posted
Hola! This thread is designed to help you understand my new story, "Smoke and Mirrors" that debuted today with its Prologue.
First, I don't want anyone to think that "Smoke" will be impossible to understand if you're not up on recent LMB continuity. All you reallyneed to know, I will make sure is built into the story.
But if a little background helps, there are three recent stories which have showcased or featured major events in Lard Lad's story:
"Turning Point" Parts One and Two (my previous Onevision)
INVASION! (last summers roleplay extravaganza--the thread linked being the one that ended the event and brought everything together)
All are pretty entertaining reads but not essential. Just know that Lardy went through an extremely tough spell and did some very questionable things. The consequences of these actions impacted Legion World very negatively. In the end Lardy was able to find some peace. He married Dru the Sorceress, a reformed LMB villainess, and resigned from the LMB to begin a life with her.
Oh, if you're familiar with these stories, there are many, many easter eggs awaiting you, butif you haven't, I don't think it'll hamper your enjoyment.
Cobalt Kid has a huge co-starring role in the story, as he did in the above ones. In fact Des is letting me take some liberties like never before! But many other LMBers will serve major and minor roles as the story develops, including definitely Crujectra and Rockhopper among others.
Look for it to be very character-driven early on, but I think when the action finally picks up, it'll really all pay off. And I think the effect on the LMBverse will be pretty big.
I'll be serializing the story with a few installments per week. I'm about halfway done with it, so I don't anticipate long hiatuses (hiati?).
Meantime, feel free to post questions, comments and whatever here. I hope you'll give it a try!
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
The first chapter is really great, Lardy! I look forward to the rest.
-------------------- The only character in all of literature who has been described as "badnass" while using the phrase "vile miscreant."
From: The Pyngwyn Colonies of Planet Hyustyn | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
Okay, so Act 1 (of 3, plus epilogues) is up now, and Act 2 will begin to appear on Friday. Writing-wise, I'm actually well into Act 3 at this point. Though things are going smoothly, I definitely don't want to post installments so quickly that they catch up too much just in case my production suddenly goes down.
But as it stands I'm having an absolute blast constructing this story! As I said before, the story builds slowly, but there are some really intense character scenes coming up that I hope you'll enjoy. Please feel free to comment here (or by PM) at any time. I crave feedback!
"Smoke and Mirrors" was really the best title for this story, and I hope you'll keep the connotations of such a title in mind as you read it. There's a lot going on here!
And a shout-out to Joss Whedon, by the way. Something he's done was a big inspiration for an element of this story.
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Just to make things perfectly clear, I am fully capable of satisfying all of my Cobie's appetites. Obviously this story is some sort of Hypertime/52 tale
-------------------- Some people are like slinkys: not really good for anything, but they bring a smile to your face when you knock them down a flight of stairs
From: Penthouse atop Levitz Hall, LMBP Plaza, Embassy Row, Legion World | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
A little background on Kalla Hryl, who appears in the flashback that opens Act 2:
(BTW, if you've put 2 and 2 together, you might see how this scene relates to the Prologue that opened the story)
In "Turning Point" Part Two, Lard Lad infiltrated the inner circle of the Hrykosian district of an LMB nemesis I introduced in the story called the Dark Oval (an obvious LSH analogy). Lardy was powerless and was seeking both revenge and the return of his power.
To help with his infiltration, Lardy went undercover and did jobs under the guise of 'Lars' for a Hrykosian under-underboss named Huldnaf. Turns out, the Hrykosian leadership was fully aware of what Lardy was up to and allowed Huldnaf to unwittingly draw him in. Huldnaf had no idea who 'Lars' truly was.
Eventually, Huldnaf brought Lardy in, and Damyen Hrykos and Lardy's nemesis Mordra the Harlot (responsible for Lardy's power loss and the death of Lardy's first love LeeLee) tortured Lardy terribly. As an afterthought, they had Huldnaf killed for his "incompetence".
