Line #22 FanFic/Bird


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/racheaktfinished.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''Mimi and Elle were my friends, and saving friends was what heroes did. I wasn't going to let my friends die. I'd look after them. ''Picture done by [[https://jiinsy.wixsite.com/gallery JiinseyDesigns]] ]]
3	->"Nobody likes it here. About one in every five doctors might be here to help the patients, the rest are here to ''study'' the patients.
4	->But you know what? You need this, we all need this. We have to try. It’s not going to be easy, it's not going to be pleasant. It's not going to be fun, or about making friends; or even, hell, escaping—though all of those might happen. Who knows?
5	->Being here is about one thing, and it’s the most important thing of all:'' ‘‘getting better’’ ''."
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7	''[[http://archiveofourown.org/series/603655 Bird]]'' is a ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' fanfic by [[http://archiveofourown.org/users/Racheakt/pseuds/Racheakt Racheakt]]. Original drafts began on the Spacebattles forums in 2015, with the story proper following suit in 2017.
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9	In addition, the author has posted [[http://archiveofourown.org/works/9097906/chapters/20682838 notes addressing some plot points and world-building that are not directly engaged in-story]].
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11	Where many ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' fanfictions are about spectacle and others are about [[RevengeFic some kind of proxy revenge]], ''Bird'' takes a more nuanced perspective. The story contrasts many of the themes in ''Literature/{{Worm}}''. In place of physical and authoritative threats, there are a series of emotional and mental threats. Where ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' was about ever-increasing spectacle, ''Bird'' is about subtlety.
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13	The result is the contrast between an Action Flick and a Psychological Thriller.
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15	It can be found at [[http://archiveofourown.org/series/603655 AO3]], [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/30533494/ the SpaceBattles forums]], and [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12337359/1/Cage Fanfiction.net]].
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17	As of 2019 it was officially folded in with another project and renamed ''Literature/ThePrecipice'', and is no longer updating.
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19	----
20	'''Warning:''' Full story provides spoilers for ''{{Literature/Worm}}.''
21	----
22	!! This series provides examples of:
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24	* AFriendInNeed: A defining characteristic of Taylor is her willingness to reach out to some of the less agreeable patients at Alchemilla. Mimi, in particular, badly injures her when her [[PlayingWithFire power]] [[PowerIncontinence rages out of control]], and is confused and touched when Taylor doesn't take it personally.
25	--> ''"Usually, when I burn someone, they, they never want anything to do with me any more."''
26	* AdorableAbomination: Sveta is a sweet, likable, and -- more importantly -- ''sane'' young woman. She is also a mass of murderous tentacles she can only control some of the time. Alchemilla is full of people with problems they can't help, and many of them are insane, but Sveta might be the standout example due to her immense physical mutations. This fic as a whole runs on themes of inversion, and as such, people with horrible pasts and/or appearances are more likely to be nice and sweet.
27	* AfterActionHealingDrama: Arc three opens with a Taylor resting in the infirmary, she has to rest and recuperate following her [[RunOrDie narrow escape]] from [[HeroKiller Hatchetface]].
28	* TheAlcatraz: Of a sort. Alchemilla originally filled a role similar to the Birdcage. It still has some of the trappings (and specialized equipment).
29	** The high security: special containment wing plays this more straight, home to a roster of incredibly dangerous, mentally unstable parahumans. How dangerous? The first one we see is [[spoiler: ''Hatchet Face'']] and worse yet it's implied he isn't the worst of them.
30	* AllTherapistsAreMuggles: As mandated by the PRT. All staff are PRT, and thus have no powers.
31	* AlternateUniverseFic: As mentioned in the summary, based around a general theme of emotional and mental threats, but with a secondary theme of reversal, where many canon roles and characters are inverted in some way. Danny is [[spoiler: dead]], Emma and Taylor are still friends, [[spoiler: Eden survived, not Scion]]. The Triumvirate are powerswaps of other canon characters taken up to eleven, and the Slaughterhouse Nine are [[spoiler: lead by an adult Bonesaw, with Jack taking her role from canon.]]
32	* AnimalThemedSuperbeing: Feral is loosely themed along the lines of a wolf or cat, with claws, great strength, enhanced senses, and a healing factor.
