What kind of powers are best for a peril-prone heroine?

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Damselbinder

Pretty much what it says on the tin. What kind of power or power-set makes for either the most enticing, or most narratively interesting superheroine in our little micro-genre?
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batgirl1969
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A girl who has to yell a magic word to become powerful, Like She-Ra or Mary Marvel....so the Ballgag is her main weakness and while she looks the same and is as sexy as her non-powered self, she is much more innocent as her non-power self.

or a Heroine who gets her powers because she is a virgin, pure...angelic and that keeps her supsr strong
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ksire_99
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My favorite power is not really a power at all. It is that she is a formidable opponent until one simple weakness is found. Such as; Kryptonite, chloro, simple binding, ball gag, or their chastity...

Not necessarily in that order :evil:
Mlod
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Generally anything that can be voluntarily turned off/weakened, for example to go undercover or otherwise pass, balancing not being found out with succumbing to whatever peril it is (or being found out and having to try and be able to reverse it as they are in a trouble of their own making)
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DrDominator9
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Not to be too much of a brown-noser here, damselbinder, but I thought that your character Spectra's power to use light as a very formidable weapon was brilliant (pun intended) but the fact that she took that light through her eyes and could be thwarted with a blindfold was even better!
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Get Your Exxon
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More than power(s) the key is arrogance. Matching the right villain is also important but the secret sauce lies in the writer's ability to craft a memorable humbling. Wen it comes to deafeating those who supposedly can’t be beat, the fall is what I’m after.
Damselbinder

Get Your Exxon wrote:
4 years ago
More than power(s) the key is arrogance. Matching the right villain is also important but the secret sauce lies in the writer's ability to craft a memorable humbling. Wen it comes to deafeating those who supposedly can’t be beat, the fall is what I’m after.
I'm not entirely sure I agree. Having a heroine who's careful, doesn't overestimate herself, and does everything right... and still gets defeated and captured can be kind of fun as well. It's just so unfair, gosh darn it!
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Femina
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Yeah It's generally a hard pass on the 'arrogance' for me. To me that direction often feels like it comes from a more misogynistic place. Like 'dang that one girl who didn't want to dance with me at the prom that one time! She thinks she is soooo awesome!' and then taking that out in a superheroine fantasy, paint her as 'arrogant' and then bam! Fantasy fulfilled, getting even with the woman who didn't want to dance with you, and surely not for any reason accept that she was a total bitch.

...

That came out probably more accusatory than its meant. It's certainly not angled at you specifically Exxon xD. I obviously don't know WHY anyone here is here and what events (or lack of events even) in their lives acted as the inciting factor toward finding fascination in our little corner of the world... I don't think anybody wanting the heroine to be arrogant in the tale is somehow 'doing fetish wrong' or anything. Only that from my OWN perspective as a woman whose primarily involved in empathizing with the heroine rather than embodying the villain or acting the 'impartial observer' it's much more enticing for me personally when the heroine is ALL HERO, does everything as right and well as she could possibly be expected to... and comes into the peril anyway. As DB stated above it's just unfair xD, and for me that unfairness is part of the kink.
Last edited by Femina 4 years ago, edited 1 time in total.
Damselbinder

DrDominator9 wrote:
4 years ago
Not to be too much of a brown-noser here, damselbinder, but I thought that your character Spectra's power to use light as a very formidable weapon was brilliant (pun intended) but the fact that she took that light through her eyes and could be thwarted with a blindfold was even better!
You flatter me.


This is something to which I have no objections.
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DonShip
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I'm so Old School Linda Carter Wonder Woman that removing her power belt (or some other item that bestows super powers) is what I like best. Also, when they have to hide behind a mask and live with the threat of being discovered amps up the tension for me.
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Mental or Enhancement abilities that take focus. Where a distraction can cause them to waiver or unable to summon their full strength. Super Senses can also be fun to turn against them.
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I'm into fighting and wrestling. So my fantasy is a slim superheroine very strong with her superpowers, but weak without powers,with her normal petite and frail body, against a not superpowered but larger stronger bigger titted villainess.
Damselbinder

cannonfodder wrote:
3 years ago
Mental or Enhancement abilities that take focus. Where a distraction can cause them to waiver or unable to summon their full strength. Super Senses can also be fun to turn against them.
As far as the super senses thing go, I made a whole character around that!
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batgirl1969 wrote:
4 years ago
A girl who has to yell a magic word to become powerful, Like She-Ra or Mary Marvel....so the Ballgag is her main weakness and while she looks the same and is as sexy as her non-powered self, she is much more innocent as her non-power self.

