The Pub Discussion Board

Yeah, keep waiting.  It's well down the list of writing projects.

Glad you enjoyed this story, though.  Thanks for the feedback.

Eric Storm

Um... is it really relevant?  Apparently when I wrote the note for Ep. 6, I didn't go back to look at what I'd named Ep. 3.

Either that, or somewhere along the way the name got changed.

*shrugs*

Eric Storm

1. Did you EVER see Jim create a TK shield that could stop an object moving near the speed of sound?

2. Even Ron couldn't stop bullets in the heat of battle.

Different universe, different rules.  Jim does not have the ability you're asking him to use.

Eric Storm

Yes, he is part of Cycle 4.  And yes, he would have been listed by the government.  Did I somewhere say he wasn't?

Eric Storm

It's a rather large assumption on your part that I will ever work on a sequel to Justice Seven, something I've not said I'm going to do.

As to your question, if I were going to write a sequel, it would have to be on both.  Just who do you think it was that was recruited into STRAIN at the end of the book?  That was Cycle 4.  Where did you think all those meta-humans suddenly came from?

Eric Storm

WOW!!! This was an amazing story.

Are there further stories planned for the J7 universe?

(posted from Episode 20: Conclusions)


I just read thru all of the posts before mine, I apologise asking a question that has already been asked.

Last edited by Rynhold79 (2012-10-04 05:17:26)

Glad you enjoyed it.  I would mention, though, that the scene in question advances the relationship not just with Jim and Jen, but Jim and Stacy, and so does have something to do with the story...

Thanks for the feedback,
Eric Storm

so with jim being a piece of shit ,and lori dreaming of luke for three years before meeting him make this story just a big waist of time ,this last chapter just made all that time to make this superheros,
just to make them fucking slime balle ,and ol great guy jim should get his brain wiped ,hows your hairem now ,

(posted from Episode 11: The Mamas & the Papas)

Ah, another person who's too busy seeing what they want to see instead of seeing the truth.

First, let me say that it would be nice if you took the time to actually write legible sentences.  I'm not even sure what you were trying to say in half of your messages.  I do get the gist that you felt that Jim and Lori betrayed Luke, and you see Luke as a victim.  I will respond to that as I have in the past.

Jim never "backstabbed" Luke.  When he and Lori had sex, Lori had already dumped Luke.  Are you claiming that Luke owns Lori for her entire life?  She was his girlfriend, not his property.  Luke had no claim to her.  She ended her commitment to him, and she ended his privilege to expect loyalty from her.

Luke had been cheating on Lori.  With his mother, he was having sex with a woman about whom Lori did not know, and had not consented to.  This is the true betrayal in these events.  He acted as though they were in an open relationship, while denying her that privilege, and he wasn't denying it because he wanted them to be monogamous: he was doing it because he didn't want to share her.  He wanted to eat his cake, and have it, too.

You talk about betrayal, but in order for there to be a betrayal, a promise would have to be broken.  Jim never made a promise not to sleep with Lori after she was unattached.  Lori never made a promise to be celibate after breaking up with Luke.  (In fact, she made it rather obvious that she would be sleeping with other men)  The only person who broke their promise in these relationships was Luke.

Lori asked for an open relationship.  Luke said no... but then continued to act as if they did have an open relationship.  This is deceitful, hypocritical, and a true betrayal.  All the things you blame Jim for being.  At most, it was unseemly for Jim and Lori to get together at that time.  However, as I'm sure you're fully aware, they didn't exactly set out to do so; it was a moment of passion.  AND it wasn't like they'd planned on throwing it in Luke's face: he chose to invade their privacy, and paid the price by gaining knowledge he'd have been much happier without.

