Just a Phase [Worm]

[KingCrimson1081]

Are We the Baddies?

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Not sure Taylor would refuse to go fight an Endbringer, but I do imagine that she would refuse to go as Phase and instead go as Ghost just to fuck with the PRT and Protectorate. After all Taylor is the girl who went out to be a vigilante despite being a member of the Wards on paper along with her canon mentality to try and do something that matters even at risk to herself, plus I imagine that realistically Wards aren't allowed to volunteer or be asked to attend Endbringer battles unless they have x amount of experience and training especially if the Endbringer is the Simurgh.

But I do understand where Taylor is coming from with her reactions to Nebula and Roulette pressuring her to go, which would probably be more effective at getting her not to go then any argument to try and stop her from going. Unfortunately I don't think that was what the two of them were attempting to do with Taylor there, if anything I imagine the two of them will attempt to shame Taylor for not going to fight the Endbringer. But yeah the PRT and Protectorate did nothing when two Wards attempted to kill Taylor and even had Taylor removed from the city to silence her so Taylor.does have a good example to prove her point if anyone tries to call her out for thinking that way.

Besides that this gives me an idea for when Leviathan attacks Brockton and Taylor goes as Ghost only for Armsmaster to pull his canonically truce breaking fuck up and just so happening to get Taylor caught in the blast radius.

Which is another point, Armstrong still calls her Phase. Gauss? Never does in the snippet, calling her Hebert and Taylor. Accepting they aren't anywhere near close enough to bring her on as a cape, much less a Ward.

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I have to wonder if calling Taylor Phase all the time is in anyways dehumanizing. Like that is not her name she didn't pick it or accept it but you seem intent to label her that against her will. If anything calling her Ghost would be more appropriate but that would make the PRT give ground to her which they simply will bot do.

Edit: Plus calling her by her Wards name instead of her real one just shows her that they see her more of a tool or asset than as a person.

 

[fanjdenj]

Not sure Taylor would refuse to go fight an Endbringer, but I do imagine that she would refuse to go as Phase and instead go as Ghost just to fuck with the PRT and Protectorate. After all Taylor is the girl who went out to be a vigilante despite being a member of the Wards on paper along with her canon mentality to try and do something that matters even at risk to herself, plus I imagine that realistically Wards aren't allowed to volunteer or be asked to attend Endbringer battles unless they have x amount of experience and training especially if the Endbringer is the Simurgh.

But I do understand where Taylor is coming from with her reactions to Nebula and Roulette pressuring her to go, which would probably be more effective at getting her not to go then any argument to try and stop her from going. Unfortunately I don't think that was what the two of them were attempting to do with Taylor there, if anything I imagine the two of them will attempt to shame Taylor for not going to fight the Endbringer. But yeah the PRT and Protectorate did nothing when two Wards attempted to kill Taylor and even had Taylor removed from the city to silence her so Taylor.does have a good example to prove her point if anyone tries to call her out for thinking that way.

Besides that this gives me an idea for when Leviathan attacks Brockton and Taylor goes as Ghost only for Armsmaster to pull his canonically truce breaking fuck up and just so happening to get Taylor caught in the blast radius.

I have to wonder if calling Taylor Phase all the time is in anyways dehumanizing. Like that is not her name she didn't pick it or accept it but you seem intent to label her that against her will. If anything calling her Ghost would be more appropriate but that would make the PRT give ground to her which they simply will bot do.

Edit: Plus calling her by her Wards name instead of her real one just shows her that they see her more of a tool or asset than as a person.

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hmm, so taylor is a blindspot for all precog, including ptv and presumably simmy. While taylor herself isn't powerful enough to matter, would her being a blindspot mess with simmy's precog during an attack? Cause simmy uses her precog to dodge or block attacks that could kill her, unless that is fanon, so if taylor ends up moving something that simmy would have used to knock out someone like lily, who has a power that could actually kill her, would that be a way to kill her? Not taylor herself doing the kill, just messing up simmy's precog enough to open a path for someone to do it instead. That could be a way to kill an endbringer without having edolin summon a new one, taylor accidentally screws up simmys plan enough for edolin to hit her with a sting esque power. Or i might be underestimating simmy.

