E. Charles Tucker

writer. designer. and king of the monkeys.
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Of Monkeys and Men

Q: Why do you refer to yourself as "Trickster"? Isn't that kind of...negative?

I've always been fascinated with the Trickster archetype; some of my favorite childhood characters were Tricksters: Bugs Bunny, Pippi Longstocking, Brer Rabbit, Robin Hood. When I got older and delved into mythology, I was naturally drawn to them still - Loki, Anansi, Hermes, Coyote, Sun Wukong. Modern pop culture is filled with them, and they're some of the most loved (and despised!) characters in media: Jack Sparrow, Dr. Who; Bart Simpson.

So what is a Trickster?

The Trickster is the class clown, the rule breaker, the mischief maker, the cunning thief whose antics fail much more often than they succeed. But in those failures are valuable lessons to be learned, both about life and about ourselves. Despite appearing selfish Tricksters often feel righteous in their actions, believing that the end result of their plans and pranks will ultimately benefit all, not just themselves.

It's the Trickster who points out the flaws in our carefully managed societies. He rebels against authority, pokes fun at the overly serious, creates complex schemes and generally plays with the Laws of the Universe. He constantly questions the rules, and causes us to question these same rules. The Trickster appears when a way of thinking becomes outmoded, when old ways need to be changed.

My identity as Trickster is meant to reflect all of these concepts, but most strongly it's meant to convey a sense of both the creative spirit and the simple complexity involved in being able to laugh at yourself, whether your successes or failures.

Everything He Does is Magic

Nov07
by Trickster on November 7, 2016 at 3:53 pm
Posted In: Comic Books, Movies

Okay so first just to get this out of the way – I liked Doctor Strange. Visually amazing; it’s been ages since I’ve seen a movie in 3D that made sense for it to BE in 3D. Worth the extra price, IMAX if you got it. Real IMAX, not that FauxMAX shite they pawn off on you at upconverted theaters.

Tilda Swinton, despite the whitewashing controversy, was a great Ancient One. But I expected that, she’s a fantastic actress who kills every role she’s given, no matter how bad the character/movie (see: Constantine). I’m absolutely fine with her being a woman, and Celtic in origin.

Cumberbatch? Ditto. Really, he’s a great choice for Stephen and brings that upper crust “I’m better than you and I know it” snark that’s going to be fun to watch pair off against RDJ’s Tony Stark later, especially when they start arguing science vs metaphysics.

Chiwetel Ojiofor put in a subdued but nuanced performance as Mordo, and his disenchantment/disgust at the end was palapable. Bravo.

Mads Mikkelsen? Meh. I mean, he may as well have been the villain from Casino Royale, for all the depth he brought. He’s a character actor, so he did what he does best. Which may not be great, but it’s enough. I don’t even remember the bad guy’s name, which is funny because every other character in the movie is an iconic name – Dormammu, Baron (oops) Mordo, the Ancient One, Wong…

But yes, this is a typically Marvel formulaic movie. Again, expectedly so. Find the thing, before the seemingly unstoppable bad guy with questionable/confusing/nonsensical motives finds the thing, but you know the bad guy will find the thing anyway, so let’s rise to the challenge and stop the bad guy from doing the thing with the thing that’s gonna destroy the world/universe/reality. Cue: heroes’ parade. It’s a formula that makes Marvel Studios gajillions of megabucks, I don’t expect them to stop using it.

And nor would I want them to. Marvel isn’t trying for depth in storytelling, they’re going for pure entertainment for the masses. As pointed out by the friend I went with, she didn’t know jack shite about the MU but realized she didn’t need to know anything to enjoy it regardless. It was a straightforward, “don’t make me think too hard where’s the bang bang zoom” superhero flick and that’s what keeps people coming back to the box office.

Would I prefer more in-depth stories and nuanced acting? Of course. Fuck, I enjoy stories more than art when I read comic books; it’s the writing that draws me in, I don’t get lost in the drawings. But that doesn’t work for Joe Everyman, nor does it mean Marvel movies are completely shallow, brightly colored rainbow lights. I can criticize, but still enjoy the show.

I also happened to (finally!) watch the full version of Bats vs Superman at home and…wow. Just wow. Editing is a bitch, because, it was a completely different movie. I’m the biggest DC fanboy out there, and I walked out of BvS pissed off at the choices that were made. But watch the home version, it all made absolute sense and I get it. All of it. Even Lex came across as less of a manic nutjob. That’s the movie that was meant to be on the big screen, and What. A. Difference. (Catching the “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” graffiti on a wall and recognizing what it meant was my own private “yeah baby!” moment.)

Marvel vs DC movies are really comparing candied apples to duck a l’orange. They’re both meant to be eaten and enjoyed. Just not necessarily at the same table

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10 Books That Have Never Left Me

May09
by Trickster on May 9, 2016 at 4:58 pm
Posted In: Authors, Books, Inspiration, Life

A year or so ago, I’d seen a “challenge” on social media that, social media being what it is, pretty much went no place fast. It was, perhaps, too cerebral for the interwebz to process. “Make a list of 10 books that have stayed with me in some way after reading them.”

Ten? Just ten? Great Ceasar’s Ghost, how could I limit myself to just ten books out of the thousands I’ve read in my lifetime?