I established that the Hrykosian elite are extremely racist and would suppress any races under their thrall. Huldnaf was an alien and expendable.
During Invasion (behind the scenes), Lardy collaborated with Huldnaf's Hrykosian girlfriend--Kalla Hryl--to fake a Hrykosian attack on the Barbarian Hordes. The intent and outcome was to draw Dark Oval forces away from Legion World during their fullscale invasion of it. But no one knew what Lardy'd done.
In "Omnia mutantur nos et mutamur in illis" - 52 days after INVASION, we see Kalla Hryl for the first time "on-camera". Introduced as a red herring for the identity of Bat-Fem, Kalla is shown to have been given asylum by Lardy on Legion World as Hrykosian leadership finds evidence of her traitorous acts.
Kalla is shown to be involved in the Church of the Eternal Void which has gained a foothold on Legion World. Moreover, it appears Lardy has unwittingly put a very dangerous person in our midst. She's taken to wearing a wedding dress in her grief which has apparently driven her mad. Butshe also has gained trememendous power through a rite of her Church. Under her leadership, the Church and some mercenaries they've hired attemptedto destroy Legion World with the most powerful biological weapon ever seen. The attempt is foiled by a group of mostly non-LMBers. Kalla is captured and imprisoned.
In Cobalt story, "The Horn of Undoing", Kalla among others is freed by the terrorist the Trumpeter.
This story, and especially this flashback, features her next appearance and expands her background further. Her goals and mental status have changed, as you'll see. She won't appear again until Act 3, so I hope this doesn't confuse anyone. My narrative structure has a flashback at the beginning of each act to provide some crucial background, but it will all come together!
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Spellbinder: Just to make things perfectly clear, I am fully capable of satisfying all of my Cobie's appetites. Obviously this story is some sort of Hypertime/52 tale
Sorry, Princess! In, uh, retelling this story, I thought I might add a bit of humor in that scene...and I figured a Princess, who grew up in wealth and probably had gourmet cooks preparing meals for her, might not have too much skill in that area!
Chalk it up to artistic license--my apologies!
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Also, The Legion of Former Deputies, referenced in the latter of the two installments added today, originated on a recent MMB thread. I thought putting that into a continuity tale would be a nice nod to the idea. I also expanded on what might be significant about such a group within the larger LMB/Legion World context.
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Actually, that scene reminded me of that old scene between Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl, where I think Garth was trying to cook, and Imra was trying to be supportive, but the food just wasn't good
-------------------- Some people are like slinkys: not really good for anything, but they bring a smile to your face when you knock them down a flight of stairs
From: Penthouse atop Levitz Hall, LMBP Plaza, Embassy Row, Legion World | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I like how you have Rocky using expressions like "My" and "My goodness" and that he refers to the chime as a doorbell. The Pyngwyn culture has been shown to be rather formal and, by some standards, quaint and old-fashioned, so that works for him.
-------------------- The only character in all of literature who has been described as "badnass" while using the phrase "vile miscreant."
From: The Pyngwyn Colonies of Planet Hyustyn | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
Thanks, Rocky! I try really hard to capture the voices of other people's characters!
So after posting two new installments today, there's only one more left to complete Act 2. It resolves the main impetus of what we've seen so far in the plot and sets up an explosive (and longer) Act 3. The conclusion of Act 2, then, should appear tomorrow evening, and Act 3 will begin serializing next week.
I'm about halfway through writing Act 3 and hope to finish it next week. I'm striving to make it pay everything off in exciting ways!
And if you're a Joss Whedon fan and haven't figured out what from his body of work inspired me in writing this story, it should become clear after tomorrow!
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Alright...to celebrate my successful completion of Act 3 on Microsoft Word, I present now the final of the three flashbacks that open each Act as an appetizer for the payoff to my story! Meanwhile, I'll polish Act 3 and add the three epilogues!
So you can expect to see "Smoke" completed in its serialized form by Friday, August 17 at the latest! My goal is to amaze and astound you as no magic trick ever has before!
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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