Brandi

Re: WWYCD: A Devil No More? The X is actually supposed to be the capital letter Chi (I don't know if the HTML & entity Χ will look different); it comes from the Roman emperor Constantine's use of a Chi over a rho or ρ to show his Christian affiliation (it's the first two letters of Christos in Greek). The use of Xian (and Xmas for Christmas) is actually pretty old and not necessarily derogatory though way too many 3DGY anti-theists use it that way (Xmas became so popular with advertisers for space-saving headlines that it's now seen as a bit frivolous to use). To bring this back to the original topic: lots of religions and mythoi (yes, that's the actual plural!), not just the Judeo-Christian one, speak of otherworldly entities that are inimical to humanity. Russell could as easily be a Unseelie fae, an ifrit, or a particularly nasty oni.

Re: Good Concepts, Bad Characters I always thought Cypher had an intriguing power that nobody seemed to know what to do with.

Re: WWYCD: Hostages for the Holidays Irving is a sui generis being (look it up) and has no family (he does have a circle of fairly close friends)-- but as a creature with a lot of compassion and near-infinite patience, he'd be happy to try and talk the fellow down ("You might be keeping some of *these* people from their families-- you don't want to do that, knowing how awful it is not to be able to go to your own family") and offer, like Starguard, to stay in exchange for everyone else.

Re: My favorite player ain't coming back Or more likely, they discovered her. Anybody who's read RPG.net's Creepiest Gamer thread will know just what I'm talking about.

Re: Champions Christmas Adventure Seeds! Sounds intriguing-- and way, WAY too dark for S&P to allow.

Re: "Mostly Harmless" powers Being immune to one really nasty disease-- say HIV, or Ebola-- would lead to an interesting life as an aid worker, or maybe a well-paid laboratory subject...

Re: Sky High, the DVD The DVD was probably pretty sparse on features because the film didn't do so well at the box office, and the company may have felt they didn't want to invest more money in featurettes if the DVD sales do poorly as well. OTOH, if this becomes a cult hit on DVD in terms of sales, look for a "special anniversary edition" some years down the line on whatever media is in use by then.

Re: Who's the most evil villain in CU? While he doesn't have anything near the *scale* of the people discussed above, that pyromaniac SOB with the flamethrower (can't remember his name) from CKC is pretty vile. A guy who'd set children on fire because it *entertains him*...!

Re: Metallic Ages? Good summation! I'd also add that Steel/Diamond Age characters are like the animated heroes in Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, and Justice League America/Unlimited. (Death might be shown more in comics than in the TV shows, though, which tend to restrict onscreen mayhem in a way closer to the Silver Age).

Re: WWYCD: You the Jury Irving's got a Public ID so it's not applicable here, but I do wonder if even in the wake of the ADA your average courtroom could accomodate a Clydesdale-sized quadruped juror who weighs half a ton....

Re: WWYCD: The Friendly Neighbourhood CERT Irving totally has a public ID. But he'd be happy to help if they asked him!

Re: WWYCD: The Vampire Who Doesn't Want to be a Vampire Anymore

Re: WWYCD: The Vampire Who Doesn't Want to be a Vampire Anymore Irving: "I suppose it all depends on the legal status of the walking dead. If I, an animated statue, am considered a full citizen under the law [OOC comment: 4th edition Champions Universe had a whole interesting section on the legal status of nonhuman beings, but I don't have a copy on hand], I suspect that unfortunately this woman's undead status would have no bearing on her ability to be tried for murder, unless it could be shown that vampirism somehow affected her mental competence."

Re: WWYCD: The Vampire Who Doesn't Want to be a Vampire Anymore Irving-- "Well, um, I'm not really a scientist by training-- so we'll need to talk to [campaign's superscientist] and my knowledge of the supernatural and metaphysics isn't bad, but we'll need to talk to [campaign's sorcerous type]... but there's another issue." "I HAVE been studying law-- though I haven't taken the bar exam yet-- and I suspect, based on what I've been reading, that even if we CAN cure you you will have to face trial for a LOT of murders. True, not all of them were first-degree, but there is no statute of limitations on murder... you see the problem? Mind you, death by lethal injection may be less painful than the methods traditionally used to dispatch vampires, and you would be legally entitled to appeals, but... your choice."

Re: Players And the Strange things they do. Low-frequency sounds are not as directional as higher-frequency ones (I think that is why subwoofers don't usually have a particular facing when installed, unlike the satellite speakers). Better make sure he has Personal Immunity...

Re: Wwycd: They Blew It!! That law is so vague it would almost de facto be unconsitutional... that said, Irving would see if the NYPL wants to retain him as a non-crimefighting spokescreature. He'd be quite content to help people through literacy classes, encouragement of them to utilize library resources, etc.

Re: Doom Patrol Champions Yeah-- in fact, while DC gave Disney/Pixar the permission to use the Elastigirl name for the movie, they did not give permission to use it in any merchandising, which is why toys, t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc. refer to Helen Parr or "Mrs. Incredible."

Re: Doom Patrol Champions Yeah. Teen Titans seems to be paralleling JLU by opening its season with some pulpy/Silver-Age-toned episodes and the idea of "lots of villains banding together to give the heroes maximum grief". Also, Mento really came off like kind of a dick in that one (more in the first half than the second)...

Re: WWYCD: Omelas Which thread was this one? I don't regularly follow WWYCD threads...

Re: WWYCD: Omelas Irving tends toward the philosophy of utilitarianism (a la Bentham), but this situation would probably give him fits. The problem for him would be trying to figure out what would happen if he rescued the child. Would Omelas simply cease being a paradise on earth and be a regular city, with all that that implies, or is the child's misery actually holding back a disaster of Katrina proportions, making their rescue the start of something worse? Oh, he'd be in a terrible state of brooding over it...

Re: Is there any originality left in comics? I think people have been complaining about the lack of originality in things since Ecclesiastes... and probably before.

Re: TV Teen Titans Aw, I like Static, even though the hip-hop tinged dialogue and music are going to date badly. Besides, Dwayne McDuffie, Static's creator, has been doing a LOT of the JLU writing duties (and quite well, I might add), so I don't mind if he toots his own horn a little. Also, has Static actually been in more than 2 JLU eps? (The two-part Time Thief story.)

Re: Villain ideas. [Related to Golden Age thread.] Perhaps he should have a duelling scar, if it won't give away the game too early (is he trying to pass as American?)-- the Schmiss was considered something of a badge of honor.

Re: Does Seeker still suck? Actually, while Seeker was usually shown getting pounded in 4e, at least it was mostly through his own crazy bravado. In the USPDB, Nighthawk gets beaten up by mind-controlled kids, assaulted by diner utensils, set on fire by Mentallo (who barely acknowledges his presence) and, most humiliatingly, has a chunk of building dropped on him by Deus ex Machina Man or whoever the guy was demonstrating that luck power based on an Indirect EB was.

Re: Sky High as a Teen Champions prop Properly speaking, it means that movies Disney *pays for*, but is not directly involved in, aren't crap. That said, they've had some sporadic good luck with live-action films in the last few years (Pirates of the Caribbean).