Glad to see you posting again Cobalt. Nice restart of your thread

Related threads:

• 21st Century Legion v1 ("remastered" story thread)
• 21st Century Legion v2 (continued story thread)
• Secret Files & Origins (bios)
• Roll Call (all characters) thread

Thank you, Reboot, for inspiring me to start posting to it again. You’ve really done a tremendous job keeping the thread alive after all this time, and you deserve a medal or something for that! I’m glad you started this Chat thread at my suggestion! People can post their comments here then, to keep the story from being disrupted. I just read the entire story again yesterday!

Now that I’m posting, I have tons and tons of ideas for the ‘Eye’ centric crew, and a few other characters introduced throughout the thread—can’t wait to post ‘em.

Reboot’s Workforce story is superb with brilliant parts all over it. His Spark is the most likeable I’ve ever seen her, and he writes McCauley unbelievably well, with tight characterization. You get a real sense that each character has a distinct personality from one another and their ‘real’ selves, although close enough to their real selves know that it’s them.

I’ve picked up the ‘Eye’ Centric team right where it left off, and am having some fun moving their story forward. I really like writing Blok and like the idea that he cured Mon of lead poisoning, instead of Brainy.

I hope IB gets some time to post his ideas too! Vee too! And Juan, if you ever get back into it, hop on in

A few things:

People might notice I picked up Nemesis and Matter-Eater Lad and have added them to my story. Ideas were flowing fast and furious the last few days--I've got a much larger plot worked out for all those characters.

'Boot (&IB)--just thought of a really cool story for Gene/Leviathan for somewhere in the future. No specifics yet and it can wait for awhile, but I think it'll be a solid story.

And I'm still working, and still have ideas... part of my problem is that I have a horrible habit of working on bits out-of-sequence

Hallowe'en party post's about half done, which half includes most of the Plot Stuff, for want of a better term. Unless I add extra Plot Stuff I hadn't planned before I'm done, which wouldn't be unheard of

Yay! IB's back!

IB, feel free to PM Reboot and me as you go and we'll fill you in on our plans!

Glad to see you writing again!

Oh, and 'Boot--will read your PM, get back to my story as soon as this "LMB Infinite Crisis" stuff gives me a second to breath

All seconded

Y'know, given that it's only five/six lines or so (exc. quotes), it's not going to be worth the build-up

Love what you two have been doing! Especially Reboot's Spark and Trinity and Cobie's Tatiana and Jacquie.

Uh! Can’t wait to tell Blok’s story, but gotta get back to work!

Just to avoid confusion, I thought a "dibs list" might be a good idea - i.e., for characters you're using or have plans for, so that no-one else does anything significant that might mess them up for you (avoiding the dreaded double-boot, etc ). Square brackets indicate their in-comic codenames, where the codenames assigned in-story are original

Public Workforce:

Andromeda (Laurel Gand, born Laurel Gander)
Spark (Eileeen "Ella" Raines)
Polarity (Paul Kline) [Magnetic Kid]
Reflecto (Steve Arnold)
Enrapture (Meta Ure, born Meta Corbett) [Esper Lass]
Ultraboy (José Rimbaud)
Dragonmage (Jin Xiongao - Jin is the surname, chinese name )

Covert Workforce:

Mano (real name unknown)
Tellus (Grant Leo EDIT: Gennadij Ryurikovich Harius [Геннадий Рюрикович Хариус])
Micro (Lachlan Murdoch)
Wolf (Brian Landon) [Timber Wolf]

Legionnaires:

Trinity (Lorna Durgo)
Cosmic Boy (Rex Kline)
Tela (Irma Ardeen) [Saturn Girl] (shared with Cobalt)
Live Wire (Garth Raines)

Other:

Leonard McCauley
Blink (Clarice Ferguson)
Inferno (Sandy Anderson)
Gates (Tikhik Miraz)
Starboy (Tom Kallor)

For future reference:

Retro
Reflex [Amp Girl]
"Floating Fox-like Creature Boy" (No, that is not a joke )
Gear
Wildfire

I think that's all the recognisable characters I'm using or have plans for. iB, Cobalt, any objections? Plus, could you two do your own lists so that I don't mess things up for you?

No objections here, 'Boot. Also, this way we can interwork our own plans together, to have a more adherent continuity, without having to force it.

I'll break it down by name~21st Century codename

My squad in Europe/Asia, who at this point do not have codenames:
Princess Jacqeuline Projectra (Leader) ~ Sensor
Maziah bint Mordru bin Ahmad Al-Nayal~ White Witch
Tatiana Mallor ~ Umbra
Monius Elysius ~ Mon-El
Blok ~ Blok
Dirk Morgna ~ Flare
Ten Zil Kim ~ Matter-Eater Lad
Hasim Diyarbikar ~ Nemesis

Other Characters being used:
Mordru
Emerald Empress (easily can be shared--PM me)
Persuader (same as Empress)
Dark Circle
Nardo
Vykros
Kid Pyscho
Marla Latham
Dawnstar

Legionnaires
Tela (shared with Reboot) [Saturn Girl]
Spirit [Apparition/Phantom Girl]
Catalyst [Chemical King]
Valor [Karate Kid]
Shrinking Violet (shared with Invisible Brainiac)
Dreamer (shared with other writers)

Since we're all sharing the main Legion force in between big stories, I have long term plans lined up for some other Legionnaires, but none that I have the time for yet. The one that sticks out right now is Leviathan.

Some other surprises too...

Shouldn't Dreamer be on your list? [I added real names & links to bios there, BTW]

Oh yeah...

Good idea :)Sorry, kinda in a rush, I'll add their real names in next time.

