly normal 28-year-old woman.

It just goes to show you how one minor-seeming change can have a huge impact.

And just for fun here's an animated GIF showing Emma from 2 to 18:

The problem with that picture is that "red" for different styles in the Sims 2 can be slightly different shades of red.  Also when it compresses the palette for the GIF you can lose some colors.  But you get the gist of it.


Z is for our last A to Z post:  Zero Hour:  The New Blogging Schedule

XXX: The Plastic Hippo

The Plastic Hippo

Rampart City features a wealth of culture:  museums, an orchestra, an opera house, numerous theaters for stage and film.  But if you're looking for something steamier, there are also quite a few of what are euphemistically described as "gentleman's clubs."  None of these are more famous than the Plastic Hippo in the city's Old Downtown neighborhood.

It's not so much the entertainment at the Plastic Hippo that makes it famous, though the ladies on the stage there are usually of better quality than other establishments.  What has made the Plastic Hippo so famous is its clientele.  Not your usual mix of creepy losers and horny businessmen, the patrons of the Plastic Hippo are known to be some of the city's criminal elite.  It's said the Vendetta crime family runs its organization out of the Hippo's back room.

For that reason, the Plastic Hippo is also very exclusive.  Men (and women) are not only screened by bouncers for their fashion sense, but also for any weapons or photographic equipment they might be carrying.  So if you're planning to make a visit to the Hippo, make sure to wear your best clothes and leave the guns and cameras behind.  And whatever you do, don't cross any of the regulars or you might just wind up in the river, wearing a pair of cement shoes.

(BTW, another fun fact: the Plastic Hippo's name is based on the infamous Peppermint Rhino club in Vegas.  No, I have not actually ever been there, or anywhere in Vegas for that matter.)

And here's a PG version of what goes on in the Plastic Hippo:

It's a Peep Show!

Y is for Youth is Served:  How Emma Lost 10 Years

Weapons of Choice: Scarlet Knight vs. Black Dragoon

The weapons for the Scarlet Knight and Black Dragoon have changed slightly over the last four thousand years.  The first weapon for the Scarlet Knight was a spear with a golden point while the first Dragoon weapons were extremely sharp animal claws, like those you might find on a grizzly bear.  Over time the Scarlet Knight's spear became a sword of differing lengths from a more Roman-style short sword to a longer blade more popular with warriors in the Middle Ages.  The Dragoon's claws became metal and gained new abilities.

The arms race stopped around the 17th Century, when the Scarlet Knight's sword and Black Dragoon's claws became for the most part what they still are today.  Here's a more detailed breakdown of their weapons:

Dragoon claws:  Like Wolverine or Freddy Krueger, the Black Dragoon's main weapons are metal claws.  He has one claw to each finger (and thumb) for a total of ten.  Plus there is one larger spike on each of the Dragoon's feet.  The claws are razor-sharp, sharp enough to pretty much cut through anything--including the Scarlet Knight's armor.  The claws can also be fired like darts at longer-range targets.  After all the claws on a hand are gone, they can also regenerate.  The spikes on the feet have the same ability.  The claws and spikes can also vary in size, from a couple inches long to several feet.  When the claws are longer they can also be broken off to use like a spear, which is good for keeping an enemy at bay.  These capabilities make the Dragoon a very deadly opponent.

Artist's conception of the Sword of Justice

Sword of Justice:  The Scarlet Knight's weapon is known as the Sword of Justice.  The current design is based on a Japanese samurai sword instead of a European longsword.  The blade is made entirely of a golden material (not actual gold) that can slice through anything on this planet--including the Black Dragoon's armor.  The Sword of Justice will glow in the presence of evil, especially the presence of the Dragoon.  For longer-range targets, the Sword of Justice can be controlled by the Scarlet Knight through mental telepathy.  Maneuvering the sword is one of the most difficult skills for any Scarlet Knight to master, but once he does, he can guide the sword around any obstacles from long distances, even while engaged with other enemies.  Should anyone except the Scarlet Knight try to wield the sword, it will turn red hot, hot enough to vaporize someone's hand if he tries holding onto it for too long.  All of this makes the Sword of Justice an extremely valuable weapon in the Scarlet Knight's battle against evil.

