Amelia, Worm AU [Complete]

[DeAnno]

I really cant blame Snake Eater for virulently hating what is basically the Worm fandom's version of Midi-chlorians. I would be ranting about it too if the whole thing wasn't so dead and buried by now.

 

[Snake/Eater]

If i have learned anything from skimming the last few pages, its that every forum has its own Greg Vedder/VoidCowboy. Today that user is you Snake/Eater.

Im sure tomorrow it will be someone else.

Click to shrink...

I can only hope...

 

[TanaNari]

And, of course, even if Coils power was "working" when Leviathan was around, there's no evidence that it was *correct*. For all we know, Coil's power would do what Contessa does and create a "best guess model". It's not like Coil could ever know that his alt reality was wrong.

 

[Snake/Eater]

So TanaNari what is your secret to your speed writing?good diet, human sacrifice...

 

[Gear]

The answer is obvious, TanaNari was born with a USB port in his head.

 

[TanaNari]

Honestly? I gave myself permission to not be perfect.

It's incredibly liberating to know that if you make mistakes, that's fine. That you don't have to comb a paragraph eighteen times. That you don't need to rely on your muse to write. She'll come along and make some chapters amazing. Sometimes a little later than you'd like (see 234.5 as the most recent of many examples), but she'll be there eventually, nonetheless. The rest? They just have to be good, not necessarily flawless.

After that? All you have to do is write. Sit down and type what comes to mind. Once you reach the point where you don't need to feel inspired, it comes easily enough.

As it stands, I still estimate that I've deleted at least a total of 50 more chapters worth of material. Chapters that walked themselves into corners. Ones that added absolutely nothing to the story. Stuff like that. Usually in chunks of 300 or so words at a time.

 

[gunghoun]

Then there's 40% of Robin left to be used in a different formula.

Click to shrink...

Not quite. That 60% doesn't mean 60% of Robin was used, it means 60% of that formula comes from Robin. If one formula used up over half of the source, they'd never be able to test them out as well as they have before making them available to buyers. That formula probably uses an insignificant amount of the total "Robin" source.

 

[pepperjack]

And, of course, even if Coils power was "working" when Leviathan was around, there's no evidence that it was *correct*. For all we know, Coil's power would do what Contessa does and create a "best guess model". It's not like Coil could ever know that his alt reality was wrong.

Click to shrink...

If I'm understanding Coil's power correctly, all the precognition takes place in an instant, when he decides to "split," and his choice of which timeline to keep also occurs in that instant (at which point he becomes a functional robot until the point of the decision to collapse).

Under that interpretation, it's hard for me to envision the "alternate" timeline's precognition being any more or less accurate than that of the "real" timeline, since they're both created at the same time and in the same way; the only factor determining which one becomes the alternate is Coil's decision as to which set of actions he would prefer to carry out.

The most likely-seeming conclusion for me is that he can effectively predict Endbringer actions via some sort of loophole or work-around.

 

[Navrin]

pepperjack, the other possibility is that Coil's shard lies to him, a lot, whenever something it can't/won't accurately model gets involved. It could be that it lies to him whenever imperfections in the simulations show up, too, especially when it would have changed which "reality" he would have chosen.

 

[Hexed999]

Second triggers are about adjusting restrictions and not necessarily a power-up.

Click to shrink...

Not exactly, Second Triggers are the result of the shard cannibalizing their bud shard because they've determined that the main host's need is great enough. They are, by definition, power ups but they are never straight power ups but rather the process of expanding the host's "tool set" to give them what's needed to counter this new threat. Wildbow explains that in this post.

As for if Cauldron capes can second trigger, it kinda depends on how "dead" their shards are and who controls the second trigger command (i.e. if the second trigger or budding process has to be "authorized" by an entity or otherwise facilitated by the network then they're SOL). That being said Cauldron claimed to be able to create artificial second triggers but it was very much a hit or miss process.

 

[edale]

If i have learned anything from skimming the last few pages, its that every forum has its own Greg Vedder/VoidCowboy. Today that user is you Snake/Eater.

