kate_nepveu: superpowers

Kate (

kate_nepveu) wrote,
@ 2013-02-20 05:20 pm UTC

Entry tags:

randomosity

superpowers

I had a self-pitying post drafted in my head [*], but that's tedious, really, so:

Superpowers! Do you have one, and which one would you like?

My superpower appears to be recovering from major abdominal surgery. (I know some of you might be so kind as to think that it's being organized or getting things done, but actually I work rather hard at those and often do less well than I would like.) Which is rarely used but is very good to have when you need it (I hope I don't again).

I was going back and forth about whether I'd like teleportation or needing only one hour of sleep a night (which is an easier-to-manage version of being able to stop time, in my head), and decided that very-little-sleep would serve the same function as teleportation for my day-to-day needs, and is easier to hide generally.

What about you all?

[*] The Pip has a stomach bug.

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	no subject scifantasy 2013-02-20 10:45 pm UTC (link)
	I have no fricking idea if I have one or not. Teleportation. No doubt in my mind; between a long-distance relationship and a fondness for conventions, the idea of obviating plane and hotel costs seals it. Add in "I could get a big place to live out in the middle of nowhere for a song and teleport to work," and, well. (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 4 comments) (Show 4 comments)

	no subject kate_nepveu 2013-02-20 10:50 pm UTC (link)
	Totally, but how do you explain to people that you're living in the middle of nowhere and getting to Manhattan every morning? (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Expand) (Hide 3 comments) (Show 3 comments)

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scifantasy, 2013-02-20 10:52 pm UTC (Expand)

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kate_nepveu, 2013-02-20 11:39 pm UTC (Expand)

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scifantasy, 2013-02-21 04:33 am UTC (Expand)

	Superpower lbmango 2013-02-20 10:56 pm UTC (link)
	I have the ability to find the simple solutions to easy problems. I would like to have ...not quite omniscience, but perhaps, hyperscience. (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 3 comments) (Show 3 comments)

	Re: Superpower kate_nepveu 2013-02-20 11:40 pm UTC (link)
	Recognizing when things are easy is sometimes non-trivial! (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Expand) (Hide 2 comments) (Show 2 comments)

Re: Superpower - (Anonymous), 2013-02-21 04:51 am UTC (Expand)

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kate_nepveu, 2013-02-21 05:21 am UTC (Expand)

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yhlee
2013-02-20 11:09 pm UTC (link)

I have the totally specialized and useless superpower of perfect pitch. (Relative pitch is almost always just as good in musical applications. There are a few circumstances where having perfect pitch has done me some good, but they're...kind of rare.)

The superpower that would do me the most immediate good is the ability to fall asleep at night, which I have lacked for most of my life. My husband has this and let me tell you, it looks really nice when you wake up for the sixth time in a night after failing to fall asleep until 3 a.m. in the first place.

(Although if we're being silly, shapeshifting could be fun, depending on the variety.)

My husband's other superpower (because he gets two useful ones) is to Find Things In The House. I cannot complain about this because I'm the one who loses stuff so he gets to find things for me...

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	no subject kate_nepveu 2013-02-20 11:41 pm UTC (link)
	I did not know that about perfect and relative pitch! If there was no conservation of mass requirement (which, you know, superpower, so sure), shapeshifting would also be fun. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Expand) (Hide 3 comments) (Show 3 comments)

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yhlee, 2013-02-20 11:48 pm UTC (Expand)

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mmcirvin, 2013-02-21 12:17 pm UTC (Expand)

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yhlee, 2013-02-21 07:02 pm UTC (Expand)

	no subject mmcirvin 2013-02-20 11:37 pm UTC (link)
	I can detect the polarization of (linearly polarized) light with the unaided eye. Most people can be trained to do this. (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 4 comments) (Show 4 comments)

	no subject kate_nepveu 2013-02-20 11:42 pm UTC (link)
	Woah, that is cool. Last edited 2013-02-21 02:09 am UTC (missing verb from fending off toddler hands on keyboard) (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Expand) (Hide 3 comments) (Show 3 comments)

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mmcirvin, 2013-02-21 02:44 am UTC (Expand)

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kate_nepveu, 2013-02-21 05:22 am UTC (Expand)

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thingswithwings
2013-02-20 11:38 pm UTC (link)

Yay for your superpower!

Mine is keeping my extremities warm. Put me outside in the cold, give me twenty minutes, and my hands and feet and face will all be toasty with redirected blood flow. I am often running around without mittens on in -20C, and I have never had frostbite in my life (despite growing up in Manitoba, where -40C in the winter was the norm).

I would definitely go for teleportation. No doubt about it. I want to visit people! Though telekinesis would also be cool. Your choice of not needing to sleep is abhorrent to me, because I love sleep too much. Even if I only needed one hour a night, I'd probably still sleep for seven.

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kate_nepveu
2013-02-20 11:44 pm UTC (link)

Your superpower would be AMAZING. Wow. (I am one of those people who runs cold.)

