Brockton's Celestial Forge (Worm/Jumpchain)

"It wasn't just the team." Taylor said. "Joe looked different." She didn't want to outright say 'hotter', but that was basically what happened.

"Pizza." Lisa repeated. "Right, cause that's what you offer the most beautiful person in the world."

A slight smile crossed Rachel's face as she leaned back and nodded. "Fleet…"

Calm down, ladies. And pizza is excellent to discuss business :

"Right. So, what exactly are we supposed to do when the most powerful tinker on the planet shows up on our doorstep?" Brian spoke slowly and in a strained voice as he asked the question.

"Well…" I drew out the word, then gestured to the box on the coffee table. "You could offer him a slice of pizza?"

"What about the rest of the Celestial Forge?" Alec asked. "And where the hell did that name come from? It sounds like something badly translated from a kung fu movie."

Shot fired ! :rofl2:
 
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Rachel messed up with the solo job, but she has consistently been the one with the most common sense, just cutting the Gordian knot and stating the simple and obvious solution or pointing out the obvious or at least reasonable conclusion.

Which, considering her other team mates, aren't that suprising in hindsight lol
 
"Joe… he thinks he can deal with the Butcher." Lisa explained. "Not just in a fight. He thinks he can handle the possession if it happens."

"Well, let's hope he's right." Alec said.

"And that it doesn't come to that." Responded Brian. Taylor nodded in agreement.

Taylor no. Don't take that bullet.

Don't worry, the E88 called dibs on the Butcher.

You know what I would be worrying about in this situation? That it's not that the team came from nowhere. It's that Lethe is a Stranger of the Nth degree and whatever the fuck her power is, it let her wipe all traces of most of the membership of Celestial Forge. Possibly with a side order of worrying if Apeiron is really new.

What Lethe demonstrated until now could be very well be a teleport ability. Granted, being named "the river of forgetfulness" does heavily point toward stranger, but not everyone know their Greek mythology.

And there were traces of the other team member, it's just that most people don't know what to look for so they missed the signs. For example, Colin theorized Apeiron was working with another tinker quite a few chapters back.

Taylor is really going to be screwed when Joe makes good on his internal resolution to go after Coil. Everything sketchy she has done so far is justified in her mind by bringing in TTs mysterious boss, and if Joe resolves Coil as an afterthought where does that leave her? Everything she did is completely pointless.

Taylor plan have always been really, really stupid, as mentioned by Armsmaster at the start of Worm. That being said, she could internally justify it as "I did the infiltration groundwork to take down Coil".

Even if all she did was to make Joe life a lot harder (and reinforce Coil).
 
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Taylor getting New Boss'ed and not even needing Joe's tech would be pretty satisfying.

And yeah, the big jobs Coil is going to want... heh. Fucking Coil. He is in for some bad days because his little precog shield is going to do jack and shit.

Just because Dinah can't read the Forge anymore thanks to all those anti-simurgh countermeasures so he thinks he is perfectly safe.

Aaaah, the surprised pikachu face Thomas is going to have will be deeply enjoyable.

And, oh yes... Taylor's attraction to Joe increasing. Lisa's robosexuality revealed. Rachel finding Fleet super attractive. Yesssssss.

Things progress exceedingly well.

And soon... soon Leviathan is going to change everything.

With luck, Coil will be dead and Dinah back home after the best medical care available before that happens. With Joe working with Uppercrust and the Dragonslayers defeated before it comes to say Hi.

But this is Leviathan. He is going to show up at the worst possible time.
 
I would argue that Taylor, having a classical literature interested mother, would know what Lethe means; I'm not sure that she'd jump to "she wiped everyone's memories of the Celestial Forge" because that wouldn't make sense of Joe - or rather, if it did, the Joe she had come to know would be a lie.

Of course, having said that, and knowing this is taking place in Worm, it's a 50/50 chance that she becomes convinced that Joe was just trying to get close to her because of her super-duper important mission and has to take down Joe Before It's Too Late, and his nefarious plans reach fruition or something. Probably teaming up with Piggot and her sidekick, Thomas Calvert. Maybe I'm just a bit tired of the Worm setting, where it's all downhill all the time, everyone punches everyone else's berserk button and then act like victims when people start punching back.

Great chapter though!
 
