If you are wondering what's the 'right' work for you to do, here's a question to wrap your mind around. "What is the work that you cannot NOT do?"
Your choice of work during your lifetime lies somewhere along a scale from "passionate world-changing work" to "waiting for your pension". Every job fits somewhere on that scale. You have heard of of people who are world-changers, and others who are working towards their pension. Are you worried about making the right choice now? There's no need to beat yourself up. Few people choose the 'perfect' job the first time, and remember that every job has something to teach you.
You will probably make different job choices at different times in your life. If you make a choice of job now, you can make another one in a year's time, paying attention to what you are learning from the challenges that come to you.
Whilst at this job, learn about the people, ther work and about yourself. Even if you cannot yet see your complete journey to the 'perfect' job, take this next step and take on any job that you can learn more from.
First of all, few world-changers started at the job they have today. Most changed jobs, many times. They stopped changing jobs when they found the job they couldn't NOT do.
When you want to find the world-changing work that you were born to do, you can work with these three areas:
Action Area 1) Become an expert in yourselfYou have to do this yourself, because nobody else will do this for you. Not even school - which is strange, but that's another story.
What are you good at? Hint. It's the things that you think are easy, and they might NOT be things that are rewarded in school.
Communication®	You generally find it easy to put your thoughts into words. You are a good conversationalist and presenter.
Competition®	You measure your progress against the performance of others. You strive to win first place and revel in contests.
Connectedness®	You have faith in the links between all things. You believe there are few coincidences and that almost every event has a reason.
It's useful to have a list of words that describe values so that you can see which are interesting and important to you:
Get the learning from each day. Spend time on reflecting on what went right, what went wrong. Want to repeat, have more of in your life.
The other two things that passionate world-changers did to discover their life work includes setting some ambitious goals and asking for support from the people around them.
Find out your limits. The easiest place to start is your physical limits. What's impossible for you? Push the limits - learn what's on the other side of 'impossible'. We are all different. What's impossible for you is easy for someone else. How to do the impossible? find a person who has crossed your limit already. Ask them to work with you to cross your limit. Ask! That's such a powerful skill. And you can start small, like you did when you learned to walk or ride a bike. No need to walk across a continent on the first day.
People affect each other - we are made that way. Over time, we tend to become 'the same' as the people around us, if we allow them to affect us strongly. Look at the people around you. Are they passionate about who they are and what they do? Or, do they bring you down? If so, find some respectful ways to put some distance between you and them.
Seek people who inspire you. We all work much better when we are in daily company of people who inspire us. Who inspires you? What is it about them that inspires you? You might find inspiration in music, videos or books. Download some good stuff and spend some time getting inspired by it every day. That's time well-spent.
And finally. It's true that if you don't know what you are looking for, you are never going to find it.
Powers/Abilities: Each of the Elves has been seen to carry a gun. In some cases, this was a conventional handgun, in other cases, it was a temporal displacement weapon.
Relf actually demonstrated magical abilities. He could levitate and reshape matter, he could heal wounds, and transform living creatures. However, his powers had definite limits: "There's this whole rigmarole--ratios of time to damage point to mana level-->ptuii< Elven magic is harder to score than a role playing game--"
(Defenders I#25) - The Elf appeared at the California mobile home of Tom and Linda Pritchett, called Tom by name, pulled out a gun, and blew him away.
(Defenders I#31) - The Elf appeared in Las Vegas, posing as a taxicab driver for Charles Lester and his wife. Suddenly, the cab driver's head popped off and out jumped the Elf. When the husband asked, "What is this?", the Elf replied, "It's 'Goodbye,' Charles." and then blew him away.
(Defenders I#38) - In the Grand Canyon, the Elf, dressed as an ancient American Indian, was encountered by Stu and his girlfriend. Stu figured the shaman would impart some ancient wisdom to him. Revealing himself, the Elf told him that he would indeed be wiser for this experience, and then blew him away.
(Defenders I#40) - In a unidentified city in the American Southwest, an Elf showed up in the Ladies' Room, where he blew away a woman, who had fled there to escape the Hulk.
(Defenders I#46) - Outside a house in upstate New York, owned by Kyle Richmond, the Elf prepared to ambush Greg, a paper boy. However, as he drew his gun, he was run over by a truck from Mac-Ray Moving Company, which took his measure and found him wanting.
