Safe For Work Worm Ideas thread

[Metallix666]

More Than Meets The Eye

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Wait, are you talking about the comic, or my fic?

 

[Sword_Mechanic]

Wait, are you talking about the comic, or my fic?

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I'm talking about your fic.

 

[Metallix666]

I'm talking about you fic.

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Cool! Always nice to know people are reading it.

I did consider cross posting it to here, but there's so many chapters at this point i'm reluctant to do it

 

[Sword_Mechanic]

Cool! Always nice to know people are reading it.

I did consider cross posting it to here, but there's so many chapters at this point i'm reluctant to do it

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I agree with you on that, writing your own book is hard enough, but also copying it to other sites and making sure that everything you typed is there. I know your pain my friend.

 

[Prince Charon]

This is more of the SFW branch of the idea, as the NSFW version is taking a while to get into writable form. BTW, any suggestions for a cape name for this Lisa, other than Witch-Girl or Wicce?

A number of the branches off this idea still lead to Sarah running, and what brought her to Brockton Bay in canon still might (though this is more likely if she's alone). However, Coil's recruitment methods are reasonably likely to be different: a Thinker who sucks in combat and has a power that tells her how screwed she really is can be recruited with simple brute force, but a Tinker with an eccentric theme who isn't focused on combat, but can make a good accounting of herself if need be, and still has a few of the 'magic items' that she made with her parents' money, requires different methods. Coil being Coil, he's likely to still be too aggressive when he eventually succeeds, and she'll probably end up hating him, but maybe not as fast or as much.

Likewise, the Undersiders' methods and jobs are going to be different when they have a witchy Tinker instead of a bitchy Thinker, so while they might still end up pissing off Lung, having something like the canon Lung fight occur would rather stretch credibility. How they meet Taylor is thus very likely to be different. In fact, while the butterflies from this won't prevent the bullying (which started before Sarah even triggered, I think), they might alter the trigger event, and thus Taylor's powers... or they might not. The same is true for Dinah, who may have triggered as late as a week or two before the bank job and kidnapping.

One possibility I've been considering for an alternate meeting with the Undersiders is an effect of one of the direct advantages of having a Tinker on your team: the equipment they might share. In this case, Lisa made a new dog-mask for Bitch, which has various powers. One of the most important is a 'charm' built into the nose, which gives the user something close to a dog's sense of smell, and effectively gives Bitch something a little like Tattletale's canon power, at least for personal interaction (it isn't going to let her sniff out your password - though Lisa could probably make something to let her divine it - but she's going to know how you feel, in more detail than you might expect). Lisa intentionally set it to up let her understand the people around her better, which has the side effect of Bitch recognizing that the girl who helped her out on one of her solo runs against Hookwolf's dog-fighting rings is suicidal, from being pretty much 'a puppy that's been kicked too many times, and is still being kicked.'

Bitch being able to understand people better doesn't mean she likes talking, though, nor that she's any good at expressing herself, so she goes to Lisa for help. Of course, Lisa still has pretty strong issues with suicide, and especially with people driving someone to suicide, but her ways of dealing with it won't be entirely the same (similar, very likely, but there would be differences for a number of reasons). Trying to find ways to attack the bullies in ways that making things better for Taylor instead of worse would very much be on the agenda, if they can get her to tell them (as this Lisa isn't Tattletale, the sort of bullshit deduction that canon-Lisa does either isn't happening, or needs more preparation, with different specialized 'divination tools;' on the other hand, she can do a lot more things, as long as she has time and material to work with).

I'll try to go into more detail about Lisa's power in another post, but a lot of what she makes are consumables, and/or grant Thinker powers or other relatively subtle effects. Not everything, though.

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Sorry this took so long.

Incantrix's Witchcraft theme is quite versatile, but also limited in strange ways. A simple example is to say that she can build a flying (anti-gravity) broomstick, but would have a very hard time making a jetpack.

The easiest things for her to make are potions, lotions, scents, or similar things, that grant low-level Thinker or Brute powers (sometimes with Mover 1 or 2 abilities as a side effect of the latter) that last anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. The potions generally don't interfere with each other, or with existing powers, but Lisa will generally know if they would. The longer she has to work, and the more expensive or hard to obtain the materials involved, the higher the threat rating can be. If she has time to research before a job (and is given or otherwise obtains enough accurate information), the Undersiders become an all-Thinker team with powers perfectly fitting the mission.

