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Amelia, Worm AU [Complete]

Discussion in 'Creative Writing' started by TanaNari, Jan 10, 2015.

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  1. Slayer Anderson

    Slayer Anderson Orthodox Heretic

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    I've met a girl with a similar name: La-a.

    Pronounced Ladasha.
     
  2. meta_halo

    meta_halo Making the rounds.

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    Thankfully, yes. As for the YOLO though, I asked and she confirmed that she named herself after the Drake song.

    Eh, at the end of the day it's her own name she's making dubious life choices about, unlike say...
    ...and this.:( (On the bright side, #7)
     
  3. Phoenix0995

    Phoenix0995 Covertly Aroused

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    One way I once heard of to piss off someone with such a name would be to read it and then pronounce it "Lahyphena."

    The person I heard it from was planning to become a high school teacher.
     
  4. evildice

    evildice (emotionally stable clown posse)

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    Pronouncing '-' at all is counter-intuitive.

    But making people-names out of letter-names might be fun:
    LE "Ellie"
    MLE "Emily"
    .E "Dotty"
    RN "Aaron"
    &E "Andy"
     
  5. Fouredged

    Fouredged Experienced.

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    My cousins are not THAT bad, but they are named Justin and Summer.

    They are the Time side of my family. I would blame their parents, but they grew up on a hippie commune in New Hampshire and renamed themselves at 10 as per the tradition.
     
  6. dasstan

    dasstan :)

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    ...Justin Time is brilliant. In some universe, a heroic Grey Boy's secret identity is Justin Time.
     
  7. evildice

    evildice (emotionally stable clown posse)

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    Maybe if he was Canadian.
     
  8. Threadmarks: Amelia, Ch 399
    TanaNari

    TanaNari Verified Dick

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    Amelia, Ch 399


    "This is Erin Vought with Channel Nine news, in part two of our ongoing five part series, Avalon: A Two Year Retrospective. Culminating in live coverage of the marriage of its Empresses this Friday, the day after it celebrates its Anniversary. Yesterday, we focused on the families of the Empresses themselves. Here are some highlights."


    The screen flickered to show Erin talking to a hard looking older man. He had numerous scars and tattoos visible on his face. "As a long time associate of the supervillain known as Marquis, what is your opinion on the rumor Clarice and Amelia might be biological siblings?"


    The man shrugged, and his messy stubble of a beared couldn't hide the jiggle of his neck fat. "Cain't say she is, cain't say she ain't. Marquis was always a ladies man. An' he had a type, y'know? Liked the quiet girls. Mousy librarian look. Me 'n th' boys never quite got it. We'd be at th' club with all these smokin' chicks throwin' themselves at him like they were on fire and he's th' pool. Here he is flirtin' up th' twiggy college broad servin' th' drinks. He'd get bored wit' em in a few months, but he always took care of 'em after. Made sure they had cash ta go ta school er settle wit' th' landlord. Little stuff. So guiss I'm sayin' I dunno. But I didn' know 'bout Amelia, either. Surprised he ain't got more."​


    ComfortSupportDidn'tRealize. I leaned against Taylor. It hurt knowing that my father probably treated my mother like that. I knew he was a villain, once upon a time I was scared I'd become like him. But that didn't mean I wanted to sit here listening to people like that talk about my mother like she was just something that my dad used and threw out. I looked up at my soon to be wife. One more way I know I'll never be like my father.


    Clarice rested a hand on my shoulder. She was going for the goth look today. Paler than usual skin, solid black hair. She said she'd be going as 'plain and boring' for the wedding itself. I was glad one of my sisters would be, because Vicky sure wasn't.


    A couple other clips, showing some of Danny's former coworkers talking about him and how much he loved Taylor and her mom. Some snippets about Taylor's mom, herself. I wished I could have met her. ComfortNostalgiaShe'dLoveYou.


    "Today we move on to talking about Empress Amelia Lavere, widely known as the heart of Avalon, the world of Avalon itself, and of course that means talking about the most notable feature on the planet, the Yggdrassil. To do so, we are here with renowned xenobiologist, Professor Julian Abernathy."​


    "Are you sure you don't mean the only notable feature on Avalon?" Zach heckled the broadcast.


    A holographic display showed the Professor. He didn't seem all that impressive, another middle aged guy in a suit, I'd met hundreds. Going grey, going bald. "Yes, thank you Miss Vought."


    "Please, Professor. You can call me Erin."


    "I'll keep that in mind, Miss Vought."


    Erin rolled with it. "You have quite the resume, Professor. Eleven Doctorates and twenty seven honorary doctorates in an astonishing array of fields. You founded the Abernathy Academy of Science and Technology, the world's largest free university. You personally hold over four hundred patents, a hundred and fifty two of them in the sciences of biotechnology and medicine."


