endbringer, meet gun

[peterxy]

...Very unseasonable rains can be seen in the distance from the shores of Acapulco.

The Brockton Bay Protectorate starts organizing volunteers to be transported or teletransported in batches to it. Heroes, rogues, villains, anyone's assistance is appreciated. A rendez-vous point is set for non-Protectorate capes wishing to volunteer, and Protectorate capes are informed of the situation via communication devices.

Comments

[thinkering]

"You're a step up in the command structure, you don't have to go to school and if you do there's nobody worried about Youth Guard protests anymore if you have an off-day, and unlike being Ward Captain like Dauntless is now you can, if you work up to the point of seniority in your team, have some actual autonomy on some things that matter."

[mxglam]

"Things that matter like what? Also is the moving around and changing teams actually voluntary? The media makes it seem like everyone's altruistically joining whatever teams will best help everyone else, the forums make it seem like every hero's a pawn of the Protectorate."

[thinkering]

"Forums are mostly right. If you want to stay put you can probably do that. If your day job, should you maintain such a thing, moves, you can probably follow it. But Dad got moved here and I don't think he was upset about it but they didn't really ask him."

[mxglam]

"Hmmm. This overall lack of autonomy sounds really annoying."

[thinkering]

"Ah-huh."

[mxglam]

"Well, thanks for this, info's useful."

[thinkering]

"You're welcome."

[mxglam]

"The other ideas for rep building were... pairing up with a Tinker, pretending to be one, both with aforementioned power-locking drawbacks, what else?"

[thinkering]

"Pairing up with a Tinker doesn't lock you. There's an obvious reason not to do it all the time - you have to sit through the entire design and building phase making them stuff and then the final product doesn't last very long. You just have to do it now and then when someone scared by the phrase 'unlimited tinker budget' is listening. Getting minions might help too - makes you look stronger to your opponents and gives you a boost from the minions."

[mxglam]

"Minions as in people minions or as in conjuring up minion-like things? 'Cause people minions might make me look way villainy I think."

[thinkering]

"Cohorts, teammates, support staff, you don't have to call them minions. If you conjure them up they don't boost you, I imagine - if they did your runaway power scenario could be worse than mine."

[mxglam]

"Yeah I don't think they do, and I still haven't had any success making them anyway. Teammates, other than the Protectorate there are a bunch of other hero teams, I suppose, with slightly different lists of pros and cons. Having non-teammates people working with or for me is harder without having a rep already."

[thinkering]

"You could try New Wave, but you'd have to unmask..."

[mxglam]

"That's actually less of a problem than you might think."

[thinkering]

"Oh?"

[mxglam]

"...I don't have much of a non-cape life. I go to school, have some friends there, but no one close mostly because can't talk shop and because of my expected lifespan."

[thinkering]

"Well, then maybe New Wave would be just the thing."

[mxglam]

"Aren't they all, like, the same family or some such?"

[thinkering]

"They are, but I don't know if that's a membership requirement per se, they might have just not gotten anyone wanting to join them who wasn't related, yet. They'd fit your color scheme too."

[mxglam]

"Yeah, that's actually not a bad idea. And I mean, they've got some cool powers, being seen with them won't hurt."

[thinkering]

"Yeah."

[mxglam]

"...though taking an E88 cape down would probably be like instant-fame, at least around Brockton Bay."

[thinkering]

"Yeah, if you pull if off."

[mxglam]

"And being dead if I don't. I don't expect most of them even know what nonbinarity is, but given their position on gay people they probably would have a problem with me as well."

[thinkering]

"You're a cape, it can just as easily come off as an identity protection measure."