AUTHOR'S NOTES

First things first: A very sincere and grateful thank you to everyone who took the time to review my story. It is always a joy to read your comments. Some of you have put me into your C2 communities or author or story list of favourites and that is a great honour. It is very touching.

So, a very special thanks to: griffin-queen-of-silver-skies, NightMage, Blackfire 18, Wrongful Vanity, Syndrome'sGirlXOXO, Damienne, pitbulllady, PriestessLennoue, Xaviere Jade and Morphimal!

She had me at, "Hello, Mr. Incredible…"

What else can I say? LOL!

CapitaineCartoon says, "Bonjour tout le monde! Vous allez bien?"

My name is CapitaineCartoon. As this is the Internet, I will only go as far as to say that I am an adult, that I am French Canadian, based in the cool city of Montréal, Québec. English is not my mother tongue, thus explaining the "e" in CapitaineCartoon and the occasional strange conjugation or phrase structure that you might have stumbled upon in the story. I hope you will have forgiven me by now.

Before I go on, I feel I must stress the fact that I am not a writer, as I always felt powerless with words, both in English or French. Powerless to a point where the art forms in which I have chosen to express myself on a more regular basis, are basically empty of words. I am a jazz guitar player, and a reborn illustrator. Reborn in the sense, that The Incredibles has rekindled my love of drawing.

CapitaineCartoon on writing fiction for the first time:

What a wonderful experience writing this story was! I did not expect the effect it would have on me. I certainly did not expect the huge amount of time it took me to write it. (Early December '04 to mid June '05, every single spare moment.) It seems that it reached into me, grabbing something untapped before. It has powered my creative juice again, as I felt, but like I always do in November, empty and flat. Winter in Montreal is very difficult, it brings you down.

CapitaineCartoon on motives and plot ideas:

The fundamental idea behind writing this story is that, loving this movie, and the character that is Mirage, I couldn't help myself thinking about what motivated her: My whole story is based on the principle of "Innocent until proven guilty."

This is how I felt regarding Mirage's actions in the movie. She could not have been truly evil. If she would have been, she would have never turned. The fact that she drew a line she would not cross, risking her life by acting the way she did, meant to me that there had to be something else.

The fact that she was totally underwritten also added to my motivation. It is clear, we know nothing about her, and that paved the way to wide spread speculation about her character, enabling us to create endless possibilities, like as I saw on the Internet that she might have been a Super herself.

As I discovered I knew I had to write something. I felt, after reading the first few stories that were posted, except in certain notable cases, that Mirage had been given the short end of the stick.

So I set myself to compensate for that.

I wanted "my" Mirage to come out triumphant and transformed from her ordeal. So, there she is. My Mirage is a Goddess: she is beautiful, young, strong, determined, self-reliant, courageous, wise, and focused. She is willing to sacrifice herself for the common good. But she is not perfect, she has issues. She is not a Saint: she has done some questionable things, but she had to, as she had to survive.

CapitaineCartoon on sequels:

As her character grew as I wrote the story, I realized I needed to follow up on some things. So, if you are still reading this, then you will be interested in knowing that I am developing the second and last story on her. After that, I will go back to my own things, and sadly, let Mirage go as she does not belong to me, unless Brad Bird reads my story and contacts me. (Hoping)

Regarding this next story, it will contain my favourite science fiction themes: time and space travel, doomsday devices, parent-children relationships, genetic engineering, totalitarian regimes and societies, the injustices and horrors of war, and the suffering one feels when you become who you are destined to be.

And, as Mirage is a young woman, perhaps sparks will fly between her and that young dashing Super who has been assigned to protect her against her will. (Spoiler alert! Oops! I should have put this in front!)

CapitaineCartoon on favourite Mirage moments from the movie:

I got the DVD on the very first day it was available. It was a joy to finally be able to slow down the action, to stretch a moment that up to now had only been fleeting on the screen. And then, even more, to freeze-frame the action, on an instant, an in-between shot even, but none the less totally delectable.

My favourite Mirage moments are:

Any shot that shows Mirage's left side. The top contenders: When Syndrome and Mirage have their argument, and when Mr. Incredible tries to get in the computer room by forcing his way in with the Easter Island statue. When Mirage turns to look behind her, there is a frame in there that is just perfect.

Of course, there is the Dinner scene. It hurts. Trust me, it does.

"How does it compare?" Whoa, damn. (Sweating)

CapitaineCartoon with technical tidbits:

My website will be up soon. I will update my story as I want to rewrite some parts of the first chapters to make them better. I've discovered that some of my writing seems to be inspired by the William Shatner School of acting, where… everything… slows down… And suddenly! Something… happens!... (I'm laughing at this but maybe I shouldn't)

Once I'm pleased with the text, and that I have succeeded in hunting down typos, I will post up the URL so that you will be able to look at the drawings I've made for the story. I hope you will enjoy them.

CapitaineCartoon on hunting down typos and writing better:

I discovered, while in chapter five, that writing a quick draft of the complete chapter, then printing it, and working from the printed page, helped greatly in making the text better, but was incredibly useful also when it came to spot errors of all kinds like typos, missing words and so on. It is much easier to do it this way than on the screen.

CapitaineCartoon on listening to music while drinking coffee and writing:

When I drink too much coffee, weird things start to happen: I'll listen to music, and after a while, some pieces that I listen to, will want to impose certain images.

Below are listed the principal tunes that inspired the story you have read. It is important to notice that it is not the lyric content that is most crucial element, but more the atmosphere that the tune has created, that prevails.

These are the most outstanding ones, and the scenes and chapters that they have inspired.

Beck – Sea change: The tune Round the Bend, used in chapter four when Mirage is at the cottage.

I listened to a lot of heavy stuff, some from the past, some from the present.

Metallica – Frantic: Used in chapter six as Mirage confronts the Omnidroid.

Rammstein – Sonne: I love the dramatic sound that they have. Mirage and Saunders are fighting, she is wounded, and there is lava everywhere. In fact, the whole album, Mutter is fabulous, dark and tense. (I have yet to translate the lyrics)

When Mirage is in Tuscany, I heard One by U2. When she drives out into the sun, I heard Southside by Moby.

Rammstein actually inspired me for the next story. The tune Moskau from the album Reise, reise gives me visions of an epic battle scene, and the tune Amour, an intense love scene between Mirage and her boyfriend to be. (Oh, no! A spoiler!)

From the past, Pink Floyd - Dark side of the moon, the tune Breathe in the air and Eclipse. Eclipse is very dramatic, the lyrics seem to fit her very well.

Led Zeppelin, the tune Ten years gone. Chapter five, when Mirage walks in the forest, going back towards the compound. A psychedelic moment, strange and mysterious.

CapitaineCartoon is saying thank you!

I hope you had as much pleasure in reading this story as I had I writing it.So, once again, thank you for being here. This is CapitaineCartoon, and I bow to you respectfully. I will see you in the next story, around November 2005. Check the present story from time to time for updates, my web site will be available soon.

Special thanks to the people of for making this possible.