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The Eldritch One (Celestial Forge)

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I like this story, you are going a different path. And you are so far skipping some of the typical perks, I wonder if Taylor will get some way to use the antimatter in either a weapon or mode of travel. I personally dislike the mouth perk, but it could be helpful in the future(I do not like the perk in any story as most stories do not use the perk at all and it is mostly annoying) but she is using it well here
 
Madhobbit said:
I like this story, you are going a different path. And you are so far skipping some of the typical perks, I wonder if Taylor will get some way to use the antimatter in either a weapon or mode of travel. I personally dislike the mouth perk, but it could be helpful in the future(I do not like the perk in any story as most stories do not use the perk at all and it is mostly annoying) but she is using it well here
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I actually calculated the amounts that one would need to deploy it in in order to use it as a propellant, and a method of passively containing it (Fullerene-cages around anti-Protons or Cations), and Taylor has actually used Plentiful Mouths remarkably little so far; frankly I hope that she will begin using it a lot more in the recent future.
 
If Taylor used Plentiful Mouths to combine a bundle of rope and a spool of thread in a dispenser she'd end up with a rope-dispenser the size of the thread-dispenser that could dispense a rope the length that the thread was?

Followup-question: do you think that Taylor could do that and then combine it with some meat or jerky or something to get something the size of the thread-dispenser able to dispense a piece of meat the length of the spooled thread and the thickness of the bundled rope?
 
Amy: Hey baby, you come here often?
Taylor: (fuck fuck fuck, think fast) I got a boyfriend! (what the fuck brain!?!)
 
Barbaric Bob said:
Amy: Hey baby, you come here often?
Taylor: (fuck fuck fuck, think fast) I got a boyfriend! (what the fuck brain!?!)
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"Instincts Bad".

Edit:
Hey everyone! Look at this highly simple molecule! It's not made out of anything rare either! I bet that Taylor would have no trouble at all synthesizing it!

Edit: unsarcastically though it actually probably would be great for when, not if, Taylor needed something like it since she could make it on site instead of having to transport it.
 
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I don't get the Dean hate, he is one of the nicest and overall 'good' Worm characters.

He is also seems socially adapt enough to navigate the situation. Unfortunately he has a Victoria sized and shaped blind spot which fucks things up for him.
 
Edit: hey doesn't the Buildy Gun from the Perk have Fiat-backed infinite charge? Implications aside I bet that Taylor could combine that with a power-outlet or something, or just do personal modifications or even just use some charging equipment that it would come with as standard, to use it to charge other stuff.


HandleWithCare said:
I don't get the Dean hate, he is one of the nicest and overall 'good' Worm characters.

He is also seems socially adapt enough to navigate the situation. Unfortunately he has a Victoria sized and shaped blind spot which fucks things up for him.
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Bro thought that Amy had a crush on him, and that it was Victoria that she was jealous of, and let Vista's crush on him go unaddressed; man was damn-near a Natural Trigger with how much that his powers seem to be a reflection of his incapabilities.
 
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jacobpaige said:
As far as I know, she's fully capable of controlling her aura, but just doesn't bother to train herself to restrain it or to take its impact on those around her seriously.
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Given that this can be taken to be code for Vicky's aura is responsible for Amy's obsession with her, let me straighten this out.

Ward brings this up and actually makes a point of noting that due to the nature of their different power sets, Amy and Vicky didn't really interact much out on the field, which is where Vicky actually mostly used her aura. And Vicky's power isn't exactly subtle, so there's no way Carol (who is noted to have a need for control) wouldn't make sure Vicky reigned it in at home.

The other members of New Wave along with Dean were exposed for far longer, and even considering Amy's particular vulnerabilities, Mark Dallon suffered from severe Depression and spent just as much time with Vicky as Amy did and there was no impact on him.

