Turn Left to Nowhere

Russia should be a constitutional monarchy of half a billion people by now. Alas, it became the Soviet Union and the death of millions. A genocidal invasion slaughtered millions more. The Russian Federation began as a dead empire and is becoming its zombie.

China should be a thriving democracy by now. An invasion slaughtered millions. Alas, China became the People’s Republic and the death of millions more. It yearns to crush the piece of it that is thriving without it.

There is no one person to blame for what happened to Russia or China. The emperors of both were cruel but never as cruel as the Communists. The power is always collective regardless.

Both Russia and China have legitimate grievances. Their countries were devastated and their people slaughtered by foreigners. Both Russia and China did the same to their own countries and people, however. Their self-righteous indignation is shameless hypocrisy.

The West is to blame?

If not for the West, Germany and Japan would have conquered Russia and China. Instead of the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic there would be the east of the Greater Germanic Realm and the west of the Empire of Great Japan. Russia and China would no longer exist.

Communism is to blame.

The French Revolution was communist, though it called itself “enlightenment.” It was a reign of terror until replaced by the fascism of Napoleon. Sure you can argue semantics, but the gist is what it is, and gist is the truth of things.

The West is dying. The greed of its capitalism assures the rise of its socialism. The plutocracy shall seize ownership of everything in the name of the people… and we shall suffer its reign of terror.

Would the world really be worse had the Axis powers won? I am starting to wonder.

Thriving in Obscurity

I write books and illustrate the covers. I create the title fonts. I compose music. I wonder if my work shall ever become famous. I hope so.

The best story ever written is no different than blank pages if never read. The best art is no different than a blank canvas if never seen. The best music is no different than silence if never heard.

Is my work the best?

I assume my fiction is excellent. I sincerely believe it is better than most classics. My opinion is irrelevant, however. My work is unknown. So long as it languishes in obscurity, it is unimportant.

I write every book as if it is sure to be noticed by the whole world. I make it ready to be read by everyone.

My interest in fame is an interest in influence, not fortune. Of course I would be glad to be enriched by my hard work. I would rather inspire than profit, however. I have much to say and I want everyone to hear it. I want to hear what everyone else has to say, both the praise and the complaints. I want to see what I write, illustrate and compose from the perspectives of other people.

Jesus mentioned, “A prophet is not without honor, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.” I know what he meant. My friends and family are the least interested in what I create. They could not “find the time” to listen to a two minute piece of music I composed, though I gave them all a copy for their convenience.

It is most likely that I shall fade away and my work with me. Such is typically the fate of the mortal and only human. It is possible, though unlikely, that my work shall thrive after my passing. I may yet become famous. My work may yet inspire the world.

I write, illustrate and compose. I shall not stop. My creativity was a labor of love from the beginning. It began with no thought of fame or fortune. I imagined and art brought what I imagined to fruition. I had something to show for my daydreams. I still do. I always shall.

https://www.deviantart.com/yellowplasma

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Death-White-Women-ebook/dp/B0C14VBGPP/ref=sr_1_8?crid=2I1Z5L6CKG6A&keywords=shawn+o%27toole&qid=1680400033&s=books&sprefix=shawn+o%27toole%2Cstripbooks%2C112&sr=1-8

Untrue

Throughout all of history, history is propaganda. It vilifies or glorifies according to agenda. The common folk are to remember the past in a way that legitimizes those in power. History changes as power shifts.

The fiction of today is like the legends of old. It is about reality but as fantasy. It may be propaganda but cannot thrive unless the common folk enjoy it. The stories must be entertaining, regardless of their message.

I distrust anything historical or scientific. They are political first and foremost. My first question is, “Why do they want me to believe this?” Who are “they?” you may ask. “They” call themselves history and science. “They” are actually people and people are untrustworthy.

I prefer legends to history. I would rather enjoy a fantasy than learn a lie.

Entertainment is more than gratification. It is the things that energize us. We are thrilled or amused and invigorated accordingly.

Those in power bore us with their spouting of nonsense. They claim that we should disbelieve our own eyes and instead trust their supposed facts. They have “experts” to “confirm” their claims: More strangers telling us to disbelieve our own eyes. I am not so stupid.

The world is at it was and shall always be. So be it. I still have the legends. I still have fiction. These things are being corrupted, but I still have my favorites. I write and illustrate my own fiction. I share it. The uninspiring nonsense of the mighty shall not prevail.

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Death-White-Women-ebook/dp/B0C14VBGPP/ref=sr_1_8?crid=2I1Z5L6CKG6A&keywords=shawn+o%27toole&qid=1680400033&s=books&sprefix=shawn+o%27toole%2Cstripbooks%2C112&sr=1-8

True Story

A story can gratify whether good or evil prevails. It cannot satisfy unless goodness prevails. This is not a matter of preference. It is a spiritual fact. Those who favor the triumph of evil are doomed to be dissatisfied. Their instant gratifications wane to numbness.

