Danika D. Potts's Blog, page 7

Guest Post: Greg Fisher, “On Endings”

Mr. Oliver back here again with a brief introduction to this post. Namely, I didn’t write it!

This was shared with me by the author and I was asked to take a look at it, since I’m both in games and writing. Needless to say, I was blown AWAY by the careful thought and consideration that went into this personal essay, and I asked for permission to repost it here for everyone else to read and enjoy.

Although the topic in question is about video games, the things he’s speaking of aren’t necessarily solely a video game problem, but a problem of narrative in general. How many times have you sat down and watched a movie series or read a book series that just didn’t pan out the way that you felt like it would or should? Quite a few times, I’d gather.

As I’ve said before and will continue to say over and over again, this blog is NOT about video games. However, it IS about narrative, and the games specifically mentioned by Greg are well renowned for their stories, many of them are widely considered to be pinnacles of narrative in their field.

Greg makes a helluva argument that you might want to pay attention to.

~Oliver

First of all, let me get this out of the way. This might contain some SPOILERS. And SPOILERS, and by the way SPOILERS so don’t blame me if you read this and there are SPOILERS because I explicitly warned you about all the SPOILERS that are SPOILERS in this SPOILERS post.

…SPOILERS.

Anyway. So I want to talk to you about a game I played recently. This game was one in which there were a great many choices that you, as the player, could make in regards to how situations were handled. And a lot of those didn’t come down to clear right or wrong, and sometimes, the true repercussions of the choices you made weren’t readily obvious until down the line a bit. And that framework of choice persisted throughout the game, all the way up until the end. At the end, the player is presented with a set of choices that boils down to a set of ideologies and points of view that have each been represented by various characters in the game, and, no matter what your choices were up to that point, what happens in the end is determined solely by the push of one of a set of buttons. And after those buttons are pressed, the ending sequence that follows isn’t really changed that much by the ideology that the player settles on. In fact, I walked away from that ending thinking that no matter what, Adam Jensen didn’t really have all that much of a choice at all.

Oh. I’m sorry. Did you think I was talking about Mass Effect 3?

I guess when you put it that way….

Or was I talking about Bioshock, where you’re given a clear ‘good’ or ‘evil’ choice, each with its own risk and reward, but no matter which of those you pick, the events in the game and people’s attitudes toward the main character don’t really change at all. You’re still presented with the same out-of-place final boss and are shown a couple minute long ending sequence.

In fact, let me ask you a question. What was the last ending to a video game that you were truly satisfied with? An ending that hit on every character and showed how things wrapped up, all in all, pretty good for most of them, despite all indications throughout the game that this would not happen? I’ll give you a hint, there IS a correct answer to this question, and that answer is Final Fantasy VI. What was the last ending segment to a video game that was truly and completely a product of the choices that you, personally, as a player, made? There’s a correct answer to that one too, and it’s Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor. I’m not even giving my favorite game of all time, Chrono Trigger, a pass on this one, because the series didn’t end there, and Chrono Cross dropped more balls than… well… a thing that drops a lot of balls.

So basically, what I’m saying is that all the games I presented here were really good games, and games that I had a blast with. Games that were emotionally charged, games in which I actually agonized over a few decisions and made myself live with the outcomes rather than reset the game because THAT’S HOW LIFE WORKS. And a game in which the path to the ending is emotionally engaging (hey, don’t the BioWare guys say that a lot?) is a success in my book. Because even if the ending can’t really be changed all that much, the way you approach the ending does. And to me, that elevates games over television and movies right there.

Endings are, by their very nature, disappointing. They are the point at which the story ENDS. There’s no more story after that. And so if you’ve been invested in the characters and the plot up until then, the realization that after the ending there is nothing more to see or do might cause one to reflect poorly on that ending. Maybe it could have been longer. More drawn out. Shown exactly what happens to side characters A and B, whether they got married and had kids C, D, and E, and what happened to those kids down the line. Or maybe it could have been shorter, or more profound, or less profound, or more interpretive, less artsy, or half a million other things that makes that last five minutes of your game, book, or movie less than ideal.

I’m not saying that I’m not guilty of it. If I could change the ending of the last Matrix movie, I would. If I could somehow find out what the crappity crap actually happened to Starbuck, I’d do that too. If I could remove the entire church scene from the last episode of Lost, I’d be all over that shit. And don’t even get me STARTED on what happens at the end of Angel. But you know what? I also think those endings, for better or worse, were adequate solely because no matter what happened there, not everyone, and probably closer to no one, would be happy. People say that it was EA‘s fault that Bioware’s ME3 ending was, in the opinion of a lot of knee-jerk internet reactions, sub-par. And maybe that’s true. EA is certainly a popular Big Bad these days. But can you really say that the ending to Fallout 3 was any more satisfying? And that was made by a totally different company with a totally different release timeframe. Same with Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and that game was pushed back. And I loved the shit out of all three of these games. I’d play them again, for no other reason than to make different choices and see how different the MIDDLE of the game is, even though I KNOW that the ENDING is going to be the exact same. Because I don’t play games for endings. Endings are when the game is over, and take up five minutes of my time.

