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Let's relax for a while: Tori plays Tomb Raider!

 

Hello everyone. Tom here. The creator of Gaia. For this week's edition of the weekly Gaia articles I decided to do something a little different. Something more laid back and fun instead of talking about the story and characters. If you happen to follow the Facebook or Twitter pages then you know that I've been posting a lot of real life content in relation to my characters to flesh them out. And one of those things is Tori's love for the Tomb Raider franchise. So I decided to take a trip down memory lane of the very first Tomb Raider game allowing Tori to see where her favorite franchise grew its roots. So, without further ado, here's Tori!

Hi everybody, Tori here, and I have a special treat for you all today. Ya see I have a video game series that is very close to my heart. I'm of course talking about the Tomb Raider franchise. I have the whole trilogy of the reboot Tomb Raider games on my Xbox One and I love them, but something I never did was play the original Tomb Raider game. The game that started it all. So, with the help of some friends I've managed to track down the original Tomb Raider game for the Sony PlayStation and decided to play it and comment on it for you all here today. So hang onto your hats because we're looking at the first, the original, Tomb Raider!

Tomb Raider of course stars Lara Croft. A rich British archeologist who raids tombs for sport. The game begins in Mexico where a woman shrouded in ice appears and then it cuts to the present time where a man introduces himself to Lara and to his boss who convinces Lara to go to Peru for an ancient old artifact of unknown power. Lara is of course enticed and agrees to go on the expedition with nothing but her tank top, shorts, and twin pistols!

First off I have to comment on the music. It's so much better than in the new games. It grips you right from the bat and it circles around in your head for a long time after you hear it. They really outdid themselves with the soundtrack and it's something I just had to search on YouTube to hear the whole thing.

The game starts off with Lara and an associate walking up in front of a large cave with a large entrance. Lara uses some rope to climb up above the door and press a button to open the doors so the two can go inside. That's when a pack of wolves attack her associate and she comes down with her pistols killing the wolves, but she's too late to save her friend. You couldn't have thought to give him a weapon so he can defend himself?

The game then cuts to the inside of the cave where you can take control of Lara. Your guns never run out of ammo. You can just fire and fire to your heart's content. It's not realistic, but it's a lot more fun than the newer games where ammo is a thing. You're killing bats, wolves, and bears! There's a ledge you go to where if you look down you see a bear roaming around. Rational thought says to jump over and leave it alone, but you only live once! So I jumped down and fought it! It's bear season!

There are secrets to be found and puzzles to be solved, but they aren't as frequent in just the first stage, which is all I've played so far. When enemies are near the music become more intense and you know something's up. Where are they? Where are the bad guys? Then come more wolves, which I quickly dispatched. FOR UNNAMED CHARACTER 92!

There's a door you can open later in the level that automatically closes if you take too long to get to it. You have to do some platforming to get to it. That's basically jumping from one platform to the next until you reached your goal. The best way to dodge in Tomb Raider I found is to jump around while firing your pistols. That way you take less hits. You can also roll around with the circle button.

There are health packs you can find to replenish your health and other such items that I'm sure come into play in the future. You never know what you're going to find. I know for a fact that you even fight a freaking dinosaur in the third level. Now who would have guessed that was going to happen? It's a good thing your guns never run out of bullets.

There were some darts that shot out of the walls while I was running, but they barely scratched me. I got to the end of the level and I was relieved. That felt longer than it really was. I can't wait to play more and venture even farther into the world of Tomb Raider. Where Lara grew her roots. So far I love this game and can easily see why Tomb Raider became such a big deal back in the 90s and it's still going on even to this day. I love the new Lara Croft, and I also love vintage Lara Croft.

This is Tori Jacobs signing off!

Consequences of a Superhero

 

Hello everyone. Tom's here, creator of Gaia. Last week I talked about the use of Greek Mythology in my comic book series. Today I want to talk about the consequences of a Superhero. Namely the consequences that my main protagonist, Tori Jacobs, AKA Gaia, takes on when she decides to become a crime fighter.

First off let's look at Tori's motivation for becoming a crime fighter. On her sixteenth birthday she accidentally causes a vicious earthquake to shake the Wyandotte Plaza while cruising down the street in her brand new Ford Mustang. This act kills ten people and injures countless others who were at the plaza at the scene of the event. Tori feels a great amount of guilt in the fact that it was her, accident or not, that caused the earthquake and even killed a few people.

It haunts her dreams and keeps her awake at night. As it would many of us if we were in the same situation. Of course she feels guilty and doesn't know what to do. Besides the obvious. Using her powers to help people. Now one of the things Tori has in common with Peter Parker is that she's poor. She doesn't design her own costume as much as she picks out a few household items and makes a costume out of it. Mainly a bicycle helmet, goggles, gloves, elbow pads, backpack, running shoes, shirt, jeans, and a bulletproof vest. It's a bit more practical than spandex and it shows that she realizes the dangers of the task she's about to take on.

