#shokoti

[skeletor-enjoyer]

MOTU-Themed Pokemon Teams - Part 4

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4

It's the finale! Last time, I posted the Pokemon teams of Eternia's mightiest heroes! Now we return to evil with some (mostly) independent villains!

Credit to ExoticPoke for official art recolored to match Shiny Delphox: https://www.deviantart.com/exoticpoke/art/655-Shiny-Delphox-873352299

Batros's Team!

CROBAT (Poison/Flying): Bat!

NOIVERN (Flying/Dragon): I think this is the only case I re-use a pokemon without swapping colors around, but I had to! Because bat!

SWOOBAT (Psychic/Flying): A magical bat, just like Batros!

GLISCOR (Ground/Flying): Bat ears and wings make Gliscor close enough to a bat!

GALARIAN SLOWKING (Poison/Psychic): Batros is an intelligent evil wizard who plotted to become king of Eternia by stealing all their books. Galarian Slowking is also an intelligent, sinister-looking wizard.

SHINY DELPHOX (Fire/Psychic): Both of these wizards share much of their color schemes, and there is a type of bat called a flying fox!

Credit to Rachel Briggs for official-style art of beta Noctowl, check out more of her art here: https://x.com/RacieBeep/status/1301892632667398144

Credit to Anarlaurendil for official art recolored to match Shiny Hoothoot: https://www.deviantart.com/anarlaurendil/art/Hoothoot-shiny-993796280

Credit to ExoticPoke for official art recolored to match Shiny Poliwrath: https://www.deviantart.com/exoticpoke/art/062-Shiny-Poliwrath-872644591

Enchantress's Team!

BETA NOCTOWL (Psychic/Flying): I think of all owl pokemon, this one most closely resembles Enchantress. I made it flying/psychic because of Noctowl's association with time and to match its trainer's abilities.

NOCTOWL (Normal/Flying): Enchantress is shown to be able to spy through the eyes of ordinary owls!

SHINY HOOTHOOT (Normal/Flying): Many of her scenes show her peering into a glowing golden orb, including while she is spying through owl eyes!

DECIDUEYE (Grass/Ghost): Enchantress dresses like an owl!

MUK (Poison): When do-gooders storm her fortress, Enchantress sends out her 'sludge creatures' to stop them. Muk is known as the 'Sludge Pokemon' and resembles the squished form of these creatures.

SHINY POLIWRATH (Water/Fighting): Poliwrath represents her green, frog-like henchman Drude who betrays her at the end of the episode!

Credit to zhao10192009 for official art recolored to match Shiny Vileplume: https://www.deviantart.com/zhao10192009/art/0045-Vileplume-Male-Shiny-1061589302

Evilseed's Team!

CACTURNE (Grass/Dark): Cacturne's nature as a villainous plant man with a triangular head makes him similar to Evilseed.

CARNIVINE (Grass): Carnivine's bulbous green head and tangling vines fit Evilseed.

VICTREEBEL (Grass/Poison): Victreebel is connected to villainy through the Victreebel of James of Team Rocket.

TREVENANT (Ghost/Grass): Trevenant traps people in the woods, just like how Evilseed tied up many of Eternia's heroes and villains to a tree with vines.

FERROTHORN (Grass/Steel): Ferrothorn's bulbous head, yellow eyes, and powerful vines are a good match for Evilseed.

SHINY VILEPLUME (Grass/Poison): According to the Pokedex, "Its big head is heavy and hard to hold up."

Credit to ExoticPoke for official art recolored to match Shiny Feraligatr: https://www.deviantart.com/exoticpoke/art/160-Shiny-Feraligatr-872772844

Fang Man's Team!

AERODACTYL (Rock/Flying): The purple color, wings, head shape, and pointed tail are similar to the dragosaurs Fang Man can control.

ARCHEOPS (Rock/Flying): Archeops is another ancient flying creature with a color scheme very similar to Fang Man's.

