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Safe For Work Worm Ideas thread

Reader mode
Taylor loses a bet with Alec before the Bank Job, and has to call herself 'Callipygian.' This results in Amy paying more attention to her, and the situation at the bank turns comedic instead of edgy. (Alec is very lucky Taylor didn't remember what the word meant until Amy felt her up and said she was well-named.)
 
A crossover between Worm and Air Gear in which Taylor is a Tinker/Thinker Combo that specializes in the construction and utilization of Air Gear (Regalia especially), honestly I'm picturing Taylor running a courier service in the bay. She pretty much keeps her head down and does her thing, it is not until she's forced into a corner that she deploys one of her more combat-oriented regalia and it is then that she appears fully on everyone's radar but to Taylor, it is business as usual in the Bay.
 
Weird thought: Madison finds out about Taylor's bug-control powers, and after the blue-screen-like panic is over, decides that the fact that Taylor didn't kill them all, or even give them crabs, means that she's a Pure Innocent Who Must Be Protected From This Harsh World (partly because if Taylor ever stops that, Madison is sure that she's on the chopping block). Shenanigans ensue, as Madison has no powers, and doesn't dare tell anyone about Taylor's powers, and her only real advantage over Sophia and Emma is being less crazy than they are, and marginally less on Taylor's bad side.
 
At some point, Leet manages to build a device that plays 'appropriate' theme music for whomever they're facing. Even though it doesn't often match whatever game they're doing, Leet decides to keep using it for however long it lasts, because it gives them the occasional useful clue about how big a threat someone is, and sometimes what they can do.

When Uber and Leet first face the new bug controller (possibly the canon fight where they were helping Bakuda), they manage to get Taylor's immediate attention while pissing her off... and the music player starts playing boss music, with lyrics. The lyrics are in Latin.


Clockblocker (watching this on his tablet): Holy shit! Are we only still alive because she let us go?!
 
Prince Charon said:
When Uber and Leet first face the new bug controller (possibly the canon fight where they were helping Bakuda), they manage to get Taylor's immediate attention while pissing her off... and the music player starts playing boss music, with lyrics. The lyrics are in Latin.
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Taylor's Theme Music. (No Latin chorus; this must be the karaoke version.)

(In case video is removed: Go DA DA by Yoko Kanno, from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. AKA, 'the only song to ever make kazoos sound ominous.)
 
In some stories (blanking on examples, so take it with a grain of salt), the Fair Folk seem to be able to manipulate and trade in abstract concepts to a degree, though perhaps not casually, and often with a need for some metaphorical or narrative justification. Emma basically threw away her friendship with Taylor, so it's narratively acceptable for one of the Fae to pick it up. Which one is another matter. Might be an OC, might be a crossover character (this one could be amusing), or you start from a weird parallel of canon where the Undersiders are Fae, and Lisa is the one to pick up the friendship (just in a more literal/magical way than in canon).
 
Rescue​

As I came up on the intersection, I glanced down the corridor off which the prison block hung. There was a single guard - a humanoid heavy cruiser. That was good; the animalistic monster-ships were too stupid to fool. I turned down the corridor towards her.

She watched me as I walked down the hall. It wasn't caution - a mere Wa-class transport was obviously no threat - but I was probably the most interesting thing to pass by in an hour. A couple steps short of her, I suddenly looked over her shoulder, then cringed and bowed as if to a higher-rank Abyssal. She turned, saw nothing, turned back to me - and met my stolen pistol pointing at her eye.

I fired. The 5" shell, fired at point-blank range, penetrated her bridge windows easily. She toppled backwards. She wasn't dead, though; even killing the entire command crew in an instant isn't enough to put a warship out of action. Already I could see one of her turrets starting to turn towards me under local control. I leaned over her, aimed at her heart, and fired again. The shell didn't penetrate her belt, but, hitting almost perfectly perpendicular, it dug in and detonated. My third shot, fired directly into the resulting shell-crater, did penetrate. The next 4 shots, all fired into the same entry wound at slightly different angles, wrecked her machinery spaces.

I could see the moment her last boiler failed and she died, because, to my ship-sight, the crew scrambling to action stations on her deck all keeled over. (As a girl, I had two Mk 1 eyeballs. As a ship, I had a 360° awareness that combined multiple bridge lookouts plus my radar. Getting access to both at once had been a pain, but I'd discovered that if I blinded myself in one eye, I could force my brain to 'compensate' with my bridge view. It wasn't perfect - as a girl, I lost depth perception, while as a ship, sympathetic damage meant my lookouts' binoculars spontaneously shattered - but it was the best compromise I'd come up with so far.)