Im sure tomorrow it will be someone else.

Click to shrink...

Nah, that's been Snake/Eater from the start.

Not quite. That 60% doesn't mean 60% of Robin was used, it means 60% of that formula comes from Robin. If one formula used up over half of the source, they'd never be able to test them out as well as they have before making them available to buyers. That formula probably uses an insignificant amount of the total "Robin" source.

Click to shrink...

Which still makes my theory that the same shard can be used for multiple Cauldron capes valid.

 

[pepperjack]

pepperjack, the other possibility is that Coil's shard lies to him, a lot, whenever something it can't/won't accurately model gets involved. It could be that it lies to him whenever imperfections in the simulations show up, too, especially when it would have changed which "reality" he would have chosen.

Click to shrink...

I tend to think it's more likely that this is a case where the Endbringers are immune to almost all precognition and thinker-type powers, and Coil's falls under the "almost."

If someone can point to Word of God saying otherwise, I'll of course bow to that. Short of WoG (which I'd like to hear about if it's there), it's not really something I see much point in discussing further.

 

[TanaNari]

Amelia, Ch 237- Victoria


"Okay, this is so unfair," Zach muttered.


"You're just angry 'cause I'm kicking your ass," I smirked.


"Of course you're kicking my ass," he sighed. "That's what your power is. 'How do I kick its ass? Parahuman edition.' There's no one whose ass you don't kick."


"Yeah," I agreed. "And to think, I used to think flying and punching things really hard was the coolest power ever. Also, it's not just how to kick ass, it's all kinds of other things. Speaking of which, did you try that little trick I suggested?"


"Haven't had a chance to," he admitted. "Khonsu. Even Emma was exhausted by the end of that. Fuck, even you and I were worn out and I didn't think that was possible."


How did he know that? "Are you sure you don't have a thinker power?"


He tilted his head and raised an eyebrow.


"Right, stupid question," I muttered. "Seriously, though, how did you figure that out?"


Sadly, my question wouldn't be answered, because the door opened, and Lily walked in. My bioscan powers don't really have an 'off' button, so I was flooded with information immediately. Sleep deprivation made sense, considering her circadians were all jacked up. Had been crying. Minor impact injuries on her hand indicated that she punched something. Harder than her hand, so definitely not a person. Had sex recently. Eww, stupid gross power. I tried very hard to ignore information about her digestive system, which was still in the process of getting used to solid foods again.


"Hey, Vicky?" she asked. "Can we talk?" I didn't need my powers to hear that she was upset.


"Sure," I responded. "Zach, girl talk time. Go spend some time with Emma, I'm sure she'll enjoy the distraction. She's been poking at Khonsu bits for hours."


"But..."


"Zach. Go. Plow. Emma." I emphasized every word.


"Fiiine," he groaned, getting up off the couch. "Kick me out of my own bedroom."


"Sorry, I didn't mean to-" Lily started apologizing.


"Nah, it's cool," Zach interrupted. "I was getting bored with having my shit wrecked like I'd never picked up a controller before in my life. I'll just pretend you're here helping Vicky with her repressed bisexuality."


"And I'll just pretend you didn't say that," Lily remarked back. And now she's forgotten to feel bad about chasing Zach out of his room, I observed. Seriously, are we sure the dumbass doesn't have a Thinker power?


There was no more fanfare as Zach left us alone, although I waited for a few seconds to confirm he didn't stick around to eavesdrop, and I simply waited patiently. Not a lot I could say that wasn't just stupid questions. There was a mounting level of embarrassment in Lily's emotions as things went from quiet to a little awkward.


"So... can I stay with you, tonight?" Lily asked. Correction, are we sure the dumbass doesn't have a Master power? The emotions spiked as Lily realized what she said. "No! I didn't meant it like that. You're hot and all, but..."


"Relax," I smiled. "Biothinker, remember? I know your feelings, or lack of them, toward me."


"All of them?" she asked, her fear switching from panic to more basic apprehension.


