#dyvj powers

[drinkyourvillainjuice]

Powers post!

I wrote something up on COG yesterday which explains the entire cast's powers in a little more detail, and I thought it'd be nice to crosspost here.

Here you are!

Altruists

Dion - Can create energy projections which emerge from terrain, e.g. walls, floors, ceilings. These can also extend from each other to a more limited extent. They specifically seem to manifest as geometric shapes, as in, rather than just a vertical energy barrier, it would be a cube-shaped projection

Mal - Exceptional durability/resistance towards physical harm (cuts, blunt trauma, etc.) Capable of altering their own appearance, including height/bulk, but not precisely enough to accurately mimic others (could maybe hold up to a cursory inspection, but nothing more)

Kay - As well as having sheeplike physiology, she is able to absorb impact (and energy to some extent?) and ‘charge’ herself with it, resulting in an electrical aura. More charge = harder hits and greater speed.

Teddie - Constant bone growths that push through his skin. Luckily for him, his body works with these to not be, y’know, constantly bleeding everywhere. Unluckily for him, he still feels the growth. And he can only get rid of them by breaking them off. He’s able to influence/stimulate growth to an extent, allowing him to construct exoskeletal armour for missions (hence his more elaborate setup on the two jobs so far)

Wil - Able to drain energy from others via touching them, temporarily boosting their own strength and speed. Apparently works on constructs like Portrait’s too, neat!

Hounds

Surpass - Super strength, durability, and speed. Doesn’t work quite as straightforwardly as advertised, but we’ll get into that in time. ; )

Vantage - Creates precognitive simulations which enable her to predict roughly how likely a given course of events is to happen. The more information she has on the topic, the better her prediction. Has limitations: introducing outside factors to a simulation will likely render the previous simulation useless, and she’ll have to do it again, and she doesn’t have infinite concentration/mental energy to constantly run every possible permutation of events at all times. 97.65% was a bluff.

Arcade - Shoots lasers!! - fires colourful lasers from his hands, growing in intensity the longer he charges them up. Easily capable of causing burns/starting fires.

Enfilade - Augment. Cybernetically enhanced in various ways, boosting physical capabilities. Most prominently, her arms are almost entirely artificial, and one forearm houses a powerful bolt launcher.

Portrait - ‘Paints’ constructs from inorganic material, with the creations taking on some characteristics from the material (i.e. a concrete construct would be hard-skinned). The constructs have limited autonomy and are heavily reliant Portrait’s orders, which as you can imagine is a significant weakness. Struggles to maintain more than three at a time, though there’s no diffusion of overall power (they don’t get weaker as he makes more) Unclear whether the animal theme is a preference or a requirement.

Phalanx - Telekinetic manipulation of metal (so nope, she’s not Magneto). Metal she’s manipulating exerts force roughly proportional to the weight/size, meaning she’s liable to dragging herself around. Though that essentially renders her capable of flight, score!

Coven

Hypothesis - Still a secret!

Catalyst - Physical attacks are repeated threefold. He punches you once, you feel it thrice. One two three.

CG - Superhumanly perfect balance. As in “can run on walls and stand on pretty much anything capable of bearing her weight” perfect.

Variable - Can teleport themself a short distance, leaving behind a weird membrane like they just shed a shell.

Gremlink - Augment. Cybernetically enhanced with a particular view towards integrating tech with her senses. Absolutely none of this was done through legal channels. Tinkers her own cyberware because, to be frank, she’s possessed of a reckless disregard for her own safety.

Lullaby - They sing, you snooze.

WPP

Ranger - Can produce a temporary chameleon-like effect, allowing him to blend in with his surroundings. Maybe chameleon isn’t quite the right word as it’s maybe a bit more like stealth camo from Metal Gear? Anyway, he goes gloes to invisible, albeit still possible to make out a silhouette, with effort.

Hit - Greatly enhanced accuracy, especially with projectiles. Technically works in close combat but uhhh he’s kind of shit in a fistfight.