It’s playing the game that’s fun for me. Those 20, 40, or 60 hours (Or hell, if it’s a Shin Megami Tensei game, a hundred and goddamn twenty) that make the game worth it for me. And if the ending isn’t as good as I would have written it, or as good as someone else would have written it, well, that’s less than 1% of the overall experience.

Guest Post: Greg Fisher, "On Endings"

Mr. Oliver back here again with a brief introduction to this post. Namely, I didn't write it!

This was shared with me by the author and I was asked to take a look at it, since I'm both in games and writing. Needless to say, I was blown AWAY by the careful thought and consideration that went into this personal essay, and I asked for permission to repost it here for everyone else to read and enjoy.

Although the topic in question is about video games, the things he's speaking of aren't necessarily solely a video game problem, but a problem of narrative in general. How many times have you sat down and watched a movie series or read a book series that just didn't pan out the way that you felt like it would or should? Quite a few times, I'd gather.

As I've said before and will continue to say over and over again, this blog is NOT about video games. However, it IS about narrative, and the games specifically mentioned by Greg are well renowned for their stories, many of them are widely considered to be pinnacles of narrative in their field.

Greg makes a helluva argument that you might want to pay attention to.

~Oliver

First of all, let me get this out of the way. This might contain some SPOILERS. And SPOILERS, and by the way SPOILERS so don't blame me if you read this and there are SPOILERS because I explicitly warned you about all the SPOILERS that are SPOILERS in this SPOILERS post.

…SPOILERS.

Anyway. So I want to talk to you about a game I played recently. This game was one in which there were a great many choices that you, as the player, could make in regards to how situations were handled. And a lot of those didn't come down to clear right or wrong, and sometimes, the true repercussions of the choices you made weren't readily obvious until down the line a bit. And that framework of choice persisted throughout the game, all the way up until the end. At the end, the player is presented with a set of choices that boils down to a set of ideologies and points of view that have each been represented by various characters in the game, and, no matter what your choices were up to that point, what happens in the end is determined solely by the push of one of a set of buttons. And after those buttons are pressed, the ending sequence that follows isn't really changed that much by the ideology that the player settles on. In fact, I walked away from that ending thinking that no matter what, Adam Jensen didn't really have all that much of a choice at all.

Oh. I'm sorry. Did you think I was talking about Mass Effect 3?

I guess when you put it that way….

Or was I talking about Bioshock, where you're given a clear 'good' or 'evil' choice, each with its own risk and reward, but no matter which of those you pick, the events in the game and people's attitudes toward the main character don't really change at all. You're still presented with the same out-of-place final boss and are shown a couple minute long ending sequence.

In fact, let me ask you a question. What was the last ending to a video game that you were truly satisfied with? An ending that hit on every character and showed how things wrapped up, all in all, pretty good for most of them, despite all indications throughout the game that this would not happen? I'll give you a hint, there IS a correct answer to this question, and that answer is Final Fantasy VI. What was the last ending segment to a video game that was truly and completely a product of the choices that you, personally, as a player, made? There's a correct answer to that one too, and it's Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor. I'm not even giving my favorite game of all time, Chrono Trigger, a pass on this one, because the series didn't end there, and Chrono Cross dropped more balls than… well… a thing that drops a lot of balls.

So basically, what I'm saying is that all the games I presented here were really good games, and games that I had a blast with. Games that were emotionally charged, games in which I actually agonized over a few decisions and made myself live with the outcomes rather than reset the game because THAT'S HOW LIFE WORKS. And a game in which the path to the ending is emotionally engaging (hey, don't the BioWare guys say that a lot?) is a success in my book. Because even if the ending can't really be changed all that much, the way you approach the ending does. And to me, that elevates games over television and movies right there.

Endings are, by their very nature, disappointing. They are the point at which the story ENDS. There's no more story after that. And so if you've been invested in the characters and the plot up until then, the realization that after the ending there is nothing more to see or do might cause one to reflect poorly on that ending. Maybe it could have been longer. More drawn out. Shown exactly what happens to side characters A and B, whether they got married and had kids C, D, and E, and what happened to those kids down the line. Or maybe it could have been shorter, or more profound, or less profound, or more interpretive, less artsy, or half a million other things that makes that last five minutes of your game, book, or movie less than ideal.