Mine:

Kinetix
Flash
Rebound [Bouncing Boy]
Kid Quantum II (Jazmin)
Blizzard [Polar Boy]
Shrinking Violet (shared with Cobalt Kid)

Nightwind (not yet a Legionnaire)

Jeanne Chu

Added Gear and Wildfire to my "future reference" list, if that's okay.

Go for it! Maybe you can do something about that awful post-boot Wildfire origin

If you mean "with," we'll see. "About," nope

'Boot, just caught up to your posts. Wow, what a great Hallow'een party bit...you really convey so many characters so well.

And I have to admit that I'm biased on the next few posts...Reboot is getting to stuff we've been talking about in PMs for weeks . Now we're inter-relating our themes and subplots a bit and playing off each others characeters...great stuff!

Thanks. It took forever, but it was fun to do in the end

Yep.

I'm still not letting him use Andromeda though

Anyway, do we have a plan to make All Of LegionWorld read our work yet Cobalt?

21st Century Legion forum moderated by you, me and IB?

Gary! :shout:

I think you need to shout louder

We really need a plot to Take Over The [Legion] World with this

Anyone else whose display name doesn't start with "Cobal" reading the story anyway?

I certainly am...

Very nearly, belatedly done with the Workforce arc now, two years, four months and who-knows how many words after after Tikhik turned up and Andromeda was captured . The first of the four epilogues are up, and I'm hoping to have the fourth and final one done and posted, if not this week, certainly next. Reviews very welcome (including critical/negative, provided they go into more detail than "It sucks" or similar ).

And a thought, mostly for Cobalt and iB - what would you two say to doing an "Annual" thread at around the end of the year, with a couple of done-in-one stories and maybe some other Annual-y stuff? (I mention it now, because if you think it's a good idea, that leaves plenty of time to actually get the stuff done ). If not, obviously that's fine, just a thought

'Boot, can't wait to catch up on your final installments of this very excellent story arc you've crafted. As usual, I'm sure you're work will inspire me to get back into my own story.

As for your Annual idea, I think its a great idea! There's one story I've had in my mind for some time (which I've told you about), and I might have another one too that would be great to throw in there (as well as some other tidbits). Starting now (in August) is also a really good idea, b/c who knows how long we'll take to have things done. Cool idea!

IB, hope you see this in time!

'Boot, I read your first few posts. Love how you mixed in X-Men characters.

Cobie, skimmed through your posts too. You're certainly making your characters badass.

Sigh, I dunno if I'll ever get around to doing my part. I have an outline but that's it. I don't really have much time to plot.

Just checking, which "first few posts" do you mean? Of Spark's Day/Emerging/Lords & Masters (the point linked in my signature), or further back?

And yet, you did in around two days

For the record, I enjoyed it. Now, I just have to figure out exactly why Monstress and Nightwind (as you originally had her)/Amihan have never been mentioned if they've been around all this time

Boot, that would be Emerging, I think. The ones where you have Dani Moonstar and Shikari.

I'm pleasantly surprised to see how large 21C Legion has gotten and I still haven't quite kept track of all the story arcs

Thanks - I think the ending's pretty weak and I'm not satisfied with how I wrapped it up. I'll probably do a bit of tweaking with how it was written, but not with the resolution.

Uh, Candi and Berta just took a really loooooooong vacation. Yeah, that's it

So as I try to get 100% caught up on 21CL, I finally was able to read "Lords and "Masters" by Reboot, including some of the prior posts to refresh my memory. Quite simply, I loved it! 

'Boot, you've been a great writer but you've gotten so good over the years. Great sense of pacing, fun and intelligent dialogue and great use of a solid cast of characters--and the right amount.

As I've told you before, my favorite characters you write are Spark and Trinity. Spark is so easy to root for here and you really feel her anxiety. I love the relationship b/t her and Dox.

For the "armor suit" I kept picturing Iron Man's original grey armor as a visual. Not sure if that's what you intended but it works for me. Also wonder if this might eventually cross paths with Nori?

I'm glad you tackled Mekt in 21CL. It took me a minute but I started to think "this is a LSV story!", especially given it's title. Them I realized I was wrong. *Then* the epilogue proved me double-wrong (right?) and I loved every minute of it. Again, great writing for a Legion fan. I especially love Enrapture coming back into the story. "Cosmic King" (still unnamed for codenames?) is a welcome addition too. 

Btw, who is Sidestep? New? Existing?

Love usage of Cecilia Reyes and Dox being so "obviously I requested you for your powers".

The other half of the story was equally as good. You write Dani's power better than most writers ever have. I love the introduction of Rachel and really hope we see her again. She's become a favorite of mine in the X-comics and it just works right here.

The telepathic battle scenes were awesome, with my favorite bit being the rock, paper, scissors scene. Brilliant! 

I was actually unsure if the two stories were meant to be connected or just occurring at the same time. 

The symbiote was awesome and a great call back to a few things. At first I thought it was a Venom-type thing bonded with a telepath, but then I see it's more apt to bound with telepaths. I love the Hound visual being included, which was done in a cool way that was really creepy (and great callback to Irma's allergy). And then the subtle references to the Phoenix force were veeeeeeery interesting. I realize it could have just been the symbiote heading towards Earth but I couldnt help but think you put some UXM #101 visuals in on purpose. I'm definitely interested in Rachel's story when you get back to it, where I hope we'll learn more about the symbiote.

Really enjoyed it 'Boot! Will catch up on latest story arc shortly!