 

[KingCrimson1081]

hmm, so taylor is a blindspot for all precog, including ptv and presumably simmy. While taylor herself isn't powerful enough to matter, would her being a blindspot mess with simmy's precog during an attack? Cause simmy uses her precog to dodge or block attacks that could kill her, unless that is fanon, so if taylor ends up moving something that simmy would have used to knock out someone like lily, who has a power that could actually kill her, would that be a way to kill her? Not taylor herself doing the kill, just messing up simmy's precog enough to open a path for someone to do it instead. That could be a way to kill an endbringer without having edolin summon a new one, taylor accidentally screws up simmys plan enough for edolin to hit her with a sting esque power. Or i might be underestimating simmy.

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Pretty sure that Endbringers aren't bound by the same restrictions as the Shards deployed to Hosts so she can very easily cheat around Taylor's blind spotness, either that or Taylor presence can mess with some of the Simurgh's plots she is setting up with her attack. Plus the Simurgh's precog isn't targetted so it could just naturally bypass Taylor's defenses by just not aiming for her, but what Taylor could be immune to is the Simurgh attempting to mess with her brain. But overall the idea itself would be a fun idea for an omake like say Taylor taking one of Lily's Sting infused shots, or Bakuda bomb inside them thus bypassing their most conventional defenses.

 

[Nikas_Zekeval]

Not sure Taylor would refuse to go fight an Endbringer, but I do imagine that she would refuse to go as Phase and instead go as Ghost just to fuck with the PRT and Protectorate.

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Showing up as Ghost would probably be considered too high a risk to her plausible deniability, especially if she got hurt and needed medical treatment. Plus probably runs the risk, in Taylor's mind, of the PRT thinking she'll unbend and work on her harder to 'join properly'.

She'd more likely step up patrols while others were out of town if she did anything. Just to make sure villains that stayed behind don't try to take advantage of the official heroes' absence.

But I do understand where Taylor is coming from with her reactions to Nebula and Roulette pressuring her to go, which would probably be more effective at getting her not to go then any argument to try and stop her from going. Unfortunately I don't think that was what the two of them were attempting to do with Taylor there, if anything I imagine the two of them will attempt to shame Taylor for not going to fight the Endbringer.

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And holding some parental rights or not? I suspect a Ward and a Protectorate hero trying to pressure another Ward into 'volunteering' goes against regs, and really torques off the Youth Guard

Besides that this gives me an idea for when Leviathan attacks Brockton and Taylor goes as Ghost only for Armsmaster to pull his canonically truce breaking fuck up and just so happening to get Taylor caught in the blast radius.

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Why would Taylor go to Brockton in this story?

"Seriously, who do I have to go up there to fight and maybe die for? Friends? Your Wards made sure I didn't have any. Family? You mean the sperm doner who washed his hands of me when he sent me here? Comrades? Please, we all know it is just an act because your bosses want to use my power. My family home? It's been an empty shell since my mother died, and it took till this year that I finally accepted that."

Phase, no Taylor Hebert folded her hands in her lap after ticking off points on her fingers before a flabbergasted Flechette and Weld. "No", she concluded, "I have absolutely nothing I value left back there, especially nothing worth risking my life for working with you."

I have to wonder if calling Taylor Phase all the time is in anyways dehumanizing. Like that is not her name she didn't pick it or accept it but you seem intent to label her that against her will. If anything calling her Ghost would be more appropriate but that would make the PRT give ground to her which they simply will bot do.

Edit: Plus calling her by her Wards name instead of her real one just shows her that they see her more of a tool or asset than as a person.

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I see using a Cape name as Operational Security (OpSec). They use those names to prevent or reduce accidental slips of using a civilian name where unauthorized people might overhear it.

Which is why Emma calling her Taylor and not Phase in the one message should have been a BFD. Even among friendly Wards it is an OpSec slipup that even though low probability could lead to an outed Ward.

 

[KingCrimson1081]

Why would Taylor go to Brockton in this story?

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Still Taylor as a person isn't someone who will simply stand by and do nothing if she has the ability to do something which plays into her trigger trauma of no one coming to help her despite having the power to do so. So yeah that is my reasoning for her going to an Endbringer battles and Brockton Bay was just an example and Armsmaster can pull his friendly fire stunt at a different location. Honestly it would probably work better if the Endbringer attacked Boston rather than a different location.

And holding some parental rights or not? I suspect a Ward and a Protectorate hero trying to pressure another Ward into 'volunteering' goes against regs, and really torques off the Youth Guard

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It might be a big enough deal with the Youth Guard to enforce a restraining order on the two of them to keep them away fro. Taylor. Which I can just imagine backfiring with the higher ups in the Protectorate and PRT deciding to transfer Taylor to a different location since that seems to be their go to for difficult internal situations where there members are in the wrong.