She can make potions that grant a wider range of abilities, but the less subtle the effect, the harder it is to make (outside of many Brute powers, but even there, she has an easier time making healing potions than 'ridiculous strength and/or speed' potions, even if other Tinkers think the former should be harder), and often the less duration it has. One that she's particularly proud of grants a weaker, more tightly-specialized version of her own Tinker power for between three and twelve hours, but usually around seven or eight (roll 3d4, as Regent puts it). If Lisa is working with someone she granted a Tinker power to, the whole becomes greater than the sum of the parts, within the temporary Tinker's limited theme. In a parahuman, the specialty is anything related to their own power, but again, subtle effects are easier (increasing Regent's range or speed of onset is fairly easy, giving Grue the ability to form his darkness into semi-solid tentacles would be difficult, and giving Bitch the ability to gattai her dogs into Monster-Dog Voltron would be ridiculous), and the resulting item will have a witchy or mystical appearance (and the further the intended effect is from folk or pop-culture witchcraft, the harder it is to make, as with her own stuff). In Tinkers specifically, it tends to expand the existing theme, and the resulting tech tends to have a mix of that Tinker's usual aesthetic with a mystical look. In a non-parahuman, whether they have a Corona Pollentia or not, the potion grants a (more restricted, and usually weaker) specialty related to their existing skills and/or talents, unless taken under stress, in which case the power is related in some way to that stress.

Most of the ingrediants of her potions are refined from natural organics, which makes her rather more interested in Taylor, who can help with acquisition. An important aspect of a lot of her less exotic potions (e.g. Thinker powers that don't involve new senses) is that if the same person takes the same potion repeatedly, it tends to have lingering effect, especially on parahumans who have powers related to the granted ability (including the granted Tinker power, though that may take longer to set in, especially if the shard is particularly unsuited to Tinker abilities; precognition would depend on both the shard and the existing powers). At first, it just seems like it tends to last a bit longer, but eventually, they'll notice that a much weaker version of the ability seems to have become permanent, and after a few hundred doses, the potion may effectively be no-longer needed. This is not something that can be rushed, though, as while overdosing is difficult, it's not impossible. Non-parahumans only get this benefit for the most 'normal' abilities, like excellent memory or mathematical talents, better-but-not-superhuman multitasking or fitness, enhanced creativity, and so forth. Retaining the Tinker power is theoretically possible for a non-parahuman, but would be easier if they already have some appropriate Thinker powers (memory, mainly; others depend on the specialty), and even then, is unlikely. The effects of someone triggering or second-triggering while under the influence of one of these potions is unknown, though if Cauldron got a hold of some of her stuff, they could certainly check (Ack pointed to a bit in canon a while ago where Number Man comments that they've used Contessa to predict what situations could cause someone to second trigger, IIRC, she just can't predict or control the results; they can certainly control when someone takes one of their formulae, though).

As noted, she is not limited to potions, as long as the items she creates both fit the right aesthetic, and have an appropriate power or powerset. One type of temporary item that she uses on herself a lot is a form of temporary tattoo, which is actually a device, rather than a lotion like body paint or other makeup. If a Tinker were to examine one with a microscope, they would find circuit patterns in the 'ink' (and get teased for looking so intently at her skin, most likely). These marks tend to glow when being used with particular intensity (sometimes also causing her eyes to glow, and even creating a localized updraft), and work best if mostly or fully uncovered (though they have no problem with body paint, especially the varieties Incantrix makes). In the spoiler box, below, is an example something she might wear on a job (though she's also willing to wear things that cover less), once she added at least a mask, gloves, footwear, and utility belt:

Spoiler: Large image is LARGE

The golden torc is a key item, containing a number of sensors, as well as a psychokinetic field generator. This creates an effect similar to Shamrock's power, but more limited - mostly, it means she's harder to hit in combat. She can also use it to generate a force shield, generally in conjunction with other items she has on hand, but this is stressful, and thus is done only in emergencies (for now - Tinkers improve, after all). She often studies recordings from the sensors to improve her own tech, and to help Brian (and later Taylor, if she ends up leader) refine the team's tactics. The torc also contains a holographic projector, which when not used to reduce her visibility, can generate the illusion of a variable-length cape, allowing her a cool look, without risking it getting caught on things, or grabbed by an opponent (sure, the torc's PK field could prevent that, but it would just be one more factor to keep watch for).