    He chuckled. "Yes, as is publically documented, I am a parahuman. One of the first on record, in fact. Officially I am classified as a Thinker 2, Trump 1, Stranger 7. Or Esper 2, Infiltrator 5, using the European system. I have the power to learn everything those near me are learning, and to slightly improve the learning ability of those under my power's influence."


    "How does that translate to Stranger 7?"


    "Some individuals have interpreted my power to mean I am a potential threat to national security if allowed in the wrong areas. Despite my assurances that even were I interested, my power does not work that way, they fear I might steal passwords and account information. I bear no grudges, however. Their caution keeps the likes of Heartbreaker and Sublim from Presidents and Prime Ministers. I am more than content to let them do their jobs, while I pursue my career in peace. I'm busy enough as it is."


    Erin smiled along through the description. "I believe you. Have you been given an offer to move to Pantheon? They are quite public about wanting to recruit ro- I mean, civilian parahumans."


    He shook his head. "Nothing specifically directed at myself. Simply the open invitation to all parahumans, which I confess I have not studied. If I were a different man, I might be more interested. But I am a patriot, Miss Vought. I love America and have no desire to abandon her."


    Erin nodded in agreement. "Now, perhaps you can explain what a xenobiologist is, exactly. I always thought it had something to do with aliens."


    Abernathy chuckled. "That is a common misconception. It's the study of artificial organic life. For the most part a theoretical science, but there are a number of advanced labs with living samples they've created. And of course the Yggdrasil itself."


    "Which you have studied extensively over the last couple years."​


    TimeWastedCouldHaveAsked. Taylor wasn't the only person who found it amusing. I chuckled, and so did Clarice. Years spent studying something that I made in days, and every so often add a new feature I like. I am that important.


    "Indeed I have. Samples are difficult to study, due to the lifeform's composite nature, but we'd be here for months talking about the many ways it differs from life as we understand the concept. In the interest of brevity, let us focus on the most significant differences, and the significant advantages and risks that implies for those who choose to live on a world dominated almost solely by that singular lifeform."​


    "Dammit," Clarice muttered. "Is this going to be another of those 'Avalon's covered in an unholy abomination' propaganda things again? Because I'm getting really sick of that crap. Zach... now that there aren't any Endbringers kicking things over, does that mean Bet's going to become as stupid as Aleph? Because if we need Endbringers to keep people from being stupid, I can build us an Endbringer. I will build three Endbringers that merge together into a super Endbringer that fires lightning from its butt if I have to."


    "And I'll form the head!" Zach shouted.


    NegationDragonRespectsWorthwhile. "Dragon says this guy's on the level. Doesn't mean he's on our side, but at the very least it means his arguments are honest. If nothing else, we should listen. Maybe we'll learn something worthwhile. Maybe put out our own rebuttal later."


    "To start with, let us look at the environment regulation features of the Yggdrassil. In the two years of recorded history on Avalon, it has never rained once, anywhere on the planet. And it appears it never shall. Air humidity is maintained by the Yggdrassil itself, which releases enough mosture to keep the lower atmosphere comfortable, but the upper atmosphere rarely even forms light clouds. In addition, the plant gathers almost all of the solar energy reaching the planet, transfering and releasing some of it as heat to warm the cooler areas. As such, there are no seasons or climate. Exterior surface of the world tends to a temperature between sixty and sixty five Fahrenheit, and interiors constructed of Yggdrassil tend between sixty five and seventy. That's fifteen point five, eighteen point three and twenty one for those using Celsius. With exception to the volcanic and extreme mountainous regions, which are comparable to those of Bet."


    "Clear skies and comfortable weather all year long? I don't know about living there, but that sounds like my kind of vacation destination."​


    ApprovalReliefAnAlly. Yeah, thank you Erin. ThankVickeryAlso. Yeah, he has good instincts for these things.


    "Perhaps. In addition, the plant absorbs almost all nonliving, and many living, things that touch it. Dust, dirt, pollen, discarded foodstuffs, viruses and bacteria, animal waste products, most insects, plastics and most other forms of garbage and petrochemicals. While this might seem desirable to the untrained observer, it is in fact a considerable health risk. The human immune system requires exposure to infectious agents, much as the body requires exercise and the mind requires stimulation. The side effects can be potentially lethal."


    "So the people on Avalon face health risks from a lack of health risks?"


