Because none of those are worth being guilty about. Some girl being curt or rude to you may make you upset for a little while (or a long time if you are petty), but it isn't going to have a dramatic effect on the rest of your life. Amy wasn't psychologically ruining people's lives, so there is no fodder for the guilt power to use that.
Fencer
Writer
- Location
- 2nd shift
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Correct. Interesting as it might be I simply do not have the time to give every character worth showing their own individual post. I have three other ongoing fics which need my attention, Grind has been particularly neglected lately. I also have plans for my first original work which I'm beginning to plan, though not write just yet.
I will try to include mentions of characters that show what changes so that there is at least some measure of closure for the members of the cast that don't get their own chapters, though I doubt I'll show everyone.
It's time to start wrapping things up. This story is closest to it's conclusion out of my ongoing fics so muse willing it will also be my first completed fic sometime in the next few months. Then I'll move on to wrapping up the others though I suspect completing all four will take at least a couple of years, and I may well start more somewhere down the line.
BrokenAscendent
Unum prae omnibus aliis
- Location
- Auld Lang Syne
Fencer
Writer
- Location
- 2nd shift
- Pronouns
- He/Him
heh I won't deny that it's possible, but I'm hopping starting work on original stories will curb those tendencies. That way by the time I've wrapped these up I'll have something new, and maybe even complete to share.FTFY.
Writers hazard ya know?
though I might be charging, or at least accepting donations, at that point
Purity
Fencer
Writer
- Location
- 2nd shift
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Guilt: Purity
The city streaked by beneath me. Chaos was an apt description, even more so than usual.
Car accidents everywhere, most minor but several seemed looked like they could be fatal. I had passed the aftermath of at least three jumpers. Gang members stumbled almost drunkenly around the streets as if in a daze. Amongst it all people, completely normal everyday people went from person to person apparently trying to help.
Madness.
The whole city had been turned on its head by what seemed to be a single parahuman.
An involuntary shiver runs down my spine and my head jerks a bit trying to shake the painfully fresh memory of reliving the moral high and low points of my life. Unsurprisingly the lows are in the vast majority.
Still there are some highpoints. Getting out of the Empire to raise Aster, getting Theo some time away from Max and the rest. Taking down members of the ABB and the Merchants. Still not enough high points. The ever present need to do more felt so much more acute now. But there was little I could actually do at the moment with the city falling apart. My powers would not be any help. I'd likely only cause a panic if I did try to help. A year of working solo had done nothing for my reputation as a neo-Nazi.
There had been a time, not long after leaving Max, when things had just been too much… I'd spent quite a few days just holding Aster close. My daughter, my darling little girl had saved me in so many ways.
The pregnancy had forced me off the front lines of Max's gang war. It had given me so much time to think. That had been the beginning. When she was finally born it had all clicked into place. That I was being used, that given half the chance Aster would share the same fate when she reached her teens. As the daughter of two of the city's most powerful capes it was a forgone conclusion what she would someday become.
So she forced me to take action, forced me to change. It had been the best thing that could happen, for both of us. I changed for her, became better for her. But days like this, days when everything was too much holding my baby girl made the load lighter, it gives me hope, and determination to keep moving forward. I need that desperately now.
Leaving work had not been hard. No one was really in any state to get anything done anyway. That said… it had taken far too long after getting away to find a place to discreetly switch identities. Almost half an hour, and as I circled my apartment building for the third time I cursed the lack of places to easily disappear. The daylight, much as it made my power sing, limited my options severely.
I touched down finally in an out of the way ally and let the blinding glow of my power die down. A ten-minute jog during which I passed countless people moving about in a daze, or openly weeping. People clinging to one another to offer or give comfort. A hand full of car wrecks and the usual state of grime that coated the city made for an eerie backdrop.
Truly this was a side of the city I'd never seen before, something I would never, could never, imagine.
I moved as quickly as I could through the chaos and confusion.
Ten minutes later I was finally outside my apartment when what I saw stopped me cold. The door was open. Just a crack, but it was open. Cold fear washed over me and I threw the door open fully.
Standing in the middle of the room was Max, gently rocking my Aster.
The bastard glanced up and looked me in the eyes with a strange expression on his face. An expression I could not place. I wanted to attack him, to get my baby away from him. But I can't not with him holding her. I can't risk hitting her! I could scream in frustration right now if I wasn't so terrified I could startle Max into doing something rash.
The entire city is on edge, pushing someone with power while they held my child could only make things worse. I moved slowly, muscles tensed and ready to move at any provocation. A slight glow emanated from within as my powers fought my control to be unleashed.