(Marvel Comics Super Special#5) - In the Land of Leftovers--populated by symbolic figures from the 1960s living out that decade again and again eternally--the Elf (a white-haired version) encountered the alternate-dimensional superhero rock stars known as KISS. His curiosity got the better of his homicidal tendencies and so he just shouted "Bang! Bang! You're all Dead!" rather than actually shooting them. The Elf asked what they were doing there, and they said they just wanted a way out, since they'd been shunted there by a wizard, Khalis-Wu the Darklord.
The Elf told them where they were and sent them into the town to find Saurian Holmes to help them out. He then vanished, saying he had a late lunch with Ghengis Khan, but that the next time he saw them, he'd blow off all their heads. Starchild commented: "Nice Guy. I hope he gets hit by a truck."
(Defenders I#115) - After the death of Nighthawk (Kyle Richmond), his friend and nurse, Luann Bloom suspected that the Defenders were involved with his death. When she received a call telling her that the story she had been told by SHIELD was a lie, she agreed to meet the caller in order to learn the truth. She waited for him on a street corner of New York, and she met...an Elf.
(Defenders I#117) - Luann joined the Elf in his old Model T Ford, which suddenly transported them to a dusty back road in South Carolina. He next drove them straight into an old shack and through a portal into another dimension--whistling the whole time.
(Defenders I#118) - The Elf and Luann's journey ended in front of the enigmatic entities known as the Tribunal, who identified the Elf as Agent 334A-W, and Luann as T.B.#6-C.
(Defenders I#119) - In front of the Tribunal, the Elf reached up and pulled the mask off of Luann Bloom, revealing her to be a robot. The Tribunal revealed her to be one of their Time Buoys, and forced her to reveal an encounter with Yandroth, which was previously unknown to them. However, they found the information less than useful and they revealed their plan to destroy the Defenders. The Elf suggested they scrap Luann for spare parts, but this idea was rejected.
(Defenders I#122) - An Elf summoned the original four Defenders--Dr. Strange, the Hulk, Namor, and the Silver Surfer to Dr. Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum. After they all arrived, the Elf appeared and blasted them with his time displacement gun.
(Defenders I#123) - The Elf who blasted the Defenders then returned to the Tribunal, where he bragged of his success against the Defenders. When Luann flipped out, in denial of her existence as a robot, the one Elf (identified at Time Agent#3127.9) deactivated her, and then the two Elves split her in half to temporarily store her somewhere. The other Elf (identified at Time Agent#3127.10) told the Tribunal that they were making the Time Buoys too good, as this was the third one that had started thinking it was real. The Tribunal told him to just do his job or he would be sent back to the genetic pool and melted down.
Meanwhile, one of the Elves then confronted the Defenders, who were floating around in the time-stream. He then directed them on how to take a short-cut to the Tribunal. More than once, the other had to stop Namor from throttling the smart-@$$ Elf, since they knew he was their ticket out of there. Along the way, the Elf stopped off at 24th Century Earth (specifically, @ 2387), which was a dead and decaying world, and he told them, "...you four jerks caused it!"
(Defenders I#124, 125) - Dr. Strange bound the Elf in a mystical sphere and demanded to know the hows and whys of what had happened to Earth, but they were all transported before the Tribunal. There the Defenders were told what had happened to that future Earth, and they were also identified as the cause of it all. The Tribunal had the two Elves return Luann Bloom, and reveal her true nature to the Defenders. After Dr. Strange probed the Tribunal with the Eye of Vishanti (with their permission), he verified their nature and their belief in what they were telling him. As a result, the original four Defenders agreed to never again work together, or risk the interaction of their karmic energies leading to the destruction of Earth.
Meanwhile, one of the Elves narrated both stories of the Old and New Defenders. He got to like it so much that he planned to narrate the stories every issue from then on, until the other Elf showed up and drug him away.
(Spider-Man Team-Up#5/2) - Another Elf, calling himself Relf, showed up, hoping to find the trucker driver that had killed his uncle Melf. Though quite powerful, Relf had a number of limitations, and so required the assistance of some humans in order to accomplish his goal. He teamed up with the Circus of Crime, who were at the time on the outs with the Ringmaster, who was trying to go straight. They sent the Elf to steal the Ringmaster's hypno-disc. Relf knocked on Tiboldt's door, shot him, and stole...a miniature ukulele. The Circus was furious with Relf and ridiculed him, but he suddenly turned and shot them all--except the lovely Princess Python, who served as a witness to his power. He then magically removed the bullets and healed the fallen criminals, who now had a more healthy respect for him.
