SKJAM!

Re: Alternate Earth #23(?): Living In The Wild, Wild West The Mask of Justice: Is much the same, really, except that New York City is if anything more rough-and-tumble (see Gangs of New York.) Probably didn't go to college, but worked his way up from printer's devil to become a reporter. Doesn't get out West very often, since there's plenty to do in his home city. Rock Bottom: A former runaway slave (Civil War fixed the slave part) who got caught in a chemical explosion in a Baltimore warehouse. He's mostly concerned with helping and protecting other former slaves. Calculus: "Doc" Rockwood is a professional gambler, and a deadly shot with his Derringer. "It isn't the size of the holes that counts, it's where you put them." Kira Midori: Is hit with a double dose of racism and sexism when she arrives from the future. Ain't nobody in this time period hiring Japanese women as police officers. Her psychic gifts might get her a job with the Pinkertons though, as long as she doesn't act all uppity. Talion: "I hear Desolation Smith was seen up Tucson way." "Pshaw! Tain't no such person!" "That's not so, Tex. I seen him with my own eyes once, when he wiped out the Barlow gang. Just stood right there and told them to surrender or die where they was. They hauled out their shootin' irons, and when the smoke cleared, Desolation was full of holes--but so was they. I don't mind sayin', I like to lost my lunch." "So it's true he was cursed by Christ to walk the world forever, cause of laughing at Him on the cross?" "What I heard was that he angered some Cheyenne shaman, who called up the old spirits of his people to punish Desolation, but the shaman's daughter took a liking to the man and wove a protection for him that didn't quite work. I asked Desolation about it, but he just laughed, bitter like, and walked away." "Reckon I'll go up Tucson way, and see for myself." "You do that, Tex. But don't make a friend of Desolation Smith, or you will surely die."

Re: Alternate Earth #22—World of your Dreams There are those who doubt Talion's sanity in any case...but he'd get better. He always does.

Re: Alternate Earth #22—World of your Dreams The Mask of Justice : His inventor friend discovers that an alien taint is responsible for much of the evil in the world. The Mask helps with the process of exposing humanity to the Healing Ray, which drives out that taint. People exposed to the Ray retain their free will, but no longer feel compelled to choose actions that are harmful to themselves or others. A true Golden Age ensues, with the Mask becoming an explorer of the far reaches of the world, and eventually space. Rock Bottom : Muhammed's father accepted him for who he is, and never disowned him. Rock still got his powers rescuing homeless kids from a chemical spill, but they include being able to switch between human and statue form. Oh, and he has a hot boyfriend. Calculus : Never lost his powers, and is now the world's greatest detective. Somehow, he still met his wife and had a son. Kira Midori : Never traveled through time. History remains as she was taught in school. She has never had to mind probe a pedophile, and the majority of crimes are committed by teenagers for the thrill of rebellion. Oh, and she's engaged to a nice young man. Talion : The incident gave him the powerset of Silver Age Superman. Deluxe, as he is now known, is the Greatest Hero on Earth (tm.) He's the repected leader of the Defenders of Justice. (His former team is reduced to comic relief cameos.) There is just enough villainy and disaster in the world to keep Deluxe from getting bored. In Deluxe's Secret ID as a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, he lives an idyllic existence with his sexy wife and sturdy son. Meanwhile, the Black Lotus Ivy is having a wonderful dream in which it has grown to encompass the entire Earth and embraces all of humanity. Outside, the rest of Talion's team debates whether they should bother freeing him. "Look at him. He's smiling. When was the last time you saw Talion smile?" "Exactly! You know perfectly well that whenever something makes Talion happy, disaster ensues. We have to get rid of the thing." "Me next! I want to try it! Can I, huh, huh?" "Shut up, She-Cat." Of course, the combination of Talion's deep pessimism and his regenerative powers would eventually taint the dream. Deluxe's wife runs off with another man, his son overdoses on drugs. Deluxe's powers begin to fade, and he's voted out of the DoJ. The villains go from wacky themed robbers to murderers and rapists. Street crime hits an all time high, and Deluxe struggles against it but the prisons are sieves. His books are burned, and the Pulitzers revoked. Nuclear war is imminent when Talion is finally awakened.

Re: Early NYC Vigilantes Actually, it sounds like the Conclave's worst enemy in the present day will be--the Conclave. Or rather, the faction within the Conclave that likes being in charge.

