Shadowe

NOES!

How will we manage without your Scotbotty goodness?

We'll be seeing you again, I'm sure.

Bysies for now.

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In other words, the character is no skilled statesman by any stretch of the imagination. In thinking about musicians who turn to politics to get inspiration, I was thinking of people like Bob Geldoff, Sting, and many others who say all the wrong things, even getting a lot of backs up, but have great passion for their cause.

So yes, the petition was deliberately written to say things poorly, not just because creating division and a rift was the main thing I wanted to put opportunity for into the storyline, but also because it was entirely in character.

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Well, as I said elsewhere, I think that this situation has been caused by passionate woman attempting to address something she sees as wrong.

The method for doing so was completely wrong for the purpose, but that's another matter.

You said that you were thinking of the well-known music stars who have become involved in politics (though I would note that the two you mentioned have been more involved in charity than politics), and I would say that their largest and most successful forays into the arena have been televised. That was the first mistake. A petition only lets us read words on a page. A televised broadcast allows everyone to see the passion behind it, without reading what appears to be a vitriolic attack on super-powered people.

I also find it interesting that the divisiveness that has developed was intentional on your part (second paragraph above), and I'm going to back Birdy up with saying that in your posts on the original thread you seemed hell-bent on claiming that there were no negative connotations to the words as written, despite what people read, yet you have (apparently) reversed position and now say that dividing opinion was, in fact, your main aim.

This is what makes people think they're in a psychological study. Every time you reveal a deeper layer of thought and reasoning, it looks to the rest of us as if this is fully pre-plotted experiment, with you feeding us dribbles of information on a carefully prepared schedule. And many people (myself included) resent the thought of being used that way without our consent.

Now, I'm not saying that this is the case, but only that this is how it can be perceived.

I find the plot fascinating, and merely wish it was getting the GG crowd more involved, as well as the PD RPers.

I look forward to seeing how this progresses. Particularly in light of the fact that the Devs are unlikely to add a statue of a non-hero to the game any time soon.

{The Basement, Huntington Manor, 14 March 2007, 1.30pm}

Richard Huntington raced up the tunnel into his comfortable 'secret hideout', glad to be out of the lab for a while, though dreading that evening's board meeting. As usual. Cousin Liz would be somewhere upstairs right now, enjoying his hospitality, and he had the afternoon to himself, if he was careful. Maybe he'd be able to spend some time chasing down that group of Freakshow that raided Huntington Technologies last week.

"Good afternoon, Master Richard Meanie-Pants! I hope you had a pleasant morning. There is some post that was directed to Mistress Samantha, but it was addressed to 'All Heroes', so I thought you might like to see it."

Richard nodded. "Go for it."

A holographic representation of the letter appeared in front of him. He read it. Then read it again.

"A thug am I? A villain? What the hell does this guy think he's doing? This is going to send people up in flames."

He stalked around the room, muttering to himself. After about five minutes, he stopped.

"Helena? Call the papers and television channels. It's time Shadowe gave a press conference. Let's see what we can do about damage control."

Well, trying not to drag this off-topic any more (should we create an OOC response thread for discussion of this?), that may be the character's unconcscious reason for creating the petition, but I can't conceive of anyone stating that as their reason for doing this. (If she has, then she gets no sympathy from either of my toons for any fallout.)

Having not dealt with White Vampyr in some time, neither Richard nor Samantha are likely to have their views changed as things stand.

But my point is that your interpretation of the character's motives may not have much, if any, bearing on the reactions of your toons. It doesn't matter why WV did this. She did, and we're hashing out the consequences, and that's what's important, I feel.

Thanks, Birdy.

What I meant was that I don't think anyone is maligning the in-character reason for the creation of the petition in the first place. I think that the original character (name? Can't be bothered to look it up right now) was intending this to be a good piece of PR for super-heroes, working with the non-supers to make a better Paragon. I think that, OOC, pretty much everyone thinks that was the idea. That it has obviously failed in implementation is what makes it juicy.

It's the IC responses that are the interesting bit, and that's what I'm hoping to return the focus to, rather than any OOC sniping.

((OOC Post.

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"For too long, the city has idolized its super-powered citizens and ignored the real heroes in the city, those being the regular people who fight without the benefit of any super-powers, relying solely on human spirit and heart, to make the city work."