"The sitter?" I did not honestly care what the bastard had done to the poor thing but it is a nice safe question to open with and get a feel for Max's mood and intentions.
"Unconscious, but fine. I left her in the kitchen." Max replied calmly, almost dazedly, like his attention was a million miles away. I nodded slowly keeping myself from any sudden moves. At least he had not killed the poor girl. That was a positive sign, albeit a small one.
"What are you doing here Max?"
"Hmm? Oh yes… I, I came to see my daughter… She truly is beautiful; you have taken wonderful care of her." Max's words send a shiver down my spine. "The scream… It was an, interesting experience." Max said. "So many things I held as necessary, or just, all turned on its head… It is the work of a Master of course, but somehow knowing that does very little to help."
I could only nod my head mutely.
"So many poor choices, so many victims. I know I've never cared about them before, and yet now… It was tempting to simply step out of my office window. But there was some good mixed in with the bad. It is truly amazing how many people a pharmaceutical company can help." Max chuckled dryly. At no point in his speech did he ever take his eyes off of Aster.
"I got a call from Theo not to long after I managed to convince myself jumping out my window would not fix anything. He wanted to let me know that he had informed the PRT of my other identity. Said he felt he owed more to my victims than to I." Max chuckled dryly. "And to think I once considered the boy a coward."
That made two of us. I honestly could not believe the boy had the spine to do something like that.
Finally, Max looked up and stared me in the eye. "I wanted to see my daughter one last time."
"One last time?" I asked trying to keep my voice as neutral as possible even as I built up a strong tightly packed burst of light in my right hand. If push came to shove, I would vaporize Max's head. At this range he would not have the time to dodge or form a shield.
Looking back at Aster Max nodded his head distractedly. "Yes. One last reminder that I got at least one thing right before I leave the city."
Slowly gently Max stepped up to me and handed Aster over. I held her close never breaking eye contact with Max as he bent slightly at the waist to kiss our daughter on her brow. With a tired smile Max stepped back and picked up a duffle bag, his bug out bag if memory served.
"Take care of her and Theo, and take care of yourself, Kayden."
Without so much as another word Max left.
I'm not sure how long I spent there in my apartment just holding Aster close and reassuring myself that we were both alive and unhurt, that things would be alright. In the end I suppose it doesn't matter. I could easily have stayed that way until the end of the world.
The city streaked by beneath me. Chaos was an apt description, even more so than usual.
Car accidents everywhere, most minor but several seemed looked like they could be fatal. I had passed the aftermath of at least three jumpers. Gang members stumbled almost drunkenly around the streets as if in a daze. Amongst it all people, completely normal everyday people went from person to person apparently trying to help.
Madness.
The whole city had been turned on its head by what seemed to be a single parahuman.
An involuntary shiver runs down my spine and my head jerks a bit trying to shake the painfully fresh memory of reliving the moral high and low points of my life. Unsurprisingly the lows are in the vast majority.
Still there are some highpoints. Getting out of the Empire to raise Aster, getting Theo some time away from Max and the rest. Taking down members of the ABB and the Merchants. Still not enough high points. The ever present need to do more felt so much more acute now. But there was little I could actually do at the moment with the city falling apart. My powers would not be any help. I'd likely only cause a panic if I did try to help. A year of working solo had done nothing for my reputation as a neo-Nazi.
There had been a time, not long after leaving Max, when things had just been too much… I'd spent quite a few days just holding Aster close. My daughter, my darling little girl had saved me in so many ways.
The pregnancy had forced me off the front lines of Max's gang war. It had given me so much time to think. That had been the beginning. When she was finally born it had all clicked into place. That I was being used, that given half the chance Aster would share the same fate when she reached her teens. As the daughter of two of the city's most powerful capes it was a forgone conclusion what she would someday become.
So she forced me to take action, forced me to change. It had been the best thing that could happen, for both of us. I changed for her, became better for her. But days like this, days when everything was too much holding my baby girl made the load lighter, it gives me hope, and determination to keep moving forward. I need that desperately now.
Leaving work had not been hard. No one was really in any state to get anything done anyway. That said… it had taken far too long after getting away to find a place to discreetly switch identities. Almost half an hour, and as I circled my apartment building for the third time I cursed the lack of places to easily disappear. The daylight, much as it made my power sing, limited my options severely.
I touched down finally in an out of the way ally and let the blinding glow of my power die down. A ten-minute jog during which I passed countless people moving about in a daze, or openly weeping. People clinging to one another to offer or give comfort. A hand full of car wrecks and the usual state of grime that coated the city made for an eerie backdrop.
