- Pronouns
- He
Aaaannnnd... you were right.
(The author on AO3)
Brockton's Celestial Forge (Worm/Jumpchain)
- Thread starter LordRoustabout
- Start date
Aaaannnnd... you were right.
(The author on AO3)
- Location
- Earth
Not really, he feels horror at the aspect of shards and knows his powers dont come from a shard.
I Am ... (Knaka)
This idea was in my head for a while, and I finally wrote this omake. Joe seems a little OOC here, but I feel it is something he might try.
XXX
I Am ...
Across Brockton Bay, countless eyes were watching their screens. An unusual event was occurring. One of Brockton's newest capes was streaming an announcement.
Normally, this wouldn't have garnered so much interest, but the events of Saturday night's Uber and Leet stream had propelled this cape to national prominence. While not viewed as widely as in Brockton Bay, the broadcast was being observed by some people nationwide. A local news station had even decided to show it on their channel.
Brockton truly was a cape city.
The stream was live, as Joe had decided to just make a quick announcement to clear things up. He thought that having a prepared speech read off a teleprompter would be fine. Joe would deeply regret not doing a taped message later.
Before countless people's eyes, the broadcast suddenly showed a cape in front of a professional backdrop. The cape's costume was striking, appearing to be a utilitarian mix of Alexandria and Eidolon's style. Many people would later claim that it was better than the costumes of some Protectorate leaders.
After a beat, the figure started speaking.
"Everyone, thank you for listening to my announcement. I would like to clear up some misunderstandings. First and foremost, I am not in a relationship with Khepri. I am not in any relationship with any member of the Undersiders. I am currently not in a relationship at all right now. The implication that I am in such a relationship is disgusting. Just because I show care for someone and don't want to see a child get killed or tortured does not mean I have romantic feelings for them."
At her home, Taylor cringed as she watched the TV. This was nice of Joe, but she doubted it would stop the rumors.
Meanwhile, at the undersiders base, Alec was laughing his ass off.
"Next, I am not a villain. While some of my actions have not appeared heroic, I am invested in keeping this city as safe as it can be. I am willing to work with the Protectorate, but they don't seem to be interested. Further, I am not a master. I cannot influence people beyond what a normal person is capable of. If I rescue someone, it is natural for them to feel gratitude."
In the PRT hospital, Velocity held back a sigh as he watched the TV. It would be wonderful to get some healing from a healer rumored to be better than Panacea, but he doubted this would change Piggot's mind.
In his office, Kaiser couldn't hold back a sigh. This new cape could have been a powerful recruit, but it seemed that he wouldn't be well disposed to the Empire. At least he seemed to be focusing on the ABB. Kaiser still didn't know if they were related or not. It would take some time to track down every member of his family, especially since his father and sister didn't leave any records for him to find.
"Next, I would like to confirm that I am not the secret lovechild of Hero and Alexandria."
Dennis desperately tried to hold back his laughter at that statement, it looked like he owed Chris five dollars now. He should have never bet that would not be publicly stated this month.
"Finally, I would like to clear up my name. I have heard many mispronunciations and misspellings, and it's getting annoying."
Brian raised an eyebrow at that. It didn't seem like Joe to get that annoyed over something this small.
"I am not A Pie Run, A Pier on, A Pea Ron, or Appear on"
Missy gave a little huff, he would always be Mammon for her.
"I am not Ape Iron, Ape of Iron, or Iron Ape"
Aisha laughed as she heard that. She could laugh as loud as she wanted now and no one would hear her.
"I am going to say this very clearly so there is absolutely no misunderstanding. Listen closely everyone, I AM ..."
At that moment, Joe froze. Unbeknownst to his audience, the Celestial Forge made a connection to a new power. Without thinking, Joe said the name of the power. Thus, Joe spoke the words that launched countless memes and became a constant headache for him.
"I Am Iron Man"
XXX
I actually googled this, and it turns out Iron Man was first published in 1963, so yes, it does exist in Earth Bet, even if the MCU version probably doesn't exist or is different.
Edit: SPAG
XXX
I Am ...
Across Brockton Bay, countless eyes were watching their screens. An unusual event was occurring. One of Brockton's newest capes was streaming an announcement.