Does that make the concerns (and their validity) any clearer?

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Thanks, B.

Speaking for myself (as it's all I can do ), that would help a great deal.

However, as an RPer who has responded to the original as written twice now, I would like to add my two inf.

No one is attempting to malign the sentiment behind the petition (if I'm wrong, please tell me). However, as can clearly be seen, there is a vast gulf in the interpretation of the petition's intent. I do not know if this was intentional on Ammon's part (I hope it was, to be honest). A simple petition that every hero just signed and forgot about wouldn't be half as interesting as what has happened. We have two camps of heroes: Those who think it's great, and those who have seen it as an attempt to put the blame for the city's ills on the super-powered. This is a fantastic RP opportunity.

We've seen the free press take the ball and run with it, interpreting it to suit their own chosen bias, we've seen characters arguing about it. This is brilliant. What I am sorry to see is any OOC discussion about it.

It's happened. Let's RP the consequences. Let's not worry about what Ammon meant when he created the idea, let's just play our characters and see what happens.))

{Huntington Manor, 14 March 2007, 10.15am}

A loud knocking at the door dragged Samantha Huntington out of her comfortable chair. Tucking her bookmark into the novel she was reading, she padded, bare-foot, down the hall to the front door. Not having Wintergreen around was becoming a pain this morning. So much for a quiet day off work.

As she approached the door it swung open, revealing a fresh-faced young man in blue and red spandex, looking mildly self-conscious as he gawped at the grounds to the manor. She nearly chuckled when she spotted soap behind his ears, but schooled her features into more friendly and open lines.

"Hi, there. Can I help you?" She wrapped her dressing gown around herself once more, displaying a generous amount of leg, which the young man blushed at seeing, and hastily averted his eyes.

"Umm, hello. My name is Arnold Cash. I'm training to be a hero!" His enthusiasm was clear, but damn, the kid was green. "I'm hoping to speak to, umm, Luminescence, please. I understand she can be found here."

Sam nodded. "Well, you've found her. She's me. Samantha Huntington, aka Luminescence at your service. What can I do you for?"

The joke slid straight past him, so nervous was he becoming.

"Umm, good morning, Ma'am. I'd like to ask..." Her raised hand forestalled any further words from him.

"Firstly, it's 'Miss', not 'Ma'am'. Secondly, it's damn freezing out here, so come on inside, Arnold. Would you like something to drink?"

Her invitation flustered him even more, and he mumbled agreement, asking for a root beer. She did chuckle at that, and led him to the kitchen. As she walked, she surreptitiously twisted the dial on her watch, and her clothes shifted into tight leather trousers and a soft suede jacket in the same rich brown. She heard a slight gulp from the boy behind her. Probably because she was technically naked for a tiny fraction of a second during the process. Well, he'd be seeing naked girls soon enough. If he was lucky.

She strolled to the refridgerator, pulled out a bottle of root beer, grabbed a glass and poured it for him, then put the kettle on to make herself a pot of tea.

"So, Arnold, what did you want to ask me?" She leaned against the central work counter, and gestured for him to take a seat, which he did, back ram-rod straight, clipboard clutched tightly, glass in hand. She tried not to snicker as she watched the liquid jittering as his hand shook.

"Umm, well, I don't know if you're aware of this petition that is being presented to the city council regarding recognition for the hard-working non-super-powered heroes of the city?" She nodded. "Well, I was wondering if you'd like to sign it?"

She looked at him. For a long ten seconds.

"Well, Arnold, I'd love to sign it." He smiled and started to pass the clipboard to her, but she held up her hand again. "I'm not going to, though." He sighed, and lifted her eyes to the ceiling.

"If it was just what it purports to be, then you'd have my signature on it already. But it isn't. Now, I'm not the worlds greatest brainbox, but I can see that this petition is tantamount to the superhero community admitting that they don't help the city. Well, sorry, but I happen to think that we do. My brother and I donate huge quantities of cash into the sorts of projects that are mentioned here. Huge. More than you'll see in your lifetime. Unless you end up on the take, but I doubt that, because you seem like a nice boy."

She smiled at him, and he grinned nervously back at her. As she poured the boiling water into the teapot, she accidentally knocked a spoon off the counter, and bent over to pick it up. She heard Arnold clear his throat.

