You can choose 1 superpower, but the first reply is the side effect. What superpower would you choose?

77 points · 143 comments · view on lemmy.world

143 Comments

RollForInitiative@feddit.org · 37 pts · 261d (6 replies)

Fall asleep at any time and place by will

otacon239@lemmy.world · 51 pts · 261d (2 replies)

It is impossible to wake up until you are fully rested, including by alarm, fire, or intruder.

baldingpudenda@lemmy.world · 40 pts · 261d (1 reply)

image

I either wake up rested or not my problem anymore.

anomnom@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 260d

Just make sure you pee first!

Morphite88@thelemmy.club · 15 pts · 261d

But when you wake up, you're in a random spot in the wilderness. Every time.

calmblue75@lemmy.ml · 5 pts · 260d (1 reply)

You wake up with a severe headache everytime.

VonReposti@feddit.dk · 5 pts · 260d

This is apparently my superpower and side effect combo.

0485919158191@lemmy.world · 27 pts · 261d (15 replies)

Teleportation!

Hayduke@lemmy.world · 56 pts · 261d (3 replies)

But you have to go through TSA every time

victorz@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 261d

😂 I'm on the shitter at work damn you, can't be laughing out loud!

CookieOfFortune@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 261d

Honestly, still well worth it. And with pre-check it’s even faster.

HurlingDurling@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 259d

Easy there Hitler 🤣🤣🤣

eatham@aussie.zone · 8 pts · 261d (10 replies)

You can only teleport to random places

benagain@lemmy.ml · 7 pts · 261d (8 replies)

Random place WITHOUT obstacle detection or height limit makes this risssky.. 😆

MajorasTerribleFate@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 260d (7 replies)

The odds of you NOT ending up dangerously high above the ground or embedded IN the ground are... low.

anomnom@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 260d (6 replies)

I think the odds of ending up within sight of the earth are basically 0. The universe is a big place.

MajorasTerribleFate@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 260d (5 replies)

Depends on the range. If 10 feet, you'd survive most falls, but still bury yourself a portion of the time. 100 feet, probably dead. 200 thousand miles? Space sucks without an appropriate suit.

Prime@lemmy.sdf.org · 2 pts · 260d (4 replies)

The problem is that Earth is unlikely to be there at all

MajorasTerribleFate@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 260d

Please elaborate, because there's a at least a couple different things you could be referring to, and I'd rather not write something out on the wrong topic :)

coriza@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 260d

When I first started playing Ragnarok Online, there was this one item, aí believe it was something like bat wings, that was really valuable and when you used you would teleport to a random place in the same map/sections. I thought it was a shit item, but soon enough I understood that its power was to run away from problems when you are low on health.

So I think it still is a good power.

Carighan@piefed.world · 24 pts · 261d (6 replies)

I'll stick with the strongest superpower of them all, I am Cables Never Tangle Man!

schmop@lemmy.zip · 40 pts · 261d (3 replies)

But you cannot tie knots anymore. Even worse - every knot you touch magically slips open. Be careful not to trip over your shoelaces!

DagwoodIII@piefed.social · 23 pts · 261d (2 replies)

Velcro has entered the chat...

victorz@lemmy.world · 17 pts · 261d (1 reply)

So many tiny little knots

idiomaddict@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 261d

It’s going to look like a shag rug as soon as they touch it

icerunner_origin@startrek.website · 4 pts · 261d

Your cables break every 3 days

eatham@aussie.zone · 4 pts · 261d

Every time you get an error it is unknown error

limer@lemmy.ml · 19 pts · 261d (5 replies)

Super strength

notabot@piefed.social · 33 pts · 261d (4 replies)

You can't use anything but maximum super strength, all the time.

Billy_fuccboi@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 261d (2 replies)

I'm gonna jerk off. Oh no...

Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 5 pts · 261d

Username checks out 😄

ghost9@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 260d

Wait does every part of you get super strength?

benagain@lemmy.ml · 6 pts · 260d

Ouch, yeah that's going to really ruin fondue night.

webghost0101@sopuli.xyz · 18 pts · 261d (3 replies)

The power to reply to my own comment.

mech@feddit.org · 24 pts · 261d

but you have multiple personality disorder

webghost0101@sopuli.xyz · 9 pts · 261d

You become god.

(Not oc, this is a known joke)

calmblue75@lemmy.ml · 3 pts · 260d

But you will only reply as your worst enemy would do.

Kraiden@piefed.social · 17 pts · 261d (3 replies)

Manifest any superpower at will

Carighan@piefed.world · 23 pts · 261d (1 reply)

... that then gets applied to everyone within 100 metres of you on top of yourself.

