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Fencer's Plot Bunnies

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I hate when a muse doesn't cooperate. I went through my google docs the other day and I had dozens of half-baked ideas that aren't going to go anywhere. I deleted them all, then went through my trash to restore a bunch because somehow the act of deleting them inspired me. Time will tell if I ever manage to make something post-able out of any. It doesn't look likely though.

Also, does the name have to be sniper-related? Otherwise, something like Calamity Jane might work.
 
Fencer said:
3 snipped and 4 shot with a pistol. And a group of rescued victims. What do you call the female shooter of indeterminate age with no real standout traits you can base a name on? I got as far as looking up famous female snipers
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Well, for one thing knife and pistol work doesn't exactly scream "sniper" to me.
I assume she's planning on going sniper, but a name based on her work so far would be close in.
So potentially lean in on the irony?
Point Blank.

"Point Blank killed another one. A shot from a mile away."
 
Blaflaix said:
Well, for one thing knife and pistol work doesn't exactly scream "sniper" to me.
I assume she's planning on going sniper, but a name based on her work so far would be close in.
So potentially lean in on the irony?
Point Blank.

"Point Blank killed another one. A shot from a mile away."
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No three of them were sniped with a .308 ughhh damn spell check sniped not snipped 🤦‍♂️
 
Fencer said:
Snip
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While it's not an update to your current Worm stories I'm glad you're doing alright and still writing. As for potential names, Calamity (as in Calamity Jane) seems to be the obvious choice. It's nicely villainous, to show how disapproving of them their opinion is regarding the actions said person took. Railroading someone by giving them a villainous name is so very on point. Though at that point I imagine said Sniper could just leave a calling card in the form of a spelled out name written via bullet holes.
 
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I assumed you meant that she castrated some of the sex offenders.

Well, the second question is if they know it's a girl.
If they just have gun wounds, they would need a witness.

She could end up with a nickname like Davy Crockett?
There's lots of male gunshooter names.
 
I feel like the PRT would be very hesitant about labeling anyone "Calamity" if they aren't a serious large scale threat. They don't want to confuse anyone who hears the name and assumes that Calamity is someone you need to evacuate the city for, rather than just a person with a gun.
 
novorek said:
I feel like the PRT would be very hesitant about labeling anyone "Calamity" if they aren't a serious large scale threat. They don't want to confuse anyone who hears the name and assumes that Calamity is someone you need to evacuate the city for, rather than just a person with a gun.
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I thought that at first too, but honestly it just feeds into the railroading them into compliance part when you really think into it. Plus we don't know what their power even is, honestly said person might be able to snipe a target from miles away and around corners, which is a truly horrific power that can absolutely be called a calamity. The PRT are by nature of the job professional paranoids that would see that power and, rightfully so I might add, assume that they could easily depopulate a city in the course of an afternoon. It wouldn't even be hard for them.
 
I'm of the opinion that the PRT wouldn't waste the time making a name directly related to a persons MO or powers.

As a government agency they would do like the military does, use a random word generator, sanity check for being culturally offensive and call it good.

If a cape wants a good name they can join the Protectorate and get the help of PR.
 
Fencer said:
Ok…. I have no excuse my muse fucked off, latched onto an original idea I've been leaving on the back burner for years. Fucked off again, left me with half written chapters for skittering spouse and using the force made easy, latched onto the old sniper taylor snippet…. And I'm too afraid of it fucking off again to stop working on that now. Because at this point I just want to keep writing, and I'll take whatever I can drag out of my brain. I kind of really hate my ADD when it's not spawning story ideas out of nothing.

On a related note if you were the PRT and presented with 7 dead…. Sex offender's… let's go with that. 3 sniped and 4 shot with a pistol. And a group of rescued victims. What do you call the female shooter of indeterminate age with no real standout traits you can base a name on? I got as far as looking up famous female snipers finding out about Lady Death (who was born in what is now Ukraine and wow does that make so much sense what do they feed them in that Country?) but that is way too lofty a title for baby sniper just starting to murder gangs to have any claim on and she's obviously not picking her own name when she's keeping her head down. So I need some ideas here and nothing I've come up with sounds good.

If this goes how I want this is going to be the weirdest thing I've ever written bounce from perspective to perspective at a ridiculous pace and probably be no more than 40k words potentially a lot less and I might actually just get to toss the entire thing out there whole.


…. I really really hate my muse fucking off every time a scene doesn't quite want to flow right.
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I don't see why the PRT would call her anything you've pointed out no reason why they even be involved as a sniper is not a pairahuman and the PRT only deals with perahumans.
 
Have her called "The Emasculator" by the yellow press, lool^^

Might have her called "Dazzle" or "Sheen" as a noun that is similar to "Luster".

