Fan Fiction Idea
Moderator: Spectrum Strike Force
I agree that it's incredibly difficult to find the right words for situations where the Mysterons may have won a round, particularly when we're unlikely to be able to call upon our own experience in such a situation! I think if you explore your characters so that you think you know how they will respond in a given situation, you have to forget the sometimes rather silly dialogue in the episodes. You're quite right, Scarlet wouldn't have wasted his breath in the "Mysteron Scum" speech in "Dominium"!
Just write it as you see it and keep thinking that no matter what life ( or an alien species!) throws at them, these are just ordinary people we're writing about, albeit doing an extraodinary job. They will probably react like everyone else would, even if it's just to say "Oh, f*** !
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Skybase Girl
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Maybe that's why they keep not quite wiping us all out? They're trying to see if they can break this bond of service and self-sacrifice typified by Spectrum, and if it is a universal innate attribute of all earthmen?
Of course, it might just be that they can't organised a piss up in a brewery...
Emoting on behalf of your characters is always difficult. I have no idea if a brave, noble and generally macho chap would get all choked up about situations - I expect that most wouldn't show it if they did. However, we're all human and I think if we try and express the sheer enormity of some of the disaster/tragedy most people will catch on.
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Marion
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But the idea of the Mysterons being ''impressed'' with our loyalties, love, compassion and strength rather then just disgusting us for our violence is something I hadn't thought of to be honest. Although I can't see how that would make us ''win'' the war, it is certainly a really cool idea, I read it in one fanfic, can't recall which one, but ''The Mysterons had brains, but no hearts'' When I read that, I suddenly thought that on Mars, feelings don't evolve, as the Martians from War of the Worlds also don't have any sympathy for other life whatsoever. Even though it's a different universe
And the fact that the Mysterons in the original series show some understanding and disapproval of our way of life, and the way they ''take their revenge upon it'' somehow I feel that doesn't fit with the ''character'' of the Mysterons in the new series. But then again, that could be the way I think about it. I got that way of thinking due to the fact that the Mysterons, pick out some serious targets, they do try to blow Earth in half in ''Instrument of Destruction'' and they do try to trigger a World War in ''Proteus''. Although they could have done it different, like take over Proteus when there are no Spectrum personnel on board, then they would have had a free hand. But they do it when Scarlet is on board. Things like that make me think they want to kill us, but then again it also makes me think that they don't take it too seriously. But that is what Astrid Winters said in ''Achilles Messenger'' ''To us you are nothing but spores in a lab experiment.'' So they don't take the trouble to do their very best. That is my vision about it anyway.
But the idea that they don't actually want to kill us, but that they are after destroying our moral is something I really like. In the original series, the even say that they want to do that, in the episode ''Dangerous Rendezvous'' they talk about ''bringing the Earth to it's knees'' even though they still want to kill us, but I think it is just about making us think about what we did, and why. And that idea I really like, now to come up with something to make them call of the attack, or let us win by showing them our strength. Coming to think of it... Scarlet and Black's trip to Mars in ''Dominion'' is an excellent example of that bravery, because let's face it, it was kind of a suicide trip. But rather then immediately destroy them, they allowed them to come in when Black asked them to. That gives me the impression that they do see us as ''equal'' by giving us that opportunity so to speak.
But I think that even the writers didn't think this far, they just wrote episodes one at a time, and every time they thought ''that would be cool!'' they did it, even though it may or may not have fitted with the ''Character'' of the Mysterons. I just enjoy exchanging views and thoughts on this whole subject, even though there are already dozens of topics there, the NCS Mysterons have never been that far explored I think.
And the way to describe certain situations and feelings, I usually try to, not only put myself in that position and imagine what it is like, but try to really put myself in that position. We all know how it feels to be heartbroken, or how it feels when it is really cold, the way your hands burn and hurt. This sounds silly, but I go outside and get some inspiration before writing. You suddenly realize how the sun can block your vision and all those little things. Or just generally playing Flight Simulator helps as well But those are the relatively simple things in my opinion, it's not all that hard to write that stuff, but I wouldn't know how to react if the Mysterons killed millions of people in one strike when I was responsible for the organization to counter them. It feels like you failed at your job I guess, that is another feeling many of us (or at least, I do) are familiar with, but then take that feeling and expand that with compassion you have for friends and family when they lose loved ones or something. It's hard to give a concrete example, as each situation requires different ways to do it, but I think you get the point, as there are many, many brilliant writers here on the forum
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Nike
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That's good, I believe, even if we give ourselves headaches in trying to put ourselves in situations we are unlikely ever to be in, just because we need to empathise with the characters in order to describe their reactions in a truthful manner.