I don't understand why Taylor isn't planning to contact him in private for an order of spygear
she thinks of him as the awkward guy she roped into the madness
I thought it was either this or Taylor thinking "well, if Joe's constantly storing the data from the medical sensors in the watch, he's also be storing the data from the other sensors" which makes sense. If this were vanilla Worm it'd almost certainly be the former but I think there's decent odds (30~40%) that it's the watches.
Don't worry, the E88 Kaiser called dibs on the Butcher Idiot Ball.
Fixed it for you /j
 
"We never played gang politics or traded on reputation before. Where the hell is any of this headed? It's not like we can go back to hitting jewelry stores, and after Bitch's stunt I'm pretty sure most people without powers are going to run at the sight of us." He explained. "And the two of you wouldn't have been stressing over this meeting if you didn't have something in the works. Well, let's have it. What did you have planned, and is any of it still on the table after that shit show?"
It's hilarious when Alec is the voice of reason. I love it!

I loved it when he called out Tats and Grue on their plan to play the situation. Hopefully everyone on them can sit down to talk. Not likely they would but hey, hoping for the best.

I'm waiting for Joe to joke about how he's really good at making friends :D

And possibly for Lisa to be there to catch all the implications and flip out. Again. More than usual, I mean :lol:
Apeiron: Master 15 - Has loving friends.


Taylor is so delusional that it's insane, does she actually think that Lisa has no idea of her plans since day one or that after she is done with her mission she can go back and everything will just fall in place or what. She knows that she is one of the deadliest villain in the bay right? And the boss can't let her leave that easily, cause even if she exposes his cape identity the heroes can't do anything about it with the city on the edge of total anarchy. But I want to see how it all goes down, she has to explain herself to the heroes, so would she talk about how everything started with arms master and how he indirectly made joe a rogue/villain , cause that conversation will be the straw that breaks the camel's back for his career and I can actually see the PRT accepting her if she can get Apeiron on board also but she would be transferred to another city where Aegislash is not as monumental in the mind of the civilian population
Let's give Apeiron a lot of the blame here. He's been repeatedly showing her that she's important, and that what she's doing is important. And when the most powerful man in the world who knows far more than he should indicates that what you're doing is important and doesn't imply that it's stupid, you believe it. And, weirdly, it is important. Taking down Coil was a major step on the path to becoming Khepri. Once she finds out about Dinah, she commits herself to bringing down Coil no matter the cost, and steps up her "ends justify the means" philosophy. That's potentially still on track, since it feels like the meeting with Coil is in the cards.
Joe has repetitively said that whatever Taylor was thinking was wrong at their little chat. She had two choices from that chat. Either admit she messed up bad or Joe is right when he said she is needed for this undercover thing. It's not a two way misunderstanding. Joe knows Taylor doesn't think of the same situation but couldn't get through her thick skull.

Others have explained it much better and in better detail about it too.

From chapter 34.
"I… think I know what it's talking about."

To say I was stunned would be the understatement of the century. I could only stare blankly at the girl as she looked at me with complete confidence in her statement.

"Taylor," I tried. "I'm pretty sure you don't." That was about the most polite way I could say it. Whatever she was thinking it was almost entirely 100% certainly not the problem my power had warned me about.

Instead she just shook her head. "No, there's something. I kind of suspected it earlier, but it makes sense now. I'm pretty sure it's what your power was reading."

"Taylor," I tried to keep my voice level. "I'm really, really sure that whatever you are thinking about, this isn't it. I can't exactly explain the scale of this, not without getting really deep into how my power works, but I can pretty much assure you it's bigger than whatever you are thinking of."

I watched in horror as the girl shook her head in complete confidence. "Look, I can't talk about it. If it's as important as you say then I need to keep the information secure."

"No, you don't." I was practically shouting. "Taylor, if this is anything like what I think it is you need to tell me. And once again, I don't think we're talking about the same thing."

"I really can't tell you." She assured me in an infuriatingly calm tone. "And how can you be so sure this isn't it?"

Because you aren't screaming and weeping on the floor? Because the shear existential dread at the scope of the future of all existence resting on your actions hasn't crushed your spirit and mind? Because there is no way I can conceive of whatever you are dealing with having the fate of the cosmos in the balance?

"Because I'm pretty sure." Was the best I could manage.

She just smiled softly while I swore I could feel an ulcer form in my stomach, despite the fact that my entire gastrointestinal system was reinforced with magical adamantium mithril. "So am I. You can trust me."
 
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It's hilarious when Alec is the voice of reason. I love it!

