Mind Game Notes
Jun. 19th, 2018 04:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aftanithSo, for the whole "costumed hero/villain" thing to work, the heroes and villains actually need costumes, yeah? Except most options head into either silliness or blatant Batman rip-off territory, so here's what I'm working with.
Vixen should start out sporting a catsuit and a domino mask, which is eventually pointed out as a bad idea if she doesn't want to get caught. After that, she switches to a more ninja-inspired look.
For Faust, I'm thinking a Venetian mask (or masks), because it's got definite Joker echoes about it and it's creepy as all get out. Alternately, there could be more to his name than just motif; perhaps if some sort of supernatural powers were involved, concealing his identity mundanely wouldn't even be necessary? I'm definitely kind of amused by the idea of the guy walking around plain-faced because everybody's bewitched so that they can't spot that, hey, he's clearly that Creed guy.
Omega will need to avoid being too derivative of Batman, so my only real idea at this point is a costume reminiscent of Slade's (from the Teen Titans show), with the light armor and the featureless mask? Meh. I kind of want something a bit more expressive for him, I think; something that leaves his mouth exposed, as well as his eyes? He definitely can't do the domino mask thing, as he's actually a public figure, but... I don't know, maybe something between the two could work.
I don't remember the character names I chose, so I'm going with Villain, Hero, and Heroine for now.
ETA: The names I chose once upon a yesteryear were Dominic Creed, aka Faust (villain); Eris Blackstone, aka Vixen (heroine); and Richard Cain, aka Omega (hero). I think the villain's name is fine, though I'll probably change the supervillain moniker; the heroine needs work both in name and concept; the hero's civilian name is fine, but his superhero moniker is straight trash.
Dominic Creed, Sovereign
Veronica Roe, Victory
Richard Caine, Vanguard
I want Hero to be mostly Bruce Wayne but with a bit of Seto Kaiba thrown in. He gets to know Heroine when she becomes the live-in nanny for his Mokuba. She takes the job without even an inkling of his secret vigilantism and accidentally catches the eye of Villain (who's already sexually obsessed with Hero at the story's start). Villain is just mildly interested in her at first, mostly planning to play mind games with her for a while before leaving her dead for Hero to find like some sadistic cat. But when she finds out Hero's secret and appoints herself his new partner, she elevates herself in Villain's eyes; first he thinks she might just be a hypotenuse to murder, but he quickly realizes that he could love her for all the same reasons he loves Hero--and she proves far easier to seduce.
The most important thing to keep in mind is that I can't make Villain an antihero or antivillain. He needs to be a genuinely violent, dangerous person whose actions aren't sympathetic to the audience. He doesn't need to be the worst monster to ever live, but her does need to be a serial killer at best and a terrorist at worst. He can even have "good" justifications for his actions, provided his actions are so overwhelmingly awful that those "justifications" aren't taken as actually justifying anything. (For example, he might kill people committing horrible animal rights violations... but he'll have no qualms about huge bystander casualties and unnecessary mental or physical anguish. And the more he does it, the more Heroine slips toward Villainess simply by virtue of wishing he would just kill bad people without the whole mind game rigmarole.)
Mind Game - Villain plays a deadly game with Heroine; Hero has a secret (discovered at the end)
Cat and Mouse - Heroine has a secret & Villain easily finds out; Hero has a secret & Villain suspects but can't confirm; Villain unambiguously wants to fuck both Hero & Heroine... and for them to be fucking each other
Unholy Trinity - Are they really heroic anymore if they're sleeping with the enemy? (Half of the violent terror Villain creates these days is just to make sure he holds their attention.)
MIND GAME
> Heroine takes a job working for Hero as Kid's nanny. It's explicitly to take some of the pressure off Butler, who's starting to age past the point of single-handedly wrangling kids.
> Villain is narrowing down the candidates for civilians who might secretly be Hero. His list of suspects does include the right guy, but that's not his prime suspect at the moment.
> Hero and Kid are weird in different ways. Heroine bonds with Butler.
> Heroine's friend gets her an invite to an extremely fancy party on her night off. Villain crashes it, hoping that the host is Hero. Heroine gets her moment of self-sacrificial shine instead, and Villain takes just a hint of notice until he's distracted by Hero's arrival.
> The aftermath of the party sees Hero sending Heroine to a regular therapist and having the first shadows of romantic tension with her.
> Villain has barely given Heroine a second thought. He's far too obsessed with Hero. He starts plotting something to fuck with Hero, something to send the message that he's going to find out his identity, and it's going to happen sooner rather than later.
> Heroine and Kid accidentally get caught up in Villain's little violent Valentine for Hero. Villain recognizes Heroine (and, upon closer inspection, recognizes Kid, too) and purposefully provokes her into playing heroic again. When Hero intervenes, he goes out of his way to protect Kid and Heroine over the other victims. It's not egregious, but it's enough that Villain notices.
> Heroine and Hero bond over scary Villain experiences.