"Well, every one of them that happens when I'm in the room," I corrected. "And everyone else's, too. So, you've taken a few looks. I'd be more insulted if you hadn't. I know you aren't really interested in me. You love Sabah. I'm just some freakin' amazing eye candy."


"And yet so very humble," she added as she sat down on one of the loveseats. Zach's bedroom was more like a small living room than anything. Television. Computer. Video game television. Two loveseats, a couch, one of those rolling computer chairs, and two ordinary chairs. No actual bed in sight.


"Yup, that's me," I agreed. "So what's the story?"


"Well, Sabah and I went on a date," she started. "It was just perfect in every way. We came back to my place and, well..." she trailed off for a second, letting me draw the obvious conclusion so she didn't have to say it out loud. "After, I. I told her that I love her."


Oh boy. "And then?"


"Then nothing," she sighed. "She said nothing. Pretended not to hear me. A little while later, she got up and went back to her place. It's the first night she's done that since..." she trailed off again. Khonsu. For me it had been three days of fighting and now a couple days of rest. For Lily it has been almost six days' rest after half a year of fighting. "She didn't do anything wrong, I did spring it on her out of nowhere. I just need someone to stay with me tonight."


"No, I get it," I agreed. Your girlfriend has issues, and you just kicked all of them square in the twat. I liked Sabah well enough. She reminded me a lot of Amy, back before I had my glass-nap. Although Ames always shut down when I started talking clothes and shopping, while that's exactly where Sabah really came to life. Lily, on the other hand, was more of a tomboy, interested in sports and the various thrills of cape life.


"You don't mind?" she asked.


"Not at all," it was a half truth. Not sleeping meant I'd spend several hours laying around basically doing nothing. But Lily was one of my friends, one of the people I really trusted. This wasn't a big ask.


"Thanks," she agreed. Then she looked around sheepishly. "So, uh, how do we do this?"


"Your place or mine?" I asked, smiling a little. If I were Zach, I might have added a little humor to this. But whenever I tried to pull shit like that, it just made me feel weird. No idea how he did it, and my power didn't include pulling off bad jokes.


"Yours," she said immediately.


Weird pick, but okay. I stood up. "It's a bit of a trip, hope you brought your walking shoes."


"That's okay, I could use the exercise," she agreed.


....


Mom's up, I realized. A quarter before seven, my alarm clock informed me. Use of my power made it easy enough to get out of bed without waking Lily and then sneak out of my room. Bad jokes weren't on my list, but stealth was way up there. I went downstairs. I'd see if I could con a nice, home cooked meal while I was here. Amy's stock was nice and all, but sometimes I needed to bite into something made from actual meat.


"Hey, Mom," I smiled at her. Hmm, she's nervous about something. "How's my favorite lawyer?"


"Vicky," she spoke, going motherly. "You know I try to be open minded about these things, and I can't do a whole lot to stop what your sister does in her place. But I would appreciate it if you don't bring your girlfriends over to stay the night in my house. I know, Christmas night, so I'll ignore it this ti-"


Oh. I started laughing. Mom just looked at me with a combination of annoyance and disbelief, which made things even funnier. "You have the totally wrong idea," I told her. "Lily's not. We're not dating. At all. She's a friend. Plus she's already taken. Plus I'm into guys. She's having a rough time and I was helping her out."


She visibly relaxed. "Good. I was beginning to worry that I'd never have grandchildren. Not. That you should take that as encouragement to start now."


I smirked. "Y'know, I don't think that would be an obstacle. I mean, Amy creates new life on a daily basis. Compared to that, allowing same sex reproduction is nothing. She's already turned one girl into a boy. He's pretty hot, actually, if you like the tall, dark, and trying way too hard to be all brooding and male." I watched the various emotions run through Mom's body, and couldn't help but smile in anticipation. "And with my powers, I might be able to do it all myself."


Her face scrunched up. "Okay!" she exclaimed, bringing up her hands in defeat. "That's more than I wanted to know. I would have settled with 'don't worry, I just need to find the right guy'."


"What happened to being open minded?" I asked.