I loved it when he called out Tats and Grue on their plan to play the situation. Hopefully everyone on them can sit down to talk. Not likely they would but hey, hoping for the best.

It is always amazing when Alec, the guy who fled the sex cult and internationally feared sex slaver, turns out to be the responsible one of the young villain group.

I think its just that Tats and Grue are so wrapped up in their own bullshit that Alec can cut through it.

Brian is written like a stereotypical gang thug obsessed with reputation, street cred, and prestige. Which is annoying on Wildbow's part. Its like Aisha's fate wasn't really the reason he did it. He just wanted to be a badass gansta'.(And I'm talking Canon Brian, not what Lord is writing him as. Which is basically canon Brian. IE, a fucking idiot who should have joined the Wards rather than go thug life.)

Lisa is so trapped in her own head and her own fears with the literal gun to her head from Coil that she schemes more then she should instead of reaching out for help. But then, she is currently the only one aware that they all have guns to their heads and Coil is prepared to kill them all or worse when they stop being useful. She lives in constant fear like any kidnapping victim does.

Alec just shrugs, tells them they're being idiots, and just helps figure out problems because he doesn't give a shit. Though Joe curing his sociopathy is making him act more and more human these days.

Alec is the one you can actually trust to be reasonable.

He must never know this.
 
Sure just invite aperon over for pizza again. What is the worst that can happen? He refuses?


.... well no it would be if he brings the pizza and they get a taste. Their taste buds would never forgive them. Showing them heaven and then dragging them back into the hell that is fast food.
 
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Joe: "Uhuh... into robots, you say."

Robotnik: "But of course! Inferior organics can't compare to the efficiency and reliability of cybernetic enhancement."

Armsmaster: "I would like to engage in further correspondence."

Ferrus Manus: "Contrary to popular belief, Flesh is not Weak."

Joe: "You have a layer of Necrodermis completely enclosing two of your limbs."

Robotnik: "And your ludicrous name is 'Iron Hands'!"

Armsmaster: "I think it is a succinct nom de guerre, actually."

Ferrus: "No, that is my actual name."

Armsmaster, glancing at his halberd: "It would be hypocritical of me to point out how on the nose that is."

Ferrus: "My brothers are hardly better in this regard."

I would read this crossover. This is kind of the insanity multiverse and Earth-Bet clearly needs. Add few more scientist nutjobs (like Dr. Doom) and we're golden.
 
This is an example of why I don't like Taylor as a character (besides the fact that she is way overused in the fandom with all of her alt-power fics), she thinks she knows better than everyone else and is not willing to comprise. The title "Queen of Escalation" is not a positive one.
 
Which is basically canon Brian. IE, a fucking idiot who should have joined the Wards rather than go thug life.
The Wards don't actually help him. If he joined the Wards two years ago, he'd still be living with his borderline abusive dad, he'd be attending school full time and he'd be earning approximately fuck all, if that - If you do the maths on the pay docking that happens to the Wards in canon, any of the first year Wards lose months and months of their salary. Even the ones who have been there for the full year and doubled their salary lose a couple of hundred hours worth of pay. And that's fine if you're a rich kid spending your income on pizza, but Brian wants to support himself. He can't do that if his boss can just say "hey, I'm docking you 400 hours pay, but at least you've still got a $50,000 college fund". The Wards offer Brian precisely nothing that he needs, or even wants. And that's leaving aside all the racial issues that come with joining law enforcement as a black man. Cops are often perceived to be racist. What're they seen as in a city with a sizeable Nazi infestation?

Right now, if Aisha ran away, he has a place he can put her up. He can bail her out, both literally and figuratively. He has freedom, and control of his environment (and as a Shaker, that's important to him). Being a supervillain is absolutely the best choice for Brian to make, because the Wards program is treated more like a hobby that pays for your college than an actual way to live. If you're under eighteen and need money, there isn't a legitimate, reliable way to get it with your superpowers. Browbeat would have been better off being a burger flipper. He'd actually have gotten paid that way, rather than having his pay docked all the way until he died, and a college fund that he didn't live long enough to claim.

Now, joining the Protectorate would help Brian, since they actually earn decent money and don't have all of the downsides that the Wards offer him. But by the time that's an option, the bridge is already burned.
Joe has repetitively said that whatever Taylor was thinking was wrong at their little chat. She had two choices from that chat. Either admit she messed up bad or Joe is right when he said she is needed for this undercover thing. It's not a two way misunderstanding. Joe knows Taylor doesn't think of the same situation but couldn't get through her thick skull.

