WWWYCD: Caught in the Web

[nexus]

Either while net surfing or due to an associate informing them your character stumbles across a fan site devoted to his or her career in crimefighting. Not that strange, but this site is intensive. All the stories, all the news photos and information on the character's life that could possibly be known and a few details they thought weren't released, including details of things only they know. The "fanfiction" has details about their personal life that, if they are guesses, are amazingly accurate. The art section contains some racy pictures that include physical details they their costumes don't show, though their idenity is always concealed (If they have a Secret ID). Over all, the information contained is eerily complete and accurate even if you the character is obsessive about secrecy. The site is hosted on a free server physically located in the United states. The most recent update was an addition of the character's latest adventures about 3 days after he or she completed it. A skilled anaylsis of the fan fiction can tell that it has all been written by the same person, a moderately skilled author and most likely a native English speaker. There are no typos or misspellings and the colloquilisms are from all over, betraying no regional or ethnic bias. The fan fiction tends toward the romantic side with sexual overtones towards a specific character of the appropriate gender which is not any of the character's actual love interests (if any). This character changes from story to story but always has some traits in common: Great Intellect, physical weakness and great devotion to the PC. There is no blatant sexuality in any of the stories. None of the pictures goes beyond the racy cheesecake (Or beefcake) level.

 

The site itself is encoded in the latest net format and well laid out, but somewhat unimaginative in design. There are no links, no popups and no detectable virus or adware present.

[Blue]

Re: WWWYCD: Caught in the Web

 

Audra Blue is the mistress of disinformation. She would launch several dummy sites that flood the net with bad info about her. Meanwhile she'd track the author across the web and check their background for anything unseemly.

 

Anthem does not surf the web, so she'd have to be told about it. She'd find it disturbing, but she's not certain what she could do about it aside from being more careful. Additionally she'd contact Audra Blue about finding out about the author.

 

(Audra would find a site about other folks amusing, but she'd help.)

 

Uncle Slam is pretty much an open book. All of his secrets are government secrets he keeps because he is required to by law. He'd find it vaguely disquieting that people have gone so far as to make up fan fiction about him, but it's just another form of idolatry and that, he knows, has been around as long as there have been heroes.

[BcAugust]

Re: WWWYCD: Caught in the Web

 

[Note, both of them are public ID characters]

 

Crown Princess Cyrande of Malva: Would be shocked, especially at the "fan fiction", given no one from Earth is supposed to know most of that stuff. Would definitly try and track the person down. Likely insist on Micro's help, and confronting the person.

 

 

Nox: Depending on the pictures (especially since the "Nox" half wears full plate and Sherry wears very sensible clothes) she'd likely be shocked, but not do anything, other then stammer a bit. She might chalk it up to someone with an overactive imagination. Of course, this is assuming that it isn't disturbingly slanted. If it is, the team would probably assume it's a DEMON plot, and treat it as such.

[Guest WhammeWhamme]

Re: WWWYCD: Caught in the Web

 

Heh. I like. I especially like that I don't need to list all my characters...

 

Most importantly:

 

Android. (Once he HAS a career ). He and Gadget are going to get _right_ on it andf figure out what the heck this is about... (btw. POKE! Reduce by/to how much?)

 

Rook. Him finding out about it will be half the battle. "There's something about you on the internet."

"I have no secrets. Keeping secrets from the public is wrong."

"It's stuff they really shouldn't know!"

"Not important."

"Come ON! Spying! Espionage! Deceit!"

"Fine..."

 

At that point, he's going to be suspicious. Oh... and someone else will have figured out what it was about.

 

More later.

[Twilight]

Re: WWWYCD: Caught in the Web

 

"Oh crap! Mids is gonna KILL me!"

 

That would be Twilight's first reaction to finding the site, rapidly followed by his second:

 

"PENNY! I'M GONNA GET YOU FOR THIS!"

 

Twilight would naturally assume that Bad Penny, a villainess whom he's had a relationship with is behind this as she's the only one he can think of who would know all this about him. She's rather eccentric and qualifies as a fan so it doesn't exactly seem odd for her. Twilight would naturally track her down and once he found out she wasn't involved [assuming of course she isn't] she would likely accompany him on his quest to find out who is. Even if he doesn't want her to.

 

His mentor, Lady Midnight, strongly disapproves of course.

