#eric pelham

ooh yes fun! I did all of new wave here (got a little carried away designing costumes) but I also have something drafted focusing on her that I'll hopefully finish in the future 😅

like reading a fanfic and amy says "my cousin" and we immediately go "yeah ok crystal time lets go"

Shielder is basically a blank slate so he's my OC essentially, but he has a lot of canon facts that drive me nuts.

Canon facts:

Triggered at <15 (died at 15)

Blue hair that matches his forcefields :)

Defensive power! I love defensive powers, and I love flight, and I think he's really rare as a cape who specialises in defense?

Open cape, know no other life

Can hold back Leviathan

Younger brother :( I have a baby bro it's why I was so much on Victoria's side during the bank robbery. I would have torn TT's fucking arms off for that NGL.

Chose Shielder as a name, likely less than inventive, or was very young when he picked it.

Rachel facts that made me think of them as a duo:

I wuv her :)))

Sees every interaction as a fight or an attack (bc it often is... girl stop mauling ppl pls) = could be both frustrated and somewhat open to interaction with someone who doesn't attack back, just sits there and defends?

At the time of post-Leviathan, pre-S9, extremely isolated from the Undersiders (due to Taylor's whole thing coming out + dogs dying) = open to other help which she can't otherwise get

At the time, just realising she really really wants human connection (see her interlude) = open to reluctant companionship

Older than him probably

Open cape, knows no other life

Tragic backstory = he can sympathize (before the whole ass Siberian shows up)

I WUV HER :(((((

This is "deeply misanthropic" Rachel not "puppy therapy" Rachel BTW. I feel like her personality is downplayed in a lot of fic.

Synopsis is that he survived Leviathan by running away, thinks that his family won't want him back so is presumed dead (bc his dad died and kind of his uncle also (he's very very close to Mark here) and he has a horrible mix of grief, survivors' guilt and I-should-have-been-there guilt). He ends up another cape on the streets, sees Rachel doing some Rachel Shit, and jumps in to save bystanders. Doesn't really fight back except with forcefields.

He ends up as kind of a defender of the people in her territory, not noticed by the PRT or NW (remember, all phone communications are down. The Protectorate etc are too busy and NW is dying). Does some shady shit, continues to be like I Can't Go Back.

They keep meeting up, at one point she's like, help me I need someone to help me with a thing and he's all "don't you have Actual Teammates" and she is all "FUCK those motherfuckers they let HER back in" so he helps her.

But sometimes you see a character who has only been a cape for the last few years, or so is implied, and they have a name that you're baffled wasn't taken sooner.

They ended up with an extremely similar powerset to their mother with nary a shred of influence from their father's shard. And we all know what their mother's trigger was like.

Knowing Carol's neurosis, even with Sarah's seeming stability, I'd say that Lady Photon may have been one of those overprotective parents back in the day, especially after Fleur's death, fearing that New Wave's enemies would go after them.

And, with many children forced to deal with suffocating parents, Crystal and Eric suffered from their mother's overbearing nature, having bare shreds of personal freedom until it made them snap. Made them trigger.