Normally, this wouldn't have garnered so much interest, but the events of Saturday night's Uber and Leet stream had propelled this cape to national prominence. While not viewed as widely as in Brockton Bay, the broadcast was being observed by some people nationwide. A local news station had even decided to show it on their channel.
Brockton truly was a cape city.
The stream was live, as Joe had decided to just make a quick announcement to clear things up. He thought that having a prepared speech read off a teleprompter would be fine. Joe would deeply regret not doing a taped message later.
Before countless people's eyes, the broadcast suddenly showed a cape in front of a professional backdrop. The cape's costume was striking, appearing to be a utilitarian mix of Alexandria and Eidolon's style. Many people would later claim that it was better than the costumes of some Protectorate leaders.
After a beat, the figure started speaking.
"Everyone, thank you for listening to my announcement. I would like to clear up some misunderstandings. First and foremost, I am not in a relationship with Khepri. I am not in any relationship with any member of the Undersiders. I am currently not in a relationship at all right now. The implication that I am in such a relationship is disgusting. Just because I show care for someone and don't want to see a child get killed or tortured does not mean I have romantic feelings for them."
At her home, Taylor cringed as she watched the TV. This was nice of Joe, but she doubted it would stop the rumors.
Meanwhile, at the undersiders base, Alec was laughing his ass off.
"Next, I am not a villain. While some of my actions have not appeared heroic, I am invested in keeping this city as safe as it can be. I am willing to work with the Protectorate, but they don't seem to be interested. Further, I am not a master. I cannot influence people beyond what a normal person is capable of. If I rescue someone, it is natural for them to feel gratitude."
In the PRT hospital, Velocity held back a sigh as he watched the TV. It would be wonderful to get some healing from a healer rumored to be better than Panacea, but he doubted this would change Piggot's mind.
In his office, Kaiser couldn't hold back a sigh. This new cape could have been a powerful recruit, but it seemed that he wouldn't be well disposed to the Empire. At least he seemed to be focusing on the ABB. Kaiser still didn't know if they were related or not. It would take some time to track down every member of his family, especially since his father and sister didn't leave any records for him to find.
"Next, I would like to confirm that I am not the secret lovechild of Hero and Alexandria."
Dennis desperately tried to hold back his laughter at that statement, it looked like he owed Chris five dollars now. He should have never bet that would not be publicly stated this month.
"Finally, I would like to clear up my name. I have heard many mispronunciations and misspellings, and it's getting annoying."
Brian raised an eyebrow at that. It didn't seem like Joe to get that annoyed over something this small.
"I am not A Pie Run, A Pier on, A Pea Ron, or Appear on"
Missy gave a little huff, he would always be Mammon for her.
"I am not Ape Iron, Ape of Iron, or Iron Ape"
Aisha laughed as she heard that. She could laugh as loud as she wanted now and no one would hear her.
"I am going to say this very clearly so there is absolutely no misunderstanding. Listen closely everyone, I AM ..."
At that moment, Joe froze. Unbeknownst to his audience, the Celestial Forge made a connection to a new power. Without thinking, Joe said the name of the power. Thus, Joe spoke the words that launched countless memes and became a constant headache for him.
"I Am Iron Man"
XXX
I actually googled this, and it turns out Iron Man was first published in 1963, so yes, it does exist in Earth Bet, even if the MCU version probably doesn't exist or is different.
Edit: SPAG
Last edited:
- Location
- phillipine
Can we also have a counter for how much points the MC has left on the information thread.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
beautiful as always, knaka lol
With as many times as his power has interrupted him in the middle speaking with someone or even combat, I could easily see a live stream being too tempting for it.
Has it ever been said what the Celestial Forge actually is? I sort of view it as a near end-run Jumper that ended up taking insert as shard as a drawback, and their host is unlocking each of their abilities/perks as per Jumpchan's amusement. I take it after 10 years or all the perks unlock, the jumper would be free and gets to go elsewhere if Joe hasn't died. I wonder if Joe would keep his copy of all the abilities at that time or be recruited as a new companion. The Jumper would be the only one with remotely similar abilities as Joe.