Amy's feelings for her sister came from the far more mundane and sad reality that her family situation meant that neither Carol or Mark were equipped to be parents for her and so she latched onto the only family member who regularly showed her affection, I.e. Victoria.

jacobpaige said:
As for Carol, I would also agree that she's a worse person than Vicky based on how she came to adopt Amy if nothing else, but I'm not sure to what degree. It's been pointed out by various people (IRL) that a lot of her mistreatment of Amy is likely due to Vicky's aura warping her mind and actions.
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Putting aside the fact that's not how Vicky's aura works at all, Carol neglected Amy because her trauma made her desire absolute certainty on who she could trust and as a result she saw the daughter of a hated enemy she was pressured into adopting as a threat. She even made it clear that she was aware that she would be a terrible choice for a mother when her sister pressured her into adopting Amy in the first place.

Victoria's aura didn't enter the picture until years after Amy was adopted, and even before that point it was made clear that Carol was unintentionally setting both her children up for her love being conditional at best, hence why Victoria wound up putting herself under so much pressure that caused her own trigger in the first place and Amy was constantly mindful of being "good".
 
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Chapter 15: The Party
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    • I really think knocking over gang hideouts should be harder than it has been. Like, really, what the fuck. The cops could be doing this, and the gang members would actually be going to jail instead of going on with their lives and continuing to make the city worse. Seems like the only way I could take them off the streets is if it was permanently and there's no way in hell I'm doing that. I mean that might be unfair to the police, but they surely have the capability for just this much, right?

    Whatever. Lisa gave me the third degree about my shopping trip when I got back. Broke into hysterical laughter once I got to the part where I found out they thought I was gay and set me up with Panacea. I went over to my room and closed the door in her face for it. Lowercase bitch.

    School is going well enough. I started finishing all my homework in class on Thursday which was both fantastic and annoying. Fantastic for obvious reasons, but annoying due to being just a little bit obvious that there's a superpower at play. I got Tattletale to take a look at it before our third drug dealer hit. Apparently I'm just able to do stuff faster now, but not actually any better. Well it's a bit late to quit this in school, more than half my teachers and classmates saw it. Probably best to keep going as is and try passing it off as me getting used to the curriculum before I got into the swing of things.

    My social life is going along well enough too, surprisingly. Amy broke off from her sister's group, (for like the third time this year if the gossip is to be believed.) And started curating an acceptably unobtrusive lunch group for us. She even got in trouble for putting one of the pushy girls to sleep face down in her food. Thank God I got a promise from her on Tuesday that she wouldn't put any more moves on me. The one kiss was enough.

    It's Friday now. All my homework and testing is done with. I put my backpack with all my crap in it in my locker and start looking for Amy. I find her in short order in the cafeteria.

    "Hey there!"

    "Hey! Dean's giving us a ride. You wanna hold hands in the back to mess with him?" I give her a look of disappointment.

    "Didn't we agree that we wouldn't be doing anything like that?" Her good cheer strains and she looks guiltily to the side.

    "Well yeah, but- Look, could we talk about this at the party?" I watch her squirm for a couple seconds.

    "...Sure. You know where Dean's parked?" She leads me over to a particular spot in the parking lot. We don't have to wait at all, as the other two are already here. Me and Amy are on the opposite sides of the backseat as I ponder the payday I got from my cape job. Probably gonna get a decent computer with the first thousand, get some neat gadgets like pepper spray and a tazer for non-lethal takedowns, and-

    "-Taylor's boyfriend." I catch from Vicky.

    "Bwuh! What?"

    "Nothing much." Says Dean. "We were just thinking you would've brought your boyfriend along. Or if he even exists." Prick. Though the thought of bringing Alec along. Or even the smug look on his dumbass face if he ever found out I claimed him as a boyfriend...

    "Oh God no. No offense guys, but if you and him ever meet under any circumstances, multiple somethings have gone very wrong."

    "What, ashamed of your boytoy?" Teases Victoria.

    "Yes." I deadpan. The conversation goes a couple more rounds of that before they give up on it. Mostly Victoria though, Dean is busy driving.

    About fifteen minutes of driving, we're at Dean's place, and it's one of the ritziest houses in the city. Gated driveway, brick wall, multiple acre lawn, the works. He leaves the gate open as we drive through. For the other guests apparently.

    "All right, I'm gonna set up the sound and coolers. This is a pool party because nobody is allowed inside after last time. You got your swimsuit Taylor?"