Truly this was a side of the city I'd never seen before, something I would never, could never, imagine.
I moved as quickly as I could through the chaos and confusion.
Ten minutes later I was finally outside my apartment when what I saw stopped me cold. The door was open. Just a crack, but it was open. Cold fear washed over me and I threw the door open fully.
Standing in the middle of the room was Max, gently rocking my Aster.
The bastard glanced up and looked me in the eyes with a strange expression on his face. An expression I could not place. I wanted to attack him, to get my baby away from him. But I can't not with him holding her. I can't risk hitting her! I could scream in frustration right now if I wasn't so terrified I could startle Max into doing something rash.
The entire city is on edge, pushing someone with power while they held my child could only make things worse. I moved slowly, muscles tensed and ready to move at any provocation. A slight glow emanated from within as my powers fought my control to be unleashed.
"The sitter?" I did not honestly care what the bastard had done to the poor thing but it is a nice safe question to open with and get a feel for Max's mood and intentions.
"Unconscious, but fine. I left her in the kitchen." Max replied calmly, almost dazedly, like his attention was a million miles away. I nodded slowly keeping myself from any sudden moves. At least he had not killed the poor girl. That was a positive sign, albeit a small one.
"What are you doing here Max?"
"Hmm? Oh yes… I, I came to see my daughter… She truly is beautiful; you have taken wonderful care of her." Max's words send a shiver down my spine. "The scream… It was an, interesting experience." Max said. "So many things I held as necessary, or just, all turned on its head… It is the work of a Master of course, but somehow knowing that does very little to help."
I could only nod my head mutely.
"So many poor choices, so many victims. I know I've never cared about them before, and yet now… It was tempting to simply step out of my office window. But there was some good mixed in with the bad. It is truly amazing how many people a pharmaceutical company can help." Max chuckled dryly. At no point in his speech did he ever take his eyes off of Aster.
"I got a call from Theo not to long after I managed to convince myself jumping out my window would not fix anything. He wanted to let me know that he had informed the PRT of my other identity. Said he felt he owed more to my victims than to I." Max chuckled dryly. "And to think I once considered the boy a coward."
That made two of us. I honestly could not believe the boy had the spine to do something like that.
Finally, Max looked up and stared me in the eye. "I wanted to see my daughter one last time."
"One last time?" I asked trying to keep my voice as neutral as possible even as I built up a strong tightly packed burst of light in my right hand. If push came to shove, I would vaporize Max's head. At this range he would not have the time to dodge or form a shield.
Looking back at Aster Max nodded his head distractedly. "Yes. One last reminder that I got at least one thing right before I leave the city."
Slowly gently Max stepped up to me and handed Aster over. I held her close never breaking eye contact with Max as he bent slightly at the waist to kiss our daughter on her brow. With a tired smile Max stepped back and picked up a duffle bag, his bug out bag if memory served.
"Take care of her and Theo, and take care of yourself, Kayden."
Without so much as another word Max left.
I'm not sure how long I spent there in my apartment just holding Aster close and reassuring myself that we were both alive and unhurt, that things would be alright. In the end I suppose it doesn't matter. I could easily have stayed that way until the end of the world.
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Finagle007
[Verified Great Old One]
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
I suppose even a die-hard Nazi can see where and when they done wrong. I never thought I'd see the day.
He would have done better to just walk out the window.
- Location
- italy
So...you're saying that some people are beyond redemption, that they can never turn back from their ways?
Or are you saying you just don't want to contemplate forgiving someone you dislike?
I'm disappointed in you.
Cyclone
Robotech Nerd
- Location
- Earth, Sol System
Why? This is completely consistent with Shadowcub's position on pretty much everyone in Worm, except maybe Taylor.
Fencer
Writer
- Location
- 2nd shift
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Please no fighting. The post itself isn't even necessarily redeeming him. It's more open to interpretation really.
he really needs to flee the city with everything that happened, he has been forced to feel guilt, but he is one of only a few shown who have realized they are being mastered and is choosing something other than death or a coping mechanism.
I always pictured him as organized and logical I couldn't see him giving up on everything, but beyond that I couldn't nail down his reaction to my satisfaction. It's why I rolled those two into a single post couldn't write his first person.
he really needs to flee the city with everything that happened, he has been forced to feel guilt, but he is one of only a few shown who have realized they are being mastered and is choosing something other than death or a coping mechanism.
I always pictured him as organized and logical I couldn't see him giving up on everything, but beyond that I couldn't nail down his reaction to my satisfaction. It's why I rolled those two into a single post couldn't write his first person.
