Danny Chase (
formerspybrat) wrote in
metaheroes2023-03-03 02:34 pm
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Our Powers | Voice | Open
Display Name: Goillot
Profile Photo: A shot of the Central City skyline from the top of the Diadem Hotel.
[Despite aiming for semi-anonymity, Danny goes with using his voice instead of text. Because if he has to type this and give himself the chance to overthink things, it might never happen.
The mic picks up the light sound of wind, and when he speaks up, Danny's not putting in the effort to change his voice, beyond playing down his slight New York accent and shifting his tone to something softer and more professional. It's a stark difference from his usual laid-back drawl, but the kid's naturally scratchy voice is still easy enough to recognize.]
So...did anyone else who caught Fantastic's speech find that a little worrying?
For anyone who was caught in the Confluence, or just fell from the sky, welcome, or welcome back. Here's what you missed.
[A recording of Fantastic's speech starts playing. Tinny and rough, like it's coming from one speaker picking up another. It sounds awful scripted for a "heart-felt" speech. Not meant to comfort or inspire confidence but to rally soldiers. The kind of speech Danny became familiar with when he was far too young. And when he'd heard it coming from Fantastic, it settled in his stomach like lead.]
You can probably find a better version of that online, but this gives the gist.
Can't say I'm crazy about him talking to us like we're a bunch of soldiers, but then, I'm guessing that speech wasn't actually for us.
Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but I have a bad feeling that if this guy gets to be the Alliance leader, the way he wants everyone to think he already is, things might get worse for us.
Profile Photo: A shot of the Central City skyline from the top of the Diadem Hotel.
[Despite aiming for semi-anonymity, Danny goes with using his voice instead of text. Because if he has to type this and give himself the chance to overthink things, it might never happen.
The mic picks up the light sound of wind, and when he speaks up, Danny's not putting in the effort to change his voice, beyond playing down his slight New York accent and shifting his tone to something softer and more professional. It's a stark difference from his usual laid-back drawl, but the kid's naturally scratchy voice is still easy enough to recognize.]
So...did anyone else who caught Fantastic's speech find that a little worrying?
For anyone who was caught in the Confluence, or just fell from the sky, welcome, or welcome back. Here's what you missed.
[A recording of Fantastic's speech starts playing. Tinny and rough, like it's coming from one speaker picking up another. It sounds awful scripted for a "heart-felt" speech. Not meant to comfort or inspire confidence but to rally soldiers. The kind of speech Danny became familiar with when he was far too young. And when he'd heard it coming from Fantastic, it settled in his stomach like lead.]
You can probably find a better version of that online, but this gives the gist.
Can't say I'm crazy about him talking to us like we're a bunch of soldiers, but then, I'm guessing that speech wasn't actually for us.
Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but I have a bad feeling that if this guy gets to be the Alliance leader, the way he wants everyone to think he already is, things might get worse for us.
UN: Prodigy | Text
Thanks for video though. I was caught in the bubble. Wish I wasn't, so I could punch him.
Text
[Always good to know he wasn't just taking the spy paranoia too far.]
And no problem. I figured it might get lost in the news shuffle for people that weren't here to see it.
Is this the first time he's pulled something like this or is this part of a pattern for him?
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It's a bit of a pattern.
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What else has he done?
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[And Prodigy is confident enough to say that without privacy. Fuck Fantastic.]
Voice; DN: verucasaltlives
Voice
And Danny thought he had trust issues. At least he didn't assume all adults would treat him like a little soldier or something to use...He just had a deeply seeded insecurity that they wouldn't keep him around if he wasn't useful. Totally different.]
...You run into a lot of adults like him?
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They boss around anyone with less power than them, make other people do they actual work, act like it’s a chore to give actual directions, and then waltz in at the last minute to steal most of the credit.
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[One person, in particular, comes to mind. Though Faraday definitely wasn't unique among the CBI.]
...I'm sorry you've had to deal with more than a few.
[He means it. And tries to sound like he means it, though open sincerity has never been his strong suit.
There's a temptation to add that they still shouldn't treat Fantastic like he's just another adult acting like "all adults" do, but for once he bites his tongue. No one who had to deal with most, or all, the adults in their life treating them that way needed to be lectured like that.
Raven had cautioned him that he needed to be more considerate of people's feelings. He'd brushed her off at the time but he'd started trying to take it more seriously as of late. After seeing the kind of person Faraday became, and knowing how much of a hand that man had in shaping his own personality, the fear that he could end up like him had been eating away at him.]
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[ Nico just casually breezing past this pity, as much as he knows how. He can hear that it’s another kid. Somehow, that’s worse. ]
You’ll be just like them, and then you won’t mind.
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Or we can remember what they did to us and be better.
It's not like some flip-switched when they hit twenty. They're not shitty because they're adults. They're shitty because they chose to be.
[Text] UN: Anonymous
I don't think you're paranoid, for what it's worth. I think that speech was for the people who weren't there listening, who aren't metas. The ones that watch his videos online and think he's this perfectly relatable guy who happens to be gorgeous.
That speech makes him sound like a leader. Unless you've ever done much off the cuff speaking. Then you can hear how practiced it is. He's making a play, I'm pretty certain.
UN: Bouncing Boy
The divide can seem subtle the larger a team gets, but as someone who used to lead a pretty sizable team myself? The divide is still there. And if even half of what @Huvrye says is true, Fantastic seems pretty intent on stomping all over it.
UN: Anonymous
I'm not sure whether he actually believes it. Like I said, it sounds good. There are members of the public who obviously want the metas to be treated more like soldiers, to be kept more under control. Fantastic goes out there, making himself seen and sounding like he's in charge, even if nobody else listens to him. Have this happen a few times and the public starts getting mad at the leadership of the Alliance, wanting change since the ones there obviously aren't doing anything. So all he really has to do is bide his time.