Her face was a blank stare. "My seventeen year old daughter talking about getting herself pregnant goes well beyond being open minded. Now let's get back to the girl sleeping in your bed."


"That's Lily, a friend of mine," I informed. I skipped on mentioning her status as a teammate. Mom no doubt suspected, of course, but talking about her cape identity would have been rude. "Like I said, she's having a rough patch. So I kept her company while she slept."


"Company?"


"Yeah," I shrugged. "I don't sleep, remember? So I basically just spent the whole time running combat simulations." Seeing her still blank look, I continued. "Pretty much, I just use my power to find the best ways to fight me, and then the best ways to fight me fighting me. It's a lot like having the world's best combat tutor teaching you the best martial art that can possibly exist."


"If your power already tells you how to fight, why are you using it to teach you how to fight?"


"Because I nearly lost my fight with Lilith," I answered. "My armor saved my life, full stop. Precog on precog combat gets messy, and there are others out there a lot stronger than her. Then there's anti-precog powers. My powers don't do anything useful for Endbringers. Then there was this woman... at the Khonsu battle... my power's idea of how to win in a fight with her was trying to find a way to talk her into letting me win. I still don't even know if she's really that scary, or she just has some kind of weird Master-Stranger power. My power didn't consider her a real threat to me in my armor, but that's not saying a lot. And my power doesn't even see Eidolon when he's right there in front of me."


"That..." she sat down. "You know, every so often I'm reminded how my girls are in the big leagues. I'm still caught up in a world where we had to worry about when Hookwolf would smash a liquor store for having an owner with a tan, or not paying protection money, and arguing with Armsmaster over jurisdiction. Now Class S threats and the Triumviate come up in casual conversation."


"Speaking of S-threats," I smiled. "The PRT's about to use their new toys to remove Nilbog sometime early in the New Year. Like the fifth or sixth, I wasn't paying much attention at that meeting. But that's classified, so I didn't tell you about it. We coulda done it ourselves, but we have our own announcement. The twentieth is when Avalon goes public. Woulda been sooner, but, Khonsu. Oh, and Alexandria's showing coming to our Christmas party tomorrow. That's not classified. In fact, you're encouraged to let it slip. We kinda want people to know about that one."


"Is it too early to break out the scotch?" she asked.


"It's five o'clock somewhere," I shrugged. "Don't worry about pouring me a glass. Waste of perfectly good alcohol."


================

A/N- Didn't have enough material to make a normal chapter, so this is pretty much two small chapters.

 

[dasstan]

Amelia, Ch 237

Click to shrink...

Missing the POV tag?

Seriously, are we sure the dumbass doesn't have a Thinker power?

Click to shrink...

Obviously, he pinged off Oni Lee and Jack Slash.

I'm not some freakin' amazing eye candy."

Click to shrink...

"just" might make more sense, here.

Zach's bedroom was more like a small living room than anything. Television. Computer. Video game television. Two loveseats, a couch, one of those rolling computer chairs, and two ordinary chairs. No actual bed in sight.

Click to shrink...

How very Edward Cullen of him~

"Good. I was beginning to worry that I'd never have grandchildren. Not. That you should take that as encouragement to start now."

Click to shrink...

Silly Carol. You already have grandbabies. They grow on a tree and are eaten by an African Warlord's imaginary shadow friend.

"Yeah," I shrugged. "I don't sleep, remember? So I basically just spent the whole time running combat simulations." Seeing her still blank look, I continued. "Pretty much, I just use my power to find the best ways to fight me, and then the best ways to fight me fighting me. It's a lot like having the world's best combat tutor teaching you the best martial art that can possibly exist."

Click to shrink...

I don't want to see anyone complaining about Vicky being an idiot after this. That is some next level power use that requires actual intelligence to implement.

 

[BlackBulletOfSeven]

Amelia, Ch 237

"Okay, this is so unfair," Zach muttered.


"You're just angry 'cause I'm kicking your ass," I smirked.


"Of course you're kicking my ass," he sighed. "That's what your power is. 'How do I kick its ass? Parahuman edition.' There's no one whose ass you don't kick."


