So a lovely commenter just left this on Probable Theorem and I wanted to share. When deciding how the powers were formed, I put a lot of thought into how they would form for each person. They summed it up pretty nicely.
Pretty much this means the power forms to the person. Their wants or fears or needs. This does mean there are people out there with useless abilities but they probably will never know.
If you had abilities that formed based on your life when you were younger, what would they be? ;)
Roman’s Story
Virgil’s Story
Patton’s Story
Master List
Character List
Hearing about some knucklehead running around in a ridiculous costume stopping muggers and risking their safety for nothing more than ‘doing the right thing’ led Logan to believe that the mysterious Masked Prince was a complete fool.
Saving those few didn’t stop the large onslaught of crime the city suffered every day and the moron was going to get hurt one day and it would be his fault and his fault alone. He had completely written off the so-called hero until he overheard a conversation one day while he worked at the bookstore. The patrons huddled in a corner as they were talking, watching a phone play a video of one of the Masked Prince’s heroic acts. A series of gasps had caught his attention and the chatter that followed was far more interesting.
“Where did that light come from?”
“Dude, he shot lightning from his hands!”
“This has to be fake, no way any of this is real.”
When Logan returned home to the quiet he had grown used to, his eyes drifted from the crossword he was working on to his laptop sitting to the side. After minutes of mentally debating with himself, Logan reached over and typed in a quick search for this prince. A few minutes later and he was watching a video taken from someone’s phone that depicted something he would never have believed.
Someone else had powers.
He had wrongly assumed his psychokinesis was an evolutionary mutation and not something that could replicate into something so… flashy. Minutes turned to hours as he searched everything he could, watching every clip and taking notes on everything the prince had done. He had come to one simple conclusion… he had to meet this prince and figure out how his powers worked.
Logan thought about every scenario about how he could get the Masked Prince to talk to him long enough for Logan to trap him and figure this out. He could easily take the prince out with his powers, but after what had happened last time… it was too risky. Eventually, Logan took the most logical step that he could think of. So he donned a mask and started putting together a costume himself, hoping it would attract the Masked Prince to him.
Logan found the internet to be a wonderful source of information for a number of things, such as figuring out how to attach a pair of glasses to a mask so he could wear it and still be able to see. He had taken an old pair that he no longer wore and adjusted them properly, even adding a strap to the ends so it wouldn’t slide off of his face. A bit of research helped with the rest of his costume as well. He needed something warm but breathable and practical that still fit the aesthetic enough to attract the prince to him.
Logan ended up buying a lot of things he altered slightly and tossed together. A form-fitting long sleeve shirt underneath a sleeveless tank top made it so he wouldn’t swelter in the heat but could stay warm as he moved. The pants were fitted with pads in the knees and back in case he fell and he wore black hiking boots to help him run around and climb anything he would need. Of course, he also purchased a small pouch that wrapped around his waist like a belt. While he wore it all, it didn’t quite fit what he was going for. So, after a quick search, Logan purchased a lab coat to toss over everything else and tie it all together.
Now with an outfit figured out came the tricky part. How was he going to trap the hero? Metal was a no go and he was physically stronger than Logan was so that led to him having to outsmart the prince, but he wasn’t even sure he knew where to start looking.
Eventually, while planning it all out, Logan was watching the news with interest one night. Prince Charging as he was now called was having a standoff with a car thief that turned sour. The Prince was hiding behind a car as he pulled out what Logan could only assume was some carbonated beverage and drink from it frantically. The news reporters refused to get much closer for safety reasons as Prince Charging rolled out of his spot and held up his hands, a static shield forming from his hands and keeping him safe. While the bullets couldn’t reach their target, it still seemed to take a lot of energy from the hero who seemed to be struggling with his predicament.
Then a new hero showed himself.
He and the prince were suddenly on the ground, scrambling to get back up. The purple hero tugged the scarf over his mouth as he turned and vanished, appearing behind the criminal and taking care of him swiftly. The prince came in and took him out at the last second, stopping the firefight after almost an hour of back and forth. The camera crew ran up to the new hero, his black and white mask mimicking Prince Chargings in a way. They shouted questions and hoped to get any sort of an answer from this new stranger. He simply gave his name, which he mumbled out through the scarf, and vanished from sight.