[caris]

Re: WWWYCD: Caught in the Web

 

Adonis would actually start with one worry - stalker. Not really for himself, but that some one this obsessed with him might try and do something silly like get involved in crime fighting or otherwise put themselves in danger. The fact that the lover is always frail would only make him more worried that they might get into trouble trying to get his attention. If anything Adonis might try submitting his own fanfic, using similar love interests and see if/how long it takes the web master to figure out that it really is Adonis and make contact.

[Jeghis]

Re: WWWYCD: Caught in the Web

 

Detective Throl: "Oh. You think this is funny, do you? Well, I'll tell you what. YOU go out there and chase down every flame waving, gun-toting, mind melting crazy and I'LL sit here and ogle this stupid website. And then when I'm done maybe I'll find the time to come pick up your sorry carcass from the gutter where some piece of trash left it and stick in the appropriate receptacle so that you don't stink up the streets and scare the children. So, get off your sorry butt and get out there and get to work NOW. We've got a job to do and it doesn't include this computer terminal. Got it? Good. GET MOVING!"

[OddHat]

Re: WWWYCD: Caught in the Web

 

Style – Has very little skill with or knowledge of computers beyond the basics. He’d probably go to Jack-that-was or another technically skilled hero and ask for help. If he found the site creator, he’d talk things out before acting. If he had to, Style would be willing to selectively re-write the writer’s memories and personality to prevent the revelation of any information that might cause problems.

 

Flesh Gordon – Wouldn’t notice unless someone pointed it out to him. Repeatedly. Using a full power point presentation and a sharp stick. The Internet is full of Flesh Gordon fan sites, most of them with beefcake pictures and fanfic, and his identity is public. If he did locate the writer, and the writer was at all attractive, he’d probably start a relationship that would end with the writer trying to kill him. This would make it in no way different from most of Flesh’s relationships.

 

Legend – Would be very disturbed, but lacks the skills to do much about it. His identity is public. He’d go to Wrath, War-Man or Night Hunter and ask for help tracking this person down. Wrath would mock Legend a bit but might consider helping, War-Man can’t really help with this, but Night Hunter would be able to find the writer. Once located, Legend would try to determine if this person was a metahuman and if he or she was a threat, and act from there.

[Stormraven]

Re: WWWYCD: Caught in the Web

 

Checkmate Has a public ID, so wouldn't be terribly concerned about most of it, but information that only his wife should know - physical characteristics and such - would concern him on two levels. One, he's a security specialist - it would not be good for business for it to be known that he could be spied on by anyone. Two, while his wife can take care of herself, the possibility of a deranged stalker is still nothing he would scoff at.

 

He would immediately institute a search to determine everything about the person, (and with every detective type skill and computer type skill in the book and a few besides, all at 17- or greater, he should be able to find it) then he would put together a similar website - though without the fan-fiction - and send it to the person in question. In the email, he would make it plain that removing the website is their only option if they don't want all their secrets let out into the world. In the event they believe themselves protected because no one would want to know about them, he would also attach a news story - fully accurate but spun to make them seem one of the vilest villains ever to appear - and remind them that the media can interest the public in anyone.

 

Guardian, on the other hand, doesn't have a public ID or secret ID, but someone would have to point her to the website. She wouldn't worry overmuch about the physical descriptions. She's a model, and has been in ads for lingerie and the like, so anyone who did figure out her identity would be able to track down such pictures. Her concern would be the fan-fic and the apparent knowledge of secrets that Guardian does take pains to keep hidden. She, having no computer skills of her own, would need to get one of her many contacts to trace the creator, and find out how they know those things. If the information was obtained legally, she would let it go, though not happily. If obtained illegally, she would very happily beat them into tomato paste - or at least give them the impression that she would do so, before turning them over to the police.

[Bengal]

Re: WWWYCD: Caught in the Web

 

Bengal has heard of the internet, but he's homeless and can't read nor write english so the chances of him actually folowing us on this are very slim.

 

My detective/martial artist has access to government contacts, IT experts, and so on, so it would only be a matter of time before he discovered who it is who posted the information. And then a scary little midnight visit would be in order. If that didn't work, he would leave it to his friends in the US attorney's office to prosecute with the full extent (and greater) of the law.

