Comics by Shaenon II

Welcome to the new thread, for Help. With what? Oh, anything- mostly writing decisions. Write here for help with character design, action choices, battle cries, or just a good recipe for coco.
We're all in this madness together, after all.

To start it off, I need help with the GRUEs!

So, let's put it to a vote. I'll design them as I see fit later, but the general 'Shape' is in your hands.Remember, we don't know what they look like because the wild GRUE is never in bright enough light.

A: Humanoid!
This would make them a little more versatile than any other shape. They would be short, probably, and a little like Jagermonster in appearance. This form also allows for clothing, which would let me put them adorable little suits and monocles.

B: Kiwi shaped!
Small, round, and fuzzy. Basically these guys modified some. Less versatile, but cuter- whatever gets picked, this is what baby Grues will probably look like.

C: Animal-Like!
This would be the compromise between the two above- something fuzzy and vaugely human-shaped, like a cat or raccoon kind of. The adults would walk on their hind legs, probably. Fairly cute, and very versatile. Also still allows for leedle suits.

And, if you like them all...
D: All Three!
The 'Rando' choice. This would make them grow in 'stages'. First Kiwi, then Animalish, then Humanoid. This is, of course, the Pure Madness option, but would make the in-game pretty smooth- they've only been around for so long, so it would make sense for the final 'Adult' form to only happen now.

It Should be noted that the choice will affect the likelihood that they will be used more! The more humanoid they are, the more likely they will be used. The concept of a 'Jager' type being, with the completely opposite personality ('Butler' versus 'beserker') WILL be too much for me to resist.

Vote away! Suggestions on specific design aspects appreciated.

I'm going to have to vote for D: All three. Because it sounds awesome. It also gives the option for the 'animal' stage being whatever it is in the GRUE pits that's so scary (or that's fun to play with, depending on who you ask), while still retaining the awesomeness of the GRUES in suits and monocles. And yes, fuzzy little baby GRUES (with big sharp teeth?) would be amazing.

As far as which animal- I'd say some sort of bear thing, but I'm not really sure.

And this looks like it will be a great thread. Good idea.

I've always pictured them monster-ish. Two arms, two legs, head, torso, upright posture-but something akin to the giant fuzzy monster from bugs bunny (its name was Gossamer-it was in the mad scientist's castle). But shorter-maybe four feet tall. Lots of shaggy dark fur, incredibly long sharp fangs, and all wearing the goggles you made for them to protect them from the light. Just how I see them.
Anyway, I also vote for D.
And great thread idea!

Okay, two for D! And a growing suggestion of a bear/'Sweetums from the Muppets' type 'Animal' design. Each oen would probably be a bit different, so in Animal form they;d runa neat gamut.

And I figured a place where requests for help wouldn't get lost in the comments on teh main game would be a good idea. And so far my instincts for thsi sort of thing have been good. Tales, Chat, and Notebook worked out nicely.

I'd vote for C. Or maybe D.

I always imagined them as kinda a cross between a (giant) frog and a wolf...

In my mind they've always been miniature Cousin Its with hair more like animals. Except they have big eyes that are visible to put goggles over and sharp toothy mouths.

I'm going to vote D, because monocles are awesome, but I still want cute fuzzies.

I've always imagined adult Jaeger as huge hulking humanoid things with arms like tree trunks and poofy manes around their heads, as well as rows of teeth and large glassy eyes. But that's just me harkening back to my Zork days. So I guess that's my vote. So kinda like a muppet, but a lot more ferocious looking while at the same time just as goofy.

Plus, it makes it all the more humorous to give them manacles like that.

Remember your alphabet, kids!

4 votes for D, and twoish for C. We may be seeing Metamorphing Grues soon...

Grues, by the way, hatch from eggs, but are still mammals. Which should them (technically) members of the rather exclusive biological order Monotremata. Shared only with the platypus and three types of Echidna.
But due to some biological information of a... private nature, they don;t *quite* fit the bill. So Andrew made the term 'Lactans-ovo-pario'. Literally 'Produces eggs and milk'.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Lactansovopario
Family: Prodigium Zork
Species 'Essum Acerbus', or the common Grue

So are there other species of Grue, then? That would be interesting...

And now, for some reason, I'm picturing a species of Grue identical to Essum Acerbus in all respects, except for them being fluorescent orange...