Mis - Greatly enhanced reflexes. Operates on kind of a scale depending on how close and direct something threatening physical harm is. Hence, in a straight up brawl it’s nigh-impossible to land a clean strike. Nowhere near as effective with grappling or indirect attacks, and, well, she doesn’t have eyes in the back of her head and she’s no stronger than any other young adult in decent shape.

[drinkyourvillainjuice]

Secretary's DYVJ OC

Or, a study in character design by the secretary.

Hello my audience of fools and creatives, this is how me, the Secretary, designed past characters for Drink Your Villain Juice. I've designed a couple of the beloved gamers such as random one-off heroes (hello, Portrait, my beloved), and the one and only Wil (which some of you really love).

The background:

We have a free spot on the SCUM team, which is essentially a super-violent villain team doing very atrocious team for what appears to be no reason in particular. While this isn't entirely true since tragically people have motivations to hurt others (even if it's just fun!), SCUM attracts, well, scummy people and also people who may or may have no other choice than to choose these sorts of groups. They may be groomed into a role, forced to rely on violence to keep certain people at bay, or might just have been repeatedly failed by the systems than they were supposed to be protected by.

With this free spot in mind and the other characters already having fixed roles, we need a character to fit a specific niche.

The niche is secret for the audience, but essentially, we need a female character that counterbalances the other female characters within the team + illustrates a typical trope of villain characters. As you might have noticed, many of the characters within the story kinda play on tropes: Surpass is super(wo)man but a jerk, MC is a trope on the chosen hero being a villain, etc.

I'm pretty interested in making a character who might unironically have some sort of sex appeal going on. So let's brainstorm:

The base concept:

I think female characters within superhero fiction often have to rely on sex appeal to keep an audience engaged. It's rare to find a character like this within TV or comics or books that has any sort of depth to them - but the thing is, this is a one-off villain so how do I give the audiences the tool to discern the character's backstory. I have a couple of ideas:

Lack of armor and mask: This is a reckless character. She lacks foresight in protecting herself. Maybe she doesn't view herself in a good light, and maybe she doesn't even care if her face is shown to the world. Maybe she lost too much to care about her body being hurt and her face being plastered on every wall - or maybe that's exactly what she wants to punish herself.

Collected jewelry from her victims: A means to intimidate, really. If this is someone who has lost it all, gaining these small possessions mean that she holds controls over somebody. It might be tied to her power - or not! - but it is obviously tied to her psyche. Maybe she was riding the high life and it came crashing down, or maybe it's a physical manifestation of all the lives she had taken in the past as a physical mark on her body.

Trashy expensive clothes: To really solidifies the concept of someone who has lost it, maybe anchor the physical manifestation of the character by trashed wealth. Clothes that are too expensive or reserved for special occasions are being torn apart. They are mish-mashed because the character is holding down to past wealth despite the lack of coordination. What if she is also taking the clothes of the female victims? Could she be green with envy that someone is living the life she wanted to life or had lived?

With these three characters point, let's move to appearance.

The physical manifestation of her psyche, and what it means to be her:

She is an attractive woman down on her luck. She fits the specific standard of beauty within the region. She wears clothes and jewelry that are expensive, but obviously aren't hers by the way they don't fit. Her clothes are poorly mended clothes, showing that she tries to put forward a tidy image, with blood that doesn't seem to wash out, implying not everybody gave their clothes willingly. She also has too many necklaces, bracelets, and rings, especially wedding rings. If someone shone a light on her, people would be blinded by the dazzling. She wears too much makeup, caking her features, and it hides her real emotions from the cracks and drip of sweat that she is obviously exerting. Her lack of armour reveals a body that isn't honed for combat or physical exertion, implying that whatever makes her able to keep going is more psychological than physical. She may be a tad overweight, and "letting herself go" would most likely be what she would say about herself, but someone with a keen eye might be able to grasp that she is comfortable in this new life. She carries herself with a lack of confidence that makes herself appear as arrogant. She doesn't flinch, she doesn't get scared, she doesn't run - but she is clearly despondent at whatever her fate might be.

It would take a miracle to fix her, but by that point, she might have killed too much to go back.

