Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: chipper
  • Music: Miranda Lambert, "All Kinds of Kinds."

On the second day of Hogswatch, your Seanan gave away...

...a copy of Velveteen vs. The Multiverse!

Welcome to the second of the Twelve Days of Hogswatch. I will be starting a new giveaway every day between now and January 6th (the day after my birthday). Each giveaway will have different rules, and a different deadline, although all prizes will be mailed on January 9th, because I am bad at going to the post office.

This giveaway is for a shiny new copy of Velveteen vs. The Multiverse, the second volume in the adventures of Velma "Velveteen" Martinez, crankiest superheroine this side of the Mississippi. This is going to be a random number drawing with a twist, because I am silly. So...

1. To enter, comment on this post.
2. If you are international, indicate both this and your willingness to pay postage.
3. Explain your superpower. What is it? How does it work? What are your strengths and weaknesses?

I will choose the winner at 1PM PST on Monday, December 30th, by randomly selecting two heroes and deciding the outcome of a fight. (Note: "my superpower is I can do anything" means you will inevitably be defeated by Squirrel Girl. That's what she's for. Remember that in the Velveteen-verse, cunning and treachery often defeats raw strength.)

Game on!
Tags: giving stuff away, silliness, velveteen vs.
  • Post a new comment

    Error

    Anonymous comments are disabled in this journal

    switch
    default userpic

    Your reply will be screened

    Your IP address will be recorded 

    Help
  • 133 comments
Previous
← Ctrl ← Alt
Next
Ctrl → Alt →

purpleranger

December 27 2013, 00:45:51 UTC 3 years ago

I can visualize a recipe in my head to the extent that 95% of the time, I will know what it tastes like before I ever step into my laboratory, er, kitchen.

ontogenesis

December 27 2013, 00:46:33 UTC 3 years ago

Not international.

The power of misdirection, or distraction. E.g., a big bad wants to start a fight, and I start discussing random trivia about the latest Discovery episode or National Geographic (like a massive nerd) until the big bad forgets that s/he even wanted to fight, and instead decides to make an e-donation to the Sierra Club. Weakness: I am actually quite mortal, and the power of distraction / suggestion weakens proportionally depending on the number of people I'm trying to influence. Luckily I'm good at running away!

Deleted comment

rollick

December 27 2013, 01:08:38 UTC 3 years ago

Judging from the last year, my superpower is apparently the ability to be the calm, rational, reasonable one when all my friends start squabbling. I've decided my superhero name is Grown-Ass Adult Woman and the power mostly manifests via me talking to people about their problems, encouraging them to clear the air with each other instead of sulking and assuming everyone else has the worst possible motives, and urging people to Let It Go when they're harboring needless grudges, e.g. "He didn't invite me to that incredibly overpriced dinner where everyone had a miserable time except me because I wasn't invited."

Strengths: I got to keep all the friends instead of picking a side. I have the Powar Of Friendship.

Weaknesses: Listeners attract whiners. So many whiners. So many whinings.

thornsilver

December 27 2013, 01:35:58 UTC 3 years ago

My superpower is an ability to see the cloud behind any silver lining. It makes it a bit difficult to get up in the morning, but any superhero that converses with me for a couple of minutes will collapse in a fetal position of crying despair. :P

gammelor

December 27 2013, 21:37:02 UTC 3 years ago

Oh man, your superpower scares the pants off me! You'd definitely win any fight I was in.

0nce_and_future

December 27 2013, 01:54:32 UTC 3 years ago

My real-life superpower has been named by my wife: "I only put in one chili"

It's a superpower only useful in the culinary world, and only if you like spicy food... No matter no how little or how mild the chili pepper is naturally, when making Salsa, chili, or curry, it ends up vastly spicier than the raw ingredients would indicate.

Heaven forbid I ever cook with a Ghost Pepper... but that would be super-villany, and that way lies madness and unpleasant trips to the bathroom.

thedragonweaver

December 29 2013, 04:18:51 UTC 3 years ago

"prickly, prickly, prickly..."

kittylady

December 27 2013, 01:57:21 UTC 3 years ago

My superpower is the ability to become a functioning human with the addition of caffeine. Strengths include an ability to be polite and pleasant while listening to absolute garbage, weaknesses involve loss of jobs, friends, and possibly dealing with the fire department if that sweet, delicious nectar of the gods is withheld from me.