You quote a line from a fan-fic which gave you pause for thought, apparently. "The Mysterons have brains but no hearts"? Unless someone else wrote something incredibly similar, I think that's one of mine ( from "Blood and Candlesmoke"). In that story, I was trying to explore how one character deals with a situation in which Spectrum are dealing with a disaster they couldn't prevent. Okay, it wasn't as dramatic as your premise of what would happen if they blew up London and the character wasn't someone with as much responsibility as Colonel White, but the basis is similar.
If you've read the whole story, you'll realise that the character wasn't coping well at all, despite background, training and experience! That's the interesting part of human nature - that we may function superbly well in any given situation, but there will always be that unexpected reaction, or vulnerability that makes us what we are. In my view, the NCS Mysterons have something in common with Star Trek's The Borg. They have become so "sophisticated" that common emotion and decency have
been bred out of them - they simply don't understand the concept of human flaws. They see only those flaws which breed violence and destruction, not those which can ultimately lead to a greater good. They are undoubtedly toying with Earth and mankind - Astrid Winters' comments in "Achilles Messenger" suggested that this was a game to them. Why they would bother to play it is a mystery, if they're as advanced as they would have us believe. Maybe in their sterile "perfect" society, they've become a little bored?
I do think it's fair to say that all of us, both fans of OCS and NCS, have come to realise it isn't sensible to pay too close attention to the episodes in the tv series' from a common sense point of view. There were enough holes in the plots to sink the Titanic on occasion! Yes, the scriptwriters stretched credulity to breaking point sometimes - however, we have to remember that these programmes were made for children and probably no-one considered that they would be picked apart by adults for the purpose of fan-fic writing! And despite the loopholes, I'm totally impressed by how much was packed into a 26 minute episode, so that isn't intended as a criticism of the scriptwriters.
I'm looking forward to seeing your take on "Dominion, Part 2 " when it's ready!
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Skybase Girl
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And yeah, the way they achieved what they did on the show, it's remarkable. As a 3D Artist myself, I can't tell you how much respect I have for those guys. Not just the 3D work and all that, but also the stories, things that make a movie of 2 hours are put in a 22 minute episode (it was 22 right, or 26? Now I'm confused ) But anyway, it is just something really well made, and given the time and tools they had, they really delivered something special.
Anyway, I've also been thinking about another fic, as in my first story the Mysterons clearly win the round, I don't want to go there, in the series they lose in more then 20 episodes. But I also want them to take the ''War of Nerves into a new phase'' a more serious one, they have been playing Earth for quite some time, more then eight months at least. And I think the attack on their city was a trigger to try something new. So the first step was to strike really hard (at London) but then... I'm not sure, they could keep on doing that, they would win in a few days, but that's not where I want to go, firstly because it is not fun to write (as the series would be over really soon) And because that's not how the TV series goes, sure they plan to trigger a world war, and try to kill the US president, but they don't win, as the main character saves the day 9/10 times. So I don't want to step away from that all that much.
Anyways, I just gotten my fic back from the beta-readers, and there is still a lot of work on it, but I want to start strong, I want to post it when I am 100% satisfied. I got dozens of ideas, but to turn those in real stories is a real pain xD But I love to do it, and to get such feedback as I did... that is only a drive for me to continue
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Nike
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Yeah i also think they could've taken that phrase to another level. Would of been great to watch in an episode.
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adam blue
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Nike
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Nike wrote:Indeed, one thing I am most impressed about is the characters, they look so... real most of the time, especially as the series progresses. At first the characters lack emotion, they really do but as the series progresses and Motion Capture was used more and more (they started by using Motion Capture for like 5% and later up to 95% or something like that) that meant that they could put the time they put in making the characters walk and move, they could use that for facial expressions and little things such as the hands. Not just the rendering changes from the first to the last episode (Hair changes a lot from the opening episodes to the rest of the series.) It's a lot like the Supermarionation, from Supercar to Joe90... you would hardly believe it is the same technology, they are still obviously puppets but they get more sophisticated, I guess making a series like this is a steep learning curve for the whole crew. To work out what works and what doesn't.
