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Supers and the origin
Nov. 10th, 2023 11:48 pmRan across some bad advice about making a super-system: namely, that all powers have to come from the same source. Radiation, for instance. It even talks about choosing between a scientific or a magical explanation.
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Too Good To Be True and other plot devices
Sep. 9th, 2023 11:44 pmA frequent fantastical plot device is the production of something wonderful that will produce real and earth-shaking changes for the better -- only for it to be revealed that it has a secret flaw.
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super special
Apr. 28th, 2023 11:58 pmSupers are unique. Or at least belong to a small and probably interrelated group, who all have (more or less) the same origin.
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super sons and daughters
Apr. 12th, 2023 10:53 pmOne important -- and much neglected -- issue in world-building is the generation of the next generation. And in superhero stories, that has to mean whether powers are inheritable.
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personality of power
Mar. 28th, 2023 11:14 pmIt is a widely noticed trope that a super's powerset tends to match his personality. Fire powers for the fiery tempered. Solar powers for the bright cheerful Little Miss Sunshine. Lunar powers for the dark, moody soul.
Obviously some logic for gadgeteers who make their devices to be attracted, and a lot of logic for mystical powers that are attracted to those who suit them. Being given powers may also tailor them to fit.
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Obviously some logic for gadgeteers who make their devices to be attracted, and a lot of logic for mystical powers that are attracted to those who suit them. Being given powers may also tailor them to fit.
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supers and the source
Mar. 25th, 2023 10:02 pmWhere do you get your powers from, when you get them?
This is perhaps one of the greatest questions of super world-building. It can influence or even determine politics. It can implicate metaphysics. It can raise grave questions in ethics. It can box in theme.
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This is perhaps one of the greatest questions of super world-building. It can influence or even determine politics. It can implicate metaphysics. It can raise grave questions in ethics. It can box in theme.
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supers and setting up the setting
Mar. 22nd, 2023 11:59 pmIf you decide to write your own superheroes, and escape the behemoths of Marvel and DC, in a contemporary-ish setting -- I urge you to make it an alternate history.
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against the power
Oct. 28th, 2022 10:38 pmWhen it's magic or superpowers, an important issue is whether it can be stopped. Whether to imprison a wrongdoer or to protect a place.
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law and the meta-origin
Nov. 29th, 2019 09:18 pmWhen reading about how the law would apply to superheroes, sometimes I am mildly annoyed at the treatment of the law as if it were the law of the Medes and Persians that altereth not. Such as -- true, the FAA has authority only over people who fly with devices, and one of the last cases of a British court dealing with witchcraft had the judge telling the witnesses who claimed to see a woman flying that flying was not a crime. The advent of flying superheroes would change that quick -- or might not.
One thing that would affect how it would change would be the meta-origin. And if there were more than one source, it would probably affect how the law changed.
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One thing that would affect how it would change would be the meta-origin. And if there were more than one source, it would probably affect how the law changed.
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the meta in the origin
Oct. 28th, 2019 09:58 pmMetaorigins are useful in a superhero universe. Provides a degree of unity in a genre not generally noted for it.
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super subplot
Jun. 29th, 2019 11:52 pmWas plugging along on a superpowers story, and I decided to put in a subplot about someone who thinks the stories about random powers are just stories, it's a conspiracy.
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villains, heroes, metaorigins
May. 30th, 2019 10:21 pmOne thing most metaorigins don't explain. . . .
Why do so many superpowered characters go into crime-fighting or crime committing? Especially when they could easily get more money, and do more good at the same time, by using their powers for other, legal purposes.
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Why do so many superpowered characters go into crime-fighting or crime committing? Especially when they could easily get more money, and do more good at the same time, by using their powers for other, legal purposes.
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the metaorigin
May. 26th, 2019 07:47 pmIs it possible to write an original superhero universe novel without a metaorigin?
DC and Marvel don't have 'em, of course. Then, both have grown up over decades accumulating aliens from other planets, magicians hanging out in NYC, supertrained women from all-female utopia with gifts from gods, victims of radioactive spiders or explosions, etc. And even they have a concentration of origins between mutants and the "metagene". The lack's a bit much to handwave in a single novel.
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DC and Marvel don't have 'em, of course. Then, both have grown up over decades accumulating aliens from other planets, magicians hanging out in NYC, supertrained women from all-female utopia with gifts from gods, victims of radioactive spiders or explosions, etc. And even they have a concentration of origins between mutants and the "metagene". The lack's a bit much to handwave in a single novel.
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world unfolding
Apr. 3rd, 2019 10:08 pmHow long ago did superpowers start appearing in the world?
I tabled that question and plugged along on the outline. And then --
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I tabled that question and plugged along on the outline. And then --
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metaorigins and babies
Mar. 21st, 2019 09:53 pmSo mucking about with the meta-origin for superheroes (and villains) and while I have declared -- by fiat -- that it affects no one under seven and precious few under fourteen -- still, when heroes have children, they will be exposed to the meta-origin source.
Prenatally, making the question of adoption at birth moot -- as, of course, does the little issue that super-parents will decide whether you place their children for adoption.
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Prenatally, making the question of adoption at birth moot -- as, of course, does the little issue that super-parents will decide whether you place their children for adoption.
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not so super
Aug. 29th, 2018 10:35 pmWas plugging along on a superhero story.
In which many people can be affected by the meta-origin, with the result of being a bit sick and then never being affected by it again. (No chance at powers! There are origin chasers, yes, but also a lot of superstitions, all wrong, about how you can do it to get powers, and avoid the dreadful fate of being cut off forever and ever.)
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In which many people can be affected by the meta-origin, with the result of being a bit sick and then never being affected by it again. (No chance at powers! There are origin chasers, yes, but also a lot of superstitions, all wrong, about how you can do it to get powers, and avoid the dreadful fate of being cut off forever and ever.)
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