Emma Bardon

December 27 2013, 02:08:46 UTC 3 years ago

My superpower is the ability to always grab the exact number of things I need (bags & boards for comics, meds for the week, place settings for a party, etc.). It is of marginal usefulness around the home, but completely useless in a fight.

I'm in Canada, and absolutely willing to pay postage.

mindyjoschmid

December 27 2013, 02:19:47 UTC 3 years ago

My superpower is the ability to absorb emotions around me. This allows me to draw anger from fights out of the area, leading to — sometimes — the fight disappating. Unfortunately, when the fight is not a result of heightened emotions, I can’t really affect it. Although, perhaps, in certain situations I could force emotions into a person or crowd to stop someone in their tracks.

Again, thanks for the chance!

coffeedaiv

December 27 2013, 02:19:47 UTC 3 years ago Edited:  December 27 2013, 02:22:18 UTC

My superpower is massage. I am a healer, not a fighter, so I am pretty likely to lose any fight I am directly involved in. However, beating me up tends to upset my clientele, who include a valkyrie, a viking, a plant manipulator, a ninja and a couple of cybermages. I am very good at fixing people who broken (both chronic and acute broken), not so much with computers (I got OUT of tech support because as a massage therapist, people are generally much happier with me when I am done).
And yes, I am perfectly willing to let a woman do my fighting for me. :=)

apricot_tree

December 27 2013, 02:37:45 UTC 3 years ago

Happy Boxing Day!

My superpower is to be able to remember obscure details of all the books I've read - which is a lot. This makes me LIBRARIAN WOMAN! I can recommend books with ease and help people find books they only remember partial information about. I just wish I could work in my field.

la_chica_08

December 27 2013, 02:45:44 UTC 3 years ago

My superpower is adaptability. Throw me into a situation and it might take me a few minutes (and a few colorful words) but I will eventually find a way to make whatever I need happen, happen. Most recently demonstrated when I was given an hour's notice to prepare for five more people to move into my one bedroom house for the foreseeable future.

jennygriffee

December 27 2013, 02:56:15 UTC 3 years ago

1: Comment!
2: US.
3: Invisibility. Which is pesky. Mostly since I don't seem to be able to control when it happens.

lapislaz

December 27 2013, 03:16:19 UTC 3 years ago

I am the Grammar Nazi! I eat, shoot, and leave!

orcaarrow

December 27 2013, 03:19:53 UTC 3 years ago

All hail the munificent Seanan!

Christopher Brathwaite

December 27 2013, 03:22:22 UTC 3 years ago Edited:  December 27 2013, 03:29:10 UTC

In the US!!

My superpower is personability. Put me in a social situation with basically anyone and within 30 minutes they'll find me to a fun guy they want to spend more time with and talk to. This extends to being an excellent host. An upside is, I can access to any and all gossip with ease, which is incredibly useful for navigating further interactions (not blackmail per se...) and people are often willing to lend me a hand with minor things. Downsides, it doesn't turn off, whether or not I'm actually up for interacting with people, and really works best in groups. One on one is a hell of a lot harder

gelsey

December 27 2013, 03:29:51 UTC 3 years ago

*grins* I'm local!

My super power this year is the power of possession. I can body hop into another person and experience new things, without being noticed if I so wish, or I can exert myself to control the other person, in the case of a super villain. This would come in extremely handy in the case of defeating a baddy, as I could possess them, incapacitate them in some manner, and hop right out again, safe as could be! The only weakness that the extremely strong of will could probably kick me out of their brain, in which case, a lot of running and body hopping to try to stop them would have to be done, but many villains are prone to weak wills and indulgences, thus giving me a foothold in!

inaurolillium

December 27 2013, 03:55:22 UTC 3 years ago

I am a Kitchen Gadgeteer. My best invention yet is the Baconator, which turns anything into bacon.