Where is the justice, you ask?  I think there's an awful lot of justice occurring when someone who cheats on his girlfriend gets dumped and has to see her with some other guy.  You try to paint Luke as the victim, but he was, in fact, responsible for all of the events that occurred.  Even the first act of sex between Jim and Lori would not have taken place had Luke not betrayed Lori in the first place.  Luke could be forgiven for the initial act of sex with his mother.  He could not be forgiven for hiding it from Lori, however... and it was his conscious choice to continue that relationship... again, without telling Lori.  Is it any wonder that she would dump him over such a thing?  It would even be fully understandable if she had actually sought out either Jim or Akira and slept with them in revenge.  (Not very nice, but understandable.)  But that is not what happened.  No, what happened was two friends first shared an emotional conversation, and then their hormones took over.  That they continued the relationship after the initial counter had nothing to do with Luke, and everything to do with two people realizing they had complementary needs and skills.

I can only assume that at some point in your past, you were dumped by a girl who then started dating one of your friends.  I can see no other reason you would be completely blind to the fact that Luke brought the entire mess upon himself by his choices and his actions.  Lori and Jim did what they did outside of any consideration of Luke whatsoever, except to attempt to keep it hidden from him, which they were doing in order to keep from hurting his feelings.

Eric Storm

I have to say great writing!
Maybe it's just me, you could have meant it that way, but I sound Jim's character to be a protagonist in the story. I find that Luke's character, had it not been for Jim, would have been a strong role model and well liked person. Just as Lex Luthor as an example would have been were it not for Superman being his protagonist.
Look at this. Lori who was Lucas soulmate so much that she dreamed of him before she ever met him. After being around the group and especially Jim who admitted that he found her attractive, All of a sudden decides she wants an open relationship. A coincidence? I would have thought so had I not found out later of Jim's other power. So whether Jim meant to or not he really did steal Luke's girl Lori. From that moment on it changed how you would react to anything that happened. Luke couldn't put his finger on it but he knew something was wrong with this whole ordeal. Of course all those women in the group under Jims power would see Luke as being paranoid and being in the wrong. But face and he even proved it that any woman that he found tractive and wanted to have sex with would end up having sex with him and see no problem with it actually changing their way of thinking to make this happen. So who was really the bad guy in this really?
I have seen and other stories where an otherwise good person coming up against their protagonist tries to destroy them becoming a bad person or at least in everyone's eyes because they don't know what's going on truthfully. I'm surprised in this story that Luke's character did not turn to the dark side quote unquote to get back his soulmate and to free the other women from this brainwashing. Had I been Luke with his mental abilities I would have tried to find a way to  block Jim's ability either in his mind or in that of his  brainwashed victims. How would these women feel test this process could have been stopped or reversed, or could it even make a difference once out from under or could it even make a difference once out from under his persuasive ability even without it affect would it still change the perception of the way they had seen things would it still change the perception of the way they had same things and felt about things.
As I said maybe it's just me, but I catch points like that where people actually mistake the monster for the hero or heroin because somebody else is doing that because of they're knowledge of them. Sigmund Freud would have a field day....lol

As I said great work! I look forward to seeing what else you have in store for us.
as always
johnny rotten

(posted from Episode 20: Conclusions)

Okay, let's be clear on a few things:

1) The first person to cheat was always Luke.  He was sleeping with Zoe when he met Lori, and he continued to do so, without telling Lori for a long time.  In other words, Luke was lying to her from day one. 

2) Yes, Lori slept with Claire, and the first few times, this was cheating.  However, as soon as Luke found out about it, he consented to it.  At that point, it ceases to be cheating.

3) If we consider it, really, they cheated about equally:  Luke with Zoe and Barbara, and Lori with Zoe and Claire.  The difference, of course, is that Lori was asking for them both to be able to sleep with whomever they pleased... AND at the time of the breakup, she wasn't cheating on him with anyone, because he had given explicit permission for her to have sex with both Zoe and Claire.  Lori had given him explicit permission to sleep with Zoe, but she wasn't even aware of Barbara.  The truth is that this relationship was destined for disaster from the very beginning, because the two people refused to communicate openly.

