Mr_Marvellous

!! Calling All Musicians !!

We are running a competition to find our very own Marvellous Theme Tune and we would like YOU to make it for us.

The theme will be featured on the brand new website, due to launch next month, and on the Marvellous Family productions that we make for both these boards and our own site.

The winner will be announced at the launch of the new site and will receive:

<ul type="square"> [*] A Special Marvellous Family, thermo-chromic mug with ‘I Made the Marvellous Family Theme’ inscription and special design.
[*] A DVD of the Academy Award Nominated ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’, the latest masterpiece from Hayao Miyazaki and based on the book by Diana Wynne Jones.
[*] Full credits on any works we produce using the theme.
[*] There own page on our new website detailing their achievement. [/list]
What are you waiting for?

Make Marvellous Music


How To Enter

It’s simple. After creating your masterpiece post a link to it on this thread before 17th August 2006 (or contact us separately). The winner will be picked that weekend and will be announced on Marvellous Monday (21st August) with the launch of our new site.

Any questions can be posted on this thread and will be answered as soon as possible.


Things To Remember: The terms and conditions

1) Anything submitted must be entirely your own work. The final theme will not be used for commercial purposes so any royalty free samples (such as ejay samples or other sample collections created for remixing and distribution including those found on the internet) may be used but we do ask that you include a list of any with your work so we can check copyright.

2) Anyone can enter this competition as long as they have access to these boards and entries can be posted on behalf of a third party as long as they have read and agreed to these terms and conditions.

3) In order to ship the prizes, we will require the competition winner to provide us with there contact details, unless some agreement can be arranged between ourselves, the winner and a third party to pass it on.

4) The prizes consist of a specially created thermo-chromic mug and a single disc (ex-rental) copy of the DVD ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ as well as credits on our site and any works we create using that theme.

5) This promotion is being run by Mr and Miss Marvellous and is in no way connected to NCSoft, Cryptic or any other commercial companies connected with ‘City Of’ games. This competition is being run to promote our site’s new incarnation and entries in it will not now nor ever be used for commercial purposes. As such, no financial commitments (outside the providing of the prizes as stated) will be entered in to.

6) (Copied and modified from the EULA for purposes of indemnification) As well as agreeing to comply with the EULA and in particular clause 6C the entrant also grants a non-exclusive, universal, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, sublicenseable right to exercise all rights of any kind or nature associated with your competition entry, and all ancillary and subsidiary rights thereto, in any languages and media now known or not currently known to the players known as Mr and Miss Marvellous. The Customer shall indemnify and hold Mr and Miss Marvellous harmless from and against any claims by third parties that the Customer content infringes upon, violates or misappropriates any of their intellectual property or proprietary rights.

7) Please, stay legal!

8) The closing date for entries is 17th August 2006

Another Diary entry sees Little Ms tired after a heavy night. Find out what else is going on at www.marvellousweb.co.uk

[ QUOTE ]
Love the silent movie type thing you got going

[/ QUOTE ]

So do I. It was totally Miss' idea and I think she's done a trmendous job

Finally I've updated the website, taken me a little longer this week as I've been extrodinaraly busy washing my costume, see I'm appearing in Miss' very own home movies now!!

We have our own section on the website called Videos and Miss is busy editing away, even now. Check it out.

Once again a Marvellous diary entry from Little Ms is on the site as well. Find out what happend on day 27 and look out for more coming Monday.

You know, one of the best bits about the recent re-release of the League of Extrodinairy Gentlemen was the script book that was included in the package. It really gives you a feel for how Alan More writes. it is possible to do and do very well.

Ironically my dialogue/script writing (which I make a living at) is much better than my prose yet I write very little dialogue when writing prose. I tend to do the same when thinking about comic book writing. The descriptions (if you have someone else as an artist) have to be vivid and vibrant and have to catch the attention of the reader. That's not an easy thing to do.

I think there are more prose based stories on here because they are easier to create, you don't need to have help from others and you can post them almost instantly.

There is also a big problem with human nature. If someone posts a comic (a drawn comic) and it is THAT good; it will put some people off who might have posted one but artn't THAT good. For some reason we hold art in very high regard. Much higher than the film making/demo editing. Everyone has a go at that. Most find they can do it.

I think that's the same with every skill though. It has to be learnt and atr is something that is percieved to be un-learnable, which is total tosh...

I'm rambling again, sorry.

ok, to conclude. I'd love to see some comics on the forum. We had a comic competiton and it went down really well and it would be nice to see some work that wasn't as restricted in its approach.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
cant find link, but mr and mrs marvelouses fan site

[/ QUOTE ]
http://www.marvellousweb.co.uk/

[/ QUOTE ]

D'oh beat me to it.