Has it ever been said what the Celestial Forge actually is? I sort of view it as a near end-run Jumper that ended up taking insert as shard as a drawback, and their host is unlocking each of their abilities/perks as per Jumpchan's amusement. I take it after 10 years or all the perks unlock, the jumper would be free and gets to go elsewhere if Joe hasn't died. I wonder if Joe would keep his copy of all the abilities at that time or be recruited as a new companion. The Jumper would be the only one with remotely similar abilities as Joe.
- Location
- Earth
The author has mentioned on AO3 that the power is given by a rob, it's not a shard, and there have been talks about how Joe will fight the trillions of other full power entities out there as such I doubt the powers will go away after 10 years.
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Right now the clones are needed for construction and there is an emphasis on making sure Joe Prime gets as much benefit as possible to pass on to future copies. An interesting part about the acceleration is it was capped for Joe because higher that 20x can cause stress on the brain. Clones don't care about long term damage and could overclock their gray matter until it cooks. Huge potential advantage, particularly when the networking in complete.
The danger of ezzo is mitigated by his other crafting perks. Once creates it doesn't break down, so no chance of ezzo dust or contamination spreading through the workshop.
"Paying for gas" is something that happens to non alchemists. Joe can make all the gasoline he needs and more, and wants to the car to be as innocuous as possible. Even an electric conversion would attract attention. Having a functional Ford Pinto that runs smoothly is going to be suspicious enough without adding car mods or new engines.
Yeah, dealing with that much PHO that quickly would break down Joe's social tolerance really fast. He'd be more likely to make carefully considered statements and even then would probably agonize over them to a huge extent.
It might not play out that way with Weld, but getting a power that makes everything you create beautiful on a divine scale is not going to help with those memetic object accusations.
I feel the Undersiders are a lot less stable and a lot less united than they usually get depicted. In canon the team had to be forged in fire to stick together and probably would have split apart if the option presented itself during most of the rougher patches. It's 4-5 teens with serious issues bound together with the promise of easy money and a couple with long term goals. It took a lot of both luck and manipulation for them to end up as a competent and united force.
His power may have created the nanites, but they're still real and terrifying. The fact that he can't innately use them for anything but healing doesn't mean they can't eventually be used to create a world altering event. That would basically be admitting to walking around with an S-Class threat in your body. If a villain tinker gets their hands on him that could be it for the world. Joe would be relegated to a holding cell or containment zone, if he didn't just disappear mid transit to save the Protectorate the headache.
Those perspectives are present, but they're aren't as vocal as the people who think they see romance and either want to ship or decry it. Consider the kinds of people who are very active on social media. The 'everything is find' demographic doesn't usually scream the loudest.
The opinion isn't universal yet. The time frame is too short for that. Right not it's just a popular and contentious topic of discussion helped by being connected to a powerful new cape appearance.
Joe is not that familiar with pre-1982 media so a lot of stuff will go over his head. The two most likely situations are getting something from the forge that is obviously based on fiction (Star Trek engineering) or having it pointed out to him because of the tech he's using. The most significant contributing factor towards the second possibility is the free equipment/vehicles that are provided with certain perks or items. There's a good chance he could go out in a veritech fighter or mobile suit without knowing about the related media, then getting beaten over the head by public reactions harder than the Transformers thing.
The modularity power has made Workaholic much easier to deal with. Since tech can be stapled together and still look perfect and function without flaws Joe can make components, have them duplicated, and combine them with that power. With it he can just attach processors together, or even pieces of an item's structure, and have no issues. That's what happened with the throne. A core piece of diamond was built using size multiplication, then altered and had items added until it was finished. Changing a modular component doesn't trigger workaholic any more than changing a tire would.
Garment's dress used size increase to multiply some incredibly complicated fabric samples to the scale that would cover a ballgown. With the space age textiles she's not magically conjuring fabric anymore, at least for her top tier work, so it was designed to incorporate the size increase.
Upgrade to the house and scanned books reviewed in the interface will both happen, but with the reduced time and focus on other projects they haven't occurred to Joe yet. Stuff like that is easier to evaluate from an outside perspective, but Joe has been working in a blitz since he woke up and managing new powers and projects. That was why duplicating the motoroid slipped his mind.
Joe would be willing to heal Dennis's father (and probably anyone's father if he could get away with it) but is both mistrusted by the PRT and has to at least maintain the semblance of a mercenary attitude to divert attention from his other actions. For capes research participation would probably be the best way for them to pay their debts, especially when he gets more magitech perks and can start analyzing and emulating powers.