"Anyway, my point is that the petition makes the claim that super-powered beings are responsible for youthful delinquency. I happen to think that's poppycock. The tabloid press have already had a field-day with this thing, and I'm not about to give them more fuel by adding my name to it. It would be like saying 'the only reason I give to charity is because I feel guilty, not because it's a good cause'. Like the building work we did in Overbrook, or the youth club in The Gish. Affordable housing in Skyway City. I don't think I caused the need for any of those, so I've nothing to feel guilty about. I did those things because they were a good idea. So, no, the super-powered people in this city aren't to blame. So I'm not going to sign something that says they are."

A faint glow could be seen about her as she spoke, and Arnold swallowed loudly as her eyes flared.

"Oh, maybe it doesn't say it in so many words, and maybe there's a good point in trying to persuade the city council to funnel more funds into those projects that are mentioned. But it goes about it the wrong way. Sorry, Arnold. Luminescence isn't going to help you shed light on this one."

Arnold nodded, slowly, and started to rise from his chair, but Sam gave him her brightest smile.

"Hey, at least finish your drink! Just because I'm not going to sign doesn't mean I have anything against you. Tell me about yourself. Why do you want to be a hero? What can you do? Have you graduated from High School? Do you have a girlfriend? What are you going..."

{Red River, Founder's Falls, 12 March 2007, 8.30am}

"Excuse me! Are you Shadowe?" The young, idealistic looking hero hovered below Richard Huntington as he took a 'short cut' - flying - to work.

"Yes, young man, I am. Can I help you?" The speakers from his battle-suit distorted Richard's voice enough that it was unrecognisable as his own.

"I was wondering if you'd sign this petition, asking for recognition of the unsung heroes of Paragon City?" He held out a sheet of paper with a list of names and signatures on it. Richard took it, and the pen that was also proffered.

"Mind if I take a moment to read it, first? I never sign anything without knowing what it is." The young man nodded his assent, and Richard ran his eyes down the details of the text.

"Fascinating. Excellent sentiments. Complete rubbish, but an excellent sentiment." He handed the page back. "I'm not going to sign. Sorry."

The kid spluttered and stammered and eventually managed to ask why.

"Why? You have to ask that? Okay, let me break it down for you. I have powers. I had a choice to make about whether I would use them to help people or not. I chose to, got registered, and now I spend my time making life as good as I can for the people of this city. I don't expect any recognition for it. I don't want any recognition for it. Neither do the cops or the doctors or the teachers or the fire crews. We just do our jobs, and hope to make a difference. Maybe we do, maybe we don't. But the fact is that we try. I don't think I'm better than them, nor do I think they're better than me. We just do our best to help. However we can. But when someone pays the ultimate sacrifice to help people, perhaps they do deserve recognition. Like Galaxy Girl."

He sighed, and cleared his throat. "I think it would be better if there was a petition asking for equal recognition. Not this attempt to vilify heroes, or push their sacrifices aside. I, for one, don't want to forget any of the heroes who have died to protect the people of this city - whether they be superheroes or not. So, my answer is no. I'm not going to sign this."

Wrapping light around himself to hide from view, Richard swept away, heading toward the Talos Island tunnel.

Well, I for one am looking forward to Jolanda popping up again - just yell if you need Tricky-Dicky involved at all, because he is actually trying to find her. Your teaser on the IC story thread looks fascinating!

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Yeah, all this is well and good but I've never understood why heroes in their 'civvies' would go out of their way to hang around with a group of heroes who aren't in their civvies in a public area.

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Umm... I've seen kids who have just gained super-powers come along for advice from established heroes. Shadowe's reason for going to GGs is intensely personal - he feels isolated from humanity at large thanks to the events that gave him his powers, and is trying to bridge the gap as much as he can: He's no longer human by any stretch of the imagination, but still thinks like a human. The knowledge that he's not eats at him, as does the knowledge that he is responsible for the deaths of a dozen co-workers, and he was starting to become reclusive. He made a conscious decision to try and bridge the gulf that was forming by interacting, in what has become a social event, with other non- or near-humans (and a few perfectly normal humans, of course). He's trying to integrate himself with humanity again.

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I've been to the GG meets, people don't just talk about boring mundane stuff, they talk about what's happening in the hero world.

