The subject line says it all, but here's a little something more to entice you:

Check it out at Camper's fantastic Web site, Checkpoint Alpha!
http://www.checkpointalpha.com/wb/pages/dio-stories/hide-seek.php
Then pop back in here and let me know what you think.

Spin, I had forgotten what a great author you are. In a chapter with no "action" you still made it tense and at times funny when it needed to be.

Also, I wanna give you props for your customs. It must be a [LASER BLAST] to pose those MM hands sometimes and you do it so well I hardly notice that they werent supposed to be part of the figure.

Lastly, I want a prison jumpsuit Bludd. He was AWE-SOME!

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This is a great read, I love you Deepsix lol

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I'm glad you guys are enjoying so far.

Thanks for checking it out.

Very cool, Spin. The dio-story world has been a bit slow over the past few months (some of that is my own fault... ) but I'm looking forward to you weaving one of your usual great tales. So far, I'm intrigued. You treat the subject matter well, write exceptional dialogue, and your customs, as always, are spot-on.

Terrific start, man, can't wait to see where the story goes.

Photoshop is getting better as always, too. If I have one minor comment, it's that you are tending to get a slight gray "halo" around some of your cut and paste work. I've had to battle with that a lot, and one thing that might help (if you use Photoshop) is dipping into the "Polygonal Lasso". Also, sometimes it's better to "over-erase" so to speak. Use the polygonal lasso to outline the object, but perhaps overlap the actual object (like the WHALE) by a couple of pixels. If you click the Polygonal Lasso enough, you can actually get decently rounded outline selections. Select the area you want and erase (with a hard brush, not a soft-edged brush). The result will be that, even if you erase a tiny part of the object, you'll get rid of a lot of that halo effect. Another idea is also to use the hard-edged eraser brush, but magnify to 600-800%, then just gradually brush away the gray. It can sometimes significantly increase the amount of time it takes, but the end result tends to look a bit better...gives it more "blend" with the background.

It definitely takes a lot of practice, but that might help a bit.

Still, even with that very slight criticism, the rest of the chapter was fantastic as usual.

Justin

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Great work man, sweet stuff. I've never read any of your work before since I'm new so I figured I ought to start from the beginning and I'm loving every second of it.

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Always glad to get a new reader. And it's very cool that you get to start at "Beginnings" and plow through so much stuff at once. Hopefully I'll be able to keep the pace of new "Hide and Seek" chapters brisk enough that you don't lose interest.



And Hawk, as always, thanks for the advice. That's one of the things I love about sharing my work here. I know you're always out there and that I can always learn a little something more from you.

Just finished reading through all of it, just gotta say WOW! I mean, I used to think this kind of stuff was for my Geeky fifty year old uncle that lived with his parents until they moved out (true story) but I just love this stuff. The premise is very mature, the story just sort of flowed and kept me clicking Next Page. Love what you've done to update the Joes (both the figures and their background) which is something I had in mind for my own Dios, nice to see someone else already had that idea as well.

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Love your stuff, Spin. Great visuals, the characters are full of life, the plot is great and the characters all have personality coming out the wah-zoo.

But Hawk is a 'Nam vet? His toy looks kinda young to pull off that look.

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Nicely done entrance on Deep Six and i love his custom!

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I almost didn't read the whole thing cuz I recognized it from the preview you gave. Im glad I continued though! Great use of microman hands. It really sets this story apart from others I think.

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Very fun!! Thanks for the updates!!! And thanks for the tips, Gen. Hawk!

Thanks for all the kind words, guys.

It's good to know all the extra effort that goes into my "handiwork" is adding some value to the experience of the story.

Dios are the thing that got me here and are what keeps me regularly lurking. Yours is one of the best and one that keeps me looking.

Great start. You have terrific characters and excellent story telling. I've enjoyed your "reloaded" version of GI Joe.

Cutter intrigues me, I'm wondering where you may go with him seeing as how he's the type that no one uses except in the background.

Looking forward to more!

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Responding late even though I put this in the Daily News a few days back...

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