Tying it all together with a knot:

I opted for the name Spring Breaker. Spring Break is a time for young people to go out somewhere sunny and get tanned - or at least, that's what I've learned from Jersey Shore. I think this character might be a past college student, having ignited during her spring break, and losing what was making herself. Her power should also be based on water. It would make sense with the theme of womanhood being a failed state for her since water is often seen as a feminine and passive element. But she isn't passive, she only has an image of it to probably protect what she holds on to - which is her appearance. Maybe, her power could involve drowning people which a lot of sirens, which one could say that she is, are known to do to take the riches of sailors.

So what about a young woman who was on spring break and was involved in someone's death by drowning. She might have pushed them into the ocean, or maybe have forced them underwater, due to her envy for their wealth. She ignited with the ability to constantly relive that trauma that ruined her life. In a way to punish herself, she names herself Spring Breaker, lacks a real civilian or mask identity, and puts herself in situations where she finds herself forced to drown people. She also wants to go back to before, when she was able to buy expensive clothes and have the jewelry she liked, but every time she grabs someone's chain and puts it on her neck, she finds herself back in the pool causing her downfall.

Her place as a villain:

Spring Breaker is an infiltrator in SCUM. She is what one could be best described as an assassin, taking out targets in the surroundings of the fight, and slowing going toward the fight. She takes out people from the back and makes her way forward. Her power is simple: she coats anything she touches in a thin film of water, dry drowning those with the misfortune to be grappled by her. Her ignition gave her the compulsion to steal valuables - or maybe she had it all along but now has a very good excuse - which enables her ability to rob people. Her costume changes based on what happened last time. She might wear a two-piece swimsuit with a feathered boa one time, or a see-through babydoll dress with lace underwear, or maybe a full-length gown with three bullet holes she couldn't mend around the abdomen. In every case, she leaves behind her drowned and drowning bodies, stripped of valuables.

She is obviously a bad person, but it's hard not to pity her by the way she sulks around. Some may say she should be put down for her own good, but others think she should taken out for the bodies left in her wake. Spring Breaker thinks it's a bit of column A and column B.

Final notes:

i think i can fix her

[drinkyourvillainjuice]

the three types of powers in dyvj

[drinkyourvillainjuice]

Secretary Questions and Answers Part 1

What's the answer to life, the universe and everything?

Being nice to people you don't know. nd also large amount of cocaine

Why did you make the reading comprehension section in the last module?

I'm a librarian! Teaching literacy is half the fun of my job! The rates of functional illiteracy are quite high (up to 50% in some areas of North America). I believe that literacy is one of the few ways to better one's situation, and it starts with asking questions about what you are reading and trying to read in-between the lines. I like teaching people :)

Bingus?

Did you do 9/11?

When I was a wee young lass,

What are some other interactive novels you would recommend?

Secretary Answer: The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante!

Author Answer: For choice of games/hosted games, I like Night Road, the creme de la creme series, fallen hero (which is probably the most predictable recc ever), lies under ice was a really cool recent sci fi release, slammed! is old but pretty great. Separate to choicescript, Our Life Beginnings and Always has a special spot in my heart, it's very much a comfort game for me. I played Digimon Survive this year and although it's kind of a hybrid (it has a lot of turn-based strategy) it's a cool spooky VN. I like the zero escape series too, but also heavily criticise them the way that only somebody who likes something a lot can.

Secretary Answer: show off

What are the characters opinions about peeing in the shower?

nobody pisses in the shower excepts:

Vantage (time efficient)

Hypothesis (he also poops in the shower)

Beth (she's incontinent)

how do author and secretary come together to work on DYVJ? what's the synergy and system like (if there is a system)?

The author writes and does the creative management of the story. She chooses what is inputted in the story and all.

The secretary, me!, deals with a lot of the behind the scene stuff, and with participates in the character design and scene compositions. Create plot points, keep track of things, etc.

essentially, she writes and i am her HR manager. the blog was my idea :)

you guys gay?

i ate her pussy, yes

why is she named surpass

iirc it's because I wanted to evoke a sort of - I don't want to say "Superman" vibe, but I wanted to have a name that evokes power and force. It also feeds a bit into her personality. She's kind of cocky, I'm sure you've noticed, and 'Surpass' has a kind of 'come at me bro' feel to it, making it more the kind of name she'd pick.