I don't so much care about sleep, I just care about getting _more_ _time_, and that seems like the easiest way to go about it. (Ability to stop time? Does that still let me interact with things? Etc.) (Eventually the current state of constant sleep deprivation will stop, as it is caused by having small children.)

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	no subject kalmn 2013-02-21 01:05 am UTC (link)
	My superpower is spelling- I can spell any language I can speak. Right now that's English, but in college, I could spell French, Russian, and Anishanaabe at various times. The one I want is the warm extremities. Oh boy. Failing that, I'd take teleportation. But I'd rather have warm toes. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Expand) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

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kate_nepveu, 2013-02-21 01:48 am UTC (Expand)

	no subject wrdnrd 2013-02-21 01:55 am UTC (link)
	Wow. Ability to keep the extremities warm! This is the superpower i want. I have Raynaud's phenomenon, which makes riding my Vespa in winter a little dicey sometimes, and is more than a little uncomfortable. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Expand) (Hide 3 comments) (Show 3 comments)

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kate_nepveu, 2013-02-21 01:56 am UTC (Expand)

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kate_nepveu, 2013-02-21 02:10 am UTC (Expand)

	no subject kass 2013-02-20 11:42 pm UTC (link)
	I am so sorry that the Pip is under the weather. May the rest of your family remain bug-free. (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	no subject kate_nepveu 2013-02-20 11:45 pm UTC (link)
	Oh gosh I hope so. SteelyKid ran on a several-days delay last time, so there's a long time waiting to see . . . (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	no subject hhw 2013-02-21 12:48 am UTC (link)
	my superpower is rationalization. instaneous travel would be my first choice, but it would be handier if generally availble so maybe I'll pick the superpower of being able to invent entirely free ubiquitous made-from-recyled-plastic solar-powered transporter technology. (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	no subject kate_nepveu 2013-02-21 01:50 am UTC (link)
	Eeep. That's kind of a mixed bag, huh? Your desired superpower is on my list of genie wishes, though pretty low down the list. (I figure I can put as a condition of my wishes that it be implemented in as maximally positive a way as possible.) (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

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wrdnrd
2013-02-21 02:00 am UTC (link)

My general inclination isn't toward wanting a superpower -- mostly i just want a TARDIS. But having discovered that

thingswithwings's superpower is a thing, that's definitely the one i'd go for.

My primary superpower is parallel parking. I'm great at parking in a spot on the passenger's side (U.S.) of the car, a little less good at parking in a driver's side spot. I swear i am going to find a way to monetize this.

My secondary superpower makes me the envy of all other proofreaders: i can tell the difference between em-dashes, en-dashes, and hyphens without a pica pole; i can also see the extra space when something's been double-spaced.

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	no subject kate_nepveu 2013-02-21 02:11 am UTC (link)
	I cannot parallel park at all, so I am envious! I have your secondary superpower, but only in non-justified text. => (I also used to be able to see italicized commas.) Last edited 2013-02-21 02:44 am UTC (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

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leighdb
2013-02-21 02:03 am UTC (link)

My superpower is probably parallel parking. I am bizarrely good at parallel parking, I don't know why. (If you can parallel park a station wagon in the French Quarter, and I can, you can parallel park anything anywhere. S'truth.)

If I could pick a mundane superpower it would probably be a sense of direction, because at the moment I have basically none. (This is why I found going below 14th Street in NY or anywhere at all in Burbank in CA to be terrifying, because unless I had specific and detailed directions I *would* get lost, it was a rule. Bleh.)

If I could have a superpower superpower, teleportation is probably more useful but I think shapeshifting would be ridiculous fun - especially if you could do both people and animals. You could try being everything!

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	no subject leighdb 2013-02-21 02:05 am UTC (link)
	Haha, I swear I hadn't seen wrdnrd's response before I posted mine! (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

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kate_nepveu, 2013-02-21 02:12 am UTC (Expand)

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skygiants
2013-02-21 02:28 am UTC (link)

My superpower is knowing how to fall so I never get hurt! The corollary to this is that it comes from a whole lifetime of falling a lot . . . so maybe my superpower is sitcom clumsiness?

Which is all well and good but I would trade it in without question for the Hiro Nakamura time-stopping superpower. Like, maybe I'd age prematurely relative to other people or whatever, but SO MUCH TIME! *____*

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	no subject kate_nepveu 2013-02-21 02:44 am UTC (link)
	No, no, clumsiness can't be a superpower, not unless every time you fall you get, I don't know, the ability to save a kitten or something. Clearly there are a lot of different ways to get to the more-time result! (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Expand) (Hide 2 comments) (Show 2 comments)

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skygiants, 2013-02-21 02:47 am UTC (Expand)

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redbird
2013-02-21 02:51 am UTC (link)

My (useless) superpower is the ability to get strangers to ask me directions, including in places I've never been before.