Showing up as Ghost would probably be considered too high a risk to her plausible deniability, especially if she got hurt and needed medical treatment. Plus probably runs the risk, in Taylor's mind, of the PRT thinking she'll unbend and work on her harder to 'join properly'.

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Taylor isn't know for her decision making skills so I imagine that she still just might go which could lead to an alt meeting with Legend where he tries and fails to convince Taylor to join up while conviently ignoring her legitimate complaints with the organization.

 

[FirstSelector]

I actually have a soft spot for the "you'll just use the Endbringer as a convenient way to be rid of me" argument, stemming from the phenomenonal Taylor/MM discussion in Crouching Tiger Goes to Prison.

It's particularly sickening that they would pull out the "it's okay if your don't understand your power" argument, but given that the PRT exisits to ensure capes fight Endbringers... yeah. Good omake.

 

[apeljohn]

I have to wonder if calling Taylor Phase all the time is in anyways dehumanizing. Like that is not her name she didn't pick it or accept it but you seem intent to label her that against her will.

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Wouldn't describe it as dehumanising per se, but it does come across as a statement of intent: that they're going to keep trying to force her onto the railway tracks of conventional Wards membership despite her explicit refusal to go that way.

The concept of "assuming the sale" comes to mind: the technique of persuading someone to buy e.g. a car by taking it as a given that they will do so - a statement so obvious it doesn't need to be said aloud - and starting the conversation at "so what colour of car did you want to purchase?". Used against a random member of the public, it's a moderately effective sales tactic.

Used against someone who has already formed an opinion, it's immensely fucking patronising and a great way of pissing people off. You're effectively telling someone "OK, I know you say you don't want a car, but we both know that you're kidding yourself, don't we? So what colour will it be?".

In the case of Taylor's branding as Phase - along with all the other shit they're pulling that comes with an implicit rider of "and then she'll join us on patrol and everything will be wonderful" - they're effectively laughing off the very idea that she might have a legitimate grievance against the organisation that sheltered her attempted murderers. It's not an argument so much as a very heavy-handed "I reject your reality and substitute my own".

 

[KingCrimson1081]

I actually have a soft spot for the "you'll just use the Endbringer as a convenient way to be rid of me" argument, stemming from the phenomenonal Taylor/MM discussion in Crouching Tiger Goes to Prison.

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From the perspective of Nebula and Roulette in that omake it probably sounds like a win win to them. If she does die to the Endbringer then they have gotten rid of a persistent thorn in their sides and if she does well against the Endbringer then they can justify bringing in more force from above to get her to join.

It's particularly sickening that they would pull out the "it's okay if your don't understand your power" argument, but given that the PRT exisits to ensure capes fight Endbringers... yeah. Good omake.

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There is also the implication that they are willing to send someone who on paper has no combat experience or S&R training to fight one of most dangerous beings on the planet. Especially considering that the whole point of the Wards is to train the kids on how to use their powers responsibly and not die during an Endbringer battle.

So yeah them asking Taylor to go is pretty much a very thinly veiled attempt at getting her killed regardless of their actual intentions.

Which isn't to say Taylor wont decide to go on her own because she tends to be reckless like that.

Snip

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The Wards have the advantage of being pretty much the only official option for young triggers and that is where a lot of their 'she will join us eventually' mindset comes from. It's like a town with one grocery store the manager and employees can be complete jackasses but people will still go there because they don't have feasible alternative options.

It really shows the nature of the organization that once Taylor goes through power testing they will be able to get her branded and on the combat patrols, and PR stunts routine. Like are there no nonviolent or private options for Wards who don't want to do the whole superhero act? Just you know a few course on how to control your powers so you don't accidentally hurt anyone and some therapy options so they can recover from their trigger events. Why are all those things locked behind a pay wall of become a child soldier and then we will help you.

 

[Blade4]

Just you know a few course on how to control your powers so you don't accidentally hurt anyone and some therapy options so they can recover from their trigger events. Why are all those things locked behind a pay wall of become a child soldier and then we will help you.

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Technically this is supposed to be a option. The wards can be as little as oh you think you are going out patrolling? Well here is a protectorate member who will follow you around. At least it was mentioned as such iirc in Wildbow documentation for the prt quest. Which make the Ghost thing such a bad idea for her. As long as she was not doing anything at all they had no hook but just being Ghost gives them something if they can figure out how to not make her bolt first thing.

