peterverse | endbringer, meet gun

peterxy posting in

...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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

mxglam

"I will gladly write the written apology to Ms. Yates, though I would like guidance on what I'd need to apologize for. Like I said, I do not have any recollections of having been disrespectful, and an example of a specific way in which I was would go a long way toward ensuring incidents like this do not happen again. My teachers tend to like me, and no one other than myself has been taking care of me for a while."

From:

alicornucopia

"You will be apologizing for speaking carelessly and selfishly and for not regarding her as an authority in her subject," says Piggot.

From:

mxglam

"Okay, I can do that, though that doesn't actually let me make any changes to my behavior. Am I supposed to be- more deferential? To not express preferences? To accept every idea and not question them or try to understand them?"

From:

alicornucopia

"You aren't negotiating from a position of strength. Deferring to others would be a smart move. If you want your costume to be a certain color, Ms. Yates can probably accommodate that. Before you'd met her she complimented you on your choice of cape name, for that matter. But you don't get to unilaterally decide that certain things are your way or the highway. And if your idea of understanding can only come in the form of impertinent questions, and you can't think of any better ways to go about it... postpone it."

From:

mxglam

Pause. "Okay. Um. So I can't have anything I won't budge on a priori, even if in the end it turns out that I didn't have to budge?"

From:

alicornucopia

"There are of course what I would normally call common-sense rules about conduct and the abuse of power, and if any of the authorities in your life oversteps those bounds you can go to any of the others to have that addressed."

From:

mxglam

"And... gender isn't one of those? She could present a boy cape as a girl cape, for example?"

From:

alicornucopia

"Ordinary genders are well within the normal range of cape prerogative on costumery and presentation. This thing you are doing is not. Ms. Yates is entirely correct to insist on an apolitical stance. You wouldn't be the first with some personal identity frippery that has to be dispensed with for the public eye. Do you think there are no gay superheroes, none who feel strongly about religion, none who could if invited argue for hours about hot-button issues that would have half the country up in arms over whether their favorite agreed with them too? You aren't special. I don't care which you pick, but if you don't pick, you're staying inside or Ms. Yates will pick for you."

From:

mxglam

"Hm. I don't suppose I could pretend to be two heroes or something."

From:

alicornucopia

Piggot smiles thinly. "Can you be seen in two places at once?"

From:

mxglam

"...possibly."

From:

alicornucopia

"Then that might just satisfy everyone. If you can't work it out to the point where the two of you can attend events together, though, you will have to narrow it down."

From:

mxglam

Sigh. "Okay." Think. "Okay."

From:

alicornucopia

"I'm glad that's cleared up. Now. What are your powers? I have Lorica's descriptions, but field reports are never as detailed as they could be."

From:

mxglam

"I can conjure things. There are limits to what, but they diminish with time and especially with practice. The more I conjure a thing, the faster I can do it and the more complex I can make it. I know I can conjure them within my field of vision, I suspect I can do more than that but haven't properly tested my hypotheses. For as long as I'm paying attention to a thing I conjure, it continues to exist; after I stop, it ceases to after half an hour, unless I pay attention to it again, in which case the timer resets. If someone squints too hard at stuff I make, it disappears. I can make it break the laws of physics a bit, but not too much; more entropy makes this easier. I can also alter stuff I didn't conjure to make it behave in different ways, though that's harder and more limited. I believe the limits to that also diminish with time and practice."

From:

alicornucopia

"Lorica has, surprisingly, volunteered to handle your powers testing entirely on her own, which I won't deny she's qualified to do. Make yourself available to her," says Piggot. "Until you have a patrol schedule - or two - her time is more constrained than yours and you should defer to her on when these appointments should be."

From:

mxglam

"Oh, that's neat!" And makes them feel all warm and fuzzy inside again for some reason, even if they're not exactly surprised. "I will use her help. And um. I'm sorry."

From:

alicornucopia

"Write up your apology to Ms. Yates and see if she believes you," suggests Piggot. "Particularly since your proposal has her doing twice as much work for you."

From:

mxglam

"Yeah. I... Should I do that now? Personally? I was thinking of waiting a day until I talked to her again, because I think she's not particularly happy with me for now."

From:

alicornucopia

"This is why I suggested a written apology. Email her. She can be reached at pcyates@protectorate.gov."

From:

mxglam

"Alright. Was there anything else?"

From:

alicornucopia

"That will be all for now."

From:

mxglam

"Okay."

Leave, close door carefully behind themself. Hover hover. It is lunch time, where might one get food? They neglected breakfast entirely.

From:

alicornucopia

There's a breakroom kitchen with various frozen food to microwave, snacks, ice cream, sandwich fixings, and a pot of soup covered in saran wrap labeled if you eat this you owe betty a thank you.