"Yeah," I agreed. "And to think, I used to think flying and punching things really hard was the coolest power ever. Also, it's not just how to kick ass, it's all kinds of other things. Speaking of which, did you try that little trick I suggested?"


"Haven't had a chance to," he admitted. "Khonsu. Even Emma was exhausted by the end of that. Fuck, even you and I were worn out and I didn't think that was possible."


How did he know that? "Are you sure you don't have a thinker power?"


He tilted his head and raised an eyebrow.


"Right, stupid question," I muttered. "Seriously, though, how did you figure that out?"


Sadly, my question wouldn't be answered, because the door opened, and Lily walked in. My bioscan powers don't really have an 'off' button, so I was flooded with information immediately. Sleep deprivation made sense, considering her circadians were all jacked up. Had been crying. Minor impact injuries on her hand indicated that she punched something. Harder than her hand, so definitely not a person. Had sex recently. Eww, stupid gross power. I tried very hard to ignore information about her digestive system, which was still in the process of getting used to solid foods again.


"Hey, Vicky?" she asked. "Can we talk?" I didn't need my powers to hear that she was upset.


"Sure," I responded. "Zach, girl talk time. Go spend some time with Emma, I'm sure she'll enjoy the distraction. She's been poking at Khonsu bits for hours."


"But..."


"Zach. Go. Plow. Emma." I emphasized every word.


"Fiiine," he groaned, getting up off the couch. "Kick me out of my own bedroom."


"Sorry, I didn't mean to-" Lily started apologizing.


"Nah, it's cool," Zach interrupted. "I was getting bored with having my shit wrecked like I'd never picked up a controller before in my life. I'll just pretend you're here helping Vicky with her repressed bisexuality."


"And I'll just pretend you didn't say that," Lily remarked back. And now she's forgotten to feel bad about chasing Zach out of his room, I observed. Seriously, are we sure the dumbass doesn't have a Thinker power?


There was no more fanfare as Zach left us alone, although I waited for a few seconds to confirm he didn't stick around to eavesdrop, and I simply waited patiently. Not a lot I could say that wasn't just stupid questions. There was a mounting level of embarrassment in Lily's emotions as things went from quiet to a little awkward.


"So... can I stay with you, tonight?" Lily asked. Correction, are we sure the dumbass doesn't have a Master power? The emotions spiked as Lily realized what she said. "No! I didn't meant it like that. You're hot and all, but..."


"Relax," I smiled. "Biothinker, remember? I know your feelings, or lack of them, toward me."


"All of them?" she asked, her fear switching from panic to more basic apprehension.


"Well, every one of them that happens when I'm in the room," I corrected. "And everyone else's, too. So, you've taken a few looks. I'd be more insulted if you hadn't. I know you aren't really interested in me. You love Sabah. I'm not some freakin' amazing eye candy."


"And yet so very humble," she added as she sat down on one of the loveseats. Zach's bedroom was more like a small living room than anything. Television. Computer. Video game television. Two loveseats, a couch, one of those rolling computer chairs, and two ordinary chairs. No actual bed in sight.


"Yup, that's me," I agreed. "So what's the story?"


"Well, Sabah and I went on a date," she started. "It was just perfect in every way. We came back to my place and, well..." she trailed off for a second, letting me draw the obvious conclusion so she didn't have to say it out loud. "After, I. I told her that I love her."


Oh boy. "And then?"


"Then nothing," she sighed. "She said nothing. Pretended not to hear me. A little while later, she got up and went back to her place. It's the first night she's done that since..." she trailed off again. Khonsu. For me it had been three days of fighting and now a couple days of rest. For Lily it has been almost six days' rest after half a year of fighting. "She didn't do anything wrong, I did spring it on her out of nowhere. I just need someone to stay with me tonight."


"No, I get it," I agreed. Your girlfriend has issues, and you just kicked all of them square in the twat. I liked Sabah well enough. She reminded me a lot of Amy, back before I had my glass-nap. Although Ames always shut down when I started talking clothes and shopping, while that's exactly where Sabah really came to life. Lily, on the other hand, was more of a tomboy, interested in sports and the various thrills of cape life.


