SlickRiptide

I'd buy that comic.

Y'know, a PM to Hero 1 might turn up the real answer to that question according to the story bible. I've found out such minor details in the past by virtue of asking about them.

You have a talent for evoking the spirit of a character. Nice work!

I like your work on Graviton Girl's face. She looks like very alive.

Nothing like sunset over Paragon City.

I know what you mean about long stories. I've got one I'm working on that's only half-done and already passed 9700 words. I'm thinking of making it as a PDF and publishing it at the City of Heroes Writer's Guild, clearly labeled as a "novella" when it's done! Ha ha!

This is a pretty good story. You've obviously put a lot of thought into how your hero's version of the Countess Crey story comes out. You managed, I think, to weave Aliana Blue's story into Countess Crey's without straying really into "cheesy" territory.

The README bit made me think you were going to work The Doctor in there also, but that seems to have been a bit of misdirection. *heh*

I don't think of them as "things". They represent the points in a fight or an investigation where the hero gets her second wind or becomes grimly determined or whatever. It's psychological, generally, not "I take my Underdog Power Pill".

If you google for "Color Theory" you'll find a wealth of info out there about how colors work together. For the most part, the CoX color picker can be thought of as a color wheel that's been cut apart and laid out as a strip instead of a circle. If you imagine "fanning" the picker and pasting the top and bottom back together, you can see how you can use it the same way you'd use a color wheel.

Color Theory Explained

Well, since photos are going up, I figured I'd better get mine online. The first thing I learned is that I should read the instructions before starting a new account on a photo site...

Pax 2008 Meet and Greet Photos

I'm curious about why Purvek suddenly decided to speak 'uman.

As usual, *applaud*.

I had my doubts when Manx showed up, but those were dispelled soon enough. And, like they say in the KFC commercials, "I didn't see that coming!"

I'm looking forward to see what you can do with the mission editor, Battler.

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I was really saddened to see a poorly designed booth (crowding was ridiculous) with uninterested marketers. I really expected alot more from CoX.

Oh - I didn't get anything about getting a code for a new costume - too bad, I would have liked to, but it seemed to me that perhaps NCSoft isn't interested?

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That's interesting, because my son went to Pax on Friday and had the exact opposite experience. He knew to ask about the PPD Hardsuit code, and he felt like he practically got the third degree! *heh* He was asked all kinds of stuff; What server do you play on? Do you like heroes or villains better? What kind of characters do you like to play? So on and so forth. I think he would have been happy if the marketing people HAD been disinterested!

Unfortunately, complaining about crowding at Pax is a bit like complaining about rain in Seattle...

Is Ascendent still playing? I had the impression that he had ridden off into the sunset. I fear this is as much of Crom's story as we're likely to get.

Thanks for the kudos. I'd say you got the essence of the story pretty much right on. I planned the symbolism to the extent that I had the ending first and "backtracked" to the beginning, if you will. It's certainly not the ambient temperature that "Blue" is referring to at the end. *heh*

It was a fun time. I saw a couple of familiar names but mostly it was a bunch of new names and totally new faces. *heh*

I took my 17-year-old daughter, who thoroughly enjoyed herself. She also found some boys to ogle which would no doubt have caused her boyfriend some consternation.

The red-name folk were very forthcoming and easy to mingle with. Nobody dropped any new hints about I-13 (darn those sealed lips!) but Joe Morrisey (Hero 1) is giving a talk at Pax tomorrow that should include details about the mission editor. Pax attendees, we expect a full report!

In addition to Ex Libris, Babs, Hero 1 and some other folks that i didn't get the chance to talk to, we got to chat with Mrs. Hero 1, who was very engaging and perfectly at home with a bunch of gamers. *heh*

The highlight of the evening was a marriage proposal! I'm terrible with names, so I'm going to leave the reporting on that for one of the other two-dozen people who were snapping photos of it, but it was pretty sweet. Christy, my daughter, was practically in tears at the romance of the whole thing. Ha ha! *edit*After going through my pictures, I have shots of nametags! The lucky couple was Nomme and Gorbified! Congratulations! We're all invited to the wedding, aren't we?

All in all, it was a great evening! I want to thank Gargoyle_KDR for organizing the event. He did a fantastic job. Thanks also to the NCSoftees who took the time to hang out with us gaming geeks and really mingling and being part of the party. You guys are great!

To everyone I met (NuclearToast, @Wor, Knightengale, Viv Victus(?) and everyone whose name I've already forgotten due to my perenially sucky memory, thanks for an enjoyable time! It's not often you get to hang out with people and just shoot the breeze about your favorite games.

