But depending on how Vista goes about doing this, heavy gear could convince her that the best way to be a hero is to take territory to prevent other gangs from either forming or invading, and if she hints at knowing who they are or charging them with arson then heavy gear can name drop every local hero alongside a bunch of other secrets to force them to shut up, I wouldn't put it past Peter from revealing that he knows who Alexandra is and threatening them with that if things get heated enough...
In Nuclear Fire
- Thread starter Poliamida
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But depending on how Vista goes about doing this, heavy gear could convince her that the best way to be a hero is to take territory to prevent other gangs from either forming or invading, and if she hints at knowing who they are or charging them with arson then heavy gear can name drop every local hero alongside a bunch of other secrets to force them to shut up, I wouldn't put it past Peter from revealing that he knows who Alexandra is and threatening them with that if things get heated enough...
I actualy want to see Vista in the team (even if now it seams lest likely to happen) just with a portal gun she prety much doble her effectivness and with the toys Peter can make for her i'm sure she can be a nightmare, then again Aishia can become jelous, after all Vista moving the turrets is a terrifing idea.
Ridli Scott
(Verified acid sweater mutant)
- Location
- The Periphery
And meanwhile, investigate Sophia just incase Renick's hunch was right and transfer her to another place just in case this hits the public. PRT ENE can't survive another hit (I'm not saying that it may not survive another scandal I'm saying that another scandal WILL destroy this branch of the PRT to the point that they ditch the city or worse).
Poliamida
(Verified Heavy Molecule)
- Location
- Beyond the Stars
Thanks! Writing child characters as if they were actual children is surprisingly hard.
Correct. That's why the PRT (or at least Renick) will have to think long and hard before doing that.
I see that mostly as the exception that proves the rule. Taylor had grown too powerful on her own at that point and so it became convenient for the rules to start applying again.
Honestly? The way I see the Unwritten Rules is as this:
Gang: Hey, the unwritten rules are awesome!
Independent: So, will you protect me if someone attacks my family?
G: Yes but only if you join us. Otherwise we'll just stand by the side and laugh at you.
I: Ok... can I hear other offers?
G: Sure! But don't take too long! Accidents can happen. 'Accidents' like returning home and finding your whole family murdered by us.
I'm honestly not sure. I want to say yes but I'm guessing this would only apply for government-approved heroes.
Understandable but I'd point out that Peter has been doing everything in his power to antagonize the PRT. From burning public property, to creating self-reproducing robots, to taking over territory and undermining lawful gubernamental authority. A confrontation is inevitable in some form or another.
And I'd say that 'why did the fandom turned X into the Y character?' Is what the Worm fandom is made of. Any fandom, really.
This isn't any conflict drive. This is Vista being 11, blonde, pretty, from a relatively well-off family, and having spend the last couple years eating the propaganda of the 'we're totally not child soldiers'-program with a shovel.
She's not really in contact with the plights of the small man.
They weren't. In the Panacea Interlude the one to heal his father was her. Peter did try but leukemia (I think I made his dad have leukemia, I can't remember right now) was beyond what the drones would just fix.
*nods resolutely* true she ain't acting like a little shit alright and I can't say for sure what she did was like some boot licking newb wanting to prove herself she's the very best there ever was like a 14-year old high ranking player in LoL.
*cough*
Anyways better buckleup folks cause I got the feeling when Pete starts making AI's that is not stuck to a single hardware the PRT would have holes as big as a Gloriana class battleship big enough yet small enough to avoid their security
I think you miss the point. The reason you normally have to think very carefully before breaking them, is because almost any parahuman can cause duckton damage if they stop holding back and just go all out if they're creative enough. Independent or not, unmasking a cape or attacking their families can backfire. Unless you're sure you can kill the parahuman, misdirect them or deal with consequences, the Unwritten Rules are a thing. Breaking the rules against someone with powers like Taylor's is one way ticket to hell.
Raiseth
I Find Your Lack of Memes Disturbing
- Location
- Russia
I don't think Taylor got recruited out of respect of sanctity of unwritten rules, no.
She got recruited because the organization as a whole needed something to salvage out of the whole clusterfuck that happened when Brockton Bay got shat on by practically everyone in the vicinity, and the Protectorate and PRT were very visibly powerless to stop any of it ( and actually worsened the situation as a victory lap. )
But lol, don't take my opinions on Worm canon too seriously, for example, I subscribe to the headcanon that Rebecca sent Tagg to Brockton Bay out of spite when their favorite candidate for ruling a super sexy neo-feudal city-state got shanked by a bunch of teenagers.
Ridli Scott
(Verified acid sweater mutant)
- Location
- The Periphery
That was exactly what I was saying, the entity's conflict drive is shit compared with what you said.
Missy being herself has a big enough conflict drive even without the one provided by powers
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Um, I think there is a shitload of a difference between attacking someone in their civilian identity, and simply figuring out who they are in their civilian idenity. The latter is often presented as pretty much their fault for failing to hide it, and keep in mind at this point Missy has reason to believe that something hinky is going on with Peter and Shadow Stalker as well.
- Location
- India
Aren't all Protectorate capes by definition government approved?
The difference is that Vista is a hero and she not only revealed their identities, but actually went to their home.