Other witchy tools she uses frequently are the flying broomstick mentioned earlier, and a series of witch's hats and/or capes that mostly boost or add various Thinker powers, or assist the torc in some way. The hats/capes tend to be more cheaply built, as she's more likely to loose them (they do have chin-straps, but they're fairly weak, intentionally). The Tinkertech in them can self-destruct, but anyone holding or wearing the hat would barely notice beyond the hat not working, warming up, and starting to smoke (she's not going to wear high explosives on her head, thank you very much). She often carries a wand or two (or sometimes rings, bracelets, or other jewelry) with various Blaster or Shaker powers, and aimbot targeting systems (because wands are normally hard to aim); these may be loaned out to her teammates, instead. Also considering the idea of her having a Tinkertech bow and trick arrows, or a pair of fox-ears and a stick-on tail (Shaker powers, mainly involving illusions).

Thanks to her regular study of Regent, and more intermittent studies of Glory Girl and Gallant, Lisa has developed gadgets to shield against many types of neurology-affecting Masters and Strangers (primarily human-affecting, though she could probably block or disrupt Taylor's power, if she tried), or to amplify the same. Though she does not know it, her mind-shield tech would completely no-sell the powers of Heartbreaker or any of his children (even hiding from Cherish), and could resist a number of others who use similar vectors, like Valefor, August Prince, and Nice Guy.

Lisa maintains an alternate cape-ID as a rogue in a Naughty Nurse outfit, who mostly sells healing potions and leases out and maintains Tinkertech healing equipment (giving often-steep discounts to those provably in need, like the underemployed Dockworkers). Quite a few people suspect that the Nurse and the Witch are the same person, but as there's no proof and she's rather helpful, the heroes tend to stay hands off. It helps that these Undersiders prefer to go after 'acceptable targets' like gangs and unpopular-for-being-evil businesses (the 'Bank Robbery' Station of the Canon should not happen, though the Ruby Dreams Robbery could).

Personality-wise, this Lisa is generally less smug and less bitchy than canon, as well as less driven to be the smartest girl in the room, although all three traits are definitely in evidence. She still has serious issues with suicide, but is more obviously proactive about it, more inclined to seek out the causes and, if possible, correct or eliminate them. She also lacks Tattletale's hang-ups regarding sex, and while certainly a tease, might actually follow through, if she trusts someone enough.

As a group, the Undersiders all have 'magic' communicators that cannot be intercepted by normal means, or most Tinkers (though Dragon would be able to, if she tried hard enough), as well as better defences, and auxiliary sensor units similar to that worn by Incantrix. As noted above, they have a somewhat different reputation, helped along by a reporter finding out that Rachael donates some of her take to some dog shelters (the ones where she can smell that the people truly care about the dogs). While they do keep most of the take for themselves, the others do occasionally make donations to charities, battered spouse/child shelters, and so forth, mostly for the good press, and the amusement value of various government types wanting to avoid the bad press of taking money away from such groups, despite it being proceeds from a crime - of course, you can't always prove which crime, if any, they're using the proceeds from, either).

Grue has a bracer that projects blasts of 'clinging' darkness, though he must pour his darkness into it before use; this darkness lasts for several minutes per hit. His suit can make 'denser' darkness cling to him and absorb incoming kinetic energy, acting as armour. During the times Brian is under the influence of the Tinker potion, he and Lisa have also experimented with a potion that would temporarily grant him his post-second trigger powers.

Regent's crown can be set to increase either his power's range or speed of onset, but not both; it also improves his ability to sense nervous systems in that range. The taser in his sceptre can produce a number of ranged electrical effects, including EMP (which does pretty much nothing to Lisa's tech). His fancy belt generates a force-field that provides some protection against physical attacks, with a power-monitor in his mask.