Re: Winx HERO Thanks for the encouragement, guys! The Specialists A team of boys (sophmores or juniors, I think) from the Red Fountain school for heroes. They're less magically gifted than their female counterparts, having to rely on OAF weapons and Vehicles. Theoretically, they're being taught skills useful to swashbuckling hero types, but we see little of this. The few times they've busted out their weapons in the series, their fighting style has been clumsy at best. Brandon: The default leader type, kind of bland. Has a crush on Bloom. Not overly bright. Sky: Also bland. All his taste is in his mouth, as his crush is Stella. I seem to recall he's supposed to be the best pilot of the group. ?: Even blander, to the point I'm not sure he exists, except that someone has to match up with Flora. Timmy: The smart one, you can tell because he wears glasses. Has a crush on Techna, and was actually the first of the boys to make a direct move! Does not dance. Ryven: The rebel, who clearly does not belong at Red Fountain. He'd be much happier at "magnificent bastard school." Arrogant and conceited, Ryven is the type of jerk who claims the rest of his team is holding him back, when it's his own lack of Teamwork skill and prima donna behavior that cripples the rest of the team. Theoretically the best swordsman of the group. He has at least minimal skills at Stealth and Concealment, and a Mind Link with Darcy. Musa fell hard for Ryven at first sight, but he did not return the favor, considering her a simpering little girl and a waste of air. Darcy, on the other hand, was able to use a combination of flattery (appealing to his conceited side) and hypnosis to get him to be infatuated with her. He often spies on Brandon's conversations with Bloom so the Trio can lay ambushes. Minor Characters Headmistress of Alfea: This grandmotherly woman met her husband at Alfea's Fall Ball many years ago. She likes to give the students a lot of freedom, but when push comes to shove has a steel backbone. Is powerful enough to strip the Trio of their powers instantly and simultaneously (though only temporarily.) No-Fun Teacher: From her appearance, a spinster disappointed in love who has ever since taken it out on the world. Very strict and by the rulebook, with no sense of humor. Fortunately, often overruled by the Alfea Headmistress. Headmistress of Cloud Mountain: An experienced witch, who talks a lot about things like "delicious wickedness." However, she believes that witches are to sow chaos and disorder, not rule, as there's a "balance" to maintain. Completely fails to understand how her teachings have been interpreted by the Trio. Lucy: "The Loser." A very homely girl who seems to be weak at magic, this witch is desperate to be popular and hang with the cool crowd. Unfortunately, at her school the "cool" kids are the Trio. She used to hang out with Myrta at the bottom of the social totem pole. Lucy got her own episode in which she made a bargain with the Trio. In exchange for their help in winning a beauty pageant, she'd do their homework for a year. (Since the Trio considers this a good deal, give Lucy extra points to her PS: Student roll, and maybe Scholar.) Technically, the Trio kept their part of the bargain as the heavily glamored Lucy was chosen by the pageant judges, but at the coronation, Bloom cast a Dispel Disguise spell, so Stella got the prize by default. (Completely different from the usual beauty contest episode.) While disguised, Lucy claimed to come from Popularis, the world where everyone is good-looking and gregarious. This may in fact be true, and would explain a lot. Myrta: A freshman witch, and another student who is a poor fit for her school. Myrta believes in peace, friendship and suchlike "goody two-shoes" notions, and the Trio calls her a "Wicca wannabe." Among the spells she knows is an eavesdropping number (Clairsentience: Normal Sight and Hearing) and she's good with Illusions. She chose to help Bloom escape the Trio and was turned into a pumpkin for this "betrayal."

Re: Wwycd #119: Kltpzyxm!

