Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Bits o' Legionnaire Business The Writers' Discussion/Ideas Thread

Thought some of you guys (especially fellow Postboot writer Omni!) might be interested in Fanfie's thread about what would you do if you inherited the Postboot Legion from DNA?

Would that be after Gail Simones story or right before?

Never mind, I'll read the thread (sorry - didn't see link)

No worries Harbi. I think we can choose whether it should be before Gail Simone's story or after, but I think Fanfie makes it clear in her post that it should be right at the end of the series, and before Legion of 3 Worlds.

Do you guys generally type in advance or write on the spot?

I think it is going to be a struggle for me to get back to writing after Christmas, and am thinking about just writing on the spot to get a lot out.

I'm starting to understand why people generally don't like the first part of a series as much as later parts. I can't wait to finish introducing the characters and solving the origin story so I don't have to do it again.

Emily, I've done both, but I find that what works best for me falls somewhere in between: I make short notes of all the most important bits, and then from there I just write on the spot.

I have a similar approach. I make an outline/skeleton of the plot and fill in the major events. I also make note of elements that I must introduce so that future events can come to pass/will make sense. Everything else I just write on the spot.

Some things I have introduced actually came to me as I was writing (Brek having a crush on Zoe; Ferro having a crush on Mentalla). A certain character resurrection of mine also came as a flash of inspiration while I was plotting things out - I realized that the story pieces I had set up allowed me to logically bring back this character.

I would say, don't box yourself in but be open to going "where the story takes you" so to speak.

I news to finish my first story so I can write the ones I want, but feel a lack of inspiration. Anyone know any songs or speeches that could get me out of this rut?

I recommend something instrumental to listen to. For me, I usually fall back on movie soundtracks. What kind of story am I trying to tell? Is it an action/adventure movie? I'll listen to a rousing John Williams score? Is it a horror or mystery story? I'll go for something by John Carpenter or from an Alfred Hitchcock movie. Using music that fits the story you're trying to tell can get those gears spinning in your head again.

Sometimes I read my past work or the work of others to grt inspired. As for music, music from some of my favorite video games helps some times.

I'm finally getting to the end of the pilot/prologue for my series (I am so happy). I want to write a future story in which my characters encounter a society where everyone's superpower determines what they do in life(kind of like the Inhumans at Marvel). I'm divided whether to divide the powers by elements (like Fire, Water, etc) or by roles (street fighter, elemental, etc). Which do you think would be more interesting?

Congratulations, Emily.

Regarding your question, I would say that elements are a bit limiting, so roles would be better.

I think roles would be less limiting as well, and give you more potential to use creative powersets for your characters.

Are there any Legion-related characters you've wanted to write but have been stuck on how to use for whatever reason? What kind of obstacles do you find and how do you get around them?

(Sorry if this has been discussed already, I couldn't find anything over the past few pages)

Jan, because I barely understand basic science, let alone hard science.

Val, because being able to cleave a tank bare-handed is a bit much for me.

Jacques, because I still haven't come around to regarding him as anything more than a cynical attempt to cash in on the Legion's main rivals at the time, the international X-Men.

As for overcoming obstacles in writing characters, my experiences with writing Rokk and Dirk -- both characters I normally dislike -- is to research them as thoroughly as possible and try to uncover something within them that you can feel empathy for.

I prefer writing about the Substitutes and more obscure characters (and original characters) for that reason. When I do that, I have more freedom to do what I want without canon getting in that way.

I like taking established characters and running with them, I get more of a "feel" for how to properly write them that way.

Like what Fanfie does, I research- though all my fanfic writing has been with the Postboot Legion, so it's easier for me because I've read pretty much every comic they have appeared in.

I find Tellus really difficult despite how much I liked his visual in the comic there wasn't really too much to get to grips with. I'm slowly adding layers to him in my fanfic without hopefully forcing it too badly so I have more to work with when I do need to use him. That's the plan anyway. Chemical Kid is another as like Fanfie says above the hard science is just not my bag.

I actively disliked Rokk and Dirk but have tried to make them into more attractive characters without denying their pasts. Harmonic and Dragonwing both annoyed me in the comic so again I've just kind of got on with it and found I really enjoy writing them now.

