Tales from the Tower #1: Learning Curve

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ichigenka.gothampm

#21

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Posts: 265

07/22/07 09:35

Fantastic chap! We get a resolution on the name game with Cassandra and Cassie, Gar gets his massive ego deflated, and Raven gets a meditation buddy. I liked Slade attempt to position Rose into being rivals with Goldilockes. The one thing that I found subtle but rather funny in reflection was Rose's comment about themed villains that might visit Gotham but not meet their lofty standards. Thinking back on it, the Gotham rogues do put a huge amount into their themes, it's not just a costume but rather it's their personalities projected in all it's glory.

Superman's rogues tend to all look the same generally, some sort of giant amalgamation that projects "I'm stronger than you!" Flash's rogues... they're pathetic to even compare. Most of them get their themes from whatever random doohickie that gives them their power but their personalities are still the same as some low life thug. Heck, quality Gotham henchmen like Giggles put those wanna be's to shame.

Can't wait for next chap!

Fett One.gothampm

#22

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Posts: 48

07/22/07 20:04

Cassie beating Gar was great. Also, getting to see her thoughts about everything was interesting.

Random Equinox

#23

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Posts: 292

07/23/07 23:18

It seems that Slade's tapping into Rose's competitive streak is bringing out her contempt. While it wouldn't do to underestimate one's "allies," I couldn't help but laugh at her summary on Goldilocks: "They were over on their quota on animal gimmick villains and they needed another female with extendable body parts to balance things out for their Affirmative Action plan." Granted, her "abilities" seems somewhat laughable (note to Goldilocks: investing in a few "themed" henchmen has potential (though the quality of said goons and her ability to retain them depends on her maturity)).

Cassie's (or should that be Cassandra's?) perspective and interactions with the other Titans is perfectly in character. It makes sense that she would have less "mental chatter" than other people, and thus would be particularly welcome from those of the telepathic persuasion, as does the fact that her past training with Cain may have one or two bad habits. Still, that means that she's already learning something from this new experience.

Speaking of learning, I immediately thought "Uh, oh" when I saw the words "Phoenix Ninja." Sure enough, Gar (and the other Titans) have learned something from the defeat of the champion. That single last word, while reflecting how much Cassie's grown in the past few years, has greater impetus because of her social upbringing and is the perfect way to end off this chapter.

fangirl1001

#24

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Posts: 64

07/24/07 10:19

I loved seeing Cassie bring Gar down a few pegs. And I also liked seeing her interact with Raven - it makes sense they could easily be friends.

While Slade's plans /appear/ to be progressing nicley, I have a bad (actually, "gleeful" would be the more acuratley descriptive word) feeling that his plans - as all plans involing teenagers as pawns do - will blow up in his face. I plan to sit back with popcorn and watch the fireworks.

And of course, the recent comics as "news" was brilliantly done. Catworthy!

Evil Overlord's List Rule 42: "When I capture the hero, I will make sure I also get his dog, monkey, ferret, or whatever sickeningly cute little animal capable of untying ropes and filching keys happens to follow him around."

Last Edited By: fangirl1001 07/24/07 10:21. Edited 1 time.

Abaddon8780

#25

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Posts: 345

07/25/07 16:01

Titans Together!

There was a question asked during the Beta process that I wanted to answer here.

"Does it bother you that most people only know of the Titans through the cartoon?"

Yes and no. Whether we like it or not, TV and movies will always be more far-reaching than comics. Be it Batman: TAS, Justice League, the Titans cartoon, or even the freakin' Superfriends, TV will always reach more people that comics and thus this is how people come to know the characters. Why go out and spend nearly $4 on a comic book when all you have to do is plop down on the couch, hit a few buttons, and you get instant entertainment with the same characters day after day? So when people say "All I know of the Titans is through the cartoons," I have to remember that for every person who reads Geoff Johns and Marv Wolfman, there's a hundred more that tune into Cartoon Network. And on that point, I understand it, and am cool with that.

Unfortunately, with the aforementioned cartoons, characterization can be skewed in the best cases, and downright assassinated in the worst of cases. What's sadder is people's perception of these characters are shaped by these shows as well. Starfire is no spastic, hyper-hardcore happy person in the comics. Raven is not sarcastic and definitely not a Goth. Dick was and is not a younger version of Bruce. So in this case, reading the comics and to a certain point, reading Tales from the Tower, folks will probably see a different character than what they're used to.

And in closing, yes that theme song was the DUMBEST thing I have ever heard.

"And sometimes," Tim muttered, "it's like living with a bunch of second graders."
-Learning Curve

Janshi

#26

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Posts: 17

08/12/07 03:10

Why do I have the feeling that Rose and Goldilocks will turn out to be the best of friends and do girly things with one another? Including grinding.

...

You should completely have a scene where the Titans go clubbing (illegally and whatnot) and find Rose and Goldilocks completely grinding with one another. It would be hawt. :D

Oh, and I'm not sure if anyone has said anything about this yet, but Xbox 360 controllers don't have wires. They're wireless controllers

Keep up the good work!

ichigenka.gothampm

#27

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Posts: 265

08/13/07 09:45

Just an interesting blurb I found on Goldilocks from titanstower.com

When The Brain and Monsieur Mallah gathered together yet another version of the Brotherhood of Evil, they found some able new members.

