posted
Yeah, we had a lot of back and forth. Lucy wrote 80-90% of it, but all the details were discussed extensively via PM and FB! And we have a few tricks up our sleeves as well....
What's important to note is we had to develop what had been largely a series of insinuations over the last better part of a decade!
BTW, there was some debate between us about the sexual euphamism Lardy uses at one point in the post. Let us know if it worked for you!
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Though, I do not think that I have ever heard it termed a "haunted house" before. That had me laughing out loud.
From: Doing the things that need to be done | Registered: Sep 2003
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I'm especially interested the Seven Deadly Sins of Mankind. In Pre-Crisis DC and Batman the Brave and the Bold, they are called the Seven Deadly Enemies of mankind. Lust and Gluttony are replaced by Selfishness and Injustice in the interest of keeping things family-friendly.
Anywho, this is the last post I am going to make for two weeks. Please watch Question Lad and Red Arrow, make sure they don't get in too much trouble when I gone. They like pop culture references, fourth-wall breaking, and exploring Legion World.
-------------------- Go with the good and you'll be like them; go with the evil and you'll be worse than them.- Portuguese Proverb
From: Illinois | Registered: Jun 2010
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posted
I've started reading "The Lord of the Oval" - I just finished the "meeting" scene, the post with the map - and I am just blown away by how epic the scale of this thing is.
I know there are a lot of other contributors later on, but thus far the section I've read was primarily the work of three posters - Lardy, Cobie and Dev. I really enjoy each of the three styles and just wanted to give my first impressions.
First off - Lardy. I knew from the couple of roleplays that I've done with you that your character had a very rich backstory, and quite a few peripheral characters. What I'm always amazed at is how fleshed out each of them are. When I was writing my story, there were quite a few people who were just cyphers - just interchangable names that did nothing other than service a plot. None of your supporting cast seems to be that. Each one seems very emotionally realized - reacting to things in a manner believable to what you've already established. Of course the most complex character is Lardy himself... you do a great job capturing the "flawed" hero, the man who has so much potential to be great and noble, if only he could stop getting in own his way. He's like "Super-Macbeth".
Next - Cobie. I have to admit, a lot of times during past roleplays I've found it hard to get a handle on the magnitude of what you've conceived as the overall world in which all of these characters exist. I'm not saying that as criticism... if anything, I want to give you credit for the sheer scope of your thinking. I don't know what your education background is, but I have to assume that if you weren't a history major, you must at least have that as a primary personal interest. To build up, over the years, an entire fictional social/political/religious/military structure that spans a galaxy is nothing short of amazing. Top that off with the "meeting scene" where you presented the mission and strategy in such a detailed fashioned that I almost felt like I was having an army flashback, and I tip my cap to you in respect.
Finally - Dev. I've mentioned this before to you in a PM during the "Red Bee" stuff, but I just want to go public with this: You are my favorite writer on Legion World. The thing I like best when reading a story is the ability to lose myself it, to be able to percieve, almost visually, what the author is relating. I get that more with your posts than with any other online fiction I read. I think it has to do with the way in which you handle motion. A lot of people (and I think I just recently learned that I am personally horrible at this) advance scenes through nothing but dialogue. The actual movement of characters and objects through the space in which they are existing is just glossed over. I never have that problem with your writing. I'm always able to "see" where each character is in relation to one another and how their individual motion impacts other people/and things in that space. I'm probably not describing it well, but it's kind of like the "space" element in what they call "mise-en-scène" in cinema. Whatever it is... it seems like it comes very naturally to you, and it makes all the difference in my enjoyment of a story.
So... back to the story
-------------------- See Here for the latest update on the 2013 Chicago Gathering (now including tentative attendance list)
Registered: Feb 2008
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Ex, your compliments hit on the number one goal I shoot for with my characters, which is to make them as believable, as well-rounded....as REAL as I can make them be. So you've paid me the highest possible compliment you possibly could have! Thanks so much, for the kind words!
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I should also mention that I've written with and collaborated with Cobie for many years now, and Ex absolutely nailed what an astonishing vision Cobie has for big picture-type things! It's true that he studied history in college, but I doubt that even that can account for the sheer imagination he puts into these! He's extremely talented, and I think that extends to his character work, too.
