Sell Out Copy #19 - January 19, 2009

As a result of our commitment to bringing you, our valued viewers, as much Villainesque entertainment as possible, I've decided to share this site which I've recently found (it'll probably be going up in our Villainesque links soon, don't rush us).

http://evilhow.com/tiki-index.php

I was thoroughly impressed by this site, as they seemed to have jumped headfirst into the idea of a villain lifestyle which we prize so highly here at Twisted Jenius. Slated as "the premier site of evildoer education and advice", you must admire their passion for villainy.

And speaking of a passion for villainy, I think somebody's going to be getting a new Villains & Heroes comic next week (rejoice!). I know that you had to wait a little while for season three to begin, as we have been working on other nefarious projects. Creating quality evil may take some time, but I can assure you that your patients will be rewarded.

        - False Prophet

Sell Out Copy #18 - January 8, 2009

One thing which we must constantly contend with here at Twisted Jenius is the balance between the quality and the quantity of the content which we provide. There is a definite correlation between the results of a project and the time which is spent on it. Of course, the more time which is spent on any single endeavor, the less content is created over any specific period of time and the less we are able update the site.

From what I can tell, most people tend to enjoy the Villains & Heroes comics more than anything else currently on TwistedJenius.com. This is understandable considering that the comics are more casually accessible, more interactive and generally make for more stimulating entertainment than anything else on this site. The downside is that they require a great deal more time to create than our simpler, written content and, keeping in mind that we are currently working on a much greater, in-depth project, we had decided to put them on hold for a little while.

However, despite this I am seriously considering launching season three of Villains & Heroes (I've already begun working on the first script). This will probably mean that I will be posting significantly fewer Evil Rants, as there are scheduling limitations due to internal deadlines relating to this larger project which we are now working on. If you would like to give us your opinion about this, please share your thoughts in the forum. I would appreciate any input that you may have on this matter. After all, you're the audience!

        - False Prophet

Sell Out Copy #17 - December 10, 2008

To the uninitiated, some aspects of Twisted Jenius may seem a little bit confusing, as we tend to deal with concepts that may otherwise seem bad to many people, in a positive way. This includes how we use various terms as well. So here is a quick guide to Twisted Jenius vocabulary and how you can expect us to treat certain words that might otherwise seem negative.

Evil- This is the big one and I have written two rants which address this topic (34 & 35). Aside from those  links,  I'll just say that evil is never considered a bad thing  to us  (as it is ultimately subjective).

Selfish/Selfishness- I consider selfishness to be a natural and inescapable part of the human condition and therefore I can not consider this word negative and will never use it in a negative way. It's either a good thing, or just neutral, as it comes naturally to us as humans and serves an important function to the individual (see Concepts of Evil - Part One).

Greed- Same explanation as selfish, above.

Hate- Also like selfish (see Hate: An Underappreciated Emotion for further explanation).

Darkness- Always used in a positive manner (though I'm always careful to only use it in the sinister enjoyment sense, not in the blatantly morbid or depressing sense, because that would be negative).

Predator- Also never used in a negative way on this site, as it is evocative of empowering ideas, fierce ambition and generally getting what you want. And like selfish, the word predator has a few related terms like sadistic/sadist and manipulator/manipulative, which can also be seen as empowering to the individual in a distinctly villainesque way. These words tend to either have positive or neutral connotations when used on this site.

Conversely, words like rotten, wretched and petty tend to have a more degrading connotation and are therefore used negatively on this site. Words such as goodness, righteousness and egalitarian are normally used in a negative context because these ideas are antithetical to the concepts which we favor here at Twisted Jenius. Words like insane, crazy and madness tend to be used with neutral or favorable connotations. It's also important to note that, as someone who does not judge people, actions or events on the basis of standard morality, I use many words in a fairly neutral way. Many things which I discuss here at Twisted Jenius, aren't necessarily seen as good or bad, they just are (even things which I don't like emotionally, often have a logical upside to them).