33	* AwesomenessByAnalysis: How Taylor's powers work.
34	** AuraVision
35	** EnemyScan
36	** {{Psychometry}}: Essentially how Taylor's power works. Though it is not limited to touch- that is just when it is at its strongest.
37	** ScarilyCompetentTracker: Once familiar enough with something or someone, Taylor gains prescience of it.
38	** SherlockScan
39	** StatOVision: One facet of Taylor's power.
40	** TouchTelepathy
41	** TheForceIsStrongWithThisOne: Taylor can analyze powers if allowed to grow familiar with them, and even detect parahumans. In addition, touching something (including humans and parahumans) allows her to instantly analyze almost anything.
42	* AxCrazy: There are a few examples of this trope, but not as many as one would expect. See InsaneEqualsViolent below for more clarity.
43	* {{Backstory}}: Mimi and Elle's canon past in the asylum for parahumans is invoked as the setting for ''Bird''.
44	* BadPowersGoodPeople: Many powers are frightening, or unsuited to use around people. Mimi is a standout example, but many parahumans at Alchemilla qualify.
45	* BarefootLoon: Taylor has no proper shoes for the first several chapters. Due to the setting, it is possible that the staff are trying to limit possible weapons and/or suicide implements available to the patients.
46	* BedlamHouse: Zig-zagging. Alchemilla is a ShoutOut to ''Franchise/SilentHill'', but its depiction is largely that of an institution trying to do its best and running into the ever-present issues of staffing and funding, therapy groups and psychologists are present and well-meaning, and most of the inmates are decent people in a bad situation. On the other hand... the lower levels are used as a prison for various superpowered nightmares and creations, and containment is none-too-good, much of the institutional factors are ineffectual at best, and many of the patients probably would have been better suited for the [[{{Oubliette}} Birdcage.]]
47	* BlessedWithSuck: This as an ongoing theme in this fic; whether it's [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity Mimi]], or [[TheOphelia Elle]], or [[StringyHairedGhostGirl Charnel]], or [[AdorableAbomination Sveta]]. In fact, one could argue that every patient in Alchemilla falls into this to some degree.
48	* {{Bookworm}}: One of the few activities Taylor can regularly indulge in, exacerbated by her power removing her need to sleep.
49	* BreakTheCutie: Taylor, and everyone at Alchemilla has a troubled history.
50	* CastFullOfCrazy: The sections that take place in Alchemilla are this, as it is an insane asylum for Parahumans it is Justified.
51	* CharacterTics: Mimi hugs her arms to herself and rubs her arms whenever she's nervous or guilty.
52	* CloudCuckooLandersMinder: Taylor usually falls into a role like this. Mimi, Elle, and Taylor end up forming a violent, spacy, and sane trio as a result.
53	* CreepyDoll: At least two. Charnel is implied to be a victim of a Tinker who made dolls from people, while Quilt is a Case-53 and no-one is entirely sure what Marionette is.
54	* CursedWithAwesome: Most of the patients at Alchemilla in one form or another.
55	* DeathByAdaptation:
56	** Danny Hebert was still alive by the start of canon, here he died two years before the start of the story.
57	** Legend in canon lives all the way to the sequel, here he dies years before the start of the story.
58	* DefusingTheTykeBomb: This trope is featured heavily in Taylor's efforts to make friends in Alchemilla asylum. She starts with [[PowerIncontinence Burnscar]] and works from there. It helps that her powers allow her to perceive the [[BrokenBird true natures]] of charaters that might seem too violent or dangerous to be worth the effort otherwise.
59	* DysfunctionJunction: The asylum as a whole, and Taylor comes into contact with many choice examples.
60	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: most of arc two was rewritten from scratch when the author realized that severe structural errors had been made, resulting in a drastically different story to be told.
61	* EmptyShell: Charnel is largely viewed this way by Alchemilla's inhabitants. [[spoiler: It's revealed that her passivity and physical augmentations were the result of a Tinker experimenting on her.]]
62	* EmotionalPowers: Mimi is a stand-out example, but many parahumans in and outside the asylum have an element of this.
