Mission Start!

A little music for your day while I put everything together for this entry. A great piece of instrumental work from Crisis Core on the PSP, the prequel of Final Fantasy VII. I actually had this playing during the opening scene in the first book, followed by its immediate next track, which is a remake of the "Bombing Mission" theme from the original game. The title of this entry is due to the fact that I somehow managed to put together a VERY rough outline on the missions for the book, along with main story plots to keep an eye on it. There will be a lot of backstory in between the missions, and more in the way of investigation along with character development. I always do my best to minimize "filler" material, but when it comes to the story, making sure the characters develop in ways that makes them happy is how the book proceeds. Watching the characters grow through the story, just like us in real life - you want to watch them mature and move past challenges. After a while, with everything that a mind can put them through, you have to wonder if they...

That'd be pretty mad.

Anyhow, onto the main points - the mission log is done and the official "count" would be in the league of eight or so. The original book had eight as well, giving it an even sixteen on the series. Much of the time, like the original, is spent in the day to day of the team and their workings toward resolving the situation, developing the relationships of the characters, envisioning the new ones ambitions, and most of all, making sure that all of them play their primary roles to the best of their ability. A character that can be better should always be made better, unlocking their hidden potential.

Unlocking the potential of a character can be a lot of trouble sometimes, especially when you don't have a solid foundation of where they stand. I tend to go with the D&D stance on determining a character's alignment. They are simple to use and have clear cut definitions which make it easier to classify them. Granted, these stances change over time if needed.

Characters like Travi Gladius, Bill Bishop, Allison Gladius, and Heather Greene are all inherently Lawful Good. Meanwhile, characters like the main bad guy in the church is Lawful Evil transitioning to Chaotic Evil over time. Then there are characters like Alana who could be classified as Neutral Good, or Chaotic Good depending on the situation. This dynamic allows for multiple scenarios, and also allows a lot of freedom in character development - even when limiting down to the main nine used in the link above. Some characters fit in the middle somewhere, others can be on one end of the spectrum or the other depending on the circumstances. 

Reducing the number of active combatants during the missions was a top priority this time around, as noted in an earlier entry, about how managing that many guns at once can be a little confusing and anticlimatic if not done correctly. Despite the fact that there will be multiple people present, I'm trying to keep my amount of combat related text to Travi and Bill, however - propriety dictates that it will be necessary to involve other characters. But I'm still bringing that number down to around three or four, from as many as seven in the original book. This will help me streamline the missions somewhat and also allow me more detail to the situations instead of worrying about who is firing next. 

"I'm tellin' ya, it's Who's turn to shoot!"

Next entry, I'm going to be finalizing a few details on how I want to advance the plot and what genres I want to input. The first book had a solid mixture of some comedy (which, the two comic relief guys are gone in this iteration), action, thriller, drama, and even some romance. All of these elements made for good story, so I'll look at how I can incorporate all of these yet again. For now though, I have to get a water pump fixed in my car since it very inconveniently decided to blow. My reaction was similar to this yesterday:

Yep, I was mad.

Adieu for now.