Actiuallyu I just meant that literally ' They;re a fairly common monster among the Prodigum Zork familly. All you need to do to find one is turn off the lights...

'Essum Acerbus is something like 'Eats in Darkness'- another bad joke.

Okay, we have four jaeger tourists in town! We may never use them again after tonight...but these guys need names. Their leader, the cute one (according to Chic, anyway) wears a black hat. And the other three have matching tall bowler hats. Brodders, mebbe?
Henny ideas, anyvun?

Oooh! Oooh! We need a Heinrich! And... maybe the Black Hat Brigade?

Okay, a Heinrich. And the leader must be Boris. But don't call him Badanov, or he'll thwap you. The Black Hat Brigade? Oh, why not?
Jane, see what you started?

heh heh heh heh....

Dr. Viktor; Say it! Say 'Pesky moose and Squirrel'!

Heh. At least we refrained from naming one of the colleges Wassamatta U.
Heinrich, Boris, Stefan...and we need one more.

I dunno... 'ICU' is pretty bad. XD

Okay, so I shamelessly took a throwaway line from Jane, about a table of jaeger tourists, and ran with it. And to shamlessly quote someone else-
"Nothing! I REGRET NOTHING!"
Ahem. Yeah. But I could use a few ideas. Okay, the jaeger are all an army, all loyal to the Heterodynes. You have a few running aroung doing their own thing, but that's the special cases like the Viktors, ect.
So-are the jaeger really free to do their own thing?
Do the heterodynes let them travel, with permission? You gotta figure, any group of people that's centuries old-new places and experiances are craved for. Perhaps just X number at a time, so as to A)-have a sufficient army at home at all times, and B)-not to freak out the rest of the world too much.
OR-Top secret mission for the Heterodynes? Charmingly disarm all they meet, with their scary Marx brothers schtick, but really gathering info and funneling reports back to the homeland? Let's face it, who would suspect jaegers of anything more serious than a bar fight? And Boris is scary smart. Oh, and 'Little" Rolf is under six feet-it's so embarassing, he never has to duck to go through a door...
OR-I kind of like the idea of those four periodically getting into trouble, and having to take a trip to let tempers cool and memories fade. Modern day remittance men?
Or-some combination of the above, or something completely different?
I won't have them hanging around Xyon forever, but reserve the right to use them periodically. They've grown on me, to the point where they're becoming four distinct individuals. Ack!

I figure the Heterodynes probably let them travel, with permission.

But it makes sense to me that they would be sent off on a mission BECAUSE they got in trouble- something that will take them at least a few months, maybe a year, and get them away from whoever they ticked off until the incident is forgotten.

I could see whichever Heterodyne is in charge just having a list of semi-impossible missions in weird locations, and whichever jaeger's in trouble at the moment (it seems like it would happen a lot) gets the next mission on the list- and anyone who gets in that much trouble probably needs to blow off some steam anyway...

Ooh, I like it! I like it a lot. Thanks, Claire!

I figure in times of (relative) peace that jagermonsters would be free to go where they please, so long as they check in first. Just there's probably a fairly small percentage that leave the Castle very often.

The way I imagine it, the Viktors set a precedent- here's these guys (and now, gurls) that can go where thay want und do what they like... so it stands to reason that OTHER Jagers should be able to as well, right?

I should probably just bite the bullet and post up about the current Heterodynes... I've been avoiding it, but there's no point in being coy about our convoluted continuity NOW.

Please do! The information about the current Heterodynes has been both tantalizing and exasperating in its abscence. Although I'm forced to point out that the Viktors are villians (not the best precedent to follow), their style of villiany shows that jaegers can be self-motivated, goal-oriented, selective and even restrained in their use of violence while pursuing personal agendas. The jaegers were created for the Old Heterodynes, the ones who didn't travel alone or in small groups to "save the world." One of the challenges faced by the New Heterodynes(and Wulfenbachs) is finding peaceful outlets for an army as large and ferocious as this. Knitting was listed in the Secret Blueprints, but Project Tinker demonstrated the opportunity in chaos. It seems that with the right jaegerkin, the benefits outweigh the risk of independence.

Here's a challenge for everyone out there...

Recently David decided to pretend to be a villain, mostly for reasons involving challenging Jane Narbon, who herself is pretending to be a superhero. This is all well and good, but as everyone knows David doesn't have an evil bone in his body. (His soul, perhaps, but not his body...) So to pull it off he'd need a really, REALLY convincing disguise, among other things.