63	** Ingénue has a particularly strong element of this as well, in that she falls in love with anyone she uses her powers on.
64	* EpiphanicPrison: Invoked interestingly in this fic, a long-running theme of inversion of the source material's motif of physical and authoritive threats means that ultimately most patients at Alchemilla are kept there by their own fears and insecurities. As superpowered humans that are mostly voluntarily institutionalised, the majority can leave at any time they choose. Part of Taylor's journey is realizing she has to, both to protect her friends who ''can't'' leave voluntarily and to grow herself.
65	* EyeScream: Taylor's newly gained powers caused her to stab a nurse in the eye with a pen.
66	* ExhaustedEyeBags: Mimi.
67	* FertileFeet: Elle often leaves behind flowers and grass as she walks.
68	* FisherKing: Elle/Labyrinth's powers works loosely along these rules.
69	* FriendToPsychos: Taylor is a benevolent Type III- mostly owing to the fact her power gives her hints of the [[ReluctantPsycho true natures]] of several patients.
70	** Doctors Yamada and Selmy also tend towards this behavior, Taylor gets it from them.
71	* FromBadToWorse
72	* GoAmongMadPeople: Deconstructed and played with.
73	* HeroicSeductress: Interestingly enough, this version of Ingénue.
74	* ImaginationBasedSuperpower: Elle's worlds are comprised of any structures or landmarks she can imagine and construct in her mind.
75	* InsaneEqualsViolent: Played with. While many patients are dangerous, the danger has no direct correlation to insanity and not all the patients are actually ''insane''. Many simply possess powers with negative repercussions, or powers that are extremely dangerous. Sveta is a choice example, as she is very violent, but perfectly sane, as it is entirely her power's doing. Burnscar is somewhat less violent, but also has mental and emotional problems to match.
76	* {{Kaiju}}: The Endbringers.
77	* KindheartedSimpleton: Cidersong. He's not dangerous, but he's strongly implied to be Autistic, and his residence in Alchemilla is mostly to protect him from people who would try to abuse him for his powers.
78	* LackOfEmpathy: Mimi's powers cause a condition very like this. Has been compared to escapism and a drug.
79	* LaughingMad: Comes up occasionally with some patients.
80	* LoonyFriendsImproveYourPersonality: "The pain was still there, but so far away. It could not paralyze me. I wasn't going to let my friends die. I'd look after them."
81	* ManBitesMan: Taylor does this in the panic and confusion of the fight in the sunroom.
82	* MedicateTheMedium
83	* MoodWhiplash: Taylor tries to bond with the Case 53s by joining them for a livestream of Peat and Fen. At first it seems like it will be a lighthearted bonding experience, with the stream featuring a cartoon opening and Feral gushing over Peat's adorable preteen antics... Until the camera pans to reveal both kids were horrifically injured by the Fallen and only survived due to Haven's intervention. The group does not take it well.
84	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone
85	* NamedByTheAdaptation:
86	** In this story Labyrinth and Burnscar’s full names are Elle Brown and Mimi Harris respectively.
87	** Professor Haywire‘s full name is Samuel Hayden.
88	* TheNoseKnows: Feral has a powerful sense of smell ([[SuperSenses in addition to nightvision and several other minor powers]]). Her sense of smell is specifically described as much stronger than a bloodhound's, and is powerful enough to serve as a mild [[TheEmpath empath sense]] and [[LivingLieDetector lie detector]]. It's enough to count as a minor Thinker power.
89	* TheOphelia: Elle.
90	* OriginalFlavor
91	* PersonalityPowers: There is an element of this as a running theme. The relevance and impact varies from parahuman to parahuman.
92	* PhysicalScarsPsychologicalScars: Mimi has cigarette burns on her cheeks and ladders of cuts up her arms.
93	* PsychoactivePowers: Elle/Labyrinth's powers have a strong element of this, Mimi's powers have [[TheSoulless the opposite]] [[EmptyShell effect]].
94	* PowerIncontinence: Sveta's is probably the stand-out example, but could be applied to largely every character in the asylum to some degree.