> Villain is suspicious about Hero & Heroine's relationship. Blinded by jealousy, he fails to focus on Kid, who would actually lead him to Hero's identity. He starts trying to track down Heroine to see what kind of a threat she really is to his games--or what kind of a toy she might prove to be.
Vixen should start out sporting a catsuit and a domino mask, which is eventually pointed out as a bad idea if she doesn't want to get caught. After that, she switches to a more ninja-inspired look.
For Faust, I'm thinking a Venetian mask (or masks), because it's got definite Joker echoes about it and it's creepy as all get out. Alternately, there could be more to his name than just motif; perhaps if some sort of supernatural powers were involved, concealing his identity mundanely wouldn't even be necessary? I'm definitely kind of amused by the idea of the guy walking around plain-faced because everybody's bewitched so that they can't spot that, hey, he's clearly that Creed guy.
Omega will need to avoid being too derivative of Batman, so my only real idea at this point is a costume reminiscent of Slade's (from the Teen Titans show), with the light armor and the featureless mask? Meh. I kind of want something a bit more expressive for him, I think; something that leaves his mouth exposed, as well as his eyes? He definitely can't do the domino mask thing, as he's actually a public figure, but... I don't know, maybe something between the two could work.
I don't remember the character names I chose, so I'm going with Villain, Hero, and Heroine for now.
ETA: The names I chose once upon a yesteryear were Dominic Creed, aka Faust (villain); Eris Blackstone, aka Vixen (heroine); and Richard Cain, aka Omega (hero). I think the villain's name is fine, though I'll probably change the supervillain moniker; the heroine needs work both in name and concept; the hero's civilian name is fine, but his superhero moniker is straight trash.
Dominic Creed, Sovereign
Veronica Roe, Victory
Richard Caine, Vanguard
I want Hero to be mostly Bruce Wayne but with a bit of Seto Kaiba thrown in. He gets to know Heroine when she becomes the live-in nanny for his Mokuba. She takes the job without even an inkling of his secret vigilantism and accidentally catches the eye of Villain (who's already sexually obsessed with Hero at the story's start). Villain is just mildly interested in her at first, mostly planning to play mind games with her for a while before leaving her dead for Hero to find like some sadistic cat. But when she finds out Hero's secret and appoints herself his new partner, she elevates herself in Villain's eyes; first he thinks she might just be a hypotenuse to murder, but he quickly realizes that he could love her for all the same reasons he loves Hero--and she proves far easier to seduce.
The most important thing to keep in mind is that I can't make Villain an antihero or antivillain. He needs to be a genuinely violent, dangerous person whose actions aren't sympathetic to the audience. He doesn't need to be the worst monster to ever live, but her does need to be a serial killer at best and a terrorist at worst. He can even have "good" justifications for his actions, provided his actions are so overwhelmingly awful that those "justifications" aren't taken as actually justifying anything. (For example, he might kill people committing horrible animal rights violations... but he'll have no qualms about huge bystander casualties and unnecessary mental or physical anguish. And the more he does it, the more Heroine slips toward Villainess simply by virtue of wishing he would just kill bad people without the whole mind game rigmarole.)
Mind Game - Villain plays a deadly game with Heroine; Hero has a secret (discovered at the end)
Cat and Mouse - Heroine has a secret & Villain easily finds out; Hero has a secret & Villain suspects but can't confirm; Villain unambiguously wants to fuck both Hero & Heroine... and for them to be fucking each other
Unholy Trinity - Are they really heroic anymore if they're sleeping with the enemy? (Half of the violent terror Villain creates these days is just to make sure he holds their attention.)
MIND GAME
> Heroine takes a job working for Hero as Kid's nanny. It's explicitly to take some of the pressure off Butler, who's starting to age past the point of single-handedly wrangling kids.
> Villain is narrowing down the candidates for civilians who might secretly be Hero. His list of suspects does include the right guy, but that's not his prime suspect at the moment.
> Hero and Kid are weird in different ways. Heroine bonds with Butler.
> Heroine's friend gets her an invite to an extremely fancy party on her night off. Villain crashes it, hoping that the host is Hero. Heroine gets her moment of self-sacrificial shine instead, and Villain takes just a hint of notice until he's distracted by Hero's arrival.
> The aftermath of the party sees Hero sending Heroine to a regular therapist and having the first shadows of romantic tension with her.
> Villain has barely given Heroine a second thought. He's far too obsessed with Hero. He starts plotting something to fuck with Hero, something to send the message that he's going to find out his identity, and it's going to happen sooner rather than later.
> Heroine and Kid accidentally get caught up in Villain's little violent Valentine for Hero. Villain recognizes Heroine (and, upon closer inspection, recognizes Kid, too) and purposefully provokes her into playing heroic again. When Hero intervenes, he goes out of his way to protect Kid and Heroine over the other victims. It's not egregious, but it's enough that Villain notices.
> Heroine and Hero bond over scary Villain experiences.
> Villain is suspicious about Hero & Heroine's relationship. Blinded by jealousy, he fails to focus on Kid, who would actually lead him to Hero's identity. He starts trying to track down Heroine to see what kind of a threat she really is to his games--or what kind of a toy she might prove to be.