"You don't mind?" she asked.


"Not at all," it was a half truth. Not sleeping meant I'd spend several hours laying around basically doing nothing. But Lily was one of my friends, one of the people I really trusted. This wasn't a big ask.


"Thanks," she agreed. Then she looked around sheepishly. "So, uh, how do we do this?"


"Your place or mine?" I asked, smiling a little. If I were Zach, I might have added a little humor to this. But whenever I tried to pull shit like that, it just made me feel weird. No idea how he did it, and my power didn't include pulling off bad jokes.


"Yours," she said immediately.


Weird pick, but okay. I stood up. "It's a bit of a trip, hope you brought your walking shoes."


"That's okay, I could use the exercise," she agreed.


....


Mom's up, I realized. A quarter before seven, my alarm clock informed me. Use of my power made it easy enough to get out of bed without waking Lily and then sneak out of my room. Bad jokes weren't on my list, but stealth was way up there. I went downstairs. I'd see if I could con a nice, home cooked meal while I was here. Amy's stock was nice and all, but sometimes I needed to bite into something made from actual meat.


"Hey, Mom," I smiled at her. Hmm, she's nervous about something. "How's my favorite lawyer?"


"Vicky," she spoke, going motherly. "You know I try to be open minded about these things, and I can't do a whole lot to stop what your sister does in her place. But I would appreciate it if you don't bring your girlfriends over to stay the night in my house."


Oh. I started laughing. Mom just looked at me with a combination of annoyance and disbelief, which made things even funnier. "You have the totally wrong idea," I told her. "Lily's not. We're not dating. At all. She's a friend. Plus she's already taken. Plus I'm into guys. She's having a rough time and I was helping her out."


She visibly relaxed. "Good. I was beginning to worry that I'd never have grandchildren. Not. That you should take that as encouragement to start now."


I smirked. "Y'know, I don't think that would be an obstacle. I mean, Amy creates new life on a daily basis. Compared to that, allowing same sex reproduction is nothing. She's already turned one girl into a boy. He's pretty hot, actually, if you like the tall, dark, and trying way too hard to be all brooding and male." I watched the various emotions run through Mom's body, and couldn't help but smile in anticipation. "And with my powers, I might be able to do it all myself."


Her face scrunched up. "Okay!" she exclaimed, bringing up her hands in defeat. "That's more than I wanted to know. I would have settled with 'don't worry, I just need to find the right guy'."


"What happened to being open minded?" I asked.


Her face was a blank stare. "My seventeen year old daughter talking about getting herself pregnant goes well beyond being open minded. Now let's get back to the girl sleeping in your bed."


"That's Lily, a friend of mine," I informed. I skipped on mentioning her status as a teammate. Mom no doubt suspected, of course, but talking about her cape identity would have been rude. "Like I said, she's having a rough patch. So I kept her company while she slept."


"Company?"


"Yeah," I shrugged. "I don't sleep, remember? So I basically just spent the whole time running combat simulations." Seeing her still blank look, I continued. "Pretty much, I just use my power to find the best ways to fight me, and then the best ways to fight me fighting me. It's a lot like having the world's best combat tutor teaching you the best martial art that can possibly exist."


"If your power already tells you how to fight, why are you using it to teach you how to fight?"


"Because I nearly lost my fight with Lilith," I answered. "My armor saved my life, full stop. Precog on precog combat gets messy, and there are others out there a lot stronger than her. Then there's anti-precog powers. My powers don't do anything useful for Endbringers. Then there was this woman... at the Khonsu battle... my power's idea of how to win in a fight with her was trying to find a way to talk her into letting me win. I still don't even know if she's really that scary, or she just has some kind of weird Master-Stranger power. My power didn't consider her a real threat to me in my armor, but that's not saying a lot. And my power doesn't even see Eidolon when he's right there in front of me."


