Fish Tanks, Fish and Existential Angst

Dear Readers, Some of you have privately suggested Dark Lightning needs a premature flush to the other side, which got me to wondering: what is it about witnessing the jungle in action that makes us root for the underdog?

Invariably friends who have seen Battle at Kruger Park on YouTube have a similar response - for those of you who haven't, check out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU8DDYz68kM

Why do we love to hate villains so? And, have we really progressed so little since the colosseum spectacles of Roman times if our only change is to watch fish or fictional dramas? How indeed do the fictional characters feel about this?

And so, I decided today to talk with the Aliens about the fight for survival, and what this means for their characters. My transparent hope being that they could find something to tap into when acting out their pathological passion to rid the world of squirrels.

To my surprise I discovered that the Aliens did not realize they are to play the bad guys - on reflection, and given their limited schooling in all things narrative, this really shouldn't have been surprising. In any event, I tried to explain that there are no real bad guys, just characters with conflicting wants and needs. The response: see the photo above - Alien Two turned to Alien One for clarification while Alien One simply gazed at me in youthfully disguised befuddlement.

As for Dark Lightning, I am happy to report that the harmony in Robin's tank above is no greater than that in our live tank on the left (and for those of you who are wondering, yes that's Dark Lightning on the right - the two new gouramis are General Owusu just to the left of Dark Lightning and Mango Slice - who's name is not intended to be portentous - across the tank).

More soon.

Chin chin Ruthless Whims