Line #43 Fanfic/EvilAndHam


1	''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12717810/1/ Evil]] [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/evil-and-ham-worm-hishe-villain-pub.581231/ and Ham]]'' is a ''Literature/{{Worm}}''/''WebAnimation/HowItShouldHaveEnded'' crossover fanfic by [=QAI521=].
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3	'''Official summary:''' In one world, Taylor Hebert became a villain by accident. In another, Taylor gets some mentoring in villainy.
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5	Or, the one where Taylor ends up in the Vilain Pub during her Trigger and gets some career advice. Brockton Bay is not ready at all.
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7	----
8	!!This fanfic contains the following tropes:
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10	* AffablyEvil:
11	** Taylor is struck by how strange it is that the worst villains in the multiverse are as a whole much more polite and intelligent than the trio bullying her.
12	** She tries to cultivate a similar reputation since it helps her plans.
13	* AlphaBitch: Deconstructed. Emma has no real friends besides Sophia and once her "attack dog" is sent to juvie, her powerbase crumbles completely.
14	* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: The villains are all eager to share their expertise with Taylor to help her become a great villain. However, they make it clear that they aren't 'asking' if she wants their help. Either she's one of them, or she's a hero who wandered into the wrong pub.
15	* AnimalEyeSpy: Maleficient uses her crow Diablo to check on the PRT and Protectorate's response to [[spoiler:the death of Skidmark and Merchants]].
16	* BackstabBackfire: Discussed. [[spoiler: As others point out, not only could it result in Arachne getting reputation for backstabbing, the handler could have reported the stolen files, putting the entire PRT and Protectorate on her trail.]]
17	* BeneathNotice: Coil is this on the local cape scene [[spoiler:right until ''somebody'' drags him into the spotlight]].
18	* BigWhat: [[spoiler:Calvert has an internal one when he realises someone framed him]].
19	* BlindObedience: Miss Militia has shades of this, combined with SelectiveObliviousness and [[MyCountryRightOrWrong Protectorate, Right Or Wrong]]. In her defense, those strategies absolutely ''worked'' for her- she was taken from a war-torn country where she triggered because, as a child soldier, she was made to scout for land mines. The system that took her in and gave her the life she has now is not perfect, but she latched on to it since it was much better than what she had before.
20	* BreakingSpeech: Just before leaving Winslow for the last time, Taylor tells Emma just how many enemies she's made in the school with her behavior, and how the only thing that was holding them back was fear of Sophia. And now that Emma's rabid attack dog had been stripped of her probation and sent to juvie, they were free to act. Before Taylor leaves she can already tell that some members of Emma's clique are already thinking of cutting ties to save themselves.
21	* BreakingTheFellowship: Defied. [[spoiler: Brian wants to dissolve the Undersiders after Dinah's kidnapping comes to light, since they would be on ''everyone's'' shit-list. Lisa frankly tells him that Coil would sooner [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness kill them]] ]].
22	* BrokenPedestal: Taylor loses all faith in heroes when she learns that Sophia is a Ward.
23	* BullyingADragon: [[spoiler:The Merchants, with the only one of their capes there being Skidmark, attack a trio of unknown individuals that are clearly capes]].
24	* TheChessmaster: Arachne. Everything she does somehow furthers her goals, often without leaving any links to herself.
25	* CreateYourOwnVillain: Sophia ends up causing Taylor to go villain.
26	* DeadFic: Not updated since the spring of 2019, leaving a cliffhanger at [[spoiler: Dinah's kidnapping]], and the Website/SpaceBattlesDotCom thread was the victim of a Thread Necromancy incident.
27	* DeathGlare: Piggot gives one to Sophia when her inaction in a rape case was discovered.
28	* DudeNotFunny: Implied with Emma's hangers-on's reaction to her bringing up Annette's death to hurt Taylor.
29	* EnemyCivilWar: [[spoiler:After Skidmark's death, the Merchants split up into multiple factions. Most notable are the ones led by Squealer and Mush, who don't have anything holding them back from fighting each other]].
30	* EngineeredPublicConfession: Arachne tricks Shadow Stalker into saying that she wouldn't help a rape victim she didn't consider strong, then gets a rape victim she didn't help to come forward and sue her.
31	* EntertaininglyWrong:
32	** After her debut, Protectorate concludes that Arachne is someone that Triggered due to the actions of a hero by being caught in a cape fight.
33	** Coil thinks Arachne may be a vanguard of a larger organization, especially in the aftermath of the Merchants' massacre.
34	** [[spoiler: After Taylor witnesses Dinah's abduction, she finds her wallet and makes the connection to Brockton's mayor. Unaware of Dinah's Thinker abilities, she concludes Coil is attempting to manipulate the mayor through her]].
35	* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Discussed. Taylor very carefully plans her debut as Arachne, knowing that it will make or break her reputation as a villain. [[spoiler:It goes off spectacularly]].
36	* EvenEvilHasStandards:
37	** When Joker offers Taylor a glass of beer, Palpatine destroys it immediately, because Taylor is underage and the Villains may be evil, but not irresponsible.