Can we smooch Surpass?

Surpass is presently unsmoochable.

Very serious and important question that is totally serious and not at all not serious. At all. Ever. So. Would CG let MC pamper her and feed her sweets via hand? I want to hand feed my handler a Cannoli

CG would be unbelievably tsundere about anyone trying to pamper her.

How did you play Baldur's Gate 3?

my wife says i play games like a maniac. in stealth games (hitman, my beloved), i just run around with guns and kill everything and then finish the missions. allegedly im not supposed to play the game like that! bg3 was a similar experience: what do you mean im not supposed to kill story npcs for their loot? aradin, eat your heart out

[drinkyourvillainjuice]

I've got the biggest crush on Mal, jsyk. I know for a fact that if they came up to me and gave me a sliver of attention I'd fall for them. It makes go insane!! anyway, I came in here to ask a question: What are the limits of the flares and ignitions and what not? Could someone become a god if they ignite?

Mal twirling their hair and winking right now (don't give them attention they'll start preening)

That's a cool setting-style question to consider!

I intentionally haven't set up full power scales for the world of DYVJ. Actual godhood is outside the level of power we're dealing with, and most parahuman abilities have limitations of some description that prevent them from being unstoppable.

In terms of absolute power tiers, Alderbrook isn't the big boys' table, but it's not the kiddie pool either.

[drinkyourvillainjuice]

hi love dyvj!! all the callbacks to the adVenture gang, very fun detail :) what's been your favorite scene to write so far?

Thank you!

I've enjoyed a lot of the scenes as I've been doing them. (except the multi phase hound fight. that got. tiring).

It's honestly probably the Not-Prii scene. It's one of the first moments that I envisioned ahead of time (as opposed to falling into place as I was writing it), so actually getting to execute on it had me vibrating with excitement, especially because of the reveal of what happened to Prii/why Dime has their power.

[drinkyourvillainjuice]

About the Altruists fan ask: why would Kay think her fans are degenerates? (I mean her IRL fans probably are but i think that's just the target demo for IFs lol). If it has to do with the sheep stuff, do you think that speaks to a larger problem in the DYVJ universe? Like do you think parahumans with unusual bodies in the public eye would face more objectification, fetishizing and exploitation? Its always intresting to think about the broader implications In fiction and how that can shape story.

Basically, Kay is generally insecure and would be quick to jump towards the worst case answer that plays on her body image issues.

"I'm a villain" -> "what kind of people like villains?" -> "it must be because of my appearance" -> "they're fetishizing me"

Kay wouldn't think about how she has cool, kinda flashy powers and is exciting to watch. This is all new to her after all.

I'm not sure how much I'll be able to delve into some things in the broader DYVJ worldbuilding because Dime necessarily has a very strangled perspective on a lot of things. I'm hoping to include some stuff a bit more organically throughout the narrative to explore how parahumans are viewed and to an extent commodified* (thanks, DPR!) But yes, I think unusually-bodied parahumans definitely get treated differently in the media and online.

I do think villains genuinely get fanbases provided they're not absolutely reprehensible. The presentation of masks is such that they're often treated in a larger than life, celebrity manner, so assuming that your villain isn't just murdering people left and right, they'll probably have some people thinking they're cool/badass. (and getting yelled at on the internet for it)

*(there's potentially a little bit of discussion if one hangs out with Mal in the current patreon update, and I still want to adjust something from the flashback chapter as it's currently trapped underneath a highly Beth-specific interaction and I think it helps paint the setting a lot!)

