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Post by dans on Jun 25, 2023 1:17:03 GMT
Do we have a good written description of the Magic Lightning striking? "A dazzling flash, a deafening retort... and Hayata becomes Ultraman!" OOPS! "... and Mary Batson is replaced by the heroic figure of Mary Marvel!"
anything along those lines you can point me to? I want to use the same kind of imagery and sensory descriptions, to sort of reinforce continuity. Thanks!
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Post by johnreiter902 on Jun 25, 2023 16:46:37 GMT
Most of the Fawcett comics I have read describe a deafening BOOM, and a flash of light which blinds everybody looking at Billy at that exact moment. However, I think the effect is mostly magical. If people are not looking at Billy, even in the same room, they don't seem to see the flash at all.
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Post by redsycorax on Jun 26, 2023 2:59:03 GMT
Would it be legitimate to infer that Billy's transformation into Captain Marvel (as well as those of Mary and Freddie in similar circumstances) involves momentary amnesia as well, which would erase recall of the instant that the transformation occurred?
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Post by dans on Jun 26, 2023 11:45:06 GMT
I have always inferred that one of the effects of the lightning was to suppress a specific reaction in people who witness the change - somehow they never think the specific thought... "I wonder if Mary/Billy/Freddy is really Mary Marvel/Captain Marvel/Captain Marvel Jr?" (or closely related thoughts, like, "Could Freddy and Captain Marvel Jr. be the same person?", etc). This effect doesn't affect people who already know, and it might not work on non-organic intelligences. Something similar was woven into the spells used by Shiva and Kali. I'm looking for a description similar to these that I can copy and paste into future stories and then make minor edits to, so that the transformations are always described similarly...
I generated these from Martin's original descriptions in his origin stories and every time I wrote Shiva or Kali, I referred to these and used many of the same words, so that the transformation effects were always similar in every story...
***
“BVSSGG,” in a mellow baritone, came Martin’s word, calling on the powers of Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Svargapati, Garuda, and Ganesha.
“Rakasha!” in Lily’s sultry voice, granted her the same powers as Martin, though the gods she called on were a mystery to the pair.
Their magical transformations were as different as their words — a mist of gently glowing blue raindrops rose from the floor, wafting past Martin, and he vanished, to be replaced by Shiva. Beside him, a hot red flame blasted from the floor with a deafening roar, engulfing Lily, then vanished, leaving her wrapped in oily black smoke that cleared to reveal Kali."
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Post by redsycorax on Jun 27, 2023 0:52:05 GMT
Ah, so there were Shazam-powered magic lightning users in India at some point? When? I've always wondered if Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, Captain Marvel Junior and Black Adam were necessarily the ones ever empowered by speaking a specific trigger word. So when were Martin and Lily active? The British Raj? Modern India? It'd be fascinating to see how Shazam represented himself in the context of Hindu spirituality. After all, in Black Adam's case, he used Egyptian deities, so this doesn't sound unusual to me. One wonders what would happen if Shazam had champions in eras like medieval Muslim high civilisation or in pre-Reformation Catholic Europe, though? Would prominent Christian saints or hallowed Muslim religious figures be cited in their transformative surges?
Thanks, dans. You've gotten me thinking about what I might do in my Justice Alliance series with Captain Thunder and Lightning Girl. We already know that on Earth-964 where they originally came from, the malignant German sorceror Klingsor enabled Hugh of Lincoln to become his corrupted champion, Storm Boy, so I think I might follow this train of thought toward other of the Shaman Merokee's historic champions and see where it leads...
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Post by dans on Jun 27, 2023 1:02:26 GMT
Go to 5earths.info/earth-s/timeline/ and look for stories including Shiva and Kali. In our continuity Shiva was powered by Shazam and Kali was powered by Blaze and Satanus. But you won't be the first member here to notice that other than using Hindu mythological figures as the source of their powers, there is nothing 'Eastern' about them. (Frank Murdoch, who is no longer with us, pointed it out, among others. I agreed with him, and I was trying to write some of that into my stories about them - but the super hero story telling usually got in the way of the world building...). Both Kali and Shiva are likely WASPs and there is no Hindu mythology written into their stores. If we ever decided to create and publish an anthology, I'd love to see all the Shiva and Kali stories rewritten to use real elements of Eastern mythology in the stories. |
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Post by johnreiter902 on Jun 27, 2023 1:54:35 GMT
Ah, so there were Shazam-powered magic lightning users in India at some point? When? I've always wondered if Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, Captain Marvel Junior and Black Adam were necessarily the ones ever empowered by speaking a specific trigger word. So when were Martin and Lily active? The British Raj? Modern India? It'd be fascinating to see how Shazam represented himself in the context of Hindu spirituality. After all, in Black Adam's case, he used Egyptian deities, so this doesn't sound unusual to me. One wonders what would happen if Shazam had champions in eras like medieval Muslim high civilisation or in pre-Reformation Catholic Europe, though? Would prominent Christian saints or hallowed Muslim religious figures be cited in their transformative surges? Thanks, dans. You've gotten me thinking about what I might do in my Justice Alliance series with Captain Thunder and Lightning Girl. We already know that on Earth-964 where they originally came from, the malignant German sorceror Klingsor enabled Hugh of Lincoln to become his corrupted champion, Storm Boy, so I think I might follow this train of thought toward other of the Shaman Merokee's historic champions and see where it leads... If I remember correctly (I wrote it down once, but foolishly deleted it) the patrons of Shiva were:
Wisdom: Sarasvati Strength:Shiva Stamina: Brahma
Power:Vishnu Courage: Ganesha
Speed/Flight: Garuda
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Post by dans on Jun 27, 2023 2:57:44 GMT
The origin of Shiva, and the sources of his powers, are on the site I linked to above. I think you got them right
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