Let's stoke the fire, shall we?

About six weeks ago we were graced by a long-expected story.

I honestly do believe that neither the author nor the story needs publicity, but I really want to take a long look at its original version to see what made it click.

So let's dive into:

Infinity Crisis by DKC

Where do you start to take apart a story that has been a staple of our genre and community for almost 15 years?

Well, I think that's fair to point the finger at the main character. Natasha Beland is exactly the kind of character that I really dislike in real life and in many movies: a spoiled girl from a small town that thinks everything is due to her because she is the belle of the ball. What separates Natasha from most of her peers is that, as the story progresses, we can see that she's somewhat conscious of her own situation, that she might be the sexiest girl in her school but that's amounts to nothing, and yet she still acts under the assumption that putting her breasts on display can get her everything... almost everything. And this is the second part: Natasha doesn't get her powers via a pure accident, by being hit by lighting or something, she works to get them -- even if she really wants them for petty reasons -- and this is a pretty big departure from her "mean valley girl" format. In general, I think that DKC made an excellent job at showcasing how the character flip-flopped between being cold and manipulating on one end and vapid and uncaring on the other. Natasha is mean, but she can't see herself as such, as we look at things from her perspective we can see how she really thinks she's the hero.

All of this plays perfectly when we reach chapter 4 of the original version, when DKC put forward one of my favorite tropes: trapping a character by giving her exactly what she wants. It's a brilliant solution that clicks perfectly with Natasha's established character but, in the following chapters, we see how it's just a speedbump. Natasha wants to play along, to be the idol of millions, but she's also easily bored, making any attempt to keep her under control a full-time job. It's a subtle balance, that the story maintains for quite a while, although things start falling apart pretty soon...

And this, my dear readers, is where we have been for a long while. DKC has written a lot of other stories and, I believe, these early attempts have blossomed into a rather recognizable style, that actually won him a number of past workshops. Now we have a new version of Infinity Crisis in the works and it has already dug into a few more details about the world at large and I really hope DKC will be able to keep it coming.

Cheers to you, DKC.