 

[KingCrimson1081]

Technically this is supposed to be a option. The wards can be as little as oh you think you are going out patrolling? Well here is a protectorate member who will follow you around. At least it was mentioned as such iirc in Wildbow documentation for the prt quest. Which make the Ghost thing such a bad idea for her. As long as she was not doing anything at all they had no hook but just being Ghost gives them something if they can figure out how to not make her bolt first thing.

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Then how come no one in Boston has suggested this? From there conversations with Taylor and between each other in the interludes it is always get her into power testing to make her a full Ward so she will have to do what we say.

 

[apeljohn]

I actually have a soft spot for the "you'll just use the Endbringer as a convenient way to be rid of me" argument, stemming from the phenomenonal Taylor/MM discussion in Crouching Tiger Goes to Prison.

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It also came up in at least one Implacable omake. (Which got me re-reading all 36 pages thereof, dammit.)

PS @ FirstSelector: you're still missing an omake

The how come no one in Boston has suggested this? From there conversations with Taylor and between each other in the interludes it is always get her into power testing to make her a full Ward so she will have to do what we say.

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I suspect this may be a side-effect of the whole transfer-of-guardianship malarkey. Without a parent in the loop - or where the parent is apathetic, as with Shadow Stalker or Vista - there's no-one who is both incentivised to say "whoa, hold on a second" and able to make it stick.

Armstrong presumably could unilaterally sign her up as a Ward-Lite - and, in fact, this is what I hope I'd be doing in his shoes - but then he'd have to deal with a political bollicking from the other Regional Directors and PRT central functions like WEDGDG. So far he's proven too spineless to go that route.

 

[KingCrimson1081]

I suspect this may be a side-effect of the whole transfer-of-guardianship malarkey. Without a parent in the loop - or where the parent is apathetic, as with Shadow Stalker or Vista - there's no-one who is both incentivised to say "whoa, hold on a second" and able to make it stick.

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Which ironically is probably the exact opposite of what Danny wanted when he signed Taylor up for the Wards. He wanted his daughter to be safe but instead he signed over all his rights to keep her safe from the organization that just wants to use her.

Armstrong presumably could unilaterally sign her up as a Ward-Lite - and, in fact, this is what I hope I'd be doing in his shoes - but then he'd have to deal with a political bollicking from the other Regional Directors and PRT central functions like WEDGDG. So far he's proven too spineless to go that route.

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Taylor's power is very useful in direct conflict, intelligence activities, and counter intelligence activities so yeah no way the other Directors will simply let her be if Armstrong went soft on her. Plus there is the matter or pride and so far Taylor has damaged the PRT's so they will make moves to ensure she becomes a full Ward and future Protectorate member just to prove a point.

 

[FirstSelector]

Then how come no one in Boston has suggested this?

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A combination of it requires that she cooperate with their power experts, and probably go through testing so they can provide correct and useful guidance.

Furthermore, giving Taylor an out is sort of anathema to the PRT — they absolutely do not want her off running around officially by herself, doubly so for an unruly and irate teenager who is their legal responsibility.

PS @ FirstSelector: you're still missing an omake

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Goddamnit lol

 

[RogueInquisitor]

Then how come no one in Boston has suggested this? From there conversations with Taylor and between each other in the interludes it is always get her into power testing to make her a full Ward so she will have to do what we say.

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Probably because she's using exceptionally broad "hobby time" regulations to do it, and if they tried to have a Protectorate member shadow Ghost, Taylor's going to call it stalking and harassment, while the public is likely to notice, and wonder why the Protectorate is dogging this random independent. They can't expose her as a Ward, because Ghost appears nowhere on their roster, and explaining she's actually Phase just raises too many awkward questions.

 

[Nikas_Zekeval]

From the perspective of Nebula and Roulette in that omake it probably sounds like a win win to them. If she does die to the Endbringer then they have gotten rid of a persistent thorn in their sides and if she does well against the Endbringer then they can justify bringing in more force from above to get her to join.

There is also the implication that they are willing to send someone who on paper has no combat experience or S&R training to fight one of most dangerous beings on the planet. Especially considering that the whole point of the Wards is to train the kids on how to use their powers responsibly and not die during an Endbringer battle.

So yeah them asking Taylor to go is pretty much a very thinly veiled attempt at getting her killed regardless of their actual intentions.

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No, it was more their frustration boiling over, and thinking that maybe seeing how bad the situation was would finally get Phase with the program.

"Besides, she passes through everything. Not like anything they can throw will hurt her." (I'm assuming a non-Smirugh callout)

Yeah, it was fucking stupid, there was a reason Armstrong was going to bring Weld in to figure out what punishment to dump on Roulette. And Nebula was his and Gauss's problem to clean up.

