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> > > > I highly doubt that. I only e-mail another poster about a story if I want to collaborate with them or do something that might seem out of character or change that character's status quo. It would be nuts to get approval every time a story gets posted, and would take the fun out of it too.
> > >
> > > But mostly your stories have a small cast of characters you've been using since day one.
> > >
> >
> > Not necessarily. I'm still not entirely happy with how I write some characters (Mumphrey, for example) but the only way I'll get better at it is to put them in stories.
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> Part of why Liu Xi is going to college is because all of these screw-ups I've been making has motivated me to move the few characters I have out of the shadows of the established ones. That way if I still can't handle them, or if Hatman is killed off, etc, I won't be tied to a reaction to that.
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I think it helps that your characters can stand on their own without latching onto an existing character. They become true main characters instead of almost becoming Hat-characters.
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> > > You'd be surprised how much stuff I toss out regularly just because *I* don't like it, or because I don't think it'll be well received. The heartbreaking part is when stuff I wanted to post should have been tossed out too.
> > >
> >
> > I don't think it's all or nothing. It doesn't have to be toss or don't post. And when in doubt, I say just post the thing.
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> Some part of stuff I don't like are reused later. But I do toss a lot of stuff simply because I get halfway through and it seems awful to me all of a sudden.
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Oh, I've done that too.
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> > > For instance I write a story with Hatman, Yuki, and Lara dealing with some nasty situation or another. Now I worry I'll get the response that the story is fine, except I should re-write it with Hatman in the spotlight and move Yuki and Lara aside or out of the scene, because Hatman should really shine in that situation. Maybe that's true, but then a) it's a different story, and b) the problems I have writing Hatman are magnified greatly if he's in the spotlight.
> > >
> >
> > I'm not saying Hatman should take the spotlight. A story about your character is still about your character, and it's not up to the guest star to save the day. But the guest star should contribute somehow.
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> I do get that reaction sometimes, though, the old "Hatman should be able to handle this all by himself, so having someone else handle it diminishes his character."
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> I guess my point of view is why would Hatman always want to handle it himself? What's wrong with trusting in the abilities of people you work with? And he needs a break too, even without being conveniently "taken out of action" somehow. What's wrong with him watching and trusting and commenting on how cool that was? A lot of people don't share that view, though.
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I would say that's a logical way to look at it. However, I think it oftens comes across as Hatman being almost incompetent while your characters come off as all-powerful or unflappable. I agree with your intent though that there's nothing wrong with that.
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> > I wouldn't say that. In this particular story Hatman, in my opinion, really doesn't look like the leader of a superhero team. A guest in the Mansion and a team member pretty much run him right over and ignore his input during a serious investigation. Not much of a leader if you ask me.
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> That's what Yuki does, she tends to steamroll people sometimes. It's nothing new, really. Hatman still contributed to the conversation. He was Anna's strongest defender. He seems a little muted because I thought it might be bad for him to blow up in Drury's face and jeopardize the investigation truce. At the end he didn't react at all because it was the end of the chapter and I purposely left it hanging. 
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Better to dress down a troop than let them run roughshod over an official with standing like Drury though.
Not a bad analysis, but it came across as Hatman being meek or unwilling to challenge Yuki I thought.
> > As HH noted, you did some excellent character progression with Liu Xi attending college in this chapter. I also think it's a great move as it expands her horizons beyond the Mansion.
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> That's been planned for a long, long time. It just wasn't possible while the world was at war with the Parody Master or the Moderator was in control. Liu Xi badly needed to move out of the shadows of giants.
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That's fair enough. I've put a few plans on hold because of big events like the Parody War myself.
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> > I also don't think it was bad to have Yuki and Liu Xi do what they did, just Hatman's reaction were a little...lax. Hence my tie-in. The whole thing doesn't need to be tossed, in fact now I think a whole new element has been added to the story that wouldn't have been there.
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> Those scenes moved pretty quickly. I'm not saying Hatman is slow, but when Yuki is around things happen very fast - like CSFB! fast. And in my mind, I figured for the sake of the appearance of unity, Hatman wouldn't yell at Yuki or Liu Xi in front of Drury. Since there was no office or meeting scene after that, there wasn't really an opportunity to show any reaction at all.
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If anyone is used to CSFB!-fast though, it's Hatman. They've been best friends since they joined the Legion. It's interesting that Hatman would keep quite for unity sake while Yuki destroys any semblance of unity though.
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> > > > I think you're a great writer; I only wish I could be as descriptive as you are. It would be a shame if you stopped contributing, as I think you have lots to contribute.
> > >
> > > Either way I'll still be writing World Class and maybe a few PV-themed stories in the cases where some of my characters there have tales to tell. About the rest, we'll see.
> > >
> >
> > Well, I hope you continue to play in the sandbox with the rest of us.
>
> Maybe, but I'll probably start off small. I have a lot of ground to cover anyway with the characters that are mine (I have something like 3 half-finished stories about them), and World Class has been falling behind again (which is sad because I have a new and interesting plot).
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I think Sean should have to have his testicles amputated, just to change things up.
~Hat~
