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Charm Learning Shard (Worm/Exalted) (COMPLETED)

Reader mode
Alec. I promise you that this definitely not the girl you want to bring home to your parents.
It might solve like one or two of your problems at best, and introduce you and the whole world to one massive one.
 
eeda said:
Lol love this Taylor's interaction with Alec, unironicaly those two are good fuck budies for each other, and Taylor of course will love to study all his powered family
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I 100% agree. It's also worth noting that Taylor will one day most likely be able to shrug off Alec's power, meaning that them being FWB is the closest he'll be able to get to a consensual use of his kink. Although, if you believe canon, Aisha is really into BDSM, so that counts too.
 
PlasticSoldier said:
I definitely appreciate the Alec X Taylor shipping, but I'm pretty sure that getting a finger bitten off is much more serious than that.
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Can be sown back on I think. That said, he's probably going to want to try to find some kinda healing cape to look at that eventually.
 
PlasticSoldier said:
I definitely appreciate the Alec X Taylor shipping, but I'm pretty sure that getting a finger bitten off is much more serious than that.
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Oh yeah totally. I think the under-reaction is less of the situation being not serious, and more general psychopathy from both parties. Its kinda cute actually.
 
Well, to bring something from SB over to here: Exalted Fluff. Does anyone else have problems actually understanding what the Charms do? Or how... The combat system really works?
A lot of it just seems so flowery that I genuinely can't tell what it's actually trying to tell me.

EDIT: Matter of fact, this goes for WW stuff in general. Vampire also has just... Odd word-choices which seem real weird.
 
Got to wonder if Taylor is growing on hookwolf like a mold.
On another note Alec is heaps of fun! Maybe more spars with even higher stakes to get the dragon power activated. I'm starting to think it's a last wind kind of power, like the moment Alec assumes direct control it kicks in and starts doing stuff... tho with him doing the master thing he might just get a more powerful body to puppet. Heh.
 
I gotta say, don't let the whole SB thing get you down. I find myself having to censor my own work a lot out of fear of people overreacting like SB moderation tends to. I'm really liking this story- keep it up!
 
Dark Lord Bob said:
I'm pretty happy I moved to reading here when you started censoring the SB version. I don't think I've ever been reading a fic when it got properly nuked, disappearing entirely, rather than just locked.
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Only one I had read that got completely nuked was that Youjo Senki/BnHA crossover, which is weird because there wasn't even any controversy or anything spicy at all.

Edit: lmao this got nuked
 
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Zerrer said:
I gotta say, don't let the whole SB thing get you down. I find myself having to censor my own work a lot out of fear of people overreacting like SB moderation tends to. I'm really liking this story- keep it up!
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Gota second that. How you write Taylor and how her power is influencing her is all gold and sunshine. Even the E88 bits are hilarious and avoids the cringe nazies be evil to the point where my suspension of disbelief lets me wonder Taylor might stick around or poach some members.
So all around good stuff.
 
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Prognostic Hannya said:
I 100% agree. It's also worth noting that Taylor will one day most likely be able to shrug off Alec's power, meaning that them being FWB is the closest he'll be able to get to a consensual use of his kink. Although, if you believe canon, Aisha is really into BDSM, so that counts too.
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Wouldn't Taylor letting Alex Master her fulfill his soul price and Master him?
 
Just salvaging some things I intended to reply to on SB, in case those guys show up over here:

My questions was specifically "Is Know the Soul's Price actually telling her that there's nothing worth buying, or is this her internal dialogue being italicised in the same style?" because it's unclear and would be something new for it to have done.
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It's not a soul price, nor did I intend any ambiguity. Soul prices are always of the format "(Person) wants (thing)", and preceded by a newline.

It's just minmaxing in action.

"Why are there two social stats in Exalted?" Taylor's player complained. "That's stupid. I'm just going to go all in on Manipulation, and lie to everyone I meet."

"A bold strategy, Cotton," the DM noted.

Even before gaining a stranger ability, Taylor's first two cape identities referenced Loki LieSmith, although the third one referenced the Greco-Roman pantheon's trickster.
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Fun fact: "Mercenary Thinker identity = Quicksilver = Mercury, god of commerce and cleverness" is actually a red herring hiding an esoteric easter egg for people who are unreasonably familiar with both settings.

