Just a Phase [Worm]

Considering that Assault was able to casually join the heroes despite having a career of breaking people out of birdcage transports, and even demand to be on the same team as Battery, I don't think we need to assume too many misunderstandings regarding Shadow Stalker.

 

I just had a thought, considering that Battery was a Ward when Legend gave her to Assault it would be hilarious if the Youth Guard manage to dig that little fact during their investigations into Brockton. Battery isn't a Ward anymore but she was one when it happened and was given no aid to protect her from her harasser to the point that she eventually succam to peer pressure and married the creep, so yeah probably not a good look for the Protectorate or Wards program. It's unlikely to happen in the story but it is still an interesting train of thought about what could happen.

As for Sophia's she benefitted from the organization having low standards, and Brockton has lower standards than average. But at least Assault held up his end of the bargain which is more than Sophia did.

 

Sophia getting the Battery treatment in a story where a cape (Taylor) makes a deal to switch sides in exchange for her feels like a story.

 

Was it canon that she never reported anything, or that she stopped reporting after it became clear that doing so did nothing?
I myself stopped reporting the misbehavior after the school started punishing me for "lying" or "making stuff up for attention", "trying to blame others for your own actions" (in response to destruction of property) or just "tattling". Then they wondered why I didn't respect them. Clearly a mental disorder to "have no respect for authority."
Then they used the fact that I stopped reporting anything as "proof" that I had been making the stuff up, especially if an incident occurred and the first question is "why didn't you report this?". Responses of being punished for doing so usually got additional punishments for "disrespect" supposedly because tone or phrasing.

 

Not really sure myself, I have heard both and either one of them sound likely. It could have been that Taylor didn't tell anyone because she held out hope for Emma coming to her senses but by the time she realized that was a dead end it was to late. She could have noticed the administrators of the school witnessed the bullying and did nothing which put her off reporting it, like they saw it happen and did nothing so what would telling them about it do. Taylor's depression could have stopped her from seeking help like she did by not telling her dad and actively hiding it from him, and it just got worse as the bullying progressed. Or Taylor did tell the teachers/administrators at Winslow and they did nothing due to Emma's connections, Sophia, and the rest of their friends covering for them, and eventually starting to punish Taylor for 'lying' and so on. So yeah either way it wouldn't have helped Taylor in her situation, but there was a WoG saying that if Taylor got the superintendent invovled it would have stopped the bullying but her getting someone that high up is unlikely.

Also I know it doesn't mean much but sorry for all of that happening to you.

 

It was half a lifetime ago, but my point is that people criticism Taylor for not reporting in the second semester of her sophomore year. It's quite possible she did report it freshman year only to get told to "stop bothering me with this petty tattling" or something along those lines, followed by HER being punished for reporting it.
After a while you just give up since the Authorities make it clear they don't want to hear it.

 

I myself decided the only way to stop it was to go up to them and hit them full on in the face breaking there teeth in the process and guess what… it worked and his girlfriend flirted with me but I was to stupid to pick up on it at the time

 

Well that is a fucking mood.

 

Teenage boys are very stupid when it comes to such things especially if they have low self confidence and a bit of a gut

 

All you needed to say.

 

How about we get back on topic. First, I just noted a bit of irony, when Director Armstrong was meeting with Danny, he thinks that if Taylor was left with her father, she'd immediately start sneaking out under Danny's nose. Taylor had by that point already started planning to sneak out under Armstrong's nose for 2 days.

Second, I have a feeling that some of the Boston capes who most heavily drank the cool-aid are going to start suspecting that Phase actually wants to be a villain, and that is the reason she is so hostile, uncooperative, etc. Taylor's reaction would be epic.

 

We see from Taylor's POV that she didn't react (in her mind) to the principal mentioning this was the first reported incident, while other stuff in the meeting did piss her off and get her to react. It seems very unlikely that she reported anything.