Kraiden@piefed.social · 17 pts · 261d

Lol, I'd still take it. All I can say is the people flying with me better keep close. Ditto the ones breathing under water

limer@lemmy.ml · 3 pts · 260d

It gives one month of bad luck for each time used. If the power is activated to help others without benefit for yourself, then it’s sloppy good luck instead. You are fortunate in a tragic way.

The timer and type is reset each time power manifested

Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 16 pts · 261d (4 replies)

Master poet level fluency in all languages

Tenderizer78@lemmy.ml · 10 pts · 261d

You can now hardly remember anything else (as happened to me, my memory is full of Chinese vocab with no space for anything else).

bluemellophone@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 260d

You are now blind and deaf like Helen Keller. Good luck, she figured it out, you’ll be fine.

workerONE@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 261d (1 reply)

Terribly loud non-stop belching

Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 4 pts · 260d

So no new drawbacks, then? Sweet!

TheLeadenSea@sh.itjust.works · 16 pts · 261d (2 replies)

Shapeshifting to any other human or humanoid body

benagain@lemmy.ml · 23 pts · 261d

But you can only do so by singing, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," as loudly as you can.

Hjalamanger@feddit.nu · 13 pts · 261d

But you also shift into that humans or humanoids personality

wuphysics87@lemmy.ml · 14 pts · 261d (3 replies)

X ray vision

nerdschleife@lemmy.zip · 28 pts · 261d

Everyone in your line of sight gets the full radioactive dosage

Goodlucksil@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 8 pts · 261d (1 reply)

It cannot be regulated

MajorasTerribleFate@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 260d

Ha! So Congress can't stop me!

daannii@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 260d (8 replies)

Can communicate with any animal

MadBabs@lemmy.world · 21 pts · 260d (7 replies)

But they can't communicate with you

Jimmycrackcrack@lemmy.ml · 14 pts · 260d (5 replies)

Haha imagine trying to explain that to people.

"I have a superpower, I can speak to animals they just can't speak back"

"But everyone has that superpower, I can do that too"

"Yeh but I'm actually really talking to them, like in their language that they can understand"

"How do you know?"

"..."

MajorasTerribleFate@lemmy.zip · 6 pts · 260d (4 replies)

I mean, you can ask an animal to do some arbitrary action specified by the other person, and then the animal (hopefully) does it. This side effect isn't great, but it definitely still leaves some real usefulness.

Telling my dog as I go to the garage, "I'll be back in literally one minute." and being understood would rock.

Jimmycrackcrack@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 260d (3 replies)

But the thing is, if they do the thing you asked in a way where it's noticeable that they only did it because you asked, then they are signalling to you that they understood, which is a form of communication and the word used was "communicate" with animals.

MajorasTerribleFate@lemmy.zip · 5 pts · 260d (2 replies)

First, the use of "communicate" in the original superpower description is presumably referring to communication that couldn't happen without the power - and the side effect uses the same term. As it stands, my dog can tell me she understands I intend to walk her by jumping off the back of the couch and being excited at the door.

So if the superpower only refers to novel communication, I'd interpret that to mean anything more than I could reasonably communicate to my dog, and more than she could communicate to me (confirmation of understanding).

If the side effect, despite using the same verb, actually renders animals LESS able to communicate with me than they already can, that seems an especially uncharitable interpretation.

Alternatively, I can ask the animal to wait until I was out of the room before performing the action for the third party. At that point, only that third party would end up communicating having seen the comprehension/performance.

Jimmycrackcrack@lemmy.ml · 3 pts · 260d (1 reply)

Well thought out lol. You should get a genie, I think you'll be prepared.

MajorasTerribleFate@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 260d

I appreciate the sentiment, but probably not. The genie would just scoff af my argument and say nothing was guaranteed to be "fair" about the situation. My only saving grace in talking about it here is that fellow humans are more likely to share a similar base point for reasoning.

daannii@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 259d

Oh damn. You got me bad on that one.

PrivateNoob@sopuli.xyz · 13 pts · 260d (6 replies)

Switch sexes any time I prefer

eezeebee@lemmy.ca · 27 pts · 260d (4 replies)

Every time you switch you have to peel off a layer of dead skin line a cocoon.

PrivateNoob@sopuli.xyz · 8 pts · 260d (1 reply)

Damn that's harsh. I didn't expect that, it seems you have some great imagination.

eezeebee@lemmy.ca · 6 pts · 260d

I'm sorry, I don't make the rules

thevoidzero@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 260d

Seems like a small payment honestly

howrar@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 260d

Depending on the person, this might be a bonus.

benagain@lemmy.ml · 10 pts · 260d

... provided you are playing Uno and have a reverse card.

