Sam and I sat down for a brainstorming session today–I’m actually really excited to be returning this evening to resume the brainstorm…two in one day!–and as is pretty typical for us, we got distracted by a few tangents. One of them had us laughing out loud: we started arguing about which superheroes would be Radiance users, and which would use Void. (If you haven’t yet read Telsharu, the following will be meaningless to you.)
Superman was easy, clearly a Radiance user.
Batman is still under debate. I would argue Radiance, seeing as how he uses his own internal awesomeness to win the day. Sam argues Void, since he manipulates his surroundings and uses resourcefulness (rather than pure inner strength) to succeed. We have yet to come to consensus.
Iron Man isn’t Awakened, but if he were, he’d probably Awaken to Radiance.
Thor, Radiance, no question.
Captain America, Radiance.
Mr. Incredible, Radiance.
But his daughter? We had more debate over Violet, and decided that her powers of invisibility are Void, but the shield was more of a debate. A shield that diverts and redirects energy would be Void, but a shield of pure force/will that stops outside forces, that would be Radiance
That led us to Gandalf (“thou…shall not…pass!”) whom we decided was a Radiance-user. As is Galladriel, though the clairvoyance is more of a Void ability.
It was interesting, because one of our beta readers told us that he felt like Void was more powerful and versatile than Radiance. Sam and I both had to chuckle at that, because we both find Void more interesting to write about. But it made me realize that I need to step up the exposure of Radiance-users in Buk Tu, and in the third book to come. Because Radiance users are equally, if differently, awesome.