If we'd been on the water, she'd have begun sinking. None of my shots had been below the waterline nor breached her hull-bottom, but Sunken Ships Are Dead Ships - and vice-versa. Instead, she just stopped twitching, and I dragged her through to doorway into the prison. No overpenetrations meant no exit wounds, fortunately, so I wasn't leaving a blood trail.

The two shipgirls inside were staring at me with shock from their positions chained to the wall. "I'm here to rescue you and I want to defect," I said as I searched the guard for the keys, but the look of pained incomprehension suggested they couldn't understand me.

This theory was reinforced when the one on the left - Caucasian, blonde, glasses - said something to the one on the right (grey-haired, Asian) in what sounded like English, but which I couldn't understand a word of. It was an odd effect, something like the pseudo-languages some video games use, and not unpleasant, outside of the surge of irrational, implacable hatred it produced in me (which I pushed away, the same as I had the similar effect seeing them caused). The other replied in some Asiatic language; I didn't recognize it either, but I only knew a handful of words in Japanese and Chinese anyway.

I considered the problem as I unlocked their chains. By some sort of symbolic magic, they were capable of restraining hundreds of thousands of horsepower; if they hadn't been bolted to the wall, I'd have taken some of them. Then I pulled out the other three guns I had stolen - another single-barrel like I was using, and two double-barrel weapons - and passed them over to the Asian. She kept both doubles and passed the single to the blonde, who glared at the one still in my hand, which at least told me whose main battery I was going to continue borrowing part of. Then I had an idea.

Clap-clap-clap, clap clap clap, clap-clap-clap. Clap-clap-clap, clap clap clap, clap-clap-clap.

By the end of the second repetition, I could see the flash of understanding as the blonde recognized 'SOS'. A quick test confirmed the rest of Morse code worked, and another that semaphore - faster and quieter at these ranges - was also valid.

'AM DEFECTING. PLAN RESCUE YOU ESCAPE TO HUMAN PORT. HOW BUNKERS?' I carefully signed with my arms.

She winced. 'EMPTY.'

Unfortunate, but not unexpected. I gestured at the body of the heavy cruiser. 'BUNKER UP FROM WRECK.'

Both girls gave me a look of shocked disgust that needed no translation.

'DO OR WE DIE SOLDIERS.'

They did. Watching the process, I could understand their reluctance. To my ship-sight, they came alongside the wrecked ship, where a detachment of my crew, operating the cruiser's UNREP equipment off an auxiliary generator, threw them hoses and started pumping oil. (While they were there, I ordered my crew to search the conning tower and hand over any codebooks that had survived. Maybe that would solve our communication issues.)

As girls, it was... messier.

While I waited for them to finish - lucky for us it seemed like the girl-side won out and the process only took a few minutes each - I considered where to go from here. This close up, I could see their radio masts were wrecked, and a quick exchange confirmed they had no long-range coms left. That was no good; our chances of getting away went down massively if they couldn't call their allies to meet us halfway. We'd have to break into the repair baths - I shuddered at the thought of them - to get those fixed before we could leave. That in turn meant we'd need to hide the cruiser's body somewhere; hopefully when her relief arrived she'd assume the prisoners had simply been moved and not raise the alarm immediately-

My thoughts were interrupted by the blonde. She gestured to herself. 'USS HEYWOOD L EDWARDS.' To her companion. 'HAMAKAZE.'. To me. 'NAME?'

I had to think for a moment. My Abyssal designation I discarded immediately, nothing but an impersonal hull number. From before, I had four different names I might give... but only one of them fit this new body. 'CALL ME SKITTER.'

So, yeah. Taylor Hebert somehow incarnates as an Abyssal transport. She finds a couple captured shipgirls and decides to break them out and defect.

This was loosely inspired by Forgotten, Forsaken, which also features Taylor as an Abyssal transport. It ended up going in a very different direction; this is loosely based on the sort of direction I initially expected it to go.

I have no plans for taking this further; if anyone wants to, just drop me a line so I can see what you do with it.

Also, does anyone have any ideas for a better title - one that doesn't give away the identity of the viewpoint character too early in non-Worm threads?

