Family portraits, part one

[dragontail]

It's been a month of madness for us all but, every Saturday, LJ's games have provided an oasis. When the kidlet said she was ready to take a step into the future of her personal continuity, she wasn't kidding. As should be well and truly expected by now, LJ had the entire thing all planned out

Comments

[librarian_bot]

Excellent stuff! I especially approve of the phrase "squirming, swatting, tasteful upholstery." Let it never be said that super villainesses lack style when it comes to furnishings.

These are some very solid characters you've worked out, LJ. You've got an excellent grasp of what makes a good origin story and it all flows well from the personalities of the parents. (And of course Tony is the best parent. He never grew up!)

[dragontail]

Big grins on little faces - you more than made her weekend with your kind critique, dear sir. Much love and thanks from her, and a side order of pleasantries from a proud papa.

I especially approve of the phrase "squirming, swatting, tasteful upholstery." Let it never be said that super villainesses lack style when it comes to furnishings.

Indeed! What's a fairytale, after all, without animated inanimate objects? Especially a fairytale within a Disney-owned universe... ;)

[scraptracker]

Now I'm going to ask what is probably a silly question - do these children exist in the comics or only in adventures you two play? Great introductions which ever is the right answer.

[dragontail]

Thanks, Nana! Damian and Torunn are existing characters, but LJ has changed the identities of their mothers and aspects of their personalities to match her vision of the perfect super hero future. The stories she's crafted for each of them... their "moments of truth"... are completely unique; straight out of her head without precedent in the comics. Shield Maiden is a totally original LJ creation, from name and look down to personality and "moment of truth". Future installments will continue the mix of redefined existing teen heroes and all-new characters... because that's how the kidlet rolls ;)

[newsy891]

I love these! They're perfect entry points into the LJ-verse for comic-illiterate shlubs like me. =) And they're also my favorite kind of stories: character-driven, and the characters driving them are three-dimensional and flawed. Ya know, real people? Love it.

[dragontail]

I love these! They're perfect entry points into the LJ-verse for comic-illiterate shlubs like me.

Does that mean we can count on your readership for future stories, sis?

Very glad to hear you like the personalities LJ has crafted. The kid is obsessive about ensuring her heroes aren't Mary Sues and goes to great lengths to limit their powers and skills so that they remain challenged and interesting. For my own part, I'm proudest of her handling of the adult/parent heroes: LJ has resisted the temptation to have the kids know everything and the parents devolve into fools and oafs who need to be taught a lesson. All by herself, she recognised such a change would demean the very characters she adores and so she worked hard to balance the need for the kids to have personal triumphs with the necessity of having Batman, Captain America etc remain unimpeachably cool and awesome. Mission accomplished!

[bc_scrubs]

Really enjoyed all of these mini-sodes a lot like I liked the mini-sodes of Avengers:EMH before they consolidated them into the first 8 episodes of Season 1.

Really great kicking of point for all the characters & a nice intro for Damien & Toruun. I'm very much looking forward to the future adventures.

The Cap & Shield Maiden story was my favourite but I might be a tad biased

[dragontail]

Just an incey wincey teeny bit, maybe ;)

The Earth's Mightiest Heroes webisodes were part of the inspiration for this series, along with the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - Micro Series comics published by IDW last year (and the early part of this year). It really helped LJ find the voices for each of the young heroes, and has also ensured she's kept them distinctly individual as the stories have rolled on.