Others have explained it much better and in better detail about it too.

From chapter 34.
The problem is that this is pretty at odds with how he treats her in general, where he just backs her unconditionally. It sort of feels too little, too late.

But also, he's actually wrong on this. What Taylor's doing is the first step of her defeating Scion. It's just not obvious to anyone involved yet. But without joining the Undersiders, finding out about Coil, and then committing to rescue Dinah, she never becomes someone who could be Khepri. That self-destructive, self-sacrificing choice to ignore everyone telling her that what she's doing is stupid, and that someone else should do it is basically the essence of Khepri.

Taylor moments before saving the world said:
"Tattletale would stop me," I said. "She'd…"

See it as something self-destructive, suicidal.
Without her guilt towards Dinah, there's not a chance that she'd ask Bonesaw to operate on her just because of a note that a teen girl left for her two years ago.
 
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Lisa is so trapped in her own head and her own fears with the literal gun to her head from Coil that she schemes more then she should instead of reaching out for help. But then, she is currently the only one aware that they all have guns to their heads and Coil is prepared to kill them all or worse when they stop being useful. She lives in constant fear like any kidnapping victim does.

It get funnier the longer you think about it. Not only Coil don't want to betray them, but he can't betray them.

Obviously, Coil don't want to pull the trigger. The Undies are his access to Apeiron, and Apeiron is his access to the Travellers. If Coil betray the Undersiders, he lose every single parahuman team he can manipulate. And for what ? He have nothing to gain and everything to lose.

(Even in canon, Coil was reluctant at betraying the Undersiders. He only did so because Skitter wanted him to release Dinah, and he consider his pet to be more important to his plans that the bug controller. And even then, his initial plan was to only kill-and-replace Skitter (with a tinkertech solution to emulate her swarm).)

But let's assume Coil grab the idiot ball. What can he even try ?
  • Physical threat ? The Undersiders have Apeiron grade forcefield, and an attack would immediately warn Apeiron.
  • Threatening their family ? Bitch have no family, Tattletale is not in speaking term with them, Regent family is Heartbreaker, attacking Grue little sister would go hilariously bad, and finally Grue and Khepri fathers are civilians in Brockton Bay, so attacking them would break the summit truce.
  • Political threat ? Like releasing the E88 secret identity and pretend it's Tattletale fault (like in canon) ? A simple message from Apeiron would disarm that: "my thinker power confirmed it was a false flag from Coil".
Tattletale have never been safer.

The Wards don't actually help him. If he joined the Wards two years ago, he'd still be living with his borderline abusive dad, he'd be attending school full time and he'd be earning approximately fuck all, if that - If you do the maths on the pay docking that happens to the Wards in canon, I'm pretty sure that any of the first year Wards lose months and months of their salary.

You make a deal when joining the Wards for your sister custody (and your own place to live for both of you), not for money. Why pay a lawyer when you can throw the political power of the Protectorate at the problem ?

Then if they don't honour the deal (or refuse to accept the deal in the first place), you flee the wards, kidnap your sister, and live the thug life. But at least try the straight path first.
 
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Taylor is so delusional that it's insane, does she actually think that Lisa has no idea of her plans since day one or that after she is done with her mission she can go back and everything will just fall in place or what. She knows that she is one of the deadliest villain in the bay right? And the boss can't let her leave that easily, cause even if she exposes his cape identity the heroes can't do anything about it with the city on the edge of total anarchy. But I want to see how it all goes down, she has to explain herself to the heroes, so would she talk about how everything started with arms master and how he indirectly made joe a rogue/villain , cause that conversation will be the straw that breaks the camel's back for his career and I can actually see the PRT accepting her if she can get Apeiron on board also but she would be transferred to another city where Aegislash is not as monumental in the mind of the civilian population

That would doom Armsmaster because if he hadn't lied about so much they could have managed the situation a lot better it'll also be interesting if he survives the close look everything is getting considering how all the wards except shadow stalker showing up to the bank is probably because of some action he took following the second meeting with Taylor. Especially the Lung thing someone is bout to consider the whole Lung got pumped full of poisons that rotted his dick off right before Taylor debuted at the bank. In canon they actually do find out or he confesses because when Taylor surrendered they charged her with everything they could including stuff she didn't do and using her powers to assault lung and the abb mooks that first night out though no-one actually comments on it or acknowledges it.