prefixmancer

December 27 2013, 04:05:02 UTC 3 years ago

I am superhumanly persuasive--not by means of any sort of compulsion, but through an instinctive understanding of the workings of the minds of everyone I meet well enough that I know exactly what to say in order to get them to do what I want. This knowledge comes to me as soon as I encounter them and is thorough enough to let me manipulate (even if only through reverse and double reverse psychology) people who are already suspicious of me because they know about my power, and comes in very handy for getting my opponents to give up without resorting to messy or destructive battles. Additionally, since there is no supernatural compulsion in my words, their effect cannot be neutralized by the local flavor of superscience or resisted by sheer willpower. On the other hand, I can't make someone do something if there is no possible argument that would convince them to do it, or if I am prevented from speaking to them.

kt_n_dd

December 27 2013, 04:07:54 UTC 3 years ago

I would love to win a copy of Velveteen vs. The Multiverse. So I'm throwing myself into a chance for a fray. (I'm in the United States).

My superpower is telekinesis. I am best at manipulating the little stuff: piles of debris, molecules, bacteria, genes, etc. I really like condensing and exciting the oxygen molecules in a certain area, so that they spontaneously combust. When it comes to average-sized items, such as bodies or buildings, my energy gets seriously sapped and I need to have a lie-down and lots of good food after the ordeal is done to get my energy back to normal. Planets, stars, and anything cosmic is way beyond my skill and energy-level.
It takes a goodly amount of concentration to work my power. I don't need to see the object physically, just psychically. I imagine it lifting or moving how I want it in a mental scene that mirrors the physical environment the object is in. It helps if I close my eyes, but I don't need to. Also, because most of my energy goes into this primarily mental endeavor, I'm not in the best shape physically. I'm not too bad, but running, dodging, climbing trees? I'd rather just deflect whatever is coming at me (trip them, widen the space between their molecules (ouch!), something like that).

Let's see if I get into the ring. And if so, will I make it? :)

Erika Hoagland

December 27 2013, 04:10:49 UTC 3 years ago

My superpower is library clairvoyance. Give me time to attune to/authority over a collection of materials (usually a library), and I can pinpoint where everything is located, whether it's actually present at the time or not, and go from title to complete description, minimal description to title, or between any other descriptors that pop up in Dublin Core.

The strength, logically enough, is full understanding in specific quarters--if I have a space and/or a collection, I know where everything is, including the things that should be there and aren't. Good for finding stolen objects, say, or grabbing the right potential improvised weapon rather than something that won't work near as well, and if teamed up with someone who can use the objects in whatever collection I'm attuning to... well. Not quite so good against someone with combat-related powers, though, and since it requires collections, it doesn't work as well for unique things that were never made part of a set, or parts of a set that aren't associated with a place (possible upgrade? Worth considering from a dramatic standpoint). I could see it potentially being used on organizations of people, though I imagine that would be much more taxing and require getting over half a dozen mental blocks--good for an Eleventh Hour Superpower, not likely to figure into any fight stemming from this contest.

Gail Leinweber

December 27 2013, 04:18:58 UTC 3 years ago

The Master Chef is capable of producing a tasty meal anywhere, including desert islands you've been stranded on and dank evil lairs where everything must be boiled to ensure it's edible, and has deadly knife and fire skills. However, despite the potential for subverting enemies with the power of fellowship at a good meal, supervillains are rarely brought to the table and the Chef is easily distracted at critical moments in battle when the emergency oven timer rings.

phantasm13

December 27 2013, 04:24:49 UTC 3 years ago

1. I want one
2. I am in Canada and if that is International, yes yes I will.
3. Eyes in the back of my head Mom power. Weaknesses --it only works on children Strengths --from another room I can accurately tell when children are getting into things they shouldn't and tell them to stop the specific thing before it gets to problematic proportions and scare them because I didn't see them do it.

:D

wombatoverlord

December 27 2013, 05:30:21 UTC 3 years ago

My superpower is that of spatial memory. I know where things live.

shiyiya

December 27 2013, 05:33:04 UTC 3 years ago

My superpower is to set things on fire with my mind and summon and control shadows.

(My sidekick is a walking rosebush who controls snow, but she probably doesn't count in the reckoning.)
Previous
← Ctrl ← Alt
Next
Ctrl → Alt →