Taylor's power was odd, in that it was rather strong, rather strange and extremely opinionated, and she was fine to keep it hidden away. Unfortunately, neither Sophia Hess nor her power were keen to let this situation stand, and in a single moment she is forced to be proactive in a world that is very interested in her power... if only she can make sure she does not get found out as the one who stole Shadow Stalkers power.
But hey, all situations can become an opportunity, if leveraged properly.
But hey, all situations can become an opportunity, if leveraged properly.
Pale-Snake
is a fanfic by Stargazing Seraph. It is a crossover between JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and Worm.
During the Locker Incident, instead of triggering with the power to control arthropods, Taylor instead gains a new companion, one with the ability to steal powers and read the minds and memories of others.
Pale-Snake contains examples of:
- Adaptational Superpower Change: Twofold:
- It's an altpower Taylor Fic, where instead of controlling arthropods, she instead gains a Master power that emulates Pucci's Stand, WhiteSnake.
- As for White Snake itself, it differs in that 1), being a Parahuman power, it can steal other Parahuman powers, and 2) unlike Stands, which are invisible except against other Stand users, here White Snake is fully visible like other projection type powers.
- A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Read: When Taylor uses White Snake on Johnny to gain information on some of their activities, she ends up accidentally viewing a scene of him having sex with his wife.
- Anti-Villain: Johnny, the gang member Taylor accosts for his memories is shown to be this. Despite being a member of Empire 88, it's revealed that he genuinely doesn't like organized violence and blood sport and doesn't really believe in Nazi ideology, with his main motivation for joining Empire 88 being a desire for community and belonging.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: A variant, as Taylor's trigger was born out of a desire to have companions who wouldn't betray her. Well, she gets that with White Snake, only problem is that he's a) an amoral being that only cares about Taylor and her wellbeing, and b) will agree with any reasoning she gives for her actions, making him a living echo chamber, which is especially problematic as those familiar with Worm canon will remember that one of Taylor's biggest flaws is her Moral Myopia and lack of self-awareness, and now she has a perfect enabler for those tendencies.
- Foil: While not an actual character in the case of the latter, several readers have noted that White Snake can be seen as one for Taylor's canon power. They're both born from her desire was to have companions who wouldn't betray her, but whereas her canon power consisted of millions of mindless, weak minions compelled to obey, here she has one powerful minion that's sentient, but follows Taylor out of genuine loyalty.
- It Can Think: Just as in canon, White Snake is a genuinely sentient power, being capable of speaking and making it's own decisions, to the point of even being able to have arguments and disagreements with it's user.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: In-Universe, in regards to the Muscles Are Meaningless situation with Hookwolf being able to shrug off blows from a much larger man, Taylor's unsure as to whether it's due his power enhancing his durability even he's not visually using it, or if it's because he's simply used to enough to these sorts of cage matches that he's able to shrug off most blows.
- Muscles Are Meaningless: Discussed, as during the final cage match at E88's hideout, Taylor notes that Hookwolf is able to shrug off blows from a man who's much larger than him even without any seeming use of his power.
- Toxic Friend Influence: White Snake has already demonstrated clear signs of this, actively urging Taylor to be more ruthless and vindictive in how she deals with her enemies, notably suggesting sending Shadow Stalker to jail and using her powers to gain leverage over others. Taylor outright likens him to being the inverse of The Conscience.
- Ultimate Job Security: Discussed, upon identifying Sophia Hess as Shadow Stalker, Taylor starts to wonder if the PRT are aware of her unsavory tendencies, but decide to ignore them because she's too useful. This leads to her musing on how she can gain leverage and make herself useful enough to not be cast aside.
- The Unfettered: White Snake's sole guiding intention is aiding Taylor in whatever way it believes best. Other than that, it's completely amoral, having no attachment or regard for the lives and wellbeing of others, being fully comprehending of the concepts of morality, but not caring in the slightest about adhering to them. Taylor outright describes him as a psychopath.
