YMMV / The Secret Return of Alex Mack

• Growing the Beard: The story essentially serves in this role for the entire Brane of Extraordinary Women series. The first story was a straightforward response to a multi-crossover writing prompt, and the second leaned heavily into being a Fix Fic by having characters from alternate universes solve each other's problems. This one, though, brought a fresh and engaging storyline, substantially developing a world and a character that had almost no other fanfiction written, and spawning an entire Shared Universe.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: During the battle with mutant clams at the Santa Monica beach, a police officer complains that:
  Police officer: Crap like this never happened back in Chicago.
  Terawatt: Unfortunately, stuff like this never happened anywhere before a year or two ago. Something similar will probably happen in Chicago before long.^note The main series of side stories, by batzulger, revolves around a Chicago-based superhero team.