One of these members calls herself Goldilocks. She's a bad seed with a twisted idea of what constitutes a "Happy Ending." Using her super-strong golden tresses, Goldilocks would like nothing better but to ensnare Robin as her "Prince Charming."

Seriously, it's like the Robin legacy is to attract all females good/evil/all the various grades in between. Makes me wonder if Gar or Bart has ever used the "there's so many you have to beat them off with a stick" joke

Chris Dee

#28

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Posts: 796

08/13/07 16:55

I think what makes this series worthwhile is that it can give us teenage characters without indulging in a TITANS GO level of idiocy that alienated so many from the cartoons.

--Chris Dee
Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Superpowers corrupts - superbly. --Identity Element

The Thundering Monkey

#29

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Posts: 834

08/15/07 09:47

I think any time you write stories involving groups of young people, there's always the risk of falling into the trap of writing teen melodrama cliche's a la any WB show you could think of. It's a testament to the skill of some writers, that they can take almost any source material, and find something insightful, or real, or worthy in it, and put that on the page. When we read those stories, they actually matter . I think its because writers, like any true craftsmen leave a part of themselves in the things they create. Something real, that breathes life into characters that we know aren't real, and by all rights shouldn't care about. It really is just that. We get the word inspiration from the latin inspirare meaning "to breathe into". Take us here on the message board. Somebody in the past created Batman, and Catwoman, and wrote them and illustrated them in such a way that touched something in Chris which inspired her to write the tales, which in turn inspired some of us to create something of our own. Looking at my pictures in the gallery, I can see a tangible difference between the pictures that meant something to me and the ones that didn't. The ones that contain something of me, and the ones I just tried to make pretty. Being fan art, at least they can tie in to whatever scenes inspired me from Chris's stories.
As an artist, you've got a limited store of inspiration which usually goes out faster than you can replenish it, and you've got limited amounts of time to spend producing work. Why waste your life on superficial stuff like "Robin goes undercover and has to enter a crumping contest."?

Nodrogs

#30

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Posts: 243

08/16/07 03:44

Just a quick thought after re-reading chapter two: How well would Cassandra's body-language reading skills work on Beast-boy when he was, say, shape-shifted into a monkey? Is that a way maybe to make a videogame duel between him and Cassandra more fair? Or would she object because he can use his feet and tail to trigger controls also.

Abaddon8780

#31

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Posts: 345

08/17/07 12:34

Titans Together!

Hey guys. Just to quickly respond to comments;

Glad everybody seemed to like Cass' thoughts and the subsequent beat-down of Gar. Whilst on the subject, no I didn't know that 360 controllers are cordless. I'm one of those folks that's fallen off their video game playing and if I were to get another console, it'd be a Wii. But that's another story entirely...

I can honestly say though that there will be no grinding. Sorry, wrong story.

Nodrogs: I would think that Cass, after a minute or two, would be able to read Gar in monkey form just as well as his human form. After all, we're not talking about a huge jump in physical attributes since humans and monkeys are both primates. Some things just transfer over and so Cass wouldn't have that much trouble beating Gar again should he be in need of another ego check.

To Fangirl and the others that have said it, I take "Catworthy" to be the highest form of flattery. It lets me know I'm doing something right.

Thanks!

To let you guys know, Real Life has kind struck hard. I haven't written a damn thing for Chapter 3 yet and I also need to write for a roleplaying campaign that I'll be doing in September. I plan on writing most of the day Sunday, but I've said it one and I'll say it again, I'm a slow writer with what I'm sure is ADD so expect at least a month and maybe two in between updates.

"And sometimes," Tim muttered, "it's like living with a bunch of second graders."
-Learning Curve

Abaddon8780

#32

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Posts: 345

10/10/07 12:49

Titans Together!

Sweet bajebus, has it really been that long?

Right. Well, the good news is that there's finally text to Chapter 3. The bad news is that it's nowhere near publishing length. I'm not going to bore you all with real life stuff that's happened in between late August and now, so I'll just tell you that I'm gonna be working on it again soon.

As always, thanks for sticking with me. And thank you Chris for the numerous plugs you've given me.

"And sometimes," Tim muttered, "it's like living with a bunch of second graders."
-Learning Curve

Abaddon8780

#33

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Posts: 345

10/23/07 08:33

Titans Together!

Copied from my FF.net profile:

"Learning Curve is officially dead in the water. I'm sorry, but trying to write for it has become a chore. Someone said once that you write for your enjoyment first and I have not derived any enjoyment from it since the first chapter. Factor in real life taking up most if not all of my time right now and there you have it. My deepest apologies for all those who have reviewed and have added me to their author alerts. But them's the breaks."

"And sometimes," Tim muttered, "it's like living with a bunch of second graders."
-Learning Curve

fangirl1001

#34

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Posts: 64

10/23/07 19:36

My sincere condolences.

Evil Overlord's List Rule 42: "When I capture the hero, I will make sure I also get his dog, monkey, ferret, or whatever sickeningly cute little animal capable of untying ropes and filching keys happens to follow him around."

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Tales from the Tower #1: Learning Curve

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