 

It's entirely likely that she did report things, but Winslow destroyed all the records of her reports.

 

Or just never recorded anything in the first place.

If Danny wasn't a sad sack and found out about Taylor's new hobby he might start to question why even have her in the Wards program if they aren't even gonna try and keep Taylor safe. I mean that was his whole reason of signing her on against her will to keep her safe, but if the PRT can't even do that he destroyed hos relationship with his daughter for no reason.

We haven't seen anyone in the Boston Protectorate's reaction besides Gauss and Nebula so who knows. But considering it is somewhat well known that Taylor sneaks out to do vigilante stuff it is very unlikely. That doesn't mean that Taylor isn't listed as a flight risk or at risk of becoming a villain which will most definitely color the persepctives of the cool-aid drinkers. Realistically speaking the only people who would suspect Taylor of wanting to be a villain are outside of the department like in Brockton and Watchdog on account they can't predict her and infuriates them to no end.

 

In Insinuation 2.3 we see the below.

One of the interesting things there for me is Taylor asking the question “And they’d get expelled?” but already knowing the answer. Taylor apparently already knew “If there was enough proof, they would be suspended for several days, unless they’ve done something very serious. Further offenses could lead to longer suspensions or expulsion.”

The other interesting thing for me is that Gladly apparently saw the mess that was left on her usual chair and he said and did bugger all during the class. The same is implied for the glue incident a few weeks before this. In fact, it seems to me given what he said as if him helping is just taking Taylor to the principal? No control of his class, no saying this would or would not be tolerated and no keeping an eye out to see who is doing what and acting on it?

Then, in Hive 5.4 we have the following scene...

Now, why would Taylor bother printing out emails, highlighting when certain emails where sent or documenting her abuse on a daily basis? This is just my opinion, but I believe that Taylor was both aware of the quality of the staff and the likely result of "minor" complaints, so she tried to gather evidence and build what she believed would be a case she could use to force the staff to act. So she wouldn't have reported anything until she thought she was ready.

 

I don't think I'd put it past the Wards that Taylor is pissing off the most, if not now then potentially in the future. Don't remember the exact lineup and opinions we've seen thus far but I do recall some of them being more frustrated than others.

 

It depends. So far, it has only been about a month, and they're still assuming "give her some time, and she'll come around." If Taylor's unrelenting hostility continues in the face of their increasingly-strained friendliness, they're going to start looking for alternative explanations. Once they hit upon the "she totaly wants to be a villain" theory, her vigilante activity looks less like a heroic impulse, and more like an attempt to pre-emptively remove some of the competition. It is also attractive because it means the reason she's so hostile to them isn't something they bear any responsibility for, it's because she's a villain. Her impact on the cohesion and unity of the Wards team takes on a much more sinister aspect. The PR damage she's inflicted suddenly looks a lot more calculated and intentional.

Of course, I'm more interested in Taylor's reaction than how the cool-aid drinkers arrive at their delusions.

 

The ones that are more frustrated than the others are Roulette and Weld, and of the two Roulette is the one that is the most antagonistic towards Taylor due to Taylor messing with her power. As for Weld he is more frustrated due to being the one in charge and having to get Taylor on board with the program and as mentioned there is a lot of pressure to do that. The rest of the Wards are mostly apathetic towards Taylor, and Valve and Lily are actually more supportive of Taylor than the PRT. But those are just the Boston Wards, obviously the Brockton Wards have a much more negative opinion of Taylor, but as mentioned they aren't really that connected to other Wards programs so they aren't really sharing their opinions that much, plus the Youth Guard investigation doesn't make them look good at the moment.

Immediately calling the Youth Guard about the unsafe work environment and the PRT/Protectorate openly slandering her.

Plus if she just sticks with going after criminals they can't really claim villainous actions.

 

Mayhaps better done (has been done, supposedly?) with original pair or Lily/Sabah. Taylor doesn't switch sides to join you, you join Taylor. Which works out better anyway, since Sophia doesn't self-sacrifice, but Taylor might.

