Rumor's Block
is a Web Serial Novel based around a support group for young superheroes who may be in over their head.
The plot focusses on the development of these character's through their adventures in fighting villains, learning about their powers, and confronting their past. It commonly shifts viewpoints between the members of the group and the group's leader, Will Writer, a retired superhero whose previous identity was well known, though he keeps it a secret from the group.
Group Members:
- Will Writer / Rumor: The leader of the support group, and a retired hero. His previous identity, Rumor, was apparently well known, but his actual powers have yet to be revealed.
- Hawthorne / Lilliana Rosenthal: A young business woman with the power to manipulate plants. She has been seen acting as the defacto leader of the group outside of the actual sessions. Her main reason for joining the group is her inability to balance her work life with superheroing
- Allspades / Jack Rider: A former teenage black ops agent with Super-Strength. His experience with field work makes him a useful member of the team, but by his own admission, he lacks leadership skills. His main reason for joining the group is his fear of returning to the life of a killer.
- Burnout / George Sadler: A college student with the power of fire manipulation. Unlike most depictions of fire-based heroes, he is surprisingly cool headed, though he has played up the hothead reputation when called for. His main reason for joining the group is an inability to properly control his power.
- Mach / Tina Kovac : A young woman currently working in a coffee house who uses Powered Armor. She is easily the most intelligent of the group, though a condition of her youth made her socially shy and gave her an aversion to contractions. Her main reason for joining the group is a sense of inadequacy compared to more naturally gifter supers, and a fear she might start to modify her own powers.
- Red Racer / Mitchell Chase : The youngest of the group at 13, Mitch is a speedster whos uses a form of gravity manipulation for acceleration. He, as his age and powers would suggest, is impulsive and impatient, but he is nonetheless shown to be one of, if not the most insightful of the group. He joined the group at his sister's request after she caught him acting as a hero.
- Unimportant / John Andros : A high school student who achieves Invisibility through a Perception Filter created by splitting his presence through multiple universes. He is slightly withdrawn, but is likely the memeber of the group with the clearest reason for becoming a hero. He joined the group because his powers have grown harder to control and he is afraid of disappearing completely.
Tropes Associated with Rumor's Block
- All There in the Manual: Not much, but the character's full names, and some personal details are in the background pages, as are the hero names of the entirety of The Council, and a full description of the various power classifications, which have fallen further out of use as the story has gone on.
- Alliterative Name: Red Racer. Played with slightly with Will Writer.
- Animal Themed Super Being: Tigroar and Sigurd, two recurring side characters, are [[Shapeshifter Shapeshifters]] who turn into a tiger and a dragon respectively. Burnout is also stated to have gained his powers from a dragon corpse.
- Big Bad : A villain named Trump hired Asclepios and Mason, who the team fought on their first mission, and is implied to be the one who killed Stalker.
- Big Good: The Council, this universe's equivalent to the Justice League, is based in the team's home town of Macropolis.
- Differently Powered Individual: Superheroes are referred to as such, but they are also called Walkers, due to a widespread piece of graffiti that appeared around the same time as the public reveal of super powers.
- Dishing Out Dirt: The villain of the team's first mission was an earth manipulator named Mason.
- Elemental Powers: Walkers with this power are called Manips, and are restricted to a single element, though that element can be more varied than the classics. Specifically, Hawthorne has a Green Thumb and Burnout enjoys Playing with Fire
- Greater-Scope Villain: Eclipse, a villain responsible for killing Will's former lover and driving him away from herodom. He is considered by history to be the first super villain, and returns every few years, despite having been killed more than once.
- Green Thumb: Hawthorne is capable of "short range floromancy." This includes the ability to grow, control, and genetically modify plants within her range.
- Invisibility: Unimportant has a form of this, created by splitting his presence across multiple universes to make him less noticeable in this one.
- Mirror Universe: Something of the sort is implied to exist in a conversation between Will and Red Racer.
- Not Quite Flight: As a superhero work it's a given. Specifically, Burnout is shown to use his flames like rockets, and Mach has rockets on her suit.
- Perception Filter: Unimportant does this by splitting himself across multiple universes.
- Playing with Fire: Burnout. It is mentioned that this is a relatively common power, which is part of the reason for Burnout's less than stellar name.
- Powered Armor: A common choice for mechers, like Mach and Slipstream.
- Samus Is a Girl: Mach. While this was revealed to the audience fairly early on, only Burnout and Will know that this is the case, and she is referred to as 'he' in dialog, even when they talk about her.
- Shapeshifting: Side characters Tigroar and Sigurd are capable of turning into a tiger and dragon respectively. Both are noted as being special, in that they are capable of partial transformations.
- Single-Power Superheroes: Everyone. Heroes are split into one of several categories based on their power, and even those who seem to have multiple powers are shown to rely on a single power as their base.
- Something Person: Zero, The Council's speedster, was once dubbed by the media as Minute-Girl, a name she despised.
- Super-Intelligence: Heroes with this power are called Mechers, whether they use a suit or gadgets.
- Super-Speed: Red Racer and Zero are both speedster, referred to as Runners in 'verse.
- Super-Strength: Tanks in general, more specifically Allspades.
- Superman Stays Out of Gotham: Confluence is corrupt enough that few heroes who aren't born there are willing to visit. Most of the local heroes, like Stalker, are at least a little insane and would be prosecuted in any other city.
- Telepathy / Telekinesis: Mental power users are called Tels. There are none in the main cast, but Maestro, a member of the council, appears during Will's trial.
- Triple Shifter: Trouble with this is stated to be Hawhthorne's reason for joining the support group.