    "Yeah, I wore it under my clothes." It's a black one piece. "You got anywhere to change?" He grimaces.

    "Well I guess you can come in. Put your clothes in the back of my car though."

    I do so, and Amy is waiting for me back at the car.

    "So I figured out why they pulled that douche canoe move with the double 'date'." I put my clothes in the car.

    "Yeah? You seem alot less angry at them for it than you were."

    "Yeah, that's because all three of us are getting punished if our parents find out we're still hanging out with you. I'm not sure if you noticed, but you and Shadow Stalker stirred up quite the shit storm when she was unmasked. Mom doesn't want us interacting with you in case you have another surprise turd sandwich landmine waiting to blow up on all of us. Dean's, uh, parents don't want you interacting for exactly the same reason." You know I think I'd be a lot more pissed about that if I wasn't on a villain team right now.

    "They chose that exact method to drive me away, why?"

    "They thought it would be kinder than uninviting you to the party."

    "..." I close the car door and dead ass stare at her.

    "No no, I didn't say I agreed with it! It was real fucking stupid! I only said I knew why! Look, there was another reason I wanted to talk to you. The PRT did a good job covering it up, but anybody who was paying attention knows you're a cape. Nobody knows your complete power set, but the PRT knows you at least no sell most thinkers. Not even I can see your biology at work, even if it's just to look at the surface bacteria." If I still had blood in my face or veins to pump it in, my poker face would be thoroughly ruined right about now. Holy shit, my power almost got revealed to the heroes just like that. "I didn't wanna hold your hand earlier to freak Dean out, I wanted to figure out your biology. See if it had anything interesting in it." Oh my God, I don't know what's worse. If she's telling the truth, or if she's lying off her ass to get in my pants. Never in my life did I think having a lesbian stalker would be the safer option.

    "Would you be able to give me a scraping of skin or something? If you're power is hiding your biology there's probably something interesting going on there that you'll want to know about." I can't even tell her she already saw my biology and healed me after my trigger event to divert her attention. That would just bring up more questions.

    "Absolutely not." I harden my heart at her stricken expression. "I value my autonomy Amy. I'm not going to get involved in cape bullshit any more than I can help it. It's a death sentence to any professional and academic dreams. No." I look over past her face to a car coming up the driveway.

    "We should go back to the pool. Guests are arriving."

    "Oh, uh, one more thing. Could you keep the fact I'm gay on the downlow? Nobody but you knows. I'm still in the closet."

    "Not even your sister?" I take a second to run my question back in my head. "You know what? I don't think that's any of my business. Let's go." I briskly walk past her relieved form. I should not be the one to start throwing stones in this glass house.

    I spend the party relaxing on a lawn chair, occasionally telling guys to fuck off.


    Powers gained this chapter:

    One-Man Industry (God Catching Meister) (400CP)
    Despite being chained to the forge for hours on end, alchemists can make just a handful of works per day. Mixing, forging and enchanting take time and finesse, after all. Those who make items in masse tend to vomit works of low quality. In face of that, you trained and mastered the art of making things really quick without a loss in quality. About ten times as faster as your peers, in fact. While an alchemist with your same rank would take an hour to make a fire sword, you in the same span of time can make ten, and even give each different powers. This bleeds out to other aspects in your life. Time is money, after all.


    AN: Timeline is Monday was first raid, shopping trip on Tuesday, one raid on Wednesday and Thursday each, power gained on Thursday, and party on Friday.

    I moved up this power acquisition by a few hundred words for story reasons. This will not affect future rolls
     
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    • Damn this really isn't making Vicky and Dean look good at all to Taylor. Nor new wave and PRT in general because of how those two acted. Though Taylor can totally blame Vicky and Dean for this one.
     
    I'm surprised that Amy was so open with her about being gay, especially that she'd go to the extent of kissing her. I'd suspect that she was actually attracted to Taylor if not for the whole Vickisexual thing. I'm glad they stayed friends regardless. Amy definitely needs her own friend group separate from Vicky.
     