At the end of it all, Logan leaned back and stared blankly at his television before smiling. A teleporting hero was tricky to catch but a lot easier to keep trapped than Prince Charging would have been.
Logan got quite lucky, actually. He had a few backup plans and he wasn’t quite sure what would work. His first plan was simply a pair of handcuffs in hopes that the new hero, this Vigilante, couldn’t teleport out of them. However, it would hopefully stop him long enough to pull out one of his backups and stop the hero while he could.
When Logan spotted him that night, he was standing in an alleyway, seemingly giving himself a pep talk. Logan approached slowly and called out to him, holding his hands up in defense.
The Vigilante pushed away from the wall and eyed him carefully as he approached. “Who the hell are you supposed to be?”
A name. Logan thought of everything… but he never thought of a name?!
“That… isn’t important. I just came out because I saw you on the news. You did well in helping out the Prince.”
The hero looked back at him and turned away, giving a shrug. “It was nothing. What do you really want?”
Logan kept his hands up as he approached. “Nothing more than to talk. You and this Prince seem to hold special abilities, not unlike myself.” The Vigilante shot him a look but did not speak. “It was just surprising to see others out and about, I wanted to see it for myself, make sure it was real.”
Logan had gotten close enough and waited a moment, making sure the hero wouldn’t move. Then, he reached out and grabbed his arm, slapping half of the cuffs on his wrist before attaching the other end to a nearby pipe.
“HEY!” The Vigilante pulled his wrist away before turning and growling at him, reaching out and stopping once Logan backed away out of reach. “Let me go. Now.”
“I’m afraid I wish to have a word with you and this seems to be the most logical and optimal way.”
The Vigilante seemed to jump around before turning to Logan and hissing. Taken back by the action, Logan only watched as he grew more desperate. “Get me out of this before I make you regret it!”
“Fascinating, I wasn’t sure that would work.” Logan turned and walked around the hero, keeping out of his reach. “So you seem to teleport but you can’t escape the handcuffs. You must bring what is attached to you when you do. Quite interesting.”
“What’s interesting is going to be the sound your nose makes when I bash it in!” The hero pulled at the cuffs, turning and yanking on them once more. “Get me out of these! NOW!”
“See, that would be counterproductive. Why would I let you go when I have just ensnared you?”
The hero got as close to Logan as he could. “Because the sooner you let me go, the quicker I will make it when I smash your face in.”
“Now, that just makes me want to leave you like this.” Logan watched the man glare him down as he leaned in closer. “Though, I suppose I could remove your mask and simply learn who you are.”
“Do it.” He bit out, snarling at Logan. “I’d like to see you try. Come on, get closer.”
Logan hummed to himself as he watched the entrapped hero. “So, how much do you know about the Masked Prince’s abilities? You’ve seen them first hand, I’m curious to your thoughts on the matter.”
The Vigilante stopped and took a step back. “That’s what this is about? You’re no hero, you’re an asshole trying to figure out how to stop us! Well, I’m not talking!”
Logan rolled his eyes and tapped the side of his glasses behind his mask. “That’s fine, I don’t need you to talk if I don’t have to.” His eyes started to glow gold behind his mask, causing the hero to back away carefully.
‘What is this guy’s deal? Oh shit, his eyes… he is like us! This makes everything worse, of course, he has powers. What can he do? Is it mind powers? Wait, can he read my mind? Quick, think of anything else! Anything! Uh… What was that song I liked as a kid again?’
Logan blinked as the light of his eyes died out. “Are you really thinking about the song from the band Hanson from twenty years ago?”
“Ha, I knew it!” He pointed his free hand at the other. “You can read minds! Well, read this, jerk!”
Logan sighed and crossed his arms. “Well, that’s a bit uncalled for, don’t you think? I simply want some answers.”
“So you take them without asking? What kind of entitled prick do you think you are?”
