TwiLyghtSansSparkles

It was much happier as a miniature bird's nest. Killing people with dysentery, of course.

Ask and you shall receive.

Hello Hey, is there any way you could edit your last two The Dalles posts to take out the quotes? It kind of messes with the flow of the thread.

I also have a working theory that David, far from being a fly-on-the-wall narrator, is actually the protagonist and main character of the entire series. Now you're thinking with portals. Which could be used here. Portal + portal + distance = infinity punches without retaliation. I usually love sparkles as much as the next girl (though not nearly as much as Doctor Funtimes) but in this case, sparkles are a bad thing.

I'm trying to decide on that one. Maybe if he drinks someone's blood, he gains their memories, but simply draining them grants him some of their strength, skills, and intelligence? I don't want to give him an excuse to drink the blood of every single person under his thumb and just become this amazing super-Epic, so none of the effects would be permanent. Twenty-four hours, tops, though probably shorter than that, depending on how much he uses at once. If that makes sense. Sort of. He's a backstory Epic.

Oooohhh, I think I'll combine that with what I have so far. Epic Name: Soulflicker Primary Ability: Can drain the life force of those he chooses; can drain up to 3 people at a time and his power is restricted to vanillas; those he drains go into a trance-like state throughout this process; he can choose whether to leave them alive and weakened or drain them completely; his strength is proportionate to how much strength and how many people he has drained recently Secondary Ability: Blood control—Blood contact with a person speeds the draining process. Drinking a sample of their blood would kill them instantly, granting him their strength Passive Ability: Life-sensing—Soulflicker can sense the strength of those around him; Epics emit a somewhat stronger "signal" than vanillas How's that sound? Creepy enough? I'm hoping he's more Dracula than Edward Cullen, but if you tell me he's more like Count Von Count than Edward Cullen, I'll be happy with that too.

Seeing his discomfort, I have a feeling corrupted!Murphy would follow Reader around. (Though it would be amusing to see a despondent Reader angrily slurping down a juicebox. )

You know who might actually be able to kill him? Murphy. His Murphionic field would ensure Reader would choke on his wine, trip down the stairs, and accidentally strangle himself with his own necktie.

Nope. I'm not the one eating it at all. I made my own cake from certified organic ingredients. (He probably knows that's because I'm allergic to food coloring, but almost everyone I know knows that, so HA!)

After that post, I feel Reader has graduated, going from this to this. It doesn't make him any less of a slontze, though. Still, it does call for cake.

Thanks.

I added some dialog for Alice. Tell me if I should change it.

Her name was Alice, and she didn't talk much. It was a twenty-minute drive to the cemetery, and that was the most Remington had learned about her. It wasn't for lack of questions on his part. "What's your name?" "Alice." "Who shot you, Alice?" Silence. He glanced around, but saw no one else. "Look, it's not safe out here. Get in the car, and I swear I'll keep you safe. I don't want to hurt you." There was no way for her to know he was telling the truth, and part of him hoped she would assume he wasn't. Nearly any other woman would have shot first and taken off down the street, praying as she ran that he wouldn't be in any condition to follow. She didn't have a weapon, but she could still run. Maybe whatever had dragged her out from under Lightwards' thumb had restored her sense of self-preservation. After a pause, Alice approached the truck. He bandaged her arm quickly—Funtimes had been only too willing to stuff his pockets with bandages and first-aid ointments, after insisting on dying them all garish shades of purple and orange—then checked his watch. He could make it to the cemetery in plenty of time. "I've got two meetings to get to. You wouldn't mind tagging along?" Silence. "I'll take that as a no," he said with a sigh. Not that she would have argued. He started up the engine and pulled out into traffic. She might have gone with anyone. Walked up to CorpseMaker and stared until he killed her. Wandered past Thoughttown and been shot for trespassing. God forbid she run into Lightwards. "You all right, Alice?" This time, her answer was quick, spoken in that same monotone. "All right." "That arm hurting?" "Yes." Maybe they were getting somewhere. "Sorry 'bout the orange. It was that or purple." Silence. Or maybe not. How did you get away from Lightwards? How long have you been like this? When did he kill you, and how long did it take you to realize he's a slontze? What can I do to…. Try as he might, Remington couldn't quite word that last question. What can I do to help? What can I do to get you away from him, keep him from ever taking you again? How can I make you Alice again? He watched her out the corner of his eye. She stared out the window at passing houses and blurring trees as though she had never seen them before. Looked down at the dashboard as though expecting it to speak. Looked at him as though shocked he wasn't Lightwards. But aside from turning her head, she barely moved. He wanted her to reach out and touch the glass or the console, but she sat and stared with her hands in her lap, as though awaiting permission. A surge of anger made Remington tighten his grip on the steering wheel. For the first time he could recall, he hoped Funtimes would turn his gun into a pool noodle before the meeting. If she left it the way it was, he would shoot that necromancer in the chest. When he revived, he'd go for the head. When they reached the cemetery, he pulled off onto an old dirt road, parked as far from it as he could, and helped Alice out of the car, mindful of her arm. Instincts buried since Laurie's death screamed for him to take her hand, but he gave her his hoodie instead. Chill air nipped at his skin through his plaid work shirt. "'Lo there," he said when they approached a small group gathered further in. "Got room for two more?"

Now that you mention it, he probably has. The number of times he was shot at depends on how many times he came to life and shouted insults at Mrs. Sadry.

Huh. Turns out there is a character she could run into who would be worse than an average hobo and Lightwards combined. Eh, not sure about Parity. Sure, her powers are weird, but not Epically weird.

You mean like my theory that, not only do they take place in the same universe, but that Firefight is actually a sequel to Steelheart? I was just planning on having him reflect on how willing she was to come with him, how he's glad he was the one who found her instead of some unsavory hobo (or worse: Lightwards), and how she doesn't say much during the ride, just stares at everything and answers his questions with "yes," "no," or silence. Does that sound right?

I just love Steelheart so much that I automatically connect everything I see to it. Am I up next in Portland? Posting for Remington taking Alice to the cemetery?

She did remind me very much of an Epic.

Sure. No problem.

I already have an evil Soother, so why not?

Definitely eye contact. Maybe blood contact strengthens the connection, allowing him to kill them quickly if he chooses? And maybe the blood doesn't have to be fresh so he keeps blood samples of everyone under his thumb on hand just in case?

That's the worst kind of reveal-the one they tack on for the sake of a twist. Maybe they go into a trance while he's sapping from them?

That reveal is one of the worst, ranking up there with "this nice guy was evil all along" and "it was all a dream" as the worst of all time. Maybe blood control of some sort? Or a hydro kinetic who uses his powers to control blood? Edit: I like that idea, Kobold. Only I think I'll keep it to stealing from vanillas, to keep him from being too OP. And even creepier, when you add Fridge Horror.

That is so soul-crushing I have to wonder if a cynical super villain didn't write it to sap the hope from everyone who read it. One circlet mocking scene coming up. Maybe as a secondary. I'd pictured him as sort of a vampire-type Epic, but I'm not entirely sure how to do that or pull it off without making it cheesy.

What series was that? Also, any power ideas for an Epic named Soulflicker?