Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Bits o' Legionnaire Business Behind The Oval - The Creator commentary Track

First, I gotta say that this was an IMMENSELY enjoyable experience. Everyone had great synergy while we were bouncing ideas off each other, and I love how we took things and ran with them - such as Angdar/Kinetix, IB being the sort of "little brother" of the group, and the insertion of tons and tons of characters into the plot. Another example was Peebz inserting the Drinking Buddies, and us having the LMB leaders on Weber's World be wary of their battle lust.

Re bringing in the entire LMB, I just got to thinking that:

a) there are a whole bunch of characters in the rich LMB history, as evidenced by Cobie's History of the LMB

b) this is such an epic large-scale battle

so... I just threw everyone I could in, after checking with Cobie and Lardy on the statuses of some of these characters. Some past fics, like some Exnihil did, were a good source for the powers of some of them. For example, XBen's ability to teleport small things and Crymsun's ability to turn things red. And it was fun combining some of their powers, like Vee's ability to shrink things added to Xben's teleportation. Or using Crymsun to power up Raging Bull.

Funny, but I always thought the Power boy character, being a New God, would be a somewhat serious type who loved battle. The character really did mature in LOTO though...

and thanks As i said in an earlier post, the LMB just has so many outrageous and fun characters - some of my favorite posts were ones where lesser-used ones stole the scene, like rickshaw shooting a zombie in the head, Anita Cocktail and Calm Yo Tits beating up some bugs, the return/involvement of Goon Boy, any scene with Satan Claws Cramer, Chips Ahoy Boy teaming up with Cookie Monstress, Awkward Pause Boy and Quislet making some politicians shut up... Aw man

And yeah, IB and Blaze's stories are far from over. In the past, IB has always been a semi-reluctant hero, afraid to really grow into his full potential. His losing his earring in Book 2 (or was it Book 3?) was a major turning point for him. That's why IB went berserk when he thought Blaze died; Blaze is his anchor. Blaze is the only one IB really feels "gets" him totally, and vice versa. And they have a lot more to learn about their powers and about each other...

Re Earth-4, I loved it. You could sense how affected the Losers/SMB were by all that had happened. They were just hanging on to hope... I cheered when the evil Rockhopper and company got beaten.

I imagined his creation as anything but serious ... I thought he was a guy who had seen it all, since he'd been around for hundreds of years ... so he didn't take much seriously ... and he was content just to be around these amusing and exciting humans, and let them do what they wanted.

Anyway, I imagined him as pretty hedonistic. rather than serious. Making him fun to write since he was impulsive ... however ... hundreds of years of experiences and smarts came out ... over the course of the LOTO (and maybe Power Boy IS a serious person ... but he was certainly on vacation for a long time.)

anyway, I think during his term as leader he should be able to somehow reach a mature compromise between cold distance and hedonistic aloofness that allows him to be more human, flexible yet serious. We will see if it happens during his Rimbor trip.

I suppose his sense of humor has always been biting or dark. rather than jovial.

Kar Em. I created him because as I was fleshing out who Lon was, and where he came from, irt occurred to me that I never had really touched on Dev Em's parents much...if at all.

I figured that his mom was evil for whatever reason, and that his dad was an old Military type. This gave me the opportunity to have someone that could have taught Lon a lot of what he knows, and give Dev a reason for his own espionage background.

He wasn't really meant as anything more than a one off that I could use during the Twovision I did with Sharky explaining their shared history. That whole experience was a blast and Sharky was really great with his support and ideas in fleshing out that Dev's mom and Sharky's 'mom' were sisters. Sisters that competed in genetic engineering, and Shark Lad and Timberwolf were their greatest creations. It also gave us an actual reason for the two of them to be constantly at each others throats. Making the cousins of a sort made their interactions from that point on even more fun.

When Oval started and things started to get moving, I brought Kar into the story when Lardy's kids were in danger. It seemed to me that even as Dev was getting someone (Loser Lad) out to protect them, Ambassador Mirenna Helen would have people she could call on as well Knowing how much Lardy meant to Cobie, she pulled a few strings to get Kar (whom I cleared with Cobie as being an old ally of hers, and eventually Faraway Lad as well) This gave Kar an immediate sense of history within the LMB universe. Faraway was great with taking Kar and using him as an ally of his and they interacted as if they had known each other for years.

My initial intention was to have Kar Em die at some point during the story. Then I decided that having Dev himself die was a more juicy plot point. Giving the grizzled old war veteran feeling that maybe he hadn't done enough for his boys. Between Dev dying and Lon leaving for what was the enemy camp until this battle gave me a lot of ideas for writing.