I'm not saying that I'm not guilty of it. If I could change the ending of the last Matrix movie, I would. If I could somehow find out what the crappity crap actually happened to Starbuck, I'd do that too. If I could remove the entire church scene from the last episode of Lost, I'd be all over that shit. And don't even get me STARTED on what happens at the end of Angel. But you know what? I also think those endings, for better or worse, were adequate solely because no matter what happened there, not everyone, and probably closer to no one, would be happy. People say that it was EA's fault that Bioware's ME3 ending was, in the opinion of a lot of knee-jerk internet reactions, sub-par. And maybe that's true. EA is certainly a popular Big Bad these days. But can you really say that the ending to Fallout 3 was any more satisfying? And that was made by a totally different company with a totally different release timeframe. Same with Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and that game was pushed back. And I loved the shit out of all three of these games. I'd play them again, for no other reason than to make different choices and see how different the MIDDLE of the game is, even though I KNOW that the ENDING is going to be the exact same. Because I don't play games for endings. Endings are when the game is over, and take up five minutes of my time.

It's playing the game that's fun for me. Those 20, 40, or 60 hours (Or hell, if it's a Shin Megami Tensei game, a hundred and goddamn twenty) that make the game worth it for me. And if the ending isn't as good as I would have written it, or as good as someone else would have written it, well, that's less than 1% of the overall experience.

Coach

You didn't come into this life just to sit around on a dugout bench, did ya? Now get your ass out there and do the best you can.

When it comes to performance, there's nothing like a coach. Wikipedia currently lists twenty-one different types of coaches, and that's not breaking down any particular sports. That's an enormous number. Some of the types I've never even heard of… some of them are coaching things I can't imagine a need for. But that's not really how coaching works. Coaching is all about movement.

"Fuck Yoda. 'Do or do not, there is no try'. Don't listen to that shit. Half the game is just showing up!"

A good coach knows who you are, and what you're capable of. A great coach knows who you should be, and what you're capable of. An amazing coach will call you out on the difference between what you can do and what you have done.

A coach keeps you accountable. They know where you wanna go, and they know how to get you there. They're just waiting for you to catch on. They want to move you from normal to extraordinary, and they know the transition is going to be painful.

"I don't care what your three point shot looks like if you can't even show up for practice, if it's all beneath you. I'd rather have a kid with some heart and some discipline and no skills at all, if he shows up and gives it all he's got. You're not even showing up!"

Great coaches also don't care. Pain makes lessons unforgettable. Remember the last time you touched a hot stove? Probably the first time you did, too. Pain makes that lesson stick. A great coach knows it's going to hurt to train hard, or to push through your blocks, or to change long-ingrained habits that are so comfortable. But they care more about who you want to be than they do about your pain.

"When you know what you're worth, you can go out and get it. What are you showing me you're worth right now?"

Coaching is explained as the process used to transport people from where they are, to where they want to be. Coaching is development, change, and evolution. It's movement. It's hated and loved in equal measure. No one wants to hear their shortcomings  broadcast loud on a megaphone or screamed into their ear. But you don't show up and put yourself in a coach's hands if you aren't a customer for change. Just be ready for the pain.

Who coaches you? Is there a pastor or preacher who inspires you to push through the hard parts? Was there a teacher or a coach in school who knew what you were worth? Who expects nothing less than your best? Share with me in the comments! Tell me who moves you.

-Danika

Four Thousand, and Thanks.

                

 

We hit 4000 views last night, and I just wanted to drop in and say thank you. Our readers make this worthwhile. We love our content, but we love knowing that you do, too. You don't have to read our stuff, and you don't have to follow us as we chase our dream, but you do. Every view matters to us. Every comment gets an excited discussion in our household. We love every single bit of interaction we get with you, talking about things we love. Thank you for loving it right along with us. 

 

-Danika

I Am The Author, I Am Where The Lightning Comes From

This post has no other purpose than to fulfill a challenge posted. As I was dinking around, trying to find a good picture to go up on my author page, I happened to find this still in some video that I had shot. Needless to say, I laughed and posed the challenge that if someone swapped my hands around and added force lightning, I would post it on the blog.

Challenge was accepted and fulfilled by Hilary S, so here we go. I have very very evil sith hands, it appears to be.

Other than that? Well….

~Oliver

 

Inspiration Is Everywhere. Really.

Seven years ago, I drove almost 2000 miles in two days. I traveled from the Pacific Northwest to Iowa, from "the edge to the middle". I drove about 12 hours one day, and about 18 hours the next. I was the kid who couldn't find their way out of the neighborhood, the one who never liked road trips, and wasn't entirely sure how to read a map. I packed my shit and took off for a better life.

Now that I think about it, it sounds familiar. It sounds like Bevie. It didn't occur to me until last week how much it sounded like her. She left Nebraska for San Francisco, then on to Wyoming… She picked up her life and she was gone. Bevie didn't come into being at all until about 3 years ago, and then she was just a couple of notes in a notebook. She didn't really turn into someone until August or so, when Oliver and I sat down to write Rabbit in the Road. That's when her character developed and deepened. But I think the Bevie-seeds were sown a long time ago, when I took that long-ass drive.

Would Bevie be the same if I hadn't taken that trip? If I had never moved away from my home of 27 years, a woman alone on the road, would I have a story about a woman on the road in me? Maybe. Would I know about all the empty spaces in this country, all the lonely corners and tucked-away desolation America holds? Would I have seen how easy it really is to disappear in a land this large? Maybe.

