Recent comments in /f/WritingPrompts

chacham2 OP t1_j3zktir wrote

Reply to comment by HaikuBotStalksMe in [WP] Everyone is born with a power, but they can be bought and sold. Being poor, you purchase only the cheapest ones, gaining you ridicule and the title "Mr. Useless". Recently, however, you realized how you can use all these "useless" powers together, and set out to make a better name for yourself. by chacham2

> I wonder if the translations take into account idioms.

That is a can of worms, debated for at least a thousand years. More recently, Allan Bloom's introduction to The Republic goes through the topic of translation and gives explains different approaches to promote his own.

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escher4096 t1_j3zg5uv wrote

Reply to comment by AutoModerator in [WP] Everyone is born with a power, but they can be bought and sold. Being poor, you purchase only the cheapest ones, gaining you ridicule and the title "Mr. Useless". Recently, however, you realized how you can use all these "useless" powers together, and set out to make a better name for yourself. by chacham2

Maybe some one who is really poor having to choose between keeping their cool power or selling it.

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AurumArgenteus t1_j3zf4fm wrote

Reply to comment by chacham2 in [WP] Everyone is born with a power, but they can be bought and sold. Being poor, you purchase only the cheapest ones, gaining you ridicule and the title "Mr. Useless". Recently, however, you realized how you can use all these "useless" powers together, and set out to make a better name for yourself. by chacham2

Or getting so many useless powers with synergistic effects they are surprisngly OP.

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Spiritual_Lie2563 t1_j3zeepx wrote

Reply to comment by Ylsid in [WP] Everyone is born with a power, but they can be bought and sold. Being poor, you purchase only the cheapest ones, gaining you ridicule and the title "Mr. Useless". Recently, however, you realized how you can use all these "useless" powers together, and set out to make a better name for yourself. by chacham2

For the last time, real supervillains can't just be beaten at a children's card game, especially if you just throw Blue Eyes White Dragon at them.

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thoughtsthoughtof t1_j3zauxn wrote

Reply to comment by f---thezodiac in [WP] Everyone is born with a power, but they can be bought and sold. Being poor, you purchase only the cheapest ones, gaining you ridicule and the title "Mr. Useless". Recently, however, you realized how you can use all these "useless" powers together, and set out to make a better name for yourself. by chacham2

Questions one is so far from useless thpugh more is good Just 1 day How to suceed in and get away with the greatest robbery/heist

And/or How to successfully take over the tri state area and maintain role (happily) as long as wish

Is invincibility limited cause it means can't be defeated but then he was beaten/overcomed

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HaikuBotStalksMe t1_j3z6ujj wrote

Reply to comment by chacham2 in [WP] Everyone is born with a power, but they can be bought and sold. Being poor, you purchase only the cheapest ones, gaining you ridicule and the title "Mr. Useless". Recently, however, you realized how you can use all these "useless" powers together, and set out to make a better name for yourself. by chacham2

That works. You just name objects and then verbs. And then try to figure out conjugation.

Granted, I wonder if the translations take into account idioms. Like "he'll be there in a moment" translates to like the equivalent of "he will be there in a tenth of a second"?

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apple_of_doom t1_j3z1to4 wrote

Reply to comment by Joshau-k in [WP] Everyone is born with a power, but they can be bought and sold. Being poor, you purchase only the cheapest ones, gaining you ridicule and the title "Mr. Useless". Recently, however, you realized how you can use all these "useless" powers together, and set out to make a better name for yourself. by chacham2

Linguists, historians and anthropologists would kill for that. Basically any lost language could get deciphered overnight.

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chacham2 OP t1_j3yzh6o wrote

Reply to comment by Spiritual_Lie2563 in [WP] Everyone is born with a power, but they can be bought and sold. Being poor, you purchase only the cheapest ones, gaining you ridicule and the title "Mr. Useless". Recently, however, you realized how you can use all these "useless" powers together, and set out to make a better name for yourself. by chacham2

Side job would be to help someone for 15 minutes each day who is interested.

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Spiritual_Lie2563 t1_j3ywgy3 wrote

Reply to comment by Ylsid in [WP] Everyone is born with a power, but they can be bought and sold. Being poor, you purchase only the cheapest ones, gaining you ridicule and the title "Mr. Useless". Recently, however, you realized how you can use all these "useless" powers together, and set out to make a better name for yourself. by chacham2

It's OP if you're in business or as a merchant, but not so much if you want to be a hero [though the character probably would be smart enough to catch on to it's best heroic use of "I can go to an armed criminal and see what it'd take to disarm them before they do something".]

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Ylsid t1_j3yv5v1 wrote

Reply to comment by Spiritual_Lie2563 in [WP] Everyone is born with a power, but they can be bought and sold. Being poor, you purchase only the cheapest ones, gaining you ridicule and the title "Mr. Useless". Recently, however, you realized how you can use all these "useless" powers together, and set out to make a better name for yourself. by chacham2

Knowing the lowest price something is sold for is op tho, you'd be a stock market billionaire in days

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Cowser_the_Koopahog t1_j3ylmay wrote

Reply to comment by Davebobman in [WP] Everyone is born with a power, but they can be bought and sold. Being poor, you purchase only the cheapest ones, gaining you ridicule and the title "Mr. Useless". Recently, however, you realized how you can use all these "useless" powers together, and set out to make a better name for yourself. by chacham2

Nah, it's a meme, referencing the overly edgy Coldsteel the Hedgeheg, who has the catchphrase "Nothing personnel kid" (sic).

