A post that's all about X-Men
So, randomly, I have two pieces of X-Men related news.
First is the fact that Mr. Sus has finally agreed to dress up as Wolverine for our Halloween party this year. I've been on him to do it for years, because it's such an easy costume and he's got the build for it (weight-lifting husbands FTW), plus I'm always looking for excuses for him to grow facial hair. He's actually had a beard for a few months now, so he figures it's a good time to finally go for it because he can just trim it into the right shape. The hair will be a bit more of a challenge, but it's a least the right color so we'll just have to get creative with the hair gel.
So now I am faced with the dilemma of choosing my costume. Obviously I have to be an X-(wo)Man now, but who? It's got to be someone well known and distinctive enough to be recognizable, but without going to too much trouble. I'm the wrong color for Storm so she's out. Jubilee's actually the easiest costume because all you need is a yellow raincoat and some tacky hoop earrings, but I'll be buggered if I'm going to be fucking Jubilee. I think it might be kind of fun to do Rogue's white streaks, but (a) that's a serious hair commitment; (b) I'm too old for movieRogue; and (c) I cannot stand comicRogue (although I could do a way better southern accent than either of them). That pretty much leaves Jean Grey. Since she's Mr. Sus' favorite anyway, this seems like the best option. And I think I'm even willing to buy myself a jar of Manic Panic and go for the bright red hair, at least temporarily. That just leaves the problem of what to wear.
Jean's had a lot of signature outfits over the years, most of which require more spandex than I want to squeeze myself into, even if I could figure out a way to replicate them. And I'm not willing to sew, spend huge amounts of money, or wear anything that involves the word "bodysuit." After looking at a bunch of pictures online, I think I've finally come up with an idea based on the more modern, real-world look of the movies and some of the more recent comics. The look was inspired by this picture. Just kidding, heh. Well, not entirely. More like this picture (ignore Emma Frost and her white whore suit). Basically, I'm thinking of wearing black skinny jeans with some kind of tight black top, my dead-sexy black leather boots, long yellow gauntlet gloves (as a nod to the more traditional costumes of the past), and, for the crowning touch, this belt. And if I order two belts then Mr. Sus and I will match in a we're-on-the-same-superhero-team-but-we're-not-going-out-of-our-way-to-prove-it kind of way.
So? What do the comic fans among you think? Suggestions? Criticism? Guffaws of laughter?
The second piece of X-Men news is that I've been working on an X-Men fan fic for the last week instead of writing, you know, important stuff like the novel I'm supposed to be working on. I just got really stuck on the novel, to the point that not only could I not get the words onto the page, but I couldn't even REMEMBER what it was like like to be ABLE to get words on the page. So that's bad.
In an attempt to re-inspire myself and hearken back to a time was I was actually able to write stuff, I started browsing through my old files of unfinished projects. And I happened to stumble across an X-Men script I'd written back when the first movie came out. The damn thing was nearly 70 pages long and not all bad, and I was suddenly overcome with an urge to update it and adapt it into a narrative fic. So that's what I've been doing. And it's actually done a pretty good job of flexing all those writing muscles that had cramped up, because adapting something from script to narrative fiction is basically all about adding in lots of description, which is the part of writing that's always been hardest for me.
And now I'm thinking of doing something that's unprecedented for me: posting chapters online before the whole thing is finished. I know, right? I'm such a perfectionist and a nit-picker by nature that I've never been able to bear the the thought of publishing something until it's all as done as I can possibly make it and I've gone over it with a fine-tooth comb about a thousand times. Which is exactly why I don't finish much, because I spend all my time going back and revising and re-revising, instead of just pressing on to the end of the damn thing.
So in an effort to curtail that urge, I'm going to start posting the first few chapters soon. Possibly even later today if I have time. Which means it's going to be a different kind of story than I usually write. I've only got a very rough idea of how it's going to come out, so I'm not going to be able control the pacing or tinker with the story structure the way I usual do. And the original dates from a much earlier stage in my development as a writer so it's not as plotty as the stuff I usually do nowadays (although it's got a plot) and it's a lot soapier. Then again, it is the X-Men, and if anyone ought to be soapy it's totally them. You know I'm right about that. It's possible there might even be some sex scenes. But not between the characters you're thinking of (doesn't matter who you're thinking, it's not them). Part of the impetus for the story was to bring in a character from the comicverse and reboot him/her for the movieverse. Anyone who guesses who gets a gold star.
So any of you that actually care about X-Men should stay tuned to this space. And if I don't post anything in the next 48 hours, feel free to nag me about it. I may need it.