It is commonly assumed that goodness is a lack of evil: People are “good” unless they “do” this or that, blah, blah, blah. The assumption is untrue.

Evil is a lack of goodness: People are evil unless they do what is right of their own volition, no matter what. They must realize their own potential by their own efforts.

Every nonentity is evil. Their very insignificance is a sin. They deserve to die for no other reason than they do not deserve to live. Their lives are in vain, squandered by them.

The expendable characters in fiction are true to life. They are most people. You are probably one of them. You have my sympathies.. but not really.

Girl Bosses and Baddies

Female warriors are not really a thing in war, with very few exceptions. The women who fight are not supposed to, more often than not. Female infantry are typically used as police and border guards rather than as combat troops. Female partisans are a thing when children and the elderly are also.

The idea of female warriors is traditionally symbolic rather than actual. The “woman” is a goddess or “the motherland” or the like.

The Amazons of Classical Mythology were female warriors. They were an entire nation of such. They were also antagonists readily slaughtered by heroes.

A heroine is the ultimate female warrior, and always has been. Joan of Arc as the legend is the perfect example. She is the nurturer as the protector. The archetype at its best is maternal in its appeal, womanly not girlish.

Joan la Pucelle is Joan of Arc as the villain in Shakespeare. She can outfight most men, but as a witch. She is the seductress but as a warrior and a virgin. She is the feminine mystique as a thing to be feared… and overcome.

The Amazons with names were typically formidable and could only be defeated by heroes. The nameless Amazons were slaughtered in droves. Those not killed were taken as spoils of war: sexually enslaved.

Since the Amazons, women are seldom imagined as the cannon-fodder. They are used as such, but only when too many men have been lost. Expendable women do not inspire like Joan of Arc or her dark side version, Joan la Pucelle. They are too… normal. Like all creatures mortal and only human, they are disposable nonentities to those in power. We can relate to them, but that is the problem.

We love the superhuman heroine. We are fascinated by her villainous version. A story is especially interesting if both are in it, especially if they are rivals. The Japanese already know this. The idea is used by them quite often.

An action-adventure story is more than the heroes and villainous bosses. It is also droves of common folk. Many of these are the foot soldiers of villainy. Are these lowliest of the baddies more interesting for being men or monsters? What if they are sexy women instead?

The female warrior is many things, all of them sexy. I am mindful of this as a writer of fiction.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/451925

The Most Popular Genre

A fiction is figments imagined as things and people. The story is sequences of arrangement that make the figments seem real and alive. It is all an illusion we willingly allow ourselves to believe. We do so for the fun of it.

ACTION-ADVENTURE

The action is usually a chase or combat. The adventure is usually a quest or an escape.

A hero is typically the protagonist. A villain is typically the antagonist. The roles can be reversed. If the story is from the villain’s perspective, the hero is probably vilified.

Monsters are common enemies. They are usually feral. If they are people of a sort, they are villains. When a monster is a protagonist, he is a hero, even if as a sympathetic villain.

Ordinary people typically abound in the world of an action-adventure. They are the plentiful victims of monsters and villains. They are the expendable goons of the villains. They are the animated props of locales such as cities or fortresses.

The mechanics of action-adventure are not the appeal of the genre. The thrills they produce are. Everything about the fiction must thrill us. Everything else is either supplementary or extraneous.

Danger is thrilling. Violence is thrilling. Sexuality is thrilling. These are all aspects of action-adventure accordingly.

I write books and illustrate the covers. The genre is usually action-adventure. My horror stories are usually survival horror, a subgenre of action-adventure. My work is dramatic. It is meaningful. Most of all, it must be thrilling.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CG279LYG?ref_=ast_author_dp

https://www.deviantart.com/yellowplasma/journal/The-Six-of-Many-979056898

My Inspired Fancy

I grew up watching television. My favorite scenes were the unceremonious killing of unimportant characters. There was no blood and guts. The victims winced and dropped.

The killers were usually monsters or villains. The victims were normal people. The killings were impersonal and casual. They were easy… and inconsequential. The hero saved the day. The droves of hapless normal people made no difference: They did not matter.

My favorite victims were young, uniformed and armed. They were specialized in the use of force… yet proved helpless victims. The hero or group of heroes were the only ones who could match the monster or villain.

My fancy was especially gratifying when the killer was the hero and the victims were the nameless baddies. This was the same idea but the moral alignment was reversed. Everything else remained the same. The expendable baddies being normal people was better than them being robots or monsters. I did love it when the hero was a monster.

I watched movies. I read books and comic books. I played games. The unceremonious killing of unimportant characters were my favorite moments in all of them.

I write books and illustrate the covers. My fancy is a major theme in my work. It was and is my inspiration to be a writer and illustrator.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CG279LYG?ref_=ast_author_dp