Thanks for the nomination

[Edit]
This really should be in the other thread. I think we're only eligable for the April one. The original thread was:
The original thread was here. [/Edit]

Once again time for another diary entry on Marvellousweb.

We're both busy working on our creative projects, check out the threads Creatuer Chapter 3
and Mr Marvellous' very first movie.

I'm loving all of the work we're doing now. Ooh, please, please, please...

Miss has written some stuff that's on the boards:

You can find it here.

She would love to have any feedback from you on it. I'm too scared to comment myself

Also, I'm still looking for ideas for the website, and might be running a competiton. Stay tuned for more info.

As an afterthought, does anyone think that this chapter was too divergent from the main story or did that not matter? I’d love to know what people think.

[ QUOTE ]
how did you manage to keep the quality that high?
it looks awesome! Mine looks like that on my comp at home
but sucks on google video.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm hoping the next one will be EVEN BETTER QUALITY!!!

I'm thinking about writing a tutorial about making video for the internet that would cover some of the new technologies and how to go about doing it, the programs you might need and hosting companies who don't mind you posting video.

Miss is doing a wonderful job though. I had to modify what I was telling her when I realised we didn't have the right software for it but hopfully that will be sorted out with the next one.

Everything else she has learnt herself. I'm so proud of her!

As before, all commments and critisism is welcome, please don't be afraid to comment, I really do enjoy reading them and try to improve subsequent stories based on them.

You can find the other chapters below

Chapter One
Chapter Two


Creature
A Marvellous Family Story

Chapter Three

Jane sat in front of the television engrossed in the action of ‘The Creature from the Black Lagoon’. Behind her the popcorn happily exploded away on the stove. She couldn’t believe her luck. This was the first time she had been entrusted with the house whilst her parents were out and, even though they would both be back long before her bedtime, she wasn’t going to pass up this opportunity. The decreasing pops of her snack alerted her to the fact it was ready and she got up to retrieve it from the stove. She settled back in front of the movie her hunger all but forgotten as she munched away on the buttered puffs. She knew this would come back to haunt her though. Butter popcorn, the night before the cheerleading tryouts. She already thought herself too fat, even though at twelve years of age she weighed a tiny five stone.

And so she sat there, engrossed in her movie. Had she paid more attention to the world around her maybe she would have realised something was amiss. Maybe she wouldn’t have drawn the curtains to block out the glair from the streetlights. Maybe she would have noticed the pair of red glowing eyes that were watching her.

It was angry. They had found its nest and nearly broken in. How could that have happened? It was unsure about the world that it was in. All it could do was to act as it always had done. It had already fed for now. It had needed sustenance in order to attack the hunter. It didn’t know what it had eaten, all soft and fury, but it had eaten its fill. For now there was its larder to be stocked. It would need plenty of fresh meat for the hibernation.

It heard a scream. One of the prey was in this building and looking at a flashing box. It had obviously unnerved the prey because it had reached for a smaller black box, pointed it at the flashing and the flashing had stopped. It sneaked around the side of the building looking for an entrance. This prey was not paying attention. It would be easy to subdue it.

Jane sat on the couch, visibly shaking. What was she thinking of. This would give her nightmares for a month. She started to cry but as soon as it came forced the tears back. She wasn’t going to be afraid. Not afraid of a film. It wasn’t real after all. Her protestations did nothing to relieve her sense of unease.

“Jane Masterson,” She said out loud. “It might be the middle of the night but I’m perfectly safe in my own home!”

The creature heard the voice. A feeling of doubt entered its mind. The prey didn’t make this sort of noise unless there was other prey around. Or worse still. Maybe it was the hunter. The creature remembered the hunter all too well.

*

It had been out on a hunt. The prey was scarce that night and it had not eaten enough to sustain it for long. It knew that it needed more in order to restock its now dwindling supplies. How was it so difficult to find prey in a place this size? It was no good musing on it though.

Rounding a corner it saw his quarry. A lone prey, smaller than he would have wanted but it would do for this nights hunt. It hadn’t even sensed the creature’s presence. This would be an easy catch. It stepped closer. It needed to be as close as possible.

The prey must of heard it’s movements because, flinching in shock, it turned and let out a shrill scream. It was too late however. It would have no problem capturing and subduing the prey. Not now. With a distinct increase in the glow of its eyes, the creature let out a scream of his own and the prey, memorised by the sound, fell silent and slumped to the floor.