First is the fact that Mr. Sus has finally agreed to dress up as Wolverine for our Halloween party this year. I've been on him to do it for years, because it's such an easy costume and he's got the build for it (weight-lifting husbands FTW), plus I'm always looking for excuses for him to grow facial hair. He's actually had a beard for a few months now, so he figures it's a good time to finally go for it because he can just trim it into the right shape. The hair will be a bit more of a challenge, but it's a least the right color so we'll just have to get creative with the hair gel.
So now I am faced with the dilemma of choosing my costume. Obviously I have to be an X-(wo)Man now, but who? It's got to be someone well known and distinctive enough to be recognizable, but without going to too much trouble. I'm the wrong color for Storm so she's out. Jubilee's actually the easiest costume because all you need is a yellow raincoat and some tacky hoop earrings, but I'll be buggered if I'm going to be fucking Jubilee. I think it might be kind of fun to do Rogue's white streaks, but (a) that's a serious hair commitment; (b) I'm too old for movieRogue; and (c) I cannot stand comicRogue (although I could do a way better southern accent than either of them). That pretty much leaves Jean Grey. Since she's Mr. Sus' favorite anyway, this seems like the best option. And I think I'm even willing to buy myself a jar of Manic Panic and go for the bright red hair, at least temporarily. That just leaves the problem of what to wear.
Jean's had a lot of signature outfits over the years, most of which require more spandex than I want to squeeze myself into, even if I could figure out a way to replicate them. And I'm not willing to sew, spend huge amounts of money, or wear anything that involves the word "bodysuit." After looking at a bunch of pictures online, I think I've finally come up with an idea based on the more modern, real-world look of the movies and some of the more recent comics. The look was inspired by this picture. Just kidding, heh. Well, not entirely. More like this picture (ignore Emma Frost and her white whore suit). Basically, I'm thinking of wearing black skinny jeans with some kind of tight black top, my dead-sexy black leather boots, long yellow gauntlet gloves (as a nod to the more traditional costumes of the past), and, for the crowning touch, this belt. And if I order two belts then Mr. Sus and I will match in a we're-on-the-same-superhero-team-but-we're-not-going-out-of-our-way-to-prove-it kind of way.
So? What do the comic fans among you think? Suggestions? Criticism? Guffaws of laughter?
The second piece of X-Men news is that I've been working on an X-Men fan fic for the last week instead of writing, you know, important stuff like the novel I'm supposed to be working on. I just got really stuck on the novel, to the point that not only could I not get the words onto the page, but I couldn't even REMEMBER what it was like like to be ABLE to get words on the page. So that's bad.
In an attempt to re-inspire myself and hearken back to a time was I was actually able to write stuff, I started browsing through my old files of unfinished projects. And I happened to stumble across an X-Men script I'd written back when the first movie came out. The damn thing was nearly 70 pages long and not all bad, and I was suddenly overcome with an urge to update it and adapt it into a narrative fic. So that's what I've been doing. And it's actually done a pretty good job of flexing all those writing muscles that had cramped up, because adapting something from script to narrative fiction is basically all about adding in lots of description, which is the part of writing that's always been hardest for me.
And now I'm thinking of doing something that's unprecedented for me: posting chapters online before the whole thing is finished. I know, right? I'm such a perfectionist and a nit-picker by nature that I've never been able to bear the the thought of publishing something until it's all as done as I can possibly make it and I've gone over it with a fine-tooth comb about a thousand times. Which is exactly why I don't finish much, because I spend all my time going back and revising and re-revising, instead of just pressing on to the end of the damn thing.
So in an effort to curtail that urge, I'm going to start posting the first few chapters soon. Possibly even later today if I have time. Which means it's going to be a different kind of story than I usually write. I've only got a very rough idea of how it's going to come out, so I'm not going to be able control the pacing or tinker with the story structure the way I usual do. And the original dates from a much earlier stage in my development as a writer so it's not as plotty as the stuff I usually do nowadays (although it's got a plot) and it's a lot soapier. Then again, it is the X-Men, and if anyone ought to be soapy it's totally them. You know I'm right about that. It's possible there might even be some sex scenes. But not between the characters you're thinking of (doesn't matter who you're thinking, it's not them). Part of the impetus for the story was to bring in a character from the comicverse and reboot him/her for the movieverse. Anyone who guesses who gets a gold star.
So any of you that actually care about X-Men should stay tuned to this space. And if I don't post anything in the next 48 hours, feel free to nag me about it. I may need it.