[teh bunneh]

Re: WWWYCD: Caught in the Web

 

Myrmidon is already paranoid about people finding out his secrets (he's a conspiracy freak), so he would devote all his time to finding out who is doing this and how. He's a computer expert (and also a disinformation expert), so it probably wouldn't be too hard. Assuming it was an innocent (if very intelligent and dedicated) fan, he would have a long talk to the person about the importance of keeping a secret ID -- and the importance that the government doesn't know about him. He would also wonder how they got "beefcake" pictures of him, since he has only ever appeared in public in full, (mini) mech-like armor (such that even some of his own teammates think he's a robot).

 

Blur!! would at first be flattered. Someone likes her enough to make a fan page! YAAAY!!! But as she read further and further, she would get deeply creeped out. She would go to Myrmidon for help, since she's no computer expert.

 

Chevelier would also be flattered. She has a secret ID, but she's pretty casual about it. "Ah, another fan site," she would sigh. "It is so difficult being ze most beautiful and famous superheroine. So many people want -- how you say? -- a piece of zis, but sadly zere is only so much to go around."

 

Bill.

[Aryanun]

Re: WWWYCD: Caught in the Web

 

Omen: Wouldn't care. Doesn't have a public or secret id disad, and so hasn't really tried all that hard to hide anything except when she first start out (15 years ago). Especially now, she wouldn't care at all.

 

Rune: Her main concern would be for her son, foremost. Second would be finding out who the person was and if they were a political rival of her late husband, or a villian she's been coming against a lot recently. She'd definately want to get to the bottom of it and would use her late husband's military contacts to get to the truth of the matter.

 

Chaos: Wouldn't know where to start on finding the person, but would be interested in why someone was so interested in her. Of courses, she's used to having worshippers, but not fanfic. That aspect would baffle her. She also would not assume the person was a native English speaker as English isn't her first language but she can read and write it better than a lot of the natives, especially when reading things online.

[Metaphysician]

Re: WWWYCD: Caught in the Web

 

Microman II: Is an android. Thus, he might find some of the "fiction" confusing, enlightening, and/or disturbing. As for response, would probably keep an eye on the site, but wouldn't intervene unless it looks like something sinister is afoot, or that security is being genuinely compromised. He would inform the rest of the Sentinels, though; some of *them* might be more concerned.

 

Diomedes: Not really applicable ( was there a significant internet fan presence yet in 1994?? ).

[BcAugust]

Re: WWWYCD: Caught in the Web

 

Microman II: Is an android. Thus, he might find some of the "fiction" confusing, enlightening, and/or disturbing. As for response, would probably keep an eye on the site, but wouldn't intervene unless it looks like something sinister is afoot, or that security is being genuinely compromised. He would inform the rest of the Sentinels, though; some of *them* might be more concerned.

 

Diomedes: Not really applicable ( was there a significant internet fan presence yet in 1994?? ).

Considering there was usenet, and Aegis's receptionist is a big fan, likely. Of course, this just means she'll find it first...

[BcAugust]

Re: WWWYCD: Caught in the Web

 

(responding to the edit)

 

Sherry looks at the screen for a long time, slightly blushing as the pictures show up, and reading through the fan fic, Diomedes and Valor watching over her shoulder. "Wow." She says after a few hours, stretching back. "Is there any way to contact him?" Sherry smiles at the answer "Cool. I'd like to meet him." Before Diomedes comments "Dio... I used to be like this. Well, not like this, but still... it's sweet. And hey, I could do worse then go on a date with someone who wants to treat me right."

[Metaphysician]

Re: WWWYCD: Caught in the Web

 

In that case, Diomedes would probably likewise find this of concern, and would investigate, trying to track down the individual. He wouldn't automatically assume said person is a threat, though, unless the details were a security breach. In fact, if the person is reasonable enough ( a dedicated fan, rather than an obsessive fanatic stalker ), he might try and recruit her as a contact.

[sinanju]

Re: WWWYCD: Caught in the Web

 

Funny you should ask. Hell's Angel just discovered a website devoted to her in the PbEM game I'm playing now (Empire City). Fortunately, it's clear that the website participants have nothing like the detailed info you mention. If it did have such information, she'd certainly investigate--because there are very people who could know those details (short of a telepath reading her mind or something of the kind).

 

Hell's Angel's not-quite-so-scarily-accurate fansite discovery:

 

"What am I looking for?" Gayle [Gayle Roark, Hell's Angel's secret ID] asked, sliding into Rachel's [Gayle's best friend, who knows her secret] swivel chair. She heard Rachel start to speak as Gayle reached for the mouse. Her touch was enough to turn off the screensaver. Gayle gawked at the image on the screen.

