I have so many ideas for novels, stories and movie scripts in my head. I'm really bad at writing, I never seem to be able to just sit and write, I feel almost sick with anxiety when I try to write. Even this blog post is a torture for me,lol! Over the years, I have had many characters come to life in my head. I will tell you today about two of them.
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Dark Mr. Fripperton
I was a huge fan of the "British Comic Writers Invasion" of the 80's. Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Jamie Delano-all my heroes forever and had a massive effect on shaping me into the person I am today. (In fact, my first encounter with Alan Moore's writing will most likely be a blog entry sometime soon.) Another member of this group was Grant Morrison. He took over writing two DC Comics, Animal Man and The Doom Patrol. Both of these titles had been around since the early 60's and not long after taking over, Morrison began taking them in bizarre and wonderful new directions.
I began reading Doom Patrol in '92 and loved it. I still haven't read the early issues from his run yet though, but I have read about them and one thing that has always stood out to me: a character named Shadowy Mr. Evans. I loved that name so much! You can read about him here: http://www.angelfire.com/ar/hellUSA/Shadowymrevans.html
I started writing "This ___ has been a Shadowy Mr. Evans production" when I finished writing a new poem, story etc. However, the twin desires to create a unique character and to not be sued led me to create Dark Mr. Fripperton.
I think the name came from my love of the music and experiments of Brian Eno and Robert Fripp. The name Fripperton stuck in my head and I thought it was great. I then needed to create the character of DMF. I knew he was a master manipulator and would only come out of the shadows at certain points. For many years I worked on it and I wrote this in the notes for a novel I may write:
1. The Order of the Dying Swan/Dark Mr. Fripperton
Legend has it that the Earth was created by the “Then” Gods (see below) and set on the back of a giant swan to drift around the heavens in peace and harmony for all eternity. But the “Yet” Gods (see below) were very jealous of this sublime creation and vowed to destroy it at any cost. They took the greatest hunter of the first people to live on the Earth and gave him the most powerful bow and arrow ever created. They raised him far above the world and bade him to slay the giant swan. Seeing the enormous bird, the hunter could not resist a shot to bring it down. However, the arrow, forged by the chaos minded “Yet” Gods, was not perfectly straight and the arrow did not fly true. Instead of killing the swan, it only wounded it. Gravely hurt, the swan sailed around the cosmos erratically, causing strife and war upon the beleaguered Earth.
Enter the Order of the Dying Swan. Believing themselves to be descended from that original mighty hunter, the men and women of the Order have pledged to finish the job and deliver the mortal blow to the swan, killing it and sending the Earth to sink into the fires of creation, destroying it forever. To do this, the Order carries out specific assassinations and acts of terrorism to hasten the world toward certain “node” moments (and yes, one of these nodes is on December 21, 2012) when the destruction of the Earth would be possible. Obviously, they have thus far been unsuccessful…
No one is certain exactly how many the Order numbers, but it is said that no matter where you are on the Earth, a member of the Order is never more than two hundred miles away. All races, all creeds, all levels of social status make up the order. Men are given a name that begins with “Dark Mr.”, women are given names that begin with “Dark Mistress.” The headquarters of the order are rumored to be in northern Greenland.
Enter Dark Mr. Fripperton.
The greatest warrior the Order has ever produced and also, secretly, it’s greatest failure. For Dark Mr. Fripperton is a secret acolyte of the belief of War Without End, which is in direct opposition to the agenda of the Order. The Order is working towards the Final War and the destruction of the world-the swan must die, the Earth must fall into the fire and die. Dark Mr. Fripperton envisions a world even more chaotic and dangerous then it is now, an endless series of conflicts and wars that will beat humanity down to an animal submissiveness and then take them out into the stars to do battle with the very universe itself. So far, his goal has been well hidden from the rest of the Order…although some are beginning to have suspicions.
Like all members of the Order, the life of Dark Mr. Fripperton before he joined is unknown and perhaps forgotten. It is possible it will never be revealed.
So that's where things stand with Dark Mr. Fripperton at the moment. Hope to have more in the future.
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Winright Enfield
I've had a TV show going on in my head since the mid 90's.
I guess I could describe it as The X-Files meets Moonlighting with a little bit of Misfits of Science mixed in. It's about a group of people who investigate strange events. There's a main male and female lead duo who are ostensibly the "stars" of the show but the wacky supporting cast would be meant to "steal" the show...and none more so than Winright Enfield.
Winright is a scientist and a brilliant one. He has degrees in pretty much any branch of science and medicine you can think of and many more you can't begin to imagine existing. He's also very old fashioned which is where a lot of the comedy would come from. His favorite greeting is "Good day, good sir/madam."
He is very tall and thin with thick curly hair and a mustache. Very Kurt Vonnegut-esque. He would start off in the "series" as a buffoonish character but over the course of the show would become a deeply complex person.
I have no illusions that this show will exist anywhere but in my mind. It's just too complex and there's been too many "wacky X-Files" like shows on the SyFy (God I will always hate that) Channel, people will think I'm ripping those off. But Winfield is a very real person to me and he will live on in my head and I can revisit my favorite "episodes" featuring him any time I wish...
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