Probably  not.

It wouldn't have the ring of authenticity in me. I might manage to make it sound legit on the page, but it wouldn't ring clear IN ME. Because I did it, I know when it's right.

Everything we love, jammed in a U-Haul

A week ago, Oliver and I drove almost 2000 miles in three days, from the middle to the edge. I'm back in the Pacific Northwest after seven years away. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, there will be a story that comes out of that drive. It might not be a story about a long trip, but something about that little adventure will be the authenticity I need to make a story ring clear. Maybe the snowy mountains sidling up the the road, or the man who lost his dog in the hotel parking lot will make it to the page. Maybe the cheap gas in Idaho or the bar where you could join your neighbors to watch Survivor will be in a story soon. Maybe Des Moines, that I've left behind, or the Northwest, now that I'm seeing it with fresh eyes…

Inspiration is everywhere. It's in a drive to the store, or in paying a stack of bills at the kitchen table. It's in changing diapers, in pouring tea, in sweeping the porch clear of leaves and dust. It's in big things  and everyday things. You already have everything you need.

What inspires you? It doesn't have to be a big thing, some grandiose moment. Tell me about it.

 

-Danika

The Independent Author Problem

Ever since that book came out, every day he been shufflin'.

Today I'd like to talk about easily the most difficult and most important part of writing your book: Promoting your work.

Rabbit in the Road will have been out for six months as of March 14th, in digital format, and has been out for 3 months in paperback format. During that time, we have had some amazing things happen that most other independents rarely are fortunate enough to get.

We've had pretty much unprecedented customer reviews for the book for debut authors. 
Even noted game developers have read and enjoyed the book.

Even our first professional review was INCREDIBLY positive.

So, with all of those positive marks, you'd think we were rolling in the Scrooge McDuck dollars and having a wonderful time, right?

I don't think anyone has considered how hazardous to your health diving into a pile of gold would actually be.

The truth of the matter is, we're not. In fact, actual SALES have been pretty much abysmal, if we're just talking numbers here. Customer satisfaction and retention rate has been amazing, but we can't get  in the front door to get to an even bigger reader base, so to speak. Why?

We don't have an agent. We don't have a publisher. We've got a couple of twitter accounts, a blog right here on WordPress, a few facebook pages, and good ol' fashioned MOXIE.  But sometimes, moxie is not enough.

So what's happening? Why isn't the book moving? It's quite simple, really.

Lack of EXPOSURE. But where does that lack of exposure come from? I'll tell you, because it's quite interesting.

Coming from a game journalism background, I can tell you what it's like on the opposite end. What normally happens in gaming is that you've got other press and reviewers climbing over each other, trying to get into a publishers or developers good graces in order to get their hands on a product before anyone else. Being able to get your hands on beta and/or review code is a PRETTY BIG DEAL, namely because it means that you've done enough work and you're generally respected enough in your circles that your opinion actually matters, particularly to the publisher.

Oddly enough, the exact OPPOSITE is true in the literary world.

Here, you've got authors who are climbing all over each other, trying to get to reviewers to sit down and read their books so they get exposed to a larger audience. Interesting enough, book reviewers tend to carry a similar type of "snooty" attitude like game publishers do, seeing who is "worth their time" or not. Which is pretty damn odd, if you ask me.

Personal efforts can only go so far in the exposure game. Sure, you're going to have family and friends who are going to throw you a basic bone here and there, but they're not as invested in your work as you are, obviously. Needless to say, you have to learn how to get creative in your approach to moving product.

You already have a strike against you because you're an unknown author. You've got a second strike against you because you're independent. And chances are, if your work sucks and sucks hard, you'll never get another shot again.

Currently, we have two strikes against us, being both unknowns as well as independents. Thankfully, at least according to our reader base, we don't suck. So we're still up at bat… I think. That doesn't solve anything though when you can't find anyone willing to give your book the time of day in the first place. It's already a proven product, so you would think that that would give us an edge. But it doesn't, at least not by any of my accounts.

Honestly though, I'm starting to run out of ideas, and I don't know what to do. If I were a game developer though… this wouldn't be much of a problem. And I guess that's the Big Joke.

~Oliver

Let's Talk About Talkin' #2

Gentlemen, BEHOLD!

Hey-o gang. Oliver here again. If you've been an intrepid reader, you'll have noticed that we've been quiet for roughly the past week. Well, that is because we just moved from Iowa… all the way to Washington State. We're so far north, you might as well call us proxy Canadians.

Sounds right, eh? MOOSE, SYRUP, MOUNTIES, ABOOT, HOCKEY, etc.

It doesn't help the fact that I've been ill the entire duration of the move, so I've been a little tuckered out. Thankfully, things are beginning to approach a state of normalcy again, so we'll be right back on track here shortly.