Re: Winx HERO The Trio are three witches in the senior class at Cloud Mountain. They're the most powerful witches in their year (and apparently in the entire student body.) But they want more. These witches aren't content to be the "chaos" counterbalance to the fairies' "order", but want to rule the magical universe. All of them have fairly large Multipowers or Elemental controls of learned spells, including ones that allow them to fly. They've got the Teamwork skill, and often pool their power to pull off difficult spells. While they have some difficulty with bickering and overlooking the obvious, the Trio is pretty competent for teenage girls. Icy: The leader, mainly because someone has to be and she volunteered. Most of her spells have to do with ice and cold, to the point that she's not terribly versatile. She's followed around by a cute and nearly indestructable duckling that she acquired due to a Winx Club prank. Stormy: A weather controller, natch. If it has to do with nasty weather, she can do it. She has the worst temper of the trio, and may qualify for an Enraged When Thwarted. Stormy also seems to be Vulnerable to Illusions. Darcy: The most versatile of the Trio, she's shown facility with illusions, hypnosis, darkness, earthshaking, and other effects. She's also their best strategist. She has a crush on Ryven, who she hypnotized into becoming a spy for the Trio. Knut(sp?): The Trio's main dogsbody, a yellow troll. He's pretty much a big dumb brick type, but his major weakness is a combination of Nearsightedness and Hates Wearing His Glasses. Spends a lot of time either being knocked on his butt by the Winx Club or tonguelashed by the Trio. The Trio is Subject to Cloud Tower rules, but are a lot less concerned about them than their heroic counterparts.

Re: A Thread for Random Musings A while back, I was in a thread about so-called "nice guys" (different forum entirely) and asked, "Okay, if a fellow's apparent neediness is turning women off (as well may be the case) how does one avoid the appearance of neediness while not, in fact, having one's needs met?" Rather than tackle the question as was, another poster asked, "Do you think you're entitled to have your needs met by women?" This successfully derailed the thread, and by the time I had a well-thought-out reply, the other posters had forgotten my original question entirely. Anyhow, this lead to me thinking about the difference between "I deserve" and "I am entitled to." When I "deserve" something, it *should* happen, but no one is under any obligation to give it to me or to help me achieve it. For example, if I go out on the street and behave with common courtesy, I deserve to be treated with common courtesy myself. But no one is *obligated* to be polite to me. When I'm "entitled" to something, then someone is legally or contractually obligated to give it to me, or help me achieve it. For example, if I go out on the street, I am legally *entitled* not to be robbed, even if I happen to "deserve" it. Other people are under an obligation not to rob me. Where I think the problem comes in is that some people believe that they have in fact entered into a situation where the other party is "obligated" to them, and they are "entitled" to certain actions in return. (The classic is the fellow who believes that paying for dinner constitutes an unwritten contract for sex in return.) This leads other people in turn to assume that anyone talking about what they "deserve" are assuming a false entitlement, even when this isn't true. FWIW, SKJAM!

I've been following a Saturday morning cartoon series imported from Europe called "Winx Club." It was started in the summer when most of the other series were reruns, and is not quite as awful as I may be making it sound at various points. Basic premise: It takes place in the present day, though we swiftly learn that Earth is considered a primitive backwater because most of the people there can't use magic. Not sure if it's ever explained *why* Earth is different that way. Anyhow, the rest of the galaxy is populated by people who look more or less human, but have access to magic/magical technology. One planet is the base for three exclusive boarding schools for magical types. Most of the action takes place there. "Typical girl" Bloom is surprised one day when she discovers a girl using magical powers to fight monsters in a secluded part of the park. More surprisingly, Bloom herself turns out to be gifted with the "Winx." In gratitude, the visiting girl arranges for Bloom to be able to attend her school, Alfea. Alfea is the school for good female mages, who are called "fairies". (Or "pixies" if you want to be insulting.) Less pleasantly-powered women are called "witches" and attend Cloud Mountain. The third school on the planet is for boys, who are called "heroes." No word on where bad boys go to school. There is a certain amount of rivalry between the schools, which is exacerbated by a trio of senior class witches who are bent on gaining ultimate power, which just happens to be in the possession of one of the heroines. On to the gaming stuff: Fairies have a small VPP of studied spells, most of which require OAF potions, Incantations, Gestures, Extra Time, etc. In addition, each has access to her Winx, which is a Multipower or Elemental Control themed around the type of energy she's most attuned to. Oh, and they have wings that pop out when they exercise their Winx. (might be able to justify OHID for the Winx and wings.) Our five friends are freshmen at Alfea who call themselves the Winx Club. Members include: Bloom : The main character, she has flame-based Winx and access to the Dragonfire (even bigger flame VPP, but on a low Activation Roll), which is believed to be the ultimate power that created the universe (or some such.) Bloom's disads include: Unfamiliar With the Magical Universe; DNPC parents; Naive/Nervous about her powers, and Wants To Find Out Where She's Really From. Like all the other members, she's Subject to Alfea Rules and Hunted by the Trio. Stella : Her Winx is light. Stella is extremely self-centered and spoiled. She also seems to have a lower effective INT than the others. A vain girl, she's very aware of her attractiveness and fashion sense and isn't at all hesitant about giving tips to others regardless of their interest in such. The kind of girl who wears high heels to a swamp, then whines when they're ruined. I hate her. Flora : Her Winx is, you guessed it, plants! She's the gentlest and most environmentally conscious of the club. Her protectiveness of plants does get annoying from time to time. Flora has an innate "Nature Sense" that is helpful in wilderness areas. She tends to be a little absent-minded when doing research. Twenty years and forty pounds later, I'm sure she'll make a terrific Earth Mother type. Musa : Music and dance are Musa's Winx. She's a hip, happening girl, but has *horrible*taste in men. She tends to be insecure, and has a troubled family life. Techna : The smart one, both in terms of INT and common sense. Her Winx is magictech, basically. Always carries around a palmtop computer, and isn't very experienced at low-tech situations. Has trouble relaxing, and has the least fashion sense of the girls. More on the Trio in the next post....

