> > > 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.
> >
> > 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.
>
> 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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I've always been afraid of creating accessory characters, because they depend on the character they're attached to never changing.
> > 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.
> >
>
> 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 thought the opposite was true - that if Hatman gets his ass handed to him and then one of my characters handily beats the guy who took out Hatman, that would be downright disrespectful. The only was I do that is for shock value, like when Lara momentarily lost her temper and seriously hurt two and blacked out a city block with an electrical strike.
> > 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. 
> >
>
> 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.
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The part where I thought he would finally lose it and yell at Yuki was somewhere right after the story was left hanging. Arguing with Drury is harmless and non-permanent.
Liu Xi, on the other hand, there's a reason she doesn't represent the Lair Legion - because she's impatient and a terrible negotiator. Yelling at her in front of Dury would just hurt her feelings, and maybe make her cry out of shame.
> > 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.
> >
>
> 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 thought she only did that at the very end (which I expected a later reaction for). Arguing with Drury just to annoy him, Yuki does that all the time anyway.
> > > 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).
> >
>
> I think Sean should have to have his testicles amputated, just to change things up.
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Keiko has found a clever way to keep him out of trouble. But she's also trying to keep herself clear of him just in case.