I mean, what could he do? If he was going to lawyer up, he'd have done it at numerous previous points. That said, some lawyers, like ACLU, are willing to work for something else than direct pay (if worm even still has those), giving a potential plot hook - maybe alongside Taylor's grandparents. Depending on how they tied the whole guardianship with the wards deal, there could be an argument that the contract was signed under false pretenses or PRT is not upholding their end.

An argument that gets more weight should the whole "use plea deal to force her" comes in play, because parent can carry some responsibility for the crime. While any punishment for that would fall to the Youth Guard agent being a nominal guardian to her, if providing adequate guardianship to the teenager was part of the contract her turning to crime under new guardian in months when she had clean record previously would be one more way to argue the PRT is not fulfilling their end of contract - and showing this level of failure in this part might be best option for Danny to regain legal guardianship of Taylor, especially if one can argue duress.

Of course, his apology would need to be legendary for Taylor to actually accept this hypothetical. Besides needing to behave differently in multiple ways to do this, it'd also go against the premise of the fic.

Also depends on who takes up the theory.

Various wards would give reinforcement to Taylor's misanthropy, and maybe few feelings of betrayal on reread. Well, Boston ones. Most Brockton ones would be way easier to convince but also not really matter unless their civilian identities take a road trip.

Nebula is already antagonistic, but the idea ruins the whole premise of "we force her into plea deal" if he assumes Taylor identifies as a villain, since that'd mean she'd willingly go to jail like one. Of course, he could then spin to "I know she's guilty, I just need to make a reason to jail her."

Laura, Lisa or Jim would need a serious misunderstanding for this departure from her normal characteristic. First and last might try to force Phase to psychologist - who are mandatory reporters. For Lisa, being villain for villainous actions itself would put her under more threat, and seriously change the incentive structure she'd offer to Taylor.

That can give some hilarious misunderstandings, where she keeps providing Taylor with details on vulnerable orphanages and run-down puppy shelters. Have one of the latter turn out to be puppy mill where she meets Rachel at, attacking it heroically totally villainously together and misunderstandings shall continue.

"I heard Ghost teamed up with a homeless murderer to kick puppy orphanage!"
"Gasp! Such foul villainy! We, the Boston heroes, should quickly act to bring them to justice!"
Bakuda: "My soulmate! Fuck blowing this school, we shall join together to terrorize the world!"
Danny/Jim: "Where did I go wrong?"

Eh, she has experience to expect that to not do anything, especially if they're doing it "behind" her back.

 

Taylor's legal guardian is Agent Watkins of the PRT. The Youth Guard are oversight, but they aren't actually her guardians. This makes any case against the PRT for some form of breach of contract much easier.

 

Sure, in some AU where Taylor didn't agree that she'd never reported anything? That's certainly possible. It's just not canon.

That is a plausible way for Taylor to think, it's a wrong way and a stupid mistake for anyone who understands how bureaucracies work, but it's quite plausible for a intelligent teenager to "figure out" this and decide not to do the one thing that could help make the school actually do something about the bullying, i.e file lots of reports.

 

What makes the Youth Guard different from Taylor's experiences is that unlike Winslow, the PRT, and her dad they are actually doing something and have Taylor's trust because of that. So it is reasonable to see her actually going to them if she finds out what the PRT is saying behind her back, because listing her as a villain without her actually doing something illegal probably violates a number of regulations, laws, and civil rights.

He might not need to even lawyer up, while he did sign parental rights over to the PRT I can imagine that he can still take Taylor back if he wants to it's just that he doesn't want to. For Danny getting Taylor out of the Wards could be as simple as calling up Boston and saying he wants to remove his daughter from the Wards, of course Taylor can use the regulations to prevent this but considering she also wants out of the Wards she might allow it. The only roadblock to this would be Armstrong himself due to him seeing Danny as an unfit parent he can try and block removing Taylor from the Wards. But considering how much respect Taylor has for the organization that probably won't stop her if she sees a legitimate way out even if it is from Danny, and considering that Taylor's 'hobby' started under Armstrong he doesn't have that strong of a position as opposed to Danny.