I hope that this brief explanation will make it easier for you, our valued readers, to absorb and process the entertainment/information which we provide for you here at Twisted Jenius and to better understand what we're for and what we're against. Because our standards are so different from that of many other forms of media, I can see how some of you may become a little confused. We take it all in stride.

        - False Prophet

Sell Out Copy #16 - November 24, 2008

"John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it."
        - attributed to Andrew Jackson

I love that quote, it's the very essence of the "screw this, I'm doing things my way" ideal. And the fact that this statement was supposedly aimed at a United States Chief Justice makes it that much more powerful (and screwed up). Andrew Jackson is our favorite U.S. president here at Twisted Jenius. As Vicious has pointed out, most people don't know much about Jackson and those who do, don't normally considered him to be their favorite president. But it is precisely all of the malevolent behaviors which many people tend to  link  to Jackson that makes him appealing  to us.  Simply put, Andrew Jackson is probably the most Villainesque president in American history.

This is a man who fought a total of thirteen duels in his life, one in which he killed Charles Dickinson; an individual who had killed 26 people in his many previous duels. Since Jackson knew that Dickinson was an expert duelist, he allowed him to shoot first, hitting Jackson in the chest, narrowly missing his heart. As Dickinson tried to reload, Jackson, still standing, took his time aiming and killed Dickinson. Aside from this, Jackson was also involved in what is arguably the most fierce and dirty presidential election in American history (you think that our elections are petty now, at least contemporary candidates don't generally go around publicly accusing their opponents' wives and mothers of being prostitutes). Jackson did technically merry another man's wife, openly threatened and vowed revenge against other prominent politicians and, after a botched assassination attempt (the first ever attempted assassination of a U.S. President), he flew into a rage and attacked his own would-be assassin with his walking cane. He is also often credited with this little incident known as the "Trail of Tears"; which you may have heard something about.

Anyone who has done much reading on Andrew Jackson tends to have some strong opinions about him and his subsequent legacy. He really is one of those "love him or hate him" type of historical figures. It can be argued that he did a lot of good and a lot of bad. Personally, as the amoral, misanthropic individual that I am, I find his exploits to be pretty entertaining (especially when compared to that of others who have held that office) and I find his darkest moments to be the best. Suffice it to say, he was one politician who definitely had a firm grasp of his own principles and knew how to get things done. Andrew Jackson was not the kind of person that you wanted to fuck with.

        - False Prophet

Sell Out Copy #15 - November 17, 2008

I would say that one of the most often overlooked features of this site is our desktop wallpapers in the leisure section. This is a shame (they're the only desktop images that we use on our own computers here at the asylum). I would encourage anyone who finds Twisted Jenius imagery appealing, to try one of our wallpapers out for size (and yes, of course they're free). As the person who created these images, I'm proud of them all, but I have to admit that some of them do tend to make better wallpaper than others and some are just better art (I created them at different times, and as you can tell from looking at the Villains & Heroes comics, my work has been steadily improving).

I would now like to tell you which four of these wallpapers that I use most frequently on my own desktop; taking into consideration both aesthetic and practical function (I tend to keep my desktop icons to the left of my screen). The one that I probably use them most is "Modern Day Moriarty", under the Product Wallpapers section. This is probably the darkest wallpaper that we have and I find it helps me to focus while working (plus, let's face it, I just like things dark!). The next two are "Thing O' Wickedness" and "Mr. Cain" character themed wallpapers which will be found in the Villains & Heroes Wallpapers section. I find that the colors and layout of these two in particular serve my needs very well. Of course this is just my opinion and I encourage you to try some of the other characters out and see how you like them.

Lastly, we have "Random Evil" under our Twisted Jenius Wallpapers section. I was originally just working on this picture for fun, but afterwards decided to make it into a desktop image. The critter in this image is loosely based on this Nyarlathotep Plush by ToyVault (and yes I have one). Somehow I doubt that Mr. Lovecraft ever imagined just how toyetic his is literary menagerie of cosmic horrors could be.