I mentioned this thread to

cattitude who said that no, my superpower is how often I can answer their questions, again including in cities I've never been to before. This isn't quite useless: not only does it benefit the person who now knows how to get to Boylston Street or where the nearest TTC subway entrance is, but it makes the world a slightly brighter place for me. (The random inquirer may not realize that I've never been on that streetcorner before, but I know.)

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	no subject kate_nepveu 2013-02-21 05:24 am UTC (link)
	It is certainly better than useless ! (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

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rysmiel, 2013-02-21 01:58 pm UTC (Expand)

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kate_nepveu, 2013-02-21 03:01 pm UTC (Expand)

	no subject annew 2013-02-21 03:22 am UTC (link)
	My superpower is always knowing where I parked. And knowing how to get around large cities after having visited once, which is probably something along those same lines. Always kind of knowing where you are was a lot more impressive before smartphones. I want immortality. No question. (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	no subject kate_nepveu 2013-02-21 05:25 am UTC (link)
	Those are excellent superpowers. I only want immortality if I and everyone I love gets to join the Culture. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

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rushthatspeaks
2013-02-21 03:57 am UTC (link)

My stupid superpower is that I am unbeatable at the Cheap-Ass Game Unexploded Cow. There is not supposed to be any strategy or planning involved in this game; it is pure random chance. Nonetheless I cannot be beaten at it. I don't know either.

My non-stupid superpower is sense of direction. I can extrapolate how to get just about anywhere from just about anywhere else, don't get lost, and can retrace my steps to places I went four years ago once when it was dark out. I also know which way is north at least ninety percent of the time (although mostly it doesn't much matter). This is all actually quite useful.

The one I'd like is based on a thing from the Dresden Files. I'd like to simply know, i.e have access to as though to a memory, anything currently written or printed on paper. The applications are huge and the usefulness is incalculable (starting with people could just write me notes without bothering to deliver them), but it would be a pretty easy thing to conceal if I wanted to.

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	no subject kate_nepveu 2013-02-21 05:28 am UTC (link)
	Whoa. You are Brutha from _Small Gods_. That is a stunning superpower, but how do you keep from spoiling yourself for books? (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent) (Thread) (Expand) (Hide 2 comments) (Show 2 comments)

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thistleingrey
2013-02-21 05:53 am UTC (link)

Mine seems to be reading handwritten things if in a writing system I've met, whether or not I know the language, though obviously lang acquaintance helps a lot. It has been useful mundanely (doctor's scrawl submitted as evidence for a civil case where I was a jury member), but mostly it is a glorified party trick that isn't even good for parties. Not sure I'd trade it for something else, even so.

I hope the Pip feels well soon.

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	no subject kate_nepveu 2013-02-21 03:07 pm UTC (link)
	I occasionally need to decipher doctor's notes-- that would be awesome. Thanks! He's definitely better, though not 100%. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

	no subject metaphortunate 2013-02-21 07:24 am UTC (link)
	My superpower is how fast I read. GODDAMN FAST, that is how. It is incredibly useful 99% of the time and a huge drawback on planes. (Reply to this) (Thread) (Hide 1 comment) (Show 1 comment)

	no subject kate_nepveu 2013-02-21 03:09 pm UTC (link)
	Do I remember right that you have an ereader now? Kind of thing they were made for. (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

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tchemgrrl.livejournal.com
2013-02-21 06:53 pm UTC (link)

Superpower: putting together furniture. My father-in-law has a pretty good one, which is a total inability to get lost in cities, especially ones with medieval layouts.

Desired superpower: 360 degree vision at all times. Very useful when driving. Alternately, atomic rearrangement into whatever molecule I wanted. I'd make prescription drugs so cheap!

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	no subject kate_nepveu 2013-02-22 12:30 am UTC (link)
	I read your second one as you would rearrange yourself into any molecule at first, which made the next bit very confusing! (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

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rosefox
2013-02-23 06:55 am UTC (link)

My superpower is apparently editing. I was told by one of my colleagues on 24MAG that after I clocked out at 11 p.m. on the last issue--unwell enough that, according to her, I looked like I'd just had a run-in with a Dementor--it took four people, all professional editors, to do most of the work I would usually have done between 11 p.m. and 10 a.m. She said this with some awe, probably because despite being Dementor-ized I had edited several articles and written a logic puzzle before heading home.

As for superpowers I want, teleportation sounds good to me. If I say "I was in Singapore yesterday and will be going back tomorrow" then that would get me some direct questions. If I say "I'm going to Singapore for my vacation this year" people might wonder how I can afford it but no one would be so rude as to ask directly. So I'd live pretty much the way I do now, only without having to actually endure air travel and with occasional weekend jaunts to see people who could be trusted to keep the secret. I'd even probably keep commuting, except on days when I was running really late. I like my commute.

Jetlag would be a cast-iron pain, though.

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	no subject kate_nepveu 2013-02-23 02:42 pm UTC (link)
	Professionally speaking, that is an excellent superpower! I'd be totally paranoid about the passport etc. problem, but I'm sure it could be got around-- and you could always teleport out of custody! (Reply to this) (Thread from start) (Parent)

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