“I know it’s corny as fuck, but ice cream can do wonders when life sucks.”
A Worm fanfic by Synth
. Hosted on the Sufficient Velocity forums. A rewrite by Assembler has been approved by the original author and is currently in the works.
Warning: spoilers for Worm from here on out.
Following Emma's betrayal, Taylor Hebert was left floundering, confused, a little afraid. And very alone. Her life follows a slow spiral.
This changes one day, when a strange girl named Lisa approaches her, offers her an ice cream and a pep talk-
OBSERVATION
POTENTIAL
MEASUREMENT
GROW
SPLIT
ATTACH
-that gives her the energy to face another day. What neither know is, at the time, Lisa's shard evaluated Taylor and found her a... suitable host.
Small differences grow in time, until Taylor Triggers, not with the power of the Queen Administrator, but a bud of The Negotiator.
This series provides examples of:
- Alternate Universe Fic
- AntiHero: Lisa, who goes to incredible pains to keep her team safe when it becomes clear that Coil may be about to find them 'disposable'. She also arguably saves Taylor's life, cheering her up on impulse when she realizes how miserable she is.
- Continuity Nod: The Undersiders rob the 'Ruby Dreams' casino. In canon this was the one big job prior to Skitter joining them.
- Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Subverted. Taylor is told to only use her power-manipulating abilities in an emergency, because they hadn't been studied properly and it tires her out. However, all the Wards trust her judgement when she uses it, and there don't seem to be any side-effects.
- Dead Fic: Author has stated it's dead in his signature and the fic hasn't been updated since 2014.
- For Want Of A Nail: Lisa met Taylor before she triggered, and Taylor triggers with a bud of The Negotiator, instead of The Queen Administrator.
- Power Copying: When Taylor "pulls" on connections, she borrows the target's power.
- Power Limiter: Taylor's "pull" ability drains the target's power partially.
- She can also invert this ability ("pushing" on the connection) to buff them instead.
- The Power of Friendship: Taylor finds it easier to use her power-manipulation when she has a strong connection to the target. That means that she becomes stronger by making friends with the Wards.
- Subverted in that it could work just as well on people she hates.
