I Am War Machine: The Master Plan · 8:37pm Aug 30th, 2017
Joker here. Well, it seems my War Machine idea, which is hereby retitled "I Am War Machine" since apparently someone else was using "The War Machine" before I was. Darn.
Anyways, moving on, I thought I'd talk a little bit about what I have planned for the project. Let's start with the long description:
Main Theme: War Machine by AC-DC
After being shot to death during a drive-by shooting while on a blind date, Ethan Osborn finds himself reborn through the power of the Enigma Force. Waking up in the Crystal Wars timeline, somehow armed with intellect to rival Tony Stark and the MK.III armor of War Machine, complete with its own JARVIS-esque AI named KILROY. After escaping one of King Sombra's secret research facilities, Ethan allies himself with the Equestrian military and is assigned to Rainbow "Iron Wing" Dash's elite unit, made up of Dash herself, Applejack Apple, Pinkamena Diane Pie, Starlight Glimmer, Maud Pie, and Celestia's surrogate son, Spike. Together, the seven of them lay waste to King Sombra's forces, with Rainbow and Ethan falling for each other in the process.
Unfortunately, King Sombra's lover and Head of Scientific Research and development, Twilight Sparkle, has been working on a top-secret military project known only as EXTREMIS. And to top it off, Sombra, realizing the threat that War Machine posses to his Empire, has hired some deadly assassins to send after him.
Contains OC X Rainbow Dash, Spike X Starlight Glimmer, and King Sombra X Twilight Sparkle. Other pairings to be determined.
So, as you can see here, we've got EXTREMIS rearing its ugly head with Twilight Sparkle as a Discount Aldrich Killian, and King Sombra's hired some assassins to take out War Machine. However, I don't know who they're going to be just yet, I need to do some research to find viable cannidates. But, I can assure you, The Mandarin (the badass version, of course) or anyone of his callibur will not even be so much as mentioned until the sequel, assuming I get around to it.
That's all for now. Stay perky.
A deadpool assassin would be cool
Why is it always a drive-by shooting? What city are these characters in in their previous lives that they all get shot in drive-bys?
Hopefully you'll explain why he suddenly has this great intellect and might use it in a potential conflict. After all, a man with Tony's brains is likely to have his arrogance--one of the reasons why he is both one of the most beloved and hated heroes in the Marvel Super Hero Community.
You shouldn't be imagining sequels just yet; not until you 1) have a solid, finished idea for the first story, and 2) have left enough open for there to even be a second story.
4653097
Oh, trust me, I have every intention of using that arrogance when EXTREMIS comes into play properly.
War Machine: Please, you idiots think you can stand against me WITHOUT ANY KIND OF COMBAT ARMOR? Pfft, bitch, please, I'm War Machine! *sprays a hail of gunfire that mows down all the EXTREMIS soldiers, only for them to heal and get back up as a couple of them get ready to pounce on War Machine*
Oh... shit, *gets attacked by the EXTREMIS soldiers.*
And to answer your question... Detroit. Either that or Gotham, one of the two.
hmm... not to be rude, but i hope that there will more content beyond "person gets sent to a version of Equestria with cool new stuff and/or powers, all the other generic stuff that goes into your DC fics, etc..."
seriously, i feel as if i could sort of predict how the events are going to play out with this fic. you've had so many decent ideas, but not the drive to concentrate on them enough as other ideas came and took some of your concentration, which eventually led them to go on eternal hiatus with only a (if even any at all) few updates on them either through a semi surprise chapter or blog post detailing the situation with the fic
I'm just worried that this will turn out like that...
would be a shame in my opinion. you have such big ideas that unfortunately fall flat after a while. i do like your style though, so i'd be delighted to see more from you. kinda wishing here that you'll be able to complete this new fic
4653113
You bring up a good point. These kinds of stories are very basic in plot structure. I can already imagine the main character saving the day, vanquishing a villain, and getting the girl. What other plot point could there possibly be?
4653110
That's an okay act of arrogance, but really, arrogance is supposed to screw over the protagonist in a major way.
Let me provide a (hopefully) relevant example. If you've ever seen the DC animated movie, Justice League: Doom, then recall the scene where Green Lantern has to deal with a hostage situation. Instead of properly disarming the bad guys, he lets his arrogance get to him, and it ends with one of the hostages (who looks a lot like his love interest) being killed. Because he was so powerful, he assumed that he couldn't get hurt. He was right, but that ended with him losing the battle anyway.
The point of arrogance as a flaw is, really, to teach a character to be humble, to be careful. It's why the classic tale of overcoming hubris is quoted and referenced widely. I speak, of course, of the Heracles myth (using the proper Greek name here), and of the 12 Labors. Its format is standard for a Greek legend, but it really serves a lesson to those who would put their pride before their mind.