Now having a better idea of what he was looking for, Relf confronted the hospitalized Ringmaster and asked him where the disc was. Tiboldt told him that it had been taken by the FBI--who had searched his apartment after the shooting--and sent to Chicago. Relf then transformed Princess Python's snake into a winged creature, which transported them to Chicago. Relf called officer Dragon in Chicago and told him to bring the Ringmaster's disc to a warehouse in Cleveland, where he would trade it to him for the sitar (as which the ukulele is also referred). Officer Dragon brought with him Destroyer Duck.
Meanwhile, Peter Parker--at the time retired--and Ben Reilly--at the time Spider-Man--had tracked the Ringmaster's attack back to the Circus of Crime, in Cleveland. They both flew out there, and Spidey interrupted the exchange between Relf and Officer Dragon. Princess Python's snake attacked Spidey, but Officer Dragon pulled it off of him. Relf shot at them, but Destroyer Duck returned fire. Beverly Switzler (Howard the Duck's squeeze--hey, it's Gerber, and it takes place in Cleveland--had you any doubt!!??) tried to corral Relf, who cracked her in the head with his gun and took off. The rest of the Circus showed up and attacked the heroes, but Spidey used the Ringmaster's hypno-disc to subdue them.
Disgusted, Relf abandoned the Circus of Crime, determined to avenge Melf and finish his own mission his own way. Princess Python offered to...keep him company...along the way.
Steve Gerber wrote four pages of the Elf with a Gun over a period of two years, and then left the Defenders before explaining him. Gerber's Elf showed up in random locations and shot people from all walks of life, for no apparent reasons. Having read a lot of Gerber's stuff, I doubt he had any attentions of ever explaining anything, but rather intended the Elf to represent the random, chaotic nature of the universe.
"In interviews, Gerber would reveal that the Elf was nothing more than a backhanded metaphor for the chaotic and inexplicable nature of everyday existence, the "beast in the jungle" that you can spend a lifetime planning for but which still comes as a surprise or maybe never comes at all."
Roger Slifer/David Anthony Kraft wrote the Elf's demise in 1977, though I have no idea whether this was after discussing anything with Gerber.
Seven years later, in 1983, J. M. DeMatteis, brought in another Elf (actually two) and explained the whole deal:
According to Defenders I#124, they were bred by the powerful collection of entities known as the Tribunal, as an army of Time Agents, whose unique structure would allow them to bear the strain of time travel without causing historical imbalance. These Time Agents could also instantly assimilate the cultures and languages of any given era. Thinking for some reason that the elf was a key symbol constant to Earth's history, they molded their agents in that image.
The Tribunal dispatched their agents into Earth's past in search of clues to the destruction of Earth which they had foreseen. However, the Elves seemed to engender confusion and chaos wherever they appeared--images of Elves were seen watching over: (1) a pre-human, club wielding anthropoid, (2) a pair of men on a horse drawn carriage, carrying several coffins--the cobblestone streets and the dress of the men are reminiscent of images of Jack the Ripper, to me, (3) a shoot-out in the Old West of the USA.
Nonetheless, the Tribunal continued their investigation, and through the Elfs, they learned that the late 20th Century was the crisis point they had been seeking. Unable to determine the exact cause of Earth's destruction, they were able to pinpoint certain humans whose lives were, in minor ways, pivotal to the crisis. They sent their agent to use his Time Displacement Gun to remove these humans from the timestream, in hopes that such removal might alter future events and spare Earth. Their Elf removed Tom Pritchett, Charles Lester, and Richard Kessler(?) before falling victim to an accident. However, the Tribunal found that these beings were too insignificant to have made any difference, and they were returned to their homes with no memory of what had occurred.
Ultimately, the Tribunal revealed that the karmic energies of the original Defenders--Dr. Strange, the Hulk, Namor, and the Silver Surfer--interacted in such a way that if they continued to work together, the Earth would ultimately be destroyed.
One small point was that there pretty much seemed to be only two Elves interacting in this storyline, but the designation of the Elf in Defenders#118 (Time Agent#334A-W) is different from either of the two from Defenders#123-125. Either there were three of the Elves, one had more than one designation, or the Tribunal was hee-hee-hammered. Take your pick.