Honestly they probably would take her because of how highly everyone thinks joe cares about her especially since she is the only one that actually knows joe's full real name so I can very easily see them making her a probationary member in exchange for what she knows. That said it won't really actually help them since joe has moved into garment's shop and didn't use his apartment for anything other than its door so they'd get nothing.

Another thing I'm surprised no-one is worried about is Taylor becoming the butcher with the baton and knife she could do it. This applies to both in and out of fic given that she followed up the Aegislash with making a more lethal version and did multiple follow ups at the storage yard.

Let's give Apeiron a lot of the blame here. He's been repeatedly showing her that she's important, and that what she's doing is important. And when the most powerful man in the world who knows far more than he should indicates that what you're doing is important and doesn't imply that it's stupid, you believe it. And, weirdly, it is important. Taking down Coil was a major step on the path to becoming Khepri. Once she finds out about Dinah, she commits herself to bringing down Coil no matter the cost, and steps up her "ends justify the means" philosophy. That's potentially still on track, since it feels like the meeting with Coil is in the cards.

To be fair when joe told her about the importance he did tell her he was fairly sure it wasn't what she was thinking of but she ignored him because she saw a low hanging justification, pounced on it and is hanging on to it with all she's got. Taylor also isn't going to go Khepri despite how the fandom likes to parade it as her nobly willingly trading her sanity to defeat scion ( and there's a few who say she beats him with just insect control) in reality it came about after being completely useless other than a mild distraction, nearly dying and so searching for a way to contribute such as getting the endbringers and cauldron when they went silent because she was seeking a second trigger but found out she couldn't get one and so pestered amy into messing with her corona on the blind hope it would alter her power in a useful way despite amy saying she had no idea if it would work. In bcf though Taylor has joe she could ask for gear but she has the armour, knife and baton so is likely to be able to contribute without doing so anyway.

Right now, if Aisha ran away, he has a place he can put her up. He can bail her out, both literally and figuratively. He has freedom, and control of his environment (and as a Shaker, that's important to him). Being a supervillain is absolutely the best choice for Brian to make, because the Wards program is treated more like a hobby that pays for your college than an actual way to live. If you're under eighteen and need money, there isn't a legitimate, reliable way to get it with your superpowers. Browbeat would have been better off being a burger flipper. He'd actually have gotten paid that way, rather than having his pay docked all the way until he died, and a college fund that he didn't live long enough to claim.

To be fair here Browbeat got a contract that keeps him in low combat outside of crisis and had other reasons and advantages to joining other than money. His recovery pinged their trigger watch thing where the hospitals flag suspiciously rapid recoveries and they were incredibly unsubtle digging at his trigger event so his identity isn't very secure and he triggered in the first place because of his family's mental disorder and by joining he gets access to expensive therapists he otherwise wouldn't to help manage it.
 
You make a deal when joining the Wards for your sister custody, not for money. Why pay a lawyer when you can throw the political power of the PRT at the problem. They don't honour the deal (or refuse to accept the deal in the first place) ? Then you break from them, kidnap your sister, and live the thug life.

But at least try the straight path first.
But in the Wards, he can't afford to care for his sister. He doesn't have a home. He can't afford to feed her, or provide for her. As I just established, he could go literally months between getting paid. Brian would still be living at his dad's home, with Aisha. It doesn't actually fix any of the problems.

And that's putting aside the idea that the PRT would even be able to give custody to a sixteen year old child living with his dad. How's that meant to work (or even help)? If the PRT get involved, the only thing I can see them doing is having Aisha put into foster care, again. At which point she runs away, again. Hell, her living with her dad is the solution after child services got involved. As far as the government is concerned, this is working.

And once Brian's gone to the PRT and gotten them involved, he can't back out. They've got his identity, he knows other Ward identities. They're not going to let him just disappear, and once he's a Ward, that's something they're actually going to get involved in (as opposed to canon, where he did his own thing for years, and the PRT only really made him a priority once he conquered a city).
 
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But in the Wards, he can't afford to care for his sister. He doesn't have a home. He can't afford to feed her, or provide for her. As I just established, he could go literally months between getting paid. Brian would still be living at his dad's home, with Aisha. It doesn't actually fix any of the problems.

And that's putting aside the idea that the PRT would even be able to give custody to a sixteen year old child living with his dad. How's that meant to work (or even help)? If the PRT get involved, the only thing I can see them doing is having Aisha put into foster care, again. At which point she runs away, again.