or a Heroine who gets her powers because she is a virgin, pure...angelic and that keeps her supsr strong
Any power that can be neutralized or prevented with big thick gag. Mary Batson couldn’t turn into Mary Marvel if she were gagged. The original Wonder Woman was neutralized if she were in bondage, another favorite way to depose a heroine. I have often thought being depowered by an orgasm would be an interesting Achilles heel, especially if she was a sex addict with a danger fetish. Unable to escape the lure of going alone into the obvious trap.

The best part of Superman was alway that he was so indestructible that Louis Lane was his weakness. Dump her in an elaborate death trap and he was automatically out of your way until she was found and rescued.

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MrBleh
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batgirl1969 wrote:
4 years ago
A girl who has to yell a magic word to become powerful, Like She-Ra or Mary Marvel....so the Ballgag is her main weakness and while she looks the same and is as sexy as her non-powered self, she is much more innocent as her non-power self.

or a Heroine who gets her powers because she is a virgin, pure...angelic and that keeps her super strong
You could actually expand that idea to include ANY girl who must transform into "the heroine", in order to gain her super powers.
Otherwise, she's just a regular girl.
So; magic word/phrase, magic rings/bracelets that have to be brought together, magic clothing that must be put on...the list goes on.
Over the past few years, I find the idea of the girl not being allowed to become the heroine, more and more enticing.
Thus, the story surrounds itself around the girl, more than the heroine, but since they're one-in-the-same, the heroine (or rather, the struggle to become the heroine) becomes more of a "device" than the actual point of the story.
To me, that is really exciting stuff to think about because the girl always has something she's working towards (rather than just sitting there, tied to a chair).
I actually have a whole slew of "Mary Marvel-type" stories rolling around in my head, that I'd like to put down in writing one of these days.
I'd like to use the story section of this site to post them, too. I just have to get them written out.
Lately, though, I've been working on some Supergirl stories and recently, have revisited some original heroines I came up with about 5-6 years ago.
Anyway, just wanted to expand on the great comments you posted, batgirl1969.
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Abductorenmadrid
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Yep - anyone who needs a "thing" or has to perform some action like saying a word or, for example, Diane Prince and her twirl could make for a very sexy transformation-prevention phase of a peril story, or make for the scene entirely.
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Bert

Interesting reading. My preferences seem to be at odds with pretty much everyone here. I like it when the heroine finds herself in over her head while her powers are undiminished. To me, a heroine who chooses to match her abilities against the criminal element is a very appealing concept. To have her operating at full strength and still end up in peril makes her decision to fight crime in the first place more impactful. It means she's that much more daring, realizing that her enhanced abilities might not be enough, but doing it anyway.
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I'm kind of split on the weakness thing, I think powers that can be cut off by gags or bondage are hot, but prefer it if the heroine is already in her heroic persona when she encounters that weakness. Like gagging and kidnapping Mary Marvel is just kidnapping some random girl. But if you take say, Sailor Moon, or some other magical girl who generally strikes poses and says special words to use her powers and then stop them from doing so that feels hotter. It's like by doing her initial transformation she's already agreed to the battle and gagging her or restraining her is just the most efficient and shocking way to win. I may have plans for this idea.
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argento
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I agree with Mlod, any power that can be disabled. Another option is to look for a villain with a superior power.
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lizlettersby
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sneakly wrote:
3 years ago
I have often thought being depowered by an orgasm would be an interesting Achilles heel, especially if she was a sex addict with a danger fetish. Unable to escape the lure of going alone into the obvious trap.
I happen to use a character just like this in my rp, though haven't created a stand-alone story with her.

For me, I don't think one set of powers work best with SHiP. I think that's the allure of this genre, seeing how creative we can get with unique powers and abilities and then seeing if we can "think" our way out of the dominance of those powers into a situation of imperilment.