One of Tori's weaknesses is that she can't fight. She doesn't know anything about law enforcement or apprehending a crook. She relies solely on her abilities to overwhelm her enemies and tie them up so the police can take it from there. Tori respects the law, and tries to help the police whenever she can by doing things they can't do themselves. When it comes to the superpowered enemies that appear later in the story, she's the one they're going to turn to. When it comes to just busting regular thugs some police would prefer if she just left it alone.

The consequences are that it will take a toll on her body. That it's dangerous and she isn't bulletproof. She can get hurt or even killed when dealing with dangerous people who want to cause bodily harm to her. Tori thinks it's worth the risk though to make up for the fact that she accidentally killed people in that earthquake. Of course her parents and friends become worried at her decision, but are ultimately supported by her decision. Tori doesn't have a mentor, or any other superheroes to show her the way. In this universe she's currently the only superhero in existence. Meaning she's going to pave the way for other heroes to come. If they come. That's a lot of pressure to set the standard for something that, in this universe, has only been in fiction.

Tori has to toggle a regular life with schoolwork and friendships with a crime fighting career dealing with thugs and superpowered criminals. Tori knows that she needs to start small, and gradually take on more responsibility as she goes along. At the end of the day Tori wants to protect her hometown from any threat that comes its way. Natural or unnatural.

A dash of Mythology

 

Hello everyone. Tom's here. The creator of Gaia, and today I want to talk to you about my use of Greek Mythology in the Gaia universe.

Right off the bat I feature the comic in Greece by a cave with archeologists working in and out of it. They are led by leading archeologist, Lauren Cooper, who's from Kansas City, Kansas and loves her job as an archeologist. She's approached by one of her people and the two go deep inside the cave to find the discovery of a lifetime.

The stone head of Medusa on Athena's shield. Eyes shut to avoid the nasty occupation hazard of turning people into stone. This sets the stage for other Greek elements to work their way into the Gaia series. Of course I got the name from Greek Mythology from the titan of the Earth, Gaia, who laid with Uranus and gave birth to the titans, who later gave birth to the gods. Of course it's not the real Gaia. It's just the name Tori decided to give herself to match the themes of her powers which are Earth and Plant Manipulation.

It's hard to go into much details about the use of Greek Mythology without giving away spoilers, but one of the first things I wish to establish in the universe I'm creating is that the Greek myths are actually true. The Olympians once ruled the human world and had since been abandoned by the population and sealed away in their world unable to enter the human world. All but one. Thanatos. Who bypasses the seal because everyone believes in death and the work he has to do.

After the Medusa head is found in Greece, it causes people to believe in the gods once again. Some at least. That's enough of a burst to make Tori's powers, which were dormant, come to the surface and reveal itself. Meaning there's a connection between her powers and the Greek gods. Which she finds out more about at a later date. In the first issue I mostly focus on the discovery of the Medusa head and Tori coming into her powers.

Of course it won't just be Tori who develops powers. As the belief in the gods increases, more people will show up with powers. I have a title for these people, but I'm not gonna reveal it in this article because I don't want to spoil the surprise, but I have a plan for everything. Gaia originally started out as a trilogy of books I wrote back to back and has since decided to turn into a comic book series, so I have a lot of story left to tell.

I had to read up on some things about Greek Mythology to be as accurate as I can be in the depiction of the different Greek figures. Thanatos is actually a minor character in Greek Mythology, but in my series he's one of the bigger masterminds of the first story arc in Gaia and is a major player in the world I'm creating. I of course plan to introduce other Greek gods at a later time, but for right now Thanatos is the major player spinning things in motion. I originally envisioned him as blue, but decided to be more accurate to his appearance in Greek Mythology and give him regular white skin but with long black hair and dark eyes. He doesn't make his first appearance until Gaia #2 and we see more of Medusa in Gaia #2 and #3 which I plan to write out at a later date.

All in all, I really enjoy Greek Mythology, and plan to include it in strokes to enrich the story I'm creating and I invite all of you along for the ride. It's going to be a big one.

The Odd One Out: Mary Thompson

 

Hello everyone. Tom's here. The creator of Gaia. This week I want to discuss with you another character that's near and dear to my heart. Among the supporting cast of Gaia. One of Tori's best and closest friends. Mary Thompson!

Mary Thompson is also a sixteen year old high school student attending Wyandotte High School with the rest of her friends. She has no siblings and two loving parents and was brought up with strong moral values that she takes seriously. In a lot of ways she's the conscious of the group. Always making sure the right decision is being made.