This took a lot out of the creature. It only used this ability when really needed. It was already too late however because, as it picked up the lifeless body, it was knocked to the ground a gash of blood forming across it’s chest.

This was the hunter, claws protruding from its arms. The creature staggered to its feet, caught off guard and dazed from the blow. The hunter was on him in an instant. Another hit knocked the creature back and it collided with a wall. It was powerful this hunter but it had thought the creature dealt with and left him in a heap. The hunter knelt by the body of the pray and the creature took this opportunity to strike.

It leapt at the hunter who turned as if expecting the assault and battered away the creature mid flight. The hunter walked slowly towards the creature’s body. The creature realised it was not going to survive a final attack. Seeing his chance as the hunter made his move, the creature spun away from the sharp claws that were rammed into a ground where the creature’s body once lay.

Once again it leapt, but this time away from the Hunter. It snatched the body of the fallen prey and sped off into the night.

It never saw the scene that unfolded behind, the husband telling his wife of the tragic events that had occurred. Even if it had it could never understand. The mother and father of the kidnapped girl were beside themselves. They searched all night, calling the girls name through empty streets. There was not a sign of their daughter. No one had seen anything and the only clues to the creature were those left after the fight.

They were determined to find their daughter but neither held much hope. Both parents had to come to terms with the awful truth. Neither Matt nor Mel Marvellous felt heroic as they contemplated the fate of their daughter. Drained of energy, they returned home but was an empty shell of the home they once knew. No parent should outlive their children.

*

Jane turned the television back on and, having regained composure, settled down once again to watch the film. Maybe a drink would steady her nerves, something nice and cool. A quick trip to the kitchen and she was back in front of the movie.

It was all clear. There was no scent on the house other than that of the prey. The creature slowly, delicately pulled open the door. This was something it had learnt the other night. These portals would alert the prey if charged at. He creped up on the pray, bring careful not to make a sound.

Jane was surprised to see two glowing dots on the screen. They were red. That was all she needed. If the set had broken whilst she was in charge of the house then she would get the blame. She hoped it was nothing serious. She knew whose allowance it would be coming out of if it were. One again she turned off the movie. The dots remained. She moved closer to the screen. She thought she saw the creature from the black lagoon standing behind her couch but dismissed the though. She switched on again and turned to sit back down. Seeing the creature for the first time she couldn’t believe her eyes. It only became a reality for her when it moved, leaping towards her and sending her into a panic. The last thing she saw as she passed into unconsciousness was its face, mouth wide open, tong hanging out and saliva dripping from the gaping jaws. And of course the eyes, the glowing, burning orbs that signified every level of hell.

Then world started to spin as Jane Masterson passed into unconsciousness. It was a blessed relief.

To Be Continued...

[ QUOTE ]
Nice. I can really visualise the action well the way you write it.

Can't wait for more.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you very much I am realy enjoying writing these. Not only is it fun but since gettting Mr and Miss to 50 we don't use them much so it's nice to be able to revisit them this way. See, your character does have a life after 50

[ QUOTE ]
Ever thought about getting people to suggest a hero style theme tune for you?

I bet I could find some royalty free stuff out there that sound super-hero'ish.

[/ QUOTE ]

We were talking about your idea last night actually. It was originally my intention to record something myself but what with the writing and making the website (and a few other COH projects we are keeping under our hats at the moment) it keeps getting put back.

So, we're thinking about asking other COHers to get involved, but we've not quite decided how yet

Wonderful idea though, thanks for the input

Thank you for your comments

I didn't want to fill it with references to there daughter but I take your point. Next chapter however you might find out what happened to her

Of course at some point she's going to be in the stoy and I expect alot will come out then.

Another diary entry has been made in Little Ms' Diary. You can view it at the usual address.

Enjoy

Ooh, before I forget, anyone reading this (if there is anyone reading this ) I'm interested in what people would like to see on our site.. in fact on any fan website. We're planning a re-design and this is a gret oppertunity for us to put some more featuers in, so.

In your dream COH fan site (with the enphasis on the creative) what would you want?

Wow, really nice work. Reminds me of the art in the old D&amp;D creature books.

Excelent!

This is the second chapter of Creature. Chapter one can be found here.

Once again all feedback is welcomed, encouraged and may very well influence my decisions on how the story pans out so please feel free to post away



Creature
A Marvellous Family Story

Chapter Two

The police finished cordoning off the crime scene as the couple arrived. They were greeted by a local officer, showed there ID and entered the house.

“It’s all yours.” Said the officer, his accent a thick Bronx drone. “Anything you need you just let us know OK? Oh and,” He tilted his head towards them. “I really hope you find your daughter.”

