Uniform Stealing Board

Thanks for your thoughts!

The short stories are certainly fun and easy to write, and definitely less exhausting than the longer sagas. That said, the main advantage of longer stories is that they allow for multiple perspectives and parallel storylines, which means there's always a new scenario to change to when I need to indicate the passage of time in one storyline. (Plus it allows for more opportunities for USB scenes, since there's always at least one story thread that at any given moment is involved in infiltration-related activities.) So one-chapter stories aren't really my preferred method of storytelling overall, but they are a nice change of pace.

Hargrove's fight against uniform stealing will indeed recur in future stories. I like the idea of the characters' world evolving, and Hargrove's election represented a fundamental shift that should prove for interesting exploration.

I love that Dark Hiro picture, and many of his others. The USB scenes from his "WIB Princess Danger" story are particularly excellent. Great talent.

Lupe didn't follow the Paradigm, though Elena did - perhaps by osmosis? The Paradigm works in mysterious ways...

I knew Vega's mugging - where she is left conscious but confused - didn't make a whole lot of sense, but it was too funny to leave out. Clearly she's never been in quite that sort of situation before, especially with a woman she assumes is just a waitress she could talk down to.

Kathy's mugging was also fun to write. I love the use of offscreen muggings and sound effects.

I set up the story as perhaps the first in a series of Oksana/Polina misadventures. I enjoyed writing their dynamic more than I expected in the last couple of Spacesuit stories, and it's fun to develop their characters beyond their initial archetypes and explore their deeper personalities, plus the fallout from the original series.

Vivian and Simone were brought back as an afterthought - they were previously only seen in Volume 2, which I wrote over five years ago. But they help add to the continuity of the series. And they certainly do have potential...

Ah, quips and banters. Uniform thieves would be mighty bored without them.

WIB Princess in Danger, to this day, still features two of the most excellent scenes of our genre ever in my opinion. DarkHiro's art was top-notch.

Of course Vega's mugging doesn't make sense. That's what makes it funny.

I like the concept of Hargrove's fight against uniform stealing being "in the background" even in stories in which her personal team isn't an antagonist/protagonist. For instance, in this story it's not a central part of the plot, but it still plays a role - we see police being more paranoid about uniform stealing because of Hargrove campaign and reforms. It could be interesting to see this threat be diffuse in the various stories - not necessarily the main antagonist, but something of an obstacle that can make the protagonists' progression more difficult while facing an other villain: savvier law enforcement, teams of elite agents who are dispatched when an infiltration is suspected... or even uniform stealers using Hargrove's side in their own machinations - like for instance by anonymously calling them to sic them at a rival group of infiltrators. It has potential.

As of this writing, I haven't read the latest story of yours yet, so I'll wait and see if that's the direction these one-shots take.

WIB Princess in Danger, to this day, still features two of the most excellent scenes of our genre ever in my opinion. DarkHiro's art was top-notch.

Oh, absolutely. Just an incredible artist, and that story was probably his peak. I wish he had done more stories with those "Women in Black" on infiltration missions.

I like the concept of Hargrove's fight against uniform stealing being "in the background" even in stories in which her personal team isn't an antagonist/protagonist. For instance, in this story it's not a central part of the plot, but it still plays a role - we see police being more paranoid about uniform stealing because of Hargrove campaign and reforms. It could be interesting to see this threat be diffuse in the various stories - not necessarily the main antagonist, but something of an obstacle that can make the protagonists' progression more difficult while facing an other villain: savvier law enforcement, teams of elite agents who are dispatched when an infiltration is suspected... or even uniform stealers using Hargrove's side in their own machinations - like for instance by anonymously calling them to sic them at a rival group of infiltrators. It has potential.

Hargrove is a unique example of an antagonist in the series, because she isn't "evil" in any real sense, but poses a greater threat to many of the main characters in the saga than Dr. Chen or Karima ever did, due to the power she wields over law enforcement. So yes, there are certainly some interesting ways to utilize her without featuring her character directly - more of the effect that she has on law enforcement and on the women whose work involves a lot of uniform stealing.

Without going into any real spoilers, this will certainly be developed more in future stories. (And you can expect that she and her team won't be entirely relegated to the background in all stories, either.)

The WIB scene in question, for those who aren't aware: viewtopic.php?t=4656

Hargrove is a unique example of an antagonist in the series, because she isn't "evil" in any real sense, but poses a greater threat to many of the main characters in the saga than Dr. Chen or Karima ever did, due to the power she wields over law enforcement. So yes, there are certainly some interesting ways to utilize her without featuring her character directly - more of the effect that she has on law enforcement and on the women whose work involves a lot of uniform stealing.

Without going into any real spoilers, this will certainly be developed more in future stories. (And you can expect that she and her team won't be entirely relegated to the background in all stories, either.)

Sounds interesting. I was pondering to myself if I should ask for some teasers, but maybe I'll wait after I read the second story.

Yes, hope you enjoy the next story. Won't say much, but I'm currently working on the third and fourth stories, which will introduce other old characters and provide more details about the bold new world of uniform stealing in the Hargrove era.