 

It's not them doing something, Danny did something (something wrong, which she hated, but he did it), it's them asking her what she wants to do that makes them different from Taylor's POV.

If Taylor was 6 y/o? Sure, if she was 12? Maybe, depends on the Judge and specific state laws. Given her age though pretty much the first thing any Judge would do if Danny tried to get Parental rights back is Ask Taylor what she wanted. Given her reaction to him trying to talk to her I figure the judge would have to get her to tone it down to something printable, but it will be obvious she doesn't want anything to do with him.

For all we know that is what he wanted to talk to Taylor about when she refused to see him and got a restraining order against him.

Taylor's issue is that as much as she doesn't want to be in the Wards, she prefers her current situation to living with Danny.

 

Taylor allowing Danny to remove her from the Wards only to immediately run away would certainly be a route that she could take. Though at this time I find it unlikely she would allow it but if she vigilantes enough to build up a stash of legally appropriated funds then I could see something working out.

 

Hm, went further back for reread of Interlude: Legalese. First, I'll note I was wrong, Missy was right in in my review of last story chapter that Phase indeed had "special powers" to sick Youth Guard on Brockton. Of course, it's interesting that it reached her ears through several layers of bureaucracy nonetheless.

Anyway, while the two men meeting Danny were nominally opposed, they were actually united in wanting Taylor in wards, so they wouldn't mention any ability to end the contract. “The Youth Guard exists to protect her, not you" is not a "No, you have no say" but a dodge.

Hm, we might have been talking about different scenarios for the vague proposal - I was speaking about X saying to Y "Hey, I think Phase wants to be villain" in a corridor that, to the best of their knowledge, doesn't contain Phase. Listing her as a villain publicly is (hilariously) different kettle of fish. I mean, can you imagine* the conference? "Here's our new ward, Phase! As an all-inclusive agency for training teenage capes, we're expanding our reach to villainous minors in our new outreach program for Boston, and the star girl of today is our first ever villainous Ward!" *Boston PR team clapping*

*What you actually imagined probably differs from this, going for a joke here.

So, rereading the interlude, it turns out blocking out Danny with guards is a post-facto PRT reg which obliges PRT to block it.

That means it wasn't restraining order applied by a judge.

If it had been, Danny going to Boston and driving away with Taylor without contact with the PRT would be much easier to argue to be kidnapping a minor. Not that I think that'd happen, but the detail means it's easier to argue that Boston PRT were adversarial and used this against him. (Though Youth Guard could say otherwise.)
Taylor removing the restriction, if she is not overruled by her current legal guardian, would moot that part of question, but it wouldn't make Taylor his daughter again - it'd just have guards permit Danny to meet with her.

Once Taylor is allowed home over weekends again and she goes, she could simply just not return. At this point, Danny could call and say he's withdrawing Taylor. Armstrong, believing him to be neglectful and Taylor in danger where she was nearly murdered, might not accept as you say. The strength of his position, however, could be overruled by....If not a judge, then Head Directoress? Public PR backslash?

Should he take Rebecca's directions, Phase would be free from wards, and back in Brockton, with, indeed no need for lawyer should this contract have terms permitting ending by mutual agreement. This would make branding her as villain much easier, of course, but the other scenario might generate even more conflict....

If not overruled, as Danny is no longer her parent here, Armstrong might send PRT after Danny anyway for kidnapping a ward - this might end up not passing full muster when Taylor walks around freely, but blood-related people are the most common kidnappers anyway, so he just needs to convince local police/PRT branch to act. If they moved back to Brockton, Emily would certainly do so to bring out-of-control parahuman back under PRT control, even ignoring her personal thoughts about Phase in particular.