In the long run, Kar Em gives me more interesting story ideas alive than dead. Not to say that those could not have been achieved if Dev was still alive, but that in and of itself opens up a lot of thoughts in my mind.

Basically, Kar Em, was a character created to fulfill a minor purpose yet became a much more interesting character than I would have ever thought.

The family dynamic in the House of Em is both interesting and refreshing. Majority of the LMB characters' families are never mentioned, after all.

Re new characters, I always have a hard time creating them without using a real-life person as a template. My only other originals, Spelling Bee, Truant Officer Ralph and Nurse Tina, are heavily based on some real life people. The rest are reimaginings of existing fictional characters, like Petty Officer Marvin, Kinetix and Kairos.

Re Marvin, I remember creating him way back for an LMB tag team thread. I wanted a Brood because the idea of having a vicious Brood be all silly felt hilarious. Then when I realized I'd named him Marvin, and he was an alien, I transformed him to look like Marvin the Martian. Maybe I should firmly establish that he can alternate between forms...

I had originally hoped to play a much larger role in this story, but life sometimes prevents us from doing all we would like. Still, I'm glad I was able to make some contributions and explore both Rocky and the Evil Emperor a bit more.

The question of why the Emperor went evil had always intrigued me, since he seemed to be exactly like Rocky in every other respect. It would be an oversimplification to say that he became a villain because he didn't get a puppy, but the divergence from Rocky's path--that the Terran ambassador had given Rocky a dog as a gift, but that, in his world, the Emperor was slighted was the part of the puzzle that was missing. I'm a firm believer that dogs are beneficial to one's mental health, and Hyvvie, named, of course, for my own beloved wonder beagle, has certainly shown himself a stabilizing presence in Rocky's life.

Rocky's defeat of the Emperor and his cronies raises a question: What happens now that he has absorbed their powers? Rocky has vowed that he will not use them, but has already shown himself willing to do so in an emergency. His sparkling eyes are, of course, reminiscent of Gary Mitchell in the second Star Trek pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before".

I was also very glad to see the return of Rockhopper Lass, a character I originally created as a one-off to show Rocky's heroic place being taken by his sister on that world, but who seems to have become a beloved and popular character in her own right.

It was a wonderful experience collaborating with these guys. Again, I wish I could have contributed more.

Adelie has turned into one of my favorite characters in LMB lore! Rocky was extremely gracious in letting me essentially take her off the canvass for years as I struggled with the story called "The Covenant", which frequently went into hiatuses as I suffered writer's block. Finishing "The Covenant" was a crucial domino to fall and make "Oval" finally possible.

In any case I ran my ideas for Adelie by Rocky fairly frequently, and he gave me his blessing every time. I like to think that I added some things to her character but always stayed true to the core of who she is.

I feel the same way with Helena Handbasket and how Quislet, Esq. both collaborated with me on the character and let me run with my own ideas for her.

Helena and Adelie will always be special characters for me, and I hope to see both continue as great characters in LMB lore.

The above shows just how awesome we are at collaborating here. We're willing to cast our egos aside and work with each other to bring out the best in our characters and our ideas.

The LMB-verse is now chock full of excellent, memorable characters. It's just amazing.

Great idea for a thread... I love all of this behind the scenes stuff...

For my part, I did my best to keep up with everything you guys were doing but ultimately realized I had to take a backseat and settle for just the occasional post... loved seeing SharkLad used by other posters... the development of his relationship with Lolita was certainly something special... with lots of remaining potential...

A staggering achievement, everyone!

Sharky's bits were easily among the funniest in the whole series! I think we'll have to follow up on his almost shooting his teeth at IB for telling Lolita that sharks pee through their skin

Sharky's posts were great! key even. exactly what the story needed.

human, funny, and fun in the midst of a story that could sometimes be dark dark and dark.

One thing I really love about the LMB (which mirrors the Legion), is how every character works so well together. And there's such rich opportunity for combining powers and skills into killer tactics in battle, such as:

Crymsun's power to turn anything red becoming a power up for Raging Bull;

Vee shrinking things so that Xben can teleport them (with his limit being objects the size of a grain of sand);

Awkward Pause Boy using his powers to quite the UP ambassadors down so Quislet. Esq. could negotiate with them.

There are no useless powers in the LMB-verse

I don't have nearly as much to add with this as I faded out when school picked up. I know that I was surprised at the duration of the entire epic. And for me, it was an epic, because I left and when I came back I had to read like 17 pages, it took me weeks with everything going on. Luckily it was so well done that I enjoyed it.

