A Question?

What's stronger than steel,
yet lighter than a feather?
Dedicated enough
to brave any weather.

Heals most wounds,
with only a little.
Yet under its pressure,
can make your heart brittle.

It lasts through the ages,
yet rarely tarnished.
An unending feast,
with every garnish.

Brings people to their knees,
an expression of beauty.
Can bring some to tears,
despite courage and duty.

© Copyright 2011 Brian Joseph Johns

The Origins Of Shhhh! Digital Media

Hi. if you've found this site, you're looking at the origins of what eventually became Shhhh! Digital Media (https://www.shhhhdigital.ca or https://www.shhhhdigital.com).

The truth is that I haven't maintained this site in almost ten years, picking today, May 27 2025 to update with a few small edits in order to keep it in sync with my flagship web site, Shhhh! Digital Media.

Also, I updated it to deal with a group of people who have been for the last fifteen years, attempting to steal my content and the credit for it, while harassing me and essentially erasing my existence. Not only that, but I was horribly betrayed by groups in society for whom I'd gone to bat many times in their protection, many of them helping the very thieves stealing the credit for my content. 

As a result, I'm very bitter about this turn of events and will never represent or defend members of those communities again for the rest of my life. The most horrible dishonourable betrayal, which explains why over the last few months having had enough, I might appear to be quite bitter and angry. Its ironic how quickly people will use that politically to elevate themselves and push you down even after having victimized you as such. I really have a very low trust of people at this point.

I've since gone to great lengths to expose them and will continue to do so. Between all of that, I will also continue writing and publishing my content on Shhhh! Digital Media.

This site started out under the web address http://poetryandfiction.blogspot.com (which is now defunct). It now resides at https://poetryandfiction.shhhhdigital.com

I originally started this site in mid 2012, using it as a place to post my creative fiction and my thoughts and opinions with regard to the state of things.

I'm Brian Joseph Johns and I live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in Regent Park in 200 Sherbourne Street in Apt 701 and have for about thirteen years as of this writing (2012 > 2025).

I originally published A Lady's Prerogative and The Butterfly Dragon (two of my flagship novels) in mid 2012 on this site, around the same time I originally published the website itself. I also published the still work in progress Stories From The End, which details the adventures of a crafty electrical engineer and her peers from work as the society around them collapses. All of these books remained in their first draft format, online and for free if you took the time to read them.

In 2014, looking to expand the focus of my site I created two separate sites to house A Lady's Prerogative and The Butterfly Dragon each. Around the same time, I also created Shhhh! Digital Media. I initially started out by publishing software there. My first offering was a somewhat dated password manager that offered many features including hotkeys and limited automation and ran strictly on Windows.

As the popularity of A Lady's Prerogative and The Butterfly Dragon grew, I became overwhelmed by the amount of work I was putting into each of them, their being on separate sites. So I merged them with Shhhh! Digital Media in 2015, and started writing new material for both in the form of their sequels.

I did however save several backup copies of the site before I deleted it, and low and behold, that's what you're reading right this very second thanks to the magic of technology!

So, this is what's left of my Poetry And Fiction site. Its a bit rough around the edges and there are missing images from the original site, but its mostly intact. Please enjoy.

This content is entirely produced in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at 200 Sherbourne Street Suite 701 under the Shhhh! Digital Media banner.

Brian Joseph Johns

https://www.shhhhdigital.com

https://www.shhhhdigital.ca

https://www.twitter.com/MediaShhhh

https://www.facebook.com/shhhhdigital

https://www.tiktok.com/@shhhhdigitalofficial
https://shop.shhhhdigital.com

Produced at Shhhh! Digital Media
200 Sherbourne Street Suite 701
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Inquiries: brian.joseph.johns@shhhhdigital.com, info@shhhhdigital.com

Copyright © 2025 Brian Joseph Johns

Happy International Women's Day

Just a message here to say Happy International Women's Day.

As my part for this Women's Day I did something that I did a few years ago when Canada was under the leadership of Stephen Harper. I wrote a letter to our current Prime Minister with regard to the same issues regarding the protection and fair treatment of Women in our society. The last time I wrote such a letter, I received an official written reply (not a canned response) which addressed all of the issues I cited.

I have much confidence in our current Prime Minister and support the family of the Prime Minister's office in the attaining of those goals and others.

Brian Joseph Johns

A Message To Our Veterans

To our Veterans I'd like to say a very humble thank you. That thank you extends back to the first battles fought to secure the peace for some, sovereignty for others and freedom many generations ago.

A "just" war is fought for those reasons and is the sacrifice that a people are willing to make to secure their sovereignty and freedom or that thereof for others. The truth is that the real enemy is war as much as it is threats to sovereignty and freedom. Perhaps when that is considered then Veterans everywhere will be recognized together for they are the only ones who truly know that price. Perhaps despotic leaders or agendas that lead the people to war will become a thing of the past and become replaced by the Veterans of organizations like the United Nations. Peacekeepers are Veterans too.

