Next Part of Michelle's Meteor Memento now on!

JKIJ wrote: Another fun addition to the growing saga. Some new mysteries and coincidences with new powers beginning to turn up. And a sweet first date two, with both Michelle and James testing each other.

I will be interested to see where the autopsy on the prostitute goes and what it is about Professor Harland's methods that James dislikes.

Bring on part 8 whenever it's ready.

I'm glad you liked it. To be honest I was a bit nervous since this was the longest installment so far but also the one with the least uber scenes since neither Michelle nor Amanda are super for long here.

I've already written almost 7500 words for part 8, but I have to admit that I'm not 100% happy with it so far. I'll also have yet to find the perfect opportunity to end part 8, which wasn't much of an issue with part 7 here Keeping it shorter might also shorten the beta reading phase...

For now, the next workshop will receive top priority (that's what I tell myself) and afterwards I might also try one or two of my other ideas.

njae wrote: I'm glad you liked it. To be honest I was a bit nervous since this was the longest installment so far but also the one with the least uber scenes since neither Michelle nor Amanda are super for long here.

I've already written almost 7500 words for part 8, but I have to admit that I'm not 100% happy with it so far. I'll also have yet to find the perfect opportunity to end part 8, which wasn't much of an issue with part 7 here Keeping it shorter might also shorten the beta reading phase...

For now, the next workshop will receive top priority (that's what I tell myself) and afterwards I might also try one or two of my other ideas.

I don't think the lack of uber scenes was a problem. They were dealing with the consequences of being super, which is just as important as smashing, lifting, and flying. I enjoyed this installment and I'm looking forward to the next.

geekseven wrote:

njae wrote: I'm glad you liked it. To be honest I was a bit nervous since this was the longest installment so far but also the one with the least uber scenes since neither Michelle nor Amanda are super for long here.

I've already written almost 7500 words for part 8, but I have to admit that I'm not 100% happy with it so far. I'll also have yet to find the perfect opportunity to end part 8, which wasn't much of an issue with part 7 here Keeping it shorter might also shorten the beta reading phase...

For now, the next workshop will receive top priority (that's what I tell myself) and afterwards I might also try one or two of my other ideas.

I don't think the lack of uber scenes was a problem. They were dealing with the consequences of being super, which is just as important as smashing, lifting, and flying. I enjoyed this installment and I'm looking forward to the next.

It's inevitable that in attempting any story of 100K or more there will chapters more devoted to story development than a collection of episodic or self contained uber-events. The fans of the story who have bonded with the characters will appreciate it in the long run, those looking for a quick uber-fix will skim over it and look elsewhere (as they do).

Rip Harden wrote:

geekseven wrote: I don't think the lack of uber scenes was a problem. They were dealing with the consequences of being super, which is just as important as smashing, lifting, and flying. I enjoyed this installment and I'm looking forward to the next.

It's inevitable that in attempting any story of 100K or more there will chapters more devoted to story development than a collection of episodic or self contained uber-events. The fans of the story who have bonded with the characters will appreciate it in the long run, those looking for a quick uber-fix will skim over it and look elsewhere (as they do).

Thanks, it's good to hear that. I think one of the biggest problems I've been facing here is that I originally had no plan as to how the story should develop and just started with a transformation scene and a few resulting uber scenes and then kept making up the plot as I wrote it. Now I've got several things planned out, but in a few cases don't know how to get there yet (e.g. Michelle's first heroic deed that goes public, how the story that began with the dead prostitute ends and of course Harlands disliked methods). But I think things will be fine as long as I don't rush things.

Not rushing is good advice. I remember writing myself into a lot of problems with my 'Stupendous Girl' series because I was rushing to meet a self-imposed schedule instead of taking the time to think things through.

"Plot is ... the good writer's last resort and the dullard's first choice." Stephen King ('On Writing')

In our context I read this as we should trust our characters to take us where we need to be rather than determine first up where they will start and end.

Rip Harden wrote: "Plot is ... the good writer's last resort and the dullard's first choice." Stephen King ('On Writing')

In our context I read this as we should trust our characters to take us where we need to be rather than determine first up where they will start and end.

Well this is encouraging, especially since your interpretation fits pretty good for how this story developed so far. It's still hard to believe that I'm already working on the 8th installment here and that the end isn't visible yet.

njae wrote: It's still hard to believe that I'm already working on the 8th installment here and that the end isn't visible yet.

I also thought to say that the best thing about our medium (as opposed to published literature) is that we're never constrained to an 'ending'. So long as you enjoy the pretext and the characters, just keep at it, part after part after part. Certainly it seems the membership would want that. Like 'Days of Our Lives' and 'Coronation Street' it could go on forever (we're all just soapie addicts afterall).

Rip Harden wrote:

njae wrote: It's still hard to believe that I'm already working on the 8th installment here and that the end isn't visible yet.

I also thought to say that the best thing about our medium (as opposed to published literature) is that we're never constrained to an 'ending'. So long as you enjoy the pretext and the characters, just keep at it, part after part after part. Certainly it seems the membership would want that. Like 'Days of Our Lives' and 'Coronation Street' it could go on forever (we're all just soapie addicts afterall).

Personally I prefer the presence of a big climax that concludes a few plotlines. There's nothing speaking against a continuation from that point, though. This could actually be a good base for a discusion in a separate thread.

This thread however has a different topic even though the story has already left the ticker because of all the other stories that have been posted lately. How did lfan put it in the news? We're “flattery operated”

One last shameless self-bump before this topic will only be ressurected by part 8.

How is part 8 coming along?

I may be the holdup for part 8.

Tony0987 wrote: How is part 8 coming along?

