> > I suppose we also have to assume that Danny can swim, otherwise that was a whole lot of trouble 'rescuing' him for naught.
>
> If it's any help, as soon as the tide turns there'll be a lighthouse for him to swim to.
|
A lighthouse with no island? Should I have bought flood insurance?
> > And don't think those kids aren't in a whole lot of trouble. My parents always took a dim view on drugging hippopotomuses, and I feel obligated to pass that lesson on. There will be a lot of work involved in making up for this little caper.
>
> Now I'm really looking forward to the tie-in.
|
I probably won't be able to write anything this weekend, with family visiting, but I'd like to join in again when I can.
> I spend a lot of time trying to balance various things in my Parodyverse writing. Whimsy versus drama is one of them. Making sure various characters get due respect is another.
>
> I'm keen that the LL don't look like unprofessional idiots, so I don't want to make their security a joke. On the other hand, Beth von Zemo is supposed to be one of the most dangerous of the team's foes, and one that knows them like no other, so I want to give due regard to that. The Purveyors are supposed to be the most dangerous career supoervillains around.
>
> Therefore I decided that on this occasion, Beth would have her back door, the Purveyors could use it, but having them steal Danny wasn't a narrtively satisfying solution. In mitigation, Al B. worked out how Beth did the trick and he can plug similar holes in future. In fact the Lair Mansion might be a whole lot harder to just jump into for everybody. Al B's working on a way to divert all teleportation and the like to the poulty room.
>
> As to Mags and Griff and co. pulling the heist, I needed culprits who were unlikely to get booted off the team for their actions or to leave team-mates with a sense of betrayal. And I confess, when I started the mystery I hadn't expected it to get this long and complicated or for people to get so invested in it. Hence the denouement was perhaps an anticlimax for some since the story had evolved into something more epic than I'd originally envisaged.
|
You probably shouldn't spend too much time worrying about it, as it's very easy to accept just about any action in the Parodyverse. I'm not really put out in any way by the Beth plot... I can agree with the logic (with both Beth and Haggie involved, the team was certainly qualified), and have no problem with things that need to happen for story reasons.
For instance, I would imagine that Glory would be able to track beyond the smell of chocolate, but I accept it readily enough because it was necessary for her not to be able to do so, and going for another option of stopping her would have been mean. (I believe in Terry Pratchett's "The Truth", the main character thwarts a werewolf member of the city guard that was ordered to follow him by smashing a bottle of aniseed in her face, frying her senses and leaving her ill.)
As for making the mystery anticlimactic, you did blow up the mansion in a nuclear explosion multiple times, and then made it zap out of there entirely. It's hard to argue that you didn't jazz it up some.
> I'm impressed you worked out as much as you did.
|
Many are impressed that I tie my shoes without help, so there's something to be said for keeping people's expectations low.
> > And Dancer is back in town! Or, at least, she was. Wonder where she and Liu Xi were spirited off to. But Mumphrey and Sam are back as well! Um... okay, same deal, though possibly not disappeared to the same place.
>
> I decided to see what happened when we cleared the Earth of all the usual "go to" people who cope with metahuman problems.
|
So we won't be turning to much-absent characters like spiffy to take over?
> > In any event, if we've all disappeared to Hatty's land where the women wear furry bikini's, then things are looking up! Until we learn how it's all going to kill us, certainly.
>
> You think just the women wear furry bikinis?
|
I've done my time in a furry loincloth.
> > Fun stuff! I'm intrigued by the mysterious possibilities for another round of robins.
>
> I'm suffering from cascading guilt about hijacking the fun round robin you and Dancer started, but now I'm rolling I've decided to play out another couple of scenarios I've wanted to cover for a while. One of them is the "world without superheroes" riff we discussed with Nats back when he wanted an all-new Lair Legion. Next issue he finally gets it.
|
Stop giving me credit for this! I was more or less ordered to continue it. And I think you can be absolved of any lingering guilt in where you took the story... It certainly livened up the board and produced a lot of tie ins, and what more should a round robin do?
I'm curious as to how to handle the Legionless world, since so many of the supporting characters have disappeared along with them. Not that I can't dredge up a few more...