Re: Alternate Earth 20: Paradise Island Lost Sure. They just don't make the cover of Sports Illustrated except for the Swimsuit Issue.

Re: Alternate Earth 20: Paradise Island Lost The Mask of Justice: Nick Philips doesn't learn much in the way of combat skills, and as a result the Mask relies much more on his gas gun and armor to protect him. He's also a gossip columnist rather than a "serious" reporter. He's proud of his Greek ancestry, where the successful Amazon nation paved the way for the matriarchal societies of the modern age. Still, he's also proud of the men who are filling factory jobs while our brave girls go overseas to fight. Rock Bottom: Is frequently harrassed by loutish women who "want to watch." Calculus: Never got powers, as he never met Slaughterhouse Jane in that back alley. He was, however, a swoony fan of Genius Girl in his teens. Is now a reasonably happy househusband. Kira Midori: Is not as special anymore, since the vast majority of police officers are women. Her fans tend to be shyer, if not always more polite. Kira's roommate is a homicide detective rather than a traffic cop. Since Kira came from a utopian future where the genders are equal, she has been known to speak in favor of men's rights. Talion: Adds gender discrimination to his many complaints against the universe.

Re: Character: Conan Edogawa It's on the Master List of Limitations. Basically, no matter where the character goes, people are murdered or crimes are committed, requiring the character to solve them (which is a social limitation since it cuts into the time he could be using to do other things.)

Re: Character: Conan Edogawa I created the "Angel of Death" Soc Lim for characters like Conan. The longest-running anime I know of is Sazae-San, which must be approaching 2000 weekly episodes by now. It's about a typical Japanese housewife and her multigenerational family, all of whom are named after seafood. Sazae might qualify as a Competent Normal....

Your GM has announced he's going to run an alternate Earth game and he wants you to make a modified version of your character to fit his "Alternate Earth Setting. The GM is being deliberately unclear about whether you'll be playing your alt character or if your regular character will be facing them. So what is different about your character from Matriarch's Earth? Despite an astounding similarity of historical outcomes, this alternate Earth favors matriarchy as the norm. The social status of men in this world's 21st Century USA is roughly equivalent to that held by women in our world's 1950s USA. Adjust for other countries/time periods accordingly. Your character is the same gender as usual unless the circumstances of their origin would make that impossible. SKJAM!