I knew that I wanted to use this as a gateway to get Tempest more solidified as a character and let go of all the other alts that I had on this account. I feel like that was achieved. A lot of that comes from everyone keeping her involved in their posts.
I also have to thanks everyone for letting me write Mala's end, when the idea of her was put out there, I knew I wanted to write it. When I did write it, I had no time. There was a lot going on, but I really wanted to get that bit in there. I contacted Kat/White Raven and talked about her character and I got under way.
I introduced a new character that was supposed to further explored, but time was not on my side with this. I would love to continue on with it when I get the chance.

As for the love triangle, I always had it in my mind that there is no relationship for Tempest until she resolves her emotions with Cobie. The way I wrote it, all her past relationships have been a dream, so how do you deal with a dream guy made real? I honestly think she needs wet-nap whenever she sees him (regardless if she would admit it). Therefore, any thing with Dev and Lardy would just be play and any real feelings would amount to more a friendship for her.

I really wanted to explore something with her and Timber, I felt that he would be the guy to get her past Cobie (as he's got Cru). Again, time doesn't permit these things, so I never brought them up.

IB and Power made me want to gush every time I read there posts. I was always like, "DAMN, where was I when they wrote that!" I always want to contribute with what they were doing because it linked so well with how I wanted Tempest's story to progress. Again, everyone else did a great job of keeping her involved for me.

Temp, I hope you are okay with how Temp/Lardy ended. I outlined the general arc their story would take to you via PM, and you gave your approval.

Basically, I played it like Lardy and Temp were in love and that they had to sacrifice it (and what would've been a glorious future together) to have even a shot at taking out Pornis. That scene I wrote in the aftermath where it's clear they would never be together again was one of my favorite pieces I wrote in the whole thing.

Anyhow, as you said, you couldn't be there for most of it, so it played out how it played out. And with that relationship over and effectively undone, you're free to pursue Temp's story any way you want to. I certainly hope you'll be pack for more!

P.S. Cobie and Crujectra broke up!!

They broke up!!! NOOOOOOOO.

I'm really glad you liked how we wrote Tempest, Temp! She's such a regal, capable, strong character and she reminds me a lot of some very strong women I know in real life. She's a treat to right, and you did an awesome job of creating her.

Sheesh, really, hussies.

I really liked the ending, one, it gives us this final beat to that storyline, we know that is never going to be a place we can go and I think finite aspect is beautiful.

I would love to come back, I just have so much on my plate, I am thankful for this opportunity to post this post.



Thank you, Tempest is definitely really dear to me and she has a lot to go throw, I just wish I wrote it and she was through it already.

We'll definitely be waiting for your to write that story. It'll be beautiful!

Love having your thoughts, Temp! When you finally are able to have some free time, I'd def love to write / Roleplay the "Temp dealing with Cobie issues". There's a TON to work with there.

This conversation hits on a major point which is that romance played such a great role in this story. From the epic, tragic romance of Lardy / Temp, to the surprise reconnection of Dev and his wife, to the Lolita / Sharky relationship and worries about Cobie, to Cobie and Crujeckie's painful gradual break-up, to the surprise major falling in love of Lon and Kalla, to the lightning hot new romance of Blaze and Ibby--and all the sidebars and issues of each. References to Rocky's past romances (Blaine and Lardy), Temp and Cobie's former "marriage", Helena's reunion with Seth Gaterra....it was just epic in the range of romantic emotions.

When we plan our next round, its important to not lose sight of this.

Very much agree. not just the romances, but all the relationships - Lardy and Cobie being the best of friends, the strong "LW Founders" alliance, Lolita and Zhiya, the surprise reveal of who Bat-Fem is, the young new batch of LMBers (Angdar, Kinetix, Kairos, Marvin), the "old guard" of the LMB (Loser, Pov, etc.)... It all makes the LMB work so well.

I think at some point I'll want to do more with Earth-4, maybe a One- or Two-vision or so. Again, Earth-4 was my absolute favorite part of the whole story. I'll certainly want to revisit Bat-Fem and all the surviving Losers. If I can find a way to tie-in Seth and Helena as well, then all the better.

And, thanks, Temp---I know it was more of an epic and tragic love story with Lardy and Temp than what you intended, but I'm glad you approve. That scene where the two have a "last dance" is special to me. Kind of my "silent" issue where I'm challenged to convey everything without any dialogue. If I were to choose any single post I did in that story to somehow exhibit my writing as a sample, that would be the one.

That post gave me the chills, Lardy. It was so poignant. I can still feel the hurt and sadness at remembering the love and just not feeling it anymore. Brrrrrr.

Well, that's certainly what it was meant to do, Ibby. I appreciate the compliment.