Another seven years later, in 1990, Peter David wrote a story that reunited Dr. Strange, the Hulk, and Namor, and revealed that the idea that the interactions of the original Defenders would lead to Earth's destruction was in fact some great big cosmic hoax. While it was not explained further, the three soon got together for another adventure, alongside the Silver Surfer, and then there was even the recent Defenders/Order series, which united them for a longer period of time. What the H is wrong with people reading comics these days? How the frick can Manga and other shite keep selling, while the Defenders failed? I loved the series, and if you didn't read it, you missed out. If you didn't like it, then I suspect you have been drinking too much of your own bathwater....ANYWAY...
The fact that the whole point of that story turned out to be a hoax, leads one to question any of the revelations in it, such as the explanation of the origin of the Elf(s).
Six years later, in 1996, Gerber wrote the story of Relf, who was the nephew of the original Elf with a Gun, who had magical powers, and who had nothing noticeably in common with the Time Agents Elf(s). This story was just plain crazy, but Officer Dragon is obviously Erik Larsen's Savage Dragon, and the duck with him is obviously Gerber's own Destroyer Duck (I'm not going to get into his explanation--it's too long, I don't know ALL the details, and it's not relevant here--maybe in the profile for Howard the Duck--look for it in 2013!). This story represented Gerber's half of the crossover between the Savage Dragon and Destroyer Duck (For the explanation see below).
(Defenders II#7) - Modern day hippie Steve speaks his woes to his main woman, Sally, about how they had to grow up, get respectable, and stop partying all the time. There's a knock on the door, and it's the pizza delivery guy. No wait...it's a person with a gun! And he/she/it shoots Sally.
(Defenders II#9) - Irwin, an archeological historian, answers the door to find a person with a gun, who shoots him...of course!
All we see is a hand with a gun, which looks like it might be being pointed upwards. Everything fits for this to be the Elf. But maybe it's not!
OK, it's actually NOT the Elf. It's AIM agents who were going around and shooting all of the people who had had any contact with the mystical artifact known as the God from Beyond. But it was supposed to fool you into thinking it was the Elf....and I fell for it like a blind roofer!
Maybe the Elf would have really shown up in that Defenders series, but everyone was apparently too busy ready stories about Crappy McCrapp to bother buying the Defenders. Thanks a lot, ya bastiches!!! Although, if you're reading my site, I'm probably preaching to the choir.
All of the Elves were created by the Tribunal as per Defenders#124. Relf is a renegade, who tapped into power from some other source. He could be the nephew of "Melf" either literally or figuratively. Judging by the Elves' comments towards women, they certainly had the reproductive drive.
The Elf is an agent of chaos, which he brings wherever he goes. His whole purpose is to be an enigma and generate chaos, confusion, and distrust. The virtually omnipotent Tribunal were actually pawns of the Elf, who could actually be an agent of Lord Chaos. This would
I think you're right. Both the Tribunal and their gun-slinging elves are creations of the Cockroach Conspiracy!
More specifically, [they are] creations of those magic paints they stole from Yucoya-tzin. Wilhelm von Vile was whipped up first, of course, to make subsequent painting much easier. He then created the elves as a part of an elaborate plan against the Defenders.
You see, when the Hulk butt-whupped their Wundagorian relative (the Inheritor from Beyond) all by his lonesome, the Cockroach Conspiracy became paranoid about the Defenders as a whole! So, the elves were sent out to randomly capture innocent people [making it appear as if they were randomly killing them instead]. These people were narco-hypnotized by the Faceless One, so the Scarlet Beetle could have an easier job of telepathically implanting false memories in them (via the female Dragonfly, perhaps?). And, their physical appearances were altered, by Von Vile, to make them look semi-ethereal! Furthermore, because the pseudo-Tribunal really and truly believed what they had been brainwashed to believe, the Eye of Agamotto could do nothing else but verify the story!! So, once the four original Defenders voluntarily disbanded, the Cockroach Conspiracy released the pseudo-Tribunal, restoring their true appearances while simultaneously erasing all memories of their cosmic imposture.
As for Melf and the Circus of Crime? That was probably just an attempt to avenge Howard the Duck's defeat of their Cleveland co-conspirator.--Carycomix
To further back up the claim that roaches allied with the Elf had it in for the Defenders: In Defenders I#115 (around the same time of the Tribunal and the reappearance of the Elf), the first three panels of page five, a cockroach-like insect on Earth-S interferes with the mechanics of the Squadron Supreme's inter-dimensional teleporter sending some of the Defenders home and other members to a different dimension. Coincidence? Or was it another piece in the intricate scheme of the COCKROACH CONSPIRACY!!!!???