Entering the house the couple saw the outline of the body on the floor. There was a pool of blood on the carpet, supposedly made by a knife and furniture and papers upturned and scattered around.

“I’m not sure we’ll find anything here.” This was the first time Matt had heard Mel talk this way. It shocked him but he could understand. The loss of their daughter had hit both of them very hard. There was nothing either of them wanted more than to find her.

“What’s that?” Matt motioned towards the screen door. It was buckled, not fitting the frame properly and scratch marks could clearly be seen. Mel opened the door. The marks continued outside.

“You think this is how he got in, don’t you?”

“Possibly,” He ran down the steps to the lawn. “Come and have a look at this.” The back yard led to a large, wooden fence, the corner of which had been broken leaving a hole big enough for a man to crawl through. Mel had already leapt the high fence as Mat was examining the hole.

“Here!” Mel’s call drew Matt’s attention away from the hole. He looked through it to see his wife standing over an open manhole. “I’m going to take a look.” She said as she dropped down the shaft. Matt squeezed through the gap and followed her down.

“So, it came up from the sewers.” Said Matt.

“More than came up.” Mel was stooped over something a short distance ahead. “I think it’s using them to get around.” She held up something. Around it was a dark, smoky aura, the same as was surrounding the creature.

“What is it?” Matt took the object off Mel.

“Looks like a piece of cloth, feels a little like leather.” Mel said as Matt stretched it between his hands.

“It’s slippery too, pliant and stretchy.” Mel was pulling out an evidence bag and Matt slipped the object inside. “Of course it could be its skin.”

“You think it’s shedding?” said Mel; the sarcastic tones did not go unnoticed.

*

There are some things that every junior detective knows, either from reading there ‘my little crime fighter’ pocket books or from episodes of Batman or Dick Tracy. Every junior detective knows for example, the power of fingerprints. They are well aware of the possible uses of the magnifying glass. The mysteries of invisible ink are considered of highest importance for them.

Every junior detective knows to carry a flashlight. It was a lesson well learned by both Matt and Mel as they made there way along the sewer passages.

“I think it went that way.” Matt shone his torch to the left revealing more of the smoking substance. “You know, you might have been right about it malting. We’re seeing more of this stuff.” Bits of smoking substance could clearly be seen lining the walls of the tunnel.

“Look down there.” Mel had shone her torch over to one corner of the passageway to show a bundle of sticks and accoutrements piled up into a makeshift bed. “What’s it doing here, nesting?”

“And it looks like he’s been here for a while too.” Mel moved towards the bundle and Matt added his beam of light to hers.

Without warning the creature pounced from under the pile. This time there was no smoke. This time it’s emaciated frame was clearly visible, it’s glowing red eyes burning in the darkness. Mel screamed in shock and dropped her torch. Matt, surprised, but this time not caught off guard, punched the creature squarely in the jaw. It went down but got straight back up again, making a run for Matt’s stomach. With all the force of before it connected and they both crashed into the curved wall of the sewer. The creature sped off and the couple, quickly recovering from the incident, gave chase.

Running through the sewers, the creature made for the light. The shafts of florescence were barely detectable in the gloom but they were there and the creature seamed to feed off them as it’s pace increased. It could hear the hunter and the hunter behind him and this time it was scared. It needed to feed. Then it would be strong again and could take on its nemesis once and for all.

Matt and Mel rounded the last corner to see the creature zip out of the manhole and onto the street outside. Whilst they had been down in the tunnels day had turned into night. Emerging onto the street, Matt ran off and gestured to Mel to do the same.

“Split up!” He called to her, giving chase to the fleeing monster.

“Oh, yeah,” She called back to him. “‘Cause that worked so well last time!” But she set off anyway, attempting to circle round behind.

Matt ran on through the streets. All the time he could see the trail of the monster in front of him. Wisps of smoke were visible every now and then but it was nothing like the ferocity of his murky cloak of the night before.

All of a sudden the trail petered out. Matt stopped. He was in good shape and the long run had not done him any harm. Matt could run for hours without getting tired, something that his father tried to exploit when he was younger.

He looked around every corner. He checked inside every dustbin. He found nothing. He gave up.

Turning away from his pursuit, he set off to where Mel would be waiting for him. He heard a clatter above him and looked up just in time to see the creature bearing down on him like the ubiquitous bat out of hell.

The world went black.

To be continued...

Yep, no problem at all

Not yet. Possibly coming tomorrow though 'cause it needs a second draft

[ QUOTE ]
I know it's a little late, but...