SHINY FERALIGATR (Water): Feraligatr's blue head fins are the closest match I could find to Fang Man's.

DRACOZOLT (Electric/Dragon): Fang Man's MOTU Classics action figure came with a taser-looking device called a 'force field rod' which supposedly comes from his original model sheets (which I cannot confirm or find ANYWHERE!). The color schemes are also decently similar, and it matches the ancient/fossil theme.

DRUDDIGON (Dragon): This dragon has a remarkably similar color scheme to Fang Man, who is related to dragons!

ROARING MOON (Dragon/Dark): This dragon has both a similar color scheme to Fang Man and a head/body shape similar to the dragosaurs he rides.

Icer's Team!

GALARIAN DARMANITAN (Ice): A Pokedex entry for Galarian Darmanitan's zen mode form reveals it can melt its own body, similar to how Icer can melt down into a puddle and reform. Also, Icer was called 'Snow Man' during his design phase.

CRYOGONAL (Ice): Cryogonal has the ability to 'vanish' into steam and restrain prey using ice.

ABOMASNOW (Grass/Ice): Icer takes over a weather control station to freeze Eternia, and Abomasnow has the ability to control the weather to cause blizzards/hailstorms. Abomasnow's inspiration in the abominable snowman also matches Icer's production name.

BEARTIC (Ice): The weather station Icer takes control of is located at the 'top of the world', which would be the arctic of Earth. Beartic's white fur also matches Icer's white fur accessories.

BAXCALIBUR (Dragon/Ice): Ice

REGICE (Ice): Regice's carved ice-sculpture appearance matches Icer's face.

Credit to ExoticPoke for official art recolored to match Shiny Muk and Shiny Mega Sableye: https://www.deviantart.com/exoticpoke/art/089-Shiny-Muk-872676238 / https://www.deviantart.com/exoticpoke/art/302-Shiny-Sableye-Mega-875487115

Credit to TonOfDirt726 for official art recolored to match Shiny Stakataka and Shiny Hoopa Unbound: https://www.deviantart.com/tonofdirt726/art/805-Stakataka-824883423 / https://www.deviantart.com/tonofdirt726/art/720-Hoopa-Unbound-822637308

Plundor's Team!

DIGGERSBY (Normal/Ground): Both a rabbit and a construction worker who could assist in building Plundor's factories!

SHINY MUK (Poison): Muk represents the pollution that Plundor's factories have dumped into the waters of planet Trannis as well as the green liquefied life force of the planet which Plundor plans to sell off in exchange for incredible wealth and treasures.

GALARIAN WEEZING (Poison/Fairy): Galarian Weezing represent Plundor's evil factories.

SHINY MEGA SABLEYE (Dark/Ghost): Sableye's hunger for gems and appearance of being made of gold and emeralds represents Plundor's greed. The elongated ears of the mega form also make it vaguely resemble a rabbit.

SHINY STAKATAKA (Rock/Steel): Shiny Stakataka resembles a pile of gold bars, representing Plundor's need to endlessly hoard wealth. I also considered shiny Probopass, a partially golden 'easter' island head, but ended up deciding this better fit the theme of destructive greed.

SHINY HOOPA UNBOUND (Psychic/Dark): Possibly the greediest pokemon, Hoopa Unbound is said to have once stolen an entire castle in order to gain the treasure within. This suits Plundor's extreme greed well, and also helps explain how he could conquer an entire planet.

Credit to JorMxDos for official art recolored to match Shiny Raticate: https://www.deviantart.com/jormxdos/art/0020-Raticate-Female-Valencia-Shiny-Edit-987553132

Credit to TonOfDirt726 for official art recolored to match Shiny Tangrowth: https://www.deviantart.com/tonofdirt726/art/465-Tangrowth-Female-883530990

Credit to TrainerParshen for global link art recolored to match Shiny Yamask: https://www.deviantart.com/trainerparshen/art/Shiny-Yamask-Global-Link-Art-424945782

Shokoti's Team!

