Remove ads

Firebird, a Worm AU/Xover?

Reader mode
apeljohn said:
It carries risks. The Protectorate (or PRT?) is presumably acting in loco parentis, so they have the legal authority to get rather creative in making her miserable if they feel like it. Which they're just self-absorbed enough to do. And, if they do decide to ground her, they probably have anti-TK tinkertech that'll make it literal.

Anyway, spending your entire life in a permanent state of white mutiny sounds pretty horrible to me. Not least because she'll also presumably be trying to hide her pyrokinesis and telepathy from Armsmaster. And this is all before Commander Calvert sticks his oar in.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Well, in Taylor's specific case, she has an actual parent who might not be so dumb as to allow the PRT to abuse that authority. Letting him be that involved would be a loss of pride for Taylor, and she'd surely try to prevent his involvement, but he'd get involved anyway, and he would hopefully be smart enough to save her from the PRT's most egregious abuses of authority.

She's not even necessarily in a state of "white mutiny". She's more just... sitting out the scheduled patrols. Not being a soldier. That would be part of her up-front agreement, which she could swing because she's joining voluntarily and not as part of a plea bargain.

Vista would probably try to befriend her anyway, especially if it becomes known that Taylor's unhappy with her home life... and honestly Vista is the most valuable person to befriend on that team, both from a tactical perspective and from an interpersonal standpoint.

Also access to Aegis' abs.

I mean, yeah, you're right that it's not without risk, but what I'm saying is that it's not all bad, and she could swing it into a favorable situation pretty easily.
 
I fall on Danny's side of the fence with this one, regardless of whether he had his head up his ass before this whole thing or not. Signing her up to the Wards is the best thing for her, even if she doesn't think so. Yes he may have been a crappy dad after his wife died, but it take a special kind of neglectful asshat to let his emotionally volatile, 15-year-old daughter to run off in the middle of the goddamn night to face down Nazis, drug dealers, human trafficers, and an honest-to-god dragon with no support whatsoever. How many news stories has Danny seen, I wonder, of kids going out and doing the lone vigilante thing and getting themselves killed or worse? The PRT at least has the resources to see her learn her powers safely, they have a support structure in place to make sure the kids don't get in over their heads and even if they do the cavalry will come running.
 
Unity_Seven said:
I fall on Danny's side of the fence with this one, regardless of whether he had his head up his ass before this whole thing or not. Signing her up to the Wards is the best thing for her, even if she doesn't think so. Yes he may have been a crappy dad after his wife died, but it take a special kind of neglectful asshat to let his emotionally volatile, 15-year-old daughter to run off in the middle of the goddamn night to face down Nazis, drug dealers, human trafficers, and an honest-to-god dragon with no support whatsoever. How many news stories has Danny seen, I wonder, of kids going out and doing the lone vigilante thing and getting themselves killed or worse? The PRT at least has the resources to see her learn her powers safely, they have a support structure in place to make sure the kids don't get in over their heads and even if they do the cavalry will come running.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Generally speaking, I would agree with you. But instead of talking to her about it, and explaining this reasoning to her, or discussing what she wanted in any way, or any other of the numerous things he should have done, he signed her up without even consulting her. Immediately after a large fight, where she explicitly states that she doesn't want to join.

To me, he reads less as a father worried about his daughter, who made this decision to keep her safe, and more as a father who has no idea how to deal with his daughter, and in an effort to feel like he's doing something, just tossed her to someone else.
 
jerkface said:
She's not even necessarily in a state of "white mutiny". She's more just... sitting out the scheduled patrols. Not being a soldier. That would be part of her up-front agreement, which she could swing because she's joining voluntarily and not as part of a plea bargain.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

OK, that makes much more sense than what I was imagining. But I still can't envision Taylor willingly resigning herself to an entirely passive life as the Wards' pet wallflower. (Even assuming her shard would let her.) Far more likely IMO that she'll run away from home and just do her own thing, evading the Protectorate heroes as necessary.

Unity_Seven said:
Signing her up to the Wards is the best thing for her, even if she doesn't think so.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

It's not so much that I think you're wrong, it's that I don't think Danny has the information to draw that conclusion. From what she said during the discussion with Armsmaster, he knows that there's some history here that he's not privy to. He knows that the Protectorate have essentially been pestering Taylor to a) admit that she's a cape and b) sign her soul over to them. And he still goes stomping in without doing his homework first.
 
Nicholai said:
Sadly that is fairly unlikely. Piggot is, after all, an anti-Parahuman bigot. (Not without reason and she does keep it mostly in check.)
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
She's not really a bigot. Her issues with Parahumans are totally logical and in many ways right. She thinks that they are defined by their trigger (true) she thinks that they are prone to violence (true) she thinks that they were mentally unwell before getting powers (mostly true) and she thinks that they are prone to lashing out and distrusting others (very true). Piggot isn't wrong in her thinking about Parahumans.
 
Unity_Seven said:
I fall on Danny's side of the fence with this one, regardless of whether he had his head up his ass before this whole thing or not. Signing her up to the Wards is the best thing for her, even if she doesn't think so. Yes he may have been a crappy dad after his wife died, but it take a special kind of neglectful asshat to let his emotionally volatile, 15-year-old daughter to run off in the middle of the goddamn night to face down Nazis, drug dealers, human trafficers, and an honest-to-god dragon with no support whatsoever. How many news stories has Danny seen, I wonder, of kids going out and doing the lone vigilante thing and getting themselves killed or worse? The PRT at least has the resources to see her learn her powers safely, they have a support structure in place to make sure the kids don't get in over their heads and even if they do the cavalry will come running.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
It's more likely to keep her safe sure, but safer doesn't mean better when the price is losing freedom, gaining restriction and becoming complicit in a corrupt system. At least not to anyone other than a coward.
 
