A Sufficently Desperate Amalgamated Waffle Sorter @waffle-sorter - Tumblr Blog

Hang on. If the modern proliferation of superpowers seems to have been triggered by the Tunguska event, how are there teams of heroes in very much the same mold as modern superhero comics? In the real world, Superman et al weren't printed until ~30 years later. Spider-man got specifically name-dropped, and he didn't get his start until the 60s. Why would an independent evolution of ideas end up in the same place? For that matter, Sun City, Florida, where most of this book has taken place, wasn't founded until 1925. If you want to say that you've had metahumans since very early in the 20th century, and also that the intervening century-plus had a recognizable course, you should really do some justifying of that.

#waffle reads #molly j bragg #hearts of heroes #aether

I mean. If you're depressed or concerned about whether you're you on the soul level, Cinderella is right there, and I don't think it's been more than a week or two since she did that literally unforgettable soul-gaze thing.

#waffle reads #molly j bragg #hearts of heroes #aether

waffle-sorter

Thank you.

"It doesn't matter what I think," Varsha said. "People will throw that Spider-man crap at you. 'With great power comes great responsibility.' It's bullshit. We don't go tell people 'you're in good shape, it's your duty to become a cop or a firefighter or a soldier.' There are plenty of people out there who would make really good first responders or doctors or whatever, but don't want to do those jobs. And there are people who become cops and firefighters and doctors and EMTs and soldiers and decide that isn't what they want to do with their life and they walk away from it. That doesn't make them bad people. "Your life is still your life. You don't want to be a superhero, don't be a superhero. Go make rocket engines. Find a pretty girl. Settle down and raise cats. Find something that makes you happy and hold onto it with both hands and to hell with anyone who tells you that isn't what you should do with your life."

Mind, I feel like there's about an 80% chance she becomes at least an auxiliary hero by the end of the book. But the point is that Delta Vee said it, out loud. Like, it could semi-reasonably be argued that Tony Stark has a responsibility because he deliberately chose to get his "powers", but anyone else, not really.

waffle-sorter

... ... ...

"...and when a new metahuman pops up as powerful as you, I get a file on my desk. A really big god damned file. I know things about you I don't want to know, but one thing that stands out is that you grew up wanting to be a hero." "I didn't want to be a hero, I wanted to be an astronaut." "Same damn thing."

I will concede that if anyone has the legal authority to draft Maggie into superheroics, it's probably the Secretary for Metahuman Affairs. But I'm not convinced that authority exists, particularly when there's no declared war or national emergency.

One thing I remember wanting to be, when I was a kid, was a painter specializing in African wildlife. Doesn't mean anyone trying to take away my computer and put a palette in my hand is in any way in the right.

Yyeah no. Astronaut ≠ superhero. Especially in a setting where supers have openly existed for who knows how long. Fundamentally different roles, responsibilities, training, authority...

In short: fuck you, Banks.

#waffle reads #molly j bragg #hearts of heroes #aether #autonomy #think a little harder #i mean if nothing else #compelling someone with phenomenal cosmic powers is not going to end well for you

This is it. For the first time, I'm actually headcanoning a character as trans. Specifically, I choose to believe that Mercy, in the Lin Manuel Miranda/Eisa Davis musical adaptation of The Warriors, is a trans woman.

For one thing, she's the only character who's depicted in a skirt in the concept album's photos. Now, granted, all the other characters are gang members, whereas she's the girlfriend of a gang leader, but I choose to take it as an indication.

More solidly, she only says "my name is Mercy" once, when she's trying to join in the Warriors' rap introductions. But she's got a whole song called "Call me Mercy", and she reprises the title line from it in the finale.

Last but certainly not least, in "Same Train Home", the narrator tells us that

Mercy feels their judgement. Mercy feels their fear. Mercy makes herself smaller, Tucks her hair behind her ear.

Which is easy to read as a habitual shying away from attention, an attempt to be more like the other girls so that no one looks closely enough to see the ways she's not.

#waffle's brain is odd sometimes #musicals #trans #headcanon #warriors #mercy warriors

Thank you.