And once Brian's gone to the PRT and gotten them involved, he can't back out. They've got his identity, he knows other Ward identities. They're not going to let him just disappear, and once he's a Ward, that's something they're actually going to get involved in (as opposed to canon, where he did his own thing for years, and the PRT only really made him a priority once he conquered a city).
Let's be straight here, his current route was never going to get him custody of his sister no matter how much money he makes. He's a runaway with no job on the bright side and a minor. Those are pretty hefty strikes. Even when he has money, he's always looking for a bigger score and more reputation. He's lucky he didn't end up in a ditch first. Lot of help he'd be then, huh?

At least if he had gone to the wards first, he'd have a legal source of income he can prove on paper and good reputation if he had to take his mother to court. These things matter even more than the money itself. He could've even worked legal help into his contract if he played his cards right. Of course it's too late now, but his supervillain thing is not rational at all.

EDIT: Also, if his pay got docked as crazily as you are suggesting the Youth Guard would go nuts.
 
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Let's be straight here, his current route was never going to get him custody of his sister no matter how much money he makes. He's a runaway with no job on the bright side and a minor. Those are pretty hefty strikes. Even when he has money, he's always looking for a bigger score and more reputation. He's lucky he didn't end up in a ditch first.

At least if he had gone to the wards first, he'd have a legal source of income he can prove on paper and good reputation if he had to take his mother to court. These things matter even more than the money itself. He could even work legal help into his contract if he plays his cards right.
Literally none of that is the case. He's not a runaway, he's just living independently. He's got a job on paper (It's what Coil's providing). He's about to turn eighteen (which is when he's going for custody). Brian doesn't look for bigger scores and more reputation - he's the one in the Undersiders who wants to slow it down. He's happy as a petty burglar, and doesn't want things to get too hot. He wants a better reputation, not a bigger one, to be known for professionalism and skill. Faultline's his ideal, not Kaiser, or Lung. It's his big conflict within the Undersiders, that Taylor and Lisa push them to be a big thing when that's just not what he wants. He's the one who argues against the bank robbery, because it's going to end in a fight. He said the same about the casino.
EDIT: Also, if his pay got docked as crazily as you are suggesting the Youth Guard would go nuts.
And yet we see Piggot dock the Wards literally tens of thousands of dollars. At the most conservative, that's $20,000 between 7 people, or nearly $3,000 each. Browbeat, at least, is still on minimum wage. That's at least 394 hours of work to pay that off.
 
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Joe: "Uhuh... into robots, you say."

Robotnik: "But of course! Inferior organics can't compare to the efficiency and reliability of cybernetic enhancement."

Armsmaster: "I would like to engage in further correspondence."

Ferrus Manus: "Contrary to popular belief, Flesh is not Weak."

Joe: "You have a layer of Necrodermis completely enclosing two of your limbs."

Robotnik: "And your ludicrous name is 'Iron Hands'!"

Armsmaster: "I think it is a succinct nom de guerre, actually."

Ferrus: "No, that is my actual name."

Armsmaster, glancing at his halberd: "It would be hypocritical of me to point out how on the nose that is."

Ferrus: "My brothers are hardly better in this regard."
Damn, Primarchs in Brockton Bay. I want this, i really want this. And the worst of all, Joe can create them potentially, after all he can forge souls.
Rogal "the wall" Dorn, Hawkboy or Red Nerd. Maybe the king of hugs, Vulcan.
 
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It isn't just the trauma, IIRC when Apeiron healed him he also "fixed" something in Alec's brain, can't remember exactly what that did but Alec confronted him about it later on
Yeah, part of his psychopathic tendencies was behavior reinforced by his dad, the other part is split between neurology (which Joe fixed) and coping with who his dad is.
 
This is an example of why I don't like Taylor as a character (besides the fact that she is way overused in the fandom with all of her alt-power fics), she thinks she knows better than everyone else and is not willing to comprise. The title "Queen of Escalation" is not a positive one.
Worm is an example of suckering an audience into the belief that the main character is persecuted and trying to do the right thing despite that fact, but with any critical analysis immediately comes across as insufferably arrogant and self absorbed when taken in all together.

This is because Taylor at the start of Worm is just a teenager in a bad place who keeps fast walking then speed sprinting in reverse towards horrible events each worse than the last. So not only is it easy to get distracted from the meat and bones of her actions, hindsight bias makes you believe there was never anything redeeming about her because of how many decisions she makes end up being the wrong ones for reasons that mostly benefit her and hardly anyone else.
 