Tenderizer78@lemmy.ml · 12 pts · 261d (5 replies)

The power to talk to women without staring at their feet.

Diddlydee@feddit.uk · 16 pts · 261d (1 reply)

In long-dead languages they can't understand

Tenderizer78@lemmy.ml · 16 pts · 261d

Deal. I'm Autistic so that's barely any different.

coriza@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 260d (1 reply)

Instead you cannot stop staring at their boobs. And yes, that includes your family, bosses and so on.

Por_que_pine@startrek.website · 1 pts · 260d
[ removed ]
waterbird@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 4 pts · 260d

you can only speak to them in languages they don’t understand.

thevoidzero@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 260d (6 replies)

Ability to control every atom in the surrounding area of approx 1 km.

festus@lemmy.ca · 22 pts · 260d (5 replies)

You can control only 1 at a time.

thevoidzero@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 260d (4 replies)

Nuclear bombs, or a really good scientist.

festus@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 260d (3 replies)

1 at a time wouldn't get you a noticeable amount of energy for a bomb (stuff is radioactively decaying around you already right now). A scientist might make some use of it, but with control of only 1 atom at a time they'll struggle to build really any molecule as I imagine most intermediate molecules would break apart as soon as you "let go" to grab the next atom.

thevoidzero@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 260d (2 replies)

Depends on what "time" is in case of one at a time. Is it plank time, or is it as fast as I can think the command.

Even if nothing can be achieved by controlling it, just being able to feel/see the atoms means I can figure things out as a scientist. Finding how atoms are arranged into molecules, proteins etc are super helpful

festus@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 260d (1 reply)

I assumed as fast as you can think the command for each one.

I agree with feeling being useful for feeling around; I'm happy with the power having some value.

thevoidzero@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 259d

I had an idea I wonder if the energy thing can be salvaged. Like uranium to lead happens naturally and the energy is too little from a single atom. But we don't have to do things naturally. If I'm controlling the atom itself, maybe I can just split all protons and neutrons from the uranium at once, then I have a bunch of free particles that can go collide with other atoms and start a chain reaction.

I think most powers, even with limitations, probably is going to be useful once we know the clear limits. Maybe not the one that need so much energy and the results are random so you can fail and not be able to try again.

DagwoodIII@piefed.social · 8 pts · 261d (5 replies)

Super good luck ala Domino of the X-Men.

FUCKING_CUNO@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 9 pts · 261d (4 replies)

It's good luck for the first half of your life, then its bad luck the second half

MajorasTerribleFate@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 260d

One day, your luck will reverse, and you know you have hit your halfway point. Before, you survived everything because of your good luck. Now, survival is a curse you cannot escape until your appointed time.

DagwoodIII@piefed.social · 1 pts · 260d (2 replies)

That's a good answer.

Reminded me of this movie.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0397078/

Never saw it myself, just remembered the concept and searched

savedbythezsh@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 260d (1 reply)

Kinda like a luck-based Freaky Friday... Starring Lindsay Lohan 🤔

DagwoodIII@piefed.social · 1 pts · 260d

Funny how the mind works. I remembered the concept, but had no idea Lohan was involved.

Chyioko@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 260d (2 replies)

Reading minds

benagain@lemmy.ml · 30 pts · 260d

But you have to start at the beginning.

mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 7 pts · 260d

You have no inhibitive filter, and compulsively blurt out whatever you’re thinking, including whatever the person is thinking when you’re reading their mind.

Sam_Bass@lemmy.ml · 7 pts · 260d (4 replies)

Teleportation

benagain@lemmy.ml · 23 pts · 260d

But you lose one of your socks every time you teleport and they're like really cool unique ones that only work as a pair. Heartbreaking.

a_non_monotonic_function@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 260d (2 replies)

Butt stuff is marginally less fun.

Sam_Bass@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 260d (1 reply)

Really depends on the butt

a_non_monotonic_function@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 259d

No, see, it's all buts. That is the curse.

socsa@piefed.social · 7 pts · 260d (3 replies)

Immunity from all replies to this post.

benagain@lemmy.ml · 8 pts · 260d

But you are incredibly smart. BOOM GOTEM.

needanke@feddit.org · 6 pts · 260d (1 reply)

You end up with no superpowers at all

Jimmycrackcrack@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 260d

Hmm, but are they immune to this restriction?

agent_nycto@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 260d (6 replies)

True Omnipotence

(Also read/listen to Worm

Pistachio@lemmy.zip · 9 pts · 260d (1 reply)

But of an unrelated universe...so schizophrenia with delusions of grandure lol

agent_nycto@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 259d

If I'm limited then it's not true Omnipotence is it?

