Binary - A Poem by Yours Truly

Rather than bitch about something tonight, I feel like posting this poem I write, mostly because I like it. Hope you like.

Binary


Constant motion:
Everything Moves around us;
From the tides of the ocean
To our crew and their devotion.
In a system so marvellous.
Like two suns
,We form a perfect balance.
Everything we have done
,And all we can become
Depends on this delicate dance.


The two of us, we're binary
One can't function without the other.
You might say it's destiny
But I know I'll never love another.


We're like one and zero,
Only together can we form our language.
With one gone, there's no tomorrow,
Sense is lost in the other's sorrow.
No way to program around that damage.


The two of us are binary,
Depending on each other.
Nothing I'll ever see
Will make me want another.


We are one and Zero,
Two suns bound together.
Together, we can make a language flow.
Together in our warm glow,
Bound together forever.


I've seen whole systems die
When one sun loses its lover.
And the two of us are binary
And I'll never love another.

My problem with DC's Earth 2 and why it probably won't stop me reading

This totally has spoilers, so if you read on and haven't read it yet, it's your fault.

A side note before I begin: Is this not one of the coolest covers ever?
Wonder Woman is shiny. This is a thing. A good thing.

It's no secret that I'm more than a little into slash. It's a character flaw, I've been told, and I have to live with it. I am okay with this. It appeared that the Slash Gods somewhere out there were rewarding my unwavering faith when it turned out that Alan Scott (Green Lantern) was totally in love with a man named Sam. (Couldn't have picked a more unisex name, DC, well, other than Leslie.)

I knew it would be risky to get attached to Sam. Significant others in origin stories tend to have a high mortality rate. I knew this and yet... I was hopeful the writers (who are awesome, by the way, regardless of what I say next, they are great and I love them; T'Lema=Robinson fangirl) would stray from the cliché "lover's dead so we must fight in their memory" plotline. I was kind of asking for the moon on that one. It's hard to come up with compelling origin stories that stir the emotions of readers and give the heroes reasons to fight the evil coming for them. In my experience, people are less likely to risk their necks if they've got a lot to lose, by taking away their "everything", in this case Sam, they've got nothing left to lose, and everything to give to the world they protect.

That said, there were some really original and moving things added to this "cliché", although I find it hard to believe that anything can be a cliché any more; in a world where tentacle Hentai exists, I'm pretty sure everything's been done at least once. My favourite part, and the part that actually moved me to tears (which, incidentally is really hard for a comic book to get me to do) was the origin and Alan Scott's Green Lantern ring. It's the ring he was going to use to propose to Sam. If that is not heart-wrenchingly touching, you've got a heart of stone-cold steel and I never want to talk to you. I cried like a baby and then went through about twelve hours of blind anger at James Robinson for making Alan Scott gay and then killing off his lover just after introducing him. Sort of a blow to the whole "acceptance" thing that went with this revelation. But, I'm over that. It is almost 3 am and I can say I'm no longer furious. Characters die. Sam wasn't mine. I knew it was going to happen. I have no right to be angry over a creative decision. And to me, it was a smart decision. You know, the whole "nothing to lose" thing.

Yes, I was actually angry to the point of possible flame sightings in or around my ear-area. Yes I'm really sad that Sam died. But I'm looking at this on the bright side. Sam is actually giving Alan more power, as he is "close to his heart" and all that cliché romantic noise (so cute♥). Also, I didn't see Sam's body, therefore I have liscence to hope he'll be brought back into the story. Between me and you, internet, I'm hoping he'll be used by Grundy to get at Alan. Hello, my favourite plot ever. Lovers pitted against each other, and Alan will DEFINITELY have a reason to defeat Grundy then. (Seriously, James Robinson, if I mention you enough in this will you read it and use that? Please? James Robinson. Please. ...That's not how the internet works, and I'm sad.)

And this is the cover. I'm sorry, bad. ass.

Oh yeah, did I mention Grundy's the villain? Yeah. This is going to be sweet, nay, epic. I just, my fangirliness is getting in the way. Let me turn that off for a bit. Yes this is an option, slash fans. Not a fun one, but it's an option all the same. And yes, I'm fully capable of removing the "slash goggles".

Let's talk Hawkgirl. Super hot. I'm not kidding. She's a real ice queen and I love it. I'd continue reading on in the series for her snarkiness alone. I actually have no opinion on the Flash yet. I fin him sort of dumb and a little whiny, but I feel like that will go away once he understands more of what's going on. Plus, Alan Scott will be there to whack him if he gets whiny. This is something I really want to see happen. Someone please draw the Green Lantern smacking the Flash across the face for being whiny. I will love you forever.

