BlueBattler

The BP Mask badge doesn't take NEARLY as long as running the Trials do.

A team of three or more can get the BP Mask by running one of Unai's missions about three times. Depending on your damage output, that's going to take only a few hours at most.

Not to mention the fact that you will INEVITABLY get the badge as soon as you kill all the Masks you need.

On the Trials, you can play just as much as anyone else and never get what you need.


As I've said before, I don't mind having to work for the shinies, but the Raids are so darn laggy that I just don't have fun.

Hopefully, the new content that's coming will make it easier for those of us who don't like or can't participate in the Trials on a regular basis to make progress for the shinies.

The thing that's ironic about that world is that they became peaceful by following through on their contact and committing genocide on the Mu. Apparently, mercy is not a good path to follow in the COXverse.

Actually, Statesman came of age around World War I, not World War II. I see him as more of a product of the Jazz Age.

I'm going to argue the point that the fact that Statesman Marcus CAN still feel something for someone else shows that he's not beyond falling in love again.

Emperor Cole ... I would argue that one of Emperor Cole's problems is that there's no one he does love. He may still value humanity's survival in the abstract, but he's willing to shed an ocean of blood to ensure that.

I can see Statesman falling in love again. I can't see Tyrant doing the same thing.

I think you are right in that Statesman may have become more detached from humanity than he was while Monica lived; I don't agree that he's gone past the point of no return yet.

The Recluse Strike Force and Statesman's reaction to Ms. Liberty's defeat shows that Statesman is still human enough to love and care for people.

And one of my very favorite Rogue Tip Missions shows that Statesman aka "Mister Holier Than Thou" still has a sense of humor.

And there was definitely a hint of romance between Psyche and Statesman at the beginning of the game: States, not Manti, was the one who stayed constantly at Shalice's bedside after she was injured in the Rikti War.

And even if Marcus wishes to stay away from mortal women this time, there are plenty of women in the game who possess prolonged lifespans: Lady Gray, Georgia Fields, Shadowstar, Serafina ... heck, there's even a goddess that makes an appearance Redside.

Potentially, he could even date Luminary.

True, there are widows and widowers who never remarry after their spouse dies, but there are also others who do find love more than once in their lives.

Eternity is an awfully long time to be alone.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that it would do Marcus some good to have some connections back to the mundane world. Heroism in the abstract can be a dangerous thing.

Wah hoo!

Thanks for the plug!

Give him a green card made of Kryptonite?

(Seriously, in the present DCU Superman isn't so far and away the big dog anymore-- there are a number of heroes who could defeat him-- might be kind of fun if his actions resulted in some friction with his fellow super heroes.)

If your car talks, thinks, and feels, why not?

Posi created life. He didn't intend to, but he did.

And as far as we know, he's basically walked away from it.

Luminary isn't Positron's wife.

She's his daughter that he never spends any time with or concern for.

"Oh noes! My wedding gift/creation is showing signs of sentience! Ah, well. Citadel'll take care of her. Next time I'll make a warp speed blender!"

Sorina is better off without him, Michelle.

Posi is a deadbeat dad!

From what I recall of the first COH novel, Monica was just a child when Stefan and Marcus left for war. Marcus promised to write her, and did so for years before they ever met as adults.

Which sort of makes it kind of creepy if you ask me....

As for Bella and Pablo ... Pia, Pablo's sister, is the one who told us that Pablo treated Bella like a second sister. Ghost Widow herself has never confirmed that she does anything more than "care" for Wrtech ... which can be a pretty complicated word sometimes.

For my thoughts on the Bella/Pablo relationship you can always just check out my Ghost Widow fanfiction "Atropa Belladonna".

And oddly enough, his pure robot creation is probably more socially successful than he is.

She'd go out to dinner with him and ask him all kind of historical questions.

Then she'd wrap his Nemesis Staff-- the bubble pipe, silly!-- around his arms and turn him into the PPD.

... only to discover that it was all part of his latest plot.

Well, it's certainly possible that men and women can be quite close without a romantic relationship (I tend to have stronger friendships with women rather than men myself). But humans are social and sexual beings. Most of us are hardwired to want to bond with someone else in a romantic sense.

Put two attractive single people together in life or death situations, and it's not impossible that one or both of them develop a romantic interest in the other. In fact, it's been known to happen even when they both AREN'T single.

I don't think Posi having a romance with a woman precludes the HLP thing with Synapse any more than Synapse's womanizing. They could each find love with a woman but still be HLPers. I think that ANY woman who winds up dating/marrying one of them has to accept that the other is part of a package deal.

Posi is sort of a complicated character for me. I have an idea I want to work in about his relationship (parental not romantic) with Luminary. Beyond that ... well, here's my little character sketch as to how I see Posi. Now most of it is based on the FP novel, but there were bits and pieces from the comics and the game itself that fleshed it out too.

