You know it occurs to me that I don't think the Protectorate knew Contessas power, in that first Interlude doesn't Legend assume that she's a body guard and must have a powerful power?
Interlude 14.5 (Bonus Interlude)
In fact, the Triumvirate didn't know each other and had been independently heroing until Cauldron stuck them together, so thats probably more AU.
Interlude 15 (Donation Bonus #3)
That is true, however, I put my personal spin on it. I thought it apparent already, but you guys are in a total AU from what you're used to.
As such, I might as well say it here. The amount of things that have changed from cannon are
staggering. Mostly because you guys are going to be the ones influencing a great majority of the events and characters by interacting and changing things.
One, for instance, is that Alex lived through his cancer treatments. In every other world or timeline, he died a week before Rebecca got her vial. If he survived, imagine just how many other people survived to trigger and change the world.
One of the biggest and obvious ones, Cauldron is keeping it's capes together to create a team that can synergize well with one another once they are ready to start superheroing. The only ones that you haven't see that are Cauldron capes is Grey Boy and that fucker broke out.
Because, while Cauldron has a huge overarching reach, I think we can all agree that they... well I'm not going to dance around the fact. They're utterly fucking incompetent to the point that it causes physical discomfort for what they have. There is no justification for Manton going apeshit if both Contessa and Number Man are literally a minute away. His daughter had a disease and she got turned into a case 53. Number Man could give percentages on the spot for any mixture of vial that Cauldron could create. There is no reason that Manton wouldn't have gotten the first 100% or 99.999999999% successful vial he got. The only explanation I can see, is that the Siberian was invented and implemented into the story before Contessa was finalized. If someone else can come up with a reason, I'd love to hear it. But, I found none, so I wrote the world as Cauldron taking steps to control it's capes after the utter failure that Grey Boy was.
As for the interludes that you linked to, yes, cannon Legend didn't know her power in the beginning. However, that isn't this world as Contessa outright told Alex what her power was to get him on board for his initiation. She told every member of the Founders, secrets breed distrust, and for those that will lead the superhero world, a foundation built on distrust will crumble and be blown sky high like it did in cannon after the Echidna incident. As such, PoV is taking steps to get everyone to trust and support one another. Matthew actively talks to Charles to get him out of the Lab. Charles works day and night with Manton to give him ideas and finalize any research paper he might have. Alex and Rebecca's relationship is living proof that Heroes can live somewhat normal lives even within the system. This is
paramount in recruitment. Cauldron is actively trying to build a system where perahumans will be accepted as members of society. They've messed up so far, yes, but that's why Contessa was actively trying to focus Alex's mindset on training so that they wouldn't have a Grey Boy situation with trust. Everyone is monitored, everyone is evaluated.
Another huge addition is the existence of Oracle. As you guys have guessed, he be broken. His power scares me just as much as Contessa's, but I won't say anything for much.
As for every other big name, they are here, but just because they are, doesn't guarantee that they will trigger or even be in your side. Staples like Brockton Bay might be utterly different depending on what Alex does. That being said, Africa, China and Australia are still going to be utter hell holes.
So I'm saying this now. If you have any questions about cannon things, or the world in general, please tag me and allow me to explain. Because, the world is about to open up for you guys and it would be unfair to me to send you guys in blind without at least some knowldge beforehand. I could, and I might for certain situations, but on the whole I am more than willing to explain the world with whatever questions you guys might have.