 

It was the splash page for a web site. An image of Hell's Angel filled most

of the screen. Gayle recognized it as as an image lifted from a news photo

of one of her first appearances. It had been manipulated to eliminate the

cityscape and leave only the brilliant white, red and orange of the fiery

heroine against a matte black background. Letters in similar colors below

the picture spelled out the name of the website: The Hellfire Club.

 

"Oh my God!" she said. She looked to Rachel. "Did _you_--?"

 

Rachel was quick to deny it. "No, it's not my doing. I only found it today.

That's just the home page. Keep going. There's more."

 

Gayle turned obediently back to the screen and clicked on "Enter." She spent

the next few minutes exploring a site devoted to Hell's Angel. There were

links to the few news reports of Hell's Angel in action, to a few more

photos, and a discussion board with several topics. One was for reports (and

discussion) of verified sightings, including news reports. One was full of

rumors and innuendo about the heroine's identity, background, origin,

intentions--pretty much everything about her. Following a few links at

random assured Gayle that most of it was little different from the ramblings

of the tabloid press.

 

Then she spotted the "Fiction" links. There were two options. G-rated and

NC-17. Gayle felt the shock like a blow to her solar plexus. She'd read

enough fanfic to know what to expect here. Hell, she and Rachel had been

writing fanfic since they were in high school, though never about real

people.

 

"Have you looked at this?" Gayle asked Rachel, without taking her eyes off the

screen.

 

"...yeah," Rachel said after a moment.

 

Gayle clicked on the first link. It was just as she'd suspected. Mostly very

short, very badly written action/adventure stories. The sheer variety of

backgrounds ascribed to her was remarkable--she was variously portrayed as a

repentant demon, fallen angel, mutant, sorceress, alien, robot and

occasionally other things that weren't quite clear. It had never been as

clear to Gayle how little the public really knew about her as it was now,

after twenty minutes spent perusing this archive.

 

Gayle took a deep breath and then clicked the second link--and found herself

looking at a thoroughly pornographic photo of a nude Hell's Angel crouched

over an equally nude man sprawled on the hood of some kind of sportscar. The

photo left no doubt about what they were doing. Beneath the photo was a long

list of links to stories. As she stared at the image, Gayle felt a prickling

on the back of her neck and heat rising in her cheeks and ears. She realized

that Rachel was speaking to her.

 

"What?" Gayle asked. She stared at the image for a long moment, still

struggling to process what she was seeing, before dragging her gaze away.

She turned to look at Rachel. "What did you say?"

 

"I said, it's a hell of a Photoshopping job. It's almost a shame it's so

obscene."

 

Gayle looked back, recognizing now that Rachel was correct. It wasn't a real

photo--she knew that. It had never happened. But it was awfully damned

convincing. Gayle looked at it and realized she was angry. It had been

mildly flattering to see the rest of the website, but this--

 

The list of story links was no better. The one line synopses told Gayle all

she needed to know. She knew that prurient material like this was

inevitable. It was all over the internet. But she'd never been the subject

before and it felt like a slap in the face. The thought of men like Jimmy

Carlyle or the others getting their jollies by reading these stories....

[Badger]

Re: WWWYCD: Caught in the Web

 

Badger is secretive so this would be an annoyance (the more personal stuff, anyway), on the other hand if it is a decent looking woman who is behind it. Well Badger hasnt had a date in a long time.

 

Other characters in the group

 

frosty Bob- Well he has had his share of lady friends....

 

Weasel- our power armor guy. Well talk about an ego trip. Though the fact that he is a fairly unathletic 300+ pounds........those pics . In any case his ego would be out of control.

 

Bumblefly- he is a jack-of-all-trades expert hacker(among many other tech skills). It wouldnt be too hard to screw this site up if need be

[Tech]

Re: WWWYCD: Caught in the Web

 

Neutron - After the website is shut down by the Government for 'National Security', it will at least be down for investigation, not to mention the subpoena accompanying the shut down. Neutron's life is very much tied to the government and too much information about him touches on things the government wouldn't want on a website. Failing that, the website goes down for good - too bad about those computer viruses, boy are they pesky..

 

Roger - Somewhat flattered by the fanfic, the racy stuff makes his eyes bulge out and exclaim "HUH? What if kids read this?" The website mysterious disappears shortly thereafter after the computer comes to life and deletes all information about Roger and chases the website author down the street.

