Rayshell22's No-Frills Livejournal

I'm probably a very bad Superhero Comics fan. ;)

2009-12-30T01:13:06Z

I have to admit that when I read about what happened to Kyle over at the GLC series, my response was "Thank Heavens death has no meaning in Superhero Comics.".

Seven Interest Meme

2009-12-03T23:10:08Z

From the Seven Interest Meme

Comment on this post. I will choose seven interests from your profile and you will explain what they mean and why you are interested in them. Post this along with your answers in your own journal so others can play along.

1) Amy Bietterman
Ah, Amy. I read her first appereance in Ostrander's The Spectre: Crime and Punishments and have fallen in love with her. She's a pretty cool character and would have made a WONDERFUL couple with Jim Corrigan. I may not have been completely happy with Ostrander's charactization of Corrigan, but there were parts of his series that I did like and Amy was one of them. I really didn't like it when he killed her off, dammit! (Oh well, at least they're happily married and have two lovely daughters in my Earth-2 Elseworlds.)

2) Angstless drama
I have no problems with drama and tragedy as long as the characters don't spend the whole story whining about their misery and actually do something about their problems. Or maybe I've grown sick and tired of emo!angst that's passed off as tragedy.

3) Hanna-Barbera
I know their writing quality varied wildly from good to god-awful and their 'Superfriends' JLA sucked. But damn it if most of their original funny animal characters and superheroes weren't awesome. My favorite superheroes were the Impossibles, Dynomutt and the Galaxy Trio.

4) Pre-Crisis JSA
I've always been a big fan of Pre-Crisis Earth-2 and all of the cool characters in it. The greatest diservace DC did was when they got rid of it. Come on! Both Pre and Post-Crisis DCU can co-exist together. Get rid of your stupid 'either-or' mentality. That mentality sure isn't helping the Flash a whole hell of a lot.

5) Profiling
I've always been interested in psychology and the human psyche. My parents brought me John Douglas' 'Mindhunter' while they were on a trip and I've been interested in Criminal Profiling ever since. Douglas' books help shed a lot of light on the psychological nature of the violent criminal without glamorizing it or making excuses for the criminal's actions.

6) Sapphire and Steel
It's a British Sci-Fi about two Elemental Aliens garbbed in human form called Sapphire and Steel (Of course!;)), who are Operatives sent to stop leaks in time and the creatures who break through. The stories are well-done and encourage the viewer to come with their own interpetations of the characters. Joanna Lumley and David McCallum are perfect in their roles as the main characters and breathe life into them.

7) Yoko Kanno
She's a Japanese musician who did the music for the Animes Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in The Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Macross Plus. I bought one of the Macross Plus CDs as an impluse buy because I interested in anime soundtracks at the time. It took me a while to warm up to her, but when I did, I was hooked. She really knows how to bring out the essence of music to create very memorable music that lingers for a long while. She's proflic in a wide variety of music genres, which I admire deeply

Comics Blathering

2009-11-16T23:40:18Z

I know that Denny O'Neil said that bringing Jason Todd back would have been sleazy, but considering the manner that he died, his death was pretty damn sleazy and resurrecting him is fixing that mistake and a well-deserved gut-punch to all of the bloodthirsty fanboys who called in to kill him.

In other related news, I can't help but think that Barry's heroic sacerfice in the Crisis may have done some long-term damage to his character when most fans focus so much on his death at the expense of his personality and life. It's like people can only see him as the 'Eternal Martyr' rather than as a fun character to write about.

Barry Allen Squee

2009-11-08T00:30:22Z

I skimmed through the latest Brave and The Bold Issue featuring a crossover between Flash and The Blackhawks and it reminded me that even if Flash: Rebirth sucks, it's so wonderful that the Cuddly Nerd is back. I also found the scene when Barry was changing into a solider's outfit quite interesting, his thought boxes revealed that the Flash wouldn't kill, but Barry Allen could. This added an interesting twist to his character and I really hope other writers take advantage of this fact.