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Richard is careful to refer to other heroes as 'friends' or 'acquaintances', and makes a point of asking people who comment on the possibility of him being a hero with the rejoinder "Do I *look* like a hero?" And he spends much of his time chatting about 'boring mundane stuff' (which sometimes annoys me, I must admit). But the point is that he's not overly concerned about people finding out that he puts on a battle-suit and goes flying off to help innocent people and save the world. Sure, the fewer people that know, the better it is for him, but he doesn't make a song and dance about it. And he really doesn't want anyone outside a few close personal friends to know about his vigilante persona. But he forgets that, too, sometimes (I, on the other hand, don't).

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Civilians walk past the GG meet all the time, at least some of them would hear things they probably weren't meant to hear, also, your civvied up characxter is likely to have had their picture taken just by hanging around the hero group.

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Yep, I agree. And Richard makes no effort to hide the fact that a) His sister is a member of the Fletched Alliance (after all she doesn't hide it, so why would he?) and b) that he is friendly with a number of the heroes that frequent GG. If someone wants to go to the trouble of rolling a reporter toon and sneaking around the statue to try to prove that Richard is Dark Shadowe, then I welcome the RP. Until that time, I'm going to assume that the world at large doesn't know. He has had his picture taken there on numerous occassions. Always in civvies, always hanging around, looking uncomfortable to be in a picture with heroes, as if he doesn't belong there.

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You've seen the tabloids in real life, reporters do tremendous amounts of digging to dredge up the dirty secrets of celebrities, I don't see why Paragon's reporters would be any different and your hero, like it or not, is a celebrity.

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My hero might be, but I don't see that Richard Huntington, the man behind the mask, and the face that can be seen at GGs would be. He's just a guy who owns a fairly big company, is worth a big wad of cash and socialises with heroes. Not exactly the stuff of which great exposees are made. Again, though, if someone wants to RP digging up some stuff on Shadowe then I WOULD LOVE IT.

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I guess it's probably just my opinion but I think that turning up to a public meeting of heros in your civilian attire if your civilian identity is a secret is a bad idea.

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He makes no secret that his civilian identity associates with heroes. His explanation, when asked, is that his sister is a member of the Fletched Alliance, and that he has come to know many of them through her, and by extension finds himself welcome amongst other heroes. This explanation is a load of utter rubbish, but is the one he always gives to the public.

I guess part of my point is that, to date, no one has taken enough of an interest in Shadowe to do any of this. I've certainly never entertained the idea of running it as a plot - it's just a bit of background for my character, and I think that if I did do anything with it, it would just be me writing stories: And I've got enough of those to write already, thanks.

But, having said that, I think it would be a good thing to do in an RP scenario. But no one has decided to collaborate with me on something like this so far.

I agree that it's probably a good idea to get in touch first.

For example, my main, Shadowe, has three different ways he might appear.

1) As Richard Huntington. In this guise he would not be recognised as a hero, and in fact goes out of his way to claim to not be a hero at all. He only lets his friends know that, if at all possible.

2) Shadowe: Battle-suit. This is Shadowe's official 'hero' costume, and the one people would recognise him in.

3) Shadowe: Dark Shadowe (aka 'The Black Spandex'). In this outfit, Shadowe fully expects to receive unwanted attention due to his previous acts as an unregistered vigilante. Many of his friends, however, have seen him in it, and some of them take great pleasure in teasing him.

But when he's at the statue he almost exclusively wears casual clothes and goes as Richard Huntington. Now, he might be recognisable as RH to some people, but there should be no links between RH and Shadowe. Though I must admit that I'm a bit lax about it around other heroes.

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great guide Z! lots of information there although i might have put a bit more about God-Modding but that's just me

dunno how to get it done properly but anyone think this should be [u]stickied[u] as well? would be great for newer players etc. to be able to see straight away and get more new players into the r/p

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Bah, was going to edit Stal's post and chop bits out of it like I usually do, but then I realised if I did so I'd lose things...

So, yes. Fantastic guide, Z. This should definitely be stickied. I'm inclined to agree with Stalingrad that a bit more of an explanation of Godmodding might be a good thing, though your description is concise and to the point.

Can't make it on Wednesday's at all. Ever. Or Mondays. Any other day is pretty good, though.

Ummm... I would like to put forth Samantha Huntington for a guest slot in the near future. I'm loving what you guys are coming up with for this. It's brilliant.

Welcome! Happy to have you here - a new face is always a welcome one.