Raymond Keyes is not really very good with people. He understands technology. He can make almost anything. But people can confuse the heck out of him.

(The man made a robot with the powers of the groom and the personality and measurements of the bride as a wedding present. That right there says volumes about how little he understands people IMO. Synapse probably told him to give SP and Manticore the warp speed blender or we might have wound up with an archer Psychebot. )

That's probably why Raymond wound up being a super hero. It's something he can understand and wrap his head around. Fight the bad guy. Team up with his fellow heroes. (Not to say that he doesn't value life and justice as concepts in of themselves, but super heroing is a social activity that he can participate in where he can understand the rules.)

So, yeah. I admit I'm seeing him as an Aspie ... or a super powered slightly better adjusted Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory.

So with that view of him ...

I can totally see him being attracted to Ms. Liberty in the past. She's Statesman's granddaughter ... and even after decades of working with Marcus, I'm sure that Raymond still sees him as the epitome of super heroism ... sort of like a Silver Age Superman.

For Ms. Liberty's part, when she was just starting out, she might have been impressed by Raymond's intellect and abilities. As a teenager-- and I'm going with the idea that she's at least 10-15 years younger than he is--she could very well have had a crush on Posi.

I don't think anything ever came of it, though. Ms. Liberty isn't the Apple Pie Mary Anne Level 1 Heroes see when they log into Atlas Park the first time. Behind that Girl Next Door face is a mind that's probably a good deal closer to Great Uncle Stefan's than even Megan herself wants to admit.

The REAL Ms. Liberty would chew up Raymond and spit him out. Ms. Liberty may admire Raymond as a hero, but I suspect she finds him too naive to be attracted to him romantically.

As for Raymond himself, I don't think he has the social skills to make a romantic move on ANYONE. So if Ms. Liberty didn't show an interest in him, then nothing would ever come of his attraction to her ... ESPECIALLY after he discovered Anti-Matter and HIS attraction to Dominatrix.

Then there's Valkyrie, his protege. Something tells me that she looks on Posi as more than just a mentor-- probably the way they described her as proving herself to Posi by battling the Clockwork King and the Ambassador Kuhr'Rekt storyarc in Grandville.

However, I don't think that Raymond himself is attracted to Valkyrie. Even if he were, I don't think he'd act on it as he still sees himself in a position of authority in regards to her.

If Sister Psyche weren't married or involved with Manti, I could actually see her being attracted to Posi. (I'm basing it on the idea that a telepath would be find a brilliant mind just as attractive as a regular person does good looks.) She also has the kind of personality that if she WERE attracted to Raymond I think she'd act on it.

So moving onto Numina ...

At first glance, I didn't see the potential for them as a couple, either. Posi is a man of science. Numi is a creature of magic. His life is based on scientific theories and reason. Her whole existence is based on something other than reason ... on the idea that something exists OUTSIDE of the laws of nature as we understand them.

What could they possibly have in common?

But ... one thing ... one thing that was done in the second COH comic series caused me to consider that its not wholly impossible.

Remember when Posi was cured of his entrapment in his armor? He STILL felt the NEED for his armor ... (and who rushed off to get it but Synapse?)

Numina sacrificed her life to save the earth. Just as Posi spent years trapped in his armor, Tammy Arcanus spent decades trapped in the body of the Red Threat ... voluntarily giving up everything to keep him from being a threat. Now she's an immaterial spirit-- unable to touch or be touched ... she gave up everything to be a hero.

Numi understands what it's like to be trapped. I can easily see her helping Posi learning to adjust to his new existence. I think with her magical senses she could easily see the spirit of the man behind the armor, behind the awkward social interactions.

And I wouldn't be at all surprised if her interaction with him was the most private, most intimate, that she's had since she became a spirit.

As for Raymond himself ... I don't think he's really all that concerned with the idea of a physical relationship. (Not that he's asexual but I can see him finding an emotional and spiritual connection far more important to him than a physical one.) For a man who values the heroic ideal as much as Raymond, I can see him finding Tammy Arcanus EXTREMELY attractive. Whatever else you can say about the woman, she IS a hero.

Also ... in keeping with my vision of him as being something of a social klutz, a romantic relationship with Numi would be fairly uncomplicated for Posi. He doesn't have to take her out to dinner. He doesn't have to worry about the first kiss or where the relationship is going.

It CAN'T go ANYWHERE as long as she's a spirit and he's a man.

And I could see that working for him.

But on a long term basis ... I don't know if shared experiences and low expectations are enough to build a successful relationship.

So, yeah. I can see them having strong feelings for each other. I can see them loving each other ...

But I don't see it working out on a long term basis.

Yeah, and I bet Doc would at least go out to dinner with Nemmie too if he asked her.

I actually totally buy that, thanks to the Freedom Phalanx novel.

I bet they are STILL roomies.