Bitch gets a highly bullet-resistant helmet in the shape of a snarling hound's head, which greatly enhances her hearing & sense of smell (she can tell fairly accurately what other people are feeling), as well as allowing silent communication with her dogs. When she bothers to wear her armour, it also provides resistance to bullets. Both the helmet and the hard parts of her armour protect well against attacks from Brutes rated four or lower, and at least resist higher-level Brutes.

Taylor (nom-du-cap pending - seriously, she should think of one before the Wards or the press do it for her) starts out with a wigged helmet that enhances her range, and prevents her real hair from being burnt off (as well as being highly impact-resistant). She also has a belt similar to Regent's, though with a defensive Shaker effect similar to Incantrix's torc.

 

[kamenhero25]

Alright. So I sort of have an idea for a very AU setting for Worm, based on an interesting novel called Epic that I read a few years back and just dug out again on a whim.

It's after the end. War, terrorism, and disease have long since decimated the world population. And while the troubles have subsided, the human race can't take another war and survive. Not that there's much of a government left to declare war anywhere anyway. So someone comes up with an idea. They take the famous Parahuman MMORPG, a massive virtual reality game designed to allow the players to enjoy a classic comic book era video game world as a superhero or supervillain, and turn it in to a tool for resolving conflict. Now all conflicts, from interpersonal conflicts to political disputes, are resolved with in-game with PvP arena matches, overseen by the advanced SCION system to ensure fairness and resolution to each conflict.

Jump forward twenty years to one Taylor Hebert. She's sick and fucking tired of being the target of her former best friend. Unfortunately, the only way to stop her would be to get justice in Parahuman. Which just isn't possible. Wealth allows the purchase of equipment and even enhanced powers and Emma can simply buy her character up in power until Taylor simply doesn't have a character that can challenge her. After losing her third character trying to beat Emma, Taylor creates something completely different. Rather than her usual heroes, she builds a villain. Thus begins Skitter's quest to find a way to become powerful enough to get revenge. And quite possibly to accidentally completely turn the game on its head.

Other setting stuff:
- In Epic, it's a plot point that basically everyone plays a dumb, ugly fighter (unless they're a wizard in which case they play a weak, ugly mage) because money is earned through fighting monsters and combat classes are the easiest way to do that. However, there are literally thousands of classes, all with different flavors, starting gear, and different skills. I'm thinking a similar thing. Everyone chooses the easy to use stuff like energy blasters, flying bricks, and a few tinkers (because they're versatile). So Taylor's 'fuck everything' choice to play a power set that hasn't been used in years (insect control) makes her a completely different kind of character than most people have seen. And she discovers something that everyone forgot. Every power set was originally built to be playable and fun on its own, not just the 'obviously useful' ones.
- The government is divided in to two political parties, one playing the 'hero' side (more the conservative side politically) and one playing the 'villain' side (the more liberal/progressive side politically). The 'hero' side has been completely dominant for a full decade with the establishment of the Protectorate, a team of professional players that exists to keep the 'hero' side on top and in-control of they game and the government. They scout and recruit potentially talented players who build hero or neutral characters and bolster their ranks so they have larger numbers and the best players to make sure they can win any disputes.

 

[sunspark]

The government is divided in to two political parties, one playing the 'hero' side (more the conservative side politically) and one playing the 'villain' side (the more liberal/progressive side politically). The 'hero' side has been completely dominant for a full decade with the establishment of the Protectorate, a team of professional players that exists to keep the 'hero' side on top and in-control of they game and the government. They scout and recruit potentially talented players who build hero or neutral characters and bolster their ranks so they have larger numbers and the best players to make sure they can win any disputes.

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Unless you are trying for political commentary (a path fraught with peril), it might be wise to leave of the associations of conservative = hero and progressive = villain. And if you are trying for political commentary, be prepared for constant massive shitstorms in the comments.

 

[kamenhero25]

Unless you are trying for political commentary (a path fraught with peril), it might be wise to leave of the associations of conservative = hero and progressive = villain. And if you are trying for political commentary, be prepared for constant massive shitstorms in the comments.

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Perhaps it would be better that just have all of the government sponsored teams/players be 'heroes' and have it be a propaganda thing, where they use hero teams to give themselves more of a look of fairness when the deck is stacked in the government's favor in basically all disputes they personally take part in. That's how it was in the book. The government teams are all big time celebrities who people aspire to be like while any of their shadier things (like assassins that can kill players that might threaten their power) are completely secret.