"That..." she sat down. "You know, every so often I'm reminded how my girls are in the big leagues. I'm still caught up in a world where we had to worry about when Hookwolf would smash a liquor store for having an owner with a tan, or not paying protection money, and arguing with Armsmaster over jurisdiction. Now Class S threats and the Triumviate come up in casual conversation."


"Speaking of S-threats," I smiled. "The PRT's about to use their new toys to remove Nilbog sometime early in the New Year. Like the fifth or sixth, I wasn't paying much attention at that meeting. But that's classified, so I didn't tell you about it. We coulda done it ourselves, but we have our own announcement. The twentieth is when Avalon goes public. Woulda been sooner, but, Khonsu. Oh, and Alexandria's showing coming to our Christmas party tomorrow. That's not classified. In fact, you're encouraged to let it slip. We kinda want people to know about that one."


"Is it too early to break out the scotch?" she asked.


"It's five o'clock somewhere," I shrugged. "Don't worry about pouring me a glass. Waste of perfectly good alcohol."


================

A/N- Didn't have enough material to make a normal chapter, so this is pretty much two small chapters.

Click to shrink...

Needs to be specified it's a Vicky chapter.

Also, kinda feel it's time for a Sabah chapter. Either we haven't had one yet or its been long enough that I forgot. And this seems like an opportune time

 

[Asunder]

Zack actually possesses a breaker ability that makes his body immune to worm's anti-good things physics that's why he keeps coming back to life no matter how hard the universe tries to kill him. Either that or he pinged off Jack but do you really want a reasonable answer?

 

[dasstan]

Zack actually possesses a breaker ability that makes his body immune to worm's anti-good things physics. Either that or he pinged off Jack.

Click to shrink...

Zach is really the secret mastermind behind the entire plot. Everything would have fallen apart if he hadn't made his televised debut. For want of a Zach, the treehouse was lost.

 

[TanaNari]

Also, kinda feel it's time for a Sabah chapter. Either we haven't had one yet or its been long enough that I forgot. And this seems like an opportune time

Click to shrink...

Problem is, I can't think of anything to really *write* from her angle. She's a pretty passive character, a lot like Rey. If you have ideas, I'm willing to hear them, but she's not really active enough to be that interesting.

 

[Slayer Anderson]

Amelia, Ch 237- Victoria
"Is it too early to break out the scotch?" she asked.

"It's five o'clock somewhere," I shrugged.

Click to shrink...

Raise a glass Carol. Raise it high.

Oh, and Victoria's combat-thinker power works on Contessa? I think Vicky just graduated to the same bullshit-tier Amelia and Taylor live on.

 

[EnderofWorlds]

Honestly? I gave myself permission to not be perfect.

It's incredibly liberating to know that if you make mistakes, that's fine. That you don't have to comb a paragraph eighteen times. That you don't need to rely on your muse to write. She'll come along and make some chapters amazing. Sometimes a little later than you'd like (see 234.5 as the most recent of many examples), but she'll be there eventually, nonetheless. The rest? They just have to be good, not necessarily flawless.

After that? All you have to do is write. Sit down and type what comes to mind. Once you reach the point where you don't need to feel inspired, it comes easily enough.

As it stands, I still estimate that I've deleted at least a total of 50 more chapters worth of material. Chapters that walked themselves into corners. Ones that added absolutely nothing to the story. Stuff like that. Usually in chunks of 300 or so words at a time.

Click to shrink...

Best advice ever; will try to implement in own writing, barring the return of my crippling self-loathing, inferiority complex, and depression. But therapy and meds have gotten a good handle on that, so now I can finally try to follow that kind of advice without the following self flagellation!

Also, awesome chapter as always; Vicky is once again the equivalent of chill college gal with a personality to match. Which is good, because it's a nice contrast to the 'MUH COMPLEXES' the majority of the rest of the characters have. Not that she doesn't have problems, just that those problems aren't horribly crippling and/or something worthy of multiple therapists to dissect over a period of several years.

 

[dasstan]

Raise a glass Carol. Raise it high.

Oh, and Victoria's combat-thinker power works on Contessa? I think Vicky just graduated to the same bullshit-tier Amelia and Taylor live on.