SHINY RATICATE (Normal): Shiny Raticate represents the giant red rat monster Shokoti keeps in her dungeon.

CRADILY (Rock/Grass): Cradily represents one of Shokoti's many green tentacle monsters called Darklings.

SHINY TANGROWTH (Grass): Shiny Tangrowth represents another of Shokoti's many Darklings (she has a lot of them!) SHINY YAMASK (Ghost): Shiny Yamask represents Lord Masque, an evil shadow wearing a white mask who serves Shokoti.

FROSLASS (Ice/Ghost): A cold witch-like pokemon focused on restraining and devouring the souls of humans, Froslass is similar in her strategy and disposition to Shokoti.

GUZZLORD (Dark/Dragon): Guzzlord represents the sleeping beast which Shokoti awakens, an eldritch abomination capable of devouring even stone.

And that's all the MOTU Pokemon teams I could think up! Let me know if you have any favorite teams, disagreements, or ideas for new teams! Or just comment whatever you are thinking about! And until next time... Good Journey!

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4

[masamune7905]

Tallstar Vs. Shokoti. Quick one today, a little drained this week. . . . . . #heman #shera #tallstar #shokoti #motu #mattel #retrocartoons #80scartoons https://www.instagram.com/p/Cf-aG0kLCsl/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[storiesfromthetoyshelf]

Motuc Odds & Ends part 1 #motuclassics #heman #mastersoftheuniverse #hemanandthemastersoftheuniverse #filmation #prahvus #lodar #shokoti #lordmasque #nepthu #plundor #countmarzo #demoman #evilseed #unnamedone #100toydays #storiesfromthetoyshelf https://www.instagram.com/p/CMtWhhTgvZe/?igshid=gkw0ebt0l4n9

[lemaistrechat]

Masters of the Universe: Snake and Lizard Men

Reptilian humanoids started appearing in MotU in the first, 1983, season of the Filmation cartoon.

Here’s Lizard Man, a supporting hero who appeared in four episodes.

Here is Fang Man, a bad guy who only appeared in “The Time Corridor”.

Bands of unnamed reptile men then appeared as wizards’ henchmen in two episodes, “House of Shokoti” and “Ordeal in the Darklands”.

So it already looks like we have two races of lizard people on Eternia. In Season 2, Kobra Khan was introduced.

In the very last episode, “The Cold Zone”, writer J. Michael Straczynski revealed that Kobra Khan had left the underground Repton civilization to commit crimes with Skeletor and friends. While their name was generically reptilian, named characters such as King Pythos indicate the entire people’s snakiness.

In 1986, the Snake Men faction was introduced to the toy line and its accompanying mini-comics. Members King Hiss, Sssqueeze and Snake Face were treated as having been banished by the Elders to a timeless dimension while living their evil lives thousands of years ago. Writer Steven Grant alluded to Kobra Khan’s people as descendants.

However, by the time kids would have opened this comic, the entire first season of (literal) sister show She-Ra would have aired, in September-December 1985. There, two other characters identified as Snake Men, Rattlor and Tung Lashor, were seen as members of Hordak’s Etherian Horde.

Both the mini-comic “King of the Snake Men” and newspaper comic arc “Vengeance of the Viper King” addressed these two being magically teleported from Etheria to Eternia to join King Hiss.

Unnamed Snake Men made two further appearances in the 80s: as hunter-gatherers who preceded Eternia’s first humans on the planet in the newspaper comic arc “Terror Takes Time” and as disorganized enemies of the five good wizards (Elders?) who organized under Hordak in the Power Tour stage show.

So much for official Snake Men. But we’re not done:

Almost simultaneously with him joining the Snake Men, Kobra Khan was seen commanding a band of evil lizard men (not to be confused with Lizard Man the hero) in the mini-comic “The Fastest Draw in the Universe”.