I would argue that Taylor, having a classical literature interested mother, would know what Lethe means; I'm not sure that she'd jump to "she wiped everyone's memories of the Celestial Forge" because that wouldn't make sense of Joe - or rather, if it did, the Joe she had come to know would be a lie.
It would be interesting if folks started believing Lethe was the inspiration for his worldwide 'Enigmatic Artificer' "identity-proving technology". Automatic wide-range memory implantation, a reversing of her power and reduced to an association affect to him specifically, and because it's Aperion that means quality of the 'Tinker-tech' responsible went through the roof. Given Aperion openly mentioned most likely being the leading expert on Parahuman powers and their source:
"No. I do not deal with forces I don't understand. I'm not the one grasping in the dark here, and it seems I am the only person qualified to inform you of how insane the idea of following March's lead actually is."
On top of the usual Tinker-inspiration by observing other capes' powers? Folks might believe she joined to get her powers under control, especially if they've heard what happened to Weld.

Naturally, everyone who can can worry about the Stranger people keep forgetting is on THE most impressive/terrifying/impressively terrifying/terrifyingly impressive team.
 
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Oh come on Taylor. You where just talking about how crazy what he does is.

You still think he gives a shit about your boss? Think the seriousness Apeiron had with it was to do with a single man? When he can overpower the entire Triumvirate single handedly?
 
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Lots of things to go over. Honestly, I think this was a solid interlude, and we might be seeing the beginning of the dissolution of the Undersiders in action. After all, Regent openly called Brian and Lisa out on their bullshit, that they aren't ready for anything bigger than what they used to do, and in general the rest realize they're not working as a team. Even Taylor is starting to see less of a shine to the 'friends' she made, and insistent on continuing her self-appointed task. At this point in canon, Taylor was starting to doubt if she could really turn them in, and after the gallery, switched sides because Coil basically convinced her that they were doing more good as villains than the current PRT was doing as Heroes. After all, it was the Undersiders who really brought down Lung, both times.

I'm still convinced that if Coil had never revealed Dinah to the Undersiders, Taylor would have fully drank the Kool Aid, and likely would have become a loyal enforcer of Coil, since in her view, it was working. The ABB was broken. The Empire 88 was on the way out. The idea of Calvert and Taylor working together, and not trying to undermine each other, is an interesting and terrifying one.

Rachel ogling Fleet is amusing. I'm looking forward to Lisa and Survey meeting, just for Survey to be like, "Oh... data extrapolation. That's cute."

Especially Taylor still thinking Coil is that important... :facepalm:
I mean, others have touched on it but Joe tried to convey that what Taylor was thinking wasn't what he was talking about. Again, this goes back to bad communication, but Joe actually had reasons for not wanting to tell Taylor - he was worried he'd break her. Taylor at this point didn't really have a reason to keep it from Joe, especially since he could be a critical ally, and he seems on the up and up. And if he really was trying to keep her alive, then revealing her mission wouldn't help her.
She knows that she is one of the deadliest villain in the bay right?
Teenager with self-esteem issues. It takes Taylor a long time to truly recognize the kind of figure she strikes to others in canon. And all her biggest accomplishments here are easily getting overshadowed by Apeiron so she hasn't really taken the time to think about it.
And that is how regent became the best undersider.
And how often do you hear that in a story?
Which is the other hilarious part of it. Brian's done. Everything he was working for is already in place, and he doesn't know it. He wanted Aisha to have a safe place, somewhere she wouldn't run away from. And she's got it. She's happy. Brian getting custody doesn't help her any more.
I mean, it still helps, but it's been implied that she no longer has that bad of a relationship with her dad in this story, so it's not like in canon where he was neglectful of her or she was forced to stay with her mom. The moment Brian realizes that Aisha is working with Joe, it's going to kind of break him in a sense. Especially once he puts it together how Aisha becoming more responsible, and even his dad being more supportive towards her is likely due to Joe, even if not directly. I never understood Brian's choices in canon, but that's a larger discussion.
I loved it when he called out Tats and Grue on their plan to play the situation. Hopefully everyone on them can sit down to talk. Not likely they would but hey, hoping for the best.
Yes, this was one of the best moments, and it's been coming for a while. Quite frankly, I'd love if Joe came over for Pizza, and when asked about what the hell is going on, he just looks at Lisa and asks if she's ready to tell him what the bank job was a distraction for yet. At this point, only Lisa knows 'why' the bank job was so important. If she tries to evade answering, Joe can simply respond with "Lisa, why should I trust you with my secrets when you're unwilling to come through on what you promised me? You seem to have a profound misunderstanding of the arrangement we have. Don't think that you can manipulate me just because I'm easy-going. The stakes have gotten too high for that, for both of us. So spare me the hypocrisy, and if we're going to come clean, let's come clean."