'Strong Spark' is one of those disaster level perks that would have dramatic consequences.
"Attention Minion... I mean, Citizens of Brockton Bay! As many or you know... What, really? Okay, who was supposed to handle the press releases? What? Why did he melt? Oh, right. That project. Anyway, as apparently you do not know, I have been trying to fabricate a material that only naturally forms within supernovas. I have, however, found a solution to this problem that will also address the issue of clearing the Boat Graveyard. On a somewhat related note, I would recommend that everyone in the city endeavor to be indoors or at the very least facing towards the south at 3:27 this afternoon. That is all. Happy Science."
I had my fingers crossed for another Big O perk, but on going back and checking the Celestial Forge, the memory-related one he already got was the only one.
Fortunately since Valuable Memories has four components to it the perk will stay on the tables until all of the options are selected. Nature of memories was randomly picked the first time, but there is still Megadei, Bigs, and creation of chimeras as possible results.
Thanks, fantastic Omake and threadmarked,
I'm intentionally not clarifying exactly what Joe's passenger is. At least during the early writing process I generally thought of him as the Jumpchain Benefactor, but I've seen other interpretations that work equally well, particularly the idea of the shard/jumper. A proper answer isn't likely to come until the 10 year or post Scion point. What is clear is that the passenger has knowledge of the Parahumans series and shares the common opinions of the Worm fanbase.
- Location
- London - "Muffin wants to project a trans fantasy"
LordRoustabout, even if Scion dies, will the story, Joe, continue to Ward?
I would love to see what he might do in the City or traveling between the different earths, him interacting with Teacher, Goddess ect.
I don't think there's been a single Parahuman fanfiction that has made it from early worm to the end of Ward. I'm not expecting a canon retreading or anything considering what you've written so far has been so great in delivering an unexpected twists.
The snowballing of Joe's actions extrapolated that far, it would be a sight to see, to read.
I would love to see what he might do in the City or traveling between the different earths, him interacting with Teacher, Goddess ect.
I don't think there's been a single Parahuman fanfiction that has made it from early worm to the end of Ward. I'm not expecting a canon retreading or anything considering what you've written so far has been so great in delivering an unexpected twists.
The snowballing of Joe's actions extrapolated that far, it would be a sight to see, to read.
I love it already, can he get the "Strong Spark" ability in the Supplement you are using?
I can see it now, Joe now has a different set of Social problems
Spark Joe: Depression? Social Anxiety? PFFFT We have no time for nonsense like that when there is too much SCIENCE!!! to do.
Also
Spark Joe: Not a Tinker am I!? Projections?!! Not Science!? I will have revenge for this insult! PRT...Armsmaster!!! I'll show you...I'll show you ALL, the power of APEIRON!!! MWAHAHAHAHA!!! *lightning crakles and booms in the background*
Then Joe proceeds to have an entire cult and multiple minions signing up due to the sheer Charisma he excludes
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- Location
- Australia
It's.... So Beautiful *moved to tears*
I can see it now, a moment of madness against the chafing limitations of his shard, then the next time he wakes Joe finds his crystalline buddy bound within his soul instead of anchored to a local planetoid, leaving them free to wander the wild prismatic dimensional yonder, sowing madness and science! wherever the wind dares take them.
- Location
- England
The real one-two-punch is him finding out it's from fiction, and *then* getting Armsmaster's efficiency perk. It's perfectly explainable as the origin of the powers being from a fictional world with a contrivance that they think of the 'real world' as fiction, but it can still trigger some real ennui.
)
By that point, what 'Ward' even is relative to this story is unclear; the foundational elements of the story are different. To make it a significant way into Ward without changing the story would feel very contrived after having to go through Worm as well.
The first point of note is the time differential between now and when Ward would start in canon, versus the speed Joe works at. The only thing stopping Roustabout from 'doing Ward now' in the sense of interacting with Ward characters is that some might not exist as important players yet, but for instance Scion doesn't have to die for Capricorn to show up.
The other concern is the way Tinkers ramp, and especially Joe. The gap between Scion dying and helping to deal with the final Ward conflict might be two chapters, partially because two of the biggest causes of the issues of Ward could be dealt with pre-Scion anyway.