Jump forward to the summer of 1987 and fans were introduced to Saurod, a blue-scaled, bronze-armored mercenary employed by Skeletor in the live action film. He also appeared in all sorts of comics (mini-comic with the 3 film-related action figures, monthly comic, newspaper comic).

(pictured: Classics toy from 2015.)

While his armor looks like a fuller version of the partial plate armor we saw in the Repton culture, whether he was even native to Eternia was not explained at the time.

Then there’s one more before the Classics era. When He-Man traveled to another solar system in The New Adventures of He-Man, the Mutants of Denebria has their own lizard person, Lizorr.

He was said to be from the Gorn Desert of Denebria (a homage to the original Star Trek’s reptilian Gorn). His name suggests there’s no connection between his people and any Eternian Snake Men who ended up making their homes on Horde planets in the past two millennia or more.

[whymustablogbenamed]

About the hand and hat shaped bed, I headcanon that trollan babies are actually tiny, and the parents usually hide them beneath their hat when they sleep (easier to use both hands and harder to lose them). Maybe Orko was so shaken from his crash land on Eternia, that his spell for a comfortable bed got a bit of his wish for security and he just kept it later too. He actually sleeps in it in Just a Little Lie, but he used a different bed in the House of Shokoti part 1, but that was in a tent.

Ah--

I--

😭

[pennamesmith]

Oh boy, have I got good news for you!

I always get Conan the Barbarian confused with He-Man, which is funny because the only times I ever talk or think about Conan the Barbarian is when I’m talking or thinking about Robert E Howard, and the only times I ever talk or think about Robert E Howard is when I’m talking or thinking about his relationship with Lovecraft

Just imagine instead of “The Conan stories are a peripheral part of the Cthulhu Mythos” it’s  “The He-Man tv show is a peripheral part of the Cthulhu Mythos”

[emperorsfoot]

Insanity at the oddest of times: a MOTU idea that came at work

After D'vann Grayskull died in battle and appointed his closest advisors as the Council of Wisdom (CoW for short), one of its leading members, a Gar named Adi, left to handle a family matter. His youngest sister, Saeryn (sp?) had been bitten by a rare serpent, and there was no known cure. So, what does he do? He gives her a small fragment of his own newly gained power, not only curing her but giving her new magical skills.

Fast forward and the girl makes accidental contact with a reptilian creature who promises her power, power enough to ensure the Horde and other enemies never bother Eternia again. She eagerly accepts and forms a blood pact with this beast, the Sleeping Beast, a prototype genetic abomination of the Unnamed One. The young beautiful girl died that day, only to be reborn as Shokoti.

Shokoti was sealed away after a long hard fought struggle, and the contest of wills and magic shook Adi. He insisted on shifting forcus more to technology, as magic can be so easily corrupted (not knowing the Unnamed One being the culprit), and when the widow Veena forced the Gem of Protection, Adi took it and made a magi-tech copy. Magic should be locked away, only to be used by those wise enough. So, he created an off shoot, the First Ones, and created the first "She-Ra".

He wanted the Sword of He for this crusade as well, but he couldn't hope to convince Wun-Dar, the current He-Man, to agree with his choices.

*long sigh* sorry ^^; had the concept and wanted to share.

This is the craziest AU, but I kinda love it! It works! And it makes sense for offering explanations for why the Gar might be distrusted in Adam's time without having a Gar be the one who murdered D'Vann.

If Saryn became the demon Shokoti, and Adi was the founder of the First One... I like this. I like this a lot.

[basenji18]

Massive Headcannon That I Like, Because the Writers Gave Us Nothing:

Nicholas Powers is a dude on future Eternia. He gets sent out on a mission in space, for *some* reason. His ship accidentally goes through a rift in time and space.

He lands on Preternia, just on the edge of written history, but when the planet has still been around long enough that there are artifacts which are already considered ancient, and which have stopped working. When the starman lands, they suddenly start again. Nick finds himself imbued with powers as well, like Superman from the yellow sun.