Meanwhile, it's that time again. Let's talk about talkin'! The last one went well (we had some great questions and quite a few people downloaded the stand-alone mp3 for their iPods), so we're going to do that again. Second verse, same as the first. Fill up this comments section with your questions, and we'll answer them in a fun filled discussion!

~Oliver

 

Here Is The Post Where I Piss You Off: Why I Have Problems With The Current Feminist Movement

FYI: This is sexist too, you know.

We were probably long overdue for a post like this anyhow; Those few, those faithful that have stuck with and followed us from the start of this blog and our novel writing, you've been great. And if I lose a few of you from this, I do apologize. If you stay, that's pretty great too. And if you suddenly start paying attention to us BECAUSE of this post, that's even better. Even still, I realize that someone, somewhere, is going to get their feathers ruffled by this post. Now, if you're still here, here's where the warning pops up:

I am going to talk about subject matter that makes people emotionally charged. I will be using words that may be considered inflammatory (but only within the context of EXAMPLE, and no further than that). I will express things that you MIGHT not agree with. 

Furthermore, I may use broad terminology for the sake of making a point. Terms such as "sometimes," "often," "frequently," and more. these words should be treated as SUCH. Notice that none of those words are synonyms for ALL, EVERY, ONLY and related terms. Don't get them twisted. What I say, is exactly what I mean.

The next thing you might be wondering is, "What the hell does this have to do with writing?! You said you weren't pushing an agenda!" I'll tell you. This is absolutely related to writing, because of one key thing: We write about people. Human beings. Observing pattern and behavior amongst people and discussing those things are paramount to our art. Not only was it a key topic and one of the core principles behind Rabbit in the Road, it is also a core principle behind the upcoming Twisted World series. It's all about the people, and that's what I'm going to talk about. The people.

Before we get further into that, I'm going to lay down another disclaimer here that I want you to remember the entire time that you're reading this, because I don't want you to lose sight on perspective:

I am a heterosexual, African-American (or black, if you want to be cool about it) male. What this means, is that as a under-represented class, I feel qualified enough to speak on circumstances that are SIMILAR to mine. This topic happens to be one of them.

Now, since we're on the topic of sexism and feminism, let me lay out in PLAIN ENGLISH what my beliefs are, so you don't get confused in the slightest, in a nice little bullet point list so nobody gets it twisted in any capacity. I believe in:

Equal pay for equal work.
Equal opportunity based on skill, merit, and the ability to perform a job to a predetermined standard.
Being judged on the content of your character.
Equal human rights for people, no matter their color, gender, sexual preference or anything inbetween.
FREEDOM OF SPEECH. EVERYONE is entitled to their opinion, bottom line. The ACTION they take based on that opinion, is an entirely different matter altogether.
The freedom to CHOOSE WHAT IS RIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE, and no one else's.

Now, here's where you're just going to be confused. I believe in all the things I said above. Here is also what I believe in that nobody will like, but MAKE SURE you pay attention:

 I still believe that abortion is murder. After all, if a rose by any other name is still the same flower, a rose seed is still a rose, it's just not as pretty as we'd expect all roses to be. However, I BELIEVE IN MY BODY, MY CHOICE. Hey, it's not my body. But I can still have an opinion on things you do. I'm just not a fucking asshole about it. It ultimately DOESN'T AFFECT ME. What you're doing with your body is your OWN FUCKING BUSINESS.
I don't agree with homosexuality, and not because of some religious belief. I don't agree with homosexuality just as much as say, a homosexual doesn't agree with heterosexuality. But ultimately, homosexual people are still just that. PEOPLE. Furthermore, who you're fucking really isn't any concern of mine. What you're doing with your body is your OWN FUCKING BUSINESS.

Do you see it and understand now? You can have opinions on things without being a prick. I don't have to AGREE with you in order to respect you and your life choices. I blame that on being black! After all, when you get shat upon most of your life, you kind of learn how to recognize when someone else is getting shat on, too.

That's not necessarily a bad thing; it helps me recognize and internally validate the plight of others more easily. Hell, I have family members who have gone through abortions, family members that are homosexual, incredibly close and VERY DEAR friends who are homosexual: I don't value them any less. They're just LEADING A LIFE DIFFERENT THAN ME that doesn't actually INTERFERE WITH MY ABILITY TO LIVE MINE. And since I've touched base on that topic of religion (I was raised a Seventh Day Adventist christian, just for note; I don't participate in any organized religion anymore), just as an aside; Who the fuck am I to judge whether or not someone is going to go to Hell based on those things? I'm going to have my hands full trying to get my own damn self into heaven, let alone anyone else. I don't think  anyone on this planet can speak on behalf of God or The Flying Spaghetti Monster or any deity, for that matter.

Now, with all that aside, let's get down to brass tacks. This current feminist movement, and why it is dangerous: Because it is short-sighted, and inflammatory. Let me explain WHY I feel this way.

