StarFall: Spellbinder #3: "Machine Head"

[Andrew Perron]

On Sat, 7 May 2011 16:56:18 +0000 (UTC), William Strickland wrote:

> On May 7, 10:23 am, Andrew Perron <pwer... at gmail.com> wrote:

>> There seem to be a lot of these!
> 
> I'm just trying to keep longwinded exposition to a minimum, is all. At
> least, on a per-issue basis - instead of all at once, I'm trying to
> spread it around.

A laudable goal, but explicitly avoiding it too often brings attention to
itself.  Really, I would have just cut the bit where you said that you
weren't saying - the third time, and the third time only.

>> ...so why does he have to worry about money? ``
> 
> Because he's never had to before. Until very recently, there was
> nothing any of the Olympians could conceive of that they would want
> and be unable to either conjure, build by hand, or simply take from
> someone who had it. But full Olympians cannot set foot on Earth yet -
> it's still too unstable after the dimension quake to support them.

I figured they'd at least be able to conjure things and send them there.
(Also, that makes sense!  Neat!)

> I'm hoping I can manage to use this to only enrich the speculative
> fiction kitchen sink that the setting is shaping up to be, rather than
> distracting from it in any way, naturally.

Honestly, I think that's best.  A bit of a digression: I always thought it
was a bad idea for DC to push a separation of their Vertigo stuff from
their DCU stuff.  I can understand the reason, and it may even have been
necessary in the days where the thinking was "Comic books ARE superheroes,
and vice-versa", but I think having the two side-by-side, different
perspectives on the same world, makes both the world and the stories
stronger, more interesting.

>> I must wonder how much of this is true, considering.
> 
> Awww, c'mon! If you can't trust good ol' Loki, who *can* you trust? ;)

Eris? >.>

> As expounded on last issue (and briefly mentioned this one), using
> pathworking magic - that is, ritualistic spells with incantations and
> gestures and so on - is something Chelsea can do, but it damages her.

Ahhhhhhhhh.  See, last issue's mention of pathworking magic was a bit
off-the-cuff and didn't really stick in the mind. (Also, it was spelled
'path-working', which meant I didn't find it first time I used ctrl-F.
>.>;)

> She uses pathworking
> anyway because it's the only effective way to accomplish certain
> things - for offense, she ususally uses Will-working instead, which
> she's a natural at, but can't do as much with. In fact, pretty much
> all she can usually do with will-working is buff herself and make
> things explode.

Hmmmmm, I see, I see.

<snip rest of good explanation>
> Although I still prolly coulda left it out of the paragraph. Ah well.

Eh, it fit - just needed a dollop more detail.

> Of course, now that she's stumbled on something that reminded her of
> her past, that's all out the window. Well, I'm sure she'll deal with
> it somehow. She knows a good therapist now, after all, and one who
> isn't adverse to counseling supernatural beings.

It's a good point.  And she has at least one friend, though she's
definitely going to need more - one way or the other.

> On top of this, Chel is narrating all of this in the past tense. As
> she speaks to the reader, she's at least far enough into the story's
> future to have seen someone become a celebrity and go through a dozen
> marriages, and even if that person *is* a celebrity, that's got to be
> at least six or seven years. People can change an awful lot in six
> years if they really want to.

It's a point, but even in-story.

> Of course, I'm sure she's just as well-adjusted as she seems, and not
> at all hiding anything. And naturally, I'm sure it's all perfectly
> serviceable real-world psychological reasons, such as those I just
> listed, that are responsible for her seeming well adjusted. I'm sure
> there's nothing involved here that's supernatural, and certainly
> nothing that she would need to worry about.

Naturally!  Definitely not related to the other types of supernatural
mental influence that have been practiced on her.

>> Anyway, beyond that, more good work!  Coming along well, I must say.
> 
> Thanks! Sorry it took so long. Got sidetracked by a craptacular job
> and didn't have the energy to write for quite a while.

Don't I know that one!

> ( Also: Woooo, free comic books! )

Andrew "NO .SIG MAN" "Juan" Perron, woooooo!