Yes, I am aware of my own username.

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chacham2 OP t1_j3yaqm5 wrote

Reply to comment by AurumArgenteus in [WP] Everyone is born with a power, but they can be bought and sold. Being poor, you purchase only the cheapest ones, gaining you ridicule and the title "Mr. Useless". Recently, however, you realized how you can use all these "useless" powers together, and set out to make a better name for yourself. by chacham2

Valid point. Fwiw, i had to keep stuff out to fit it into the prompt though.

>If you are born with a power, you wouldn't need money to get your first power.

Unless your power was useless. If you can sell that, you might be able to afford something useful.

> Makes me think of the anime where the guy's power was the ability to absorb and retain other people's;

I was thinking about something like that, except, that drove the idea towards grabbing better and better powers. I was aiming for all of the protagonists powers to be useless, and it just being a matter of how to use them.

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Davebobman t1_j3y3gqb wrote

Reply to comment by Liyen18 in [WP] Everyone is born with a power, but they can be bought and sold. Being poor, you purchase only the cheapest ones, gaining you ridicule and the title "Mr. Useless". Recently, however, you realized how you can use all these "useless" powers together, and set out to make a better name for yourself. by chacham2

r/boneappletea?

Also, more like "Something personal, kid"... since it was a personal vendetta and not a business relationship.

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AurumArgenteus t1_j3y325c wrote

Reply to comment by AutoModerator in [WP] Everyone is born with a power, but they can be bought and sold. Being poor, you purchase only the cheapest ones, gaining you ridicule and the title "Mr. Useless". Recently, however, you realized how you can use all these "useless" powers together, and set out to make a better name for yourself. by chacham2

Prompt is a bit off. If you are born with a power, you wouldn't need money to get your first power. Makes me think of the anime where the guy's power was the ability to absorb and retain other people's; that's why the protagonist I won't write would need money to get his first and why others don't try.

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chacham2 OP t1_j3xv2nb wrote

Reply to comment by Spiritual_Lie2563 in [WP] Everyone is born with a power, but they can be bought and sold. Being poor, you purchase only the cheapest ones, gaining you ridicule and the title "Mr. Useless". Recently, however, you realized how you can use all these "useless" powers together, and set out to make a better name for yourself. by chacham2

>I could chew my way through anything

It's Matter-Eater Lad!

Those powers aren't useless, their just not popular. Except, who can change trash into trees, would be really popular and make the person million if not billions in recycling.

Anyway, nice writeup. Thank you for the reply!

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Spiritual_Lie2563 t1_j3xt1gh wrote

Reply to [WP] Everyone is born with a power, but they can be bought and sold. Being poor, you purchase only the cheapest ones, gaining you ridicule and the title "Mr. Useless". Recently, however, you realized how you can use all these "useless" powers together, and set out to make a better name for yourself. by chacham2

I have to love the New Mutants. I remember getting a minor comic book for them, and seeing how everyone mocked Cypher as a kid. How could someone who could speak every language be any good? Then, they found 'oh, it also counts computer language, body language, the language of love', and suddenly he was overpowered.

For a kid who was always told growing up all they'll ever get to be is a random person in sales with my stupid birth power of "knowing exactly the lowest price that someone will sell something for", it was just what I needed to hear to know I could still have a chance. I knew how my life was going to be. Some people moneyball sports, I'll moneyball powers.

My first plan for this was when this kid at school was pissed all he got was to change the color of things at will. I traded him my Larry Johnson rookie card for it. He thought it was a cheap party trick, I knew how useful it could be...and the second I was able to help capture my first bank robber a few days later after running to their getaway car when I changed a red light to green and got him hit by a car to stop him, I was off to the races.

Next it became "giving the kid who could detach his arms at will five bucks for it. He was happy he wouldn't have to worry about it- I could rip my own arm off and have a baseball bat to whack people with...plus, good luck trying to slice me if I can take myself apart at will. The kid who could eat anything was despondent he had the reputation in school of 'the kid who ate weird things for money' and wanted to change his image? My copy of Sonic 3 later, and now I could chew my way through anything and free myself from anything. That kid who talked to ants who thought it was stupid? Great, I'll take that from you- an army of one of the largest populations in the world, especially with them biting and causing some pain, will do me just fine. Plus, it is more sustainable than the time I bought the power to train bees to fight people- the ants won't die after biting people, and when I got the ability to talk to squirrels you don't know which ones have rabies to hurt the person.

Some of it even gave me some hobbies. Sure, you may not like being able to blow up into a ball and bounce around, but being able to squash people is fine with me...plus, it gave me a nice relaxing hobby of sumo wrestling to clear my head. You don't want to convert sound into light waves? Fine, I'll take it and use it to shock and blind my enemies to stop them quickly...especially when added to when I got the power to shoot fireworks from my hands for a nice quick pyro burst. Someone was unhappy they had really good ventriloquism? That's fine, I'll just use it to throw my voice and distract people.

Enough good powers, and people think I'm just useless and sell me their useless powers, and the more and more it has, the stronger and stronger I get without them realizing. But, I have to go, I'm pretty close to getting the money I needed to buy from the person who can change trash into trees, and I might be able to do it without costing me my chance to create balls to stick to people and subdue them.

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