Their symbol as it is for many Veterans is one of might for right rather than might is right to coin a phrase from T. H. White's The Sword In The Stone.

When we all can sit down at the same table and agree what is right for us and what is not and what is not right to decide for people, then the valuable lesson that the deeds of the Veteran have taught us will have been learned.

Thank you to our Veterans and Peacekeepers

Brian Joseph Johns

About My Book Characters...

For those that think my characters come from video games that I play, I'd say no to that. None of my books are fan fiction (though I had started some stories based in the Marvel Universe and the Star Wars Universe that I'd put on hold about a year and a half ago).

I write the story first and the characters I slowly develop as the story progresses. Sometimes, when I am part way through what I am writing, I want to visualize and get a better picture so I try creating that character in a video game. I recently wrote an article about this topic. That starts with a character from my books that already exists, not one that existed in a game world, or that I created for a game. I've never taken any of my characters or the ideas for my books from another creative property.

It would be fun to write for other pre-created worlds and concepts in a fan fiction story, but for now I want to get my own well founded first.

So the Butterfly Dragon and her counterpart the Dragon Butterfly both are my concepts and characters and started from my own ideas (away from video games). The Butterfly Dragon existed as a counterpart to Alicia Westin's Night Style character, and as the foundation of their friendship. Keep in mind that I am doing this on a very tight and limited budget and pretty much by myself. If I could afford to hire artists to work with in developing concepts then I most certainly would. For now its just myself.

So, I just wanted to say that the characters and stories are completely original (not coming from any video game or other source) and the delay in publishing is as a result not my intent, but a result of this cult.

I am Brian Joseph Johns and this is http://poetryandfiction.blogspot.ca.

Of Butterfly Dragon, Dragon Butterfly and character design...

I've been playing games from the Saints Row series. I am a firm believer in the fact that books, movies, television and games are a great way to and that they are make believe. That means that you can peruse them with the only risk being emotional.

They are most certainly a powerful medium and most parents' efforts should be directed towards getting their children ready for when they can make their own judgements about what is right and wrong, and learning to accept the responsibility for their bad choices but teaching them to feel confident enough to make the right ones. The ones that they wont regret years down the road and decisions that they make of their own accord (ie not as a result of peer pressure or their impressions gained by outside influences that contradict their own notion of good and bad and everything in between).

I don't have any children, which means I am free to peruse whatever I like in terms of entertainment (I usually like very good stories, drama and action in my movies though I like story driven movies as well). Some movies and games that I peruse have violence in them but I am not a violent person really. Some movies and games that I peruse have references to drugs (or more recently, drug use in one of them).

When you buy a movie, a book, a television show or a game, you only get to see the cover and short caption related to the plot. When you buy it, you are taking a chance that it is going to be in your tastes and hopefully that it is going to affect you in some way. Challenge your thinking and sometimes even shock you because when it does, it makes you think about things you might not have thought about from the safety of your predictable surroundings though I like predictable surroundings. So they're a thrill from the safety of your zone of predicable safety.

So as I said, I bought Saints Row 4 and Saints Row 2 on sale expecting something a little bit different and it has such a good interface for doing characters that I thought I`ll do up a character of Butterfly Dragon (in Saints Row 4) to how I envision her, and see how it goes. I managed to get her pretty close to the look that I envision but the costume needs a lot more work seeing as it is a canned suit from the game. The character's looks appear almost exactly how I envision her though aside from her clothing.

I`ve done the same in DC Universe Online (I`d do the same thing with Marvel`s games but they haven't put one out where you can design your own hero using Marvel`s system and powers).

In Saints Row 2, I created the Dragon Butterfly to how I envision her (obviously limited by the fact that it is multiple choice really, but I got it very close to her look and she really looks great in terms of design though not enough choices in clothing or tattoos).

While playing the Butterfly Dragon character in Saints Row 4, there is a questionable scene where the character actually gets involved in the "partying", which goes far beyond anything I'd envisioned for the character and the Butterfly Dragon, but this isn't the story of the Butterfly Dragon. It's the story of Saint's Row and I put a character from one of my novels into it and got some unexpected results. So the reason that I am saying this is because if anyone out there that is carrying the "weight" or aspects of the Heylyn Yates character from my book The Butterfly Dragon II: Dragon Butterfly, watch out because some people might try to put something onto you that is not a part of the character Heylyn Yates (Ai Yuanlin Ying).

She's a headstrong girl as she was growing up. She never really got into "partying" a lot because she was always so obsessed with designing and spent a lot of time training for her three black belts (in Kung Fu which I believe does not use the Kyu system of progression, Tae Kwon Do and Goju Jujitsu Ryu). The character does drink on occasion (though rarely excessively). The character does not get involved in much more than that at all.