 

[Lazurman]

Alright. So I sort of have an idea for a very AU setting for Worm, based on an interesting novel called Epic that I read a few years back and just dug out again on a whim.

It's after the end. War, terrorism, and disease have long since decimated the world population. And while the troubles have subsided, the human race can't take another war and survive. Not that there's much of a government left to declare war anywhere anyway. So someone comes up with an idea. They take the famous Parahuman MMORPG, a massive virtual reality game designed to allow the players to enjoy a classic comic book era video game world as a superhero or supervillain, and turn it in to a tool for resolving conflict. Now all conflicts, from interpersonal conflicts to political disputes, are resolved with in-game with PvP arena matches, overseen by the advanced SCION system to ensure fairness and resolution to each conflict.

Jump forward twenty years to one Taylor Hebert. She's sick and fucking tired of being the target of her former best friend. Unfortunately, the only way to stop her would be to get justice in Parahuman. Which just isn't possible. Wealth allows the purchase of equipment and even enhanced powers and Emma can simply buy her character up in power until Taylor simply doesn't have a character that can challenge her. After losing her third character trying to beat Emma, Taylor creates something completely different. Rather than her usual heroes, she builds a villain. Thus begins Skitter's quest to find a way to become powerful enough to get revenge. And quite possibly to accidentally completely turn the game on its head.

Other setting stuff:
- In Epic, it's a plot point that basically everyone plays a dumb, ugly fighter (unless they're a wizard in which case they play a weak, ugly mage) because money is earned through fighting monsters and combat classes are the easiest way to do that. However, there are literally thousands of classes, all with different flavors, starting gear, and different skills. I'm thinking a similar thing. Everyone chooses the easy to use stuff like energy blasters, flying bricks, and a few tinkers (because they're versatile). So Taylor's 'fuck everything' choice to play a power set that hasn't been used in years (insect control) makes her a completely different kind of character than most people have seen. And she discovers something that everyone forgot. Every power set was originally built to be playable and fun on its own, not just the 'obviously useful' ones.
- The government is divided in to two political parties, one playing the 'hero' side (more the conservative side politically) and one playing the 'villain' side (the more liberal/progressive side politically). The 'hero' side has been completely dominant for a full decade with the establishment of the Protectorate, a team of professional players that exists to keep the 'hero' side on top and in-control of they game and the government. They scout and recruit potentially talented players who build hero or neutral characters and bolster their ranks so they have larger numbers and the best players to make sure they can win any disputes.

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ALL MY FUCK YES!

It's been years since I've read Epic, and I'm glad to know someone else thought it was cool enough to think of something like this. It sounds awesome!

 

[kamenhero25]

Alright, so I'm trying to work out how the mechanics of the game would work to make this story idea work. I have a few ideas, so someone stop me if anything sounds too nonsensical.

1) At character creation, a person can take 2 power classifications, one primary and one secondary. Their primary power classification is their main power set and provides them with most of their abilities as they grow. Then they pick a specific power set from that category. They can gain more powers and higher bonuses as they level up by selecting them from their primary power pool. The secondary power functions the same way, but they can't select as many powers from it and their secondary power set grows in power more slowly. So Taylor would be Primary: Master (Insect Control), Secondary: Thinker (Multitasking) for her basic build, with Multitasking providing bonuses to controlling minions while Insect Control allows all NPC creatures in her radius with the in game designation of [Insect] can be taken control of. Higher level powers might let her summon insects on her own or summon insects that don't really exist (like getting Atlas). Higher level Thinker powers would include Remote Viewing or something similar to see through her insects.

2) I'm thinking of adding a system called Origin or something like that. Basically, it allows someone to apply a theme to their powers to gain bonuses and penalties to their powers. Sophia's Shadow origin to her Intangibility power causes her to specifically turn in to a shadow being, by accepting a weakness to Light type attacks. Purity is another good example. She has a Light origin for her Energy Beam power, which increases her stats in bright light, but penalizes them in when she's in darkness. Some powers might require the player to accept a specific origin to be allowed to take them.

With these two rules, I'm hoping that I can reliably recreate or make powers similar to canon powers without over-complicating the story.

 

[jcogginsa]

Sounds good to me

 

[Blackmarch]

A silly thought I had.