X is for XXX:  The Plastic Hippo

Vendetta: The Last Name in Crime

The story of the Vendetta crime family begins on the streets of Rome in 1919.  There an orphaned petty thief named Carlo Vincente had a moment that would change his life forever.  Waiting in an alley, Carlo spotted a woman and her husband walking.  The couple were obviously American tourists.  Employing skills honed over years on the street, Carlo bumped into the male traveler and took his wallet.  But he took more than that:  in surveying his loot, Carlo discovered he had also taken the couple's tickets back to America.

Cunning by necessity, Carlo bartered the two first-class tickets for one steerage ticket, some extra cash, and a ride to the port.  It's not known what happened to the couple whose tickets were stolen or to the people who took their cabin for the return trip.  What is known is that Carlo made it to Rampart City, where he like many new immigrants began working in one of the city's factories.

Carlo's story might have petered out there if not for Prohibition.  Through some contacts made at the factory where he worked, Carlo found out about a group importing liquor into the country.  Soon enough he had joined the group as a driver, taking loads of liquor from across the Canadian border and then into the city for distribution.

All during the Roaring Twenties, Carlo worked his way up the chain of command, biding his time.  Along the way he also solidified his relations with others in the organization, priming them for a change of leadership.  Then one night in 1928, the head of the bootlegging organization had an "accident" that landed him in the harbor with a barrel of cement around his ankle.  By unanimous decision, Carlo became the head of the organization.  To inspire fear in his enemies, he changed his last name from Vincente to Vendetta.

A man of vision, Carlo foresaw the end of Prohibition.  He was already having his organization branching out into gambling, protection, and other profitable rackets.  At the same time, Carlo also began creating a new family.  The organization, now the Vendetta "family," prospered for the next twenty years, through the rest of the Depression and World War II.

It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that Carlo eventually had an "accident" of his own.  His death was blamed on a fall down the stairs, easy enough to believe for an old man.  Those inside the family, though, knew otherwise.  Anxious for his inheritance, Carlo's son Ferdinand staged the accident in order to take power for himself.

Ferdinand's reign was shorter than his father's, lasting a decade before he too had an "accident" involving defective brakes on his limousine.  His nephew Paul seized control of the family.  While the leadership of the family continued to change every decade or so, the Vendetta organization remained the most powerful force in Rampart City.  Besides controlling all of the city's gambling and having most every business in town paying it protection, the Vendetta family also had connections in the city's unions, police force, and even the mayor's office to make sure no one ever got too close to them.

"Don" Lydia Vendetta

The last male head of the Vendetta family was Armando Vendetta.  He made the mistake of falling in love with a beautiful dancer named Lydia Schmidt.  Armando and Lydia were soon married.  After five years of marriage, Armando's private jet "accidentally" crashed on a business trip to Miami.

To the surprise of everyone in the Vendetta organization, Armando's wife Lydia seized control of the family using the best weapon at her disposal:  lawyers.  Armando's will stipulated that all of his assets would revert to her control, including a fortune of well over a billion dollars.  By parceling out some of this wealth, Lydia managed to keep control of her husband's lieutenants and their underlings, most of whom had no stomach for a costly civil war anyway.  Besides, Lydia was just a woman; it would be easy enough for an "accident" to befall her too.

But no accident has come to Lydia Vendetta, not yet.  Not only that, the Vendetta organization is stronger than ever, expanding into legitimate business ventures and real estate.  What started with one boy on a Roman street has become one of the greatest business and criminal empires in the world.  As for anyone who tries to cross the "family," they soon learn the meaning of Vendetta.

W is for Weapons of Choice:  Scarlet Knight vs. Black Dragoon

Underground: The Legend of the Sewer Rat

The city of Rampart didn't have a proper sewage system until the early 1900s.  Before that, people were content to throw their garbage outside wherever they pleased, which led to unsanitary conditions in the more crowded neighborhoods like the Trenches.