And I thank you for your generosity. I'm pretty sure you have a better opinion of my writing than I do

And from this point on, SPOILER WARNING if you haven't read it. Here's the link: http://www.legionworld.net/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=123546#Post123546

If you're asking what I was thinking of, I had something more like this in mind, but scaled down (maybe eight/nine feet tall rather than 16-20) and with wheels and a few other bits for the basic vehicle mode. But if something more Iron Man-like leaps to mind for you, well, it's prose, so it's whatever you think it is

It was pretty slagged by the end of this, and Dox wouldn't want it to be tracked back to him, so probably not any time soon. Besides, Nori's powers work differently - as things stand, she doesn't generate power internally the way Ella/Garth/the Marks do, she leeches it from external sources - so whether she could actually power something like that suit on an ongoing basis, the way Ella did, without inadvertantly draining it is an open question. Certainly, it would need more control than she has just now

Heh. And no codenames yet - as you correctly surmised, Levar *is* the 21CL Cosmic King and his organisation is based on the LSV, but I haven't yet decided if that's what they're going to be called!

Existing - she was a minor character from Jim Valentino's "Guardians of the Galaxy", a member of one of two anti-Guardian teams who Valentino planned to combine into a LSH analogue (but never did before he was forced off). Funnily enough, despite being one of the few members who didn't have a Legion analogue at the time, she had Gates' exact powers (not just that she was a teleporter, the same sort of "teleport gate" power signature), making her an analogue retrospectively!

Valentino talking about it
A couple of pictures of her

Well, I don't think she's ever had this exact powerset in the comics - she's had the hope/fear illusions, and she's had psychic arrows (though I'm not sure either powerset worked exactly the way I have them act), but not together. [What other powers has she had in the comics again? I know she also had the Green Lantern-esque "solid illusions", animal telepathy, the Valkyrie powers and the fairly ill-defined quantum powers. Anything I missed?]

Well, I didn't want for them just to stand blasting away at each other. And since what I came up with was basically rock/paper/scissors with an infinite variety of objects, I had to lampshade it

It's a bit of both - originally they were entirely separate, but they seemed to have enough parallels and be mutually reinforcing enough that they worked better concurrantly than consecutively. In strict plot terms though, they just occur at the same time.

In a way, it's closer to the former - it's more apt to bond with telepaths mostly for self-defence. Normally, it's entirely dominant over the host - the way it was with the guy and briefly with Dani before Kari & Tik managed to weaken it enough for Dani to use her powers to gain temporary control. Full telepaths, however, can turn the tables on it, forcing *it* into submission the way it usually does to the host, as Rachel ultimately manages. Ergo, it's more than slightly paranoid, and prefers to ambush them (the way it did with the guy, and - originally - Rachel) in a sort of pre-emptive strike so it can neutralise them - by bonding itself, if it feels safe enough, or with a skinsuit if it thinks they're too powerful to risk it (as it did with Rachel, having had a huge struggle to subdue her the first time round, even though she was ill-prepared back then - it would never have thought about bonding with her in the end if Dani hadn't basically forced it to).

We'll see. I won't rule it out (indeed, she makes an appearance during one of my Earth War tie-ins), but I don't intend for her to become a regular character right now

"Relativity"'s a lot shorter and less complicated - it's mostly (1) establishing a character for later use and (2) establishing what Andromeda was up to between the Workforce and Cathingham. L&M was by far the most involved self-contained story I've tried so far!

Reading Cobie's comments made me feel even worse for not being able to read both your stories from the beginning! I feel like I've missed 90% my life.

I have to apologize in advance though. Something else else happened recently (Cobie knows since I told him about it while PMing re: Dark Oval; 'Boot, I'll explain it to you via PM too) that is gonna add some additional complications to my life too. Ugh.

As it stands, I probably won't be able to:

a) fully catch up on all your posts - it took me a bit more than week to catch up on Dark Oval Book 1, and I don't think I'll have the same luxury of time to catch up here

b) do more than a few vignettes here and there when EarthWar finally breaks out

What I CAN promise to contribute is to use those Legionnaires whom you won't use, and use them in scenes that can highlight the scale of the war. Like I discussed with Cobie over PM, I can have scenes in Asia. I'll do my best to give those Legionnaires their moments in the brief scenes I can cobble together for them.

I'll explain more fully over PM exactly what happened in RL

IB, like I said privately, no worries . The important stuff comes first and foremost among that is you're okay!

It'll be great having you contribute when you can and how you can! So we can just see how that goes.

And hopefully you can catch up when you can on our older posts. I do realize it's quite a lot! But there is always plenty of time.

FYI, I read your own 21CL last night and wil have comments today (I hope)!

IB, I really enjoyed 'Redemption at the North Pole' quite a bit! Even though you picked up the story years after you began, I thought it ran pretty smoothly, actually! And you can see how good of a writer you've become over the years with your final posts.

You've got a nice handle on some of the characters so they feel entirely "your own". Certainly Zoe, Jaz & Jenni are all characters you really shine with and I'm interested to learn where you might take them from here.

I was actually surprised and delighted to see that Chu was revealed to not be a major 'big bad' type. We've already got Luthor as President of the US, so making the choice for Chu to stand out as not a bad person (though perhaps an opportunistic politician, as you'd expect) is a good one. I think it makes her more dynamic going forward.

Also liked the reveal that Morlo was the villain of the piece.

Nightwind as Amihan was a good addition to the 21CL cast. She's always been a favorite so I'm glad to see her. Monstress has always been a Legionnaire I've disliked but perhaps you'll convince me differently over time.

I know you're further writing will be more limited than it had been (and really, you can't keep this pace up--you're crazy! ) but I'm looking forward to you continuing to write these characters in 21CL!

Just caught up on your stuff Cobalt. Looking good [Couple of typos - notably a "Mekt" & "Kinetiz and XS", but nothing too serious ]

One thing I need to know (in PM, if you prefer) - how long before I need to have my tie-ins for this ready? As of your last post, it looks pretty damn close...