But then…I sat down and thought about it. And thought about it. And slowly a list came together; slowly, but surprisingly easier than I thought it would be. I’ve let this list sit and linger a bit, coming back to it and rethinking a few here and there. But ultimately I didn’t edit this list very much, replacing maybe three books with others.  Which goes to say that there are, I suppose, those influences that just manage to stick with us – for various reasons.  So without much further ado, here’s my list (in no particular order):

The Story of Doctor Doolittle

I can still, to this day, recall that pale blue book sitting on my shelf. I’d read it so often the hardbound cover was falling off, the pages tattered and browned with age and use. This was probably my first introduction to fantasy worlds, or more properly – the imaginative worlds that could exist around us, if we’d only open our eyes and see them. It’s because of this book that I dreamed of far away places of oddities, magical wonders, and strange peoples.

Journey To the West

This influenced me later in life. It was sometime in the early 1990s, and I was at a friend’s house party where we’d crashed overnight. I’d awoken to this cartoon on the television being watched by a child in the house; it was in Chinese, and obviously a pretty old cartoon. There was this monkey character on screen, and I found myself captivated by the story despite not understanding a word of it. I immediately tracked down the book and found myself absorbed into it, embracing it as if Sun Wu Kong was a long lost relative and these were the tales of his journey back into my life.

The Hobbit

Perhaps a week or so before Summer break, my 4th grade teacher pulled me aside and handed me a thin paperback book. With a smile she told me she thought I’d enjoy reading it, and I could hand it back to her when I returned in the Fall. That book was the Hobbit, and that was my segueway into the worlds of elves and dwarves and dragons and magic.

Discworld, The Colour of Magic

Again, a series that came to me at a later age. Terry Pratchett’s Discworld combined a sarcastic British humour (which I’d come to appreciate thanks largely in part to Benny Hill and Monty Python) with the fantasy worlds I’d grown accustomed to. Funny, sarcastic, suggestive…but amazing writing with a rich, fleshed out world.

One Thousand and One Nights

Fairy tales were my drug of choice as a child, but I don’t think any fascinated me so much as the tales told by Scheherezade. I wanted to be Aladdin, Ali Baba, Sinbad…these were my heroes as much as the spandex wearing comic book types were – if for no other reason than they were my first anti-heroes, thieves and swashbucklers who were always one step ahead of danger, but somehow managing to do the right thing in the end.

A Song of Ice and Fire: Game of Thrones

If the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings were my bible, then George RR Martin’s epic has been my curse. I may grow old and wither before these books are ever finished, and I will growl and grumble and stamp my feet in frustration. But when that sixth book, Winds of Winter, arrives I’ll turn into Smeagol muttering “my precious…” as I eagerly flip through those long-anticipated pages.

American Gods

This was a tough choice, because Neil Gaiman’s stories have become near and dear to my heart. But if I have to pick one, and I absolutely have to – this is the one I’d choose. His take on the status of these gods of old, trying their best to hold onto existence in the face of newer, rasher, harsher gods of today? Amazing.

The Killing Joke

Comic books have always been a love of mine, and legends hold that it was on comic books that I learned to read. I can believe it, because my earliest reading memories were of lounging on my bed, head in curled hands, legs bent in the air as I fell into their pages.  So to leave them off this list would be a travesty, but which? A tough call, but the Killing Joke was one of the best written comic books (to me) in decades. The classic Batman vs. Joker confrontation, with the Joker recognizing that all it took to create the monster he was, was One Bad Day – unarguably the very same One Bad Day that created the Batman himself. Joker’s attempt to prove that anyone could be driven to become a Joker, or a Batman, under the right circumstances? Epic concept.

Grimm’s Fairy Tales

The day I realized “holy crap, these are some righteously fucked up stories!” is the day I saw the world through clearer eyes.  I can recall reading The Tinderbox and at some point I thought: wait, this soldier broke his word, and killed the witch. And he’s kidnapping this woman. Every night. And “kissing” her, as if I’m an idiot and I don’t know what this actually means he’s doing to her. And she’s passed out the entire time. Can we say, roofied? Date rape? Da fuq, man…! But: again, these stories stuck with me because they were nothing like the Disneyfied versions I’d been fed by television and movies.

Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight

Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman created such heartwarming characters, full of depth and life, out of the Dungeons & Dragon’s board game world that to this day, I strive to create characters that will mean as much to someone else. Tanis, Raistlin, Kitiara, even burly old Strurm – I lived and died with them.

 

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Life, Liberty, & the Pursuit of Happiness

May06
by Trickster on May 6, 2016 at 10:52 am
Posted In: Life, Other, Politics

I’ve been seeing all over social media lately various opinions over the upcoming U.S. Presidential candidates and subsequent elections.  They all tend towards the “You’re a Moron if you Vote for X”, or “If you’re voting for X, unfriend me”, or “X is a fool”, blah blah yadda yadda yadda.

Of course I have my own opinions on who I would vote for, and perhaps more specifically would vote against. I, too, have an asshole, and like everyone else’s opinions it too is likely just as full of shit.

Honestly tho? I don’t care who you vote for. I mean, I *do*…but I don’t. Vote Hillary. Vote Drumpf. Write in your vote for Sanders, for Cruz, for Fiorina, for Mickey goddamn mouse.

But just vote. Don’t sit at home and grumble because your preferred candidate didn’t make it. That’s just bullshit. Make a choice, don’t abstain from participating because you’re feeling pouty. Sheesh.  All the people in this nation that had to fight just to be able to vote, to have their voice counted…don’t waste that.

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My old blog site is no longer maintained, but I enjoyed writing it for a number of years and I thought it worthwhile to keep it on life support here: Dr3amc@tch3r

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