Message intercepted from an online forum in 2019
Hello. My name is Rachle Trumis.1 I wanted to ask how you can get a superhero to admit his secret identity to his family?
Welcome to the forum. If it is superhero advice you need you have come to the right place. Are you currently writing something? The answer you seek mostly depends on the tone you are going for.
It is for my main character who finds out her father used to be a hero, but has grown out of it.
Do you have a draft or a test page?
I can give you my storynotes if that helps:
Ever since I can remember my father collected blades. The first time I was at a friends house, I felt sorry for them, because the only blades they had were short butter-knifes. I was 5. It was normal to me to be surrounded by blades of all shapes and sizes, from tiny plastic knifes you could hide in your sleeves to blades the were bigger than the doors. I remember a circular saw-blade that had a diameter of about 1,7 meters.
My father lost his job in 2010 and we moved out the same year. I was 6 then. After that he never had as many blades. It did not seem to bother my dad as much as it bothered me.
The same year, we had not even fully settled into our new home I had that dream. I often dreamed it when I was little and recently it has come back.
Loud thunder and flashes. The walls exploding, with fine dust in the air and my dad standing before me screaming that what ever should happen I had to stay behind him. He had blood running down his forehead and in on hand he held a butter knife and in the other one of the only swords we had kept. He wore some black clothes I had never seen. It looked as if he had just grabbed a black robe and gloves and had thrown them over his normal shirt and jeans. He cut through a solid wall and we jumped out of the house.
My dad explained it like this: Multiple pipes had burst one night. He told me that I must have dreamed this dream, because we were not at home when the pipes burst, so my imagination filled in the gaps.
I made a drawing of it. My father asked me why he looked so uncool and mismatched in the drawing. He played the deeply offended. We had a good laugh and settled into our new new home very uneventfully.
I started to forget the dream until one day I was alone at home since dad had to work late, I think it was 2013. I went up to the attic to look if I could find some of the blades I remembered we had not unpacked again. I went through some boxes and than I found it. The black clothes and a bit more. I completely unpacked the outfit. A black coat or mantle, the black gloves with silver metal sleeves. A set of tight leather pants, several black and silver belts. I thought I had discovered that my father was a cosplayer. It would fit with his fascination for blades.
I brought it up at dinner a while later. My dad laughed and told me he was a superhero in his youth and that was his super suit. I told him that it looked more like a supervillain outfit. He laughed again and explained that he was one of the angsty teens. He than told me that should I ever develop superpowers I had to tell him and we laughed about it again.
I think I still believe that I could have superpowers even now. Dad said all children go through that. When I talked with my girlfriends about it they told me that they mostly wrote fan-fiction with marry sue self-inserts, but did not believe that they themselves had superpowers. They did not say exactly that, but that is what I got from what they said.
In 2016 I meet that strange man. He sat himself next to me while I was waiting for a bus. The others ignored him as if they could not see him. He looked like a cosplayer in his white suit and red tie and with that white cylinder hat. He started to smoke, but I could not smell his tobacco. He said that my father and I were on his backup list. He said something big was coming and every side could need an edge over the others. I left that guy back at the bus-station. My dad laughed the thing off until I mentioned the "edge" part. He got quiet and distracted after I said that.
2016 came and went and nothing happened. Everything stayed as it was. I only mention it here as I think it is of importance and I don't know how, yet.
In 2019 this woman came to my dad. She was older than him and said they had worked together before. First my dad was not happy that someone from his past had found him, but than he said he was glad to see "Killer Pink" again. She replied that she was glad she had found Perfect Edge first. Than it clicked with me. She was probably part of that superhero thing dad refused to talk about. The two talked for a while and than dad quit his job to go back to work with "Killer Pink" at his old job. That was strange, but ever since then something stranger is happening. My dad is getting younger. First I thought it was just him getting back into a job he enjoyed, but new found work happiness cant explain this anymore.
I know how my father changed over the years. He is getting younger. My friends have noticed it to.
I think it is this superhero thing he mentioned and his work with "Killer Pink". What if it is true? How do I get him to tell me his "Secret Superhero" identity? I do not want to be the family left in the dark "for there own good". Should I break the family peace and risk becoming the abandoned side character should the hero choose being a hero over there social life?