    "Succinctly put," Abernathy agreed. "But I wouldn't want to mislead. The Yggdrassil itself is designed to be considered an infectious agent by the immune system. It won't grow in a living animal, but releases chemicals that our skin responds to. It also, on a bimonthly basis, is programmed to release a form of pollen that serves as a wide ranging innoculant, and features that resemble human biology enough to be infected by our diseases, which it rapidly grows antibodies to distribute via pollen as well."


    "I was part of a story on that a few months ago. Medhall used the Yggdrassil to make a possible cure for HIV."


    "Not quite a cure, but a treatment that primes the immune system against many strains of the virus. It has shown a success rate of just over forty five percent thus far. I believe a true cure will come within five years."​


    "It's not the cure that's the hard part," Clarice muttered. "It's finding a way to mass produce the stuff."


    "Pardon my confusion, but nothing you've said sounds that bad. In fact, it mostly sounds quite appealing."


    "In the short term, perhaps. But the Yggdrassil is a single living thing that is Avalon's entire biosphere. There is no life cycle, no natural evolutionary course that will allow it to adapt to changing circumstances. The ground beneath Avalon is still dangerously irradiated by the cosmic event that destroyed life on the world. Without the Yggdrassil the world will return to uninhabitable within decades. Empress Lavere is the only thing keeping their world alive. Her unofficial title as 'The Heart of Avalon' is, I'm afraid, quite literal. Should anything happen to her, their whole world dies."​


    He's not wrong. If anything does happen to me. SupportProtectYouForever. Taylor turned and kissed the side of my head. I snuggled happily against her and settled in for the rest of the discussion. I know you will. I love you. LoveKeepSafe.


    ===============


    A/N- Victor briefly considered visiting this guy at some point. But then he decided guns, cars, martial arts, and how to pick up women were more interesting than studying life that doesn't actually exist.

    Or, in the immortal words of Abridged Piccolo: NEEEEERRRRRD!!!!


    Also- Taylia, one year later.
     
    Last edited: May 13, 2015
  9. TanaNari

    TanaNari Verified Dick

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    Mother fucker. This site's bugging out the format on the indents. I'll be fixing that for a while. Anyone who points it out is forever known as not paying attention.

    EDIT: Okay, I THINK that's fixed. Looks good on my computer, at least.
     
  10. Snake/Eater

    Snake/Eater Myth Maker of the North

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    I can't tell if you made a funny typo or she was actually being a pervy creeper on her fiance's mom.
     
    Last edited: May 14, 2015
  11. dasstan

    dasstan :)

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    All but confirmed a Marquis/Annette fling at some point.
    [screaming]
    [screaming louder]
    Huh. I wonder if his shard is related to Teacher's?
    [more screaming]
    [incoherent gibbering]

    Good lord. That Taylia, tho.
     
  12. cosoco

    cosoco Not too sore, are you?

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    Ah, what's the worst thing that could happen? Besides Scion making both of them into his waifu.
    Ok. Is Pantheon going to fix this at some point? Because having a Bus Factor of one for an entire planet seems like a terrible idea.

    Same thing goes for Taylor being the sole controller of all of the bug-monsters. It seems like they could put them under AI control, or something.
     
  13. Ack

    Ack (Verified Ratbag) (Unverified Great Old One)

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    I notice more coherent concepts (such as nouns) coming through.
     
  14. CptTagon

    CptTagon Prolific Writer

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    I know you said they were getting better at expressing complex concepts through the bond, but I hadn't really understood just how far along it had gone.
     
  15. pepperjack

    pepperjack A Variety of Cheese

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    Cloning technology. "Long Live the Empresses" is kind of an understatement.

    Edit: Or vastly ironic, if you take Lisa's view.
     
  16. dasstan

    dasstan :)

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    Dragon + Power tinker + symbiote tinker + Yummy Cocks = secondary Yggdrasil control system.

    Or...

    A lobotomised cloned Amy brain + Riley + a rapture tech/cranial tech = secondary Yggdrasil control system.
     
  17. Cyclone

    Cyclone Disciple of Zor

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  18. dasstan

    dasstan :)

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    So, something I just thought of while wondering how QA and Shaper have managed to avoid budding, assuming that there aren't little shardlettes running around post timeskip: They're making a new shard, working from first principles. Not a bud of either one, but a brand spanking new shard.

    Not sure what the shard will do, but I'm sure it will be impressive, and the first of its kind.
     
  19. tordg

    tordg (Unverified Idiot)

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    You can keep gibbering. I will spend the next week randomly d'awwwwwwwing. Hopefully. There's a verified dick around here who'd like to ruin everything, after all.
     
  20. Ack

    Ack (Verified Ratbag) (Unverified Great Old One)

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    Incidentally, 'propaganda'.
     
  21. Dreadis

    Dreadis No idea whats going on

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    Nice to see the improved connection.