Eclipse caste solars are also called 'Quicksilver Falcons'. Taylor's subconscious exalt-instincts know this... But in Worm, 'bird of prey' names are incredibly unfashionable. If you walked up to someone in 2011 and told them your cape name was 'Quicksilver Falcon', they'd laugh in your face. Or possibly give you a sarcastic thumbs up and an extremely deadpan "How radical. Cowabunga, my dude."

Thus she skips the 'falcon' part, and goes with 'Quicksilver' for the identity most closely tied to her ability to learn other people's charms.
 
Huh glad to know this is still around, was confused when I couldn't find the thread in SB when I had literally just looked at it when I woke up 8 hours ago.

Oh well can't wait to see the shenanigans TayTay, Lisa, and possibly Rune and Vista get up to! All in the name of spending time with other powered folks of course, no bonding here; everyone knows a group of girls is easier to attract others to hang out and use powers then one yes sir re.
 
Wait, can Taylor do stunting? Will she learn to literally pose to improve power output?
 
R.A.G. said:
Wait, can Taylor do stunting? Will she learn to literally pose to improve power output?
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Didn't it seem like a stunt the way Taylor took out Mush for example? And then she got lots of rep for that too.

I suspect stunts are seemless without the spreadsheets and game mechanics front and center.
Tho I've not noticed any explicit confirmation of it, so it's gonna remain a guess.
 
Oh man, so glad I re-found this, I did a proper head stratch when my alert link went nowhere, and then the thread disapered.

So uh, I guess the story on spacebattles triggered the deadly;
"No shirt no service rule"

That's when your product, service or customer drives away your other product, service or customer.

No one wants to go to a pup full of shirtless yah-hoos, hooting and hollering. It lowers the likelihood of attracting more cash spending patrons

So spacebattles says, if your story makes people feel fucking terrible, and they leave, then your story has to leave.

That said, when the authors replied to the reader, (who accused him of being a rasict, for knowing racial slurs and conspiracy theorys), as a fellow racist, That response made me laugh so fucking hard.
 
Dark Lord Bob said:
I'm pretty happy I moved to reading here when you started censoring the SB version. I don't think I've ever been reading a fic when it got properly nuked, disappearing entirely, rather than just locked.
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As someone who only read it on SB, are we talking just censoring out words or more substantial content?
 
Mbwakali said:
Oh man, so glad I re-found this, I did a proper head stratch when my alert link went nowhere, and then the thread disapered.

So uh, I guess the story on spacebattles triggered the deadly;
"No shirt no service rule"

That's when your product, service or customer drives away your other product, service or customer.

No one wants to go to a pup full of shirtless yah-hoos, hooting and hollering. It lowers the likelihood of attracting more cash spending patrons

So spacebattles says, if your story makes people feel fucking terrible, and they leave, then your story has to leave.

That said, when the authors replied to the reader, (who accused him of being a rasict, for knowing racial slurs and conspiracy theorys), as a fellow racist, That response made me laugh so fucking hard.
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Please tell me someone caught a screenshot!
 
klassekatze said:
As someone who only read it on SB, are we talking just censoring out words or more substantial content?
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I haven't been looking between and comparing, and obviously that's impossible now. But the move was prompted by the use of "n-----". I like to archive what I read, and the use of symbol swearing censorship was silly enough that I preferred an alternate version in my archive, which meant I had to follow this version.
 
Sad to see it go, glad to see it has a mirror.

Mbwakali said:
I would pay money to see a screen shot
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Here you go, free of charge:
Jackercracks-reply.png
 
L.13
  • Threadmarks
    • "It's not a mental block," you tell Faultline at the end of another session.

    "Hm? Oh. So you can't help me?"

    "Afraid not. The inorganic limitation is built in to the power. Structural."

    "What about a second trigger?"

    "Wait, second triggers are real?" It's not that you had any concrete theories as to the nature of powers - you're quite happy to just call it magic, confident that you'll be less wrong than the average parahuman researcher. Still, her casual mention of what you had assumed to be a conspiracy theory throws you for a loop.

    "Of course. How do you not know this?"