The Wards have the advantage of being pretty much the only official option for young triggers and that is where a lot of their 'she will join us eventually' mindset comes from. It's like a town with one grocery store the manager and employees can be complete jackasses but people will still go there because they don't have feasible alternative options.

It really shows the nature of the organization that once Taylor goes through power testing they will be able to get her branded and on the combat patrols, and PR stunts routine. Like are there no nonviolent or private options for Wards who don't want to do the whole superhero act? Just you know a few course on how to control your powers so you don't accidentally hurt anyone and some therapy options so they can recover from their trigger events. Why are all those things locked behind a pay wall of become a child soldier and then we will help you.

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On the first part? There is a reason I gave it the title I did.

On the second? "Once she gets a taste, she'll jump in the deep end right away!" seems to be a working assumption, going back to the Wards Lounge "Patrol" Duty. It was a bet Phase would bend to the questioning public and their adoration before uncomfortable questions were asked of the Boston PRT why this new Ward hasn't been seen on patrol, or had a proper debut, or even some pictures of her in costume yet...

But Armstrong doesn't have an Alfred to inform him, that Taylor just wants to see the PRT burn.

Technically this is supposed to be a option. The wards can be as little as oh you think you are going out patrolling? Well here is a protectorate member who will follow you around. At least it was mentioned as such iirc in Wildbow documentation for the prt quest. Which make the Ghost thing such a bad idea for her. As long as she was not doing anything at all they had no hook but just being Ghost gives them something if they can figure out how to not make her bolt first thing.

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In story, she's invoked a Catch 22. Right now Phase is a temporary place holder, without formal PR presence, branding, or oversight. None of which can go forward without power testing, don't want to assign a Protectorate Hero that might have a bad power interaction with her after all.

This state is supposed to be temporary, a few days to a couple weeks depending on how complex the power, but Taylor is stalling it right there. So she's provisionally one, but not quite officially one. Having her show up for the Wards' Tour? That is probably a loophole of "pre-debut PR exposure", the teasing of a new Ward one omake mentioned.

Though I feel this story would go better if Taylor 'fell into' heroics. Something happens while she is out on a run, and she can't bring herself to say "it's not my problem", "I don't want to get involved", "I'll just get into trouble too"... just like everyone at Winslow did when Taylor was in trouble.

Taylor's power is very useful in direct conflict, intelligence activities, and counter intelligence activities so yeah no way the other Directors will simply let her be if Armstrong went soft on her. Plus there is the matter or pride and so far Taylor has damaged the PRT's so they will make moves to ensure she becomes a full Ward and future Protectorate member just to prove a point.

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It is Armstrong's own damn fault that he has Watchdog breathing down his neck. He decided to do some non-consensual power testing of Taylor by having them try to Think at her hard. And now that he gave them a taste? He can't feed the beast without Taylor's willing participation.

 

[Praetrunco]

Which ironically is probably the exact opposite of what Danny wanted when he signed Taylor up for the Wards. He wanted his daughter to be safe but instead he signed over all his rights to keep her safe from the organization that just wants to use her.

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It's not actually ironic, because Danny was expecting an organization whose members are directly responsible for her situation and, whose bosses rather than actually do something to show they care, like actually apologize for it even happening, instead say "Maybe if you go away, your life will change. By the way, we won't even do anything to stop them bothering you further.", in addition to "We know you don't want to be a Ward, but we don't care. You're going to be one, we're going to make sure you are, and your opinions don't and will never matter, just like they always haven't.", to say nothing of the whole "I think I'm helping you by not caring about you at all, and only caring about what we want."

If he had actually wanted his daughter to be safe, he'd have actually done something like ensure that she was actually safe, as opposed to give her over to the organization who has done nothing but make doubling down seem infinitesimally minute since becoming aware of her.

To whit;

Taylor's power is very useful in direct conflict, intelligence activities, and counter intelligence activities so yeah no way the other Directors will simply let her be if Armstrong went soft on her. Plus there is the matter or pride and so far Taylor has damaged the PRT's so they will make moves to ensure she becomes a full Ward and future Protectorate member just to prove a point.

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Their point is that they've ensured said abilities will never willingly work with them, and their insistence may drive her to eventual opposition, even if not villainously. Of course, they could easily turn her into another Accord if they try and destroy her ability to you know, do anything besides the goose stepping she's declared she doesn't want to do.