More October Craziness

2009-10-15T23:21:49Z

I don't know why I love the idea of a Vampire!Graham Chapman, but it's just such a cool fic idea. Heck, I would love reading about a good-hearted vampire who is based on him. It would make a refreshing break from all of those whiny angsty good guy vampires. (I am looking at YOU, Mr. 'Skin of a Killer'.) Anyway, I hope you enjoy this drabble.

"Anyways, I can not thank you enough for all of the company and friendship you've given me." Terry said as he and Graham sit in one of the secret supernatural bars in Victorian London. "It can get quite lonely being one of the few Changeling Fae who still sticks by their moral principals despite the scorn."

"You're very welcome." Gray replies, putting his hand on top Terry's. Although neither one was the other's type, they did had a few nights of physical comfort before deciding to be just friends. "You're quite the lively chap."

The two share a bit of laughter, which helps to remind Graham how much he appericates these moments of genuine caramiade and joy. He felt very out of place in the Vampire Society not because of the decedant atmosphere, which he enjoyed very much, but because most of the other vampires used their condition as an excuse to act like sadistic, manipultive bastards towards both humans and their fellow vampires. He had gotten into several arguments with other vampires when the latter had found out that Graham had warned their poteintal victims to stay away from them.

He had moved among the fringes of vampire society to meet with others of his moral mindset. But with a very few exceptions (David among them.), most of them had turned out to be rather sad figures, complaning about how they were doomed to be miserable, blood-sucking monsters and not doing a thing to improve their situation. When one of them told Gray about his romantic delima about turning his female human love into a vampire, Graham had suggested he talk the issue over with his girlfriend. That had resulted in the former chasing Gray about five miles, calling him a soulless monster for even suggesting the 'horrible' idea. Gray hid in an alley and waited unti the other vampire had left.

So Gray stuck with the underground Gay circle, relating to them more than he did with the supernatural population. Still, after David's death, he did crave stable companionship, but he hadn't found anybody yet that would meet his criqitira. But he was confident that he would find that special someone and turn him into a vampire. It was only a matter of time.

Until then, he takes comfort in his friends and human bed companions.

October is coming up!

2009-10-01T00:31:34Z

Ah, October, the month of Halloween and all of the crazy, cool stuff that comes with it. I'm thinking about writing some more AU Python Slash drabbles for your enjoyment. :) Hope you like them.

Of all of the things that Michael Palin likes about his lycanthropy, is that he is able to retain his mind and gentle nature while transforming into a wolf. Sure, it gets irritating at times not to be able to have full control over his shapechanging powers, but uncontrollable powers are much perferable to becoming a mindless, bloodthristy beast.

He enjoys traveling throughout the lands in his wolf form, getting a fresh prepective on the places he sees and enjoying the rich detail that his heighten senses give him. He always comes prepared with a spare pair of clothes, of course.

But what he likes most of all is when he comes home in his wolf form and sleeps next to Terry. The latter gently stroking him before and after his transformation, whispering his words of honest devotion and telling Mike that he will always stand by him, no matter what his fae relatives say.

Being a Werewolf is actually quite good.

Due South Question

2009-09-11T21:38:39Z

I was reading the back of the Due South DVD collection and they described Ray Vecchio as a person of 'flexible morality' and I mentally responded with 'That's not true at all.'. Am I imagining things, or did I somewhat hit the mark?

Crazy Vampire Python Slash

2009-06-26T00:15:53Z

I was originally going to make this a parody scene of the infamous Twilight Meadow scene, but I was having problems on how I was going to do it, so I figured I'd drop that angle. Still, I don't know why I like the idea of Vampire!Gray/John slash so much, I guess I figure that the Pythons would be able to with what happens the best they can without angsting too much. This takes place before John's conversion. Any and all mistakes are purely my fault. :)

As he enjoyed the wonderfully erotic sensation of Graham gently sucking his blood, John Cleese mentally chuckled at the irony that he had first actually felt revulsion at Graham when he saw the latter sucking the blood out of what had seemed to be at first an innocent bystander.

Of course, John was lacking in some important information at the time. The Lesbian couple who pryed him off of Graham told him that he was actually trying to restrain the man, who was a violent homophobe trying to kill them for being gay. The bloodsucking was a last ditch attempt at stopping the man from finishing what he was going to do. Anyway, the homophobic bystander was in the hospital now recovering from the blood loss.