Every day, I'm talking with friends and acquaintances, just like everyone else does, right? Either through face to face, or through our favorite social networks, or the phone, so on and so forth. You get the drill. Needless to say, I have a LOT of female friends, and some of them are as dumb as a box of rocks. Some of them are some of the smartest, most intelligent and well-thought individuals I have EVER encountered on this planet. Guess what? I have a lot of male friends too, and some of them are as dumb as a box of rocks, and some of them are the smartest, most intelligent and well-thought individuals I have EVER encountered on this planet. So what does it mean?

It means that DUMBASSERY isn't tied to a gender, a color, a sexual orientation, or anything else in that vein. Anyone can be a dumbass regardless of any of that stuff.

I constantly hear screaming and yelling, and brow-beating about feminism all the time on my facebook newsfeed. Quite frankly, I'm a little sick of it for one reason; Because all I ever see is not women campaigning for equal rights, to be treated as a person with potentially equal or even superior intelligence, skill or thought provoking content or amazing character. No, that's not what I ever see. Here is what I see happening, constantly:

Women who are constantly berating and being just as abusive to men as they feel they have been treated. 

This is what disgusts me, sickens me, even. I see just as bad, hypocritical behavior out of many (there's one of those words) self-proclaimed feminists as I do horribly sexist men. I see these particular women scream, rant and rave at the top of their lungs about a supposed injustice done to them (often times no actual injustice has been committed in these cases; often times, they were in fact being treated EQUALLY as their male peers would be), and then the real kicker is they immediately turn to name calling and male bashing. Heaven forbid you should bring up something thought provoking or logical in the sake of furthering gender discussion; You almost immediately hear "WELL YOU'RE MISOGYNIST!" or something along the lines of "You don't agree with me, therefore YOU'RE MISOGYNIST!"

This is where I drop a bombshell on your head.

Not every man is out to get you, just as much as not every white person is out to get ME for being black. 

Mindblowing, I know. Are there still racist people out there, of every race color and creed? Absolutely. Are ALL of them racist? Absolutely not, and I have no right to assume as much.

Another part of my problem with the current feminist movement is that there's a distinct lack of humor in it. You might be scratching your head here, but allow me to continue and I'll make my point.

Some time ago, I was having a discussion amongst my circle of friends, and it was ALL very silly. And that's the thing with humor. Humor is one of our most important defenses as human beings and dealing with abstract concepts; Humor is a POWERFUL TOOL to take horrible things and depower them, to make them palpable. When we can tear down the awful walls of a terrible thing, we take AWAY its ability to hurt us, and soon we render it powerless. This is why you hear black comedians use the word nigger, and you'll even hear homosexual people jokingly refer to each other as fags. They're TAKING AWAY THE POWER of hurtful language through humor.

So, it came as a huge surprise to me when we're all sitting there conversing, I'm "the token black guy" in the group and we're all making black jokes and just being silly. Why? Because we all KNEW NOTHING WAS BEING SAID SERIOUSLY. Amongst the circle of friends, we had what I would call a Super-Feminist. And when I say Super-Feminist, I mean if someone even mentioned anything about women, she was on top of it as fast as Batman would show up after the bat signal would turn on. Before I continue, I might add that this discussion was equally populated with both men AND women, all amazing people.

So naturally, the topic gets on the subject of "women in the kitchen, barefoot with a baby on their hip," that classic women stereotype that is so extremely outdated and silly that we now make JOKES about how dumb it is. It came up that that would be a hilarious bat signal for her to respond to, a woman in a kitchen making a sandwich, and that was when said Super-Feminist friend LOST IT. Freaked out, started calling people sexist and how we all just treat feminism as a great big joke and WE'RE the ones that are what's wrong and how we're the reason no one takes feminism seriously, we treat her like a sideshow act, and because we're all men and we think that anything concerning women is a joke to not be taken seriously (even though there were, as stated, women involved in this conversation).

At this point, I WAS THE ONE who then became offended. Firstly, because of the broad (and quite serious) sweeping generalization of not only her friends, but also all men. Second, because of the fact that everyone KNEW that it was a joke in the vein of "nothing said here is being taken seriously by anyone involved" and it was literally all in good natured ribbing. You know the kind, where we poke and prod at the quirky little things about our friends that we find strange or quirky or different, yet simultaneously interesting and makes them unique, not unlike a "roast." It was particularly upsetting, because this person is yelling at people who sing PRAISES about how proud of her we are for standing up for her beliefs and rather than being apathetic, actually being active in making changes that she thinks are better for herself and potentially others. Many of our friends were in agreement with me when I made that statement.

And that's that thing I was talking about; Humor is the bane of hatred. Humor is joyful and full of silliness. This is why we use humor; we use to it DEPOWER THE HATEFUL NATURE of humanity. No matter what your walk of life is, no matter who you are or what you do, you love to laugh. We all do. Humor brings more people together in harmony than anything else, in my opinion. Or, let's look at it another way:

If people are going to watch Blazing Saddles and laugh at all the black jokes in there that Mel Brooks made at the expense of black people (and don't get me wrong, that movie is fucking HILARIOUS), you better believe that I'm going to laugh at jokes about anyone else. Nothing is sacred in the realm of comedy. Although I suppose this lack of humor is more a symptom of the problem, than the actual problem itself.