# Did she have to say it like a supervillain?? Seriously, all she needs is a white cat and one of those swivel chairs and she's in touching distance of becoming a criminal mastermind. "Beth, if you're going to start muhahahhaing, please at least give me some warning, okay?" She blinks. "…What?" "Only supervillains talk like that." Beth raises an eyebrow. "I have no idea what you're saying." "Have you seriously never listened to a villain speech?" "No, due to the fact that they are criminals and hence unlikely have anything of value to say." For a second you just stare at her. Bombastic villains proclaiming they'll crush their enemies (and then laughing evilly) are like a staple of your weekly online watching. It boggles the mind that your best friend neither watches what are probably the most interesting news stories, nor has ever picked up on your own habitual browsing. "So let me guess this straight. You've never heard Glamoura gloating that she'll restyle an entire city? Hallucinogem giving one of their 'diamond membership addresses'?" Beth throws up her hands. "$!{mc_name}, I do not know who either of those people are!" Your jaw drops. You get so caught up in quizzing an increasingly-baffled Beth about various villains (and then, in utter disbelief, heroes) that by the time you reach your destination, you've distracted the both of you away from the topic of crushes.

[drinkyourvillainjuice]

Ok so I actually have a DYVJ oc named Ambrose (he/him cis male), or Rosie for short, who works for the coven as a mercenary under the codename 'Angel'. He ignited when he was pretty young, and his powers let him grow a big ol' pair of wings from his back (which very much hurts because they literally rip out of his skin before materializing fully) which he can shoot sharp feathers off of and then control like little drones, or he can just use the wings like swords on his back cause, y'know, sharp feathers. He also has a sort of sonic scream ability kinda like black canary, but that hurts A LOT and does major damage to his throat. he kinda acts as a stand-in for CG, watching over dime, maybe even joining the Altruists at some point to keep a closer eye on them. He works with the coven out of necessity mostly, because they offered the most money, and he needs that money to take care of himself and his younger sister. See, he and his sister came from an orphanage owned by a criminal organization, who were using it as a front to produce and sell powered people. by putting the children they took in into traumatic and dangerous situations, they would basically force them to ignite and then sell them as workers to the highest bidder. Ambrose was one of the oldest children there who hadn't yet ignited at the age of 16, while his sister was one of the youngest at around 5 or 6. She actually ignited pretty quickly, and has the power to form a sort of stone casing over her skin. Unfortunately, since she didn't have very good control over her abilities, she accidentally petrified part of her lower spine, leaving her wheelchair-bound and, in the eyes of the orphanage, useless. The orphanage planned on 'getting rid' of her, but obviously Ambrose couldn't let this happen, and the mental duress this put him under finally caused him to ignite, and he used his scream to kill the orphanage workers, took his sister, and ran. So now he works as a member of the coven to support her, as well as himself.

(I'm so sorry this was so long, I've wanted to info-dump about my boy for forever)

DONT APOLOGIZE ITS RRALLT GOOOOD!!!!

[drinkyourvillainjuice]

Reading Interpretation and You (and the Author) by the one and only Secretary

[id: From right to left. Head with Author written underneath with a block with Conceived Story written inside. An arrow extruding from the block labeled expression points to a box in the middle with Media and Discourse written inside. The middle points to the head on the left with an arrow with interpretation written on top. Head with Reader underneath with a block inside labeled Perceived Story end id]

Have you ever thought about art and how it affects you? I think most of you, and the people running this blog, have been on the left, but have you ever been on the right?

I think some of you haven't - or, I mean, not on a (semi)professional level. Some of you are (hello hpowell in the mentions, luv ur games btw), but some of you might one day reach that weird level of non-notoriety that is still above what anybody on a daily level which produces art may ever happen.

This isn't about that, but more on the fact that being suddenly on the right, and having ideas and a conceived story then having the story be interpreted and dissected by a non-considerable audience, and see how some developed their own perceived story. On a level from an outside perspective, I have experienced that.

For example, the Perceived story of Worm is quite different from the Conceived story. How many of you didn't realize that one of the characters rapes the other? How many of you noticed the unreliable narrator and the change of tone? How many of you noticed that people developed powers on the basis of trauma - but even those without that specific event, still recreate the cycle of trauma? I mean, this is less a 'haha you didn't get it!' and more a 'wow people really read things differently!'