What makes her different from the rest of the group is that she has very different core values from her friends. While Tori, Shinta, June, Lily, and Nex are mostly atheist and liberal, Mary was brought up as a Christian conservative and is very religious. She attends church with the rest of her family every Sunday and reads the bible regularly. Mary was of course named after the virgin Mary and is proud to carry that name through her teenage years. Mary has dreams of one day getting married and having children and raising up a strong and good Christian home.

Now one of the things I wanted to show in my writing is that despite the contrast in core values among my characters they can still be friends. While they argue over ethics every now and again the six don't let that interfere with their friendship. Mary is very non judgmental and isn't prejudiced. While she'll lightly nudge her friends to give church a try she doesn't force her religion down other people's throats and only shares her religion when the topic calls for it.

Mary gets along with most people she meets and is one of the nicer people you'll ever talk to unless she feels threatened. Lily likes to tease her about her religion and the differences among her friends' core values, but accepts that Mary has her own beliefs and respects that. Mary would love for all of her friends to be Christian and join her in church services, but accepts that people have to come into the faith themselves or not at all. So while she prays regularly for such a day to occur she leaves it up to God and doesn't worry about it.

Mary is the first real skeptic in the story about the discovery of the Medusa head. Thinking it all just a hoax. Of course she has to think that because the idea of the Greek gods being real gods goes against her core values. In her mind Lord Yahweh is the one true god of the universe and nothing came before him. So how could there be the likes of Zeus and Hera and Ares? It doesn't make sense to her. So she's certain that the Greek gods and even Medusa can't be real because it's a direct contradiction of what she has learned in the bible.

One of the struggles I wish to show with Mary is trying to live a good Christian life in a world that is slowly leaving that kind of lifestyle behind. Mary doesn't assume to have all the answers when it comes to her faith. She studies the bible and prays on finding the answers so she can be a light for the world. Her main goal is to be more like Jesus Christ and live a good honest life in his graces. While she struggles with some of the more violent and anti-homosexual scriptures, since many of her friends are either gay or bi, she tries to follow the direction of Jesus. Loving everyone despite their flaws and leaving it to God to judge them when the day comes. A lot of my own religious and spiritual beliefs have been placed inside of Mary. And I think once I invest more time for her character to grow people will see what makes her so unique.

And that's a day I'm looking forward to.

The Setting of Gaia; Location! Location! Location!

 

Hello everyone. Tom's here, creator of Gaia. Last week I taught you all about my primary protagonist, Tori Jacobs/Gaia. This week I want to go into some details on why I chose Kansas City, Kansas/Wyandotte County as the main location for my comic book series. Like the banner says welcome to Kansas City.

One of the things I've noticed since digesting different stories throughout my lifetime is the fact that few of them take place in the state of Kansas, let alone Kansas City. And when things usually happen in Kansas City it's the Missouri side, not the Kansas side. Even the Chiefs and Royals' stadiums are technically in the state of Missouri, not Kansas.

There are a few exceptions to this. Like the fact that Clark Kent/Superman comes from Smallville Kansas. The Winchesters came from Kansas and of course Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz also came from Kansas, and those are the only examples I can think of. The show Smallville and the newest show Superman & Lois both take place in the state of Kansas in the fictional city of Smallville. So that's something.

But few stories have taken place in my hometown of Wyandotte County. So I thought why not have my story take place in KCK? They say to write what you know, and while I haven't been everywhere in Wyandotte County, and I'm terrible at directions, I still know enough about my hometown to feature it in my comic book. The Wyandotte Plaza is even used in the first issue of my current WIP Gaia #1.

Tori, Shinta, June, Lily, Nex, Mary, and Lauren Cooper all grew up in Kansas City, Kansas. Tori even goes to Wyandotte High School which is one of two main high schools in the city. There's Wyandotte and Washington High School. I just decided to use Wyandotte High School because that was the first thing to come to mind. I can always go to Washington High later.

Of course I had to explain why Wyandotte County is the center focus of the story. Since it's the hometowns of most of the characters moving forward it makes sense to have it located there. Lauren is from Kansas City and pulls some strings to make sure her discovery is sent back to the Wyandotte County area for sake of tourism. This sets the stage for everything else to happen in Wyandotte County. It's probably more than my hometown deserves, but it's how I wanted to proceed moving forward.

Now I'm still debating if I want to do a shared universe with different comic book series being made. Right now I'm the driving force behind my Gaia project. Meeting different artists and such to do the work I can't do by myself. I don't have the funds or the resources to work on more than one comic book series at a time. I debated alternating between my four core story ideas, but a friend of mine said it's easier to give 100% on one thing than on several, so for the time being I'm focusing on Gaia in my past time. It already cost me over $500 dollars to get as far as I am now, and it will cost me several more hundreds moving forward. I'll have to promote like I've been promoting as there's a chance I won't even break even, but that's the risk you take when you get into the comic book business. You never know what's going to sell.

