rufusluciusivan wrote: Thu Aug 15, 2024 8:14 am
Forgot to comment on something on your first answer:
Thank you very much for taking the time to review my stories, Rufus. I really appreciate it. If i have the time I try to read Ghazan.
I'm quite sure a history buff like you would enjoy all the thinly-veiled references to real kingdoms. It's quite easy to guess which real historical realm has been the source of inspiration of which fictional one. Sadly, like many of my latest stories, it's a bit referential to older sagas, since it's a sequel - but hopefully someone who hasn't read
Pakal can follow the story. It takes place two decades later, the main characters are new additions, and outside of easter eggs and some references the story should be comprehensible. Though if you want to try some recent stories of mine, a safe bet would also be all the "Marvel"-themed story I wrote, since they don't require previous knowledge and feature many characters which are easy to identify (or find pictures of).
And as for the second answer, only a couple of things to add:
I'am glad you enjoyed the mafia wedding and I agree, it was the least Ellana could do for Sofia but how Carmelita felt about the issue, being stuffed naked in a cabinet with her love rival, is anyone's guess
Hidden Epilogue:
NEWS FLASH! Sofia Rizzo, heiress of Carmine Rizzo, took the entire country by surprise when she announced she was breaking off her engagement with Ramon Gutierrez and eloped with bodyguard Carmella Aguilera. When asked why, Carmella declared: "Being locked naked and bound-and-gagged for hours by some robbers with an other girl can make you question your sexual orientation." You readers can make what you will of that.
Dang pranksters of the MIB, making them believe they have fallen victim to kinky robbers...
Silly idea, but I find quite funny the trope of "Two women who were the victims of uniform stealing are brought together and fall in love because they were locked together by their muggers". I remember how it popped up in trackman's saga, and I had quite fun featuring it either.
Indeed, Ellana herself doesn't bear any ill will towards the women she mugs in fact she does find them easy on the eye, and when she attacks them she tries to ensure they don't suffer unnecessary pain. This provides a contrast with the MiB who often leave their victims with a new collection of bruises. It was always my intention to make Ellana more sympathetic as the saga goes on, she starts off as a curious naive space tourist, smart but sometimes clumsy but later we see that heroic side to her. She hates injustice and cruelty to others, which was reflected in her attempts to comfort the assassins victims.
This kind of character is indeed tricky to write - one wants to highlight their sympathetic qualities, but at the same time mugging innocent people is quite the unsympathetic action if there isn't some "greater good" motive (like foiling an evil plan, trying to rescue someone...). I grew tired with some of my own old characters because there was this dichotomy between the positive personalities they were meant to have and the reality of their actions. I suppose it's a bit easier with Ellana, because since she's an alien, her reasoning IS alien, so she doesn't have eaxactly the same moral standards as humans... (She does share some, such as hatred of injustice, cruelty or murder. But clearly she doesn't see the action of kissing to sleep, stripping naked and trussing up women the same way as humans do.) And the story does contrast her "gentle" approach with other methods which are more "brutal".
Still, I guess maintaining the balance can be quite hard - All the "heroines" are shades of grey, so there's always the risk people may end up turned off and rooting for nobody (or against everyone), and that means the death of emotional implication - and soon the death of all interest in the story.
But I agree, the Mazones have a lot of potential and they look good too.
They sure do.
Captain Harlock is a bit dark though, so these babes more often than not suffer a grim fate. Well, since they ARE trying to invade Earth and are merciless as well, I suppose it's only fair... Harlock does have two female crewmates (and if I recall well, one is even a renegage Mazone - but I'm not quite sure anymore on that one), so there could be potential for something... Food for thought...
When you mentioned Star Trek and uniform stealing in your first answer, I immediately thought of the one in
Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes #4 (2012). (Pictures have been uploaded but then lost on the board, but the issue is available on ReadComicOnline.) Blue-skinned alien babes are a safe bet as far as uniform stealing goes. Though this specific scene has always been frustrating... The ladies are knocked out with phaser guns, bound (and it's implied they were naked or at least topless under their uniforms, since we get a glimpse of their bare shoulders), but NOT gagged. What's this sloppy work?! If you're confident your device will incapacitate them for hours, you leave them be. But if you go the trouble of binding them, you could at least add a gag!