"Taylor Hebert."

Everyone in the room froze in place, barely even breathing at the very mention of her name.

"I've called you all here," Piggot looked into each and every person's eyes, memorizing their faces, knowing that this might be the last time she sees any of them again. "Because Taylor Hebert, current leader of the Slaughterhouse 9... has sent us a message." The screen behind her flickered on, showing a plain white envelope. "it came straight from the U.S. Postal service. There were no toxins or diseases. No tricks. Just a simple message." The screen flickered again, this time to a hallmark card, with a picture of a smiling Taylor Hebert attached.

I hope to see you soon!

Dennis let out a quiet sob. He wasn't the only one. Taylor Hebert. Leader of the Slaughterhouse 9 after killing Jack Slash in hand-to-hand combat at the age of 15 years old. A psychopath of the highest order, and the only Thinker 12 on record, her ability was so powerful that not even all the Thinkers in the Protectorate think tank put together could figure out exactly what her power was, only that it was beyond them. Under her leadership, the S9 had become even more powerful than they had been under Slash, surviving each and every encounter with Protectorate kill teams without even getting a scratch. Leaving most of them alive to watch, helpless as she tore apart everything they had ever loved without even acknowledging them.

She was considered the 4th Endbringer for a reason.

"She's coming home people, and we need to prepare as much as we can before then. Evacuate the city, remove all assets... and commit to a holding action. To buy the city time." She stood up, a bottle of extremely expensive alcohol in her hands as she started to pour it into cups, "This is our last stand gentlemen." She dropped a cup for every person in the room, Ward or not. "and it was a pleasure knowing all of you... if you have anything left to do I advise you to go out and do it. Tell your family you love them, pet your dog, take a nap... Do it... I'll be here until the time comes."

Piggot looked into the picture's eyes as everyone left the room, wondering just what was going on behind that monster's eyes. What sick thoughts such an inhuman thing like her must have.

--------

"Hey, Taylor!" Riley jumped onto Taylor's back with a happy squeal, the much taller girl not even moving from what everyone in the group had started calling, 'her planning pose' sitting down, elbows on thighs, hands clasped in front of her face, and the glare from her glasses hiding her eyes from the world. She always had the best ideas when she was done. Way better than Jack's, god rest his Johnny Depp looking soul, "Aren't you excited that you're going home? Cause I know we are!"

"DO YOU THINK I'LL GET TO FIGHT SOMEONE THAT WILL ACTUALLY HURT ME THIS TIME? THE LAST CITY WAS FULL OF PUSSIES."

Contrary to what the group was thinking Taylor was not thinking of new and horrific ways to murder everything and everyone, to break the hopes and dreams of the world over her knee and laugh as it burned down around her.

GodfuckingdammitshitwhydidIsayIwantedtogohomemotherfuckerwhyisthisevenhappening!?

She was just a 15 year old girl that was way, way in over her head.



Taylor Hebert. Average Teenage Girl. Accidental Serial Killer.

 

[Prince Charon]

OUCH! Poor Taylor.

 

[Master of Squirrel-fu]

I have this idea in my head of a Survival Horror story from Shadow Stalker's PoV. Taylor triggered with some sort of reality warping shaker ability that basically transfers the whole school into a Hell Dimension and gives up on not murdering everyone one day. So Sophia, along with a few classmates who survive long enough to flee the building, must survive in a hellish version of brockton bay while horrible monstrosities hunt them down like some sort of perverse game. One by one they get picked off to either die or worse. They come to the conclusion that the only way out is to find and kill Taylor before her monsters can kill them.

 

[Snake/Eater]

I have this idea in my head of a Survival Horror story from Shadow Stalker's PoV. Taylor triggered with some sort of reality warping shaker ability that basically transfers the whole school into a Hell Dimension and gives up on not murdering everyone one day. So Sophia, along with a few classmates who survive long enough to flee the building, must survive in a hellish version of brockton bay while horrible monstrosities hunt them down like some sort of perverse game. One by one they get picked off to either die or worse. They come to the conclusion that the only way out is to find and kill Taylor before her monsters can kill them.

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But the twist is they aren't in Hell, they're still on Earth bet and they've become mastered and they were changed into monsters.