Cobie, thanks! Glad you liked it. I still feel I can do waaaaaay better, but thanks for the encouragement. Glad you liked my Legion Ladies, and I'm happy we get to keep using Chu going forward.

I'll especially be using those 5 ladies going forward.

Looking forward to working more with both of you too

Thanks IB!

'Boot, we're pretty close now--I've got like 2-3 more "Road to..." posts to go and Im there. However, I haven't actually written any EW posts yet though I've got it all plotted out. I planned to huddle with you (and IB) before we got started. The new baby put a temp hold on my progress of 'new posts".

Will bounce back PM to you shortly! I know you need to write the tie-ins so we can hammer out any detais you may need from me. And if I need to wait at times that will be okay.

Don't worry, I kind of expected nappy changing would take priority .

I've got most of my EW stuff provisionally plotted in varying levels of detail, but, as usual, the writing itself is slow going for me (historically, you're a LOT faster than I am! Or, at least, better at keeping a constant speed up once you've started), so knowing you're not ready to start EW-proper on (say) Monday is good for me . I do have one Cos/Metternich scene that may need to fit somewhere in the middle of what you're doing just now, though.

Awaiting your PM whenever JT stops driving you up the wall and back down again!

And don't worry about me - like I said, I'll take all the unused Legionnaires and think of something to do with em

Awesome posts, guys! Really can't wait to read more. I love the tension and the sense of excitement that's building.

Looks like things will be happening fast...

For the Asian front, what do you think would be good targets? Would Mordru focus on multiple targets at once, or would he try to take them one by one?

Maybe he'd try to secure the areas of Asia nearer Europe first? If so, maybe the Middle East?

PS, I loved the post that showed the "gathering" of the Legion. I could just picture the group shot in my head.

IB, just sent you a PM with some specifics.

Meanwhile, thanks for the compliments and glad you're enjoying it! It's all coming together and its kind of amazing to see since I've been working towards this story since 2005. It should be a lot of fun to do, and then I'm eager to play with where the characters go from here!

Thanks, Cobie I can tell you're having a LOT of fun with all this. I can't imagine how you're managing to work on both this AND the Dark Oval Novella - are you sure you haven't developed superpowers?

I'm having a lot of fun imagining scenarios for my Legionnaires too

Meh, mine was just a brief scene that was necessary to move forward [Hence the "twenty minutes in the future" tag, to give a bit more leeway on where it happens]. It's 95% Co

Yeah, we've maxed out around nine PM threads as time has gone on on this, and in those you first mentioned where you were going... *checks*...

Definitely been a while coming

Sept 2005--amazing!!!

So I put up the last "Road to..." post this morning. This brings us right up to Earth War proper. But no worries--there is no rush to get the whole thing done right away!

I know you both need a bit of time to get your posts together, and let me know via PMs if there are any aspects of that you need any data on. In the meantime, I'm trying to build up the first several posts to get my rhythm down and focus on how the story will exactly play out.

By my 3rd or 4th post I'll show a clean break where the Legion splits up into three teams and that might be a good time to throw your initial posts in; for the most part, each post I do will be a clean break (almost like if it was a television show, this is where it would go to commercial).

Once I get up those first 3-4 posts, and then start doing more, we can talk via PMs on the progress and if there are any tweaks needed or if one of us wants the other to mention something so it can be picked up on.

I'll wait for your team split post, then With the changes that have been going on, i'm not entirely clear which Legionnaires will be available for me

PS, I looooooooooove how it's all coming together. One favor, please? Can you do a post that shows EVERYONE together before deployment? Because that would be awesome!

Will do! Actually, I'm glad you asked me that since it was something I was considering but wasn't sure if it was the way to go.

I think it fits. It's one way of showing that a) the numerous threads and factions which have been hard at work are finally coming together, and b) it shows the sheer scale of the event that will happen.

Plus, it's just awesome to see everyone together like that

I will permit this if and only if you call the post "The Earth War: Alpha"

(And, of course, the final post where Mordru gets his "The Earth War: Omega" )

Guys, I'm sending you both a PM as I think it might be time to kick off Earth War proper! My PMs will say this but I'll reiterate that I do plan to move along steadily but take things slowly so we can coordinate the pacing as we go. I've written several posts but I still have a LOT to get through.

Quick point of order re: your latest post, Cobalt: 21CL R.J. is "Raymond John Brande" , not Rene Jacques

Ah. Good to know. :embarrassed:

So FYI guys, the end of part 2 is a big turning point in the Earth War and a tough moment for the Legion.

I think its a good time as well to give you both a chance to get another post or two in for your tie-ins as things move forward.

Part 3 will have an even bigger, more major turning point for the Legion (the Legion proper that is, not just my 'Sentinels'). I won't spoil it but you'll know it when you read it. At that point, it will be up to you whether you want your characters to react to what's happening within my stories (as the media will broadcast what happens).

No rush or anything but I figure between part 2 and part 3 is a good time to give you guys a chance to throw in another post before the War really picks up steam now.

I've PMed you both my plans, and since I have a lull scheduled in my "acts" I can work in your developments into my stories

It's early Saturday AM here so I'll probably spend the afternoon writing up my Act One. Thanks

You're back in the Phillipines? Didn't realize! Hopefully enjoying a holiday break?

Looking forward to reading Act One! Now is probably the perfect time to post it.

I should be able to post Part 3 Monday through Friday (a post or so a day) so by next weekend there will be another lull and that will be the point where events happening in my section have effects in other sections (where at least Legionnaires can react to the news).