Dr. Mercurious
Strangest Person You Know
- Location
- New England
...so, Kaiser, is there something within you that glows with light? Is your soul not completely shriveled with hate and pride? How...unexpected. The true, most dangerous nature of Taylor's power is revealed: it doesn't force you to do anything. It merely holds a mirror up to those parts of oneself that are incapable of self-delusion and forces its target to acknowledge them.
Some people can stand the sight, but those people are vanishingly rare. Especially on Earth-Bet, where just about everyone lies to oneself to get through the day. Most, however, can't. If the person is lucky, the path to redemption is merely difficult. On Earth-Bet, most people aren't lucky. They can tell themselves that 'this is the way of things', 'it's me or them' or 'the ends justifies the means'. Thanks to Taylor's power, all such self-delusions are revealed for what they are. She is Cauldron greatest foe by virtue of her very existence, the ultimate demoralizer of their greatest assets.
The screaming hasn't stopped. It's only started.
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- Location
- italy
I'm not familiar with Shadowcub.
I notice I'm confused: what did he, in fact, choose?
Fencer
Writer
- Location
- 2nd shift
- Pronouns
- He/Him
He chose to leave the city and he chose to say goodby to his daughter in person. Anything more than that is what you choose to make of it.
- Pronouns
- she/her
"You Needed Worthy Opponents," now in shard form!
Dr. Mercurious
Strangest Person You Know
- Location
- New England
And who is more worthy than...oneself? *cue evil laughter*
Andrew5073
Thinks too much
Or she could be their greatest asset, it all depends on one thing:
Can her power produce (consistently) an effect strong enough to induce a trigger event?
Countless potential capes activating their powers in response to the suffering of others, not their own. With most shaped and driven by a need to help others, and surrounded by others that they know feel the same, with that shared awareness granting them a sense of fellowship, they would make for a powerful force to better the world.
There will be exceptions, of course; those who would rather run like Sophia, or bury their guilt under fury and determination like Hookwolf, focusing on the perpetrator of their suffering. Worst of all, however, would be those who stare into the Abyss of their failings and embrace them, deeming themselves beyond (or above) redemption and the world's acceptance. They would spite those who seek to make things better, naming them hypocrites too afraid to accept their true selves. They would make of their world a hell, that they might be exalted in infamy.
So that the guilt might fade away, for if the world is doomed to fail, how can they be blamed for their part in it?
A world of brighter heroes and darker villains She brings. May God have mercy on them all.
Technically Kaiser's not really a die-hard Nazi; WoG is that he doesn't believe in the white supremacist rhetoric of the Empire and just uses it as a way to amass followers and gain power. That being said, even without believing in the cause he's still an intensely awful person and I wouldn't have shed a tear if he had decided to commit suicide by gravity. I am curious as to what he's going to be doing after he leaves BB though; will he just find a quiet place to live out the rest of his life, or will he try to redeem himself as a wandering hero?
The Stormbringer
Worm Fanfic & Crack Connoisseur
- Location
- Spaaaaace~!
That was lovely. Thank you.
I'm sure it's been said, but imagine how simple it would make things if her power worked on Scion. Or the Endbringers.
I'm sure it's been said, but imagine how simple it would make things if her power worked on Scion. Or the Endbringers.
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Edison_Trent
Freelancer
Moments of redemption/realization like this are my favorite.
It can remind you that even the "worst" people can still come around and change who they are with the right help.
It can remind you that even the "worst" people can still come around and change who they are with the right help.
GuesssWho
To Assemble A Name From Scars
- Location
- People's Republic of Treacle Mine Road
- Pronouns
- She/Her
You know, I just wrote a drabble in the discussion thread that would fit this pretty well. Kind of a bad end, though.
- Location
- In the depts of despair.
Actually Trolls are probably throwing their laptops to the trash right now and the PM's of PHO are swamped by people apologizing for some ill-thought posts they did to actually argue about it.
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Fencer
Writer
- Location
- 2nd shift
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Finished update. Only took 3 failed starts. Fuck Armsy and Piggot, and damn you MM why did you not cooperate? Had half it written when the muse nopped out with you.
Whatever fuck it, another OC solved my issue. It needs to be edited, too tired to do a decent job right now. Will finish editing and post it after work tomorrow.
Whatever fuck it, another OC solved my issue. It needs to be edited, too tired to do a decent job right now. Will finish editing and post it after work tomorrow.
BrokenAscendent
Unum prae omnibus aliis
- Location
- Auld Lang Syne
Viva la vida, it lives.