38	** Taylor checked. It's perfectly acceptable for a villain [[spoiler:which is why she decides to help Dinah]].
39	** The Joker, despite his disgust at the villain scene of Brockton, chooses not to show the city what a ''real'' criminal is like, because he knows that this city is Taylor's, and it'd ruin her education.
40	** [[spoiler: Averted with Brian. He only cares about Dinah's kidnapping because it was made public and can hurt Aisha]].
41	* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Or at least a lesser evil, but Coil has no idea why Arachne does anything since she wouldn't ''directly'' profit from those actions, in money or political power.
42	* EvilerThanThou: The villains of the pub are disgusted by the fact that most supervillains in Brockton Bay never amount to more than property damage and street crime, and decide to teach Taylor how to do villainy ''[[DoWrongRight properly]]''.
43	* EvilIsHammy: The villains hear about Taylor's world, and they are disappointed at how dull the villains are. When Skidmark attacks Zoom, The Joker, and Maleficent are amazed at how Skidmark doesn't even try a good monologue.
44	* EvilMentor: The villains of the Pub start to function as mentors to Taylor.
45	* EvilPlan: Discussed. Villains tell Taylor to find some kind of a goal, even an unattainable one, to have a direction and drive to move, and to carefully plan her moves so she doesn't back herself into a corner.
46	** She settles on exposing the hypocrisy of the current hero system so that they will have to either crash or change [[spoiler:by taking an advantage of the resentment among the less well-off population]].
47	* FalseReassurance: Arachne tells Sophia's PRT handler she will be given everything she's earned and a safe place in exchange for copying the Ward files for her. [[spoiler:She gets a stack of false bills and gets drugged and framed for possession, ensuring she'll wake up in jail]].
48	* FantasticRacism: Piggot is prejudiced against parahumans, as per canon. It's exploited by Coil since he knows she won't bring in Thinker support or pay attention to any unpowered crimes.
49	* FateWorseThanDeath: The Merchants who have the misfortune to engage Maleficient. She just shoved her opponents into a pillar of melted obsidian, while taking the time to make sure they would remain alive and burning in eternal Greek Fire.
50	* FramingTheGuiltyParty: [[spoiler: Arachne does this to Coil for his kidnapping of Dinah, sending a fake ransom note to the mayor and making ''sure'' that the news leaked to the press]].
51	* HiddenDepths: Apparently Skidmark was charismatic enough that he was the only thing keeping Squealer and Mush from constantly being at each other's throats. [[spoiler:As soon as he dies, they go to war with each other]]. He was also fairly competent at setting up things like storehouses.
52	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Trainwreck made sure that his armour couldn't be easily destroyed or taken apart by Brutes. [[spoiler:So he's unable to take it off in time before it (and he) overheats during a fight with Spitfire's group]].
53	* InexplicablyAwesome: Taylor somehow ends up at the Pub during her trigger, with no one sure on the ''how''.
54	* JustAKid: Piggot's opinion when she learns Arachne is no older than 20, thinking she's just some teenager on [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveSupernaturalPowers a power trip]].
55	* KickTheDog: Subverted. Emma ''tries'' to hurt Taylor by bringing up her mother's death. Taylor uses this to turn Emma's [[DudeNotFunny hangers-on against the girl]].
56	* ManipulativeBitch: Arachne is growing into one. So far, she's:
57	** Arranged for evidence of Shadow Stalker's inaction in a rape case to the surface, leading to a massive lawsuit pursued by Carol Dallon;
58	** [[spoiler:Convinced Sophia's handler to hand over heroes' personal files to her]];
59	** Completely destroyed Emma's confidence and powerbase in one conversation;
60	** [[spoiler:Convinced some of the dockworkers to set a trap for Hookwolf]];
61	** [[spoiler:Provided Youth Guard with Wards' files, including the ones that confirm they aren't getting required support and therapy, which prompts ''another'' lawsuit from ''Quinn Calle'']];
62	** [[spoiler:Informed Wards' parents of the limited support and heavy scrutiny their children receive in the program (we see only Clockblocker's mother, who later goes to Youth Guard)]];
63	** [[spoiler:Got a trio of independent capes to clear out a bunch of Merchant stash houses (for a cut of the loot, of course)]];
64	** [[spoiler:Framed Coil for the kidnapping of Dinah Alcott, putting Thomas Calvert against the wall as the PRT's starting to realize the extent of Coil's real ambition and power]];
65	** She ''is'' getting mentored by [[Toys/{{Bionicle}} Makuta Teridax]], one of the greatest manipulators ''ever'', after all, plus get tips from Moriarty and The Master.
66	* MeaningfulName:
67	** In some myths, Arachne created a tapestry depicting gods' flaws and mistakes. Taylor wants to expose the inadequacy and hypocrisy of the current hero system.
68	** Shadow Stalker's handler is named Delilah, alluding to the woman who betrayed Samson. [[spoiler:The handler gives the files of heroes and Wards to Arachne]].