My Legionnaires won't be reacting as long as they're in Coast City - as I said in the prologue and showed in part 1, they're there because the place is cut off from the outside world, and Mordru's guys are going to some lengths to keep it that way! [Hence Gear's "crash", if it wasn't obvious]

Hi guys,

Been back in the Philippines since September, but my work sched matched PST which is why you didn't notice.

Sad to say, I haven't been able to actually write Act One BUT I already have an outline (who'll go to which location, what creatures/opponents they'll fight, and a rough idea of how they'll beat them). Sorry, holidays are also keeping me busy but I'll make time this weekend to write

In any case, at least the events in my part won't have an effect on either of your parts

See, when you post a couple of thousand times and run a couple of games, people tend to notice you are around, regardless of timezones

Oh, I meant back in the Philippines Should have quoted Cobie's post first

Hey, Cobalt. Mind answering my PM question? I've a post otherwise ready to go that needs you to confirm/correct that one thing first

Check our inbox.

And so Earth War has taken a major turn as the Legion is truly at their lowest ebb. The betrayal of one of their own and then a major death show how grandiose this epic is!

Is all hope truly lost? We shall see...

Going to ost a few now to get things moving in Asia.

Cobie, love how you wrote the twist.

'Boot, love your lineup of students and their characterization.

Can't wait

Loving all the posts this morning! Glad to see Earth War touching the 21CL universe on all fronts!

Okay CK, we maxed another one and I don't really have enough to ask right this moment to open another.

I'll just say in consequence that I don't have any plans for any of the stuff you asked about, nor do I have any problem with you using them

Sounds good.

You can let some questions / comments perculate before you kick off our 13th (!) PM on 21CL.

Also, today I kicked off the 4th Chapter of EW "Proper" and that will probably wrap up on Friday, or early next week. From there is only the final, 5th Chapter that is about 9 posts or so (and then epilogues). I'm considering letting you guys wrap up your stories (or get close) before I do even the first post of Part 5.

I can probably finish my Acts 1 and 2 today

Not sure how next week will look. I'm heading off abroad for work 2nd week Jan, so we have a lot of prep in store.

As for me, I'm getting near the close of "A Good Day to Die" [Trinity's swan-dive was originally going to be accompanied by her quipping the title, but that version just didn't work in context, so I scrapped the whole passage and redrafted. The title may not now make sense, but I'm stuck with it ]

The Academy story, however, has kinda been back-burnered (partly to get AGDtD done so I can hand some guys over to iB, but partly because I'm stuck at a couple of bits and need to get those resolved before I progress there).

^ Boot, thanks for getting the guys over to me. No rush though - after the New Years' weekend I likely won't be able to write much for a couple weeks. I'll use that time for epilogues.

Loved 'Boot's latest post (really curious to see what happens to Ms. Carpenter), and I'm really looking forward to some possible posts today, IB!

I plan to put up a post today and then the last two posts for Chapter 4 up early next week. From there, I'll probably wait until you both give me the go-ahead that you're finished with your storylines and then I'll post the final chapter (about 9 posts in total). Continuity wise, it will all probably be smoother if we do it that way, I think.

No rush though as I'm enjoying your guys posts!

After the end of the final chapter there will be a series of epilogues which we can all do. I have three that I will post. I think that will be easier to coordinate (I do have to ask Reboot if he'll want to do one aspect that should be included).

Sorry guys, so I'll have to revise my original estimate of finishing today. Something else else came up and I'll be joining some distant relatives on a tour of the city tomorrow.

I'll still push to finish over the weekend though!

Sounds like it could be a fun day! No worries and enjoy!

I'm hoping to get my LSH story done today, but no promises . The Academy story will definitely have to wait for 2012, though. And epilogues... one step at a time!

Part 4 of Earth War is now complete and posted. I think at this time I'm going to hold back on posting Part 5 (the conclusion) until you guys have wrapped up your stories are at least close (probably the final five posts of nine for part 5 will be done in order as the last five of Earth War).

However, don't take this as me rushing you by any means! I think it will just flow better that way. I realize of course that life can get a bit busy.

Following the end of your stories and then Part 5, there will be series of epilogues. I will have three posts worth (some posts containing 2-3 per post) and I'm sure you may want to include one or two each. I know Reboot said he wanted to wait and see how it all plays out and that's probably a good idea. For my own, they are pre-written but with room for adjustments depending on how everything goes.

I'm so shocked that we're almost at the point where the huge Mordru plot is wrapping up! I've been working on it non-stop since 2005 (and could never have gotten this far without encouragement by Reboot).

Aaannndd AGDtD is done. Still got "Beast War" [the Academy story] to do, though.

BTW iB, I know I said I'd do a handover scene, and I still will. The post was just long enough already without adding that to it, especially since you haven't reached the point where Shifter would be sending the message AFAICS

Funny definition of "non-stop", Mr. "posted nothing 21CL-related in the whole of 2009 or 2010"

"Non-stop" is probably not the correct word.

Thrilled to see AGDtD is all done! Off to read it now!

Many thanks 'Boot! Can't wait to read your finale as well

I only have 4-5 posts more to do for Act 1. I've worked out how each team will "win", just need to put it in writing.

Apologies for my week of inactivity!

Thanks for waiting - can't wait to see your conclusion.

Love your wrap-up, Boot. Action flows along really well, and I give two thumbs up to the way you wrote Zoe, Jazmin, Jenni, Brek and the rest. You've given me a new appreciation for Pol (Paul)and Thom.

By the way, when Kid Quantum is handed over to me I'll change her code name to "Kairos" - Greek for "the right or opportune moment (the supreme moment)."

Okay, sorry about leaving BW for so long. Fact is, I've hit the writer's block wall for a while...