There is no difference between soft and hard, here, which wouldn't really matter since they don't actually know the difference, rather empirically demonstrated both in canon, and malicious compliance fics and snippets that both preceded and followed this story. Nevermind the theoretically adjacent category that works like The Wriggling Horror or those like Copycat and Abyss Given Form where they're either outright evil or comparably insane.

Particularly given it necessitates all the Directors sans Piggot ignoring the allegations just the same as Armstrong has. The point they have to prove is that their mission statement isn't a lie, that anything they've said in the pursuit of trying to get her to do what they want was even vaguely truthful by instead acceding to the fact that she deserves agency the same as all the other kool-aid drinkers, even if it means they don't get what they want for years. Or ever.

In story, she's invoked a Catch 22. Right now Phase is a temporary place holder, without formal PR presence, branding, or oversight. None of which can go forward without power testing, don't want to assign a Protectorate Hero that might have a bad power interaction with her after all.

This state is supposed to be temporary, a few days to a couple weeks depending on how complex the power, but Taylor is stalling it right there. So she's provisionally one, but not quite officially one. Having her show up for the Wards' Tour? That is probably a loophole of "pre-debut PR exposure", the teasing of a new Ward one omake mentioned.

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As I argued with someone before, it is supposed to be an option, as stated repeatedly in things like their public mission statement, Wards brochures, and Youth Guard documentation. The reason it's perceived to be temporary is because they're idiots who never bothered to assume someone would actually choose that status and be unable to, as with those in a probational state, be forced to comply regardless of individual wont, and therefore again, never bothered to implement anything to allow permanent IDs that are not tied to an official identity so as to simply be a person with powers that is a Ward of the state, and not a Ward.

As she has thus far refused the aforementioned entirely optional decision to undergo power testing, the inadequacy of their systems are not her concern, and not an actually legitimate catch-22.

She is following a route their programs allows, or more accurately, declares itself an advocate for the possibility thereof, though they seem to not only not want it to be one, but refuse to acknowledge outlooks that promote such independence even exist outside of the irrationally insane. As illustrated by my responses above, they've forgotten that they have the duty to take care of her. Not to think the only options are every possible pressure necessary to turn her into something that wants to be an obedient child soldier drone and become Phase.

 

[FirstSelector]

The Wriggling Horror or those like Copycat and Abyss Given Form

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Thanks for the recs -- the first was disgustingly good and I need to read the third. I don't want to say too much about the rest of the post or discussion, except to say that there are good points being raised.

 

[Warer]

This story is fucking awesome. Can't wait for morel.

 

[Night_stalker]

Then how come no one in Boston has suggested this? From there conversations with Taylor and between each other in the interludes it is always get her into power testing to make her a full Ward so she will have to do what we say.

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Who exactly is gonna make that reach out?

Most of the Wards want her drinking the Flavor-Aid, and the adults are likely too busy nor inclined to stick their neck out like that.

 

[KingCrimson1081]

"Besides, she passes through everything. Not like anything they can throw will hurt her." (I'm assuming a non-Smirugh callout)

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There is probably a list some where filled with names of capes who were supposedly immune to physical damage who got killed by an Endbringer, so yeah regardless of their thoughts on the matter a murder attempt is still a murder attempt.

On the second? "Once she gets a taste, she'll jump in the deep end right away!" seems to be a working assumption, going back to the Wards Lounge "Patrol" Duty. It was a bet Phase would bend to the questioning public and their adoration before uncomfortable questions were asked of the Boston PRT why this new Ward hasn't been seen on patrol, or had a proper debut, or even some pictures of her in costume yet...

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Taylor: Compared to what your two psycho Wards pulled on me a few strangers didn't exactly measure up. But if you do want some more ideas I am sure you can access the statement I gave to the police about what they did since you are so keen to follow their playbook.

It is Armstrong's own damn fault that he has Watchdog breathing down his neck. He decided to do some non-consensual power testing of Taylor by having them try to Think at her hard. And now that he gave them a taste? He can't feed the beast without Taylor's willing participation.

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What was Armstrong's goal there even? Is there a rule for the PRT that if you get any accurate idea on how someone's power works you can just skip over the whole power testing step. It couldn't have been that he thought that Taylor was a flight risk since as a PRT Director there is an abundance of mundane means he could employ to track down Taylor if she tried to pull a runner.

If he had actually wanted his daughter to be safe, he'd have actually done something like ensure that she was actually safe, as opposed to give her over to the organization who has done nothing but make doubling down seem infinitesimally minute since becoming aware of her.