69	* MoralMyopia: [[spoiler: Part of why Coil is so mad about someone pulling a FramingTheGuiltyParty on him is that he feels that ''he's'' the one that's supposed to manipulate others and set up the board in his favor, not the other way around]].
70	* MoralityKitchenSink: The villains in the bar are all, well, villains. However, the type and scope of them vary wildly- from honorable villains who wouldn't hurt a child, villains who had good intentions, all the way up to literal gods of evil and omnicidal maniacs.
71	* {{Mordor}}: The TropeNamer shows up as the location of Villain Christmas party, complete with lights wrapped around Mount Doom and dozens of Christmas trees.
72	* NoodleIncident: Bonesaw once sent a package containing a custom-made virus to the Youth Guard.
73	* OhCrap:
74	** The guy who delivered Arachne's... purchases, once he sees what's inside the packaging.
75	** [[spoiler:Calvert when he realizes somebody framed him and leaked Dinah's kidnapping to the news]].
76	** [[spoiler: The Undersiders have a massive one when they learn why the boss needed a distraction... ''from tv news'']].
77	* PetTheDog: Arachne helps one of Shadow Stalker's victims by providing evidence of her misdeeds.
78	* PlausibleDeniability: Apparently Piggot knew about Shadow Stalker's unauthorized patrols and lethal weaponry, but did nothing to stop her since it wasn't making any problems for the PRT and was generally very effective in hunting criminals.
79	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech:
80	** Taylor gives one to Emma when she leaves school, combined with a BreakingSpeech.
81	** MCU Mandarin receives one when he tries to enter the Villains' Christmas Party.
82	* RevengeBeforeReason: Villains warn Taylor against doing it [[spoiler:after she mentions framing the handler]].
83	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: The delivery guy who got traumatized by Arachne.
84	* SlaveToPR:
85	** Protectorate. Piggot even lampshades this, thinking that three-fourths of their work time is taken by PR events.
86	** Armsmaster to a lesser extent since he wants to be a famous hero.
87	** It even gets lampshaded at the pub. When Taylor tells her colleagues how often the Protectorate does PR events, Palpatine wonders how they find time to get actual work done, and she tells him that as a rule, they don't.
88	* SoleSurvivor: A single Merchant was spared Joker, Zoom, and Maleficient's revenge... for a few hours because Zoom wanted her to provide the police with his name. Then he just broke into the interrogation room and snapped her neck.
89	* SpottingTheThread: [[spoiler:Once they were tipped off, the PRT quickly realizes that Coil got various independents to stage distractions since those attacks occurred within ''minutes'' of each other and drew heroes away from Dinah's kidnapping]].
90	* TheStarscream: The TropeNamer is name-dropped, and deconstructed- because he backstabs everyone to get higher in rank, even when it would make things worse for him, no one trusts him or wants to work with him. Taylor openly uses him as an example of why she wouldn't be this kind of villain.
91	* StartOfDarkness: After inexplicably teleporting to Palpatine's pub, Taylor recounts her story to the villains. Joker immediately proclaims it a perfect Villain Origin.
92	* TastesLikePurple: According to Joker, Brockton Bay smells like paranoia and terror.
93	* TemptingFate:
94	** Armsmaster says the infamous line about Arachne.
95	---> '''Armsmaster:''' She controls ''bugs'', Director. [[MythologyGag I think we can take her.]]
96	** Villains warn Taylor against doing it since Murphy is always watching. They have a SwearJar for when people make that mistake.
97	* ThenLetMeBeEvil: Taylor's reaction to finding out Sophia is Shadowstalker.
98	---> ''Sophia Hess is a hero''.
99	---> But uncertainty turned to steel as she lifted her gaze up from the tile floor.
100	---> Sophia Hess wanted to play being a hero?
101	---> Fine, then it looked like she ''was'' going to be a Villain.
102	* TooDumbToLive: The Merchants attack the Joker, Maleficent, and Zoom, who are clearly capes. Even the Joker can't crack a joke, he's ''that'' surprised by how stupid they are.
103	--> '''Joker:''' You cannot be this stupid.
104	* TrainingFromHell: Taylor gets physical fitness and combat training from ''Slade''. Not that she minds.
105	* UnstoppableRage: Zod nearly punches Thanos' head off for killing Groot when he made it very clear he didn't want any harm coming to the little tree.
106	* VillainsOutShopping: Apparently there's an annual Villain Christmas party, with Taylor taking part in the current one.
107	* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Arachne slowly cultivates this in certain circles.
108	* WorthyOpponent:
109	** [[spoiler: ''Deep'' beneath the fury, a small part of Coil can't help but mentally salute the person who pulled a FramingTheGuiltyParty on him]].
110	** [[spoiler: Averted for Arachne, who considers him a wannabe and a nuisance.]]
111	* XanatosGambit: Makuta advises Taylor to do this sort of thing, as it is what separates the lesser villains from the greater ones- to hide objectives within objectives so that no matter what you do, ''you win.''

Context Fanfic / EvilAndHam