Ta

ANCIENT Greek

Curious as to the reasoning for KQ2 adopting it

Jazmin isn't the type to care what other people think, but:

a) Spark mentioned her codename being silly
b) I'll have Kid Quantum be the code name her brother James wanted to adopt, and even Jazmin herself finds it clunky!
c) Maybe a convo with Spark/Polarity on choosing their own names

Personal reasons - make our Legion a bit more "global", which is why I chose "Amihan" for Nightwind and "Hygeia" for Infectious Lass

I'm almost done with the current Act. I've wrapped up the battles with Amazon/Wildfire and Shifter/Element Lad. Just need 1-2 posts each for Amihan/Rebound and Hygeia/Quislet.

Snuck in a mention for Shifter being able to reach Cos' team too.

Apologies, I haven't been able to dress the writing up. Just want to keep things simple and fast

Enjoying your posts, IB!

And 'Boot, sorry to hear about the writers block! I've been there before. Maybe IB should just do the post where the 'transfer of characters' takes place, letting you focus on the Academy?

I've still got my posts ready to go to bring us to the conclusion but think it's better if I wait entirely for now before I start back up again (rather than posting a little now, then a little later).

On (a), Spark's like that with everyone! [if KQ2 switched to "Kairos", the first thing she'd do is google it. And the second would be to sing the Dodo's "I never never ever do a thing about the weather for the weather never ever does a thing for me" song from Alice in Wonderland until Jazmin's head exploded! (That, or do a faux televangalist thing, since the name is used by a bunch of evangelical Christian groups!).]

And on (c), neither Ella nor Paul originally chose their codenames - all the Workforce's codenames were focus-grouped by McCauley & co (they just kept them going when they transferred to the Legion on a "that's what everyone else would call them anyway" basis. Laurel, OTOH, will never EVER call herself Andromeda again!)

And on the "global" front... KQ2's not [Ancient] Greek, nor has anything to do with Greece, surely?

Oh, I had that mostly done anyway ( posted now ) and was waiting for iB to post readiness. The Academy story... well, the stuff I said in my PM still holds, and I'm also having more general trouble getting into that headspace - for that set of characters - right now.

No, KQ ha no Greek origins. But I've been trying to write these Legionnaires as taking seriously the "be an ambassador to the world" aspect of the team's mission (plus I couldn't find any good African words related to time ). Similar to Hygeia - she doesn't have anything to do wih Greece either.

Re Spark and Polarity, didn't think of it that way. I'll just have Jazmin choose "Kairos" just cause she likes it better

re Academy story, take your time. And thanks for handing them off to me!

Thanks! They're totally not my best work, but I like having them up. I'll probably polish the prose later on.

By the way Boot, what powers does Starboy have? Mass-induction; he doesn't have full gravity manipulation powers or the Kryptonian powers as well?

Actually, Starboy (no space) does have gravity-manipulation powers, although he's more practised with the "heavy" end of his powers. No Kryptonian powers, though.

[And note that his name's in reference to the stars on the Australian flag ]

I noticed the lack of space, now I know it refers to the flag. Nice touch

E-Lad's transmutation, Kinetix's TK, Jazmin's time manipulation, Starboy's gravity powers, Berta's wind powers, Blizzard's ice powers and Wildfire's anti-energy... the Legion's getting quite powerful!

Still trying to work on finishing BW as I feel able, but in the meantime, I was at LSCC last weekend, and got 21CL Spark & Trinity sketches done while I was there [I asked another guy for a 21CL Cos, but he didn't get to it before the con finished]




*also picked up a postboot Umbra, and is meant to be getting a comics-Sofia - that the artist had started but not finished - through the post. Will find the right thread to post them when the Winddancer arrives *

Awesome! That's so cool! Love the action-posed Trinity!

And the Spark drawing fits right in with your characterization of her, 'Boot.

(PS - hope the writer's block starts to wear off!)

Love the art, 'Boot. Those are awesome costumes, and I especially love the coat on Trinity.

As for me, I have a plot outline for my last acts. I just need the time (and I guess discipline) to actually write. We've got a ton of ongoing projects right now

Posted BW part 4 of (hopefully!) 5 last night.

*blames Shikari again for all the trouble he's been having with this one!*

On the character at the end, she previously appeared briefly in two posts back in 2005 . And, yes Cobalt, she's the one I said in PM8 we'd discussed at length before - check PM3 for that

Love the escalating tension and the great use of all your characters - even supporting ones like Jubilee, Tomb and Inferno.

And wow, you must be working pretty hard with editing to fit the finale into one post! Can't wait.

I'm working on it

[I've actually, finally, got a big chunk done now. I'm HOPING to post on Monday, but no promises. Though depending on how long it gets, I may split it!]

Wild!

Read and loved part 4 today! I've been waiting forever for Tazmin to join the others.

IB, also loving your bits as well! It's been a tour de force of Asia. Its like I want to visit all these places, with super powers.

Can't wait to read more from you too Cobie - that's a major motivator for me to get going with MY posts. Glad you're liking the places. If I had IB's powers in real life, first thing I'd do is hit those places I've used

So I'll have 3 more "small" posts to look in on the remaining 6 Legionnaires on my team, then 1 post to bring the team together, and 1-2 posts for the finale. I won't drag these out as much as I did my last act. Hope to be done by April 9/10 at the latest - April 5-9 is a looooooooooooong weekend here.

I hate writing fight scenes.

I'm sitting here, for about the fifth time in a week, having now managed to outline the last part - which is mostly, unavoidably, a fight scene - about as tightly as I'd want to do so. I know what's going to happen and when it's going to happen. And I'm sitting here and I just can't turn it into prose.