    Optimal Robotics said:
    Me and Amy are on the opposite sides of the backseat as I ponder the payday I got from my cape job. Probably gonna get a decent computer with the first thousand, get some neat gadgets like pepper spray and a tazer for non-lethal takedowns, and-
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    I'm kind of surprised that she doesn't want to try making her own computer with Plentiful Mouths; shouldn't be overly difficult to compile a large amount of hardware into individual components even without adding non-computer weird shit to the mix.

    Also pepper-spray and Tazers are stupid; Slime!Taylor is a god of grappling; just have her get a hundred-pack of zip-ties and have her go to town on a whole room of idiots.

    Edit: hell she might not even need zip-ties; she might be able to figure out some rope cellulose, itself from wood, or nanotube-fibers or something. She should be able to get some silicon and aluminium out of concrete; maybe she can make some rope-fibers out of that.
    Optimal Robotics said:
    Powers gained this chapter:

    One-Man Industry (God Catching Meister) (400CP)
    Despite being chained to the forge for hours on end, alchemists can make just a handful of works per day. Mixing, forging and enchanting take time and finesse, after all. Those who make items in masse tend to vomit works of low quality. In face of that, you trained and mastered the art of making things really quick without a loss in quality. About ten times as faster as your peers, in fact. While an alchemist with your same rank would take an hour to make a fire sword, you in the same span of time can make ten, and even give each different powers. This bleeds out to other aspects in your life. Time is money, after all.
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    So that's a five-times rate-multiplier for her personal contributions to projects, and only her personal contributions to them seemingly excluding automated things, and a times-ten for personal crafting in general but possibly a looser interpretation of how they specifically get accelerated.

    A very good start to compounding rate-multiplication~
    jacobpaige said:
    I'm surprised that Amy was so open with her about being gay, especially that she'd go to the extent of kissing her. I'd suspect that she was actually attracted to Taylor if not for the whole Vickisexual thing. I'm glad they stayed friends regardless. Amy definitely needs her own friend group separate from Vicky.
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    I suppose that she might have just been so desperate to get a sample to look at that she decided to go for a mouth-swab intimate-style? I had heard that some lesbians relationships can be like this, being ambiguous even beyond First Base, but I hadn't seen a actual example of it before now.
     
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    Ya know I think it would be hilarious if Taylor became Amy's closest friend so that when Carol goes to far Amy ends up bunking with the Undersides. Like she still goes healing at the hospital but gets picked up by Bitch instead of Vicky. Still goes to school but goes home with Taylor. Just trolling the rest of the heroes.
     
    At least she knows it is incompetent stupidity and not malicious.
     
    AwkwardHym said:
    Ya know I think it would be hilarious if Taylor became Amy's closest friend so that when Carol goes to far Amy ends up bunking with the Undersides. Like she still goes healing at the hospital but gets picked up by Bitch instead of Vicky. Still goes to school but goes home with Taylor. Just trolling the rest of the heroes.
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    I'm sure that she could trade some goods and/or services, either directly or for something that Taylor would want, and that Taylor could provide services like housing and transportation.

    I am...Unsure how she might independently provide other necessities like food-provision services for the two of them, though there are a variety of things that I'm sure that they both could trade to others to acquire funds for that, but at a bare-minimum she can put more then the equivalent of a month of superhuman labor into a building.



    Edit: Taylor should have relatively little trouble making some photovoltaic materials.

    From how opaque descriptions of the photovoltaic effect that I can find are she might need to slowly dissolve a few people over the course of hours to get the information of which materials to make and what arrangement to put them in but that shouldn't stop her.

    Edit: I'm pretty sure that some Silicon Carbide Nanosheets should be able to act as some components for solar-energy devices.

    Edit: optic fibers could also be good for several purposes but I'm unsure exactly how those work.



    Edit: it occurs to me that Taylor could probably make a Demon Core if she wanted to.



    Edit: Did the people here know that Nitrocellulose is the primary ingredient in smokeless gunpowder? It, blended with some Nitroglycerin and a few other agents, is the formula for modern bullet propellant.