    You shrug. "The site I read about second triggers on also claimed the moon landings were fake."

    "Even a madman may claim that the sky is blue. That does not make it green." She tilts her head to the side as she looks at you. "Narwhal is probably the most well known second trigger. It's right there in her PHO wiki entry, if I'm not mistaken."

    "Well excuse me for not reading the entire wiki."

    "Nor any scientific literature, it would seem. Anyway, would it work? I suppose not in my case, since I'd see it coming. But theoretically?"

    "Maybe? I don't know. I haven't even seen a first trigger in person."

    "Nor will you."

    "Excuse me?" You take half a step back and start raising your arms into a defensive posture. You didn't expect her be so angry about her lack of prospects that she'd shoot the messenger, but-

    Faultline heaves a deep sigh. "A trigger event knocks out all nearby parahumans for half a minute or so, right as it happens. Don't you know anything?"

    You relax your stance, and pout fetchingly. "I'm an engineer, not an academic."

    "Yet you can't engineer me a better power."

    "Sorry."

    "I feel a bit silly now, having spent so much effort chasing something that would never happen." She gestures towards her xylophone contraption. "Assuming, of course, that I take your word for any of it."

    "Let's assume that," you say a bit sharply. What is it with people and vain hope anyway? "Because I have no reason to lie. We are not enemies, it would not harm me should you gain power. If greed drove me to deceive, I'd be selling you snake oil. Quashing your hopes pays me nothing."

    "That's fair. We're done here then?"

    "What? No! We're maybe halfway done. I have to, uh... English. Bad analogy time?"

    "Go ahead."

    "Your power is a television. I've figured out that it doesn't get cable, and that's what you're interested in. But I haven't traced the circuits and figured out how it converts an electrical signal into moving pictures, and that's what I'm interested in."

    "I see why you'd call yourself an engineer. Same time next week, then?"

    "I've managed to free up my weekends going forward, too." With Lung done, you could stand to slow down and focus a bit more - just because Lisa suggested it doesn't automatically make it a bad idea. But thinking about Lisa reminds you of something else she said. "Then again, I've heard that you villains value your free time..?"

    Faultline snorts. "Who told you that?" So she accepts the villain label, but objects to being seen as lazy?

    "Client confidentiality." You don't want to link Quicksilver to Tattletale, not when Taylor spends so much time hanging out with Lisa. The fewer ties between your various identities, the better.

    "I shall just have to imagine that it's someone I don't like, and I'll see you on Saturday. Same price as before. A deal's a deal, even if I'm unsatisfied with the results."

    You quite enjoy the shenanigans that has been your life lately, you won't deny that. But honest and straightforward deals between professionals have their own charm, and you appreciate Faultline for letting you experience that too.

    ---

    "I don't want to be a stick in the mud..." dad says as he picks you up, a safe distance from the Palanquin.

    "But," you helpfully supply.

    "But you've been out past midnight more often than not this past week. Don't you think that's a bit excessive?"

    Really? You review the last several days. Last Wednesday, Faultline. Friday, post-patrol hijinks with Vista. Saturday and Sunday, Lung. Monday, Vista again, and back to Faultline today. How about that? Six out of the last eight days have been packed full of parahuman goodness. You can't help to grin at how well everything has been going.

    "I have, haven't I?"

    "You don't have to look quite so satisfied about it. You need to save some energy for school, too."

    "Are you worried about my grades? Because I'm not the least bit worried about my grades."

    "That's doesn't sound nearly as reassuring as you think it does, kiddo." Aw, he caught on to the hidden meaning for once. Everything would be so much simpler if you could just explain how grades are useless to your chosen career. But that wouldn't exactly make him worry less.

    You pause to consider. You probably could cut down a bit, if it would appease dad. Vista is almost done. You'd peg her at two Kid Wins worth of difficulty, same as Lung. One more meeting should do it. Why yes, you're measuring powers in Kid Wins now. Or is 'Kids Win' the proper plural? 'kW' for short, an excellent unit for measuring power.

    "And now she looks even more smug about something," dad comments to some unseen observer. "I should be worried, shouldn't I?"

