This alternate Ferris is an interesting character. I like that you've made her distinct from Renka but with enough influence that the descendant idea works well.
I admit to being quite concerned about where that Hemalurgy use was going. It wasn't until the end that I remembered about the interaction with M'gann's telepathy.
Thank you kindly ^^. It was a bit of a balancing act figuring out "okay, how much would alternate universe Ferris be different growing up as a Twinborn 300 years later, and how much should still be Ferris Classic," but I think I did okay. And I'm glad the Hemalurgy use came off as kind of concerning. Yeah, she's 'only' using it to make the mental equivalent of surgical incisions, but it's still Hemalurgy.
If she's not already a feruchemical Zinc savant, she's on the edge of becoming one, on account of all the compounding she's done over the years. As a result, she can squeeze more out of her acuity taps than even just compounding would allow (sort of like we saw with a certain Gold compounder in Era 2), but if she's not tapping at least a trickle of acuity she suffers 'brain fog' that makes it difficult to focus and string thoughts together.
I like to imagine the resonance of allomantic and feruchemical Zinc as an increased ability to read (and to a lesser extent, consciously project) microexpressions and body language. Not on the same level as Cassandra Cain, but the same sort of thing (in fact, if the two met, they'd probably be able to have a semi-fluent 'conversation'). Beyond the slight increase in perception and decision making time that comes with tapping acuity, this is part of why Alishwym can hold out against highly skilled martial artists.
I've mentioned she has a spike earring, but I'm still on the fence if it's Renka's Nemold spike, passed down as an heirloom. Currently leaning towards 'yes, but even if there were still atium around to burn the spike would have lost most of its charge over the last few centuries.'
There's actually not that many people descended from the Lady Feruchemist, all things considered. Ruin's touch on that family line isn't incredibly strong, but it's enough to make having children consistently difficult. Counting Alishwym, she had 16 living descendants at the time Alishwym got sent to Earth.
She was born in the Village (to a non-Ferring Terris mother and a Smoker father from Elendel) but ran away and skipped out to the Roughs in the fallout of the '16 day compounding incident.' Looking back she admits it was a pretty stupid move, made in an emotionally compromised place, but it's the move she made and now she gets to live with that. She made one visit back to Elendel and her family since then, less than a year before her relocation to Earth.
Among many, many other (mis)adventures after she ran away, she temporarily fell in with a koloss tribe. This may or may not have advanced her understanding of Hemalurgy further than it would have been otherwise. She also speaks (one of) the koloss language(s) now.
Her best friend growing up wasn't actually any of the other Terris children, but Tillin, a boy about her age who lived near-ish to the Village and was a Sparker like her. The two of them used to play a game where a third friend would tell an incredibly stupid joke and they'd try rioting each at the same time. Whoever laughed first lost.
Since she doesn't have access to duralumin feruchemy, she just had to brute-force study English. Quite a lot of acuity was tapped in the process.
Superman helped Alishwym get settled in here, she counts him among her first friends on Earth, and they stay in touch, but she's not his sidekick. A big part of that is just because she lacks the physical enhancements here that would let her keep pace with him. Canary's the one who's more or less taken Alishwym under her wing (and wouldn't that make for an interesting dynamic with Artemis and Red Arrow), and as a tribute to her, this Ferris' costume looks more like an armored version of Canary's with a mistcoat instead of a jacket. Batman would've theoretically made a better mentor given the Zinc compounder skillset, but he keeps his secrets tightly enough that he didn't feel comfortable taking on a new mentee, especially one with as many unknowns attached as Ferris.
She's a decent shot with a rifle, especially when she's tapping high acuity to help fine-tune her aim, and knows her way around a handgun even if she's not as experienced with them. The only reason she doesn't carry (yet) while in costume is because she's deferring to more experienced heroes while she gets her bearings. If the issue of lethal force were to be brought up she'd point out, in order: Artemis' and Robin's explosives, Superboy's fists, and the catastrophic internal damage that Black Canary's scream is capable of inflicting. If they can be trusted to show discretion on when those levels of force are applicable, she trusts herself to know when to break out the bullets.
Bonus: Corny lawman stories and other pulp novels are a guilty pleasure of hers, and she had a bit of a schoolgirl crush on (the fictionalized broadsheet version of) Wax. She has never met Wax. She has met and interacted with Wayne, but he was in disguise at the time.
I like to imagine the resonance of allomantic and feruchemical Zinc as an increased ability to read (and to a lesser extent, consciously project) microexpressions and body language. Not on the same level as Cassandra Cain, but the same sort of thing (in fact, if the two met, they'd probably be able to have a semi-fluent 'conversation'). Beyond the slight increase in perception and decision making time that comes with tapping acuity, this is part of why Alishwym can hold out against highly skilled martial artists.
I've mentioned she has a spike earring, but I'm still on the fence if it's Renka's Nemold spike, passed down as an heirloom. Currently leaning towards 'yes, but even if there were still atium around to burn the spike would have lost most of its charge over the last few centuries.'
There's actually not that many people descended from the Lady Feruchemist, all things considered. Ruin's touch on that family line isn't incredibly strong, but it's enough to make having children consistently difficult. Counting Alishwym, she had 16 living descendants at the time Alishwym got sent to Earth.
She was born in the Village (to a non-Ferring Terris mother and a Smoker father from Elendel) but ran away and skipped out to the Roughs in the fallout of the '16 day compounding incident.' Looking back she admits it was a pretty stupid move, made in an emotionally compromised place, but it's the move she made and now she gets to live with that. She made one visit back to Elendel and her family since then, less than a year before her relocation to Earth.
Among many, many other (mis)adventures after she ran away, she temporarily fell in with a koloss tribe. This may or may not have advanced her understanding of Hemalurgy further than it would have been otherwise. She also speaks (one of) the koloss language(s) now.
Her best friend growing up wasn't actually any of the other Terris children, but Tillin, a boy about her age who lived near-ish to the Village and was a Sparker like her. The two of them used to play a game where a third friend would tell an incredibly stupid joke and they'd try rioting each at the same time. Whoever laughed first lost.
Since she doesn't have access to duralumin feruchemy, she just had to brute-force study English. Quite a lot of acuity was tapped in the process.
Superman helped Alishwym get settled in here, she counts him among her first friends on Earth, and they stay in touch, but she's not his sidekick. A big part of that is just because she lacks the physical enhancements here that would let her keep pace with him. Canary's the one who's more or less taken Alishwym under her wing (and wouldn't that make for an interesting dynamic with Artemis and Red Arrow), and as a tribute to her, this Ferris' costume looks more like an armored version of Canary's with a mistcoat instead of a jacket. Batman would've theoretically made a better mentor given the Zinc compounder skillset, but he keeps his secrets tightly enough that he didn't feel comfortable taking on a new mentee, especially one with as many unknowns attached as Ferris.
She's a decent shot with a rifle, especially when she's tapping high acuity to help fine-tune her aim, and knows her way around a handgun even if she's not as experienced with them. The only reason she doesn't carry (yet) while in costume is because she's deferring to more experienced heroes while she gets her bearings. If the issue of lethal force were to be brought up she'd point out, in order: Artemis' and Robin's explosives, Superboy's fists, and the catastrophic internal damage that Black Canary's scream is capable of inflicting. If they can be trusted to show discretion on when those levels of force are applicable, she trusts herself to know when to break out the bullets.
Bonus: Corny lawman stories and other pulp novels are a guilty pleasure of hers, and she had a bit of a schoolgirl crush on (the fictionalized broadsheet version of) Wax. She has never met Wax. She has met and interacted with Wayne, but he was in disguise at the time.
Last edited: