The Course of Superhero Romance... (Discussions)

And I've FINALLY finished an image of Blake--only took me bloody FOREVER to do so.

Enjoy folks.

http://fav.me/d2zmgwq

Just finished the first story over this weekend. Wonderful job, Michelle! My quick comments:

- I wish I had a rich friend with a large estate who would buy me a tux and let me drive his Ferrari.
- I would pay money to see Statesman dance a tango.
- You were very successful in creating a vivid reality through your use of imagery and detail.
- Your dialogue is fantastic. It reads very naturally, at times almost like a script, which is a testament to not only your word use, but your grammatical sculpting as well. Kudos, that is something that can be very difficult for writers to translate to text.
- You chose your ending well. It was not sad at all, but it wasn't all "magic, sparkles, and happily ever after" either. And best of all, it left me wanting to read more.

My one piece of "constructive criticism" would be to just give future chapters a second proof-read. Thus far, I have come across a few more errors in book 2 rather than book 1. I only say this because I'm speaking as someone who prefers to hear what I can make better along side what I already did well. If you prefer not to, I will keep it strictly to "what I liked" for the future. Plus, from the details you included in your posts, I gather it was more a stress/time issue than anything.

So, what started as a curiosity about a link in someone's sig that said "Support Nerd Flirting!" has earned you another avid reader. I'm hooked, and I can't wait for the next installment!

And the next chapter of TCOSR II is FINALLY up!

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

There's been a saying around the Patrol for a few months now, and it's;

"This place(Star Patrol) attracts Weird" or "The Patrol makes Weird"
Yes the W is intentional, I think we are about to get a taste of that.

Next time they may just say 'to hell with it', nab a pizza or something from CITY OF GYROS and eat in the park.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

You know, I think TCoSR needs a new banner. Maybe I'll have a contest - whoever designs the winning banner for TCoSR will win a t-shirt like the ones I had custom made for the COH Seattle M&G. (Three people have TCoSR shirts - I have one, one of my best friends has one, and Mod08 aka Ocho has the third.)

Black t-shirt with white block lettering:

(Mine)
"My OTP (One True Pairing) is Positron and Tava."

(Friend's)
"Fighting Evil. Finding Love. Saving the World."

(Ocho's)
"'Did you kiss her?' 'No.' 'Did she kiss you?' 'Steve...' 'Not even a hug?' 'STEVE!'"

And then in red letters underneath, SUPERHEROROMANCE.COM

So, yeah. I may hold a contest. Design a banner, and the winner gets a shirt with one of the above quotes (or if you have a favorite quote from TCoSR I or II, I'll put that on it instead). Typical banner sizes can be found here (and unfortunately, the vertical ones do not do well on forums, so the 120x240 and 160x600 sizes are right out).

Would you participate if you could win a t-shirt?

Discuss.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

I'd give it a shot regardless of whether I got a shirt or not--because it would be fun.

This is what happens when I start messing with the ragdoll code in the game...

(I tried to get the graphic to embed, but no luck.)

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

Here you go Mich.

Is there an image or link I'm not seeing there, Scooter?

there was

Okay... in lieu of having to go out of our way to run the SF, what's the deal, in a nut-shell?

Edit: Although I can already tell you my response, regardless of the answer to the above: It's your story. People will enjoy it anyway, regardless of the canon, or lack thereof, behind it. The only thing this might prevent is possible publication... and they already TOLD you that was never going to happen.

Spoilers alert for the Mortimer Kal Strike Force, then:










The basic upshot goes as follows. Way back when, in the first comics, Positron becomes the bearer of Prometheus' Flame, which restored superpowers back to the world after Arachnos figured out how to turn them off. Since then, he has apparently been its keeper, just in case Recluse and Co. tried the same stunt. While none of the major magical villain groups were exactly thrilled about this, none of them wanted to go against the Phalanx to get it for themselves, and they sure as hell weren't going to Prometheus for their own sample.

Fast forward to now. The villainous upstarts of the MKSF, after abducted Kal's daughter, find out about the Flame, and decide, in the words of CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow and Will Turner, to apply "leverage" to get Positron to give it up. To that end, using a magical artifact culled from the Blood Coral called a Soul Catcher, they beat down Infernal and imprison Numina in the Soul Catcher.