So, the Wonders are dead. I was indifferent to this. A minor character introduced one volume ago had me up in arms for half a day. I was actually invested in Alan Scott's happiness. Alan Scott is someone I hated growing up. But Robinson and the two Scott's have made me like him a lot. He's a strong character with one hell of a heart. Seeing that heart broken made me feel as though my own were being attacked. This is the kind of writing the comic book world needs. This is also why I can't wait to get my mitts on the next issue of Earth 2, regardless of heartache. I want to see where this goes and I want to see more of this fantastic writing.

Seriously, your biggest fan, right here.
Use my ideas. My brain is yours to pick and then throw away, disgusted.

All I need now is for Batman Earth One to be fantastic and my summer will have been made. Since I've just found out I'm going to get to meet Frank Cho in September. DC, you're rocking it this summer, please don't stop.

Cheers!

How to live as an incorrigible flirt

Have you ever met someone with such a pretty face you couldn't help but flirt a little? Maybe they were in a relationship, but you flirted a bit anyways. Maybe you yourself were in a relationship and felt bad for the flirtations. But at the time, you simply couldn't help yourself. Now, imagine this happening with more than half the people you meet.

If they looked like either, you really can't
be held responsible for any flirtation.
It's a knee-jerk reaction.

So let's say you're someone who can't see even a moderately pretty face without the flirting coming out. Let's say people start to label you as "creepy" or some variation of the word. What can you do? It's who you are. I say, stop apologizing for who you are. So long as you're not actively engaging in any true creeper behaviour (eg. stealing underwear), I say, why try to change. A little flirting does a great deal for a person's ego/confidence. You're doing someone a favour by flirting with them, even if they don't flirt back. It makes them feel special and wanted. It makes them feel attractive. If that's a bad thing, I'll gladly go to jail for it.

This man could file SO many lawsuits
if flirting were illegal...
against me alone.

Now, I'm not one to be judgemental about looks. It takes A LOT to keep me from flirting if I'm in a flirtatious mood. To me, pretty much everyone is beautiful, and they deserve to know that. There have been occasions I may have toed the line of creepiness, but I usually know when to reign it in.

If he wasn't so nice, he could file quite
the sexual harassment suit.

All I want to say is, flirting is healthy. It's a great way to have a little fun, even if you're not in for a commitment. It's a great way to let someone know you think they're attractive, which certainly makes a person feel good about themselves. If that's so wrong, I don't want to know what right is.

Cheers!

In Defence of Grammar Nazis Everywhere

Have you ever been in a conversation with someone who types like they're a monkey bashing its head against the keyboard?

I feel like the monkey is probably better at both
typing and spelling.

"but i liek to typ3 li3k dis" is often a defence for such crimes against language, or "its shorter 2 not type it all out and ur super dumb 4 not doin this 2" is an alternative. Why? For the first one, why would you want to look like a drunk ape learning how to use a complex piece of equipment? I honestly don't see the allure in looking like a complete moron in a setting where everyone across the globe could conceivably see your act of idiocy. For the second one... well, you're using a full keyboard. Can you honestly not spare the extra half-second it takes to type "to" or "too" instead of using the digit? If you're really that busy, should you honestly be wasting your precious, precious time on an internet forum or the comments section of whatever it is you're browsing? Quickly, get off your computer and get back to your life-changing work.

Seriously, these monkeys know what
they're doing.

Surely, if you are a lover of languages like myself, or at least a human being of moderate intelligence, you've wanted to, at some point, correct at least one egregious error in your time on the internet. Perhaps you've restrained yourself for fear of being labelled a "Grammar Nazi" for the whole internet to see.

My question is, why be afraid? Why fear being known for proper use of your language? Since the internet really started to soar in popularity, the quality of grammar everywhere has been deteriorating. It's gotten to the point where people, grown, adult people, have no idea how to use simple words like "your" and "you're" properly, and are simply confounded by the idea of "there", "they're", and "their" being different things with different meanings. Please, don't even get me starting on using "then" rather than "than" to make comparisons. This is simple grammar people should have picked up in grade school when they were learning how to read and write. No amount of wifi should ever change the fact that this is important linguistic knowledge.

Yes languages change an mutate over the years. Otherwise, we'd still be going around asking "what light through yonder window breaks" or "how art thee this fine morrow?" However, languages should not mutate to the point where words lose their meanings, or become so confused with similar words that no one knows how to spell or use them correctly without several visits to a dictionary. My point here is, use a darned dictionary, learn what words mean and how to use them, and I'll stay off your back. Until you do that, I will continue to be one of the last crusaders for linguistic purity.

