Firebird, a Worm AU/Xover?
- Thread starter chibipoe
- Start date
Problem is that, while she's obviously a terrible choice for taking care of a child, so is Bran, on paper, unless he has a visible, legal income an stable job. If it weren't for the mom involved, it wouldn't be a problem - dad wants to transfer custody, brother wants receive it, just rubber stamp it. But if the mother presses her claim, Brian not only has to prove she's incapable (easy) but prove he is capable (hard), otherwise the best result is she ends up in foster care instead.
Do you have any idea what 'abusive' means? Because it's not just a synonym for 'bad parenting'. You might argue 'negligent', but even that implies a lack of concern or desire to provide care rather than deliberately stepping back because no help is better than negative help.
Guys, please let the Brian topic rest.
The reason why they are talking about those to is to explain why Brian is so focused on taking care of his sister that he ignores the problems of those around him, except for those that he cares about. The reason for Aisha I don't know, since I lost interest in the conversation before she got involved.
- Location
- Existance
Someone compared the way Brian was acting towards Lisa here to the way Brian reacted in canon regarding his tunnel vision for helping Aisha.
I don't even care if people want to pretend everyone matters to them equally, so it's dropped.
Mandabar
Waifu of choice is Rem. Give that girl some hugs!
- Location
- Florida, USA [Yes. Florida *FacePalm*]
Y... Yo... You updated! Yay! The Phoenix rises from the ashes!
I did a happy dance just so you know!
I can see why this chapter might've been a bit hard to get out, Taylor isn't in such a good place. Jean is realllly leaking into her as well too. She seems to have some handle on it at the end, just not when she isn't paying attention. And she's not the only people in the universe noticing this. I wonder if there is a chance of any more actual crossover elements with the X-Men universe or not. I mean the PF is bullshit afterall. I appreciate the little stealth A!Taylor bits. And best author as well
An appropriate end to the chapter and everything. I mean all the better for it to be reborn from the ashes right...
That's how it works right? <Says the confused Phoenix Force>
Stratagemini
Totally a Fire Ferret.
- Location
- Central Park
- Pronouns
- He/Him/They/Them
So, are we getting another Amy or Madison POV? I really wanna know what's up with Amy since it seems like she revealed she can in fact touch brains (and maybe accidentally made carol love her?) And may have had her feelings for Vicky disclosed.
And Madison would tell us just what the hell is going on with the wards, and Dean, behind closed doors. Dean has to know Madison knows Taylor from her reactions during the lunch with "totally-not-Sirin."
And Madison would tell us just what the hell is going on with the wards, and Dean, behind closed doors. Dean has to know Madison knows Taylor from her reactions during the lunch with "totally-not-Sirin."
chibipoe
May I tell you of the glory that is Catradora?
- Location
- Astoria, Oregon
Dunno about Amy, but I expect we'll see Madison again soon. Probably. Maybe.
Stratagemini
Totally a Fire Ferret.
- Location
- Central Park
- Pronouns
- He/Him/They/Them
Glad to get a definite answer there.
earthboy
(verified ape)
- Location
- NYC
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Could you vague that up for me?
I want some sense of mystery.
chibipoe
May I tell you of the glory that is Catradora?
- Location
- Astoria, Oregon
Working on 4.5, it is slow, but here's a sneak peek. Maybe commentary will get the juices flowing
I would expect that approaching her like this would be met with less than happiness, since it can't be coincidence if they have her clothes with them. Which would lead to memories of Armsmaster approaching her civilian identity. And outing her to her father. Also, would she trust that her clothes have no tinkertech tracking or listening devices?
How does that scene not end without Taylor blowing a gasket that he's "outing" her in public? (Note this doesn't mean that he is or that he intended to do so, merely that Taylor is New and Improved with Hyper Sensitivity!)
Edit: Imp'ed!
ltmauve
"Excuse me?"
- Location
- Earth
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Wait, so Taylor can't recognize that Browbeat is Madison?
earthboy
(verified ape)
- Location
- NYC
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Taylor shows her first hints of being genre-savvy!
What's in the box?
Sophia's head?
Stratagemini
Totally a Fire Ferret.
- Location
- Central Park
- Pronouns
- He/Him/They/Them
What? No Browbeat? You can't have a date without Browbeat!
chibipoe
May I tell you of the glory that is Catradora?
- Location
- Astoria, Oregon
This is just an early pass, so may change. Unfortunately, WoW has consumed my life again with the advent of Legion.
Well, they approached her in civy guise, and she identified them easily enough, so she knows who they are and Ethan did sneak her his number before, and she had had a less adversarial interactions with A&B so A decided to approach her to return her stuff, as Armsy mentioned before). The choice of setting wasn't ideal, no but they worked with what they had. They're not displaying anything that would identify them as PRT or Protectorate.
She didn't quite develop the identifying people by mind til after she had more or less bailed on Winslow. Madison/Browbeat feels familiar, but she has only had one significant interaction with Madison as disguised as Browbeat so hasn't put 2 and 2 together. Also, Browbeat is nowhere to be found in that scene. (Or is he/she? Would we know with Browbeat's stranger power?)
