I am the Kat that Walks By Itself

I've been re-reading a Marvel fanfic where Our Heroine gets superpowers based on her profession (and personality). And I've been pondering what kind of superpower I would get in that situation.

Being a computer programmer, one would think some sort of technomancy or technopathy would be the thing, but I don't think that fits me. It's not that I'm more interested in machines than people. It's that I want to create things that are useful to people; and also as part of that, I want to know, precisely, what the problem is that I'm solving.

With the latter, that gives me one idea for a superpower: compelling the people around me to say what they mean, accurately. Clarity of communication; clarity being the key word here. Possibly clarity of mind, also. Not a power which compels people to tell the truth, no, not exactly. But it prevents them from being vague and muddleheaded. Possibly an area effect that one can't turn off, which would be rather... interesting.
A possible secondary power might be the dispelling of illusions.
(And a silly one -- when I'm drunk/drugged, everyone around me starts speaking in haiku or other kind of poetry. Because poetry is concentrated meaning.)

On the "creating things which are useful" -- whether that be tech or craft -- I'm not sure what kind of superpower that would be affiliated with. Except maybe making things out of nothing? Or sculpting things with one's bare hands? Transmogrification?

What are your thoughts, people?
What kind of superpowers would you have?

Dialogue which you will never see in SciFi, but you might see in SF.

"It isn't like anything we've seen before."

"Really? It doesn't resemble anything we know?"

"No, nothing."

"Wow, that's a lot of data!"

"What? I just told you we don't know anything about it!"

"If you're right, we may not know what it is, but we do know what it isn't."

A band of rebels fighting against the evil Federation:

• The alien spaceship "Avenger", run by the artificial intelligence Jar-Vis.
• Steve Rogers - political activist and legend, he supposedly died seventy years ago, but was found, resurrected, mind-wiped, caught at a political rally (where the protesters were massacred), framed for child-molestation, and sentenced to Transportation to Cygnus Alpha.
• Tony Stark - businessman, engineer, computer tech, convicted of embezzling billions of credits; but he was framed by his business partner, Obadiah Stane, who was the real embezzler. Stark maintains that if he'd actually wanted to steal billions of credits, he would never have been caught.
• Bruce Banner - government experiment gone wrong, most of the time he's just a mild-mannered scientist, but if he gets angry, he turns into a raging berserker. Convicted of murdering a guard who was threatening to rape his girlfriend Betty Ross.
• Natasha Romanov - smuggler, pirate, free trader, pilot of the infamous "Black Widow"
• Clint Barton - co-pilot and partner of Romanov, between them there isn't any place they can't infiltrate and steal from.
• Loki - a genderfluid alien shapeshifter, they have their own reasons for hating the Federation, but they aren't saying.

Yeah, I put Loki in the "Cally" slot rather than Thor, because IMHO he fits better. Though I suppose Sylvie would fit even better.

1. Rose nearly fell into the Void
2. Loki fell into the Void
3. Somewhere in the infinitude of universes, they both fell into the Void.
   • And made it out again, together.

Plot bunny! Plot bunny! Plot bunny!

Oh writers of renown, please make it so!

Has anyone written a Highlander/LOTR crossover featuring Methos, hobbits, and beer? Because someone ought to.

This morning:

Me: My friends keep me sane.
AM: You keep them sane too.

Coming back, I looked at my lawn. The only things that are alive there are dandelions and thistles. 8-(
( and some Harry Potter )

In this post drinkingcocoa said (amongst other things): He [Harry] defeated Voldemort with his own "twin cores" wand plus his greater power because he had all the power of an intact soul and Voldemort had only a fraction of his own left.

I quote this because it set me thinking. Or possibly my subconcious thinking... Voldemort had only a fraction of his own soul left.

Before his first fall, Tom Riddle was, by all accounts, charming, charismatic, clever - an inspiring leader. But on his return, with only a fraction of his soul left, he was none of these. Indeed, it's likely that he was already deteriorating and going mad before he attacked the Potters. If one thinks about it, the fragment of Tom Riddle in the diary was cleverer and more charming than the Voldemort that Pettigrew resurrected.

What if you were a Death Eater who really believed and admired Tom Riddle? Possibly even loved him? What if you noticed your beloved Lord's deterioration? What if you decided to do something about it?

What if Bellatrix LeStrange decided to put the fragments of Tom Riddle's soul back together again? A Bellatrix who never went to Azkaban, who never went insane? What would happen then?

There. I leave you with this plot-bunny, and wish you well.

Crossover fusion: what if Severus Snape was a Sentinel, and Hermione Granger a Guide?

Mind you, I don't think there's anyone I know besides me who is a fan of both The Sentinel and Harry Potter. So it would have an audience of zero anyway.

But I'm just imagining Snape being extremely grumpy about having hyperactive senses, and Hermione being obnoxiously cheerful...

Write a story which contains the following phrase:
two skeins of Fate and the rest of the Tranquility

I am pondering over my Draco time travel AU, and re-thinking where I might put everybody. Draco and Harry in Slytherin is not going to change, but I'm wondering about the others. So I hereby give you a poll!
( poll )