Jesus fucking christ.
The sheer catharsis... oof. I love this fic, which is why I've kept with it, but I'm not gonna lie - the thought has crossed my mind to drop it simply because of how Taylor and co. always just seemed to be getting shat on 24/7. It was a struggle to handle it, but this...
This felt good to read.
I'm actually a bit ashamed, because the fight and everything were well written, and I'm just so focused on how great it feels to see Taylor finally get some measure of... closure, I guess? I mean, don't get me wrong, things are still pretty fucked, but it's nice to see things turning around for a change. Fingers crossed that it lasts a while before the next curveball gets thrown her way (fingers crossed that cliffhanger just ends in an orgy and everyone goes on their way, without Victoria possibly killing or maiming anyone or anything - though I'm not clear why she was accusing Emma and Stalker of anything in the first place).
Anyhow, that scene where she rips Lung's head off was fuckin' hype (actually reminded me a bit of the big fight scene from Jurassic Park III). Everyone's (apparently) just dead silent, while the monster that killed the dragon tells them to
get out before she comes hunting for them, and walks off.
Just. Fuckin'. Loved. It.
Also, if Taylor triggered in her human body, does that mean she's vaguely alive again?
My guess is that QA/Taylor's Shard was sick and fucking tired of being denied Best!Host, said "fuck it" and just forged a link/a corona and gemma in both bodies - would explain why Taylor is still able to freely switch between bodies/be present in both despite the implant apparently being fucked. Unless the implant being fucked is because of the Shard itself somehow tampering with it (over time), in which case that would also explain the implant functioning in the manner it has despite how that shouldn't be possible according to Annette.
Actually, I wonder if part of the reason Taylor was able to trigger this time was because Annette was occupied by the attack - could she have been actively preventing it, because she thought it was some rampant growth aka super cancer cause by Taylor's growth/condition, or because her obsession with preventing Taylor from getting involved in "all of that cape business" drove her to actively prevent Taylor from becoming a parahuman? Second sounds a bit farfetched, but with how questionable Annette's sanity has been in the past/present I wouldn't be surprised.
Anyhow, I wonder what Taylor's actual power is? Seems to be some sort of power-nullifying trump (possibly only so long as she is fighting said parahuman, residual effects might still apply - see flames hurting her after Lung was executed), but I doubt it's so clear cut and dry. Possibly some sort of rapid adaptive biology? Would possibly explain why she's suddenly three stories tall in beastie form, despite her having seemingly been about normal beastie size last time she took control. Unless that last attack on Eden drove Annette's paranoia into overdrive, and she felt compelled to turn Taylor into a kaiju...
Ya know what, I can honestly see that going any number of ways.
I wouldn't be surprised if Taylor's shard just pulled out all the stops after all the bullshit it had to go through to connect to its host.
Though I wonder if Lung's head is still technically alive? Taylor's power seemed to only effect the parts of him that she bit into, preventing them from regenerating but with the way blood was pouring out of his arm the rest of him was clearly unaffected (as much as one can be while missing an arm). Wouldn't that be a horrendous fate?
Actually, if that is the case, I can see Amy deciding that her giant kaiju girlfriend could do with some more protection/nigh-infinite regeneration, and taking it upon herself to break down Lung's brain and such until she can link Lung's connection directly to Taylor's shard. Would fit with the whole "Amy is a monster" kinda thing, since she'd basically be slowly killing off bits of Lung while he's still aware, trapped in his own head until there's nothing left of him.
...I've been reading too many Worm fanfics.
I think that's everything? This response got out of hand and I probably forgot to mention half the things I was thinking of when I began typing.