(Hm. I kind of want to do a Madison as Browbeat fic. Like, upend canon where Madison's a Ward with the powerset outlined here... and finds that Sophia & Emma are worthless and upends their shit posthaste. Hm... must think on this.)
She is kind of exasperated with the whole identity thing at this point, yes.
Taylor/GG/Madison three way date? Or Taylor tries to have a date with both GG and Madison at the same time... in the same restaurant, while ensuring neither finds out. Hijinx ensue!
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Let me give a quick though or three of mine before I hit the bed. Things that I would like to see in the chapter when it is done.
Firstly, how did they find Taylor in her civilian guise? Random chance while coincidentally having the box with her surviving belongings with them? An off duty PRT agent recognizing Taylor, even if only as that girl Piggot wanted a message given to, and calling the office about her? Deliberate surveillance? (Whichever way was used will likely influence her response.)
Secondly, why approach Taylor unmasked in public while she is in her civilian guise? Well meaning stupidity? (We know who she is so it's only fair that she knows who we are?) Orders, so that Taylor will (hopefully) bond with them more? (The reason will definitely influence either her view of them or whoever ordered them, depending upon why they approached her the way they did.)
Thirdly, what they tell her when giving her the box, what was told to them and whether they believe that Armsmaster, Piggot or somebody else might bug her belongings.
BrokenAscendent
Unum prae omnibus aliis
- Location
- Auld Lang Syne
This would be amazing.
Building off of this, it might not hurt to change the presence of the box entirely. Instead of having it on-hand have Ethan mention that they have a box for her. They didn't plan on bumping into her so they don't have it on them and, for some reason, they don't want to just carry it around "just in case." (Cue "Puppy" explaining they don't want the box getting lost / contents damaged - complete with snark about Ethan's ability to keep the car clean.)
That preserves the "just bumped into an old friend *wink, wink*" vibe that has served A&B well in the past, gives them an excuse to see Taylor later, and doesn't risk setting off her "they're watching me!" paranoia.
For bonus points they're making it clear that Taylor can come see them when she wants. And if she wants. Given Taylor's issues that's probably the least inflammatory approach they could use.
apeljohn
Non-Player Character
- Location
- Earth Aleph
On the one hand, out-of-character, this makes perfect sense to me. It all seems legit. And Assault snarking off is basically what you'd expect from him, since he is constitutionally incapable of being serious.
On the other hand, in-character, I can see Taylor taking this very very badly. It'll come across as: the Protectorate is fucking with her life (again), stalking her, putting her at risk of being outed as Sirin by approaching her in public, and laughing about all the above to her face. And this is after she was blown up in her own home, kidnapped, drugged, and Scion only knows what else, leaving her naturally rather sensitive about people finding out she's a cape.
What I'm saying is, it would neither break my suspension of disbelief nor affect my enjoyment of the story if this scene ended with Ethan being telekinetically punted through a wall. Either way, I figure he has about 30 seconds to rescue the situation before she snaps.
And, as I think @Dark Mage was alluding to, that will immediately open up the Ward-but-not-a-Ward can of worms. I'm still looking forward to seeing who gets caught in the blast radius of that little legal/political landmine.
Dark Mage
Sanity is really overrated...
- Location
- Out of My Mind
This whole problem could have been resolved if they had a way to remove someone out of the Wards. You would think they would have procedures to remove a Ward that does not require parental consent because of compatibility issues. Instead it seems to be either monetary punishments or prison.
Moving Taylor to affiliated cape status instead of being a Ward would ease some of the tension between her and the PRT.
But then Danny would pitch a fit about the PRT not protecting Taylor like he wants, complicating any reconciliation between him and Taylor.
Would the PRT actually care in the slightest what Danny thinks at this point? He has proven himself an incompetent fool and a drunk. I recall mention of scene with Piggot where PRT had tried to have people approach Danny to try and undo his foolishness AFTER it should have been incredibly obvious that his actions backfired horribly, only for him to still refuse to withdraw the paperwork he submitted. And this was after Taylor had run away and after it should have been blatantly obvious that his decision was catastrophically bad and had only resulted in Taylor becoming a homeless runaway far more vulnerable than she ever was before and far more likely to end up a criminal/villain due to having little left to lose. And he still stuck to his decision.
I think even his original decision was foolish, but you could atleast try to defend or justify that. However AFTER Taylor had run away, and AFTER PRT (the people he wanted to finishin raising Taylor for him) came to him and tried to tell him "Dude, this was a horrible mistake! Undo the paperwork so we can start trying to fix things!", he still said no. I don't really believe that decision can be defended. Either Danny puts his pride and stubborness above his daughters safety and is unwilling to say "Yeah, I made a bad mistake, burn the papers and inform Taylor I am sorry and ask her to come home so we can try to start fixing our relationship.", or he is simply too idiotic to realise how badly he fucked up and how worse he made everything.
Either way, I figure if PRT did figure out a legal loophole of somekind to get Taylor out of the wards without Dannys consent in order to soothe tensions, make it less likely that Taylor will become actively hostile to PRT and possibly even gain somekind of loosely affiliated ally, what Danny thinks would probably be their last worry. He had his chance of being a parent and he could not have failed worse had he tried.