He had found Chapman and expected him to hold a grudge against John for what happened, instead, Graham had simply wittly quiped about it and the two of them soon burst into laughter. John's revulsion and dislike faded just like that, although he was still casious, knowing that vampires could be quite manipulative, ruthless creatures.

Although Graham was proving to be quite the sweet bloke, even if John did found his happy accpetence of his vampire state a bit unnerving.

"Gray?"

"Hmmm...Yes?" Graham looks up, managing to look geniuley curious despite the smugde of blood on his mouth.

"What else is true about you?" John asked, testing to see how much Gray was willing to reveal about his vampiric condition. "I know you don't cast a reflection and are vunerable to sunlight. But what else haven't you told me about vampires."

Graham ponders a moment before he speaks. "Well, I can be killed by a decapitation followed by a stake to the heart. I'm also quite vunerable to garlic and holy items, but I have no problems with talking about God, in fact, I think Jesus is quite a nice bloke."

That got a laugh from John, a vampire who was a Jesus fan. "Go on."

"We Vampires are gifted with the basic abilities normally assoicated with vampires, although we can develop new ones if we have the time and patience for it."

John had to admit the irony that despite the laziness Graham had during their writing sessions, he did had the willpower to develop his unique fleshshaping ability to help him with his doctoring skills.

"How do you convert others?"

"Pretty much we suck the person's blood gradually over a few days, then we give them a bit of our own blood to finish the transformation."

John hestitated before asking the next question. "Did you convert anybody into a vampire?"

"Not yet." Graham said, looking a bit wistful. "David warned me that I had to make sure that the person would be able to have the willpower to adapt to being a vampire. Otherwise, I would have to deal with a self-loathing undead on my hands."

"Must get rather lonely at times." John said sympathetically.

"It does." He replied. "But I do have caring lovers to ease that." Before John could say anything, Gray had turned into a small bat, happily clinging to his crotch sensually.

"Graham!" He said, shocked.

(Come on, it's quite consenual bestiallity.) Graham said telapathically, somehow managing a goofy grin as a bat. (You'll get used to it.)

To John's surprise, he found out he liked getting a blow job from his sometimes lover in bat form.

British Stuff

2009-06-07T21:39:59Z

I know that Britian isn't perfect and that they have done their share of stupid stuff (British Imperilism, anyone?), but damn it if they hadn't made some of the coolest stuff ever in the history of the arts, not to mention some of the coolest British celebrities. Besides, without England, American wouldn't exist and I'm quite fond of living in America. ;)

An Experiment with RPS

2009-05-15T09:03:50Z

This is inspired by bacon fiend's Monty Python AU fic 'Creatures of The Night'. A few ideas had simmered in my head about Vampire!Gray and this is the result. I would love feedback on this because I'm really concerned about screwing this up.

The vampire sighed to himself, if still had any humanity left, he should leave Dr. Chapman alone and forget about converting him into a soulness monster. The man's sweet, goofy nature would be utterly destroyed by the vampire lifestyle.

And yet, Gray was so happy being with his vampire lover. As much as he loved his wife, Dr. Chapman felt rather hollow and unsatified with his marriage, his whole lifestyle as a respectable doctor (Through he enjoyed being one.). Only his brother and father suspected and sympathized with his plight while his mother was blissfully oblivious and happy. The vampire found it akwardly charming to spend time with him slowly revealing their deepest fears and emotions, being grateful to have some interaction with a human that wasn't one-sided and exploitive.

So why was he converting him into a vampire?

Because he simply wanted wanted to see Graham being geniuely happy.

"So are you going to bite me or what?" Dr. Chapman replied, still managing a big, goofy smile despite the physical ravages the conversion was inflicting on him.

The vampire smiled in return, extended his fangs and began to feed.