I do indeed love my history, whether it's ancient times or the modern era so I'am sure I will appreciate the historical references. Don't worry about it being two referential, I know that my SI stories often reference events in other series. For example, my agent 94 series ran concurrently with the series and eventually crossed over. Sometimes I fear that readers will miss some of the finer points of the saga, because of 94's lethal nature. Then I combined the Cold War Story Arcs with the current SI season, with the introduction of Harper and the SI founders. I will definitely have a gander at the "marvel" themed stories, since I'am a marvel junkie myself (They have better heroes but DC does villians better, but that's just my opinion.) and quite familiar with the characters myself.
While I really do appreciate the hidden epilogue
, I can confirm that following the arrest of her father by the FBI on charges of first degree murder, racketeering, grand larceny and bribing of public officials, Sofia threw in her lot with the 10th Street Hoods following the marriage. However, this lead the effective dissolution of the syndicate which was swallowed up by the street gang. She and Carmelita kept their distance, with Sofia having her pick of the female gangoons.
But that's not to say the MiB didn't have a little fun coming up with the cover story, being the imaginative pranksters they are...
Mind you, Ellana did bring Agents M and V together by stealing their clothes. V was her first victim and on at least two separate occasions where she would be discovered by M, who would also fall victim to Ellana herself. They are now dating with M considering making an honest woman of her after all is said and done and what forms the basis of why she hates stealing uniforms.
I will admit that while it is tricky to maintain these morally grey characters, to strike a thin line between their positive emotions and their questionable deeds, I love writing them. In my SI stories one of my favourite characters to develop was Vesper. She started out as a cold blooded assassin but who was constantly haunted by her murders and through her relationship with Miranda came to terms with her actions and found redemption. Miranda herself was a joy to write; a decorated soldier haunted by the death of her twin who went on a revenge spree by kidnapping a cop and stealing her uniform. She never regretted killing those men but it inspired her to turn her life around.
Ellana is a lot more easier to write thats true, because of the fact she IS an alien as you correctly put she's not going to have the same moral standards or motivations like humans. To her the mugging of innocent earth women is just another part of her job, it's something she has to do but that doesn't mean she doesn't enjoy it. She thinks she's not doing anything wrong. But Ellana does have that dislike of cruelty, murder and general injustice, something I think would be universal no matter which part of the Milky Way you come from, especially if like Ellana you are at your core a good person.
And the contrast between Ellana and the agents couldn't be more stark. Ellana tries to be as gentle as possible with the women she replaced but the agents( L mostly, M just following orders and is indebted to her boss) do what they have to do out of necessity. Do they like what they have to do? Well M certainly doesn't but L sees the usefulness of disguises( besides she has previous) and puts her own feelings aside, instead focusing on the mission and that's Ellana.
But I agree, as writers the lack of investiture in our stories and our characters by our readership is one of our greatest fears. So we must walk that line of making our characters likeable but at the same time justify their actions, after all they are mugging women and stealing their clothes ( at times their identities) which by itself is not pleasant for the victims but damn if it isn't sexy for us watching.
It's that instance where your enemies are merciless and trying to invade Earth that you can justify going lethal, in tbe context of the story. But I like the sound of the renegade Mazone, that does have a lot of potential since a woman on a redemption path makes for a great USB heroine.
That does sound really good( I generally like my victims to be either topless or naked, most of the time.
) and I agree that blue skinned alien babes are a potential USB resource. I don't know if your a fan of video games but in
Mass Effect there are the blue skinned mono gendered asari, who I have had USB fantasies about. Whether stealing uniforms from each other or from human women. The series itself lends itself to uniform stealing and I have got some potential ideas from playing ( Cerberus and the Systems Alliance, who have very nice uniforms). In fact I did write a USB Mass Effect fanfic based on a character from the game, that's here on the board. But going back to the scene you describe, I agree with you the heroines must gag the victims! It's uniform stealing 101 and good practice! I mean Ellana does it and her victims can be out for quite a while, so there's no excuse!