Special thanks to Beetle_King, for passing his tickets on to us when he couldn't use them. We put them to good use! If you read this, Beetle, check your PM's!

I was ready to take a break and play something else for awhile.

I don't suppose I'll be doing that now!

From what I can see, I-13 is an issue full of win!

My local Best Buy has them prominently displayed along with similar game time cards and gift cards. It's in the middle of the walkway; you have to pass them (though not neccesarily look at them) on your way from the front of the store to the back, if you walk in the door and head immediately to the software section.

So, what are y'all using as the name to put on your name tag? Your real name, your "main" character, or your forum handle?

You've been featured in the Scoop! Better get that next Blue chapter up!

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Have to miss the M&G but I'll be at the booth at 2pm + picking up badge and walking to booth time to get me some PPD Hardsuit goodness.

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I recommend you plan to show up a bit earlier than 2:00.

The question is, "Can you set it up to play over the internet from work?"

My experience with this was not strictly being non-speaking. My character in question is a magically anthropomorphed cockroach named Chrrp because that's the sound he makes. The only sound. *heh*

I thought it might be annoying but it turns out that most people he comes in contact with think it's hilarious. I'm not sure why, exactly.

In any case, it means that he can "talk" on supergroup chat and team chat without actually talking. For emphasis he can say "Chrrp Chrrp!" or something similar when he needs to.

If you're willing to loosen up your concept from "doesn't speak" to "doesn't speak intelligibly" then you can at least give yourself some options beyond the limited number of emotes, especially in chat channels where emotes become useless.

*fnord*

I *fnord* wonder *fnord* what it might *fnord* take to agi*fnord*tate Nazghul1 into wrap*fnord*ping up the *fnord* cur*fnord*rent install*fnord*ment?

Well, Sam, I think you achieved your goals here. It's a good story and as a person "afflicted" with White Knight Syndrome, I can identify with Captain Indivisible's plight and the attraction between he and Grimwall. They both become better people in the end, with a real purpose instead of one thrust upon them (or accepted by them) by default.

It goes without saying, of course, that the story here may have concluded for the time being, but it isn't actually finished!

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I am humbly and anxiously awaiting any comments on the story, thus far.


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Comment - Don't anticipate criticism. If you're going to do the job of the critics for them, then you might as well address the criticisms before you publish the story. Likewise, tell your story and don't concern yourself about whether it's "colorful" enough. Every reader is different; you can't really tell that "most readers want blood and gore in their combat". Now, if YOU want more blood and gore, then go ahead and take the time to add. "PG-13" doesn't mean "A-Team violence" where a million bullets are fired and nobody is ever hit. It, in my opinion, primarily means "no gratuitous sex or violence". Heck, if you want to include gratuitous sex and violence, there are venues for that outside of the forum...

Feedback - I like your story, and I'm looking forward to this confrontation between Purvek and Lupia. The only problem I've seen is that YOU know these characters thoroughly while we readers are being tossed into the middle of their lives without so much as an introduction. There's nothing wrong with that; it's kind of a variation on the whole in media res idea (in the middle of the action, like when a movie opens in the middle of a fistfight and you have no idea who the fighters are or why they're fighting). It's just that it leaves a lot of head-scratching when you're trying to figure out something like a horned girl who's undergoing some kind of personality transformation and you don't really have a clue what her ordinary personality is supposed to be like, or why she has horns for that matter.

For the upcoming encounter between Purvek and Lupia - Consider that we readers know next to nothing about Lupia except that she's really, really evil, she has a grudge against Purvek, and she's supposed to be dead. (I'm ignoring the backgrounder you provided, in order to illustrate the information that is contained within the story. Even the backgrounder doesn't tell us why she hates Purvek, though I can surmise it has something to do with the death of her brother and/or whatever defeat led the team to believe that she ought to be dead and buried.)

Take your time and don't be afraid to revise it a few times. If you're feeling like apologizing for not meeting the expectations of some nebulous group of readers in your imagination, then realize firstly that they're imaginary and that the real readers have expectations you probably don't even dream of, and secondly that you can't possibly meet all of the expectations of people you know only as names on a forum. In other words, "frag 'em if they can't take a joke". Write your story so that YOU feel satisfied with it. Don't go apologizing in advance because some random person might be theoretically dissatisfied with it. That just says, IMO, that in some corner of your mind YOU are still dissatisfied and you should spend some more time revising it.

One small nitpick of the last chapter - Your "voice" has consistently been in the past tense (Allia did this. Bot-lass said that.) In the last chapter, you started waffling between past-tense and present-tense. If you did it purposely, then no worries. If not, then it's something to be aware of as you approach your climax here.

Just curious - whatever happened to this picture?