"It doesn't matter what I think," Varsha said. "People will throw that Spider-man crap at you. 'With great power comes great responsibility.' It's bullshit. We don't go tell people 'you're in good shape, it's your duty to become a cop or a firefighter or a soldier.' There are plenty of people out there who would make really good first responders or doctors or whatever, but don't want to do those jobs. And there are people who become cops and firefighters and doctors and EMTs and soldiers and decide that isn't what they want to do with their life and they walk away from it. That doesn't make them bad people. "Your life is still your life. You don't want to be a superhero, don't be a superhero. Go make rocket engines. Find a pretty girl. Settle down and raise cats. Find something that makes you happy and hold onto it with both hands and to hell with anyone who tells you that isn't what you should do with your life."

Mind, I feel like there's about an 80% chance she becomes at least an auxiliary hero by the end of the book. But the point is that Delta Vee said it, out loud. Like, it could semi-reasonably be argued that Tony Stark has a responsibility because he deliberately chose to get his "powers", but anyone else, not really.

#waffle reads #molly j bragg #hearts of heroes #aether #uncle ben is one man in one circumstance

👀👀

I mean, I get wanting to stop after you accidentally injure your friend/trainer. But like... you can run your meta senses through something without touching it. Can you bring things through a teleport without touching them? Can you "clench" a permanent object, and if so what happens if you stop and/or put it down? Can you vanish a permanent object without vanishing yourself as well?

But okay, get some r&r before you go back to experimentation.

#waffle reads #molly j bragg #hearts of heroes #aether #how does it all work

This is someone who knows what she's writing about.

Bobbie: So, out with it. What's your username on AO3? Kelly: Why should I tell you? Bobbie: Because I promise to comment on every chapter. Kelly: Wow. Going straight for my weak spot. I see how it is. Bobbie: It worked, didn't it? Kelly: *sigh* Yes.

#waffle reads #molly j bragg #hearts of heroes #aether #i'm like 92% sure kelly is chase from the previous book #this author may be spicier than i really prefer but i love her characterization

I just figure, if you've got that level of genetic-based bodysculpting readily available to the rich, you've gotta have some way to provide a biological heir for the princess even though her ovaries are damaged beyond either function or repair.

#waffle reads #k b wagers #the indranan war #behind the throne

Psst. This would be a great moment for one of the other people present to tell Gia (and the others, if they like) that they're trans and absolutely get what it is to be profoundly uncomfortable with their own body. I nominate Lucas.

#waffle reads #drew hayes #villains' code #villains' vignettes 2 #trans

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I don't want to say you're doing your own superpower wrong, but... you say you can adjust your buoyancy. Can you make yourself less buoyant, or just more? Does it affect your weight or solidity? Can you adjust the buoyancy of part of yourself independent from the rest? Can you affect things you're touching? How floaty can you get? To a huge extent, how "good" your ability is can be affected by your creativity and self-awareness.

#waffle reads #drew hayes #villains' code #villains' vignettes 2 #i may or may not have pulled multiple of those thoughts from the author's other books

I sometimes wonder if reading all these fictions that involve abusive relationships is doing anything to me. Like, am I going to overthink everything my hypothetical partner says and does? Am I more likely to notice if a relationship turns in that direction? Am I less likely to notice, as I focus on signs that aren't there to the exclusion of the ones that are?

#waffle reads #waffle's brain is odd sometimes #relationships #abuse mention

Oof! Poor Ellie! I thought I had trouble in that area, but literally everything she says at this dinner gets interrupted, ignored, or tangented into oblivion before she can get a full idea out.

#waffle reads #talia samuels #the christmas swap

All I'm saying is, "ca-thoo-loo" feels less eldritch to me than "cthul-hoo".

#if you can't fit that many consonants in your mouth at once #maybe you're not fit to speak the name #pronunciation #cthulhu

... This is not an unreliable narrator. This is a narrator with untreated ADHD. Charming, but also frustrating.

#waffle reads #sasha fletcher #be here to love me at the end of the world

apolladay

Before you are two magic buttons. Button A: you will never have to clean your kitchen again (dishes are automatically done; floor swept and mopped; etc). Button B: you will never have to clean your bathroom again (toilet & sink & tub/shower cleaned and sanitized; etc) Which button do you push?

A

B

Voting ended onJun 3

#bathroom absolutely #i don't love dishes but i can handle them #basically all the rest of a kitchen is flat horizontal surfaces #which i'm mildly comfortable dealing with #but i cannot deal with very much of cleaning a bathroom