        - False Prophet

Sell Out Copy #14 - November 10, 2008

R.I.P. Toonami- I realize that I'm a couple of months late here, but I'd still like to offer my condolences. As many of you probably know by now, Toonami, a block of action animation which had been featured on Cartoon Network since 1997 was officially canceled late September. I, like many of you, have been a Toonami viewer since the beginning (when Space Ghost's Moltar was still hosting) and as with so many other American anime fans, was first introduced to anime through Toonami. I believe this is why so many anime fans have such positive memories of the Toonami lineup; it was the initial starting place of what would become a lifelong passion.

Many people have noted, for several years, that Toonami's programming had been going down hill (though I'm not quite as critical of Naruto as I know some of you are). Truth is that there was a time when it was much better and I think it is this nostalgic quality of those times and experiences which makes many people sad to see it go. I can sympathize. It can be argued that Toonami, in its prime, represents a landmark element within certain American subcultures. And I think it's safe to say that its effects are still being felt. That initial first glimpse that we had into a foreign culture which, as American youths, we could have known nothing about. That awe and amazement at this animation which was, and arguably still is, better than anything we had seen coming out from our American televisions before. We, who were there and watched, knew that we were witnessing something special. Those were great times and I know that we can't help but to lament the loss of them. We all instinctively know that this is the end of an era.

Strangely enough, one of my favorite things about the Toonami block was always the promos. Moltar's and then later Tom's motivational speeches, the cool and almost abstract promotions involving various show montages, the kick ass show intros as well as Toonami's many notable events and schedules such as the Midnight Run, the Rising Sun and Villiantines Day (personal favorite). And indeed, kids did love it! Those were some of the best promotions I've ever seen and now that I'm running an entertainment site I appreciate them all the more. I also believe that the quality and quantity of animated programming that was on during Toonami's prime has never been duplicated on regular American television. I still recall one of our host Tom's more memorable speeches from years ago and his words seem almost prophetic and haunting now: "Until the sun rises on a world without toonami. We remain the first and still the best. Only Toonami." Goodbye Toonami, there are many of us who will never forget you.

        - False Prophet

Sell Out Copy #13 - November 7, 2008

Here at Twisted Jenius, we not only strive to improve our products but, as with any evil business, we are concerned with our advertising as well (we call this page Sell Out for a reason). Lately I've been thinking about the advertising implications and uses of color. Now, for the most part I'm very pleased with the colors that I've chosen for our various page layouts and I wouldn't want to change them (I am actually extremely happy with the general look of this site, as it's not likely to be confused with many others). However, it has occur to me (and yes, this is fairly well known in advertising) that the color red can have a positive impact on sales as it tends to more readily catch the eye and excite the mind than most other colors do. After considering this (as well as many other ideas and options), I've decided to change the small text flanking the tops and bottoms of each of our poster ads to bright red, as opposed to the darker colors which they have been thus far.

This decision should not have any adverse affects on our overall color scheme, due to the fact that it's so relatively minor (and we do use the color as a regular part of this site's palette anyway). But it should call more attention to the original Twisted Jenius posters and therefore perhaps generate a few more sales. Another thing to note is that the main site content will now be using css files almost exclusively; as opposed to the styles being specified in html like they have been up to this point. Practicing the dark crafts of evil advertising and sinister site optimization may not always be easy, but in the end, nothing worthwhile is.

        - False Prophet

Sell Out Copy #12 - November 4, 2008

This is the true story behind the conception of one of our best-selling posters. I had been working at the city zoo for a couple of years and had my eye on a better position. I knew the person that was interviewing me (I would describe us as being more acquaintances, than friends) and, more importantly, I understood the essential attitude of this department as well as the zoo in general. Realistically, I knew my chances of getting this position were minimal, but you'll never get anywhere if you don't try. For the most part, the interview went about as I anticipated; but one question really threw me off.

