Okay, here's the first edition of PoWeR! I'm writing this to keep track of everything I learn as a solo superhero. And all the stuff I have to unlearn, because let's face it, there's a lot. So in no special order! There's no "I" in TEAM. There's just a mixed-up "ME". I trained with Leo to become his partner, as Pneuma, but there's so much of that I'm missing now. No HUD callouts, no trading info back and forth. My eyes keep moving up and around to the corners, or to highlight targets, or whatever, and then I do the somatic signaling actions, but it's all wasted without someone to receive the feedback. I feel like a part of me got cut off and I'm left rebalancing myself. Expect the unexpected. We had a meteor come out of nowhere. NOPE it's the Phoenix in an out of control trajectory. I couldn't have foreseen that, and I was totally unprepared. Thankfully Concord had the power to deal with it, but he also had what I didn't: experience and preparation. It was him that saved the team, and teleported the Phoenix into space. I don't know how to fix this. I think I just need to review some old fights with Leo and Aria, ask them what they faced, what they did. I remember Jason talked about "sit reps" and stuff, and I should ask him if he's gotten any better about that. And it feels like Alycia should know about this stuff, like military-style after action reports. I should ask Comet, or the JHHL, or A10, or some other experienced hero. Power matters . Concord had the tools to rescue Phoenix, as well as the wits. But even if I'd been able to figure out a solution, could I have made it a reality? I need to rebuild, measure, and rebuild again. I need to build a new shell, a hybrid of hard-light projection and carbon tech. Better emitters, bigger and better conductors, tougher armor, stronger muscles, better levitation tech. I can't just use my graphene batteries as buffer any more, I need to keep them full to capacity at all times, and some kind of emergency charging apparatus. I have to match Concord and the others watt for watt, joule for joule, dyne for dyne. There's no winning with a secret ID. On the one hand, being out was helpful for Leo. The teachers asked me about him, and it didn't turn out well, sure, but how else could you explain his absence without him getting into trouble? Ordinary students don't just disappear, but superheroes do, so he sort of got some slack. On the other hand, Concord got chewed out by his parents, and they were so worried, and it was heartbreaking to look at their faces and imagine their fear. If they didn't know their son was regularly in danger, if they thought he just spent a lot of time visiting friends or attending study hall or whatever, would it be better? So anyway, that's my lessons learned for now! I still feel stupid and unprepared, but I'm not giving up. I just need to ask my friends for advice, and learn more about how to be a hero. Papillon Witch Radiance will be back next week! :mwah: RANDOM AESOP FOR THE KIDS: Concord's family was sort of cool towards me. It’s really neat, how words can mean different things. Like if I’d said “cool towards me”, you know there’s some tension, some uncertainty or hostility, and we extend the metaphor to say things like “breaking the ice”. But if I said “cool with me”, that means entirely the opposite. So I’m going to say that we went from cool towards me to cool with me, or are heading in that direction. Think about the meanings of the words you use! #Background
