TwiLyghtSansSparkles

I used Backtrack, Lucentia, and Lightwards (the three biggest complainers) for the comic "First World Problems," but you could probably do an entire comic focusing only on Lucentia and using the lyrics from the actual song for inspiration. You could probably also write an extensive essay comparing Lucentia to the vanillas, contending that her dissatisfaction—despite having the ability to conjure and control diamonds, allowing for healing and devastating offensive power—exemplifies a typical first world attitude of deliberate discontent in the face of overwhelming excess. Conclusion: Lucentia must be depowered posthaste and forced to live as a Newcago vanilla for one year. An impoverished Newcago vanilla. The ending would come across as didactic, now that I think about it….

Can this happen in canon? Or if there's no tiniest violin to be played, can some immortal Epic who can't be hurt by her diamonds break into a rousing chorus of "First World Problems" the next time she starts complaining?

Lucentia was a bit too slow in declaring victory, and the other competitors unanimously declared her the loser. She spent the rest of her natural life wandering the earth, complaining about how nobody understaaaaaannnnnnds her.

All of the shinies combined into one massive, unstoppable shiny that could be seen for miles. Millions were blinded as the sun struck this shiny, rendering them helpless as the sunlight was refracted through Lucentia's diamonds as though through a magnifying glass and Oregon burned. And that is what happened in Oregon.

When it happens, link please. I don't want to miss this.

Both, I think. For the first one, I'd be looking for things like flamethrowers using their powers to heat buildings, stoves, and grills. For the second, it would be more along the lines of "what can Supers do with their powers that accomplish everyday tasks?" I'm also trying to puzzle out all of the societal effects of Supers, and I have a few down, but it feels….thin. Religion was one area that I should've paid more attention to. :/ See, I'd figured that many of the world's religions, upon seeing that some Supers were good and others bad, would accept it—though what they accepted it as varied wildly. Some Christians and Muslims, for instance, believed the Supers fulfilled various end-times and messianic prophecies, while others believed their powers a gift from God or Allah. Some, seeing the destruction caused by people who hadn't yet mastered their powers, saw them as a curse and shunned them accordingly. I know there would be a few splinter groups that worshipped especially charismatic Supers, but I'm not sure whether I should bring one of them in as an antagonist. The old evil-cult-out-to-destroy-the-world-with-its-evil-evil-religion thing just feels so tired to me. Maybe I could do something cool with it, but I'd be nervous about making it too cliched. Overall, though, Supers are just another part of the population. Super-centered cults are viewed by most as harmless loons (in the case of the more peaceful Supers) or dangerous nuts (in the case of less-than-peaceful Supers). Given that, I don't think they'd be terribly common, but those that do exist would be fairly well-known for sheer novelty. New ways of viewing the universe, though—that is one question I need to answer. Thanks for asking it! About thirty percent of people gained powers. They're common enough that Supers are neither an oppressed minority or a wild majority. I haven't figured out how much the world population declined. I know there were some early deaths from power-related accidents, skirmishes that ended badly, crimes, and things like that, but that as people got used to powers, a more even good-guy-bad-guy ratio came into being. I don't think the population was significantly lowered the way it would be after, say, nuclear war, but the world's population did decrease noticeably.

Altermind's shinies are a crime against shinies.

I've been working on my WIP (in between midterms and projects, that is) and it's like I've hit a wall. From writing fanfic, I've learned that, as a writer, my writing is better and it's easier to figure out where I'm going if I have a fully realized world in front of me. The problem is, every time I think the world is fully realized, I go to write, and I realize there's something else I hadn't bothered to flesh out that raises a ton of unanswered questions. Usually, that thing is pretty minor, but it keeps me from writing until I figure it out. Here's what I have so far: Supers appeared about thirty years ago. Each Super usually has one power, unless a passive secondary is required (for instance, Susan, my protagonist, has only one power, but a flamethrower would need both the ability to conjure and control flame and immunity to heat, so that is what they have). Strength ranges from rather weak to impressively strong (Susan is a powerful precog who can see multiple possible futures and, by writing them down, see up to a month of possibilities; the least powerful precog in this world would have something more akin to Spiderman's spidey-sense). Massive social upheaval followed their appearance: terrorist groups suddenly had Supers on their side, petty thieves had powers or could team up with those who did, psychopaths restrained by the system decided to see if their superpowers really did let them get away with murder, prisons had massive breakouts, and in the US, the House Majority and House Minority leaders had a debate that turned to a duel to the death on the House floor. Good and bad people got powers in equal measure. Police officers set up community training programs where new Supers could learn to use their powers in a safe environment. While there were some early vigilantes, many Supers just wanted to live their lives in peace. The current United States is no longer united. State boundaries are somewhat preserved out of habit; however, the most common form of governance is self-contained towns and city-states. The benevolence of these governments depends on the leaders. Susan and her husband, Randy, have spent the last few years (haven't determined how many; five or seven?) traveling from town to town. She uses her clairvoyance to help towns set up police forces, and assassinate corrupt leaders if need be. Okay, my question is basically….where do I go from here? I have some vague ideas of Supers using their powers to make up for lost technology (one of telepaths functioning like a news wire service, another of a corner of town where it's always icy for ice skaters) but I can't for the life of me seem to pin any of them down. Help?

"What do you even eat? Gruel?" "No, that's gross!" *sigh* "Fine, let's go for pancakes." "But—but Funtimes made it rain pancakes and she's scary!" "Are you crying again?" They're even free! And they won't kill you, like Lucentia's shinies. Funtimes' shinies are benevolent things.

