LNH/META: Trinity

[Rob Rogers]

You seem to be asking two equally interesting questions
here: which are the "LNHiest" characters, and which are
the LNHiest series.

And as it happens, I have thoughts on both.

[Disclaimer: These are the characters, and series, I feel
best represent the spirit of the LNH.  They are not necessarily
my favorites].

In terms of characters, the one who comes immediately to
mind is Cheesecake-Eater Lad.  In fact, I think you could
define an "LNH story" as one in which a character whose
super-power is to make and eat cheesecake not only
appears, but is _taken seriously_ by the other characters
as one of the most experienced and dedicated members
of the team.

Then there's WikiBoy, who really does embody what the
LNH is all about -- he's simultaneously a parody of
super-heroes and the Internet.  And although he is
potentially very powerful (and useful to the team), the
fact that he is unfailingly polite and sweet-natured tends
to make him a doormat -- a nice bit of characterization by
his creator that makes him a lot of fun to write.

Finally, there's Sister State-the-Obvious.  It's always tempting,
when faced with characters that have apparently ridiculous or
limited powers, to write them as either character traits (she
always says the obvious) or handicaps (she can only say the
obvious, so she can't ask questions, or speculate, or even say
thank-you, unless she really means it...)

But the fact that she says the obvious, and ONLY the
obvious, is a power, and it's a pretty impressive one, when you
think about it.  If anyone else calls you a schmuck, you can
take it or leave it; it's that person's opinion, after all.
But if Sister State-the-Obvious says you're a schmuck,
then that means it is obvious to the entire world that you
are.  What she says therefore carries a lot of weight.
One imagines people are constantly asking her for
her take on things like global warming, the
upcoming elections, whether Rupert Murdoch should
resign, etc.

On Tue, Aug 2, 2011 at 12:06 PM, Andrew Perron <pwerdna at gmail.com> wrote:

> A bit of random rambling, resulting from wiki-edits...
>
> In my mind, there's a threesome of series which have become
> emblematic of the LNH in my mind: Limp-Asparagus Lad, The Adventures of
> Easily-Discovered Man, and Writer's Block Woman (and Mouse).  These three
> (well, five if you count EDMLite and Mouse, which you should) (well, eight
> if you count Retcon Lad, Fourth Wall Lass, and Kid Not Appearing In Any
> Retcon Hour Story) (anyway) represent LNH characters in my mind.
>

Thank you very much!  To me, however, the series that best
represent the LNH are not necessarily those that follow the
adventures of a single character, but those that reach into the
very, very large pool of LNH characters, pluck out several,
turn them into a cast and develop them over time.

I think the standard-bearer for this is probably "LNH Triple Play."
I thought I was a pretty good writer when I began creating stories
for the LNH, but I was immediately humbled by the quality of
work Jeff McCoskey was producing -- and those stories have
continued to hold up well over the years.

I'd also place "Constellation/Dvandom Force" into this category.
And I'd cite both "Limp-Asparagus Lad," which you mentioned,
and "Miss Translation" as series that simultaneously advance
the stories of their title characters and develop a really
interesting and eclectic supporting cast (Jamie Rosen
deserves special recognition for turning Time Waster Lad
and Sleeps-With-Anything-Alive Lass into people I
really wanted to know more about).

And that's one of the reasons why I keep coming back
to the LNH.  Well, that and the fact that I left my
umbrella around here somewhere...

--Easily-Discovered Man Lite
--Dated a girl from Trinity once...

>
>
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