 

[Xilph]

But the twist is they aren't in Hell, they're still on Earth bet and they've become mastered and they were changed into monsters.

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No.

That's combining "But it was all a dream" and "They were secretly robots and not humans the entire time" pretty much, it's absolutely destroy the fic to have the ending be actually they'd lost self control and the entire thing was a hallucination so really the characters had all effectively died by the end of the second chapter.

Choose either they're turned into monsters in BB, or they're in a hell dimension chased by monsters, not a last minute change. It'd be like the HP epilogue revealing that actually Harry was Voldemort had stolen the philsopher's stone successfully and then traveled back in time to replace Harry as a baby using the stone to deage himself and take over everything that way.

 

[Necrovore]

Choose either they're turned into monsters in BB, or they're in a hell dimension chased by monsters, not a last minute change. It'd be like the HP epilogue revealing that actually Harry was Voldemort had stolen the philsopher's stone successfully and then traveled back in time to replace Harry as a baby using the stone to deage himself and take over everything that way.

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Hmm...that sounds familiar...

 

[Master of Squirrel-fu]

No.

That's combining "But it was all a dream" and "They were secretly robots and not humans the entire time" pretty much, it's absolutely destroy the fic to have the ending be actually they'd lost self control and the entire thing was a hallucination so really the characters had all effectively died by the end of the second chapter.

Choose either they're turned into monsters in BB, or they're in a hell dimension chased by monsters, not a last minute change. It'd be like the HP epilogue revealing that actually Harry was Voldemort had stolen the philsopher's stone successfully and then traveled back in time to replace Harry as a baby using the stone to deage himself and take over everything that way.

Click to shrink...

The general mechanic of the power is being able to access a nightmarish alternate earth filled with eldritch monsters where the logic of man holds no true sway. It's a shaker ability as Taylor can overlay it over the current world fairly quickly but as things start to connect the creatures appear, shadowy beasts with no eyes, amorphous in form save for a horrid thing that floats upon their mass, a parody of a human mouth jagged and toothy stretched into a yawning grin. Some appear as worms, serpents crawling on there bellies dragged by untold numbers of chittering multijointed legs. Upon one end is hole filled with ivory razors, wiggling in the gelatinous fleshy maw, that only in the minds of the mad could be called teeth. There are fliers, and crawlers and swimmers, some in the shape of men, others a form so alien as to escape words for description. A few stand towering over the city's silhouette sleeping, of such gargantuan girth that to look upon them is to despair at the knowledge of one's own insignificance.

But yeah, Sophia and a bunch of chumps end up trapped in nightmareland, her powers don't keep her from being injured by the things. There is no escape, no where for her to flee anymore, in order to survive she has to win against something much farther up the food chain than herself.

 

[Prince Charon]

A story perhaps told from Glen Chambers's point of view:

He's called in to help with a new Ward, with a somewhat... difficult power: she has the ability to transfer any injury or injuries between members of the same species. She triggered when she and her father were ambushed in an alley, and he got shot, and she healed him by transferring the injury to one of the would-be gangbangers. Interestingly, she can even bring the dead back to life, as she proved when she dug up her best friend's dead mother, and killed an unconscious gangmember to resurrect her (how she got the gangmember is another thing that needs to be dealt with, along with the fact that she doesn't seem to understand that she did anything wrong).

Sure, she's very photogenic, but she didn't hide the fact that she brought back a woman who'd been dead for about a year, even if she wore a mask doing it, and told a reporter she was going to join the Wards.

(Yes, this sounds a lot like Emma Barnes, in which case her trigger messed her up rather more than is typical for capes, but it could be some other girl, with no connection to Brockton Bay.)

 

[Psyckosama]

A story perhaps told from Glen Chambers's point of view:

He's called in to help with a new Ward, with a somewhat... difficult power: she has the ability to transfer any injury or injuries between members of the same species. She triggered when she and her father were ambushed in an alley, and he got shot, and she healed him by transferring the injury to one of the would-be gangbangers. Interestingly, she can even bring the dead back to life, as she proved when she dug up her best friend's dead mother, and killed an unconscious gangmember to resurrect her (how she got the gangmember is another thing that needs to be dealt with, along with the fact that she doesn't seem to understand that she did anything wrong).

