layout idea / inspo creds for this + the graphics to the one and only lcverreid !

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started: november 14th, 2023
published: november 17th, 2023
finished: ongoing

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A GEN V, jordan li x oc

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SYNOPSIS

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Whoever had said that being a supe was a gift was either not a supe themselves, supremely stupid, or just a giant fucking liar.

There was not a day in Laurel's life where she didn't wish she was just... normal.

She always wanted to be normal. She wanted to be a normal civilian, go to a normal college, and become a normal doctor. She wanted to be like her dad.

Instead, she was like her mom. Carbon copy down to the bone. All the way down to having her surname on her birth certificate. Not her dad's.

Because Laurel Zhao was the daughter of the infamous superhero Vitality — the woman with the uncanny ability to heal virtually any damage. And when it was revealed her daughter had inherited her power? The woman did not hesitate to begin molding the girl into a tiny version of her.

Laurel had a social media presence since she could remember. Photo shoots upon photo shoots in matching outfits with her mother. Interviews. Ads. She went so far as to get her in hospitals to help heal injured and get that shit on the news. Anything to bring attention to the girl. Hell, she had her first red carpet experience with her mother when she was barely ten. And for years and years, she would be asked about her mom. Asked about following her footsteps. Asked what she was like. Was she a good mother? And Laurel always sung her praises. She was an angel. A sweetheart. Her role model. Her hero. A superhero whose whole thing was healing couldn't be a bad person.

They had no idea what it was like behind closed doors. The way she was forced to have cameras flash in her face and give them fake bright smiles. To act like having her life fucking micromanaged to the last goddamn second wasn't suffocating.

To not be accused of being a liar.

Because Laurel's powers? They hurt. Every time she healed someone, it hurt her. But Vitality always said she was trying to get out of whatever new shit her mother planned. And, of course, everyone listened to her mother. Even her father, who was always by far the better parent... but even he couldn't argue his wife's case. Her mother never dealt with her powers giving her pain. So no one believed her...

Until she hospitalized her father when she was fourteen.

As it turned out, not only had Laurel gained the ability to heal wounds, pain, damage... she could inflict it as well. And to do so, her body stored all the pain she took to use somewhere else. And several years of constant pain mitigated by what was arguably a bordering on lethal overuse of painkillers... it's a bit much for a body to take on all at once.

Her father never came home after that. According to her mother, he had divorced her on the spot when he woke up, wanted all his stuff so he could get the hell out and away from her. Naturally, her mother had it all swept under the rug, away from the media. And he stayed in contact... at least until she was sixteen. Then he stopped talking to her too. And anyone else who did know? Demonized her for it.

It wasn't until she met Brink that her perspective was shifted.

The man had been the one to point out that Laurel was not worse then her mother. She was stronger. She was much more useful in combative situations then the original Vitality ever was. Her powers, her charisma, family, and her history? She was a shoe in for the crime fighting program at God U. And the fact Brink saw potential in her also didn't hurt. Even her mother begrudgingly agreed when this was pointed out to the woman, who had been an alumnus of the university as well.

The short leash Vitality had her daughter on had begun to grow longer. And when Compound V was exposed? The leash damn near snapped. Because she caused this damage. She had her daughter shot up with the drug that gave her these awful powers when she was a baby.

But Compound V also got her here, didn't it? A junior in the crime fighting program at Godolkin University. Earning a name for herself. Hell, she was even the top ten in student rankings. Close friends with people in the top five. She was going to go places.

... Could she really still wish she was normal when she had all that?

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MEET THE CAST !

lola tung as
LAUREL ZHAO

the healer
aliases : laur, laurie
love interest : jordan li

alba baptista as
PIPER ALVARES

the golden retriever
aliases : pip, pipes

gemma chan as
VITALITY

the retired supe
aliases : n/a

AND THE REST OF THE GEN V CAST AS THEMSELVES

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DISCLAIMERS !

This fic will be following the show story! I will be following the plot line for the most part, but adjusting some of it, as well as adding in my own, given the addition of my OCs. As such, this is a GEN V fic, so there will be touching on / mentioning more adult topics, and will include things like heavy usage of profanity, ( mentions of ) abuse, substance usage ( including underage usage ), sex ( the likelihood of actual scenes written out is low but not impossible ), gore, and, obviously, character death.

THE CHARACTERS OF GEN V DO NOT BELONG TO ME !

Those characters were all made by the creators of the show. I own no rights to them, this is just for fun! The only characters that are mine are Laurel, Piper, & Vitality.