- Location
- Maryland
Here are some comments about the simulation with the S9 and the JL:
1) It was deliberately written to initially misdirect the reader. The Watchtower is based on largely alien technology, including Kryptonian, Martian, and possibly a few others mixed in. Their simulation capabilities are at least as capable as the Starfleet holodecks or the X-Men Danger Room. It's realistic enough to forget that you're actually in a simulation, especially if it lasts for more than an hour or so.
2) I apologize if the transition is jarring. There's nothing unique or original about this type of misdirect, so I assumed folks would catch on pretty quickly. "It's all a simulation," is up there with, "it was a dream all along," in the realm of slightly cliche tropes.
3) The Watchtower computers have no idea how Worm-verse powers operate, and Dragon only knows the S9 from encounter reports. This is a simulation, so all of the abilities are approximations. In a real encounter, I would be surprised if Jack Slash was actually able to hit Flash -- though it isn't impossible, the biggest issue with it is that Jack's predictive powers wouldn't work on DC superpowers, because they don't have shards (but Dragon doesn't know that). I wouldn't be surprised if Crawler was able to adapt to specific attacks, but magic overall would be a bit of stretch unless something unusual happened (like being exposed to a chunk of Nth metal) -- but the computers have basically been told then Crawler can adapt, and their baseline for that is probably Amazo, or other DC Universe equivalents. Compared to Bonesaw's real capabilities, sea anemone venom is pretty tame. The idea that Hatchet Job would go after Oliver Queen is based on a computer trying to match equivalent powers, never mind that Queen has no superpowers, so attempting to recruit him into the Nine would be pretty pointless from the villains' perspectives. In short, there is a lot that is wrong with the underlying assumptions for this simulation, because the input variables are a little off. This isn't how a battle would go down.
4) So why did I write this battle, apart from the fan service coolness of it? One of the regular critiques of the League, both in fan commentary and fanfics, is that comic book heroes hold an unrealistic set of rules based on the Comic Code rather than reality. That's exactly why deconstructions like Watchmen, Kick-Ass, The Boys, and even the Marvel Ultimates line exist. Worm fits quite well into that category of trope deconstruction, so I wanted to throw some of the worst villains against the comic heroes. This match-up also has the advantage as a writer that both the heroes and the villains are well-detailed in terms of their abilities.
1) It was deliberately written to initially misdirect the reader. The Watchtower is based on largely alien technology, including Kryptonian, Martian, and possibly a few others mixed in. Their simulation capabilities are at least as capable as the Starfleet holodecks or the X-Men Danger Room. It's realistic enough to forget that you're actually in a simulation, especially if it lasts for more than an hour or so.
2) I apologize if the transition is jarring. There's nothing unique or original about this type of misdirect, so I assumed folks would catch on pretty quickly. "It's all a simulation," is up there with, "it was a dream all along," in the realm of slightly cliche tropes.
3) The Watchtower computers have no idea how Worm-verse powers operate, and Dragon only knows the S9 from encounter reports. This is a simulation, so all of the abilities are approximations. In a real encounter, I would be surprised if Jack Slash was actually able to hit Flash -- though it isn't impossible, the biggest issue with it is that Jack's predictive powers wouldn't work on DC superpowers, because they don't have shards (but Dragon doesn't know that). I wouldn't be surprised if Crawler was able to adapt to specific attacks, but magic overall would be a bit of stretch unless something unusual happened (like being exposed to a chunk of Nth metal) -- but the computers have basically been told then Crawler can adapt, and their baseline for that is probably Amazo, or other DC Universe equivalents. Compared to Bonesaw's real capabilities, sea anemone venom is pretty tame. The idea that Hatchet Job would go after Oliver Queen is based on a computer trying to match equivalent powers, never mind that Queen has no superpowers, so attempting to recruit him into the Nine would be pretty pointless from the villains' perspectives. In short, there is a lot that is wrong with the underlying assumptions for this simulation, because the input variables are a little off. This isn't how a battle would go down.
4) So why did I write this battle, apart from the fan service coolness of it? One of the regular critiques of the League, both in fan commentary and fanfics, is that comic book heroes hold an unrealistic set of rules based on the Comic Code rather than reality. That's exactly why deconstructions like Watchmen, Kick-Ass, The Boys, and even the Marvel Ultimates line exist. Worm fits quite well into that category of trope deconstruction, so I wanted to throw some of the worst villains against the comic heroes. This match-up also has the advantage as a writer that both the heroes and the villains are well-detailed in terms of their abilities.