The largest ruling body on this planet, the UN Council of Eternia, the Council of Elders, traces the phenomena back to the crash site, and bring him in. They make him one of their members, counting on him to be a powerful ally. (Would love to see Nick being more slightly built and slim like his daughter, then going through a kind of permanent He-Man transformation himself.) They flatter and build him up, and tell him he has landed with exactly the right people on Eternia; lucky for him he didn't fall in with some of the others.

But Nick is distraught. His spaceship is gone, and the technology to repair it doesn't even exist in this time, and he doesn't know how to build a new one even if it did. His home is gone, his family. He's a fish out of water and time.

Enter in a young queen (I saw one fanart call her "Mal-lyssa," which I get is another "evil" name joke, but I like Melissa, I think it's cute). Queen Melissa is ruler of Zalesia, a queendom of too much size and importance for the Council to ignore, but the queen is not a member of the Council, nor do Zalesia and the Council get along very well.

For one, most of the Council is made up of traditional patriarchies. The matriarchal nature of Zalesia doesn't always sit. For another, and much more dire, the Counsel sold Zalesia out to Hordak when he was around. When he split the planet into light and dark hemispheres, they left Zalesia out to dry. What was once lush forest land turned into permanight desert.

I imagine Zalesia survived under strong leaders with solid plans in place, because imagine if suddenly the world lost sunlight. That would affect every single life. What new crops are you going to grow? What food can your population live off of in the meantime? How will it affect travel and livestock and heating and and and and...?

Rulers who could pull a people through that would have major loyalty from their followers, and an understandably major chip on their shoulder at the people who let it happen.

So no, I don't think Zalesia has a great relationship with the Council to begin with. So I don't think Melissa takes too much notice of their rules when she comforts Nick. I believe the two genuinely fall in love and marry.

Enter fucking Hiss.

I still don't get why the Council is so willing to try and pacify every single would-be world dictator they come across. If there's a prophecy that a child of the Council will overthrow him, why are any of them using protection ever? Plus, I can kinda see this as being a bylaw they didn't tell Nick about until it was too late.

"Good news! I'm gonna be a daddy!"

"You WHAT?!?"

Again, I like the idea of a matriarchy which traces offspring through the mother. After all, in all those patriarchies, there's always going to be SOME question about the legitimacy of any heirs. If a woman has a kid, you know it's hers. So from the Zalesian standpoint, I think it would be a great cultural point if no one considered that Nick had broken the treaty, because under their laws, the child was the queen's.

(I also don't like her dying in childbirth, because it's overdone, and also how you gonna tell me this man controls gods and can't save his wife? That's a Queen Amadala-level copout. There's literal magic in this world, NO OTHER MotU character dies in childbirth, seriously. Try again.

What I really want to find a way to do is have Hiss set his sites on Zalesia, and instead of believing in the Council like her husband does, Melissa goes out to the desert to find help another way, and in some fashion or another becomes Shokoti. Anyhoo.)

The Faceless One transformation really pisses me off, and makes me discount the "good" guys of MotU. Because they could have killed him. They could have killed him, or let Hiss finish him off. Instead, the Council lets Zalesia be destroyed, LEAVES THE INFANT TO DIE IN A FIRE, but they don't kill Nick. Oh no. Because then their magical artifacts might stop working again, you see. So they make him immortal, and unable to ever leave. Trapped, and used as a not quite dead, not fully alive battery.

So what I wanna see is after Price of Deceit, Lyn joins up with He-Man, in full snarky and distrustful Lyn mode, they have to run from both Hiss and Skeletor, and He-Man's people who don't know what's going on. At some point He-Man as a personality is separated from Adam, which lets that go full enemies to lovers, and even though she doesn't do it like anybody else would have, Lyn does manage to fulfill the prophecy and bring down Hiss. She and He-Man go to the future, found New Zalesia, Adam is left to rule current Eternia, and Lyn goes Terminator and sends her own father back in time.