Look forward to seeing you around.

*Bows down to Junior's fudgability* Well played, that man!

"A side effect of Volt Master's electrical nature is that he generates a polarised magnetic field while in motion. The field strength increases the faster he moves, thereby enabling him to maintain contact with the ground as he travels at speeds that would normally cause him to leave the surface of the Earth."

Things to fudge: Why don't ferrous materials that he passes near stick to him when he moves?

There, we're all laughing and smiley again, having finally communicated what we all meant. Yay!

Have a cookie.

FFM can have a cookie too. I still won't be able to float him.

Okay, maybe I went a little OTT, there, Raven.

But...

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was actually mostly complaining about FFM there, but you were actually arguing it with him and it can't really be argued over. There's no point, IMHO, in trying to justify a character like that in terms of science, any more than I would try to justify the existance of any of my weirder characters.

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There's no point trying to justify Spider-Man's origin. There's no point trying to explain how Superman gets his powers.

I'm not trying to justify Richard's existence. And I wasn't arguing with FFM. I was asked what his creation myth is. I explained it. You decided to pick it apart. So, apologies for getting a little het-up - he's my character, and I'm rather attached to him. Back to reality (erm, am I allowed to say that, in this forum?). Normal service may now resume.

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Like I said, read the wiki article that you're quoting at me.

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I haven't quoted anything at you. I learned this stuff by doing the maths. Your above explanation is perfectly clear and seems mostly correct, however.

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Can you imagine the effect of two Earth masses of matter being converted into energy within a short space of time right in the middle of Paragon City? (Because I'd really rather not try.)

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Yes, I can. It would be rather unpleasant and would annihilate the planet. Which is why, for some completely obscure reason (that might have something to do with wanting to enjoy my character without someone trying to pick apart his creation myth every five seconds), I set strict limits on what he can and cannot do, and explained (albeit with frequent reference to comic-book physics) why this doesn't happen. He looks, sounds and acts like a normal human being 99% of the time. I fail to see how my fudgy creation story interferes with anyone's enjoyment of the game, as long as I don't let it get out of control. And I'm never going to do that.

You don't have to like it Raven, and because of the way I play my characters you can ignore it completely. It makes no difference to me one way or another. I'm never going to have him destroy the planet, or even a small portion of it, though he has and will probably again threaten to do so. I'm far more interested in exploring the mind of a man who thinks he's still human but knows deep down that he isn't.

What Luke said. With extra cheese.

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1. A black hole of that size is not radiocative, FFM. A black hole, of itself, cannot be radioactive since it can't give out any radiation. It's a black hole.

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Black holes of all sizes release matter and energy and slowly shrink as a result of Hawking Radiation (look it up - it's quite fascinating). Don't tell me what I do and don't know about Black Holes. The rate of energy release increases the smaller the hole gets.

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2. A black hole in any region of matter will, indeed, give off radiation in the form of intense x-rays, but that's due to all the local matter being ripped apart as it passes over the event horizon.

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Stellar object sized black holes do, yes. Also, please bear in mind that I am seriously fudging some things by invoking comic-book physics, the 'rules' of which seem to state that if it sounds moderately plausible, it's better than real-world physics.

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3. Due to a neat little quibble of quantum physics, black holes about that size can, at any instant, spontaneously release all their matter in an explosion which... well, let's just say you don't want to be there when it goes off.

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Actually, I think you'll find that this is just the Hawking Radiation emission accelerating the smaller the hole gets. When it gets small enough, it looks like an explosion, because the hole shrinks faster than the speed of light and gives off all of its remaining energy in what appears to be a single massive burst. Though IIRC you'll only get an explosion like that from microscopic black holes, which Richard doesn't count as. Plus, due to yet another cunning application of comic-book physics, Richard unconsciously moderates the rate of energy absorption against energy emission to maintain the size of the hole - he 'eats' to stop it shrinking too quickly, and gives off energy to stop it growing too much.

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All in all, I think we can safely say that that character needs to be left alone with the "it's magic" explanation.

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Oh, I'm happy leaving it that way. FFM asked for my explanation, though.

I do however take some exception that you think I don't know what I'm talking about, given years of study for my degree in ASTROPHYSICS. Guess what I spent a lot of time studying?