[Whitewings]

Re: WWWYCD: Caught in the Web

 

Faye Soenghen: "Cool site. Maybe I should look up the creator, give him a thrill." This assumes that the site comes up after she's started a career as the Silver Sorceress, stage magician. If she does crimefighting, it would be *extremely* low-key. She's likely to be a bit fanatical about keeping it dead quiet that she has *real* psionic powers. If it's a Faye Soenghen fansite, and she hasn't gone onto the stage yet, she's going to find the little weiner behind it and have words with him. Come on, a fansite for a high school cheerleader? How lame is that?

 

Ashley Evans: If it's about her as Ashley, she'll be blushing furiously for the next week. After that, she'll threaten the site's creator with legal action on the grounds that she's a minor and he has no permission from her parents to operate the site. Hopefully, negotiations will lead to the site being toned down heavily. If it's about her as "Mega-girl," or whatever super-ID she adopts, if any, well, there's not much she can do about it.

 

Champion Wind: "Cool! I have fans!"

 

Ika: She's a timelost cave girl. What does she care?

 

Serena: Would start a campaign of terror against the creator: Voices he can't *quite* make out, strange sounds, thigs moving around when he's not looking. Making a fansite about a spy and a psych-ops expert isn't the brightest move possible.

[Bucky]

Re: WWWYCD: Caught in the Web

 

Bucky "I have fans??!! Are they older than the age of consent? Do they have money? Why me and not one of the girls?" (Bucky is the sole male teammate.) Then would proceed to find out if the gals have fansites of their own, read the NC-17 fiction about his team mates as long as he could stand it. (Bucky is pretty shallow and simple when it comes to matters like these)

 

Afterwards, he would start to wonder who was doing it, and whether it would cause problems with the University he works for. As he is just starting off on this whole super hero schitck, and their single foray into this thing left them in an alternate dimension, cut off from ALL earthy contact for about 4 weeks, the issue of whether to keep his super heroic identity secret or not is one he has not addressed. Maybe Bucky should, before things get out of hand and he is no longer able to keep it secret. Then again, maybe its too late for that.

[Funksaw]

Re: WWWYCD: Caught in the Web

 

Caleb: Please note that while we appreciate the interest, your website violates several trademarks, and as such, we could ask you to remove them according to the Digital Millienium Copyright Act.... Or, we could talk about this over dinner and a movie? La Madeline's followed by Phantom of the Opera? Sometime around 8ish on Friday?

[TheEmerged]

Re: WWWYCD: Caught in the Web

 

The Disruptor. He's nearly 60 years old and has a COM of zero. He also has a reputation as a brutal killer, and is one of the most hated novas in existance. The campaign equivalent of Superman has stated in interviews that The Disruptor is one of a handful of figures in all of human history he could justify killing. He's also a master of disguise (21- after skill levels, with 4 PSL's vs not having the proper tools)...

 

So The Disruptor's first reaction would be "Geez, there are some SICK [expletive] in this world". He'd track them down with his massive computer skills (Computer Programming, System Operation, PS: Hacker and KS: Internet, all at 23- after skill levels) to kill the site.

 

UNLESS one of those "details" happened to be the one that turned him into a supervillain. If that's included, he'd stop at nothing to hunt down and kill the person behind it -- I'm talking obsession level here.

[nexus]

Re: WWWYCD: Caught in the Web

 

If the site is hacked (and its no harder to do so than any other unsecured website) its back up the next day on a different server.

 

If there is a polite (or not so polite requst to have it removed) it is removed within the hour and never reappears. The character receives a single apologetic email from a hotmail account.

 

Tracking the creater proves to difficult, even for those with Mad Hacker skillz. They don't seem to have a physical address. Or one that changes a great deal. Verifification information about a physical locale leads to empty offices and dummy phone lines. Attempts to track the user garner an email query about if the site has caused distress and do you wish it removed.

[BcAugust]

Re: WWWYCD: Caught in the Web

 

Interesting...

 

Cyrande wouldn't want it removed, but sending an email back. "How do you know this?" And the fact that Micro couldn't track it down likely calls the rest of the team in. This has become interesting.

 

Nox: Sherry sighs as she goes over her electronic mail, this usenet thing surprisingly addictive. And Diomedes hasn't been having any luck either, finding the guy. She opens up another one, and blinks in surprise. It's the author of the web site. Neat. Maybe now she could find out who it is. Maybe arrange a time to meet...