BAM. *mic drop*

[masamune7905]

I haven’t posted in a bit. Just have not wanted to draw lately, but decided to post today. Teela Vs Shokoti. . . . . . . . #heman #teela #motu #mastersoftheuniverse #shokoti #hemanfanart #fanart #mattel #matteltoys #80scartoons #retrocartoons #mattelmastersoftheuniverse https://www.instagram.com/p/CfX2otgL5Kk/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[strangelovecraft]

"Do you think your feeble chains can hold ME?!" ******************* #actionfigure #actionfigures #actionfigurephotography #shokoti #motu #motuclassics #toy #toys #toyphotography #toyphotogallery #toyplanet #toygroup_alliance #toycrewbuddies #toydiscovery #toyunion #toyartistry #epictoyart #wheretoysdwell #toysaremydrug #ata_dreadnoughts #fever_toyspics #tga_dianaofthemyscira #tcb_rescuefails #idigbluechickstoo

[lemaistrechat]

Masters of the Universe: the Gar

As I just mentioned to @emperorsfoot , whenever we’ve seen a Gar settlement, it has Japanese architecture. This is because the Gar people got their name from the 2002 episode #15 “The Mystery of Anwat Gar”, where the vanished people of Anwat Gar made magic stones that samurai armor pops out of.

However, their look goes back way further.

This is Jarvan, a blue-skinned, pointy-eared man with a handlebar mustache and medieval European clothes from the 1983 episode “A Friend in Need”.

This is the titular Shokoti from the 1983 “House of Shokoti” 2-part episode.  She dwelt in a pyramid in the desert near the Fortress of the Sands.

This is Hexon from the 1984 episode “Time Doesn’t Fly”, a wizard rocking the similar facial hair, purple cape and bare legs as what we’d eventually see on Keldor.

Hexon’s evil plan was to replace the Emperor of Simbar, who must appear before the Council of Seasons on the first day of spring to request permission to rule for another year, by getting there first.

The Emperor’s daughter is named Princess Cathay, an archaic name for China, and she dresses like this.

There was also Sy-Klone.

Here’s Sy-Klone again for his reintroduction for the 2002 series, #15 “The Mystery of Anwat Gar”:

Another blue person was Kronis, as Trap Jaw was called before he lost an arm and jaw and the rest of his head turned green:

Finally, in “The Power of Grayskull”, we saw a bald blue woman with round ears as a member of King Grayskull’s council (note also a Merman and a Caligar, Whiplash’s people).

This mute cameo seems to have inspired an elaborate plot in the 2010s DC comics about how the Gar were allies or vassals of King Grayskull and how racism against them developed.

This is Lord Adi, a member of King Grayskull’s council who convinced a woman named Saryn to assassinate him.

And this is Saryn. After killing King Grayskull, she fled and... became immortal in a pool of blood or something? Centuries or millennia later, she had sex with KG’s descendant Miro and became pregnant with Keldor.

[whymustablogbenamed]

Yes, think the Sorceress also keeps an eye on Orko when there is no magical or medical emergency, it looked like he can go inside Grayskull castle whenever he wants like in "Daimar the demon" or the episodes where he wants to go back to Trolla, but the "Temple of the sun" kind of hints she also helps him practice his spells. The only episode tough where Orko got seriously hurt was the "House of Shokoti", where Adam tells with the Sorceress he will be up and about in a few days.

Yeah, that sounds about right. They do seem to have a familiar relationship with each other, which makes sense not only given that Orko's a Trollan but that they're practically the only two mages on their side of the war.

[babybluebanshee]

Blue watches He-Man: The House of Shokoti, pt. 1

Finally, something I can relate to with Cringer: constant tiredness and the desire to nap.

Really? Teela and Duncan get space pirates, and we get desert wars with not-Skeletor? Blarg.

