Need feedback on a possible future story arc...

[Northern Chill]

Hello everybody,

I've been brainstorming ideas since starting to write here at the site and there's one I've come up with that I'd like feedback from the members here. Basically, it involves character(s) winding up on an alternate earth where Metrobay and the surrounding cities exist. However, the characters there can be very different than the ones seen in the excellent arcs here. Heroines could be villains, villainesses heroines and some could be the same but with a few twists.

It'll be a cool arc that could lead to multiple stories by different writers/artists. Different looks for existing characters is possible...any continuity is possible as it'll be fluid at the start. Could it be darker? Possibly. Could it be intriguing? Hell, yes...

That's why I want to hear from the members here..is this a story worthwhile to pursue? Does the possibility of the Squad and APEX on the opposite sides of what they are now in an alternate Metrobay intrigue you? Sound off in this thread..ideas, opinions, let me and the creative types here know.

Northern Chill

[SuckerPunch]

I was thinking of an idea like this myself. I say run with it!

[nageth]

Hm, would be nice to change things up a bit. Personally, I hope there will be some insight into motives if there are any reversals – something I felt was a bit muddied with the creation of Chrome in Forbidden Fantasy, unfortunately. It felt like her character went from point a to point b before the series and during the series she went from point c to point d with point c being she is suddenly heartless, if that makes any sense. Although seeing her slowly slide into being a heartless you-know-what due to her perception of being misunderstood by her peers probably wouldn't have made a fun series if that was the main focus ("The Gynoid Dilemma"?). I think that is why her transformation into Blackout was so much cooler because there wasn't any cognitive dissonance due to the reader missing a step (at least for me). She acted the same, fundamentally.

An example would be how I would love to see a conflicted Pristina Wellington (such as the hint we got in Mind over Magic). Essentially, I think I am using a lot of words to say don't just put on an evil mustache (for more than one reason...ew) but maybe explain why they're now evil (or good) over time. I know you probably wouldn't go the route of just swapping everyone (at least you haven't in "World of Light") but there are my two bits as far as what I look for. Oh, and one fun twist I think would be awesome is if a more senior character was turned into a sidekick (maybe even without powers) instead of the usual good and evil swap.

[dumbtime]

Are you taling about a Bizarro world type "Metrobay," or a completely alternate universe, like in the old Star Trek cartoon?

[Northern Chill]

Are you taling about a Bizarro world type "Metrobay," or a completely alternate universe, like in the old Star Trek cartoon?

I'd like to say the latter...where things are turned on their head but not everything. Some characters would remain "good/evil" but maybe have their back stories changed a bit. Likewise, some characters which are background characters could be in more prominent positions in this continuity. The only constant, to start, would be the characters from "mainstream Metrobay".

It's a chance to see things play out with familiar faces in new costumes or roles or attitudes..some things may work, some not but it'd be a heck of a lot of fun to find out...

[Tecknophyle]

The applicable example might be something like Praetoria in City of Heroes. Initially it was a straight good/evil swap universe (the villains you face are the evil Mirror Universe versions of the game's major story heroes), but in the current game it's different and much more nuanced: some of the major characters are straight-up villains instead of heroes, others have laudable goals but use unsavory means, others are Villains With Good Publicity, others are genuinely good people, and so on.

[nageth]

Of course, the real question would be does the water in Metrobay make boobs smaller or something else bigger in the alternate universe.

[Tecknophyle]

I think, to elaborate on what I think NC means, is something like the following which might have happened in one continuity:

Terra Creed doesn't have a breakup with Clarissa Calico, which results in her having a more stable personality and providing the tools and acting as Mission Control for Clarissa (who still ends up being a superheroine, but not affiliated with the Action Cats). Ted Twiss doesn't develop his robot fetish, which means he doesn't tick of Belinda Giolla (who he was sleeping with at the time), so she doesn't get him fired from APEX, and the two, if not a couple, are at least colleagues who have successfully stolen APEX out from under Max Index (due to their mind-control of Vivian, who got everything in the divorce they masterminded). Meanwhile, Alexis Wellington didn't have an accident when she underwent gene therapy, so no superpowers, but she did grow up to be a mean-spirited, egotist who took after her parents, and smart enough to figure out Twiss and Giolla's scheme and blackmailed them to participate. And in another "meanwhile", there's a mysterious figure called Panther who brutally stalks the streets at night and deals violently with criminals, while in the day she's humourless cop Kaitlin Sinclair, who'd been cheated out of an inheritance and had to find her own way in the world...

[Northern Chill]

Stuff like this, yes, but a bit more radical..not necessarily just shuffling back stories around but changing the nature of who is perceived good and evil in the city. Max could be seen as a beacon of good and right...Ms. Metrobay is the opposite or maybe not. Belinda could still be the nasty piece of work she is in the primary Metrobay but for different reasons. Ginger Monroe could be one of the top, and sultry, intelligence agents working in Metrobay but for who?

Anything is possible..new attitudes, new looks, some characters may not be around at all....and the fun thing is seeing this thru the eyes of the characters dropped there. They'd mentally scratch their minds and muse how this isn't supposed to be....

[nageth]

Who would get dropped there? I'm hoping someone relatively unimportant (if not completely new) to prevent the "I'll fix this crazy world" mentality. What if the alternate universe was oddly better, in a weird sort of way? I mean, the current universe isn't exactly a great place. Metrobay is essentially controlled by Max, who has the character of a frat boy. I think something that posed those kinds of questions would be interesting.

[Northern Chill]

I don't think it matters WHO gets dropped there too much. As I've hinted, things will be decidely different in this continuity and even if you're a powerhouse like Omega Woman or Alpha Woman, you can only do so much...especially if friends may not be friends.

[nageth]

Well whoever gets dropped I'm looking forward to seeing how this concept plays out. (Sorry about being a bit talkative, it just sounds neat.)

[Tecknophyle]

Well, why does someone have to be dropped in there at all?

While it's the standard way of showing what a freaky alternate universe it is, it isn't at all necessary as long as the reader/viewer already has familiarity with the "mainstream" universe. An example from not too long ago was the Enterprise 2-parter "In a Mirror, Darkly". They didn't need anyone in the cast to cross over to the mirror universe; the entire show, including the opening/main titles, was simply set there. What happened had absolutely zero impact on the characters you were seeing the alternate versions of, and there were no effects on the storylines or plots. it was simply a story set in al alternate universe, relying on the viewer to be the viewpoint character to see and appreciate what was different about the setting.

[Northern Chill]

Well, why does someone have to be dropped in there at all?

While it's the standard way of showing what a freaky alternate universe it is, it isn't at all necessary as long as the reader/viewer already has familiarity with the "mainstream" universe. An example from not too long ago was the Enterprise 2-parter "In a Mirror, Darkly". They didn't need anyone in the cast to cross over to the mirror universe; the entire show, including the opening/main titles, was simply set there. What happened had absolutely zero impact on the characters you were seeing the alternate versions of, and there were no effects on the storylines or plots. it was simply a story set in al alternate universe, relying on the viewer to be the viewpoint character to see and appreciate what was different about the setting.

That certainly is possible though the Enterprise episode built on the alternate universe being used in previous series.

There's a lot of groundwork that needs to be done before the series gets launched so keep the suggestions coming...

[dumbtime]

So you're thinking of doing something like what the tv show Fringe is doing right now with its alternate universe. (If you guys watch that show)