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Like what he is one man suffering from depression at that whi has probably been force fed all the fear mongering statistics by PRT agents from the moment they contacted him to inform him that his daughter had triggered. In addition to that all the research he could have done pretty much supports this and the only official option to keep his daughter safe is to sign her up for Wards since you know there aren't any other programs for new teenage parahumans.

Besides that he probably didn't even know about Emma and Sophia until after Taylor's first disaster of a Wards meeting but by that point he had already committed to keeping Taylor safe and seeing himself as a failure for letting her get hurt in the first place. A view point that Piggot was quick to exploit to cover up her own mess of a department.

Who exactly is gonna make that reach out?

Most of the Wards want her drinking the Flavor-Aid, and the adults are likely too busy nor inclined to stick their neck out like that.

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You would think that the recruiters would be obligated to mention these options to Taylor during her recruitment, but I guess that all the Kool-Aid drinkers are so deep they can't imagine someone not wanting to go all in.

Besides that I imagine someone in the Youth Guard bringing it up especially if they find out about Taylor's hobby.

 

[Blade4]

The problem with Danny is he is portrayed as either useless or a super dad if just given the chance. Thing is in canon he is just a dad. A dude who never really recovered from his wife's death and is a bit distant with his daughter but the thing is Taylor dont tell him shit. The first time he knows anything is wrong is the locker and then she clams up even harder and keeps telling him things are fine then comes the parent teacher conference where he is completely blind sided again then Taylor runs because she cant face him and she is honestly safer a villain than going to school with the trio having free reign to do what ever to her.

Danny does try but its like pulling teeth and Taylor is her own worst enemy.

 

[RogueInquisitor]

The Wriggling Horror or those like Copycat and Abyss Given Form

Click to shrink...

Links please?

 

[The Unicorn]

Danny does try but its like pulling teeth and Taylor is her own worst enemy.

Click to shrink...

To an extent yes, the problem is
1)Wildbow has everything he tries that should have worked fail by authorial fiat (moving Taylor to a different school, threatening to go to the media, the moronic agreement with the school, etc.)
2)You pretty much have to have Danny be either a useless incompetent or the worst parent around if you want Taylor to go off be a superhero or supervillain. Some edge cases with very unusual power and world building have Danny working with Taylor make sense, but in general any competent parent would stop her.

 

[Prince Charon]

To an extent yes, the problem is
1)Wildbow has everything he tries that should have worked fail by authorial fiat (moving Taylor to a different school, threatening to go to the media, the moronic agreement with the school, etc.)

Click to shrink...

That one seems to be a big factor in fanfics depicting Danny as worthless, since they ignore, forget, or never knew the 'it only failed by authorial fiat' part.

 

[Ashley9469]

That one seems to be a big factor in fanfics depicting Danny as worthless, since they ignore, forget, or never knew the 'it only failed by authorial fiat' part.

Click to shrink...

To be fair, reading every single WoG the braindead idiot puts out is worthless in general.

So much contradictory and grimderp shit....

 

[Dakkah]

To an extent yes, the problem is
1)Wildbow has everything he tries that should have worked fail by authorial fiat (moving Taylor to a different school, threatening to go to the media, the moronic agreement with the school, etc.)
2)You pretty much have to have Danny be either a useless incompetent or the worst parent around if you want Taylor to go off be a superhero or supervillain. Some edge cases with very unusual power and world building have Danny working with Taylor make sense, but in general any competent parent would stop her.

Click to shrink...

It doesn't matter what a WOG says, when it doesn't match with the work itself.

• Asking a divorce attorney for terrible advice
• Signing a retarded agreement for pennies
• Throwing a short lived temper tantrum in Blackwells office
• Folding like a cheap chair in said office, before going back to his usual routine.

IIRC That's it. So yeah, not going to win any parenting awards.

 

[KingCrimson1081]

Omake: A Lack of Introductions


For the Protectorate hero Nebula or rather Derek as he is out of costume grumbled to himself as he had to once again jog to catch up with the most difficult Ward in Boston's history.

It seemed like a fine idea in his head, just follow Phase around and catch her in the act of playing vigilante, send those pictures to her Youth Guard friend and Armstrong, and then they can finally do something about her insubordination.

Unfortunately thirty minutes after leaving base Phase had yet to do anything other than jog around Boston. At first Derek thought that she might have noticed him with what the rest of the department assumed was a sensory power so he pulled back out of what the theorized range of that power would be, not that it changed anything.

At this point he was just about to call it quits to try again another time when he turned another corner and spotted Phase hurriedly talking with a police officer. She was macking gestures with her hands when she turned her head and spotted him.

