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Perhaps you’ve know the story, or believe you do. Trust me, if there’s one thing I’ve learned as a writer, the story behind the story can often be just as epic, if not more so. Truth being stranger than fiction and all of that.
One thing I’ve learned over the years is that being an artist comes with its own assortment of gifts (and/or burdens) that are often blessings and/or curses. Among them, being a seer. I don’t mean physical sight. The type of sight I’m alluding to would be what a Thunderian would best describe as “sight beyond sight.”
The frustrating part is that you often feel like the Greek Oracle Cassandra. You see the patterns, the history, the connections and no matter how clear you see into the truth of things, your wisdom and insight is dismissed as eccentricity (if you’re lucky), over and over and over again.
But every so often, you get to witness something truly special. More than that, you get to witness someone truly special. A rare and remarkable person who redefines greatness, and does the impossible with the greatest of ease.
History and other records will usually miss these individuals and their deeds which makes their accomplishments (and those of us privileged witness it) all the more momentous.
But even being blessed/cursed with seeing into the truth of things, you don’t always see everything. In fact, the overarching truth can seemingly be just out of reach. Sometimes you have to step back and step away to gain a better purview of the story/truth being told.
I had to do this recently in order to better understand this enigmatic affinity I seem to have with the Pogue Clan.
I first met Patriarch Paul Pogue through the online Fedeykin/Isle of Misfit toys, we’re both prominent members of. As years passed, I’ve come to consider Paul a friend, a brother, and someone who continues to impress me. And as years past I also feel honored to call Katrina aka Lady Pogue a dear friend. And being prideful geek parents, their posts of Armand and Autumn Rose never failed to brighten my day. All the more reason why I was floored when I learned what the kids had overcome, and as parents what Paul and Lady Pogue had been put through.
All the more reason I was truly honored when Paul dubbed me President for Life of the #TeamArmand fan club. Yet I felt a deep connection with the kids’ story, and I wasn’t sure why.
In rewatching the video, my purview broadened immensely. For this was a story I knew all too well. Armand, and for that matter his sister, didn’t simply survive or weather a tragedy. They allowed that to fuel them, to drive them to evolve and become even more powerful than they were initially.
It was the same vow I made as a child to be an golden boy, a prodigy, when I learned the truth that I was on borrowed time as a gay black kid in the South. I would not only survive but I would rise and fly.
Pressure, tragedy crushes, no doubt. But it also creates diamonds. In short, these two siblings pulled a Batman. Actually Batman pulled an “us” because let’s keep it 100 here folks, on his best day, Rich Boy isn’t ready for that Pogue and/or Upkins realness.
#YeahISaidItNowWhat
#IApologizeForNothing
This also what many wise individuals consider to be the very definition of a true alpha. It’s one who rises purely on the strength of the character, by virtue, by sheer force of will.
Wanna know where this real dyanmic duo attained such an indomitable will in the face of impossible odds, you need only look know further than their mother and father. Few units could’ve survived the challenges they faced in tact, and the Pogue Clan has proven to be the very definition of what family is: Ride or Die.
They’re like a live action version of the Incredibles.
There’s a running joke among many of us that the Pogue residence is actually a front for a training ground for Earth’s secret superheroes. You laugh but the hobbies amongs the Pogues themselves includes, horseback riding, archery, and parkour. The Punisher doesn’t even have all of those skillsets. Neither does Guy Gardner. Just saying.
One night while outlining a story, I took it a step further and played around with the idea of the Pogue Institute: a covert organization that would be my answer to SHIELD, Torchwood and CTU.
So in addition to being immortalized as Real American Heroes, the Siblings Pogue and the Institute will be making an appearance in the next story I’m currently working on.
I kinda envision them looking pretty stellar and epic like this pair here.
And to think, some of this may not have been possible if Paul’s love for all things GI Joe hadn’t been galvanized by his watching of GI Joe: Retaliation, a recommendation made by yours truly. See what happens when we listen to Denny, GREATNESS HAPPENS.
You’re welcome.
And more importantly, to you and the rest of the Pogue Clan, THANK YOU. I can already see that this story is just beginning and there’s plenty more of this tale to tell.
See what I did there?
This post was made possible by our friends at the Pogue Institute and by viewers like you.
#TeamArmand
#TeamPogue
#PogueInstitute
#truealphas
DENNIS R. UPKINS 