Logan watched the Vigilante back against the wall but kept his head up as he stared him down defiantly. “I suppose this was not the most ideal way to handle this situation. I also do not see me gaining any further information without forcibly taking it.” Logan dug into his pouch and pulled out the key. “I suppose I can let you have this and be on my way so you may free yourself.”
The hero looked at Logan and glanced down before his nose wrinkled in disgust. “Is that a fanny pack? Really?”
Logan held out a hand as his eyes shined once more, the key levitating up from it and over to the other. “Here is your means of freedom. I shall be on my way.”
As soon as the key dropped, Virgil reached for it and grabbed it as quick as he could. As he finally managed to unlock the cuffs, he looked up and found himself completely alone.
When Virgil first discovered his abilities, he spends weeks trapped in frozen time. After the initial panic had died down, he remembered his way to the corner store and ate snacks like there was no tomorrow.
When he would discover how to unfreeze time, his parents would be confused as to how their son grew, his hair longer, and the pile of wrappers that sat on the floor.
When Virgil first learned how to use his abilities to help someone, he prevented a kid from breaking their arm as they fell off the monkey bars. Simply stopping time and placing a pile of leaves and blankets from the kindergarten naptime closet, he restarted time as the girl grunted and sat up, perfectly fine.
The first time he learned he couldn’t save everyone was when his mother died.
She was sick and had been for years. Cancer had made her lose her beautiful long brown locks and she spent far too much time in and out of the hospital. It was a small cold that had hit her one day that spiraled out of control. Virgil stopped time and held her hand, knowing when he went back, she would be just as sick and not a moment would have passed. He wasn’t sure how long he spent like that, crying on his mother’s frozen, but still alive, form before pulling back and giving her a kiss. He promised then that he would thrive to save others the best he could.
Of course, not everything went according to plan. After struggling through high school, Virgil took up craft hobbies and started forming a superhero outfit for himself, but always delayed actually going out for fear of the worst. What would he do, walk around until he found trouble? Stop it in frozen time and prayed he was quick enough that no one got hurt?
Years of worrying went by before it happened. The Masked Prince appeared, dressed as if he was pulled from an old Disney movie to save the day. Virgil watched a bit in awe the first time he saw footage of the prince in action. Soon, the fans online started calling him ‘Prince Charging’ and he was everywhere. Spending every night stopping purse snatchers and carjackers and occasionally someone trying to abuse someone else.
Until one day, the news was filming the Prince battling an armed man. He had taken a drink of something and had created a barrier, but he was losing energy quick as the man continued to shoot at him.
Virgil froze time and put on his costume, watching the tv as it displayed the location before running out the door and across town. He was terribly out of breath when he had done so and took a moment, surveying the scene.
Virgil grabbed the Prince and tugged, suddenly pulling him free from time. The Prince looked up at him in shock as they sat there before Virgil blinked and squeezed his eyes shut, starting time once more. The attacker shouted as he saw them on the ground, Virgil quickly standing up and disappearing from sight. Suddenly behind the attacker, he grappled him and unarmed him, the Prince using his electromagnetism to steal his weapon away quickly.
The news reporter stopped him and asked for his name, quickly giving a look before pulling his scarf up to hide his face. “The Vigilant.” With that, he froze time once more and disappeared, knowing it would look as if he simply vanished.
He thought that Prince Charging would appreciate the help, but next time he showed up, the Prince proclaimed that they were rivals in heroism. The news reporter got his name wrong and started calling him the Vigilante instead. Public opinion of him saving the Prince was not as great as he had thought it would be, most people saying he dressed ‘too dark for a hero.’
Despite all that, Virgil never gave in and continued helping out when he could. He always dreamed he would be a hero and he didn’t care what the Prince or anyone else thought, he was going to be one.
The lights in the cul-de-sac flickered before shorting out, plunging the houses into darkness. There was an audible moan coming from the residence as one home’s lights began to flicker and dim.