Reading Twilight

2009-05-12T21:55:59Z

I'm reading Twilight out of curisoty and because I like reading cheesy, bad books. Now Stephanie Meyer has potential to be a good writer, but she makes no effort to do research and revise her works. Heck, she sent out her first draft to the publishers, which is a big no-no for writers. I found her vampire mythology to be quite boring, although I find the 'Sparkly' vampire thing to be hilarious. XD I'm also not convinced that Bella and Edward geniunely love each other and think they're still staying together because of shallow masoicistic reasons. (I think Edward LOVES to put himself through emotional self-torture because he's a vampire.)
Also, I would really like more non-angsty good guy vampires. Heck, this says something when you find a RPS Vampire AU more interesting than Twilight.

Pimping My Articles

2009-05-05T00:16:38Z

I wrote some articles for the online blog 'The Rainbow Connection', I'd like it if you checked them out.

http://rainbowconnectionhawaii.blogspot.com/

Half-Crazed Python Ramblings

2009-04-24T11:02:10Z

I could spend hours trying to figure out the dynamics of the Pythons relationships towards each other. It's a weird mixture of affection and conflict. What do you guys think?

Amusing For All Of The Wrong Reasons.

2009-04-24T10:33:40Z

I have nothing against Vampire/Human Romances and I like Good-Hearted Vampires, but Twilight is a really good example of how not to do it. Oh well, the sparkly thing is funny as hell, even if the Twilight vampire mythology is boring as hell. Thank god for cool Vampire Manga like Hellsing.

A Man From Uncle thought

2009-04-01T07:50:19Z

Maybe it's due to the ambiguity of the show, (Or I just need to watch more episodes.), but I could never really see Illya being communist like some of the other fanfic writers seem to imply in their fics. I think he would be proud to be a Russian, I just don't think he'd be happy with the goverment at the time of the show. I can see him becoming a KGB spy partly out of pragmatic survival and very likely to try to at least do some good for the Russian people without becoming a fanatical hardliner like some of the higher up and his fellow spies. (Which was probably some of the other Soviet Spies' reasons as well, you can be disenchanted with your goverment while still wanting to help your people.)

Anyways, what are your thoughts on this? I would love to hear your guys' opinions.

Inspector Morse Quibble

2009-03-11T08:01:54Z

I really enjoy the Morse mysteries and I personally don't think Colin Dexter is sexist, but it would have been nice if he fleshed out the female characters' personalities a bit more in his first three books. I have no problems if he puts sexy women in his books, I'd put in a cute guy or two in my stories. But their personalities should be as interesting and varied as the male characters. I hope it get better in the later novels. That being said, I have no problems if Inspector Morse likes pornography. I'd be more concerned about a male character treating women with respect. Having a sex drive is normal, what's important is that you handle your sex drive in a mature manner, mongonist or not.

Five Thing Associated With Me. ;)

2009-02-21T00:28:45Z

I've participated in a Fun Meme and here's the result.

Barry Allen

I find him to be quite the adorable, dorky, sweet nerd whose humble, even-handed nature was a wonderful contrast to the more temperamental personalities in the JLA. So I can't really see the 'blandness' that others claim was there. Or maybe comic fans assume that heroes are only interesting when they're walking bags of screwed-up angst. Incendentily, I find Barry pretty easy to write.

Barry/Dinah

JLA Year One showed how plausible this pairing was, but I didn't got into it until I skimmed through a fic where Barry and Iris parted amicably as friends and the former hooked up with Dinah. My fondness snowballed when I met pervyfic and it's now one of my favorite Barry pairings.

Barry not being a Kinsey scale 0

Actually, I had no idea that most fans believed he was strictly straight and simply wanted to pair him up with Hal because I thought they would make a cute pairing. I felt like I was the only one who was a Hal/Barry shipper and it became a guilty pleasure of mine. The guilt faded when I met both badfic and pervyfic and now I'm completely comfortable with the pairing. I'm still fond of the pairing although the passion cooled off a bit. Still, I'm open to reading a Hal/Barry fic from one of my friends. *Nudge, Nudge* *Wink, Wink*

Golden Age

I find the Golden Age to be a mixed bag, there are some good stories and Gardner Fox is one of the best writers around but the characterization is very, very sketchy. Still, The JSA are awesome and I adore both the Spectre and Dr. Mid-nite. Although I do find the sketchy characterization quite helpful in writing JSA fanfic since I can flesh the guys out without worrying too much if they're being out of character.