Re: What Would My Character Do? (Official legacy WWYCD reply thread) Okay, I thought I'd take on a few of the Alternate Earth threads, since I missed all of them before. 1. Reverse "Alignment" World Mask of Justice: The Mask of Injustice's ancestor gained the power of shapeshifting from Proteus, Greek Titan of mutable form. Nick "Legbreaker" Philips uses his uncanny disguises and brutal fighting skills to thwart the law and spread deception. Rock Bottom: Not found after the incident that turned him into a living statue, Muhammed Brown decided to use his newfound abilities to crush gaybashers. Crush them dead. Calculus: Immediately left Chicago with his wife and kid once his powers returned. Used his superintelligence to make a bundle of money fast, then set out to kill anyone who could connect him with his past, using double-blind remote techniques. Kira Midori: Appalled by the horrific violence and moral decay of the 20th Century, Kira was further alienated when the NYPD rejected her application to join due to a strict "no metas" policy. She's now a bounty hunter for the highest bidder ("everyone in this century is morally irredeemable anyway") saving up for a way home. Talion: Is a Casual Killer, who carries lethal weaponry and shoots anyone he darn well pleases. "What are they gonna do about it, execute me?" 2. Reverse Gender World Mask of Justice: Nicola Philips never learned how to fight, so she relies a lot more on her gas gun and armored costume. She's a society reporter rather than an investigative journalist, so this version of the Mask tends to deal a lot more with crimes against rich people. Rock Bottom: Fatima Brown is a lesbian. Otherwise, much the same. Calculus: Brenda Rockwood would never have been in that back alley to meet Slaughterhouse Jack, thus never gained superintelligence. She's probably a secretary somewhere, married with a kid on the way. Kira Midori: Akira Midori is less popular than his female counterpart, and has spikier hair. He feels a little self-conscious about his rather wimpy powerset, and is more prone to use his big gun. Gets teased a lot by people that know that "Midori" is a girl's name as well as a kind of booze. A little less prudish, though he's not ready to commit to a relationship. Talion: Still goes by just "Talion." Has somewhat better luck getting dates, though she's a Jerk Magnet, despite her unappealing looks. 3. Golden Age World Mask of Justice: Is a Golden Age character. Rock Bottom: Isn't gay. That just didn't happen in Golden Age comics. Instead of being kicked out of the house by his homophobic father, was an orphan turned out on the streets by his wicked uncle. He went straight into crimefighting once he got his powers, rather than get sent to school. Calculus: Is Brain Boy, a really smart kid who works with the working class hero Slaughterhouse Jack. Essentially, his sidekick years 30 years earlier. Grows up to become a successful billionaire who sponsors superteams in the present day. Kira Midori: This gets a little weird. Y'see, in Kira's home timeline, there was no World War II. (On the other hand, we missed out on her timeline's Atomic War I in 1998, so things even out.) Let's have her arrive in Tokyo instead of NYC, and be recruited by the Japanese government. Fushigi no Onna becomes an important part of Japan's supervillain team until she finally gets so sickened by the atrocities of both sides that she gives up and hides for the rest of the war. Eventually, one of the American heroes manages to track her down and heal her wounded soul. Their offspring fights crime in the 1970s. Talion: Does not work in a Golden Age setting. 4. Anthropomorphic World Mask of Justice: is a Hellenikos Poimenikos (Greek sheepdog). Rock Bottom: is a lion. Calculus: is a chimpanzee. Kira Midori: a white Persian. Talion: a (scape)goat. Ugly one, too. 5. Magic World Mask of Justice: Uses specially designed lenses in his mask to see through walls, etc. Supposedly is descended from Daedalus. Rock Bottom: Was turned to stone by a medusa, but the stone-to-flesh potion didn't quite take. Calculus: Much the same, really. His swingline's magical though. Kira Midori: Uses various mind spells in her job with the City Guard. Has an extra-strength Wand of Stunning, and a warhorse companion that has been mystically enhanced out the wazoo. Talion: Reverse the frequency of golems and robots as the things masterminds send at him.

Re: WWYCD? #116: A Tech Support Problem The Mask of Justice: Uses his investigative reporter skills to track down these ARGENT fellows, then take them down one by one using the elenment of surprise. A million dollars goes a lot further in the 1940s, but the Mask would rather armtwist the Toymaker into working for Uncle Sam. Our boys overseas need all the help they can get. Rock Bottom: If ARGENT is tearing up Baltimore, then the New Guard is on the job. And the Toymaker's gonna need that million in gadgets just to pay for the property damage. Calculus: Quite naturally, he'll help rid Chicago of ARGENT. "But no thanks to the gadgets. I have a *reliable* weaponsmith to go to." Kira Midori: Calls in the big guns on her team to take down the temporarily powered-up ARGENT agents, while arresting the Toymaker on every zoning violation and petty offense she can find evidence for. Talion: "Consider it done." Several dead ARGENT agents later (those mooks never learn), Talion is picking items off a catalog. Sadly, all the gadgets will be broken in a few weeks, except possibly the new DVD player.