I know some pretty important ladies; The movers, the shakers. The dreamer of dreams, the music makers, as Willy Wonka might say. I've had the good fortune of being able to have conversations with Jeri Ellsworth, if even so briefly. The woman is a fucking genius, and is a laugh riot. She's done more for women in the field of technology than I can even remember anyone else doing for the past 10 years. And self taught, to boot. I know a good lady (whose name I won't post here because she might not approve, but if she reads this, she knows I'm talking about her) who works for a well known game company as Social Media Specialist and is a self-proclaimed feminist. She's a bit older, but she's sharp as a fucking tack and comedy gold. She's a great lady, and I've actually gotten to see her rise up from being a community representative at a separate company UP to the position she is in now. And why? Because she's got hustle and works her ass off, that's why. And she's ALWAYS smiling.

And I will make sure to mention two VERY important women to me, personally (again, I will not mention them by name) whom I met through the National Conference for Community and Justice when I was a camp counselor way back in the days of yore. These two women opened my mind up to other religious concepts, but also understanding. I would not be the man I am TODAY if it were not for these two highly intelligent, wonderfully talented and thoughtful ladies in my life (in fact, I'm going to have coffee with one of them on Monday! YAY!) And the beautiful thing about all of them?

I NEVER SEE ANY OF THESE WOMEN BERATING MEN. 

I suppose that is really the meat of the matter. We've now got two types of feminists: Feminists with good, true, honorable and RIGHT intentions, who are fighting not to be better than someone else, but to be treated FAIRLY and JUSTLY for who they are as people, like those ladies listed above.

And then we have the horrible, dark and ugly side of the fence:

The Super-Feminist, that treats all men as the enemy and any comment said as some slight or threat against them, even where none EXISTS.

It's very easy for me to see this hyper-feminism in action. It very closely mirrors the differences between say, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X and/or The Black Panther Party.

That shit is DISGUSTING. You don't fight hate with hatred; You fight hatred with good ol' fashioned logic, patience, understanding, and education. Not through spiteful hate filled bile. They have become the exact opposite of what good feminism stands for; They aren't fighting for equality, all I see here is flat-out raw misandry. And THAT is what I have a problem with. Because now we're seeing men being attacked based on one principle: The fact that they're men. 

Susan B. Anthony was an amazing woman that I wish I had had the good fortune to meet. That lady made some amazing shit happen, because she pointed out the glaring logic holes in not allowing women to vote, to not let them have a place as equals in society. And she was right, from top to bottom. But she didn't do it by pointing out that men were evil; She pointed out the flaws in the system through straight mental power and why it was nonsensical in the first place. That is a lady to be admired, and respected.

Day in and day out, I see many of these so-called super feminists and others rant and rave about how sexist men are… yet they do very hypocritical things. Examples of shit I see in my newsfeed (sometimes as pictures, or other times as status updates):

"God gave men a brain and a penis… but only enough blood to run one at a time!"

"Men are only good for what's between their legs, and most of them can't even do that right!"

"Men are pigs!"

And much much more.

That is, by its very nature, the definition of hypocrisy. So it's not okay for men to say, "Oh you can't do X because you're a girl" or "All women should cook and clean and be homemakers", but it's perfectly okay for YOU to make horribly sexist and hurtful statements? It's not okay for a man to call a woman a bitch, but it's PERFECTLY fine for a woman to call a man a pig, an animal that rolls around in its own feces?

I don't think so.

It is THESE types of women who are destroying the feminism movement, THEY are the ones preventing from any true ground being gained. And it fucking sucks, because they are the ones who are screaming the LOUDEST. That fucked up, vocal minority that makes everyone else groan. The vocal hypocrit.

The ones that are just as horribly sexist as the very people they claim to despise. Archie Bunker would like to say hello.

When Danika and I sat down to write Rabbit in the Road, we wanted to tell a story. We wanted to tell a story about people. A story about FUCKED UP people. It wasn't about whether or not one of them was male or female; That just happened to be the circumstance at the time. And I think we did a pretty good job, too. This isn't a story about about a hero versus a villain; It's a story about a villain and another villain whom you can sympathize with to a certain degree. Neither of the characters was in the right, per se; But one at least had some justification for their actions. It was the extent of those actions that pushed her into villain-hood.

Danika was the lead writer on Rabbit in the Road; She had a very specific tale in mind, and I fucking loved it. As I've mentioned to people before, we started working on The Dusk Harbinger almost 2 years ago; Danika brought me her notes on what would become Rabbit and I looked them over. It was choppy in places, but she HAD SOMETHING there. There was an amazing story wanting to be told. I believed in the story she wanted to tell so bad, that I stopped everything on The Dusk Harbinger and said, "We are working on this. This is fantastic, and I can't wait until we get to share it with the world. It's going to turn people on their ear."