For that shared universe idea I was thinking about making Kansas City, Kansas the New York City to my Marvel Universe. Being the main focus point of heroes, villains, and supernatural entities like demons and the likes. Nothing is written in stone yet and I'm still brainstorming, but Kansas City could end up being remembered as the place that Gaia dwells.

And that is something that's worth pursuing.

Introducing: Tori Jacobs, AKA Gaia!

 

Hello everyone. Tom's here. The creator of Gaia. And I'm here today to introduce you to someone who is very near and dear to my heart. I'm of course talking about the primary protagonist of my WIP comic book series, Tori Jacobs! AKA Gaia!

Tori Jacobs is a sixteen year old girl in her second year of high school at Wyandotte High School. Born and raised in Kansas City, Kansas, otherwise known as Wyandotte County and lives on Walker Avenue. Her parents are Terry and Tina Jacobs and she has one older brother named Toby. Her friends include people she met when she was just a toddler such as Shinta, June, Lily, Nex, and Mary. They all attend Wyandotte High School together with the exception of June who is two years younger than the rest of them and is still in Middle School.

Tori has long red hair, emerald green eyes, white skin, and stands at five feet, seven inches and weighs one-hundred and thirty-six pounds with a thin build. Her favorite color is green, with her secondary favorite color being red. Her favorite movie is the 2018 Tomb Raider reboot, her favorite game is Rise of the Tomb Raider, and her favorite console is Xbox. Her interests include swimming, video games, anime, movies, and television. It's a secret, but she's also...

 

Gaia! Champion of Kansas City. Her costume includes basic clothing she found in her basement. A red bicycle helmet, black goggles, red gloves, black elbow pads, a red backpack, red running shoes, a short sleeved green shirt, blue jeans, and a black bulletproof vest underneath the shirt. Her powers include Earth and Plant Manipulation and they are limited only by her imagination.

Now when I created Tori I actually created her back in 2008. Back then I had very low self esteem. I didn't like the way I looked or the way I sounded. So I thought of making someone who I wanted to be more like. Someone who was smart, funny, outgoing, and charismatic. For some reason I decided to make that somebody a woman and thus Tori Jacobs was made.

I based her appearance off my mom who has reddish blond hair and green eyes. Tori hair is more naturally red than her, though. Her parents are largely based off of my parents and her home is based off of my home, but for reasons unknown to me I decided to make her dad 6'10 and her brother 7'0 making the men in her family giants. Meaning that she and her mom are the short ones, even though 5'7 is still considered tall for the average lady.

Tori was originally an adult when I first made her. Born on March 1st. It was only recently that I made her a sixteen year old high school student, though at the beginning of the story she's actually fifteen as the story begins just one day before her sixteenth birthday.

I came up with her superhero identity by scrolling through the Superpowered Wiki online. I came across an article called Earth Manipulation and liked what I saw so I took the whole page of powers and moves and made a superhero out of it. Adding Plant Manipulation to that power set. Coming up with the name 'Gaia' from Greek Mythology because of the powers that were being used and I came up with the idea to include figures from Greek Mythology as villains and characters in the comic book universe I'm creating, but that is another story, and shall be told at another time.

After all that was decided I needed a reason for her to choose to fight crime and become a superhero. I decided as for an origin story to make her come into her powers at the Wyandotte Plaza and cause a vicious earthquake to hit the plaza. This is where the story gets kind of dark as the earthquake kills ten people and injures countless others. Because of this fact Tori is struck with guilt over the lives lost at the plaza. She then decides to do something about it. Thus becoming a crime fighting superhero in the Kansas City, Kansas area. The first crime she busts is a Seven-Eleven robbery with two ordinary thugs who can't believe their eyes.

Of course another thing I did which I think is unique, at least to an extent, is that the first thing Tori does when her powers appear is go to her parents for help. This is something I noticed another teenage superhero didn't do. Peter Parker didn't go to Uncle Ben and Aunt May after he got bitten by a radioactive spider and other heroes kept a lot of their loved ones out of the loop. Clark Kent was really the only one who parents knew about his powers and that was only because they appeared at birth. I also made sure that they were supportive and willing to help her control her powers.

The second thing I did was have Tori tell her good personal friends about her powers and the fact she was now a crime fighter. They are also supportive and that's the main inner circle for Tori. Her immediate family and her close circle of friends. Anyone else was kept out of the loop.

Basically it starts with petty thugs and evolves to super powered characters looking to take Gaia down. Even pitting Gaia against the likes of Thanatos, the Greek god of death, and Medusa from Greek Mythology. Tori has a lot of obstacles facing her. Juggling her social life, school life, and career as a crime fighting superhero all at the simple age of sixteen. Meaning she has to grow up fast. With her family and friends behind her, yet worried at the same time, what perils will await our hero as she ventures into a new adventure with crime, thugs, dangers, and supernatural disaster?

Only time will tell.