Silver Age

The stories get refined a bit and John Broome gave a little more characterization to the superheroes in his stories even through it still focused mostly on the plot. My sister and I have come to the conculsion that most of the Silver Age and even some of the Golden Age comics were a lot more female-friendly than today's comics. Sure, the Superman comics were a lousy example, but the Atom, Green Lantern and Flash comics were way better in their portrayals of women without making them into Perfect Saints.

My First Due South Post

2009-02-12T06:39:27Z

I've heard Ray Vecchio gets more comfterable with his true self later on in the seasons, although in 'Manhunt', I've been tempted to shake him by the shoulders and say: "You can drop the hard-bitten cynic act, we love your true personality." Thank god the actor was able to help the character develop. I can't say I blame Nikki for having a slight perference toward Ray Vecchio, the guy is cool. Heck, I have a slight bias towards him.

Blunt Comic Opinion

2009-02-08T10:25:41Z

As much as I'm glad Barry's back, I really wished DC had picked a different writer than Geoff Johns. Considering that Green Lantern: Rebirth wasn't all that great, I just know that he'll screw Flash: Rebirth up and make readers hate a character that doesn't deserve all that hatred. I love Hal and Barry and I'm happy they're back, I just don't trust them being put into Johns' hands.

(As a side note, the Barry Vs. Wally debate is stupid. They can both coexist quite well. Same with Hal and Kyle.)

Big Finish and Sapphire and Steel

2009-01-26T09:23:31Z

Reading a review for the Big Finish Audio 'Daisy Chain', I can't say that I'm surprised that Sapphire might have to do a hard discision during an asignment once in a while due to the nature of their jobs, but I am concerned that Mr. Lidster will write them as 'uncaring aliens'. Having a non-human viewpoint does not equate with being uncompassionate or nasty.

Still, it's interesting to read posts from the Sapphire and Steel lj group. Although I have to wonder if I'm one of the few people who thinks Steel and Silver actually like each other irregardless if you see the slash or not. I could go on and on about Silver being a three-dementional bi-sexual flirt, but I'd be rambling. ;)

More TV Tropesness

2009-01-19T08:03:24Z

Wow, TV Tropes can be an odd beast sometimes. I read the NCIS entry sometimes and I was a little surprise that Ducky's Mom was under the 'My Beloved Smother' trope as an example. I have seen a few clips of her, and while I think she's a bit scatterbrained (The dementia really didn't help matters.), she actually seems like an decent parent. Still, I'm glad some of the other tropers noticed Tony's on and off irritating character. He can be okay at times, but there are other times when I happily cheer on Gibbs in slapping his head.

TV Tropes

2009-01-16T04:26:41Z

What do you guys think about it? I love the site, but I sometimes wonder if it might accidently make some characters flater than they really are due to the tropes that are appiled to them. I still love it, through.

Gushing About The Underated Actors.

2008-12-14T10:17:13Z

I've got to say that David McCallum is a pretty good actor with a lovely voice. His status as a sex symbol is undisputed, but I think his acting skills deserve more attention. Of course, I do tend to latch on to people that others think would make for an unlikely crush. (*cough* Jon Pertwee *cough*)

Still, I have to say that I like both Illya and Nappy equally. They're both handsome and likable. (It helps that both the actors have aged well and seem to be decent blokes. Still, I would like the characters even if the actors were assholes.)

On the Issue of Kids.

2008-12-13T10:11:02Z

There's nothing wrong with not having kids, but it doesn't make you superior or inferior to those who want to have kids. Cripes, we have enough problems in the world already without people making a big deal over nothing.

rayshell22 @ 2008-12-11T23:26:00

2008-12-12T09:30:28Z

I've watched the Vampire Segment of the British Horror Film 'The House That Dripped Blood' and I am completley twigging out on the idea of a good guy vampire based on Jon Pertwee. I would love to make the character a non-stereotypical Flamboyant gay character. Do you guys have any advice on making an interesting camp gay character.