    "Oh, fine. Wednesdays only? And this Friday, I already promised Vanessa we'd hang out then." The weekend won't be an issue. Without any need to duck and weave and deceive with Faultline, you can just get in a solid block of power study and be back in time for dinner.

    "Why Wednesdays?"

    "Dog shelter Monday and Friday, self defense classes Tuesday and Thursday, remember? I have nothing to do on Wednesdays."

    "It's fine to just take a day off and relax every now and then, you know."

    "Don't wanna."

    He chuckles at that. "Whatever makes you happy."

    ---

    PHO agrees with Faultline, as you discover the next morning during computer class. There is a short paragraph in Narwhal's entry, mentioning that she did in fact have a second trigger event, that made her powers stronger. The word 'second' is not part of a link, and the rest of the phrase merely takes you to the regular entry for trigger events, which you already know has no further information about second triggers.

    You turn back to Narwhal's entry and spend some time staring at the picture. Not for the reason that you imagine most other people do, ie the fact that she's naked. You are neither aroused nor outraged. You are in awe. Her 'costume' consist of a skin-tight layer of tiny scales, each scale a single forcefield created and controlled by her power. Skintight except for her forehead, where they form a long thin horn like that of her namesake. But the thing that leaves you staring in awe is the specific way that her second trigger made her stronger: It removed her Manton limitations.

    The Manton effect is what keeps parahumans from killing themselves with their own powers, and what lets cape fights last longer than 2 milliseconds. It's the little understood phenomenon that makes pyrokinetics fireproof, and also makes it so that they can only conjure fire in the open air and not, say, the air inside your lungs. Telekinetics can't apply force directly to your heart or arteries or whatever. Faultline can't create fissures in living tissue, Panacea can't heal herself and holy shit you just realized that Panacea can hurt people too but doesn't tell anyone because why would you need to be protected from your own healing powers?

    ...Anyway, Manton limitations generally respect personal boundaries to a baffling degree. 'A person' isn't really a thing, physics-wise. Humans are made up of zillions of individual cells and bazillions of atoms, how exactly do the powers determine what is and isn't kosher to affect? Almost everyone seem to go for the 'mental block' theory, that it piggybacks the wielder's conception of what constitutes a person. But you just saw from Faultline that this isn't the case at all. The power itself recognizes aliveness and/or personhood, somehow. No matter how that happens, it means that important parts of your understanding of the fundamental nature of reality is wrong, and you don't even know which ones.

    But you're not here to have an existential crisis. You're too busy freaking out about Narwhal. Her whole thing is that she doesn't have that kind of limit. She can create forcefields wherever she wants within a certain distance of herself - if they happen to bisect someone she doesn't approve of when they appear, that's fine. And she uses them for clothes. It's not just the brazen display of power, the horn would be enough for that, it's the control. She has hundreds of forcefields constantly touching her skin, every one of them capable of slicing through human flesh like it isn't even there. She has them when she walks, when she runs, when she fights Endbringers.

    Most people probably don't notice, thinking of it as just an exotic bodysuit. Thinking that the forcefields automatically rest against her skin, somehow. But you can tell. You spent some considerable time recently studying the physics of the human mammary, and those puppies are clearly receiving support. It's armor, stiff armor that she is personally controlling to move with her body at all times, that could maim or kill her in an instant should she make a mistake.

    Even though you personally consider Dragon to be the runner-up for the 'Most likely to wipe out all human life' title (behind the Simurgh but ahead of Behemoth and Leviathan), you may have to award 'Scariest Canadian' to Narwhal, on sheer panache.

    "You know Taylor? The Winslow girl who doesn't talk to anyone? I heard she was caught looking at naked pictures in computer class. Pictures of girls.

    Oops. Maybe you got a bit too distracted, staring at Narwhal. Oh well. That's Glory Girl's day made, at least. Santa Claus spreading a bit of joy in the world.

    Not that your own day is all bad. You get assigned a group project with Kid Win in English class, which lets you interact with him enough to extract a soul price. Spoilers, it's really sad.

    Kid Win wants to know his Tinker specialty.

    How the hell does he not know that? You know it, of course. You know everything worth knowing about his power. As soon as you figure out which of your identities most needs a shitty Tinker minion, he's yours.
     
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