[Edit]

Further to earlier notes: If the surface of an object (which the event horizon qualifies as) releases radiation, it is reasonable to short-cut the language and state that the object itself gives off radiation.

Erm... there's something in the GG Wiki about it.

The quick answer is that Richard Huntington was engaged in an experiment to create a (relatively) compact energy source, which involved siphoning Hawking Radiation from a small (roughly 3cm radius) Black hole that he had created in his lab (yay for comic book physics!). It was protected from influencing the world by a combination of anti-gravity generators (very bulky) and a force-field.

However, when the siphon was switched on, the force-field failed (though not completely - it actually split the hole - don't ask me to go into the physics, it's a bit wierd and somewhat esoteric), bathing everyone in the lab in a humungous dose of radiation. Simultaneously the hole flew across the lab and hit the newly irradiated Richard in the chest, killing him. However, his mind had reacted strangely with the radiation, and had become an energy matrix, which has since become trapped around the black hole, and is now actually Richard. Because his mind expects him to have a body, he unconsciously created a new one for himself, and still does so - in much the same way new cells are created in a normal human. So, he's really a sentient black hole that appears to be a normal human.

The rest of the black hole hit Andrew Martin - Psychonova - who was recently absorbed by Richard, and was one of two other survivors of the accident. The other survivor was Samantha Huntington, who only got a huge dose of radiation and spontaneously gained powers.

Shadowe is a sentient black hole approximately the size of a golf ball (roughly 2cm radius), and by an incredibly rough cut calculation it can be determined that his mass should be about twice that of the Earth.

Not wanting to go into the ridiculous background of him, but his body is effectively an illusion created by his mind because that's what he expects to look like. (Unconscious fine control of gravity and particles enables the hole to craft a body around itself. Because Richard expects to have a body, he's got one. Because he expects to weigh around 70kg, he seems to. Etc.)

So, while I agree with you, FFM, that a human-sized black hole would weigh a lot more than I suggest, you're still slightly wrong.

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either the earths alot small than i thought or in its about 69 miles in circumferance....

Considering the earth is 924,375,700 km in orbital circumfeance he is more likely traveling at about
40190247. 82 km per second :P

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Your statement is correct, but completely the wrong calculation.

Earth's orbital radius is approx 149 million km. That's it's distance from the Sun. So its orbital circumference is approximately 6.25x150x10^6 km, which comes out at about what you suggest.

However, Earth's Radius is around 40,000 km (40,057km). Doing that in 23 seconds is about 1739km/s. Which is about 150 times escape velocity. After the first step, the character would fly into space at a tangent to the point where he last touched the surface.

In fact, if memory serves from my Astrophysics degree, unless there is a force actively pushing an object towards the Earth in addition to Gravity pulling on it, the absolute fastest it is possible to circumnavigate the globe is around 85 minutes (I'll let someone else figure that out) without flying off into space.

Now, I accept that comic-book physics allow us to ignore little things like the laws of physics, but I personally like an explanation.

[Edit]

*watches as everyone frantically scrambles to find the proof for this* Trust me, it's true.

I'm not saying that I don't accept fudginess - after all, my own main breaks a few physical laws and I don't bat an eyelid: For example, he weighs twice as much as the Earth does (maybe that explains the otherwise inexplicable attraction certain female toons have towards him?). I just wave my hands and say 'Because of some freaky thing involving his mental picture of himself as a human being, he somehow negates most of the effect of his mass'. It's never come up as a point of contention, though. So I can ignore it.

Yesterday...

A successful raid of a penthouse hotel suite in Talos Island resulted in the rescue of: Four (unnamed) pretty young women, plus Victoria Valentino and Samantha Huntington.

I would like to thank (by character and in no particular order): Veskit, Lu, Alfred, Kit, Callista, Iris, Cloe, Jolanda, Sophie, Wild Child (last minute addition, but welcome ), Joseph and Volt, and if I've forgotten anyone, my apologies, but I have a pathetic memory at the best of times, and I was trying to keep track of way too many things yesterday.

The rescue also resulted in the (apparent) destruction of Andrew Martin (also known as the villain Psychonova), who, after Jolanda shot him in the head (and Joseph groined him with a stone axe... it seems people were a little annoyed with him. I wonder why?), was determined to be like Richard - and was at risk of exploding. Richard stepped to the fore and absorbed him (and is now a little overweight, so if he glows lots, that's why).