"That's him officer, that's the man who has been following me," she said while pointing directly at Derek.

Derek only had a moment to turn on his heel and start jogging the other way not wanting to deal with this when he felt something strike his back and the tell tale feeling of electricity course through him as he crumpled to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

His last thoughts before losing consciousness was wondering how he was going to explain this mess to Armstrong and Gauss.

***

"... And completely unacceptable behavior of a Ward," Nebula finished yelling out in the conference room.

He sat at one end of the table alongside Armstrong while Phase and the local Youth Guard rep sat at the other end.

"Phase why exactly did you think it was appropriate to call the police on Nebula," Armstrong asked while pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I didn't know it was Nebula," she said simply. "He was out of costume and I thought someone was chasing me, and not wanting to possibly reveal my abilities to someone with potentially criminal intentions I followed the instructions laid out in the Wards handbook and sought a law enforcement officer for aid."

"But before I did that I attempted to lose him or to see if he was actually following me, however he continued to follow me for over thirty minutes of my pre-scheduled run. At which point I thought it prudent to seek aid from the local police department upon which Nebula attempted to flee and was detained," Phase continued as Nebula felt a cold sweat build.

"I see, Nebula your response," Armstrong asked.

"She is lying sir," was all he could say. "She knew it was me and deliberately acted in such a way as to harm the reputation of the PRT and Protectorate."

"That is a serious accusation Nebula what your justifications for accusing Phase on such a manner," the Youth Guard rep asked from across the table a slight smile forming on his lips.

"I have interacted with Phase before out of costume along with Gauss and Bastion not long after her arrival in Boston," he said while feeling a bit of reassurance settle over him, oh Phase has stepped in it this time no way will Armstrong let this slide.

"I do not recall such an event, and even if I did at no point was I briefed on the identities of the aforementioned Protectorate members. If I had been I would have been required to fill out the necessary NDA forms as stated in both Wards and Protectorate handbooks. Which I have done regarding the identities of the other Wards after having such files reviewed by the local Youth Guard as such records of which identities I know and don't know within the organization should be within my file, but don't worry I can wait while you retrieve it."

And with that said Derek felt what hope had returned to him shrivel up and die once more.

"While you do that I find that it would be prudent to ask Nebula as to why he had been following an underage girl through Boston at night," Jim said with a look in his eye like he was a hungry wolf who had just spotted a wounded deer.

Derek gulped as he once more broke into a cold sweat, "Well, you see, ummm..."

---

A.N: Just a short little omake about the Protectorate once again fucking up.

Also FirstSelector so it gets thread marked.

 

[The Unicorn]

It doesn't matter what a WOG says, when it doesn't match with the work itself.

Click to shrink...

Agreed. I'm only going by what we actually see in canon.

Half the incidents you mention did not happen in Worm and you're ignoring that the ones which did happen could not have happened if anyone involved behaved in a realistic fashion For example - I really can't see Blackwell risking jail time to protect Emma.

You are also ignoring other incidents, such as Danny working to get Taylor transferred to another school (something everyone in the BB school district would have been DESPERATE to get his approval for) and he magically failed.

It's not "Danny was a bad parent" it's "the universe is actively conspiring against Taylor, with everyone willing to risk jail time just for a chance to screw over Taylor"

 

[Ashley9469]

Looking out over the Boston Harbor as the black sky gave way to the pinks and reds of morning, Taylor Hebert cradled her cup of hot tea in hand as she watched the great mass of metal serenely float on the water as if it didn't have a care in the world.

Taking a slow sip to distract herself from the emptiness in her heart as memories of the bay made their unwelcome presence known, Taylor focused on the gritty bland taste of cheap peppermint tea instead of old feelings as she tried to figure out where to go from here.

Having walked away from the Boston PRT, and with it her last home, Taylor had walked for hours after she had gotten up around 4 in the morning from her nightmare about the BB Wards and made the decision to leave.

Armed with a backpack of her stuff, and what she pulled off the PRT credit card they gave her, Taylor's meandering path led her to the Harbor until an absolutely MASSIVE amount of pings had descended on her forcing her to either stop to phase through them, or give herself up.

Phasing through a wall into an old building was the better of the two.

Still, while watching Gauss run around the docks looking for her was funny, it didn't exactly help her desire to leave Boston.

FirstSelector

 

[Blade4]

Only problem is if Taylor did decide to leave I think she would have a actual plan because just trying to walk out is not going to end well. At the very least she would have some way to get out of town.