I get the feeling Backtrack would cower in fear of Indian food. "Come on, Backtrack, take a bite." "I can't! It's too spicy! It's…it's…" "Are you crying?" "It's gonna burn my mouth and I'll never be able to eat anything ever again!" To be fair, he would probably have a similar reaction to sushi. At least you need new tissues because of your cold. If you were crying over the beardapalooza, I would worry. All the same, hope you feel better soon.

Steelheart? Nah, he'd just call her "little Epic" and attempt to blast her to smithereens. She might turn his cape pink before teleporting far away, but she might also not want to risk having such a powerful Epic come after her.

"I know, Reader. I know." She grinned. "I'm planning to kill him too. Which side of these plans do you want to be on?" (I'd write more, but I have the feeling Reader wouldn't handle dark!Funtimes very well. I'm not sure how you're supposed to handle dark!Funtimes except by screaming for help, but still.)

"Hey. Reader. Have you ever worn acid?" Funtimes grinned. "Because you're ten seconds away from finding out what it's like."

Were I so inclined, I might make a comic of a party where all the other ponies are gathered in one corner with Reader in the opposite corner while Funtimes says "Shun the non-believer! Shun! Shunnnnnn!" You're going to write from the perspective of a man who thinks the free shinies are going to kill him in his sleep, aren't you.

Do it!

Big Metal Fan: can create big steel fans to slice through the competition. Also a big fan of metal music.

Lightwards, punctual as always, was waiting for them. Funtimes was late and didn’t seem to care. She skipped straight past the sports cars parked at the curb, past the raptors standing vigil on the Sadrys' front lawn, rainbow-painted bowl wrapped in her arms. “Meeting time, meeting time, meeting time with Altermind, pudding, pudding, pudding for the mindy-mindy guy,” she sang. Had he not been on his way to meet with a necromancer who knew his secret and an illusionist who could learn it, Nathan might have smiled. The bruise in his side, which an earlier check had confirmed was several shades of dark grey and sickly purple, ached as he struggled to soothe his nerves. He wasn’t sure what frightened him more—the Epic who had put it there, or the furious glint in Funtimes’ eyes when she saw it. Nathan resisted the urge to hold it as he and Sam, trailed by Revolution, walked through the stares of greedy-eyed raptors. If they could, Nathan thought they might sing along with Funtimes: Lullaby, and goodnight, sleep well, tasty mammals... He stepped into the warm, well-lit living room, past the bloodstained and glass-strewn carpet. Sightline watched him through his blindfold, and Nathan felt he saw through his disguise as well. He smiled smugly, giving him a curt nod, wishing he would vanish. Could a real teleporter discern a false one? Were his shrouded eyes taking in every detail, seeing through his smile to the fear beneath? Could he see the bruise? A bruise doesn’t prove anything, Nathan told himself, though he knew that was a lie. A teleporter as powerful as Traveler would only sustain a bruise if his weakness prevented him from escaping before the blow landed. He kept his smile in place as he followed Funtimes, still skipping, to the table. Lightwards and Altermind were already seated, the former beside Lucentia and the latter between a young man with greasy dark hair and a young woman who seemed to be Native American. Two others, a muscled man and a blonde woman, held hands. All were undoubtedly Epics. One of the casino’s first rules—never sit at an Epic’s table; kneel if they want you at eye level—nagged at him as he took the seat Funtimes indicated with a grin and several excited taps against the back. She set the bowl on the table, plucked a cupcake from their plate, and turned it to a large dollop of whipped cream as she dropped it onto the pudding. With a giggle—and a pointed glance at Lightwards as Altermind’s gaze drifted to the pudding—she took her seat, positioning herself between Nathan and Lightwards, leaving Lucentia two chairs away. The small table felt unspeakably crowded, even with the folding chairs pushed back as far as possible. “Okie dokie loki,” she said, grinning at Altermind. Like most illusionists, he looked as though he had walked right off the set of an old Hollywood action movie—chiseled features, tanned skin, well-defined muscles. Nathan had a hunch most illusionists appeared pudgy and pale when caught by their weaknesses. “We’re here. And we brought pudding! With jellybeans. Lots and lots of jellybeans.” She giggled, settling back in her chair, hands in her lap. A small retinue of Warriors stood guard by Lightwards. Two guards—human, if Nathan’s guess was accurate—flanked Altermind, weapons at the ready. Nathan wished he was with them, dressed in their uniform, standing silent and unnoticed behind one of many true Epics in the room. He felt as though his disguise was paper-thin, and Lightwards was not the only one who saw through it.

I'll do it now, then. That way, you can work Sam's reaction to Pamela into that one. (I hope she's not too upset to think of jokes. )

I'm working on Funtimes' entrance now. Should I have her come in now, or wait until Altermind speaks? I was leaning toward the latter, but I'm good either way.

No, no, no. That's Doctor Funtimes. Nighthound's pony is far more nightmare-inducing.

Don't invite Nighthound. Just…don't.

He wheezes a laugh. "You think I did this without provocation, Cardinal? Do you think I forgot your visit to Newcago—when you camped out at my table all night—all sparking night—and didn't even tip?" Thomas Cardinal is so horrified that he treated a server (who he knows have terrible jobs) that way that he breaks down in tears. Doctor Frowntimes clocks him in the head with an apple and says "Here's a tip—take an anger management class, you freak."

Maybe we should combine them all into one big, strange AU where Doctor Frowntimes, fleeing Newcago after Backtrack and Jingleberry take over, brings healthy snacks and a dose of snark to Michael Jäger and Thomas Cardinal, her Reckoner contacts who are currently trying to defeat Server with a Crossbow, a cruel High Epic (given name Nathan Sperry) known for attacking restaurants and casinos and leaving only the staff alive.

Or the one where Nathan is an Epic, Remington is a coward, and Doctor Funtimes is called Doctor Frowntimes?