Granted, if Lisa does come clean then, it's basically the end of the Undersiders. They were never, truly, a united group until after the S9. Something this ground-breaking, this soon, with other options than their current employer? Brian is the only one who actually needs what Coil gives him. The rest are simply there for money or out of fear, or in Taylor's case, because she's a stupid teenager trying to be a double-agent and failing miserably. With Apeiron taking over your protection, fear tends to be less of a factor. As for money, how many times have people commented that a single watch made by Apeiron is worth more than the Undersiders would ever earn from crime?

Hell, if Lisa informs Joe about Coil and the mini-endbringer in his basement, would Taylor even care about trying to 'reveal' Coil anymore? At that point, the stakes are too high anyway. That's the time she calls in to Armsmaster and basically says,
"I'm out. Their boss is Coil, and he has a pet Endbringer in his basement. I'm going to hide in Apeiron's workshop until after the apocalypse. Apeiron will call you with details."
"Wait, what?"
*Click*

but Brian wants to support himself.
He doesn't really care about that. It's helpful, because it would help get Aisha out of their shitty family environment, but his whole concern that we see in canon is in regards to gaining custody of Aisha to get her away from a bad home life. If he finds out that not only is Aisha fully capable of taking care of herself, but has found a supportive environment, and even has a better relationship with their dad than he does, it's going to kind of break Brian, as it means everything he's done has been for nothing.

If he had joined the Wards in canon, sure he wouldn't have made a lot of money, but if he made getting his sister out of an abusive environment his price, they would have jumped on that shit in a heartbeat, for the PR alone. Would he have gained custody as a Ward? Kind of depends on 'when' he joined - I could easily see them blurring his age and having him join the Protectorate if he was close, but even then, she would at least been moved out that environment until he was 18 and could take custody as a member of the Protectorate. And it's not like he wouldn't see her a lot.
 
You know, I keep searching for Dodgeball clips when rereading this.

I really want to see the section where Garment originates from. Because she has become so awesome and important a character.

But then, it is something silly like Dodgeball that originated her.

Just was rereading Tybalt's appearance in the story(doing a relaxing reread of the story and had gotten to that point, and was reading the Dodgeball perks. And still confused where Garment even came from).

So anyone know? I mean... it is DODGEBALL.

I believe this was discussed before in this forum, but I'm too lazy to go searching for the exact quote. So all of this is from my memory.
Apparently in the movie, the protagonist's team needed dodgeball uniforms and got stylish ones very quickly. I'm guessing it wasn't ever really explained. Since the Dodgeball jump exaggerates everything from the movie, a mysterious source of fashionable clothes was exaggerated into the Garment Gloves jump item. The fully fleshed-out fashion power mechanics and the personality of Garment are all from LR though.

I'm still convinced that if Coil had never revealed Dinah to the Undersiders, Taylor would have fully drank the Kool Aid, and likely would have become a loyal enforcer of Coil, since in her view, it was working. The ABB was broken. The Empire 88 was on the way out. The idea of Calvert and Taylor working together, and not trying to undermine each other, is an interesting and terrifying one.

I would read a fanfic of that! Not write one though. I'm too much of a perfectionist to ever actually write something. The vaguely reminds me of a fanfic where Taylor becomes Butcher 15 (Quarrel was allergic to beestings) and isn't overwhelmed by the Butcher hivemind because of her being a master or something. It was fun to see a Worm fanfic not start at the beginning of Worm and see Taylor already in Skitter/Queen of Escalation mode get so many other powers to Munchkin.

Speaking of Munckining, I was glad to see BCF Taylor already munchkining the bag Joe gave her. I also liked how she used it for the team, and not just for spiders. I'm guessing that she used her bugs to find an out-of-the-way space on a roof or in an abandoned building to hide the bag during the summit.

Now Taylor has a Striker/Blaster Power (the magic dagger), a defensive Brute power (the armor), now all she needs is a mover power. AKA something to get off the roof when a rage dragon hears you.
 
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