Cheers.

I believe Nintendo's lost its mind...

The Nintendo Wii U is set to be released sometime soon, and it's helped convince me that Nintendo's finally gone completely bonkers.

Let's take a look at the controller:

It's large, it's clunky, it doesn't look like it can fit into someone's hands comfortably. Now, having spent my fair share of time with controller in hand, I can tell you that carpal tunnel from gaming is a real thing, and it's exacerbated by controllers that are uncomfortable to hold. This... this thing is a giant rectangle. It has made no effort to conform to the shape of a human hand, which really leads me to believe that Nintendo has some inside information about an impending robot apocalypse and they are preparing for our soon-to-be robot overlords. Robot overlords that have square-shaped hands or something. I honestly feel like the people who designed this have never sat down and played a game before in their lives.

Now let's talk about how you actually use the clunky controller:

It's a touch screen. Like on a DS. I bought a DS when it first came out. Then I bought another one when the Lite came out. I think I may be partly to blame for the inflated ego Nintendo's gone and grown itself. My point is, I don't need ANOTHER DS lying around the house. And that's basically what this is. It's a bug, clunky, not-foldy DS that works with your TV. Now, don't get me wrong, I'd love to play some of my DS games on the big ol' telly screen (Dragon Quest, anyone?), and if the new system allows me to do that, I will probably shell out my hard-earned, hard-to-come-by money for one on that principle alone. I'm not perfect. But if I'm going to have to look at a smaller screen instead of my TV half the time I'm playing the game, I'd rather not spend the money on the new system and just play my games on the consoles I already have. Because, you know, I'm responsible with my money.

This stuff just materialized on my shelf.
 I didn't spend money on it. I swear.

While we're on the subject of the touch screen, it appears that I will have to actually tear my eyes away from my pristine telly screen to fumble around with my bloody box-controller, presumably while I'm dying on the larger screen where the actual game is happening. Maybe Nintendo is looking to encourage team work, having one person operating the large robot weapon controller and the other looking for potential threats on the main screen. But what about lonely basemen hermits like myself with no one to spot them? Are we not allowed to play your games, Nintendo?

Now, let's talk games. Let's see, the hot titles Nintendo;s keeping from us are...

Stick [insert random word] Edition on the end and
BAM! new game.

Games we've already had for quite some time and have probably become sick of by now. It looks to me like Nintendo's just gone and taken the hottest games from the past year and gone "That's great... but I think adding clunky multi-tasking-required controllers will make it ten times better." Because that's how you get people to love your games right? Making them hard to play.

Let's talk connectivity. Ever tried to watch Netflix while hooked up to your PSN?

Then you've probably been filled with rage by this thing.

Annoying right? You're trying to watch a film or a very charming serial killer killing people, when little notifications keep popping up on your screen. A lot of the time, it's messages from the same person. "Hey, I see you're online, but not playing the game I'm playing. You should fix that." "Hey, are you listening to me?" "Hellloooooo?" The point is, they start to sound like Navi.

Back to the Wii U. Apparently, it's a completely connected userbase. Basically, everyone can see and message everyone. You see where this is going. Those "Hey! Listen! HEEEEYYYY!" infuriations are going to start happening. A lot. And there's nothing you can do about it. You'll be getting messages when you're trying to concentrate on a game, and a lot of the times (you know it will happen) it'll be some ten year old going "Hi." I can only imagine the mass console slaughters that will occur within a week of the Wii U's release. So, er, Nintendo... good luck with that.

Cheers!

Green Lantern's Going Rainbow?

A panel from the upcoming issue in which Sam is introduced.

Oh my, it has been quite some time since I've posted anything, I'm not used to actually having a life. Its strange to me.

Marvel's been making news recently with their announcement that Northstar and Kyle will soon be tying the knot. And if you're anything like me, you're waiting so impatiently to see it you're wearing a groove into the floor with your pacing.

DC, as they seem to do, is following suit, bringing back Alan Scott as the Green Lantern (I hear he'll eventually be heading the Justice League!) and their puling him out of the closet. The second issue of Earth 2 (written by James Robinson) will introduce Sam, Alan's lover, who in my opinion is adorable. It's out soon, I can't wait!

This is such a big step forward for the comic book world and I am so excited to be able to witness such a major change.

I, of course, had to draw my own.
It's obviously not as good as Robinson's.