VolantRedX said:
She's not really a bigot. Her issues with Parahumans are totally logical and in many ways right. She thinks that they are defined by their trigger (true) she thinks that they are prone to violence (true) she thinks that they were mentally unwell before getting powers (mostly true) and she thinks that they are prone to lashing out and distrusting others (very true). Piggot isn't wrong in her thinking about Parahumans.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Yeah, but if you're a parahuman that just seems so damn biased!:p
 
Candesce said:
My mother utterly destroyed her relationship with my sister using this logic.

They haven't talked to each other for over a decade, now.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Danny has the unenviable position of having a willful, angry daughter with powers. He didn't understand her before this, due to her not talking and his own issues, and the chasm has only widened. Is he aware, logically, that he may have made it impassable? Possibly. But to his mind, if she's safe, then that's okay, regardless of what she wants and the Wards program is something that can, to his limited understanding, make her safe.

Was it the best decision he could have made? Almost certainly not, but it's one that makes sense. Especially when you consider that Taylor's reading of whatever conversation he had with Armsmaster probably isn't that far off as far him getting played. Armsy meant well, presented everything logically. Efficiently even. What Danny took away from it prompted him to rash action which complicated the matter even further.

Admittedly, Danny's perspective on this differs greatly from how Taylor sees things.
 
Last edited:
VolantRedX said:
Did Piggot get replaced by Senator Kelly? That's wildly out of character for her.


Total fanon. The Protectorate are only hamstrung in the same way you'd expect cops to be hamstrung.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Except the Wards are more then hamstrung in what they can use, quite a bit more then cops.

VolantRedX said:
She's not really a bigot. Her issues with Parahumans are totally logical and in many ways right. She thinks that they are defined by their trigger (true) she thinks that they are prone to violence (true) she thinks that they were mentally unwell before getting powers (mostly true) and she thinks that they are prone to lashing out and distrusting others (very true). Piggot isn't wrong in her thinking about Parahumans.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Basically, your saying that there aren't any nice, happy to help Parahumans because what Piggot believes is true. Piggot is a bigot in every definition of the term, just because she's right about some of her reasons doesn't change the fact. It's like saying a guy who hates all black people because they deal drugs and kill people in drivebye's isn't a racist.
 
jerkface said:
You know, being an alienated, unwilling, and not-cooperative Ward might actually be a good deal for Taylor.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Seriously? An does no one remember what happened to the Hellfire club for trying this same S___ on Jean Grey? Who is now being a large influence on Taylor? Best case in that is that Taylor plays at being a robot while getting information to tear the PRT apart for this.

Also, this really hit me on a night when I was feeling just like Taylor IRL. Great chapter, but please update soon!
 
Last edited:
chibipoe said:
Was it the best decision he could have made? Almost certainly not, but it's one that makes sense.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Oh, I find it believable. It's what my mother did, after all.

I think it's a foolish play on his part - one positive influence now doesn't make up for forfeiting every chance for positive influence in the future - but I think it's an action that's entirely in character for Danny.
 
VolantRedX said:
She's not really a bigot. Her issues with Parahumans are totally logical and in many ways right. She thinks that they are defined by their trigger (true) she thinks that they are prone to violence (true) she thinks that they were mentally unwell before getting powers (mostly true) and she thinks that they are prone to lashing out and distrusting others (very true). Piggot isn't wrong in her thinking about Parahumans.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

The ironic thing is that all the "definitely true" parts of this apply pretty well to Piggott herself. (For "trigger event" read "Nilbog".)
 
Wards would discourage forced joining. It's really bad PR. All they could do is shift blame to the parent.
The PRT can't force any recruitments, even Sophia had to choose Ward probation over juvie, and parents can't force their children to participate in the Wards program any more than they can force them through bandcamp.
 
The reason it's bigotry isn't because of she thinks all of those things. It's because she uses all of that as justification for hating capes. 'They are all fucked in the head and I hate them' is bigotry even if the first half of that is objectively true.
 
VolantRedX said:
Except being black doesn't make you a criminal, but by definition being a parahuman means you've suffered massive mental trauma and are influenced by an alien to act violently.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
....except cauldron capes....and confrontation doesn't nessesarly mean violent....and you don't have to listen....and also I bet you think all Asians are bad drivers too.
 
I'm working on 2.6 now and going to take care with this, because it's a delicate issue and Emily Piggot has the dubious task of bringing the situation to a close now that MM got Taylor to come in and talk, and, ostensibly, agree to Wards-enlistment. (I know, I know, many think she'll make things worse, you can stop laughing now)

IN light of that, though, please to be relocating discussion of Piggot and her bigotry and whether it's baseless or warranted to another place, that would be great.

Also:

I'm sorry, but Krouse is in another castle.
 
chibipoe said:
Danny has the unenviable position of having a willful, angry daughter with powers. He didn't understand her before this, due to her not talking and his own issues, and the chasm has only widened. Is he aware, logically, that he may have made it impassable? Possibly. But to his mind, if she's safe, then that's okay, regardless of what she wants and the Wards program is something that can, to his limited understanding, make her safe.

Was it the best decision he could have made? Almost certainly not, but it's one that makes sense. Especially when you consider that Taylor's reading of whatever conversation he had with Armsmaster probably isn't that far off as far him getting played. Armsy meant well, presented everything logically. Efficiently even. What Danny took away from it prompted him to rash action which complicated the matter even further.

Admittedly, Danny's perspective on this differs greatly from how Taylor sees things.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

It doesn't help that there is no real middle ground where they could both come out happy. Her options seem to be limited to Wards or Independent. Taylor's justifiably soured by the PRT, and I doubt Danny would ever be sold on his child going out on her own.
 
Reader mode
You must login or register to reply here.
Remove ads
Back
Top