Sure, she's very photogenic, but she didn't hide the fact that she brought back a woman who'd been dead for about a year, even if she wore a mask doing it, and told a reporter she was going to join the Wards.

(Yes, this sounds a lot like Emma Barnes, in which case her trigger messed her up rather more than is typical for capes, but it could be some other girl, with no connection to Brockton Bay.)

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She's used as a healer... basically jump wounds between more mortal capes and those with full on regeneration.

As for bringing back the dead, well, she's now officially the US's new means of execution for condemned criminals.

First test will be she uses her power to bring back Hero by killing Skullfuck Larry, the serial pedophile famous for killing hundreds of children... by... well... the name should explain.

 

[TanaNari]

A story perhaps told from Glen Chambers's point of view:

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You've gotta do a LOT of work to justify this one. Namely: the existence of Cauldron. This is not a cape they could afford not to recruit personally... and with Contessa, they'll have little trouble making it happen.

Also... how the hell is a thirteen/fourteen year old girl supposed to dig up a corpse? Even breaking the concrete vault covering the coffin is damn near impossible without heavy equipment. To say nothing of bringing a gangbanger along for the ride.

Did she talk Sophia into graverobbing for fun and profit? Because to be fair, the ability to move through solid objects would circumvent a lot of the exhumation process.

 

[RangersteveP]

You've gotta do a LOT of work to justify this one. Namely: the existence of Cauldron. This is not a cape they could afford not to recruit personally... and with Contessa, they'll have little trouble making it happen.

Also... how the hell is a thirteen/fourteen year old girl supposed to dig up a corpse? Even breaking the concrete vault covering the grave is damn near impossible without heavy equipment. To say nothing of bringing a gangbanger along for the ride.

Did she talk Sophia into graverobbing for fun and profit? Because to be fair, the ability to move through solid objects would circumvent a lot of the exhumation process.

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Concrete vault? What?

 

[Snake/Eater]

No

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It makes sense.

They thought they were Fighting the good fight against the monsters, but in reality they were the true monsters.

Since they were the ones responsible for tormenting Taylor. Even the ones who did nothing.

 

[TanaNari]

Concrete vault? What?

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burial_vault_(enclosure)

Law in most portions of the USA requires these babies, end of subject. Even in places where it's not law, most cemeteries use them nonetheless.

 

[sunspark]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burial_vault_(enclosure)

Law in most portions of the USA requires these babies, end of subjects. Even in places where it's not law, most cemeteries use them nonetheless.

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Ok, I've got to ask - how did you know about that?

 

[TanaNari]

Ok, I've got to ask - how did you know about that?

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Writers, much like kings, must know these things.

Also, some of my relatives have died.

Oh, and I used to work in a veteran cemetery.


But, seriously... it's what is required of a good writer. You don't have to be an expert at anything, but you need to know a little bit of everything. Except research. You need to be pretty much a living god of research... thank god for search engines, shit was a nightmare back when libraries were your only option.

My most recent chapters required extensive knowledge of the North Carolina coast, laws on shipwreck salvaging, and stuff about latitude and longitude that I learned in middle school and forgot somewhere in the two decades which followed middle school.

Otherwise you end up like Wildbow, who didn't realize a city of 300k+ people would have more than one public high school.

 

[RangersteveP]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burial_vault_(enclosure)

Law in most portions of the USA requires these babies, end of subjects. Even in places where it's not law, most cemeteries use them nonetheless.

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Huh...i had no idea.

 

[Master of Squirrel-fu]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burial_vault_(enclosure)

Law in most portions of the USA requires these babies, end of subject. Even in places where it's not law, most cemeteries use them nonetheless.

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They say it's to dicourage grave robbers and prevent polutions but we all know the truth.

Prep for the coming zombie apocalypse.

 

[TanaNari]

Prep for the coming zombie apocalypse.

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Zombie Apocalypse happened a century ago, dude. They covered it up and called it World War One.

Why do you think they started pushing vaults and cremation so hard after?

 

[daimahou]

Did she talk Sophia into graverobbing for fun and profit? Because to be fair, the ability to move through solid objects would circumvent a lot of the exhumation process.

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Even if there is enough space in the coffin for her, I don't think she could push herself upwards with enough strengh to make the journey.