So what?
The only reason for Peter and company to feel threatened is if they already know Missy's identity too.
If they didn't know that, the rules remain unbroken. Finding out identities falls under 'playing fast and loose', but until their civilian identities are attacked in some fashion, the rules hold.
- Location
- California
Also that sweet sweet shadenfreude that could happen if she assumes Heavy Gear is inexperienced and everything so far has only been possible due to 'Archmage Belisarius' when it's been Peter who's the most experienced of them all. And/or if she thinks she can convince him to change sides, not knowing how far he's gone (he has goddamn Ultralisks in queue at the moment for a rainy day). Of course, Missy could do any number of other things, but my point stands. I can almost feel the satisfaction it at my fingertips.Oh, I am so looking forward to Missy learning what kind of person Sophia actually is. First Calvert, then Sophia, then the rest of the shady nonsense the PRT gets up to like Cauldron?
Nothing quite as good as bursting people's bubbles!
I'm not actually suggesting they hired her because she killed them.
But killing them was not disqualifying.
Cops don't like cop-killers, even when the killing is justified. It takes a lot to hire a girl who's killed three separate PRT Directors (even if one of them is a former Director), no matter how good her excuse. And yet they did with Skitter. I don't think that would have been the case if she'd killed Renick and Legend, for example. That would have been evidence that she couldn't be trusted to work with them, and she'd probably have ended up on trial and then in the Birdcage. But because Tagg, Alexandria and Coil all abused the Rules, killing them wasn't seen as irredeemable.
Raiseth
I Find Your Lack of Memes Disturbing
- Location
- Russia
No, I got you the first time around. I just think that at that point it already didn't matter to them. She was powerful, and she was willing to join, and the PR nightmare that was her entire existence could be, if not swept away with hurricane winds, then tenderly held down by a smothering pillow in its face until it got its footing back and kicked them in their collective nuts and told them to smile and pretend they like it. Had she killed Renick and Legend ( without them unmasking her ), their smile would have merely gotten a bit tighter.
Edit; aaaaand that's a derail, sorry. Imma stop posting for a day or two and wait for the next chapter.
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So what?
This is exactly how they recruited Chariot in canon. They followed him home and made an offer. They even knew that he worked for Coil, but it was an option to feed misinformation to snake in PRT eyes.
Poliamida
(Verified Heavy Molecule)
- Location
- Beyond the Stars
The PRT missing blatantly obvious security risks? Pfff, who would believe that?the PRT would have holes as big as a Gloriana class battleship big enough yet small enough to avoid their security
Oh, yeah, sorry. I did miss the point a bit there.
And that's why I don't subscribe (or better said, prefer to ignore) the whole 'conflict drive' argument. These are very broken people living in world that's falling apart. Humans don't need any alien influence to do very stupid and risky shit given the right circumstances. Getting powers so they can freely act on their basic impulses is more than enough.
Yes, yes. What I was trying to say is that there's such a law then it wouldn't protect villains or independents.
Maybe not the Ultralisks but he does have the idea to create a strain of zerg that can project the hard-light bridges of Portal. Those would act as basic barriers.
The conflict drives are one of those things that are heavily overstated by fanfic, like a lot of things. They DO exist in various forms - there are capes like Burnscar who's powers are balanced to force them into conflict (make fire, become psychopathic, make more fire, repeat), and there's a few cases where the shard gets tired of getting jack all for data from their host so they push the power buttons (Amy accidently fucking up Victoria's brain after the Bonesaw encounter, and IIRC word of god is this is why Canary's power went off on her ex-boyfriend), but in general, shards are fine with waiting because they carefully pick out their hosts to be broken people who are going to go out and do SOMETHING eventually. Just look at some of the natural triggers in Brockton Bay alone - Taylor with her need for control making her escalate situations, Tattletale being wired towards needing to rile up people when she should know better, Bakuda's entire narcissistic superiority complex, Bitch and her... Bitchness. Queen Administrator was even fine with Taylor doing basically nothing for months on end before the start of canon, because it presumably knew Taylor would eventually be jumping into conflict - it was inevitable with her personality.
There a bunch of WoG that confirmed said conflict drive, but yes stupid decision are the person own fault, the drive only exist to nudge Parahuman to use their powers, there is a reason why Taylor range tend to fluctuate in canon while in a fight or stressful situation, why Leet own shard wants him dead, why damsel of distress shard tends to react strongly because of her actions, there's also a WoG that said that the shard influence play a part in making a person issues worse. So you shouldn't completely dismissed them.
Poliamida
(Verified Heavy Molecule)
- Location
- Beyond the Stars
It's just a pet peeve of mine, I don't like when everything the characters do gets justified by saying 'well, that's just the conflict drive controlling them'. It's amazingly lazy and cheap. Makes the characters feeling like 2-dimensional puppets devoid of any agency or will.
Zis and Contessa are already doing enough work there.
I'll be honest here. When someone reads something I wrote and says 'look at that conflict drive' they make me feel like I completely and utterly failed as a writer because they see the conflict as completely artificial.
Entities: 'Keikaku doori.'
I agree that for a lot of works this is an important element, but Worm is kinda unique amongst them due to the fact that something is actively pushing everyone towards conflict and confrontations.