Delphia@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 260d (1 reply)

You have no choice but to see everything, wether you want to or not.

agent_nycto@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 259d

If I don't have a choice then it's not true Omnipotence is it?

benagain@lemmy.ml · 4 pts · 260d (1 reply)

But only over dial-up.

agent_nycto@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 259d

If I'm limited then it's not true Omnipotence is it? Honestly though I'd take it if I had to though

bitjunkie@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 260d (2 replies)

The ability to change my own superpower.

PapaStevesy@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 260d

This one doesn't really need a monkey's paw curse since, as written, I'd argue you could only change it once anyway, then you'd be stuck with that power.

mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 5 pts · 260d

Uncontrollable and overwhelming diarrhea whenever you use any of the chosen superpowers, which is immune to any kinds of “and I’m immune to the side effect” types of loophole powers.

Giraffe@lemmy.ml · 6 pts · 260d (1 reply)
[ removed ]
glorkon@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 260d

But only bad music.

laranis@lemmy.zip · 6 pts · 260d (5 replies)

I can teleport instantly to any location I have previously visited.

benagain@lemmy.ml · 14 pts · 260d (3 replies)

But each location has a specific song you must play on an Ocarina....

laranis@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 259d (1 reply)

Do I know the song automatically? Or like, do I have to defeat someone in single combat to get to learn the song?

benagain@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 259d

"Oh, and a chocolate croissant, please, thanks! ..... and uh, I'm so incredibly sorry about last time,"

MajorasTerribleFate@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 260d

Thankfully my people know how big a nerd I am, so I actually have been gifted an ocarina. I'm ready. Now, what's the song for my doctor's office, again?

ivanafterall@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 260d

You don't get to choose the location, it's just a random place you've been before.

pyria@kbin.melroy.org · 6 pts · 261d (3 replies)
[ removed ]
vodka@feddit.org · 9 pts · 261d (2 replies)

You emit an unmaskable and extremely noticeable odour whenever invisible.

pyria@kbin.melroy.org · 5 pts · 261d
[ removed ]
Jentu@lemmy.ml · 3 pts · 260d

I don’t know who you’re responding to, but it sure is smelly over here.

PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmy.ml · 6 pts · 260d (2 replies)

Being a cat

calmblue75@lemmy.ml · 8 pts · 260d (1 reply)

You make noise every time you walk

PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmy.ml · 13 pts · 260d

Ok, it's basically like my cat.

djsoren19@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 5 pts · 260d (1 reply)

crab claw

mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 17 pts · 260d

Only when jorkin it

Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works · 5 pts · 260d (5 replies)

Cryokinesis

howrar@lemmy.ca · 4 pts · 260d (1 reply)

But you cannot defy the laws of thermodynamics, so if you make anything colder, you need to absorb the energy to do so and vice versa. First time using this power and you accidentally made something too cold? Sounds like you just burned to death.

Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 260d

Actually seems like a cool power to regulate your body temperature. You could probably weather some pretty extreme conditions if you were careful about not killing yourself with your untested powers.

benagain@lemmy.ml · 3 pts · 260d (1 reply)

But you can only use it at 0°N 0°E

thevoidzero@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 260d

This looks like it can counter most powers except ones having effects in far away places

PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 260d

But you heat the random object in 100 metres from you

Bwaz@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 259d

I guess I choose Denmark or maybe Portugal. Having USA and Russia being superpowers has been real shit.

theacharnian@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 260d (1 reply)

The United States of America after the Cold War.

Pistachio@lemmy.zip · 9 pts · 260d

But you live in Afghanistan

DoGeeseSeeGod@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 2 pts · 259d (1 reply)

Magically summon pizza whenever I want

a_goofy_dragon@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 259d

but only anchovy and pineapple pizza

lemuria@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 257d (1 reply)

instantly renaming a large city

SlicedPotato@feddit.dk · 1 pts · 256d

But you have to name it after the person you hate the most.

HubertManne@piefed.social · 0 pts · 260d (3 replies)

The ability to redo any side effect into any effect I want at will.

howrar@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 260d (1 reply)

In the eyes of the universe, everything is simply an effect. There are no side-effects, so nothing you can redo despite having that ability.

HubertManne@piefed.social · 2 pts · 260d

you mean as a side effect in the eyes of the universe, everything is simply an effect. There are no side-effects, so nothing you can redo despite having that ability.

benagain@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 260d

But what you want is to undo the redo of the side effect, thus creating Hubert's Paradox.