Someone as arrogant as Stark risks killing people he cares for. The biggest example of this is the fallout from Civil War, where 1) Captain America dies, 2) Stark becomes the absolutely-hated-guy in the entire Super Hero Community, 3) he and Spider-Man completely fall out, and 4) his actions mark a stain on his relationship with every other super hero, which has carried over into Civil War 2 and Secret Empire.
You ought to incorporate something to that extent in your story. It will make it stronger and more meaningful. It wouldn't just be an action fic about, really, nothing spectacular; it would be an exploration of the arrogance of man and the vitalness of compassion.
Going away from this tangent about arrogance, you could spice up the story by talking about the war itself. Tactics used, battles fought, generals living and dying. Much as Hemingway incorporated real-battles in his stories concerning WWI, you could do something similar. This isn't just a story about Ethan Osborn becoming War Machine; this is a story set in war. It needs to have the relevancy of the horrors and injustices that soldiers face, as well as those few moments of triumph that matter the most. Otherwise, you're just using the "setting" as a "set piece." It wouldn't matter, then, if this was the Crystal Wars timeline or not.
One final point I would like to make is that of your character's name. "Ethan Osborn." You've had, to my memory, another protagonist with the name Ethan. And why "Osborn?" It doesn't sound very Ethan-y to me. It's like you ripped it out of a comic book--oh.
Well, the point is, I know several Ethans. One of them is my brother. Personal experience dictates that the name "Ethan Osborn" is not a good name, and a linguistics professor would tell you something similar, I'd wager. Of course, naming is totally up to you, but a name has to sound good. Not sound like you forced them together. Like... Luke Hamilton. That doesn't sound like a character so much as it sounds like a caricature.
I know you're not using the Mandarin, but how about Sombra in an Iron Monger knock off?
4653126
Okay, I'm gonna set up a google doc with that you said there as reference upon which to build upon. Also, I'm not going to make him arrogant from the get-go, although he will certainly be engrossed by what he can do now as War Machine. In fact, what I'll probably end up doing is probably have him become more and more arrogant over time as he and his team start winning more and more battles, causing him to think that he's invincible as War Machine, especially as a War Machine who isn't a complete jarhead, as I think I'll have him put it. It's like how Obi-Wan described Anakin's abilities making him arrogant. And that arrogance causes someone he's grown to care about killed, or at least rendered comatose. Hint: it's who I'm shipping him with. Of course, at that point, he and Dashie are already in love. Any suggestions on how else it should affect him?
4653156
A few ideas, actually.
In the Crystal Wars universe, Dash appears to be a no nonsense kind of gal. What Ethan could do is try to earn her affection by going on high risk missions that, while impressive, yield little helpful. Perhaps, at the end of one such mission, a close fighter to Dash is severely, but not gravely, injured. This results in Dash losing her composure and going off on Ethan. In his arrogance, he refuses to take blame, and as a result, is barred from doing any further missions until told otherwise.
A heartfelt scene unfolds where a bitter Ethan talks with the injured pony. She admits he's become reckless but also acknowledges that, at his core, he means well. He's shaken by this but before he can retort that Dash's team needs support. He goes out to rescue her despite the orders.
I'll leave the exact events to you, but long story short, his arrogance results in him being in danger, Dash saving him, and her sacrificing herself in the process. (This is the breaking point for Ethan. Met with sacrifice, he must consider if his pride is worth the losses.)
4653185
That works. Then, the story ends with Sombra's death, Dash waking up from her coma, and then a nice little epilogue scene set to this:
And then maybe some sort of impending threat in the form of The Mandarin...THIS version of the Mandarin, but in some sort of griffon-esque form.
vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/iron-man-armored-adventures/images/8/84/818015-mandarin_super.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20091108211754
4653126
Just to say one thing about the name...
Not all names are good sounding. Even if the name isn't cool or sound good to begin with, it can become associated with those terms as the story progresses and the character/person starts getting cool/good/interesting.
Those kinda fics where the characters name isn't something glorious sounding at the start, but become glorious during the fic, make the character stand out a bit more among the names of those who already sound glorious/good at the very beginning.
So, thoughts on this?
4653208
Sure. But you'll need more than just the war as a plot point.
4653213
Even then, you can usually tell if a name isn't a name. In this case, the syllables and pronunciation of Ethan and Osborn have a linguistics clash. The mind's ear finds them more forced than anything.
4653226 not that you pointed that out and i think what it sounds like in my head, you are actually right. It sounds like it's just the first and second name of a person but the last name is missing. Some names work with Osborn and some don't