I think you can get interesting results from forcing yourself to write someone you don't particularly like very much - I don't mind Harbinger's Harmonia, and I never really took to her at all outside of her cool costume in the comic. I remember years ago when I was playing an Avengers RPG I ended up playing the Scarlet Witch, who was my most hated Avenger at the time....she ended up becoming one of my favourite characters of the team, and I have found that I can see all this potential in her now that I wish would be explored more in the comics.

I am on the same page with Fanfic Lady & Harbinger re the science characters too...I don't tend to use Element Lad generally unless it's a story which relates to his actual character more than his powers, or unless there's a specific thing I thought of that would be cool to do with his powers due to having read something interesting about a particular element online or something like that....Chemical Kid even moreso. Brainy's another one who can be challenging to write really well I think, it's the problem of depicting someone who's heaps more intelligent than me

I would really like to do a Mordru story at some stage but finding the right platform for him to shine is the problem...it took me this long to figure out what I wanted to do with a Universo story as well, that's something else I've been sitting on just about since I started writing my series!

As with others above, I have trouble with Chemical King/Chemical Kid because of the science involved. But my main use for Condo Arlik's powers so far has been



A lot of pseudo-science there, and I admit to not researching much on it, but I think it worked well enough

Having Lyle Norg there as Condo's boyfriend AND "coach"/biology expert not only helps me, but it also makes for a wonderful storytelling dynamic and vehicle.

I find Element Lad's powers (or in my fic,)



a tad easier to grasp than Condo's. They seem a bit more basic. Change one element to another. I do need to read up on the elements, though.

One thing that helps me with them is taking established tricks they have done in the comics. For Condo, that's slowing down or speeding up other people's metabolisms; enabling combustion/starting fires; and decaying stuff.

Like with Harbi, I also find Tellus a bit difficult to write. And unlike with Gates, Blok or even Quislet, there doesn't seem to be as much of an established personality in the comics to draw from, or at least not as distinct of one. But when I do write Tellus, I'll probably use the method I used for Lume - draw on existing stories about the character and its homeworld, and see what else I can infer from those. In Lume's first appearance it showed a fear of the darkness of space, so I took that and built on it.

One thing I have tons of difficulty with is writing villains. I find it even harder to create them, so most of my villains will be established characters. I guess one thing that would help me is drawing upon real-life experiences to create interesting and realistic motivations for my baddies...

Magic users are another weak spot for me. But I like what Levitz did with Mysa - she can only use a handful of spells at a time, and these have to be pre-prepared. She needs to research do to her most powerful magic. Those limitations make her way easier to write!

Heroes with wide-area effect powers are tough too. Kid Quantum II could theoretically end most battles by just sending out a flood of quantum particles and freezing time in the immediate era! I have to taking her by surprise a lot. The powered-up Reboot Star Boy too, who basically controls gravity, can just use his powers over a wide area and slam people into the ground. And the invulnerable heroes like M'Onel, Andromeda and Thunder can be challenging as well. That's why I like keeping a library of villains on hand, so I can pick the right ones for a given fight to give these heroes a challenge. And of course, moral dilemmas and so on.

Magic is an interesting point.....I've got Dragonmage and Glorith for my magic users, and I actually really enjoy writing Dragonmage because the limitation of him needing to frame everything he does as a dragonform necessarily limits his ability to be a plot device in every circumstance that comes up.

I am a bit luckier with Glorith because she's only really supporting cast so I don't have to show her in action very often...and I play up her shyness and lack of worldliness a lot so she doesn't jump into the fray with a solution all the time as someone like Supergirl or Zoe might.

I think the advantage of having a team as massive as the Legion is that you can have characters with a ridiculous level of power like any of the Daxamite-level heroes or Element Lad or a Green Lantern, and if you don't want them stealing the show you can just leave them off of a mission and only bring them out when they're likely to be challenged or they can get a chance to show off

Are you including a Green Lantern in your Legion lineup, raz?

But I agree, when the team's at its normal operations (central base with members being sent out on missions everywhere), it's much easier to just have certain heroes necessary for the story available. It's when we have those big epic stories with the entire team on board that the writing and plotting gets a bit tougher, and it becomes necessary to have the bad guys take certain heroes off the table so the fights remain interesting

In one of my recent battles, I had to take Sensor and Saturn Girl out of the fight right away! Imagine, you have someone who can cast an illusion that keeps everybody hidden...

Hahahaha hypothetically you could have a Green Lantern...Harbinger has a Green Lantern....yes, let's go with that

Kinetix is also quite Green Lantern-like...