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I have to wonder if she doesn't fall under the umbrella of Taylia's anti-precog shadow. Contessa might have difficulty with Vicky because Vicky constantly picks up on Taylia by-way-of reading Amy and Taylor's biological reactions.

 

[cosoco]

I have to wonder if she doesn't fall under the umbrella of Taylia's anti-precog shadow. Contessa might have difficulty with Vicky because Vicky constantly picks up on Taylia by-way-of reading Amy and Taylor's biological reactions.

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But Taylia wasn't active at that moment. Different dimension.

 

[dasstan]

But Taylia wasn't active at that moment. Different dimension.

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I was talking generally, not about that specific situation.

 

[Daunmi]

But Taylia wasn't active at that moment. Different dimension.

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The effect still is. Much less, yes, but Amelia and Taylor's actions still influence the people around them and themselves, even if the link isn't there.

 

[Ichypa]

"Zach. Go. Plow. Emma." I emphasized every word.

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This line made the chapter for me. I was chortling for maybe a solid minute.

 

[GiftofLove]

I was initially pretty mad at Sabah, but then I looked at it from her view. I'm still mad at Sabah. I understand that she has a thing about control, but I just can't see how it applies here. Then again if issues made sense they wouldn't be called issues.

I'm not upset because Lily was recently traumatized, but more because if you look too hard this reaction says some interesting things about how she treats her relationship with Lily.

 

[edale]

Problem is, I can't think of anything to really *write* from her angle. She's a pretty passive character, a lot like Rey. If you have ideas, I'm willing to hear them, but she's not really active enough to be that interesting.

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Off the top of my head?

-Sabah's PoV while Lily was talking to Rapture. Knowing Lily had just spent half a year in constant combat while completely isolated. While still struggling to deal with the reality that Lily's married to a guy (I think it's been said that Lily already is Japanese royalty, which implies the marriage already happened), Sabah's thought on Lily needing to fight the Endbringers at all. A good chance to show some of Sabah's insecurities through internal dialog.

-Sabah and Lily's reunion, date, and Lily's confession Sabah's mixed feelings caused by this (as Vicky said, it hit her issues dead on). Good chance for fluff, with a light topping of, your favorite, mood whiplash at the end.

-Sabah's internal struggle after she leaves. A chance to show whether the relationship will have a chance, or is almost over for good. A lot of what I've been seeing the last few chapters seems to be leading towards a breakup, but it's not clear if this is severe enough to end the relationship, or if it's something that can still be worked out between them.

There you go, practically a whole chapter outline, heh. Sabah PoV at this point would DEFINITELY be an emotionally charged chapter.

 

[Peanuckle]

"Zach. Go. Plow. Emma." I emphasized every word.

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I lol'd. Then I realized that he has to be told to go sleep with the blonde bombshell (even if it does come out of a bottle. And she's a reforming bitch).

"Then nothing," she sighed. "She said nothing. Pretended not to hear me. A little while later, she got up and went back to her place. It's the first night she's done that since..."

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Sabah, no. What are you doing Sabah, stahp!

I get she has control issues, but Lily just spent months without so much as a glance at her. There's a time where you have to admit that the other person is hurting and you need to support them.

And Vicky... blowing all the secrets. Well, hopefully this doesn't wreck Rebecca's plans to take Lisa out on a moonlit walk.

She's got those plans, right? Right?!

 

[Dreadis]

I always thought Schrodinger would be a much better cape name for Coil than Coil was. Fit his power (or his interpretation of his power) perfectly.

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But if he called himself Schrodinger people might be able to guess his power.

 

[TanaNari]

There you go, practically a whole chapter outline, heh. Sabah PoV at this point would DEFINITELY be an emotionally charged chapter.

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Personally, I feel it repeats all the things we already know. But I'll give it a shot, add another .5 chapter to the story. If it doesn't work out, however, I'm telling everyone that it's your fault.

Guess I can work a *couple* interesting bits of new info in there... was going to use it for a different chapter, buuut, I can foreshadow.