Re: WWYCD #115: Xerox Paradox...Baby Blues! The Mask of Justice: The major, major problem here is that whoever did this now knows how the Mask's powers *work*. Thus, they can neutralize the Mask at any time. The kids themselves would probably be trained more as spies than anything else, as that's the quickest application of the vision abilities. (The Mask's superior combat ability took years to train up.) Given this is the Golden Age, the Mask is quickly able to convince his "offspring" to turn to the side of good. They smash the Nazi copy machine, the mad scientist who invented it accidentally kills himself trying to use a new weapon against them, and the kids are adopted by anonymous families across America. Rock Bottom: Well, the New Guard might be able to smash the TAROT facility, but they're cunning, so it's unlikely we'll be able to stop them from trying again elsewhere. Better let the Global Guardians know about this problem. And the Venture Institute will be just thrilled with six junior living statues, I'm sure. (Rock's young enough that he'd consider himself more a big brother than a father figure.) Calculus: Six Brain Boys, huh? (His hero name as a kid.) He will use logic to show them that working for the baddies is an inefficient use of their powers. With their combined brainpower, it should be a snap to make sure no more copies are made. Then it's off to home and trying to explain to the wife why they now have seven children. Calculus is *not* going to let anyone else raise these little geniuses. Kira Midori: Is very worried for these children, as Earth's current society isn't like her own, where psychic powers are extremely common, so kids with them are raised correctly. After stomping Dr. Strangeclone and putting him behind bars (forever this time, she hopes), Kira will devote her time to raising her little sisters right. Probably, she'd finally accept a marriage proposal so that the kids have a father too. Talion: Cringes. Six brats, with his powers? (Admittedly at reduced levels, but that's not saying much.) Nuke the "factory" from orbit. This will probably *not* kill the children, but should discourage anyone from trying the experiment ever again. Then try to find the little monsters good homes, reminding the prospective parents of how his lousy childhood made him turn out so badly.

Re: WWYCD #114: Ah, Love or Aw, Crud? The Mask of Justice: Congratulate his comic-relief sidekick (and be relieved that said sidekick has finally stopped chasing women waay too classy for him.) Rock Bottom: If it's not Tao, ask her to use her funky senses to check out the situation. If it *is* Tao, wonder if the inherited instincts of one of her gene donors have come forward. Calculus: Check for mind-controllers and the like. Presuming he can't find any, congratulate the teammate, but send his regrets on attending the ceremony. Kira Midori: Checks out Mimsey, her roommate, *very* carefully for mental or physical tampering. A couple of Kira's enemies are into gameplaying. Assuming no such tampering is found, Kira will accept the maid of honor position with as good a grace as she can manage. Talion: "I don't get it, She-Cat. He's not a supervillain, crimelord or sleazeball. So what's the attraction for you?"

A teammate or close friend of your character surprises your character with the announcement of their engagement to be married. More disturbingly (in most cases) pictures and descriptions of the betrothed indicate that that person is *not* the sort your character would have expected the teammate/friend to pick. Not only is the betrothed unattractive, but a total nerd/geek (or whatever personality type would normally turn off the teammate.) But the teammate is absolutely convinced this is the person he/she/it wants to spend the rest of their life with. If the couple is seen together, they act like any other couple deeply in love with each other--adjusted for personalities. All investigative methods used, up to and including cosmic awareness, indicate that the betrothed is a normal (if on the low end of physical attractiveness) person, who is sincere in his/her love for Teammate. Indeed, the betrothed is almost pathetically grateful for Teammate treating him/her like a desirable human being. No evidence can be found that the betrothed is mind controlling the teammate or is in any other way "cheating". The teammate/friend may in fact be mind-controlled or some such (whatever seems appropriate for the character and your campaign, but the betrothed is to all appearances an innocent bystander who truly loves the teammate. What does your character do? SKJAM! Up too late