So if anything comes your way in regard to that, keep in mind that the character, or myself do not condone excessive activities in that way. That just means, its Ok to have fun responsibly, ie don't drive if you're drinking, stay away from drugs and make sure you stay with your friends and leave together (leaving the driving to a designated driver or even better, a taxi). Heylyn rarely does "party" though she loves dancing and drugs are not a part of her being at all. So the Butterfly Dragon has nothing to do with drugs in that way. She helped Monique to get away from a path that could have landed her in a gutter. Heylyn is head strong, independent enough to make her own decisions and she usually makes good ones. After the runway fashion shows she designs for, there is often an after show party where she usually socializes with those in her business over a drink. I myself don't smoke or use narcotics at all and I drink on occasion so don`t expect those things from the character or myself.

I posted this partly as it seems that the cult spying on my computer illegally (again, I am not a criminal or a member of a gang and its conducted by a local collective in the community illegally) seem to have a pretty good idea about the people I used as a character reference for the characters of my books. So this is mostly a heads up to those Women to be on guard for the activities of this cult in relation to the characters. If you start getting stalked about activities that don't seem to coincide with the characters of the book, chances are its the cult who conduct the illegal spying at work. Their reach is quite far and devious though I'm working on getting them "caught" with their hand in the cookie jar.

As far as Dragon Butterfly goes, she too is even more rigid that Heylyn. I can`t say too much without giving away plot details. She is a ruthless killer, who will befriend someone and then quickly dispatch them to seek and ends to her ultimate goals which I will never divulge. In the Saint's Row universe, she'd never get involved in running an empire and be more likely to take them down, though its not quite so simple as that. You wouldn't be likely to meet her in an office party as much as running into her on the street. She'd just kind of show up from out of the corner of your eye.

Again this is just a testing ground to try out various designs for the characters and in case someone is carrying the weight of those characters. I never take anything that I write from a video game. Never. I write first and create the character in the book and start the book off, then after a few chapters in I might try to feel them out in a game or even a 3D program or Photoshop (from scanned hand sketches). Games are great tools for that and giving them a bit of a visual life. The game designers really put some great tools for designing the facial features and body that make a lot possible in terms of character design.

As I was getting to my point about books, movies, television shows and video games. As Forest Gump's Mother used to say: Books, movies, television shows and video games are like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get. When you buy it, you're taking a chance. Nobody should ever be penalized for the movies they watch, the books they read or the television or video games that they play. They're make believe. You never know what's going to happen between the beginning and the ending. You might not agree with it, but its part of the experience. I stand by that fact that they are and should be protected forms of expression. Hopefully most people will use them responsibly as such.

I honestly think that games and movies are a lot alike in that aspect and some games like graphic novels and books are designed primarily for mature gamers. In many households across the country, there are adults, couples, game parties and many other experiences that have turned it into a social endeavor. Though I'd be just as likely to curl up with Heylyn on the couch and watch a quiet movie together (in my dreams), I believe in the fact that those mediums of presentation should always be well protected. Years ago some people tried to ban Catcher In The Rye and even The Chrysalids and comic books from Libraries and Schools too. When perusing a form of media like the ones I`ve discussed, you might see something that you don`t agree with, and if it challenges you to think about that aspect of life or another point of view, then its done its job. You have to be challenged by something to consider why it is you disagree with it. Some content is not intended for younger viewers and people have to remember that with books, movies and games.

Though I enjoy the Saints Row series of games, I wouldn't like being a gangster, even if the gangster is the focal point of the movie or game. Then again, does watching The Silence Of The Lambs make you an FBI agent or a serial killer? Does it mean you agree with serial killing? Or even just killing? None of the above. It challenges you to take a trip with characters that you grow to identify with (or don't identify with at all) and then venture with them through a an adventure or trial of some form. They either survive, changed by their experience or they don't survive. In either case can it can be an enlightening experience and perhaps it is one of the most potent forms of learning by the fact that you can have such experiences without the real life risks.

None of my written characters are based upon anything to do with the video games that I play at all. I write, come up with a character in the book, then try to manifest that character in a video game so I can try to embody the characters in the game world.

So to play as a gangster does not mean to agree with them anymore than it means to watch Silence Of The Lambs is to agree with serial killing. Now someone is going to bring up the show Dexter.

I am Brian Joseph Johns and this is http://poetryandfiction.blogspot.ca.

Congratulations To Two Internet Innovators...

I'd like to take a moment to catch up on some needed news with two announcements.

First of all, congratulations to I Justine on her new book release at iTunes!

Secondly, congratulations to Yaya Han on the release of a comic book character based upon her called The Wonderous Girl Saga 1 and 2, both available from Lion Forge Comics.

See her site where she talks about having the chance to collaborate with Lion Forge Comics on the series.

I am looking forward to reading both at some point in the near future!

Brian Joseph Johns