By the way, Worm is kinda bad. I recommend Pact. I digress! This is an essay on Controlling the Narrative and Life Imitating Art, but I have thoughts and opinion about online fiction, and how people develop their own Perceived Story independent from the Conceived Story. Like have any of you watched the Boys?

In the box, the Peceived Story of many is that the main antagonist, a white supremacist rapist, is actually the good guy by portraying the image of a good American. You would think that's obviously wrong, and people would pick up on it, however, that's where you're wrong... because you're making those same assumptions!

Both in Worm and the The Boys (yes, I used two superhero fiction to prop DYVJ. Mix and compare at home), the Conceived Narratives are not accessible to the general audience. What did Wildbow mean by saying this 12-year-old black girl was a slut? What did The Boys's creative team mean by having a main character be raped twice and treated as a joke twice? It could mean anything. The yous at home could potential go: "Wildbow was representing the misoginoir violence that young Black girls faces, and that even someone with a positive read can still be racist" and "Wildbow actually had a racial bias while writing this bit of the story". For The Boys, it may sound something like "The Writer's team is simply using the rape-as-a-joke narrative that the comic repeatedly used as a safe way to create drama as the season ending which mirrored their love interest's arc" or "Perhaps, someone has a crude idea of what is funny, and they genuinely thought this was going to funny."

At the end of the day, neither of these entities has ever come forward to explain their reasoning for choices within their book. Is it their biases? Is it them willing to try to say something? Was it just unintentional and happened? What does this mean?

You may be thinking, where does this entire post fall in for this blog which is based on a direct line of communication (but not access) to us. In a way, this is to ensure that the Conceived Narrative of DYVJ is not kept under wraps. I think, some times, it's good for them to be, and we support people making up their interpretation of things. But it's also a question of balance: it sucks to have interpretation put on you when you have never said anything about the topic or meant something that way.

Anyways, since you are all in the left seat of this book, what is your Peceived Story of Drink of Your Villain? Do you have any questions about authorial contents? Do you think some themes may be intentional or unintentional? Do you think that potential real life biases (racism, transphobia, ableism) may be affecting how this book is written unknowingly?

Okay thank you for reading, bye bye :)

[drinkyourvillainjuice]

Looking forward to the DYVJ and Wriggly Walter crossover episode. A legendary battle between Dime and a very wiggly earthworm, afterwards they go to a bar and drink that tequila that has a worm in it in memory of their sacrifice, tear wrenching.

Maybe some as yet introduced character has giant worm powers. Who can say?

[drinkyourvillainjuice]

heyy!! enjoyed dyvj a great deal so came here to ur blog to peruse and stalk BUT your style of answering asks was slightly enigmatic and ultimately so silly and funny and kinda cool that i have no choice but to send an ask... your peculiar ask answering has beguiled me so... but i digress

EXCELLENT story so far!!! quite funny sometimes and more than anything i was surprised and impressed at the depth you managed to pull in the story at various intervals, whether it's the body-horror of the mc's powers, the disquieting atmosphere of exploring that damn building in the flashback, the oppressive sense of restriction that haunts everything the mc thinks and even the choices, and how far from normality the mc is now!! you balance serious and lighthearted pretty well it rlly works for me - really really great stuff i got hooked on ur writing pretty fast :]

super interested to see where the storylines for alistair (slightly suspicious looking there my pasta guy) and the flashback four go!! also i just really adore the little team and all the characters in the team yayayy mc is finding some semblance of human connection outside of the coven :') anyway i'm loving everything so far have a great one author!!

Hello public ask #7. Wow! What a lucky number! Am I silly and enigmatic? Or am I a priestess from the seventh century huffing volcano fumes? I do love volcano fumes, they're yummy in my tummy... anyways, here's what the vision says:

"This is such a lovely comment/ask. I've basically had it open for the last three days and keep looking at it smiling. I'm glad the shifts in tone work for you - it's not been for everyone, but I've enjoyed playing around with the mood scene by scene. I dunno why everyone thinks Alistair is dubious he is a friend :("

Awww, I think the volcano likes you :)