Since that time the sewers have come to span hundreds of miles beneath the city.  It's said to walk through the entire system (if you could or wanted to) would take three months.  It's also said that in those sewers lurks a monster, a half-man, half-rat creature known only as the Sewer Rat.

The first sighting of the Sewer Rat came twenty years ago, when a work crew went down to repair a broken pipe.  There, one of the workers reported seeing a monstrous creature with fur like a rat but standing on two legs like a man, eating the carcass of a rat.  When the light was shown on it, the creature galloped away into the darkness.

Since then, many more sightings have been reported.  All of them describe the same creature that has the features of a rat but is bipedal like a man.  More than once the city has sent workers down to try and capture the creature, only to come up empty.  Documentary filmmakers and television crews have also searched for the Sewer Rat using the latest in nightvision cameras and infrared sensors.  They too came up with no conclusive evidence of a man-rat.

No one has even managed to get a blurry photograph like Nessie, Bigfoot, or countless UFOs as the sewers are usually too dark for photographs and the Sewer Rat is known to avoid the light.  This has led many experts to believe the original sighting was merely a hoax or the result of an overactive imagination.  Even if that is the case, the Sewer Rat continues to occupy the overactive imaginations of the people of Rampart City.

A wide variety of stories circulate around Rampart City.  Some say that he drinks the blood of rodents like a vampire.  Others suggest the creature was the result of a toxic waste spill into the sewers.  Still others say the Sewer Rat is gathering an army of his fellow rodents to one day wreak havoc on the city.  The most popular advice for warding off the Sewer Rat should you encounter him is a bright flashlight and a can of air freshener, particularly a floral scent, as the fresh scent of flowers drives him mad.

No matter your stance on the topic, the legend of the Sewer Rat is bound to continue to grow as the years go on.  But if you get to know him he's not really so bad:

Artist's conception of the Sewer Rat

(BTW,  if you really want to know, the Sewer Rat originated in a now-scrapped short story, the same one that gave birth to Dan Dreyfus.  The Rat was supposed to be a villain, but even in that story he became more of a benign character who like they say about bees or other creatures only will hurt you if you hurt him first.  And the way he talks in the stories is based on the Dinobots in the old Transformers TV show, except he doesn't say, "Me Sewer Rat..." though that's how I hear it in my head.)

V is for Vendetta:  The Last Name in Crime

The Trenches: An Area to Avoid

Another excerpt from the Rampart City Travel Guide 2012:

Between the quaint Historical District and the grittier Old Downtown of Rampart City you'll find the neighborhoods known as "the Trenches."  The nickname stems from a quote in the Rampart City Times back in February 1919, when a soldier returning home from World War I remarked that living in the tenements, many built by factories to house workers, was like being back in the trenches of France.

This reputation is bore out by crime statistics, which rate the Trenches consistently as one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the country.  Property crimes are prevalent in the area, making it advisable to keep a tight grasp of your purse or wallet.  Much of the crime turns violent after the sun goes down.  Visitors to Rampart City are advised not to travel alone in the Trenches under any circumstances--especially female visitors.

When visiting the city it is advisable to pass through the old tenements of the Trenches as quickly as possible to avoid becoming another of the crime statistics.  Of course for those who enjoy living dangerously, there is a vibrant nightlife in a number of underground clubs.  Be warned, though, that your night out could be interrupted by a police raid or gang war.

U is for Underground:  The Legend of the Sewer Rat

T is for Time-Traveling Elvis

This post is part of the Great Star Wars Trivia Challenge/Blogfest on the Best of Everything.  The Triweekly Blogfest Challenge theme is to do something to the theme of "Han Shot First, but Time-Traveling Elvis Shot Second."

I really didn't have much inspiration for this.  But to me it sounded like one of those meme things people make, usually with a cat.

Like this:

So that was the direction I decided to go with this.  I did it in two parts.  First:

And then the second part:

Yeah the Elvis doesn't look great.  I couldn't find a decent pic on Google that would work with this image, so I finally decided to download someone's version of the jumpsuit from Elvis's comeback special in '68 to make him in the Sims 2.  The face doesn't quite look right, but close enough for you to get the gist, right?