[Text]
Yeah. That's pretty much exactly what I was afraid of.
Feels like he's campaigning. Showing the non-meta public how he'll run things in their favor, or more likely, his favor.
[Text] UN: Anonymous
[Also, it's Danny, and he's just not sure how the kid's going to handle him being here.]
He's definitely campaigning. The fact that he was on the scene but none of the 'leadership' was made one hell of an impression. So did his very pre-written speech. He's been waiting for a reason to give it. It was a little too practiced, a little too ready for off-the-cuff.
[text] display name: Cure Marine
[text]
[That's not entirely a lie. He did recently join, and it had certainly felt like the best option, but he'd also suspected the worst of them from the start. This was just the first real recent red flag to show him he might have been on to something.]
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[ Unless you wanted to have no money at all for superhero related stuff and possibly getting sued for property damage or whatever.]
[text] display name: Cure Blossom
[text]
[text]
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I don't think trying to punch him is going to do anything to help though. And if the government was worried they... probably would have done something I'd think? So it's going to be hard.
I guess we can leave if it bugs us but... uh... [They kinda needed money to live. Or deal with colleterial damage that doesn't magically fix itself after the fight is over. ]
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We're probably going to need to talk to people who are smarter than us.
[Who also aren't evil. Obviously. ]
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[Sure, she knew some people now, but not anyone who she thought would be smart enough to plan something against the leaders of the Alliance if it were needed (Sorry Leo and Nico). ]
un: UnbeatableSG
[text]
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UN: Huvrye | Voice
I am a soldier. It's not the first time I've heard that kind of propaganda. Anyone who talks like that doesn't actually care about anyone under them. If you step out of line, he'll cut you down.
[Huvrye has a sample size of one here; that said, Effiom leaves a lasting impression. Scarring, even.]
[Huvrye's tone downshifts from anger into thoughtfulness as he continues.]
I challenged him after that speech. He told me to butt out and called every meta a soldier by birthright. He was also annoyed at me - enough for me to see it. I think if we hit him enough, he'll break his image - we just have to make sure it happens in public, before he gets a chance to take over the Alliance.
I also don't think he's a coincidence he made that speech while the real leaders were distracted.
[He may have been thinking about this quite a bit.]
Voice | Private
Danny switches over to private because this has the potential to turn into a talk that definitely shouldn't be public.]
I've seen how the people who make those speeches treat the people under them, too. If he really thinks all meta's are soldiers by birthright, then this is somehow worse than I thought.
That might as well be political speech for "you're all disposable" if you're part of the Guilds, and possibly worse for anyone that's unaffiliated.
[It's also not comforting to hear that Fantastic probably orchestrated a distraction for the real leaders in order to make his speech. That wasn't just making a play or taking advantage of a situation to make a campaign speech.]
And if he set up a distraction to make that speech, that...that's bold. Feels like the kind of behavior you get from someone a breath away from starting a coup.
But it's good to know Golden Boy cracks under pressure. [And it's a little bit instantly endearing to hear that Huvrye's first instinct had been to call the prick out.] If that's all it takes to get him annoyed, I'm betting he could be cracked in public. The only problem is making him break without going so far that he and his fans can argue he was somehow justified.
It might be even better if he doesn't know the public can see him.
Voice | Private from here on in
I don't think he's going to discriminate between Guild and unaffiliated. He might expect Alliance members to obey him, but I don't think it'll stop there.
So we need to stop him first.
[Huvrye would rather die than let another Effiom rise to power. At least he can do something about it here. Be on the right side for once.]
[(Hopefully.)]
You're talking about a sting.
I'm happy to be the thorn in his side. The question is whether we should build up to it or try breaking him all at once.
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That was going too far into the theoretical though. By the sound of things Fantastic might be egotistical and power-hungry, sure, but Danny didn't know enough about the guy to know if he would really stoop to that. So he keeps the thought to himself.
Stay focused.]
Agreed.
And, yeah, a sting could be the best way to catch him.
I could help with being a thorn in his side too, if it takes more than one person. I've been told I'm good at that. [And depending on the kind of ego Fantastic had, getting called out by some snot-nosed brat could help make him snap.]
Not sure what would be the best way to go. I don't know enough about the guy to know what would be more effective.
Trying to break him all at once would definitely be faster and could give him less time to come up with rebuttals. But if it fails he could catch on to what we're doing and it could get a whole lot harder to make him slip up or catch him off guard.
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So we need more intel. He's a public figure - there's got to be more information about him available. There are probably people from this dimension who don't like him either - the question is whether they'd be willing to whatever they have on him public, or at least accessible. If we find something we can use, we can build on it.
[Huvrye is barely familiar with the internet, let alone internet culture. There's probably a Fantastic Fails youtube compilation out there somewhere - he just wouldn't have any idea where to start looking.]
If we can find enough people we trust to help, it'll make intel gathering - and the op - easier to handle.
text; @Sephiroth
text
I'm just trying to get the word out and get some perspective on whether or not I'm overreacting.
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text | un: DefaultUser33360
Is the only "help" they're interested in just soldiers?
text
But that's why Fantastic's speech is an issue. He's making it sound like that might change if he takes over the Guild. At least, that's what it sounds like to me.
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He has to, if he's aiming to lead it.
How much support is he getting? He can't possibly be popular, if he's treating recruits like soldiers.
Text | U/N: RankedSixth
[This isn't Providence, after all.]
Worked under contract for people like Fantastic but I knew what I was getting into then. Most of the people with the Alliance didn't sign up for that. If he takes command, I imagine the Syndicate is going to get a lot of new recruits if not more people going freelance as risky as that is.