    Suprised they didn't pull out the Lustrum henchwoman thing after the Marquis bit though
     
  22. fishbait08

    fishbait08 I trust you know where the happy button is?

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    See that the Taylia bond's communication abilities are getting better, being able to communicate nouns now- wonder how much farther it'll go?

    Now why does this sound just a little ominous?
     
  23. cosoco

    cosoco Not too sore, are you?

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    The cloning technology isn't perfectly reliable. Remember that the last time that Amy was cloned, it took four days because the attempts kept failing. What happens if she dies and the backup can't restore?
    Both of those sound like good backup plans.
    During the timeskip, Aiden came back to life as ghost that can control birds, and can only interact with the world via those birds. You have to read between the lines.
    I think someone already made this joke, but:
    Destination.

    Trajectory.

    Agreement.

    But there's nothing to worry about. Unless Taylia develops into a recursive grammar. If that happens, pack your bags and hope that the CUI is accepting immigrants.
    ...because it is?
     
  24. GiftofLove

    GiftofLove A Gift From The Heart

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    Farther than the hosts, probably.

    Zing!
     
  25. jrbless

    jrbless You needed worthy opponents.

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    In canon, Amy never had any buds form from her shard, largely due to her being in the Birdcage for most of the story, though she was active as Panacea in New Wave for years. Since all the inmates are already parahumans, they couldn't pick up a bud from her even if they wanted to.

    In canon, Taylor had one bud that we know of. A boy (I don't remember his name) in her part of Brockton Bay gained control over birds.

    The odds of them giving a bud to someone else are fairly slim I think. They would have to spend a fair amount of time with a non-parahuman. The only one that fits the bill (kind of, anyway) is Danny. Maybe Kurt and Lacey as well. I can't think of any named non-parahumans they've spent any time with. Maybe just random strangers from when they are walking around on Avalon, like the couple that own a restaurant?

    On the topic of bud shards, what is their policy for how to deal with parahumans that trigger on Avalon? From when Rune immigrated, they clearly have a policy for how to handle incoming parahumans. With Amy's total control of the planet + Taylor's bugs, parahuman villains should be nonexistent. My guess is that fresh parahumans are either encouraged to be rogues, join up with Avalon or the Protectorate, or emigrate.
     
  26. dasstan

    dasstan :)

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    Amy didn't bud because she did essentially the same thing with her shard for years on end. To a multidimensional supercomputer capable of sculpting life in whatever manner its host desires, healing people is trivially easy and doesn't net any sort of data after the first few times.

    If she had enough data to bud, I'm sure the shard hosted in a different dimension wouldn't have had difficulty with picking someone at random, regardless of proximity.
    She probably would have budded sooner if she hadn't suffered a double trigger and had her shard eat itself for additional loosening of restrictions. The fact that she managed to bud before the time skip, is a testament to the amount of conflict she experienced. As to during the time skip, I figure that she didn't gather anywhere near as much data as before, due to the restrictive nature of the Wards program. Especially one situated in a city that isn't a hellhole.

    While proximity to a parahuman raises the likelihood that someone will get a bud, I really doubt that the shards don't have a secondary or tertiary method for selecting someone to send a bud to if there are nothing but parahumans around.

    The whole point of the shards is to go forth and gather data. To sit there with a potential bud and not do anything with it is just silly.
    [two hours later] Oh good, QQ is working again. I can finally post this.
     
  27. Coruscant Knave

    Coruscant Knave 'Twas love that did this to you.

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    Like all revolutionary technological advances.

    On another note:

    It's happening!
     
  28. Daunmi

    Daunmi Shun the sun, night so nice

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    So, hows about that oh god Taylia? It's making me think I can see why this is going to be a dark fix-fix, but I'm probably wrong.

    I hate you both for making me aware of this sort of thing.

    I hate Phoenix more for it coming from someone who thinks they should be in the school system. What the hell is wrong with these people's parents?
     
    Tenebrous Fantasies likes this.
  29. EragonVsHarry

    EragonVsHarry Getting out there.

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    Should i be excited at the idea of getting another nsfw bonus chapter soon?
    :p
     
  30. TanaNari

    TanaNari Verified Dick

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    Of course, then you need to give them a chance to Trigger. And there's no guarantee Amelia or Taylor's buds will look anything like their current power.

    Slowly. Because holy fuck this isn't even a real wedding and I'm still busy planning it. I've barely even started to write anything.

    This is on my "never again" list. Right alongside formal letters and goddamn PHO interludes.

    Share with the class? Seriously, the feedback and speculation I get is woefully sparse here. I'd LOVE to hear your guess.

    Yes.
     
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