[masamune7905]

Shokoti from He-Man. I stumbled upon this character earlier today. I don’t remember the episode she was from, but I did like her look a lot XD . . . . . . #shokoti #heman #hemanandthemastersoftheuniverse #motu #motufanart #fanart #mattel #matteltoys #digitalart https://www.instagram.com/p/Ce2RFp_r5IM/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[intergalactic-zoo]

Larry DiTillio was a prolific writer of television shows, books, and RPGs. He was responsible for some of the most memorable parts of the He-Man mythos, like the dragon Granamyr and the Lovecraftian Shokoti, not to mention being a co-creator of She-Ra. He was one of the showrunners for Babylon 5 early on, and Beast Wars throughout its groundbreaking run. 

In 1999, he had an AOL e-mail address. 

So did I. I was a sophomore in high school, and I'd been assigned to interview someone for my speech class. Being the giant cartoon dork that I am, and at the time still very heavily enmeshed in my He-Man fandom phase (I showed that same speech teacher some of my fanfic because of course I did), I reached out to Mr. DiTillio, who graciously agreed to answer my dumb, dorky questions. 

I sent him my questions. In my memory, I'm pretty sure there were some back-and-forths over e-mail, and I sent follow-up questions, but AOL lost everything from that time, so I have no way of going back to check. What I do remember is that the deadline was approaching, and I didn't have what I needed to put my speech together. I was pretty nervous about public speaking to begin with (my previous speech, an informational presentation on '80s music, had umm-ed and ahh-ed its way to being four times longer in reality than it was when I practiced), so I was naturally pretty bummed out about it. My parents convinced me to interview my aunt as a backup.

I don't know what happened behind the scenes. I think my dad e-mailed him, though I don't know what he said. I also think Mr. DiTillio was recovering from an illness at the time. I'm not sure how I pieced that together; I think Mr. DiTillio made a comment that my Dad really cared about me, or something along those lines, somewhere in the exchange. Regardless, he answered my questions in time for me to put together the speech, which I kicked off with a little video montage of TV theme show openings from He-Man and Beast Wars and Captain Power that I put together with a couple of VCRs. 

It was the first time I ever interacted with a professional writer. It meant a great deal to me then, as an aspiring writer, even if I couldn't accept his advice against fanfic at the time. 

I'm finding that it still means a great deal to me, as a still-aspiring writer. I can't remember ever being this emotional while writing a post on this blog throughout its long, punctuated history. 

Ever since then, I've always felt a little thrill when I saw "Larry DiTillio" pop up in the credits of a show I'm watching. Part of it came from that brief interaction, and part from my confidence that I was in for a treat. The man was a hell of a writer no matter what he was writing for. 

You can read my interview with him here, though years of site redesigns have proliferated some errors into the text. But to close, I asked him what advice he'd give to aspiring writers, to me: 

Simple. You need 4 things to be a writer - TALENT, DESIRE, PERSISTENCE and LUCK. With those 4 things you can go wherever you want.

BUT, there is something else. Don't look to trends or fads or "what is selling now" to tell you what to write about. Your heart and your head are what informs your work.

You must write the movie/TV show/book/cartoon/play etc., that YOU want to see and your characters must come out of your own experience and sensibility. That is all any aspiring writer brings to the table- human experience and reflection on same. Stories are always about human hearts in conflict, so look for what makes you and those around you human.

And good luck.

I always hoped I'd get a chance to meet him, to have him sign a toy or a video or a copy of his book Shotguns vs. Cthulhu which I think I'm finally going to get around to reading. I always hoped I'd get a chance to thank him for taking the time to make a fifteen-year-old nerd feel special. I didn't, and I guess I won't get to. 

But thanks all the same, Mr. DiTillio. 

[strangelovecraft]

Life's a #witch... ****************** #shokoti #motu #motuclassics #actionfigures #actionfigure #actionfigurephotography #toy #toys #toyphotography #toyphotogallery #toyplanet #toygroup_alliance #toycrewbuddies #toydiscovery #toyunion #toyartistry #epictoyart #wheretoysdwell #toysaremydrug #ata_dreadnoughts #fever_toyspics #idigbluechickstoo