Elizabeth and Jim loved their two children dearly. Julie was an easy child, understanding fully that her big brother would require more attention sometimes. Not out of love, no, more out of necessity. Elizabeth would handle him from time to time, but it was mostly left to her husband Jim. Not that she didn’t love Roman, but he was still trying to control that spark in him. She knew he was simply overexcited and didn’t mean to hurt his mother, but something in her would still flinch when he threw a temper tantrum and small sparks would fly from his hands. His first big outburst still flashed through their memories. Roman always seemed to have his hair sticking up at ends before he was finally pushed over the edge and let a burst of electricity out. His mother was fine, the mild shock knocking her back and leaving her breathless for a few moments while his father calmed him down.
Jim sighed as he looked down at his son. Roman bowed his head and tucked his hands behind his back. The boy honestly did try his best to not have too many outbursts but some things can’t be helped.
He headed down toward the basement to the circuit breaker with a flashlight in hand, flipping a few switches back into place before closing the door to the box. The lights in the basement flickered back on. Once he returned to the ground floor, Elizabeth held her son in her arms, whispering softly to him and rocking him back and forth. Julie watched out the window as the houses all lit up once more, the street lights flickering and a few remaining dark.
Jim sighed and looked down at his daughter. “Looks like a few of the lights went out again, huh?”
“You gotta call the people again to fix it!” Julie frowned and looked distraught as she talked. “How am I supposed to know when to come in for dinner if they don’t work?”
He smiled and ruffled her hair before looking out the window. “A few of them still work. I’ll call it in but you don’t have to worry.”
Julie turned to look at her mother and brother. “Is Ro in trouble?”
“No, he’s not. It’s something he can’t help, but he’s getting better.” Jim turned and looked at his wife give their son a soft kiss on his head. “He’ll be fine as long as he has us, right?”
---
Roman fiddled with the mask on his face. It didn’t fit quite well and shifted too much when he was running around, but it was all he had at the moment. A few google searches into how to make a proper one just for him popped up but he would need a bit of help if he wanted to do so. He thought back to his favorite librarian, wondering if there was a way to have them make some as a project and still keep the real reason secret. No one knew he was the ‘Masked Prince’ and Roman planned on keeping that way as long as possible.
… That wasn’t exactly true. He was over the moon to see the first time he was on the local news, bad security footage showing him try and talk down the robber of a convenience store before blue sparks shot out and unarmed the man. His mother called him almost immediately and scolded him for being so careless and risky… but didn’t forget to take a moment to tell her son how proud she was of him for saving those people.
They went on to discuss if this was going to be a thing and all the dangers that came with it, but she knew the answer before she asked. Roman had always played Prince or Hero with Julie growing up. He always wanted to help others and he needed to discharge his electricity before it would build up like it did once as a child. The incident that hurt his mother took years of soothing words and touches before he was back to his normal self and his parents were always careful to make sure it never happened again. Running around and stopping purse snatchers was a good way to fulfill all of Roman’s needs and wants in one.
Though, neither could know of what was to come. The Masked Prince became a name for those hidden throughout society. Every person with an ability would watch the news in awe as they saw someone just like them living almost without fear as they were just themselves. More eyes turned to the news as it stretched out of the city and became well known in the nearby cities.
People would move to the city in hopes of meeting the prince. Others would try and challenge him and some would even try to stop him.
Until one day, the Prince was in over his head. On the ground, staring up and still defiant to his defeat. The smirks of the triumphant standing over him and ready to take him out for good.
Suddenly, The Masked Prince wasn’t the only superpowered being in the city anymore.
General: @tatergator27 @helloisthisusernametaken @entitydark @lightningbug04 @moonstone-fox @rampantlesbian @echomist13 @another-sandersidesblog @thesynysterunknown @roo-kangas @singjoanna @unikornavenger @rememberfateau-nowoffical @sanders-sides-trasshcan @sleepyssnail @jemthebookworm
Impractical is an AU to the Practicality universe where instead of just having powers, the characters also become heroes! There will be additional characters added that may or may not appear in Practicality and this is not canon so keep that in mind!
Feel free to send in questions if you have any!