As goobers already hinted, part 8 is currently in the beta reading phase, so it depends on how long he takes to wipe out all the little mistakes I hid there.

And now it's up. Feel free to tell me what you think about it.

njae wrote: And now it's up. Feel free to tell me what you think about it.

I think it's great. I'm really curious about what Fred's secret is. Not to mention looking forward to potentially finding another source of the potion for James. Please keep on writing!

Jabbrwock wrote:

njae wrote: And now it's up. Feel free to tell me what you think about it.

I think it's great. I'm really curious about what Fred's secret is. Not to mention looking forward to potentially finding another source of the potion for James. Please keep on writing!

Good thing you're still curious, I wasn't sure if it would be better to let Amanda find out in this installment or later, but I think later works a bit better.

I'm a bit surprised that someone wants to find a second power source for a male character on this board, but I'll just go with stay tuned.

njae wrote:

Jabbrwock wrote:

njae wrote: And now it's up. Feel free to tell me what you think about it.

I think it's great. I'm really curious about what Fred's secret is. Not to mention looking forward to potentially finding another source of the potion for James. Please keep on writing!

Good thing you're still curious, I wasn't sure if it would be better to let Amanda find out in this installment or later, but I think later works a bit better.

I'm a bit surprised that someone wants to find a second power source for a male character on this board, but I'll just go with stay tuned.

It may be outside the scope of the story, but eventually I expect Michelle is going to want kids. Even if the power source gets used once and only once, James kinds of needs to be transformed for that to happen. Besides, Michelle isn't the sort to need to be inconceivably superior to her boyfriend to keep on feeling super.

Some folks are big into the dominance issues and think a superwoman is diminished by the presence of supermen unless they are somehow emasculated or limited. To me, that feels demeaning - like they can't *REALLY* be super unless everybody around them is kept wimpy.

Besides, Michelle seems to be mostly het. She's not going to have the super lover she deserves unless she either starts exploring other aspects of her sexuality, or a man gets upgraded. Even exploring other aspects of her sexuality, she'll probably still want another power source, because even with the possibility of inbreeding removed, sex with your sister is still icky.

Full disclosure: I read an earlier draft of this chapter.

I think this was a great addition to the series. We are starting to get the answers to some of the questions raised, while new mysteries spin up.

I am intrigued to know what's up with Fred.

Good stuff.

Jabbrwock wrote: It may be outside the scope of the story, but eventually I expect Michelle is going to want kids. Even if the power source gets used once and only once, James kinds of needs to be transformed for that to happen. Besides, Michelle isn't the sort to need to be inconceivably superior to her boyfriend to keep on feeling super.

It's pretty clear that Michelle wants James to be super too, both personally and as part of her instincts that want to ensure reproduction as well.

Jabbrwock wrote: Besides, Michelle seems to be mostly het. She's not going to have the super lover she deserves unless she either starts exploring other aspects of her sexuality, or a man gets upgraded. Even exploring other aspects of her sexuality, she'll probably still want another power source, because even with the possibility of inbreeding removed, sex with your sister is still icky.

Yeah that pretty much sums up the girl's dilemma for now, good thing that Michelle now knows about the existence of other supers and will go search for them. Speaking of other aspects of her sexuality, there might be more options for her due to her mutation.

Anon wrote: While, it seem that Michellle's powers already took care of some issues with the "having sex with a supergirl" part. I think that finding a second power source for James might have some interesting consequences on the story. So far the power have somehow revealed something about each character through their transformation. I think that seeing James going through the process might be interesting.

To bad James doesn't really want to go through the process himself so soon. He's a lot like Amanda in that regard, but unlike her he'll stick to it - mostly because he knows much more about the consequences of drinking the potion than Amanda did when she drank it.

Anon wrote:

njae wrote:

Anon wrote: While, it seem that Michellle's powers already took care of some issues with the "having sex with a supergirl" part. I think that finding a second power source for James might have some interesting consequences on the story. So far the power have somehow revealed something about each character through their transformation. I think that seeing James going through the process might be interesting.

To bad James doesn't really want to go through the process himself so soon. He's a lot like Amanda in that regard, but unlike her he'll stick to it - mostly because he knows much more about the consequences of drinking the potion than Amanda did when she drank it.

This is what makes the entire thing interesting. Many times the characters are oblivious of the consequences. James knows - or at least can understand - what will happen, and this is what makes his experience totally different.

You may be right. And while I haven't planned for James to become super in the near future, I'll definitely give it a thought. I've got an idea for a future storyline where that might fit in quite well.

This was another good chapter with revelations and more intrigue. Fred's secret is very interesting (I wonder if perhaps he has Harland Syndrome, though without any information on the condition aside from it's incurable I don't have the slightest idea whether that's even possible. His previous girlfriend who couldn't cope makes me suspect it might be though, since I could understand her not being able to cope with a boyfriend who has a terminal illness and that finding out that someone he loved couldn't cope might have left Fred emotionally scarred. He does seem to have his suspicions about Amanda, suspicions which he seems determined to prevent anyone else developing.

I do have one reservation, not about the story but about Michelle's revealing to James that Amanda had taken the potion. Michelle knows she can trust him, but was it really her place to reveal Amanda's secret without her permission? If I were Amanda I might be a bit annoyed at Michelle for that, though not permanently so.

The next part should be interesting, perhaps with Michelle meeting the mysterious and dangerous superwoman who doesn't care that she hurts people. I look forward to it.

Any chance we'll see a chapter 9?

Tony0987 wrote: Any chance we'll see a chapter 9?

Of course. It's in beta reading phase right now and I've already begun working on part 10 a bit - but mostly I try to focus on the workshop right now. I'll post part 9 asap, though.