3) Lori was not "brainwashed" by Jim.  Jim did not see her as a potential sexual partner while she was dating Luke.  Also, let's be clear:  Projective empathy is not true mind control.  It can instill in a person a very strong emotion, but it cannot force their actions.  It can strongly motivate in a specific direction, yes, because emotions always do.  The thought pattern of the women in Jim's life has not truly been altered.  Jen is the only one who is "odd", in allowing her boyfriend to be shared.  The others knew that they were never going to get a monogamous relationship in the first place.  They simply happen to be women who are okay with that.  Jim never hid his dalliances from any of the women in his life, so they were making an informed decision to stay with him. 

4) Your "belief" concerning ex-girlfriends isn't really relevant.  In real life, it happens on a daily basis.  It doesn't make those people "evil", "slime", or even bad.  It makes them normal.  You're suggesting that a potential life partner should be completely off-limits because of who they have previously dated.  That's idiotic.  AT MOST, if there was an intention to develop a relationship, the third party should be forewarned.  In this case, no actual relationship was intended, beyond the physical... and the third party gave them no chance to forewarn him, but instead invaded their privacy to obtain the information forcibly.

5) You are reading way too much into the "soul mate" thing.  That set of dreams was an attempt by the government to make sure that Luke and Lori got to know each other.  There wasn't anything mystical going on; it was pure manipulation on the part of the government.  There was no way for them to guarantee compatibility, however.

6) Luke was never a "good guy".  He's a hacker, for one thing.  This isn't a role model character by any means.  He does whatever he feels like doing, with little to no thought of anyone else (and he did from the very first chapter).  He has no compunction about breaking the law if he feels he can get away with it.  He is already on the dark side.  As to him taking on Jim in the fashion you're speaking of... even if he could, how do you think Jim might react to Luke interfering in his life that way?  Look what he did to Paul.  Luke's not stupid.

7) Jim was not responsible for Lori wanting an open relationship.  Zoe was.  Lori was a sheltered individual, suddenly "shown the light" by this other girl.  Like many (if not most) who have been denied something pleasant for a long time and then suddenly getting a taste of it, Lori wanted more.  She wanted to discover all the experiences she could possibly have, wanted to know all there was to know about sex, especially as it pertained to her.  Jim had absolutely nothing to do with this decision on her part.  If it had been Jim's doing, she would not have wanted "an open relationship", she would simply have wanted to sleep with Jim.

8) Jim is no monster.  Every conscious action he takes is with other people in mind.  Yes, he has this "thing" in his head.  He doesn't abuse it; he isn't sleeping with a different woman every night, like he could be.  However the ladies' feelings came about, Jim had to develop his feelings for them on his own, the normal way.  Jim agonizes over his ability; he doesn't want to make use of it, but sees no real way around it.  Jim acts, as best he can, in an ethical fashion, to help others and be kind to his loved ones.

9) The initial encounter with Lori and Jim was essentially an accidental occurrence; he did not seek to develop a relationship with Lori, it just happened.  It should also be noted that this initial encounter had more to do with Lori's hypersensitivity than Jim's empathy, as well.  I had already pointed out that she was highly aroused after exercise.  Now she's faced with an equally aroused male, hugging her.  At that point, she needed no extra push.  She would almost have slept with Paul under those circumstances.

10) Ultimately, what this boils down to is that you're complaining that my characters are actually acting like people, rather than caricatures.  I don't write the "Superman" kind of character, who is almost entirely "good and holy".  I write people.  People have flaws, problems, and different ways of looking at things.  I find it more interesting.  Were Lori and Jim's actions perhaps ill-timed?  Yes.  Were they not-well-thought-out?  No, they weren't.  Were they unethical?  Not in the slightest.  It is far more unethical to think, "Just because I used to sleep with her, and you know me, you can't sleep with her."  That's a controlling and egocentric attitude... and precisely the kind of thing that made Lori dump him in the first place.

Eric Storm

*snort*

Don't hold your breath.

If/when there is ever a continuation, it would pick up where the epilogue leaves off, following STRAIN activities.  And it probably would end up more as a series of short stories rather than a cohesive novel.

Eric Storm

Um... as Rescue25 has posted numerous comments to the site (You'll notice his post count is up to 99 as of the time I'm writing this), I don't think he's just trolling.

Eric Storm