Assorted notes:
  • I'm assuming the big limb-confining sphere thing is a Wa-class's rigging, and they can take it off when on land.
  • Yes, Taylor blinds herself in one eye in order to better integrate her ship and girl senses. It's what lets her pull off tricks like aiming at the cruiser as a girl while also watching the effects of her shots on the ship. That's why she hates the thought of repair baths; every time she uses one, the eye heals and she has to do it again.
  • She calls herself Skitter because her Ayssal body doesn't fit the name 'Weaver', and she doesn't want to think of herself as Khepri. If she manages to actually make any close friends, they'll be invited to call her 'Taylor'.
  • Assuming she makes it to human-controlled lands, I envision her getting a conversion to a pocket carrier (maybe seaplane carrier) in order to continue contributing to the war. Her planes take the form of bees and her launcher is a skep beehive. Her air group is tiny but their coordination is uncanny.
  • If her conversion makes her less Abyssal-looking, she may rename to 'Weaver'.

List of place I've crossposted this:
 
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I had an idea for a Kamen Rider variant powerset for Taylor, but those things tend to be way too overpowered for the local reality. If I could, I would make it so she only become stronger the more powerful her opponents are, an escalation-based Rider if you will and yes, the capitalized K and R are required when saying Kamen Rider. I'll try to write at least one chapter myself. You guys are free to use the idea if you want.
 
Hullo and welcome to my inaugural QQ post. After lurking various CrW forums for about four years I bit the lure and signed up to peek behind the curtain thanks to NAWLex's fic Best Pal Em-prah and the Inspired Ogryn. Luv those bone'eads me.
I don't recall exactly how I stumbled into the world of web-fiction, let alone fan works, but I do remember reading Worm first before the mountains of fanfiction, which may be something of a rarity nowadays. I did try to get through Ward and Wildbow's other stuff, but the grimdark sufferwank was just too tedious.
Naturally, after spending so much time reading, I thought I'd hit on some fairly interesting permutations myself but never really got past the introductory paragraphs and Cool Ideas stage.
So, for those interested; wouldn't it be cool if...

Key concepts: tech "uplift", base/organisation building, post-apocalypse, survival, character growth.
Inspiration: Overwatch by QuickDeath007.

Wallace Breen is transferred to his host body but his teleport destination is interrupted through the actions of Gordon Freeman and he arrives on Earth Bet post-Gold Morning. Vulnerable and alone in a dead world, he must come to terms with his new circumstances and make safety for himself. Will he overcome his past and prejudices as Administrator first of Black Mesa and latterly of Earth? Whatever happens, he has one thing to rely on- knowledge of the technology of the Universal Union.
Earth Bet survivors begin to rally around him, believing him to be an enigmatic and powerful broken trigger or case 63 tinker.

Notes: I really enjoyed the structure of Overwatch but thought it could be slower paced and expanded upon. An area to explore could be how Combine technology is perceived by Betans- reproducible future-tech, portal tech, the sinister transhumanism of the UU, "mastering" his troops and so on.

Key concepts: daily life, non-tinker-tech, alien invasion, science, morality.
Inspiration: A little of Dark Flow by AnotherTakenUsername.

Cauldron aren't the only ones trying to find a solution.
In 1982, incontrovertible evidence of the unknown was found in the form of a golden man floating above the Atlantic Ocean. The United States government begins a new clandestine offensive technology development project in a former nuclear weapons production site in New Mexico. The Black Mesa Research Facility pushes at the edges of known science and investigates the ramifications of superpowers, but they know they are on a time limit- the predictions for societal collapse and the end of the world as we know it encourage ever more concerning experiments and ever-dropping standards of safety and sensibilities- but hope remains that there being an end will justify the means.
Normal operation of the facility is disrupted when the Simurgh appears over Lausanne in 2002, her subsequent actions setting off a chain of events culminating in the Resonance Cascade and the alien invasion of Earth Bet. While Zion still lives, portal technology does not function and the Betans cannot strike back against the Nihilanth.
The story follows several different perspectives and elaborates on the equipment and operations of the PRT and other unpowered militarised groups. The tone of scenes featuring parahuman combat should be appropriately frightening.

Notes: I've always thought a full look at Worm through the unpowered perspective would be really cool to see, along with the other ideas here just being generally cool. Alas, "wouldn't it be cool if..." is not usually a viable writing technique.

Key concepts: Amoral lead, Chinese Union Imperial, worldbuilding, court politics, kingdom building, war & military.
Inspiration: A Forger asked for CF fics with a different perspective and "differently moral" viewpoints. Also, setting a CF story in Worm is also practically a rite of passage for the Forger demographic at this point.

"On the day of my ascension as the Son of Heaven, the gods themselves bestowed their blessing, giving me the tools to lead the Union to greatness. With this power, I will save China, and the world. whether they want saving, or not."
The Emperor, newly installed puppet figurehead of the CUI, attains the power of the Celestial Forge. He must navigate the Imperial Court and junta and conceal his power, both parahuman and political, until able to stage a coup and assume total control of China- and from there, the world.