Numina is not happy about this, the Phalanx goes batsh** wondering where she is, the villains stomp on the Midnighters in Act II.

In Act III, the villains take the Soul Catcher and Numina to Positron's lab, using her to get past Positron's security - however, she manages to tip him off that something's wrong before all hell breaks loose. The villains get hold of the Flames, and then Posi arrives...

He makes them an offer - turn over Numina and he'll let them leave. They of course tell him to go to hell. Cue battle. And being good villains, they smack him down... only to find that the Soul Catcher has shattered and Numina has escaped. Not that they care, they have the Flames now.

The tl;dr version... here's the Soul Catcher text:

Quote:

The Shattered Soul Catcher A pile of red dust and broken shards of crystal are all that remain of Mortimer Kal's Soul Catcher after Numina escaped its hellish prison. You aren't sure exactly what caused it to break. Perhaps it was destroyed by the power of the Flames of Prometheus, like the Fists of Vulcan were, or maybe... just maybe... it was... love? Nah, it must have been the Flames of Prometheus.

And:

Quote:

With the Fists of Vulcan in hand and Numina as the key to entering Positron's Lab, everything was going according to plan, until Positron's security systems alerted him to your presence and he crashed the party. Unfortunately for Posi, he let his feelings get in the way. He offered to let you go in exchange for Numina, but with the power of the Flames already in your possession you saw no reason to entertain any demands except your own. You taught Positron a valuable lesson that day, that love is a weakness to be exploited. The prize was the Flames of Prometheus. Unfortunately, the presence of the Flames had a profound effect on the Soul Catcher, and it fractured, allowing Numina to escape and whisk herself and Positron to safety. Additionally, the Fists of Vulcan were consumed, leaving your hands coated in blackened ash. Despite these losses the power of the Flames is yours! You suspect that your next run in with the Freedom Phalanx will be a heated affair.

*****

Kinda hard to argue with that.

Of course, I'm more than happy to entertain a discussion here as to why Numina is/isn't a better potential partner for the good Dr. Keyes, if it turns out I want to end TCoSR III on the note where Posi and Tava DON'T stay together...

... it just still kinda hurts.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

to be fair Michelle it doesn't specifiy what type of love (romantic or that of a friend) so I wouldn't say it's an utter showstopper. On the other hand I might be a wee bit biased as I rather enjoyed TCOSR.

For what it's worth I'd love to see the story continue.

*comforts Michelle*

And yeah... Numina/Positron? Where did that come from? Honestly - ignore it. She's a longstanding colleague and friend. Leave it at that and go on with the story.

(Have I mentioned my various gripes with the devs and lore lately?)

See my Guides and Tutorials

And don't forget timeline - depending on when TCoSR is set, any hypothetical romance between Posi and Numina pretty much has to be recent, so there's a lot of leeway to squeeze into the gaps.

Also, I have the sneaking suspicion that it's only "the love of friends" between Posi and Numi, anyway. It's not as if there have been any hints of a romance before now.

And lastly...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dark_Respite Of course, I'm more than happy to entertain a discussion here as to why Numina is/isn't a better potential partner for the good Dr. Keyes, if it turns out I want to end TCoSR III on the note where Posi and Tava DON'T stay together...

Ummm... she's DEAD?..

OK, so while Posi was incorporeal, he and Numi had a mixed-spirit thing going on. They went out and mingled essences occasionally. Nice dates, when you can have them.

Then Posi goes off and gets a body back. Hard to have those sorts of dates anymore, so they remain good, close friends who still care a heck of a lot about each other, but are no longer involved. Tell me you don't have a former lover who you're now close friends with and you still care about but aren't involved with anymore...? (I happen to know you can't).

So yeah, maybe they were involved. They're not now. That doesn't mean there isn't still love there, but they're just friends. So the coast is clear for Tava.

Plus everything said above this.

And if logic doesn't work, let's try pure blackmail: If you don't keep working on TCoSR, I won't ever post Cende's story to the forums.

And, after further thought, even if they are both desperately, mutually in love with each other... so WHAT?.. I don't think "ghost-nookie" is an option.

Okay. Crisis Averted.