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A Little Help, Julie
🕑 Added 2021-01-13 11:00:04 +0000 UTCJust more on that thought about a "psu-universe" from yesterday. I think there's a lot of potential but I can't help but think about a lot of the problems that come with it. I think it's important that Julie is the main character of her story, since I think there aren't enough kids like her. If she just gets dragooned into the arm of some sorta monster hunting squad, then I think she loses something that's difficult to get back.
I made this comparison to a friend, it's like Ultimate Spider-man when they introduced Miles Morales. Now Miles is a great character BUT I think they kneecapped his story early because he got on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar. He never really got to be small scale Spider-Man before he had to deal with like the wider Marvel Universe.
There's almost a rush to get to the big universe of stories that you have in your worlds, that you forget how much it can take away from your individual stories too.
Now... I'm pretty certain I can indeed have Julie as part of a larger universe, just because a lot of the ideas overlap. But it'd be important to give her, her own space to shine. That said, I do like seeing her interact with characters like Biomancer and Drymouth. And I'm pretty sure I'll sketch more things like that while I got the time.
Comments
Daakmore
If I had a vote, which I don't think I do but whatever, I would definitely back the Psuniverse name.
Chris Gropp
Personally, the big cosmic stories hold minimal drama for me, and as such are primarily enjoyed as spectacle rather than story. This is because no one seriously believes that the bad guys can actually destroy the world, and even if they do (e.g. infinity war) it'll be undone shortly. But small scale stuff? I absolutely find it credible that an author will kill off a single character our protagonist cares about, or that their relationship won't work out. I feel more when I see a character lose touch with someone than seeing a planet blow up, because not only is the former more believable (if the planet contained characters we've met, they'll be fine) but it's also more relatable. A regular murderer going after a friend of our hero is way more interesting and compelling narratively than a time traveling death machine going after The Heart of Macguffin, Which Begins the End Times. Imagine it; "I have all these cool powers and I can't even protect my friends from bullies, let alone any real danger" angst.
Red
you could have them do the ethical thing and just, let her be a kid for a while. If you're willing to try your hand at I bet you could do a good 'no kid soldiers' angle. And if need be, she could push towards the org on her own? If she's the instigator of any interaction that might work out?
DKN
You'd have to do 2 storyline perspectives at once. Julie's in her own coming of age strange tales, where she only gets snippets of the Psuniverse and its mostly her own small scale story of her being her. Then the wider view of the Psuniverse where everything is going on. There will be times in Julie's story where she will just see the buildup and aftermath of the big events and ponder/agonize what would have happened if she were there. Eventually she might get involved, or she might turn away because the big stuff is making people ignore the little guys, and she wants to stick up for the little guy. You can make a character choosing NOT to participate in the big stuff an important plot point.
Stephen Mumford
So, you're going with "Psu-Universe" and not just "the Psuniverse," then? :D Either way, I like the idea, and I agree, there needs to be a buildup of a character before you just start throwing them into the Endgame stuff. Otherwise, they just end up feeling like someone else's cameo that overstayed their welcome as opposed to seeing them develop and grow on their own to that point.
