May 13th, 2024 - We're Not So Different, You and I

Dear TNY,

I waited until the evening to crank out “We’re Not So Different, You and I”. 

It’s pretty fucking original for your drab pages.  I imagine your readers will dislike it because it’s about superheroes and villains.  My guess is that’s because your readership doesn’t know that hero stories are pretty much the oldest fucking story we tell over and over again because it allows us to step away from realism to explore very real themes, but hey, maybe they read Joseph Campbell too.  But I recognize that you took a risk here and went with something different. Thank you.

But…was it good?  I liked that it was the plot to I Love You, Man but with supervillains. I just don’t think it went anywhere.  While superficially novel, it didn’t contain any real depth.  The conflict was light.  There was no transcendence.  So it all feels like a shitty Cracker Jack toy.  All the buildup to be completely let down.

I know these names were pulled from existing material as a spoof.  Ultra Man is likely Iron Man or maybe Batman, Death Skull is Red Skull, and Scuzz and Rumble are Bebop and Rocksteady.  Sure.  But Ultraman is a real fucking superhero.  Adding the space seems really fucking lazy and like you didn’t do your research. And he’s not obscure. He’s a whole fucking movement in Japan.

I don’t know.  When I first started this story, I got excited.  But the narrative is something a fifth grader would come up with and the execution was around that level too.  So, I’ll pass.  But I do appreciate you branching out.  Try some other new shit.  Let’s see what you can do.

Oh, I’ve had two stories picked up this year.  Isn’t that something?  My publication : submission ratio is 4%.  Wild.

What else?  Well, the special lady and her community suffered a great loss this week.  And it was done…well.  But it’s not my story to tell.  Just know there are people out there doing real work in the dark place, trying to put some candles on any horizontal surface, draping flowy fabrics about, and making sure there are plants everywhere.  It’s very different than blasé stories and never fucking responding after +5 years of writing every week.

Anyway, I did stair skirts today.  I’m sacked. 

Later.

Nick