95	* ThePowerOfFriendship: One of the central themes of Bird is that people are more than their flaws. Taylor's perspective always hints at more under the surface, beyond any violent outbursts, or inability to talk. Her willingness to look past sometimes glaring difficulties and cultivate the good she sees is what gathers her the TrueCompanions her friends all become.
96	--> ''"Mimi and Elle were my friends, and saving friends was what heroes did. I wasn't going to let my friends die. I'd look after them."''
97	* PyroManiac: Burnscar.
98	* ReluctantPsycho: Mimi (Burnscar) is actually a really sweet girl, who hates what her power does to her passionately. The problem is that she has [[PowerIncontinence very little control of it...]]
99	* RetiredMonster: Maser, who was formerly an infamous supervillain, now enjoying his retirement in Alchemilla.
100	** Professor Haywire might also count, as he voluntarily took up residence in High Security and provides the facility with tinkertech in exchange for the heroes' protection.
101	* RunOrDie: Taylor and Mimi are confronted by a parahuman that causes them to lose their powers- they are unarmed and, in Taylor's case, injured teenagers. The parahuman is [[spoiler: Hatchetface]] a HeroKiller in canon.
102	* ShoutOut
103	** Alchemilla Asylum is a reference to ''Franchise/SilentHill''.
104	** Lizard Prince is an homage to [=McMurphy=] from ''Film/OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest''.
105	** Inkling is... well, an [[Franchise/{{Splatoon}} Inkling]].
106	** Feral is inspired by the character of the same name from ''WebComic/StrongFemaleProtagonist'', including her attempt to offset the harm she had done as a villain by using her healing factor to be a living organ bank as they both grow back and seemingly don't have issues with rejection. [[spoiler:Unlike SFP, this backfires ''horribly,'' and the organs don't 'merely' become cancerous: they start aggressively transforming their new body into a duplicate of Feral's.]]
107	** The Endbringer that hits Boston is essentially the monster from ''Film/{{Cloverfield}}''.
108	** Several asylum residents are Expies. [[VideoGame/{{Undertale}} Cidersong and Maser are expies of Papyrus and Sans]]. [[VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}} Charnel is the Plain Doll]]. [[Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt Marionette is Hetty]]. [[Franchise/SilentHill Hatchetface is Pyramid Head]].
109	** Mimi's past and trigger event are very similar to the plot of [[spoiler:''Literature/{{Carrie}}''. Both are high school social outcasts who unleash their superpowers on their classmates after a traumatic incident on prom night.]]
110	** The world of crumbled ruins and cliffs [[TheOphelia Labyrinth]] manifests bears a suspicious resemblance to [[Videogame/DarkSouls Firelink Shrine and the Undead Burg]].
111	* SparedByAdaptation:
112	** In canon Annette Hebert died two years before the start of the story, here she is still alive.
113	** [[GadgeteerGenius Hero]] is still alive, while in canon he was murdered years before the start of canon.
114	** In canon Allfather and Iron Rain died before the start of the story, here they’re still alive.
115	** In canon [[Literature/{{Ward}} Peat and Fen]] were murdered by The Fallen, here they were saved by Haven.
116	** In Interlude - Lafayette we find out that Professor Haywire is still alive, while in canon he was long dead by the start of the story.
117	* StatuesqueStunner: Feral is much taller than most of the characters at Alchemilla, very brawny, and an accomplished hero in the Protectorate. To be clear, she's tall enough to pick up her adopted father, Doctor Selmy, and spin him around like he's a child.
118	* [[SuddenlyShouting Suddenly SHOUTING]]: Mimi, when she starts mood swinging.
119	* TalkativeLoon: Numerous, with note of the babbling man in the asylum library, whose dialogue is mostly veiled references to the Entities and the Cycle.
120	* TomTheDarkLord: The Horde, Professor Haywire's EvilTwin created as a byproduct of his gruesome experiments on his alternate selves is a powerful supervillain incarcerated in Alchemilla's high security area. He's apparently so powerful [[spoiler: Professor Haywire, who is speculated to be on ''Hero's level'' willingly let himself get locked up for the extra protection of superheroes from him.]] His real name? Kevin, apparently.
121	* WeirdnessMagnet: Taylor sure runs into a lot of interesting people...

Context FanFic / Bird