    Edit: do you think that Taylor could combine one of her Plentiful Mouths with her Buildy Gun? That could be interesting. Catastrophically interesting~
     
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    Chapter 16: Another One Bites The Dust
  • Threadmarks
    • I tried to mind my own business at the party. I really truly did, I promise. Told every guy who came up to flirt with me to fuck off, and almost all of them got the message. The one who didn't, I pushed harmlessly into the pool with my foot. People laughed. One guy even asked for the same treatment afterwards. As the party went on the boys got drunker and clumsier, and their flirting got even easier to ward off. I got up from the chair once the party started winding down. This, perhaps, was a mistake, as I saw the dude I shoved into the pool drunkenly yelling at Dean. Why does he allow alcohol at his parties?

    "We don't all have the luxury of screwing a bombshell superhero on the regular Dean!"

    "Hey!" From Vicky as I feel a pulse of fear rush through me. Everybody here is watching the drama unfold now.

    "And then the new girl you brought in doesn't want anything to do with me. She humiliated me Dean! What the fuck!!" You know what, I think I'm gonna just leave. They're in between me and Dean's car, but facing away from me. I can just skirt around the other side of the pool and avoid them entirely.

    "Dude, that is not why I brought her here. And I saw how handsy you were getting with her, you're lucky she didn't kick you in the nuts!"

    "You know what, fuck you Dean, I'm outta here! I thought you woulda been on my side for once. I'm leaving!!" And as he turns around the world seems to go into slow motion as he looks at me. Our eyes meet as inevitably as a couple of magnets locking together. I stop for the barest of moments before starting up again at the speed of a decent power walk.

    At first nothing happens. Just a particularly angry face sent my way. But then Amy, Dean, Victoria, and this guy all collapse to the ground. Though the yelling ass only fell to his knees. I start running away when he starts bulking up and his arms start turning black. Nope. This is my civilian persona. I refuse to have my school life popped like a soap bubble by some drunk asshole I don't even know the name of.

    *Splash*

    I've rounded the corner by now. Sounds like he fell in the pool.

    "Wait, what the fuck?" Amy asks. Good they're up now. "Everybody out of the water! Now!! What the fuck are you doing you crazy bastard!?" I 'jog' up to Dean's car. Shit it's locked. I look around. Seems like nobody's followed me. I shove prehensile slime down the glass and back up to jimmy it open. There's some panicked sounds from the other guests right about now.

    "Don't worry guys, I'll take care of this." As a swell of awe rises in me. No no no, concentrate on the task at hand... Got it! Victoria's aura suddenly cuts out.

    "Vicky!!" Yells Amy. Fuck me, how did this random asshole take down Glory Girl? Fuck it, I'm taking my clothes and actually running into the garage. Not even checking for cameras, I'm changing into my clothes as fast as I possibly can. Turns out to be three seconds flat. After that I cautiously walk out of the garage to check my surroundings, only to have this asshole walk up and block my path. Shit!

    "Look what you made me do Taylor!" Some sort of black substance is running down his arms as he looks towards me. I take stock of my surroundings. I'm trapped in-between a car, probably Dean's parent's, and the garage wall with him bearing down on me in the corridor this makes. I could flow under the car, but I'd rather not blatantly out myself like that just yet.

    "I'd really rather not if it's all the same to you." There's some random odds and ends that tend to pile up in garages. Some paint cans over there, some sheet metal on a shelf to my side, etc.

    And he lunges at me. Well I guess that's all the time he was willing to give me. I block him, like I've been training to do, and what happens next is incredibly screwed. My arms go all black and gangrenous where he touches. They lose all consistency as he shears through them with rot, and my hands fall off. I look to him to see my shock mirrored in his own face.

    "I guess I shouldn't be surprised that a normal girl wouldn't stand up as well as the Brute did." I liquefy the parts of my hands that aren't rotted to return the biomass to me. "Wait, what the-" In response to my injury I grab his head with a new tentacle and smash it into the edge of the sheet metal. He wasn't totally helpless while I did this. He managed to flail outwards and punch a rotten hole straight through my chest. Good thing I don't have organs anymore, or else that would've been brutal. I prepare myself for his next attack-

    Oh.

