1 Oct 2015

Crossover Chapter 6 - Commentary

Natasha makes herself at home, Nasty runs into a complication, Meredith runs into culture shock, and Vicki finds a potential love of her life.  Welcome to the commentary for the sixth chapter.  Please read the chapter before continuing.

Finally, the action revs up.  Natasha needs a base of operations.  An abandoned building, even if she has to evict squatters, suits her nicely.  She keeps her cool and just threatens.  Sure, there's a bit of violence, but Natasha kept it to a minimum.  She is in charge, as long as Omega agrees with her.  Tori isn't as patient, even with Natasha.  Their dynamic should be different from the one between Nasty and Vicki.

The meeting between Nasty and Vicki had some implications to it.  I went with Vicki's point of view here.  Part of it was that I've had enough scenes with Nasty and Eric discussing the mirror dimension that it'd be rehashing a plot point that's already been beaten on.  The other was to show how Nasty's reaction would look from the other person.  The implication here is that Nasty knows who Vicki is, already set up in previous chapters, and knows that she's superpowered.  Vicki doesn't know what Nasty does, so, in her eyes, the redhead is just being rude.  Eric is unaware of Vicki, so he can't say anything to her.

The scene with Alec and Pierce let me add some behind the scenes convention details at the expense of Nasty's sanity.  Alec and Pierce work in the comics industry and aren't based on anyone in the profession.  They're guests at the convention enjoying some down time before the chaos begins.  The panel will be coming up in a later chapter.  The scene shows the age of the story.  Today, going to conventions is far more mainstream than in 2008, with most major cities having at least one.

Meredith should've known better.  In Canada, the drinking age varies from province to province.  Ontario's is 19.  The US, however, is a blanket 21, regardless of state.  Some counties may be more strict and disallow alcohol sales completely.  The rest of her scene sets up the con, with people in costume.  Meredith isn't a good judge of age; Nasty and Eric are much younger than she thought.  Her not recognizing Peregrine goes to showing that while Nasty did make the news, the revelation wasn't as huge as it feels to her.

Tori's scene let me answer some questions I had about the nature of the mirror dimensions.  Tori and Vicki have the same bank account and the same PIN.  Vicki isn't going to be happy when she discovers what happened.  It is short-sighted, but Tori just came out that way while writing.  She acts without thinking.  It works both ways; if Vicki went over to the mirror dimension, she could use Tori's account.  Don't think about it too hard.

Tomorrow, Crossover Chapter 7.
Also tomorrow, over at Psycho Drive-In, comments on NBC's Hart to Hart remake.
Saturday, over at Seventh Sanctum, the History of Adaptations continues with the Aughts.
Also Saturday, check out Comics Bulletin for comics-related reposts of Lost in Translation.

4 comments:

  1. So, you've confused me a bit here. The fact that Nasty knows who Vicki is harkens back to the latter's conversion with Kid Inscrutable, right? Implying some former meeting? (It's even followed up here with Nasty's "rest of the team" remark.) How does that have anything to do with the mirror dimension? Or did you merely mean that's what Nasty and Eric would be talking about at the encounter, rather than convention stuff? Because there's nothing to imply Nasty thinks Vicki is from another dimension, and she does simply come across as rude - and confusingly so, particularly when Nasty doesn't clarify anything for Micki. Like we're missing a chunk of... something.

    I'm also a bit surprised that a guest of honour like Peregrine isn't getting more attention from the crowd (outside of Vicki, and apparently some comic guys). Even the waitress didn't ask for an autograph (granted, she seems more of an Eagle fan, and I liked the logic she used there). Is it that things have become that much more mainstream in our present?

    Nice to see the character paths finally intertwining. Also, the bank card thing made sense to me; the dimensions are close enough that the readers would work, and that they'd think alike. Plus if the charge is small enough, one probably wouldn't even notice until looking at a statement or balance a week or two later. Tori even has a point, they should have thought of currency, like fleecing the squatters for cash or something.

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    1. Yes - Vicki's tried to recruit Nasty for the Youth Brigade prior. Vicki is unaware of the mirror universe and the implications. Nasty does know, and knows there's a mirror-Vicki in mirror-Cleveland. Nasty's conversation with Micki was hiding that Vicki is Pixie; Nasty knows Vicki's hero ID. From Vicki's view, Nasty is being rude and snippy.

      Peregrine should be, but she had the position for two months at most and is a more regional heroine. She did have some exposure, but other superheroes get more press. Active heroes get more press. And I figured that supers would be treated the same as celebrities are in the real world. Nasty just isn't that interesting to the paparazzi.

      It took some time to get people to interact. Probably would have gone a different route today in getting them together, but that's seven years of learning. It made sense to me, too. Tori is a little annoyed at being Natasha's grunt. Vicki won't notice until she gets back home and checks her spending. Yeah, Tori could have rolled someone, but that risks being caught by police.

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    2. I think my confusion was more following the logic behind using Vicki's point of view... in particular because you shifted to Nasty's POV almost right after, and neither of them really revealed the history between them.

      I also may have a false sense of how many superheroes there really are in the world, since people seem to be treating them as pretty commonplace (to the point of dressing up like them). Didn't recall how long Nasty was with Eagle. I suppose her age might also make some reporters wary, though that does assume they have ethics.

      It's sometimes fun to look back on old writing, eh? I don't think it's necessarily bad to have things dovetailing here though, as opposed to earlier.

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    3. I needed out of Nasty's head for a bit. Vicki got to observe things and misread everything.

      I don't have a full count, mainly to give me room to add characters as needed. I have a few teams in my head, including the Vanguard, a Justice League/Avengers analogue; an LA-based team, inspired a bit by the West Coast Avengers; and some former Peregrines still in the game. Nasty wasn't Peregrine for long; she started in November and returns home early in the next year. Nasty's age is a factor, as is her not-safe-for-TV language and a personal life that doesn't attract clicks.

      It is. There are areas that I would have done different today. But if I hadn't written Crossover, I'd have never learned from the experience. And, sometimes, it's fun to play with the "what ifs".

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