(Marvel Comics Super Special#5) - In the Land of Leftovers--populated by symbolic figures from the 1960s living out that decade again and again eternally--the Elf (a white-haired version) encountered the superhero rock stars known as KISS. His curiosity got the better of his homicidal tendencies and so he just shouted "Bang! Bang! You're all Dead!" rather than actually shooting them. The Elf asked what they were doing there, and they said they just wanted a way out, since they'd been shunted there by a wizard, Khalis-Wu the Darklord.
--This would normally not be considered canon, as KISS is licensed property, but I don't see why it couldn't have happened. Even if KISS are from an alternate world, they still could have encountered the Elf in the Land of Leftovers. Which Elf though, that is the question!
And, of course, Kyle Richmond didn't stay dead, he was brought back in the Nighthawk limited series.
And the late 20th Century reference to the Defenders story that destroyed the Earth is already topical...unless time works differently from "regular Marvel Time" in that alternate, non-existent world.
If you get the chance, read the Defenders letter pages from 1975-1978, you'll enjoy the numerous attempts by fans to try to guess the secret of the Elf.
There is another Elf profile, at the Defenders non-page, from which I got that quote. If you know how to contact the author, or can identify him/her/them, please let me know, and I'll credit the author.
That being said, Gerber has since written Howard the Duck for Marvel, in a six issues limited series for the mature MAX line, @ 2002. Given this, I'm going to regard the Savage Dragon/Destroyer Duck as not-quite Marvel Continuity. The Background info's useful, and a similar series of events must have occurred on Earth-616, perhaps with a slightly different cast of characters. I'm not sure who the Earth-616 counterparts of Officer Dragon and Destroyer Duck would be, though. Skrulls or other imposters (There is a Savage Dragon skrull imposter)? Perhaps the Savage Fin went on to rehabilitate himself? Another native of Duckworld? --Snood.
Thanks to the multitude of people who e-mailed me to correct my brain-fart misnaming of Destroyer Duck as Darkwing Duck (a Disney character). My explanation? D'oh!
The actual connection between these incarnations of the Elf with a Gun remains unclear, and the waters are just likely to get muddier, with any further appearances.
The Dark Elves of Svartalfheim (including Malekith), who are apparently the same as the Faeries of Celtic Legend @ Thor I#344
They lived in a mobile home, inside a trailer park in the woodlands of California. They were enjoying a night of singing folk songs when they were interrupted by a knock on the door. Tom thought it might be their friends Jeff & Marsha, but it wasn't. It was an Elf with a Gun, who shot Tom.
They were native Oklahomans, visiting Las Vegas. After an unfruitful night of gambling, they got a ride home in a taxi. They stopped bickering only when they realized that their driver had taken them into an alley and then stopped. The driver's head then popped off, and the Elf removed the rest of the costume and shot them.
They were taking a horseback ride down the Grand Canyon, when they encountered a lone ancient American Indian, who gave them the stereotypical greeting, "How!" Stu identified the headress as one worn by the chiefs of the extinct Wappidi tribe, and figured that it was a vision there to impart wisdom to them. Instead, it removed its costume to reveal an Elf with a Gun, who shot them.
She had been taking part in a protest demonstration against the movie Waste, which purported to portray the actual death of a pretty blond actress. The demonstration attracted the attention of the Hulk, who dropped down from the sky into their midst and drove the protestors off. She fled into a Ladies' room, across the street, where she was surprised by the Elf with a Gun, who shot her.
Greg the Paper Boy and his dog Patch were out doing their daily delivery, and nearly met up with erratic, elusive Elf with a Gun, who was hiding in the shrubbery. Instead, the Elf met up and was apparently killed by a moving van. Greg never knew what almost happened to him.
Defenders I#25 (July, 1975) - Steve Gerber (writer), Sal Buscema (pencils), Jack Abel (inks), Len Wein (editor)
Defenders I#31 (January, 1976) - Steve Gerber (writer), Sal Buscema (pencils), Jim Mooney (inks), Marv Wolfman (editor)
Defenders I#40 (October, 1976) - Steve Gerber (writer), Sal Buscema (pencils), Klaus Janson (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Spider-Man Team-Up#5 (December, 1996), Steve Gerber (writer), James Fry (pencils), Chris Ivy (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
Bombs and Guacamole by B A Tortuga and Shirt by Amy Lane. I only read the first chapter of Chevalier last night but I have no doubt (is it sucking up if it's true?).