Serious thoughts: You implied it's known that the sniper is not adult age yet, how about calling her "Plinker"?
 
Do they know its a woman? if not, they can use Hayha as a name, after Simo Hayha, the white death.
 
If all they know is "girl with a gun" are they sure she's their problem (a parahuman)?

They might just do something super generic like "hawk-eye," "eagle eye," or "sharpshooter". Maybe "Janie"? From "Janie's got a gun" by Aerosmith?
 
I'd imagine they'd go with Western tropes, probably leaning towards a vigilante/villain motif, something they can swing to villain if need be -- sex offenders and rescued victims says "hero", but the PRT as a whole pushes against lethal force in general (I mean it makes sense, you DON'T want to encourage escalation from traumatized folks with super powers, nor let the unpowered get ideas that might reduce the number of bodies that can be thrown at Endbringers).

Perhaps something as simple as Gunslinger -- you can shade it to "amoral mercenary gun for hire" or "white hat forced to act outside the law" as things progress. Fuck me, plot bunny idea: Roland Deschain's memories, or consciousness even, stuck in Taylor's head + some power. Can you imagine that with a ping off, say, Flechette or March for bullets? Or tinker tech bullets? Dear god, his drive, her inability NOT to escalate.....

Or maybe go with something special forces sounding, like "Operator" -- whatever it is, the PRT would avoid something they could make sound villainous later. I could see them going full "obvious villain" but that requires a bit of an idiot ball. It's REALLY hard to sell "This is a villain who rescued a bunch of victims and killed their tormentors in the process" as pure villain, not with rescued victims who probably wouldn't stay silent about exactly who was killed and why.

Then again, bureaucracy, desperate times, Coil fuckery, "can always rebrand later" -- a zillion excuses for doing something like that.
 
Fencer said:
On a related note if you were the PRT and presented with 7 dead…. Sex offender's… let's go with that. 3 sniped and 4 shot with a pistol. And a group of rescued victims. What do you call the female shooter of indeterminate age with no real standout traits you can base a name on? I got as far as looking up famous female snipers finding out about Lady Death (who was born in what is now Ukraine and wow does that make so much sense what do they feed them in that Country?) but that is way too lofty a title for baby sniper just starting to murder gangs to have any claim on and she's obviously not picking her own name when she's keeping her head down. So I need some ideas here and nothing I've come up with sounds good.
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Annie Oakley
Calamity Jane
Belle Star
 
Plan listen to the gods be damned muse instead of trying to make updates for ongoing stories is working better than expected and I have just shy of 10k words now. Excuse me while I go shout obscenities in the general metaphysical direction of ADD.
 
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Fencer said:
On a related note if you were the PRT and presented with 7 dead…. Sex offender's… let's go with that. 3 sniped and 4 shot with a pistol. And a group of rescued victims. What do you call the female shooter of indeterminate age with no real standout traits you can base a name on?
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Depends, do they intend to recruit or bury her?

Might also be affected by her weapons of choice, her methods, pattern and accuracy. (Does she keep using the same ones, or does she replace/loot them etc.)
 
I know I have ongoing fics but sniper tay rewrite one shot is at 13k words and I want this to be done and posted because I love it and it's taking up space in my brain. I think the final wordcount is going to come in under 20k. maybe 16k words? which will still be my longest one shot ever and I think this one really will stay a one shot. I could expand it after it reaches the conclusion I'm gunning for but this is another case of more impact if I don't expand the idea. I don't know. my to do list for tomorrow is shopping cooking and finishing this snippet. please muse just let me get this done.
 
Bloodalchemy said:
Psst, Muse. How about you abandon that idea entirely and instead start figuring out a Cooking Tinker Taylor? She makes meals that give temporary powers. They are stronger and permanent if made from parahumans.
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If @Fencer ever wrote such a thing I personally would never read it. That's really, really fucked up as a power. I suppose that fits the aesthetic of Worm, but I'd never read such a fucked up story. I read things to get away from my depression, reading such a thing would be highly counterproductive.
 
Not interested in the idea either. I just tried to figure out the most grimdark thing involving cooking I could in 10 seconds.
 
Captain Dodgers said:
I saw a cooking story once with Taylor. Path To Munchies, I think it was. Like Contessa's Path To Victory but it only worked if food was involved.
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But she thought it only worked if food was involved because of how she discovered that she had the power.

forums.spacebattles.com

Path to Munchies (Worm AU) (complete)

Taylor Hebert – Saturday night/Sunday morning – January 8-9 I’ve been home from the hospital...
forums.spacebattles.com forums.spacebattles.com

forums.sufficientvelocity.com

Path to Munchies (complete)

Taylor Hebert – Saturday night/Sunday morning – January 8-9 I’ve been home from the hospital...
forums.sufficientvelocity.com forums.sufficientvelocity.com
 
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