    Oh he's super dead. I didn't think sheet metal would be that sharp. A good portion of his skull is sitting on top of it while the rest of him is slumped on the ground with a bare cross section of his brain bleeding onto the floor. I swallow. Well shit! I don't have enough time to get rid of the body! And that wouldn't even work anyways! Everybody probably knew he was coming after me! Well, um, can I reclaim my rotten slime? Yes, yes I can. My ability to digest things into myself has not been hampered by whatever the hell his power is. Was. Whatever, the point is I hoovered up all the evidence he ever hit me. He ruined my outfit too, but luckily I was able to fake it with shape shifted slime.

    Now I gotta go tell Dean there's a body in his garage.

    Armsmaster​

    I look to the veritable swarm of PRT agents in decontamination gear at the newest incident. All following in the wake of the Hebert girl of course. We told Dean not to socialize with her, the moron.

    "So, how much you wanna bet Dean's still gonna be hosting parties after this?" Assault quips at me. I turn to him to give him a disappointed stare. I'm not sure how much of it translates through the hazmat suits.

    "I am not betting on a teammate's trauma." He looks away.

    "Yeah, probably a good call. So, how much do you think Taylor was lying about?" I think it over.

    "Definitely the part where she said she didn't let him touch her. I saw the location of their fight and the only way he didn't lay a hand on her is if she's a mover. And there were some suspicious stains on the floor that looked a lot like bleach stains."

    "Oh damn, is that gonna be a problem? I know Panacea was really scared about the pathogens he made."

    "No. Panacea gave the Hebert girl the all clear, and the garage was going to have to be sterilized regardless. She didn't do us the favor of disappearing this body after all. And to answer your original question, I don't know. My lie detector isn't working on her anymore."

    "What really?"

    "Really. I suspect that we were interacting with a projection."

    "Seems kind of suspicious that she would go to one of Dean's parties with a projection."

    "Not really." Assault gives me a look at that. I'm not sure what kind of look due to his mask, but the context fills me in well enough. "Let me rephrase. I don't find it suspicious that the chronically bullied girl didn't feel safe enough to attend a social event in person." Assault nods his head along with that. "Enough about Taylor though. What did you find out from the other kids?"

    "Well her story was mostly corroborated by them, so unless Piggot loses her mind over this we're not going to be arresting her. Panacea was real adamant we start decontamination procedures immediately. Apparently whatever rot he made was the work of a highly mutable cross species RNA virus, combined with some complimentary super mold." I shudder at the thought. "There is good news though. No casualties! Not even Glory Girl! Though that was a close thing with all the crap in her bloodstream I'm told."

    "Well that's a relief, now-"

    "Oh! And apparently we can stop worrying about all the dead grass. Panacea did that to try and contain any spread."

    "She did? I thought she could only effect what she was touching."

    "Yeah, I thought so too. Then she started talking about how sometimes grass twines it's roots together to survive or something. Honestly I stopped paying attention two sentences in. I hope she didn't notice."

    "Hmph. Well, now we are in the unfortunate situation of having to demand a bunch of rich teenagers hand over their clothes for incineration. Hopefully the news doesn't catch wind of this. I'll handle the Hebert girl if you get the Dallon sisters on board."

    "You have yourself a deal." As he shakes my hand.

    I do note that there was one casualty though. One Anthony McCormick. By all accounts an entitled little asshole, but still a waste. Probably for the best though. A power that spawns persistent super pathogens? Jesus Christ himself could've come again with that and gotten himself a kill order.


    Powers gained this chapter

    Librarian (Smash Up-Obligatory Cthulhu Supplement) (100CP)
    You have a phenomenal memory and organizational skill, and a real gift for research. It's a rare day indeed where you can't find the information you need, or at least narrow it down to a single rare book.

    AN: I would say no human being could possibly act like that, but... And Victor's trigger was canonically getting caught in a crime
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • Damn well everyone got fucking lucky with that trigger event. Considering asshole was targeting Taylor this could have end up with at least one dead body but more likely dozens of dead teens who parents are rich assholes.
     
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