Any ideas?
Self-aware and self-insert? You can get problems with this. The things that give it away is that your character draws and is apparently aware of "mary sue" self-inserts. Pointing out that their character knows these things does not stop them from applying. I have not seen the power level of your main character, so I can not condemn you for it. Just be aware of this as you develop your main character.
What about the question though? How do I get her father to tell her?
Maybe you need a crisis or a villain to force such a reveal. Dinner table conversations about things like that usually lead nowhere.
Has your character considered just to join "Killer Pink" and her dad's old team? Could be interesting, even if she does not have powers on her own. As a relative she would be eligible for a position regardless.
And how would I get her into contact with them?
You could just say that they monitored your dad and found out about you. You could have a great superhero future ahead of you. Either with your dad or just for yourself.
Please no role-playing in the forums. It is her character and not her that wants to join anything.
PM me.
Understood. Thank you.
You are welcome.
You are in, should you want to. Welcome to the superhero game.
A team of agents was dispatched to prevent further information leakage. As the Insurgency wishes to keep good will with Perfect Edge no violent action will be taken. It is to be noted that a tragic death of his daughter might improve his ability. The agent recruiting process for Rachle Trumis has been started by the information leak prevention agent.
Employment history Perfect Edge:
Richard Trumis school-class was killed by his ability when he was 12 (1989). He was imprisoned by the Foundation until agents recovered him the same year.
Richard Trumis (from here on referred to as Perfect Edge) joined the Chaos Insurgency at age 13 (1990), following field agent base training.
The first team Perfect Edge was a part of was almost completely wiped out during their 3th mission. Perfect Edge survived and got more angst (increasing his ability). He kept up appearance to not look weak to his new team.
He survived the elimination of two more teams and came to the strong believe that new agents with anomalous abilities needed guidance. He became a group leader for several new teams rather than joining older teams. Perfect Edge made no attempt to improve his career as an agent further.
His ability peeked while he was 17 (1994), while he was training. From there on his harder and harder training mostly compensated for his fading ability. He had his absolute height of power at age 22 (1999). Had his ability not faded and he had continued his training, he could have reached 8 times his max height of power at age 25 (2002). The Chaos Insurgency tried to restore his ability, but the ability seemed to be tied to his teen angst, which continued to fade with age.
Perfect Edge was than held as a reserve and would be send when younger agents were in situations they could not handle. The last version of his black and silver caped uniform was reserved as combat gear and was fitted for his 27 year old self.
Perfect Edge cashed his last check and left the Chaos Insurgency at the age of 33 (2010). Due to his faded ability and his minor knowledge of security relevant information no attempt was made to oppose his decision.
Note: The existence of his daughter or even a wife/girlfriend were completely hidden from the Insurgency and were never noted in his file. The identity and fate of Perfect Edge's wife/girlfriend remains unknown. An investigation into her was started in 2019 as the existence of his daughter became known.
"Killer Pink" joined the Insurgency at the age of 22 in 1988.
Killer Pink to Sour Wine (excerpt taken from a conversation during off-time): I do not take drinks from strangers, whether it comes in a shot-glass or a tanker. The fact that something is obviously wrong with it does not help. But I would be inconsiderate if I did not use it. There are people that like free drinks of unknown origin, but with clear benefit.
File sealed as "Under DIA Investigation", "Reason: Case ID: 55432110"
Removed from File
excerpt taken from a covert recording of Perfect Edge (some parts omitted)
I saw myself die in a hail of bullets at the age of 14. I got better. I saw myself die in a high stakes rescue mission at 26. Than I had my office and realized I would die a normal death. Today I fear my heart more than the bullet.
[…]
You are a noob for one year. If you survive you are automatically a junior. If juniors survive 3 years they automatically become seniors. After being a senior for 5 years you can take a test. You pass that test and become part of administration.
[…]
I never got to the test, but I sat in an office for most of the time I was a senior. I was the trump card they would send when a few juniors had gotten in over their heads.
[…]
The Insurgency died. I had no intention of going to the Foundation, so I cashed my last check and stopped showing up. No one came for me.
