u/AzureThunderWolf13

Something that's been knocking around in my mind. We've had plenty of alt-powers like Manager that are basically the same as All For One from My Hero Aca, although there can never be too many of them, but ones with One For All are a little more rare.

What I'm thinking of is a Taylor getting One For All at the dawn of its creation. So no stockpiled power, just empty. This alone would be an interesting fic, especially if the bestowal part of the power was enhanced so the stockpiling could be split up and given out for others to increase it and Taylor could collect the built-up power back at any time. Stronger capes like Dauntless and Armsmaster give more power.

But, since this might be a little too 'underdog', she could also get an appropriately weakened version of All For One. Something like: She can only steal around a third of a parahuman's power, so instead she gets an equivalent that's as strong as a grab-bag cape's secondary powers. For example, if this Taylor stole canon Skitter's power, Skitter would lose one or two blocks of range and whatever fine-control tricks she had picked up since she first went out.

She might also have some Butcher-voices/Vestiges aspect where when she steals from a cape or requisitions her gifted stockpile she can get an imprint of that cape, like Glaistig Uaine's shades or Butcher voices, that can voluntarily stick around or leave.

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Anyone find this interesting?

Hey. I really fucking hate the Wards program.

This is mostly because I hate the PRT, so it and the Protectorate are by extension. The reason I strongly dislike the PRT is because of the fascist vibes they give, in addition to the meta-knowledge of the corruption and what their directors are like, and my general distrust of incompetent authority. Not to mention the lack of agency for Ward and Protectorate members in fanfics.

To me, the kind of person who joins the PRT is either going to be a Cape fan or a Cape hater, with the former likely the minority. The Cape haters are people who want to protect normal humanity from parahuman "tyranny" (and probably see all parahumans as evil by default), or people who are terrified of the physical power parahumans hold or the instability they cause, and are seeking control (taking the form of controlling them bureaucratically). Having these people, who directly manage the minority they are against and are in charge of containing, seems like a big conflict of interest.

On top of that, you've got other government superhero agencies in other media, like Marvel Avengers (though not Mutants/X-Men), My Hero Aca, Dispatch heroes-for-hire, the Incredibles, independent heroes in DC, etc. (the superhero webnovel that introduced me to Worm Summus Proelium by CeruleanScrawling (a comment compared SPHERE to PHO)), to compare them to, and it's just a disappointment. If Wilderbow wanted me to have feelings about them, he sure did a good job.

Personally, I think it all went wrong when Rebeca/Alexandrea personally got involved - aside from the obvious, this made the Protectorate subservient to the PRT and bound them from the get-go; they didn't get a chance to negotiate terms.

So. I want to know what you think of the PRT, Protectorate, or Wards? And if you were an underage parahuman (let's say you don't have meta-knowledge about them, but you do have a gut feeling of it), would you join them and why?

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