Dev, I've been working with and reading his stuff for a pretty short time, but Ex is right...you can really "see" what's happening in his writing in a big way. I'm so glad that Dev is in our creative "think tank", now! I'm a big fan of his!
In fact everyone who has contributed so far has just hit it out of the park. I'd be hard-pressed to find the weakest link! Some have written more than others, but I'm grateful for what they've done and hopeful that there will be much more to come!
Truthfully, I'm much more interested in reading stories set in the LMBverse than any fanfic about the Legion or other properties. The LMB is 'ours", so it feels like each and every story 'matters' if that makes sense. I'm not knocking anyone who chooses to write the other non-LMB fanfic--hell, my first ONEVISION was LSH-related, as well. Everyone should write about whatever really moves them. For me, that's the LMBverse, and I'll write the heck out of it and read whoever else's stuff who wants to write about it!
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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Ex & Lardy, I really appreciate the compliments. I really try to inject a 'world-building' mentality into my LMB stories and so those kind words mean a lot! I was a history major in college and got a Master's in history too (focus in Roman History and the Middle Ages among other things) but I've done a tremendous amount of research on my own in the years since on culture, religion, military, etc. My economic background which stems from my profession has added another layer to how I view 'world building'.
I'm quite a fan of your work too, Ex! I really love the unique and fun style you write in, which has a way of drawing me right in.
And I'll echo your compliments of Lardy as well. I think Lard Lad is the most fully realized character in LMB lore and Lardy injects that same type of character sensibility into all of the characters he writes. Like he said, we've collaborated for a number of years now and I like how our strengths play off one another and our two different writing styles mesh. He has a way of bringing things back down to character so seamlessly (well it reads seamlessly to me though I know he works hard at it).
I also am enjoying Dev's contributions immensely. You guys are right about the 'sense of movement' in his posts. I kind of see a similarity between Dev's writing and all the really great comics of the 80's--particularly the artists. Dev has a way writing a scene that reads like Perez, Layton, Giffen, etc., were drawing it, if that makes sense.
For my own writing I know one of my tendencies is to embrace the complexity of a scenario. Even though I realize if I had an editor they'd be telling me to tone it down, I purposely indulge myself in keeping things complex because that's how I know these types of things would be.
I've also over the years grown into writing Cobalt Kid as somewhat not easy to relate to or understand, and kind of stoic and distant. It fits into how I see him and the type of tension and mystery I've built for him; sometimes though it creates less character time for Cobie (something I hope to change as we get deeper into the Novella). Sometimes he says and does things and I don't actually write why he did that, just leaving it implied or open to interpretation. In contrast, I'm able to delve deeper into Lolita's personality much easier.
And yeah, like Lardy, I'm more of a reader of LMB-related stories than regular fan-fiction.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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Okay, I'm totally blushing now. I keep reading all of your kind words (and what you said does make sense to me Cobie), and I keep thinking you're all reading more into it than is there. I did go back and read some of the stuff I have written, and can see what you are referring to. The funny thing is, I havenever realized that I was doing that...it's an unconscious thing with how I write. Which makes me feel better on a certain level, because that means I cannot really screw it up at this point.
I agree with something Lardy says...everyone has strengths in their writing here. Some of the imagination that goesinto the work that Ex just finished is amazing to me. Tempest has a great big imagination as well. Cobie, you do have such a grasp of the structure of our shared universe it boggles my mind.
Lardy has a rich history to draw off us with all of his characters, I am envious of that as well, and am trying to give my characters a sense of history (in Lons case) and establishing a big arc (for Dev) to give them more depth.
I have been nblessed to work with Faraway on this endeavor (at least half of what I am doing) and am blown away by what he comes up with.
Overall, we have some of the best fan writers around here on LW. Maybe that's because we play by our own rules...
...and I know that I didn't nmention everyone, but rest assured that Power Boy, Emily, Abin and everyone else do things that I find really awesome as well.
From: Turn around... | Registered: Jul 2003
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Yeah, I pushed for that one over something more pedestrian like "bumping uglies"! Lucy liked it, too, but thought it was too in-jokey!
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