What I like is when the superheroine seems damn near invincible and still winds up in peril. And this doesn't just have to be the old tired out trope of "Muh, unimaginable super strength." Not to rag on that, there's definitely value in the classics, I have characters like that. But there can be martial arts skill, mentalism, magic, or all manner of powers. I have one character who harnesses electricity. The point is that the heroine starts with near invincibility so that it would appear that the story couldn't possibly end with her demise. This could be accompanied by arrogance, it could not. I've seen value in both. And the invincibility could even come from the sheer secrecy surrounding her weakness, the craftiness required to figure out how to depower the crime fighter. But it makes it so much more delicious to me when a previously assumed undefeatable superheroine suddenly finds her best kept secrets exposed, her powers immobilized, and now completely vulnerable to the whims of antagonists who just moments ago she could have easily put down.

SHiP is not suited to one power set, I don't think. It's more about how we arrive at peril and the circumstances/kinks that build to the point of peril. Just my personal opinion.
Damselbinder

lizlettersby wrote:
2 years ago
sneakly wrote:
3 years ago
I have often thought being depowered by an orgasm would be an interesting Achilles heel, especially if she was a sex addict with a danger fetish. Unable to escape the lure of going alone into the obvious trap.
I happen to use a character just like this in my rp, though haven't created a stand-alone story with her.

For me, I don't think one set of powers work best with SHiP. I think that's the allure of this genre, seeing how creative we can get with unique powers and abilities and then seeing if we can "think" our way out of the dominance of those powers into a situation of imperilment.

What I like is when the superheroine seems damn near invincible and still winds up in peril. And this doesn't just have to be the old tired out trope of "Muh, unimaginable super strength." Not to rag on that, there's definitely value in the classics, I have characters like that. But there can be martial arts skill, mentalism, magic, or all manner of powers. I have one character who harnesses electricity. The point is that the heroine starts with near invincibility so that it would appear that the story couldn't possibly end with her demise. This could be accompanied by arrogance, it could not. I've seen value in both. And the invincibility could even come from the sheer secrecy surrounding her weakness, the craftiness required to figure out how to depower the crime fighter. But it makes it so much more delicious to me when a previously assumed undefeatable superheroine suddenly finds her best kept secrets exposed, her powers immobilized, and now completely vulnerable to the whims of antagonists who just moments ago she could have easily put down.

SHiP is not suited to one power set, I don't think. It's more about how we arrive at peril and the circumstances/kinks that build to the point of peril. Just my personal opinion.
Well-reasoned! I daresay I'm convinced.
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Mr. X
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I like the broken concentration or broken will power. Also maybe needing hands to use powers or needing to speak. Or a magic item removed.
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Bert wrote:
2 years ago
Interesting reading. My preferences seem to be at odds with pretty much everyone here. I like it when the heroine finds herself in over her head while her powers are undiminished. To me, a heroine who chooses to match her abilities against the criminal element is a very appealing concept. To have her operating at full strength and still end up in peril makes her decision to fight crime in the first place more impactful. It means she's that much more daring, realizing that her enhanced abilities might not be enough, but doing it anyway.
Excellent point!
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Mr. X wrote:
2 years ago
I like the broken concentration or broken will power. Also maybe needing hands to use powers or needing to speak. Or a magic item removed.
Yes, these can be quite enticing characteristics, as well, and reminds me of the time I was watching the movie Small Soldiers.
In particular, the part where Kirsten Dunst gets rescued and starts beating the crap out of the dolls that imprisoned her with her baton.
It was then that the idea struck me (sorry, no pun intended) that her character could have a secret identity as a Superheroine called The Majorette and, like lizlettersby wrote in her post, she's darn near invincible, as long as she has her baton.
If she loses hold of it, her powers go with it.
I still think about that from time to time, but so far, no story to go along with it....maybe one day.
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Mr. X
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Electrawoman and Dynagirl are perfect. Fit women who's only powers are electra-comps that have limited power, require one arm to push buttons on another arm, are routinely jammed. Same with space ghosts power bands.
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The attraction to Batgirl was that she really didn’t have powers. Her skill and intellect were what she needed to take on the worst of Gotham. Because she was relying on smarts and resourcefulness, capture and subsequent peril were pretty much inevitable. Of course the villains are constrained by the universe they in habit. They can’t just kill Batgirl, they need to make it criminal masterwork of theater. A performance art of peril. Why shoot her when you can freeze her to death in a giant frosty-freeze with a chrome dildo cooling her core body temperature? Or being slowly killed by Lotus in giant macerating vat. Of course these traps are heavily sexualized for the stimulation of the victim and enjoyment of the villain.
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