That's what we're about here, really. Making people with different thoughts, feelings, and actions than ours. The characters in Rabbit in the Road do things that we would NEVER DO. EVER. And we're pushing that line even further with the beginning of The Twisted World in The Dusk Harbinger.

I have very carefully over the past two years built and scripted characters for The Dusk Harbinger; to my surprise, I noticed that I had written more female characters than I had male characters. It wasn't intentional, I just happened to have lined up more interesting female characters than male ones. Now, here's the real crazy kicker:

Danika has written more male characters for the story, and less female characters.  

It's really incredibly interesting, because as we're putting together these characters, it's easy as hell to just turn to your writing partner and say, "Would this be realistic behavior for a woman/man to do?" and be able to get a solid, objective answer based on THAT person's experience as being that gender. It really is a marvel, and I wish other people got to experience it that easily. It is truly a pleasure and privilege to get to be able to do so.

And that's the really neat part about everything: I've had to sit down and look at all these viewpoints between the relationship between men and women when developing these characters, and they fit all different kinds of personalities and beliefs: The woman who wants a man because she loves men, the woman that doesn't need or want a man but certainly won't turn him away, the one who feels useless if she doesn't have a man, the woman who doesn't care about men in the slightest, and so many more. Hell, I've even written one of the most IMPORTANT CHARACTERS IN THE ENTIRE LORE of the Twisted World as a lesbian. Why? Because for this character and what she needs to achieve, it makes ACTUAL SENSE. And if you  remember from up above, I don't personally approve of homosexuality. But I can't imagine this character in any other way. In fact, I'll even argue that she's the coolest character out of all characters created for this world so far. I love her to death, she's fucking AWESOME. And I wouldn't want her any other way. That's what we're exploring here, really getting in there and exploring the dynamics of what makes this… arrangement we have on this planet work, and WHY it does and doesn't work at times.

It's going to be even better, taking these characters through our new test reader group with Dusk Harbinger (I took a count yesterday; Of the 16 test readers, 11 of them are women, and they were handpicked by me), because they're REALLY going to be able to tell us if they're working correctly or not. I'm incredibly excited to be working with them, too.

When Danika and I sit down and write, it's not about the differences between us that makes it difficult to work. Our differences as male and female is what makes our bond as a writing team STRONGER, because we're able to share those perspectives with each other and interject that into our work. Danika does not walk behind me, because she is not my follower. She does not walk in front of me, because she is not my leader. She walks beside me, because she is my partner and we work TOGETHER on making awesome content. I couldn't ask for better than that.

We as a people spend so much time fighting about our differences, especially now in this post millennium gender arena, that we're failing to see the big picture:

Equality is NOT ABOUT one-upping the other side, it's NOT ABOUT being better than the other side. It's about raising us BOTH up to new, greater heights. When Dr. King made his "I Have a Dream" speech, it DIDN'T include "Little black boys beating the shit out of little white girls, berating them, and making them feel lesser than human." No, he talked about them playing TOGETHER. In harmony, as EQUALS. That speech still stands as true today as it did then.

Ladies, gentlemen, dudes, gals, chicks, bros. We've gotta stop this shit because we're all stuck here together, on this planet. And we need to do two very important things:

1) Grow the fuck up.

2) Get the fuck along.

Because this current "cold war" ain't workin'. If we don't start getting along, we're all going down. Nobody wins. And that is just plain ol' fashioned shitty. Us guys, men? WE ARE NOT YOUR ENEMY. I will tell you who the enemy is.

Dumbfuck closeminded bigots are the enemy. And right now, they're sitting on BOTH sides of the fence. I know it's not a problem we can fix overnight; Most problems of this magnitude are rarely solved quickly. But goddamn it, we have to at least TRY.

I don't care who, or what you are. I don't care if you're gay, or straight. I don't care if you're a guy or a gal or anything in between. If you're a cool, interesting person, I'm going to want to talk and hang with you. It shouldn't be anymore complicated than that. And if you don't want to be treated poorly based on your gender, don't treat me poorly based on my gender, either.

Or else it's all just fiddlesticks.

~Oliver

Happy Valentine's Day, We Got You Upgrades

Even machines need love.

Just a quickie here, but worth mentioning. So yesterday, we decided to kick this up to the next level. We've made some changes to the blog here, of note:

1. First and foremost, NO MORE ADS. Not a one. Drink up that content, folks.

2. We added audio functionality for all those fun fireside chats we plan on doing. Not only will you be able to download it, you'll also be able to listen to them through the in-line player that will be embedded in each post.

3. We adjusted the sections up at the top there so you can find all your favorite content (chats, books we've written, and audio content) more easily.

4. Added the ability to rate the content on this blog across the entire spectrum from pages, to posts, to even individual comments. So, you know. Start commenting and rating each other. This is community, come join in on the fun.

That is all. Please return to your regularly scheduled programming. Hope you enjoy it.

~Oliver