It is frustrating. Very, very, very frustrating.

Just read your latest post 'Boot. You did well with the little "skirmish" between Comet Queen and Tazmin, though I guess it wasn't really a fight scene. (shades of Tasmia, look forward to seeing how that will develop).

I'm sure you'll get to working it into prose soon.

As for me... I have the outline done too, I just need to really set some time aside and sit down and do it. Unfortunately I'll be in Japan tomorrow up to whole next week. I'll try to move the story along before I go but I doubt I'll be able to finish the whole thing.

Working on my finale now, I figure I'll finish that first so I don't hold up the finale of Earthwar.

Almost done, will try to finish my portion tomorrow. I'm thinking 2, maybe 3 posts.

Oh, I think we *both* crossed that line a good while back

I'll wait for you to be done before I post then - I'm not quite done, and I'd rather not split your posts.

Looking forward to both your finales! I can't wait to read them and then bring Earth War to it's conclusion!

And I know all too well the feeling of not turning an outline--even a tight, almost exact one--into prose. But you're almost there!

It looks like "tomorrow" will turn into "this coming weekend"!

How's it coming along? I'm done with BW5 now, so if you're going to be another week, I'll just post tomorrow.

Nice finale, 'Boot I could "see" the action as it was going along - and nice work utilizing all the students you'd picked. Love the reveal at the end too!

I'm not quite done yet, so I'm glad you posted.

Yeah, I also loved the conclusion to the Academy story 'Boot. (I was able to get a nice preview beforehand and gave my thoughts then--all complimentary which should be obvious to others reading).

For someone who says they don't like writing fight scenes, you always do a great job on them IMO!

IB, can't wait to see you bring your story to a close next! And then I'll post the remaining chapters (one or sometimes two a day). We're almost there!

Agree 100%!

Working on the end right now! Sorry guys, and thanks for waiting. Cobie, I'll PM you when I'm done so you know you can start right away. Can't wait to see what YOU have planned!

Likewise! And sounds great.

And no worries for any waiting--we've all been able to take our time here and that's been effective, I think, in letting us stay true to our vision.

Thanks for the compliments.

Actually, I just looked over the timeline the other day and realised there's something relating to the BW ending that I intended to be part of the aftermath, but I'll actually need to tell it *within* the EW timeframe or I'll end up telling it in flashback!

It can definitely wait until iB's finished though. Like I said, I don't want to split his posts unnecessarily

I can't believe I have just discovered this! Awesome work, you guys! I feel like I have a lot of catching up to do, but it's very accessible!

Thanks Boot I'm working on the ending now, whew. I actually have the first part of the final post up as a placeholder so I can work on it even whem I'm not on my home PC!

Wow, thanks razsolo And here we were beginning to think we three were the only ones reading the story!

Almost done, guys! Just have to wrap up the post later tonight. Off to do chores first, but I WILL finish my part tonight!

And I'm done with everything, including the epilogue. Whew!

I might go back and check for grammar, spelling, and rewrite some parts to make the writing flow better, but there won't be any changes to the plot.

Go ahead, gents! And thanks for waiting!

Woo-hoo! Great stuff, Ibby! Zoe has really emerged as your star character--you write her fantastic, and I want to keep reading your interpretation of her. Also, I really like the idea of a Blizzard / Zoe romance, which you slyly hinted at!

I will now begin the final chapters of Earth War, of which there are nine. Probably 2 a day except on weekends, so I'll be done by next week. I wrote these back in Nov / Dec so if anything for whatever reason does not match up perfectly, just PM me and let me know if I need to make a quick fix.

'Boot, you indicated you had another bit to add in *during* EW (not after). I'm going to get started today with two posts for the final chapter but you can add in your bit wherever you need. I will not do the final few chapters until you post it.

When its over, we can discuss and hammer out the epilogues to have in place, and then take a deep breath.

BTW, I also wrote out about 15-20 more posts following Earth War for my next series of short stories. I guess I got a little out of control in December.

Thanks, Cobie! When I "created" Blizzard and Rebound, I intended them to be representations of me as a high-schooler. Hence Rebound's path to self-confidence, and Blizzard's awkwardness at love. As of now, Kinetix remains blissfully oblivious BUT does think fondly of Blizzard.

Love your latest post - can't wait to see whether Sara will make good on her decision! Inserting the magic users (nice shout out to Dragonmage) was great, and I love your lineup. Wonder if them being all female will make Mordru underestimate them?

Inspires me to write a short story with an all-girl team touring Southeast Asia (Amihan, Hygeia, Kinetix, maybe Violet...)

I don't have any epilogues planned, but I can't wait for that discussion. I don't think I have any loose ends that need to be addressed right away, but something this epic almost requires a major reunion scene with all the survivors!

And I think we discussed reviewing the list of active Legionnaires, right?

Glad you like it! The all-female telepathic circle has always been front and center in my mind. The fact that they are all female and childhood friends--with tensions between them as they aged--is just too cool to not focus on. I've been planning this sequence since like 2005!

Love the idea for the short story!

I have a complete and updated Roll Call / Roster ready to be posted as soon as Earth War ends! As for who will actually be on the roster, well, I'm adding 7 Legionnaires. But we do have some ideas on how to proceed from here that we've been tossing around...

Okay, I'm behind on my reading - it's been a stressful week, and it's not over yet - but just to clear one thing up...

It's one epilogue chapter for Acad L: BW - albeit roping in most of the LSHers I held on to after AGDtD. I was going to do it as part of the aftermath, as I said - but in-universe it needs to happen within a couple of days of the end of the Academy siege and EW's going on longer than that, so it needs to happen before EW ends.