Re: WWYCD? #113: What If God Was One Of Us? The Mask of Justice: Fix all the damage caused by the battle, first. Then his powers interact with the Glove, showing him the future if he continues to wear the Glove, which is an eternal dictatorship with no free will. Since this is unacceptable, the Mask scatters the Gems to the far corners of the Multiverse, tasked not to reassemble until they are truly needed. Rock Bottom: Fix damage, give himself the ability to become human at will; briefly considers mindraping his father to not be homophobic, realizes that would be *wrong*, disperses the Gems. Calculus: Fix damage, make sure his superintelligence is *permanent* this time, erase knowledge of his Secret ID from everyone who shouldn't have it (darn near everyone.) Also institutes a mental block preventing anyone from using the Glove or Gems for "evil", then disperses the lot. Kira Midori: Uses the Glove to return to her home time, *then* remembers to fix the damage. Disperses Gems. Talion: Attempts to use the Glove to allow himself to control his powers, or failing that, remove them. This turns out to be the one thing the Glove cannot do. Settles on cosmetic surgery for himself, and a steady flow of income. Finally remembers to fix all the damage. Is the target of constant theft attempts until he gives up and disperses the Gems. Sadly, the next owner uses the Glove to retroactively erase all the gains Talion made. SKJAM! "So, you're telling me that this week you want me to put on tights and a mask and fight crime?" "Correct, Joan." "And the fact that I don't have any superpowers? Uh, God, don't run out on me again!"

Re: WWYCD? #112: Polly Want A Cracker? The Mask of Justice: Sets up an elaborate playlet which tricks Polly into revealing its sentience. The last panel of the story is Polly in its own little cage in Blondbeard's cell, vowing vengeance. Rock Bottom: This looks like a job for Tao, our kitchen sink expert. Calculus: "Thank goodness I didn't take off my mask in front of the little devil." Attempts to discover if the parrot's intelligence is natural, so he can boost his own IQ even further. Kira Midori: "Sloppy, sloppy, forgot to mind probe the parrot." This is done. Talion: Accidentally leaves the door open when his teammate mentions the parrot's apparent intelligence. Polly books.

Re: WWYCD #111: Hero Worship Mask of Justice: Is Greek Orthodox, to the extent that he practices religion at all, though his powers allegedly come from Dike/Astraea/Virgo, the Greek goddess of Justice. "At best I am descended from a so-called god, many, many generations ago. Worshipping me will gain you nothing. If you respect me, act justly and with honor, and this will be a better world without wasting time and money on false idolization." Rock Bottom: Is an agnostic with a Public ID. "I am not a god. I don't know anyone who is. Don't blame your problems or behavior on me, because I'm not taking responsibility for what you do of your own free will." Calculus: Fairly liberal Christian. "Do you also worship the Tooth Fairy? Becaue there's more evidence of her divinity." Kira Midori: Fairly conservative Christian. "There is only one true God. Worship Him, not me." She will be off-duty and out of her police uniform when she announces this, and then will distribute religious literature. (I'm fairly sure there are rules against police officer proselytizing while on duty.) Talion: Believes that any gods there might be are out to get him. "Stop worshiping me! I beg you!" Cult members will start dropping like flies, usually dying in unusual and highly improbable ways. Most of these will be Darwin Award-level attempts to replicate some of Talion's feats of regeneration.

Re: Superman for President? Plus, if Paragon is the last survivor of a dying planet, rocketed to Earth as an infant, he's not eligible to be president under the current constitution of the USA.

Re: Wwycd #109 Mask of Justice: Does not care about money. Rock Bottom: If the city is okay with it, but not otherwise. And the money would be going to the city of Baltimore too, I fear. Calculus: "How do you people keep finding me? No!" Kira Midori: "No, thank you. The clothing line and action figures are stressful enough." Talion: "Did you learn *nothing* from the Playgirl and Nar-Cola bankruptcies? If not, I'll take the advance money in small denomination, non-consecutive unmarked US currency bills." The business venture fails drastically.

Re: WWYCD #110- Dark Guardian The Mask of Justice: Can see Dennis' true form, which is a small, fluffy bunny. He just casts the illusion of the scary shadow monster to protect himself (and the little girl.) All ends well. Rock Bottom: Umm, not his area. Maybe Tao has a power that can detect/identify Dennis, if he actually exists. Calculus: Quickly discerns the true nature of the situation, and takes the appropriate action. Kira Midori: Attempts to use her powers to see if the little girl is creating/manipulating Dennis, or if the shadow creature is a separate entity. If it's hostile, it's time to call in a mage. Talion: Dennis will turn out to have been enslaved by the little girl, who is in fact a powerful demon lord (lady?) Much blood and death will ensue.