Patton [he/him]: Multiply, Empath
Age: 29
Hero Name: Copy Cat, Kopy Kat
Pansexual
Good moral Compass
Loves to help
Alignment: Good--purest of heart
[Costume]
Logan [he/him]: Psychokinesis/Telekinesis, mind reader
Age: 26
Hero Name: Zero Gravity
Asexual Biromantic
Loves to figure things out himself
Bad habit of not knowing when to stop
Alignment: Mixed
[Costume]
Roman [he/him]: Electromagnetic Manipulation, magnetic charge
Age: 25
Hero Name: Prince Charging, Masked Prince, Princey
Gay and flaunts it
First to become a Hero
Strong sense of Justice
Alignment: Good, perhaps to a fault
[Costume]
Virgil [he/him]: Time and Space Manipulation
Age: 24
Hero Name: The Vigilant--quickly mistaken as The Vigilante
Bisexual
Overly cautious
Doesn’t like the limelight but loves messing with princey
Alignment: Whatever bugs Roman the most at the moment- Good/Neutral
[Costume]
Thomas [he/him]: Power Amplification, Power Absorption
Age: 29
Hero Name: ???
Gay and Proud in a different way than Roman
Just learned he had powers???
What’s going on in this city???
Alignment: ???
[Costume]
Remy [They/Them]: Dream Walker, telepathy
Age: 30
Hero Name: Insomniac
Non-Binary
Sassy boi
Serious business
Alignment: Neutral--Does not get along well with Virgil or Logan.
[Costume]
Emile Picani [he/him/they/them]: Artistic Creation, Power Nullification
Age: 31
Hero Name: The Doodler, Scribbles, Scribbler
Ace/Panromantic
Librarian with a big heart
Can’t actually draw all that well
Alignment: Neutral--Worries about Remy
[Costume 1]
Clyde [he/him]: Illusionist, Invisibility
Age: 19
Hero Name: ????
[Redacted]
Troublemaker
Is taking what he wants after all this time
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral??
[Redacted]
?????
Nate [he/him]: Super Speed, Slow-Motion
Age: 20
Hero Name: Breeze, Freeze, Procrastinator
Bisexual
Gets along too well with Remy and eventually Magenta
Does NOT get along well AT ALL with Insomniac, funny enough
Alignment: Chaotic Good to Lawful Good
[Costume]
Jet [he/him/they/them]: Ink and Paint Manipulation
Hero Name: Magenta
Tired of everyone’s BS
A bit of an anarchist
Real name isn’t actually Jet Stands up for the little guy
Not afraid to fight for his beliefs
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral/Chaotic Good
[Costume]
Remus Dewitt [he/him]: Thought Manipulation, Thought-Based Activity
Age: 25
Hero Name: The Duke, Dukey
Doesn’t like using his manipulation ever unless it can cause more ‘fun’ for him
Is determined to push Zero Gravity to his breaking point
Is a massive Prince Charging fan but thinks he’s boring
OMG I just finish to read the practical series and I'm in love. Where's the art? I need more
Ohh I’d love to share some of the fanart I’ve gotten!! I’ll label the ones that are spoilers if you aren’t completely caught up! (just avoid the * ones)(Also do I have to link the animatic at this point? xD )
I’m sure I’m missing some but here’s what I gathered really quickly.
There’s a doodle of Logan, a wonderfully dressed down Logan, Virgil chilling out, A Roman from chapter 2 not very pleased, Roman dressed as a Pikachu…
Here’s A preteen Roman, Another I *commissioned from a scene from the sequel*, I played around with the idea of Virgil in a superhero costume so… Here’s some of that here and Robin drew another here!
Then we have a cute *Logicality scene from the sequel*, and then *another from the exact scene*. And FINALLY!! *Robin helped me give Roman an upgrade*!
Why superhero Virgil is so cool?? I love him, I want him to be my desktop too but I lose the post
Oh gosh, I know right?! He’s so cool!But which one are you talking about?There’s my attempt at drawing him HERE.There’s @robinsdraw drawing him dramatically HERE.Then there’s @queer-human-being drawing him all dynamically HERE!I need to make a collage of all the fanart I get as my desktop background when I have time. <3 I have a few ideas of what Virgil would be like in Practicality if he did ‘don the hood’ I might share too.