Trying to avoid spoilers but yeah, what Ward even is will likely have little bearing on a Worm fanfic's timeline, especially featuring such a powerful MC. I agree that using some characters would be cool though!
The problem is that on most scales, 'continue to Ward' should be a meaningless idea. By virtue of being a story worth reading, the narrative is diverging in ways bigger and smaller from canon. By the time the finale is reached, we're likely to be off the rails a fair way, and just seeing how Scion is dealt with (if this doesn't kill the fic
)By that point, what 'Ward' even is relative to this story is unclear; the foundational elements of the story are different. To make it a significant way into Ward without changing the story would feel very contrived after having to go through Worm as well.
The first point of note is the time differential between now and when Ward would start in canon, versus the speed Joe works at. The only thing stopping Roustabout from 'doing Ward now' in the sense of interacting with Ward characters is that some might not exist as important players yet, but for instance Scion doesn't have to die for Capricorn to show up.
The other concern is the way Tinkers ramp, and especially Joe. The gap between Scion dying and helping to deal with the final Ward conflict might be two chapters, partially because two of the biggest causes of the issues of Ward could be dealt with pre-Scion anyway.
Trying to avoid spoilers but yeah, what Ward even is will likely have little bearing on a Worm fanfic's timeline, especially featuring such a powerful MC. I agree that using some characters would be cool though!
If the City - or indeed any of the huge things underpinning Ward - exist at that point, Joe did everything wrong.
For one the prerequisite of the City and its canon cast is 'Earth Bet gets ruined and destroyed' and 'other worlds get ruined and destroyed'.
But really that's for the best because Worm doesn't have a sequel
- Location
- phillipine
I have never read ward is it really as bad as people are making it seem.
Mizu
Software Developer
- Location
- Victoria, Australia
Worm ended with the apocalypse as Zion ran about blowing up continent. It's thus quite a bit more 'band of survivors' in Ward, from what I hear, slowly piecing stuff back together.
- Location
- London - "Muffin wants to project a trans fantasy"
... maybe that's just the thing that's required, the close to complete extinction of the human race, for him to get over his own issues.
Seeing the consequences of not getting over his own hangups being what stops him from acting in time, the thing that led him to trigger in the first place before the 'shard' took that over. Him then learning that he is worth whatever good comes his way and that failure in any one thing won't make you a bad person. That you can always pick yourself up and keep going. Isn't that what this story is all about? Joe's journey to realise that.
It'd be cool if the way used to illustrate that was something like; As the world(s) heal, so dose Joe. Even if he wasn't able to prevent that catastrophy he'll be there to help pick up the pieces.
Putting Humpty Dumpty back together again.
- Location
- Texas
He's not going to get very far if he's counting on eezo to be his ticket to the stars. While he''s definitely got the tech savvy to account for static charge buildup inherent to element zero drives, those same FTL drives are not that fast in relation to fuel use. That's why the relay network is so important. Galaxy is freaking huge. Even in Mass Effect where the map makes it look like the whole galaxy is claimed by a few powers, it's noted that less than 5% of the galaxy is actually explored/mapped.
Without the relays, and using the cutting edge of Citadel species tech at the advent of the Reaper War, you can hit about 12-15 light years per 24 hours, and will need multiple refuelings from exploring a single cluster of systems with any degree of thoroughness.
Without the relays, and using the cutting edge of Citadel species tech at the advent of the Reaper War, you can hit about 12-15 light years per 24 hours, and will need multiple refuelings from exploring a single cluster of systems with any degree of thoroughness.
- Location
- Brazil
- Pronouns
- He
Honestly, I could see Joe going the Necrons route and making some super pokeballs for the entities
maybe make him into a generator or something
maybe make him into a generator or something
- Location
- Earth
He doesn't need to get that far just go outside the solar system to get out of shard range.
- Location
- Brazil
- Pronouns
- He
I mean refueling is less than an issue to the guy with alchemy powers, but depending if he gets more perks i could see him upgrading that or using that sweet star trek physics for a better FTL
- Location
- England
I enjoyed it. It's just not a sequel like the harry potter books are sequels or whatever, so wanting to 'do Ward next' isn't like hoping the next scheduled Triwizard tournament rolls around. In the same way that the Khonsu fight is a natural continuance of the events of Behemoth's death scene, and so it doesn't make sense to ask when a fic that didn't kill Behemoth like that plans to do the Khonsu fight, Ward is a continuation of Worm's story, and the consequences don't matter in the same way if Worm didn't happen in the same way. The best thing to take from it are worldbuilding ideas, context on potential consequences for certain events, and characters introduced late, unless you plan to start a fic there. Exactly the same as the later arcs of Worm, in other words.