[/ QUOTE ]

Not too late at all. Most of these questions are concerned with the big story I'm writing and all comments are welcomed and taken on board

The first chapter of the story I'm writing is up as well and once again, any feedback is appreciated. I am taking on board peoples opinions and still will after I have started writing the big on.

Incidentally, the big one is called 'The Idol's curse' and is a little bit film noir.

Thanks for the comments

Yes, comma usage is something I usually sort out in the second draft but this didn't have one as I wanted to get it online as soon as possible. I have written chapter two already and will be rewriting it before release. That will generally solve the silly problems like comma usage and '2' instead of 'two'.

[ QUOTE ]
In one paragraph you started to refer the creature as a "he"

[/ QUOTE ]

Once again, something that was left in. I attempted to humanise the creature at one point but thought it too much.

Thank you for the words of encouragement and I hope I can tempt you back for the second chapter

Day 24 of Little Ms' diary is now online.

We've decided to release them at fairly regular intervals, every Monday and Thursday although they will probably be put up the night before. Hope you enjoy them.

This is actually my second stab at fan fiction for COH. The first is still being written and will take a little while to complete. This one, however, came to me when I was writing the other and it's much shorter.

All feedback is welcomed, in fact encouraged, as is speculation as to what will happen next. I'm not sure myself


Creature
A Marvellous Family Story

Chapter One

The shape moved silently, but quickly across the rooftops, fleeing from its pursuer. Clouds of dark smoke hung around it, the trail betraying its position but in the dead of night, almost impossible to see. Behind it, a clatter could be heard as white boots half leapt and half ran from roof to roof. The shape stopped at the edge of the last roof. Below it was the street and then a short run to the train station. The bustle of commuters, even at this late hour, seamed enough to put this ungodly creature off.

“Ha, nowhere to run to?” Miss Marvellous shouted, stringing her bow and letting off 2 arrows filled with a noxious gas. It ducked. Well it appeared to duck. One moment it was there and the next gone. Trails of smoke led off the roof to the street below and as Mel reached the edge she saw it, in the glow of the street light, race round the corner. She shouted across the roofs. “He’s coming your way!” The sound of her husband echoed back. It was indistinguishable from this distance, but she knew he was not far behind.

The creature had evaded the hunter. It had heard the hunter stop. It had heard the cries from the roof as it had doubled back. Obviously this was the hunter’s desperation at loosing the fight. It knew it was safe.

“STOP RIGHT THERE!” The booming voice was in front of the creature. It stopped. It could see the hunter ahead. This one was different though. It took a while for the creature to process this. It didn’t understand. It had a limited perception of the world. The universe expanded only as far as it could see. Slowly it considered the options. If this was the hunter, but it was not the hunter, then it must be, what?

A sudden noise alerted it to the presence of something else. He turned to face it and saw… the hunter. He looked left and right. To his left there was the hunter and to his right there was the hunter. He saw the hunter on his right drawing a bow and at the same time, claws extended from the hunter on the left. Instinct took over. It knew which way it wanted to run and so it did.

Matt Marvellous flinched as he saw the creature leap towards him. He’d expected Mel’s arrow to reach it before this happened. Bearing down on him the creature lunged at the floor. For a minute Matt thought it had missed and was aiming for his counterattack when it leapt again putting it’s full force into knocking him backwards. Matt flew across the street, smashing into the opposite wall. The creature, taking every chance it could get, rushed around the corner, only inches away from landing in Mel’s net.

Running to the corner, Mel watched as, in a flash of light, the creature disappeared. She heard a grown from behind her, span round and hurried to her husband’s side.

“Are you alright?”

“I’ll live. I don’t know what the hell’s wrong with me, I should have seen that coming.”

“Don’t beat yourself up about it.”

“It killed a young girl. Not much older than our…” Matt’s head raised, anger and tears in his eyes. He managed to catch himself as he looked at his wife. She was sobbing. She cradled her head in her hands as she sank, dejectedly to the floor. He moved towards her and they embraced. He wanted to comfort his wife. “We’ll find her.” He said; but he wasn’t sure whom he was trying to convince.


To be continued...

[ QUOTE ]

If it's not your character then you shouldn't change them unless the creator gives his/her ok.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not changing is fine. There is currently too much written about the 'cannon' characters to write anything interesting about them in particular.

I have a story worked out, but it needs a big finish and it needs to involve a piece of information that need never be heard of again. It's not something that would ever be contradicted. it's something that would happen to a 'cannon' character and doesn't even need to be known by them.

Would that be something that puts you off a story?

Thank you so much for your reply. I was begining to think that no one would. I know there are quite alot of questions there

Everything has been taken on board as well and I intend to be thinking about these points as I'm writing.