So here's the challenge: Lady Drezebel just dragged David into an expensive Fashion boutique, and she's going to personally put together an "Evil Overlord" ensemble that ideally should make David look completely different and hopefully even (Slightly) intimidating. Given that the store is the prestigious "Villains, Villains, and Scofflaws", everything she buys is going to be designer clothing.

So what does everyone think David will end up dressed up in at the end of this ordeal? Suggest your villainous outfit designs here, please!

Whoever's design wins gets a special prize: A short story of their chosen subject matter written by me in the Tales of Madness section. Is that enough to catch people's attention?

Vash the Stampede. If you know Trigun, you know the amnesiac with a robotic arm fits like a friggin' glove!

And nothing says "Evil Overlord" quite like just shooting them.

"Meridian? Allow me to introduce my villianous self. I am-"

*BANG!* -you avoid thinking up a villian name.

"Hold still, Meridian, while I explain my complex motivations-" *BANG-BANG!!* -you avoid doing an evil backstory.

"You want to know my EVIL PLAN?" *BANG!* "Well? do ya PUNK?" *BANG!* "Come out, come out, wherever you are..." *BANG!*

That last line needs a little more "psychotic" than David may be able to pull off without an "emo machine" or some other help, but its a tempting template for the fake villian on the go. Just pick up a designer longcoat and some designer shades to go with your shiny new piece and spiky new hairdo.

Villain attire-put David in some kind of armor, a la Dr. Doom. This hides his face, and his robotic arm nicely. It has a voice changer-and something even better. Villains! Do you hate not coming up with the perfect thing to say until you're back at the lair? Just push a button! Clearly labeled, Rants, Threats, ect...
This has amusement value, if you hit the wrong button, or if the rant is slightly...off. Plus that, and the voice changer disguise his voice!
Add a cape. You're all in black and silver.
Why are you after meridian? Aside from her being a pesky hero, that is...
Why, you're the Villain ChromeDome! Of course you despise her!
How's that?

OK, so a bunch of my characters had a big argument about this (which was a bit surreal, to say the least) but I'm suggesting what Crash and Jennifer came up with. Mostly because I find it funny. It's not exactly 'evil overlord,' but I think it has the potential to be properly sinister.

David still has Magical Girl powers right? Well, Lady Drezebel might not know about that, but this still seems like something she would do.

Dark Magical Guy
A knee-length, lacy skirt, probably dark gray, (or dark gray slacks, depending on what Lady Drezebel feels like and how much control David has over his situation) knee-high socks and black girlish shoes, and a tight top, preferably in a blood-red. The shirt should show off where his mechanical arm connects to his body. Plus a long, black cape- big enough that he can swish it around himself if he has to make a dramatic exit. Weapon of choice would be a scythe, held in his mechanical arm. An earring with a single jewel in it.

I'd also suggest a ponytail, with two spikes sticking out to frame his face, but I'm not sure his hair is long enough for that. So I'll just go with the standard 'spiked hair' look, perhaps dyed dark red?

Eh, slacks would look better. His legs aren;t really skirt material...
Hmm, maybe something kinda like this? Or- ooh! Oooh! I know! I know!
He should go the opposite from how he usually looks- very simple, sensible gear with his signature Grey Cloak. So, we need *fancy*. Something colorful, preferably with a mask...

I've got it!

David wants to call Jane to account. Doesn't want to do it as himself, for a variety of reasons. Feels weird about pretending to be a villain.
Answer?
Have David go in disguise-but as a hero. A different hero. He can be righteous! Do good! And, most importantly-not be recognized as David.
I favor a Lone Ranger type myself, for some weird reason...
He'll need a mask-who was that masked man? And would a simple long sleeved shirt and gloves be enough to hide the arm?
It's a thought...

...darn it. I should have known better.

You all made good suggestions. I'm going to just say that everyone who made a suggestion won, and pick and choose ideas from each of them. PM me the (simple) story idea you want me to write, and I'll see if I can't flex my brain a bit and craft them for you.

Alternately, you can choose not to have a story written and instead receive a non-spoilerific preview of something awesome from my upcoming chapter.

.....really?
Kekekeke....

Yes, if only because it appeases my laziness streak and because it gives me an excuse to show off something that I'm really, REALLY excited about. (Despite the fact that I should PROBABLY be hiding it for effect.)

You only get a peek, mind you!