Notes: The CUI is very barebones in canon and fanon, so I'd like to see it expanded on. The closest style I can think of might be Redcoat Officer's fic following the Red Gauntlet. It's heretical, but I like the idea of CF fics while I don't like the inevitable bloat about tech, design and planning which usually ends up as being a long way of explaining how the main character has an instant win button, so I'd take a slower pace with this and have the focus be on how the technology of the forge could be expanded to benefit an empire instead of a single person and their team, and how it changes life for others.
 
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I have to ask this, why has nobody done a fic where Rachel Lindt wears a T-shirt in her cape persona that says
"I'm not a bitch.
I'm THE Bitch
and that's Miss Bitch to you."

Those shirts used to be popular at the end of the '90s, people should still remember them in 2011. It just seems too fitting for Rachel, especially given how the PRT wants to call her Hellhound whether she likes that name or not.
Feel free to steal the idea, it's not like I came up with the shirts
 
SlickRCBD said:
I have to ask this, why has nobody done a fic where Rachel Lindt wears a T-shirt in her cape persona that says
"I'm not a bitch.
I'm THE Bitch
and that's Miss Bitch to you."

Those shirts used to be popular at the end of the '90s, people should still remember them in 2011. It just seems too fitting for Rachel, especially given how the PRT wants to call her Hellhound whether she likes that name or not.
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That is a great idea.

Except she can't read.

So she's unlikely to wear something with words on it until she trusts someone enough to read it to her, or she learns to read herself.
 
I hope it's alright to put this in both Ideas Threads - the snippet is SFW, but NSFW has much higher traffic.

----==-- + --==----​

Taylor was getting frantic - she'd snuck away from the daily activities to call Emma from the camp's phone booth when there wouldn't be a line of other kids wanting to use it, but there had been some klind of commotion on the other end of the line before being suddenly cut off, just like-- like mom. She'd tried redialing a dozen times, until she ran out of change, but only got voice mail. She couldn't lose Ems too! Her most precious friend, practically her only friend, the closest person in her life! If only she could drive, or at least hop on a bus or a train or something to go and check on her!

She staggered against the pay phone's little weather shroud, absently glad to have avoided falling sown since the old full booth had been removed a couple years ago, while something else captured her immediate attention, even diverting the panic attack that had her almost blacking out, as something awakened and she realized something about herself she'd never known. Too shocked to produce anything more than a flat statement that could be mistaken for boredom if anyone else had been there to hear, she stated, "... I like trains."

----==-- + --==----​

Yes, that whole build up was just for a meme alt power alt trigger, and one in which Taylor thinks about how it would have been better if she was in a more enclosed space, because irony. How Taylor intends to go about being a Hero (the capital letter is important!) with the power to summon the projection of various sorts of trains is left as an exercise for people with a muse who isn't a one-pump chump.
 
Czlyydwr Llrngwl said:
I hope it's alright to put

She staggered against the pay phone's little weather shroud, absently glad to have avoided falling sown since the old full booth had been removed a couple years ago, while something else captured her immediate attention, even diverting the panic attack that had her almost blacking out, as something awakened and she realized something about herself she'd never known. Too shocked to produce anything more than a flat statement that could be mistaken for boredom if anyone else had been there to hear, she stated, "... I like trains."

----==-- + --==----​

Yes, that whole build up was just for a meme alt power alt trigger, and one in which Taylor thinks about how it would have been better if she was in a more enclosed space, because irony. How Taylor intends to go about being a Hero (the capital letter is important!) with the power to summon the projection of various sorts of trains is left as an exercise for people with a muse who isn't a one-pump chump.
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Well, it could be more amusing if it happens in The Locker, while Emma, Madison, and Sophia are still outside it laughing at her and promptly get hit by said train projection. She then passes out.
Taylor is still in the locker unconscious when the PRT shows up, in need of hospitalization.
 
SlickRCBD said:
Well, it could be more amusing if it happens in The Locker, while Emma, Madison, and Sophia are still outside it laughing at her and promptly get hit by said train projection. She then passes out.
Taylor is still in the locker unconscious when the PRT shows up, in need of hospitalization.
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I think I had some vague idea of her as mover/master riding her projection to show up while SS was still just watching in the ABB incident, though even for a really fast trip from not very far away that would really need to have the bit about redialling until she ran out of change cut. Ultimately I decided to leave it as above because I was rushing to get the single scenelt kicked into shape and posted before needing to leave for an appointment, since I knew damn well it would be completely blown out of my head by the time I got back. Completely accurately too, I'd forgotten even posting it until it came up again in my Alerts.
 
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