Cue chase scene, where the father and daughter try to repair their damaged relationship on a road trip while dodging the cops, scrounge for money, and talk with other fathers of parahuman daughters across the US in wormverse.

Huh, right. That means there's two fri...well, nominally allied adults in her corner, though Watkins really should talk to her more often ("leaving Jim Reed as the only person with whom Taylor had positive interactions", indeed Interlude Legalese) . Ah well, more fodder to the fire.

 

No Watkins is firmly on the PRT's side in regards to getting Taylor on board with the program. According to Weld all agent Watkins talked about was Phase integrating with the Wards.

So yeah Jim is quite literally the only adult with any form of authority in Taylor's corner.

Plus Watkins doesn't really care about Taylor either considering that Taylor only met them once for an introduction and they have made no actions to actually talk to Taylor at all durinng her month in Boston.

 

Yeah, hence nominally allied. Mainly relevant in that if both say same thing about Taylor the statement is most likely to be trusted.

 

It's also entirely possible she did report things in her freshman year, but by the end of the first semester was told to stop bothering them and possibly threatened with punishment for "lying" or "tattling".
So she stopped reporting.
So by the time the second semester of sophomore year rolls around, she hasn't reported anything since the first semester of freshman year, and the staff assume that the problems are no longer occurring. In their minds, they were right, Taylor was just blowing it out of proportion or making false accusations. After all, the complaints stopped, so it couldn't have been that serious, could it? If they were that serious, she could have easily come to them with proof, so she must have been lying.
Then suddenly The Locker, and now they can claim this is the first they heard of anything since they blew her off early freshman year.
I know there was a time I stopped reporting back in high school after being threatened if I bothered them again with my "baseless accusations", only for the staff to be like "why haven't you said anything" when I was attacked and a violent incident they had to respond to occurred. The fact that they had cut me off before I could finish the first sentence the last time I tried to report anything obviously had nothing to do with it, because I should have known to report the more aggressive escalating stuff in such a way that they would listen.
==rant cut== and I'm not going to say anything more because I'll get into an off-topic rant about how RMHS handled this shit in the mid '90s with victim blaming. Also see the quoted text from Worm itself above. That scene with them denying, dismissing, or minimizing any evidence and saying there is no proof was spot on for how RMHS handled things in the '90s. Especially since you'd usually be called out of class with no prior notice and no time to even go to your locker to get any evidence, yet the bullies and their parents always seemed prepared.

 

In some AU where she didn't agree that she never reported it? Surte.

THe issue is that in Canon Worm we have Taylor agreeing that she never reported it, while getting pissed off at the School lying and twisting the truth in other aspects.
That proves that she did not report anything.

Without that scene? Yes, it possible to interpret things so she might have reported things and then given up, while that doesn't fit the Taylor we actually see in canon, no other explanation does either.

We're not talking about their minds, we're talking about Taylor's mind. Unless Taylor was suffering from Amnesia and forgot about all the times she'd reported it, there's no way she'd accept the Principal stating Taylor only accused Emma AFTER she'd attacked her outside of school, unless it really was the first time she'd reported things.

There's no question that the school was twisting things to blame Taylor, and in fact the Principal is guilty of at least one felony from her actions in the school meeting, but while Taylor justifiably got very upset at the tricks they pulled, she did not get upset when they said she hadn't reported the bullying.

 

Speaking of Winslow is there any way that Taylor can use the PRT or Youth Guard to file a civil suit against Winslow for their negligence as a means to bypass the ENE division trying to cover up the crimes of two of their Wards. I know there was something similar in Implacable where Taylor brought in evidence from a civil suit she and Danny were filing against Winslow to the meeting with the Youth Guard as evidence against the PRT. Obviously the PRT won't help but the Youth Guard might be able to pull something since they are already investigating the matter down in Brockton, of course the major roadblock to that is that Winslow has had a month to cover everything up.