The way things are going here though, it may be the weekend before I get a chance to do it. We'll see

Cobie, that all-female circle has fascinated me since you first introduced it.

Can't wait to see how you deal with the fallout, plus the revelation about their attacker, 'Boot. Here's hopig your week gets better.

Re Legionnaires, I'm not adding anyone nor am I dropping anyone. Although I worked with several, the ones that are truly "mine" are:

Kinetix
Flash (XS)
Rebound (Bouncing Boy)
Blizzard (Polar Boy)
Kid Quantum (Jazmin)
Amazon (Monstress)
Amihan (Nightwind)
Hygeia (Infectious Lass)
Wildfire

so that's 9.

Re Kid Quantum, if I do change her codename like I mentioned before, I'll do it later on Couldn't think of a good way to insert it into Earthwar.

WOW. Gotta say, Atmos' death took me by surprise - and I almost felt sorry for the guy. He's a lot more likable in 21st C.

Glad you felt that way! I was hoping it would have that effect.

Put up another post today and have three more long ones to go which will bring us to the conclusion. We're almost there!

So today I posted the finale of Earth War. I hope you guys like it--I have to admit, it was a pretty emotional experience writing it, and then just now rereading it / editing it for corrections.

I also posted the first Epilogue, which deals directly with the characters I was using throughout Earth War.

I figure now would be a good time for either of you to do any epilogues you want to do for specific characters you included.

I have 1 more epilogue planned that is mainly just 'catch-all' follow-ups on the various other characters I used that are not Legionnaires (Veilmist, etc.)

I know 'Boot and I spoke about him doing the RJ Brande funeral epilogue post, and so that could come whenever you want it.

I then have a final brief epilogue post that I wrote up to bring a total conclusion to Earth War and we can move on.

I'm really blown away by the scope of the project and well it worked with the three of us doing our own interconnected stories. It's been a ton of fun!

Also, 'Boot knows this but I don't think you do, IB. I have a ton of stories I've already written for the immediate post-Earth War Legion. If its okay, I'd like to post them once we get the epilogues done.

Until you returned to full time posting (yay! again) I had intended to just take the reigns of the massively sized Legion and do a bunch of stories with them. Now I'm thinking perhaps I get those pre-written stories done, and then let's talk about where we go from here.

'Boot and I have some really good, obvious really, ideas on how to handle the massive roster. It could let you carve out your characters for the story you have planned. You may have an in-story reason, but if not, we can work in what we were discussing.

Sorry for taking so long to read your finale! It was great, and I love how you captured the emotions of...everyone involved.

Epilogue's great, you wrapped everything up nicely.

I have no more epilogues to write right now, since I think the one with Kinetix wrapped everything up.

I have a hunch I know what your idea is. The world is a big place, after all I'm good with you posting your pre-written stories first, and let's take it from there. I'd like to focus on the Dark Oval first too, so the timing works perfectly

Nice epilogue Boot! You write friendships really well (Brainy/Spark, Reflex/Gear). Interested to see what Brainy and Spark do next...

Oh, I'm not done yet. I've got at least two more "Casualties of War" posts just to catch up to where Cobalt is after the timeline he established in his last post, THEN the R.J. Brande funeral post [Some of the Casualties material was originally meant to be after the funeral, but establishing what "Danitron", as I've been calling her in my notes, was relative to Dani and that Nori was comatose was always going to happen before. The rest is either pulled back or additional], then an actual epilogue after that just to tie everything up with the LSH!

Oh, and then a Surge story to establish her new status quo on top

Sounds awesome

After all the immediate epilogues are over, should we three maybe do a "Story So Far" post again? A lot has happened since the ones at the beginning of Part 2

Well, I know Cobalt has a post-EW update for the Roll Call thread ready (which he was *meant* to send me after EW was done!), and a "Story So Far" in the middle of a thread won't do much.

Maybe also a pinned Recap Thread, for all fanfics?

I'll try to remember to PM it to you tomorrow!

Can't wait to read the latest. We're very close now to finishing EW!

That might be better, though a bit of a chore. What if we use the Roll Call thread for the recap, and link the recap post to the last post of every major story arc?

You forgot

That might work.

I am so fascinated by what comes next for Dox and Ella.

So next (?):

- Reboot has 2 casualties of war epilogues
- Cobie has a specific pre-Funeral epilogue that should occur after the majority of 'just after the war ends' posts happen.
- Funeral of RJ Brande epilogue (by Reboot, I may follow up right ater).
- Final Reboot epilogue
- Final Cobie epilogue

And then we're done with Earth War!

From there, I have a number of 'mini-stories right after Earth War' that I have pre-written to showcase the Legion in its entirety coming together as as a group and maturing into a more professioanl organization. As we talked about, I hope to dive right into those and get them up.

I promise to do that at a relatively brisk pace so IB you don't feel like you're stuck waiting for me. Then we can talk about the next phase!

Not so sure about there being only two [more] Casualties posts now, but you probably guessed that from experience

Meanwhile, sorry you're stuck waiting for me!

No worries I don't have anything planned for the moment anyway. Anything I can do, though? Mind if I jump in with a few "day in the life" posts that'll stick with the "Legion becoming more professional" theme?

But, don't wait for me since these will, if ever, be completely stand-alone and will not set up any immediate plot points

I don't have a problem with you doing so, anyway.

The sections I'm trying to work on right now are tightly focused on my guys (and pretty much ALL either tying off existing plot points or setting-up new ones!), notwithstanding a few little bits involving Irma & Garth (and probably Tina) as supporting characters either side of the funeral.

Nice Blink entry, Reboot! Your epilogues have been quite thoughtful, and show a deep understanding of how your characters tick. C'est bon!