The gentleman interviewing me asked where I saw myself in five years. This was very odd to me for two reasons, the first being that the question itself is so ridiculously cliché that I couldn't believe he'd even ask that. But, more significantly, it was my understanding that this kind of question is designed to gauge ones level of ambition. This was odd considering that everything in this work environment seemed designed to squelch ambition to the point where having any significant motivation or grand plans was laughable, as well as taboo. There was nothing in this workplace to indicate any desire for employees, on any level, to possess anything but the most basic level of ambition required to come to work on time (we're talking about a city zoo, a nonprofit organization). This put me in a very interesting situation. I had to answer a question intended to determine if I was adequately motivated and ambitious, in a workplace which seemed to be wholeheartedly against such ideas. I would have thought it was a trick question, but I'm sure that my interviewer wasn't that smart and definitely didn't have such a sense of humor (I suspect the opposite; he was actually delusional enough to take himself that seriously).

To this day, I still have no idea what the correct response to that question would have been in that particular interview. But for the brief moment that I paused to think about this, an image flashed through my mind that was very telling. This image was a symbolic representation of what I considered to be the only acceptable answer to that question (to me and for me). I couldn't have articulated this idea very well in that interview, even if I had wanted to (and it would have been insane for me to have tried, for multiple reasons). But as I was walking away, I remember thinking about it and understanding that this image which had popped into my head represented what my real answer was. In the end, I may not have managed to get the job; but I did get a really evil poster idea out of it!

        - False Prophet

Sell Out Copy #11 - October 24, 2008

Here's a seasonal ghost story for you. It was nearly six months ago to the day that we deleted one of the links in our Villainesque section. Though it was among the first group that we had put up on the page, we casually discarded it without conscience due to the fact that this particular link was dead. But this would not be the last of it, for a few days ago I was casually scrolling down our Villainesque page when I saw it. Sitting there idly in its place on the list; just as it had for many months before we unceremoniously cast it into oblivion. Upon noticing this familiar and yet out of place text, I timidly brought my cursor to rest over the large red letters of the link; and clicked.

In an instant the screen in front of me changed and to my abysmal horror, I found that the link was still dead! My mind could not fathom how this could be. How could a dead link which we, ourselves had unremorsefully deleted from our own links page just come back?! As I pondered this, the terrible truth came flooding into my mind. This link's hatred for us must have been so powerful as to allow it to resurrect itself despite the fact that the site which it had served as the link to, was no more. A dead link which, through some unfathomable form of dark craft, had managed to return for its revenge; an undead link! I immediately contacted Vicious and together, we were mercifully able to banish this abomination's vile code and descriptive text to a sacred folder deep within one of our hard drives before it was able to destroy us all. And this is where the evil, which we had unwittingly unleashed, shall forever remain as we pray that we have finally seen the last of the link of the undead (Dun Dun Dunnnn...).

Actually, what really happened was that we had accidentally copied that link from a backup file that we keep and had unknowingly pasted it there the last time that we updated the Villainesque links. I noticed it was back, clicked on it and confirmed that the link was still dead. I then notified Vicious (overlord of logic and master of programming) and he quickly corrected the oversight. Although this version of the story is more accurate, I still think my other, "slightly embellished" one is a lot more interesting. There is definitely a very spooky side to site maintenance.

        - False Prophet

Sell Out Copy #10 - October 21, 2008

Like any ambitious designer of sinister creations, I'm never completely satisfied with my work. This is what compelled me to make some aesthetic changes to two of our posters. The 'Be as a shark among sheep' poster features a new and improved image of the shark. Although he's still in the same pose, I've redone virtually all of his shading and have given him more variation in color and depth; resulting in a much more visually stunning effect. I've also redone the titular figure of the 'Modern Day Moriarty' poster to look a bit more menacing and thus more befitting of one of literature's first real super villains.

I have to say that I am quite pleased with the improvements that I have made and I now feel that these posters are finally living up to their potential. You can easily view the two works that I just mentioned, along with the others, by scrolling down to the bottom of this page or by clicking on our products page. As you know, we are constantly plotting new and more elaborate villainous entertainment products here at Twisted Jenius; but for right now I welcome you to enjoy these wonderfully evil motivational posters. I know I will!

        - False Prophet