Never realised they only used 5% at the start.
Even watching it now, i still cannot believe it's all CGI and motion Capture!!! It's just so real! Like they were humans, acting. 1000000% different from the 60s series.
I think they showed emotion at the start, i mean it did get better as the series went on, but there was deffinetly emotion there.
Yeah i agree the hands were done really well, most of the time. And the hair on the bikers too, (Grey Skulls) i thought was done pretty well, that couldn't of been easy to copy.
I just wish they didn't change Adams hair after Instrument of Destruction I II. It suited his face better.
I think the crew had a headache completeling that series! In a good way i mean. But boy, they did such a good job!! You can really interact with the characters.
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adam blue
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But before we get warned about getting all offtopic, here is some stuff I made:
A larger full view can be seen here:
http://nikedorchain.deviantart.com/art/ ... 96594&qo=1
And I also had a new idea for some fanfic, one I have had for quite some time, it involves the Mysterons trying to kill the French President who is on vacation in the French Riviera with his family. I found this really awesome yacht design which I am going to use for the Presidents ship, and I also had the idea of the Mysterons using a massive container transporting ship to attack him, And I imagined this scene where this enormous ship enters the harbor and speeds right to the yacht. But it's just an idea, but I made a rough 3D model of the Transporter, the M.S. Titan:
Again a larger view can be seen here:
http://nikedorchain.deviantart.com/art/ ... 14656&qo=6
It's just a rough model, but I had the idea of the ship having it's own loading and unloading cranes on board. But like said before, it is just a rough model so far
What do you guys think?
Nike
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Nike
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Very good work by the way!! The detail is amazing! Your very good. I'm so jealous, wish i could do CGI. Been my dream for years.
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adam blue
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Nike
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3 years. Wow! Wish i new where to start!
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adam blue
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Nike
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I don't have talent for CGI creation - what I could do is picture manipulations which are sometimes use to illustrate stories or for other uses (such as title arts for Challenge pages.
Don't forget to return your other story when you are done revising it, by then way! Then, people will be able to read it fully!
You will have to insert your pics into it or at least, to include the pictures file into your email as well, if you want them to appear in the story. We'll make sure to do them justice so the story will be preented as well as you wish it to be.
Webmaster and administrator of http://www.spectrum-headquarters.com
"This is an operational base, not a rest centre!"
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chrisbishop
- Colonel
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But apart from that, I've just sent my second draft of ''Dominion Part II'' to the Beta Readers. As a writer I can't really say if it is a story that is fun to read, as I read it different then you guys. So I decided to put the project on the shelf for a week or two until today and re-read it. Then I suddenly noticed that there were several things that were clear in my mind when I wrote it, but they weren't clear on paper. But it is still my first story and unfortunately I am able to see that But the second draft is already much better then the first in my opinion, so let's see what the Beta Readers have to say about it, the last time I got so much feedback that I could use.
Apart from that, there were several other things I did, including modelling a Futuristic Fishing Boat/Tug which I am also planning on using in a later Fanfic. The one with the Great White Shark, In that one there is a scene where Black is throwing chum over the side of a boat to lure in a Shark and when one does come in, he shoots the animal and then the Mysterons resurrect it. This is the design I did for the boat: It's funny actually, it may take days to get a 3D model to look like this, but if I'd describe it in words I'd be done in a few minutes But I think a combination of words and pictures works for me Anyway, here it is and don't look at the purple-ish water, I wanted to cut it out and place it on a real sea background, but I didn't have the time for that one, so I uploaded it with weird sea. When I did that, I though ''Just imagine the sea to be poisoned or something'' as an excuse for the weird color when suddenly that gave me a new idea for a Fanfic...
And I've also collaborated with a great artist, he made a really cool futuristic looking mining vehicle, which I textured for him. I might go and ask him if I can use that one too in one of the Fanfic stories. All can be seen at my Deviantart:
http://nikedorchain.deviantart.com/
All the best,
Nike
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Nike
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