ThatGazzer
Minds Eye Bind
- Location
- PNW
- Pronouns
- They/Them
I also wanna note he'd also need to get any spaceship past ol' Smurf The All Seeing.
Part of her job is making sure Humans can't leave atmo. Its why she made mannequin into mannequin, iirc.
Part of her job is making sure Humans can't leave atmo. Its why she made mannequin into mannequin, iirc.
In canon, defeating Scion was a last-ditch, desperate effort. Synergizing the abilities of every available Tinker under a hacked QA. Nevertheless, the fact that it was possible at all to do so with available shards, fumbling half-blind on the intuitions they allowed their hosts? That means something.
The answer is there, just out of reach, but theoretically achievable with the tools already in play. We just can't see it.
But by the time it matters, Joe can. Will.
Killing Scion, for you and me, it's like the distance between heaven and earth. But Joe is not you and me. He's not even like those Tinkers, not even like all those Tinkers.
He hosts the Celestial Forge.
In six days he has gone from beating metal into monomolecular knives to creating mind-machine interfaces, transforming robots, AI. He observes Bakuda's bombs and near instantly grasps their function, enough to reply and make her stumble. Just six days, and he can grasp the shape of high-end exotic foreign Tinkertech on sight, the kind that the PRT would sell their firstborn children for.
In a year, two years? It's basically impossible that Joe won't be able to grasp the mechanics of shards, and build something on par with the reality rape gun of canon. Probably in under an hour, too.
If Cauldron tells him about Scion, (which as powerful as he'll get they inevitably would,) or if he figures it out on his own, he gets the first strike. Given the gravity of his target, that strike will be perfect. The Celestial Forge is so overwhelming that it compensates for any amount of idiot ball he could ever hold.
With impossible knowledge and reality-breaking crafting perks beyond the threshold of bullshit, there are only two outcomes. Joe gets ganked, or Scion gets popped. There's not gonna be some melodramatic 24-hour fight straddling 16 earths. It would be impossibly contrived.
So yeah. No matter how 'fitting' you think the death of billions would be for symbolizing Joe's psychological failings, any amount of realism basically prohibits it.
Reminds me of another fic, really. Unless he dies, he has an I win button, and in the end that's all that matters.
A picture of the Simurgh, cleanly bisected and unmoving, remained frozen on the screen.
Several emotions broiled within Armsmaster. A part, in all honesty a significantly large part of him, was overjoyed. The Endbringers, apparently dead and gone, how could he not be happy about that.
In part, he was jealous, but it was a part easily squashed; he had been ignoring that part of him that screamed at the unfairness of the world for years.
In part, he was angry. She had stolen his moment, the moment of all Tinkers, everywhere, once again. Walked all over the hard work of everyone who had sacrificed hundreds of hours to build the device.
But mostly, he was resigned. It was done, the universe had bent over backwards, and given her enough power for... whatever she wanted. Whether by luck or cunning, Buster had gained enough strength that she no longer needed to answer to anyone anymore. "So, that's that. I guess you win, Taylor. No one is really capable of telling you otherwise." He murmured to himself.
Several emotions broiled within Armsmaster. A part, in all honesty a significantly large part of him, was overjoyed. The Endbringers, apparently dead and gone, how could he not be happy about that.
In part, he was jealous, but it was a part easily squashed; he had been ignoring that part of him that screamed at the unfairness of the world for years.
In part, he was angry. She had stolen his moment, the moment of all Tinkers, everywhere, once again. Walked all over the hard work of everyone who had sacrificed hundreds of hours to build the device.
But mostly, he was resigned. It was done, the universe had bent over backwards, and given her enough power for... whatever she wanted. Whether by luck or cunning, Buster had gained enough strength that she no longer needed to answer to anyone anymore. "So, that's that. I guess you win, Taylor. No one is really capable of telling you otherwise." He murmured to himself.