Editing Taylor Hebert (section)

===Background===
Taylor is initially a shy and awkward teenage girl with an interest in capes. She read cape magazines for a few years,<ref>Brian nodded, a small smile playing on his lips, “Nope.  Now, how on the ball are you, as far as knowing what we’re up against?”<br><br>I blinked a few times, then hedged, “For other local capes?  I’ve done research online, read the cape magazines religiously for a few years, more since getting my powers… but I dunno.  If the past twenty four hours have taught me anything, it’s that there’s a lot I don’t know, and will only find out the hard way.”<br><br>Brian smiled.  I mean, really smiled.  It made me think of a boy rather than a nearly-grown man.  He replied, “Most don’t get that, you know?  I’ll try to share what I know, so you aren’t caught off guard, but don’t be afraid to ask if there’s anything you’re not sure about, alright?” - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2011/07/26/insinuation-2-7/ Excerpt] from [[Insinuation 2.7]]</ref> though this only taught her basic facts about local heroes.<ref>His trademark and weapon was his Halberd, which was basically a spear with an axe head on the end, souped up with gadgets and the kind of technology you generally only saw in science fiction.  He was the kind of guy who appeared on magazine covers and did interviews on TV, so you could find almost anything about Armsmaster through various media, short of his secret identity.  I knew his weapon could cut through steel as though it was butter, that it had plasma injectors for stuff that the blade alone couldn’t cut and that he could fire off directed electromagnetic pulses to shut down forcefields and mechanical devices. - [[Gestation 1.6]]</ref><ref>Battery and Velocity were both speedsters of a sort, giving them the ability to move at a ridiculous pace.  They were very different ''kinds'' of speedster, though.  As I interpreted it, from all the stuff I’d read online and in the magazines and interviews, Battery could charge up and move at enhanced speeds for very short periods of time, sort of like how Bitch’s power pumped up her dogs, but concentrated into a few brief moments.  It was a physiological change, altering her biology and then altering it back before it became too much on her body.  The actual act of moving at the speeds these guys could manage was an incredible strain on the body.  There were only one or two parahumans on the planet who could manage that kind of movement without any workarounds or limitations, and Battery and Velocity weren’t among them.<br><br>Velocity, in contrast to Battery, was more like Shadow Stalker.  He changed ''states'', and while I had no idea what this meant exactly, whether it was him shifting partially into another dimension or altering the way time or physics worked in relation to himself, I did know that it made him able to move very fast, without needing to rest like Battery did.  Fast enough that my wasps couldn’t really land on him, and those that did were dispatched before they could start stinging. - [[Tangle 6.6]]</ref><ref>When I looked at our remaining escape route, Dauntless was at the other end of the alley.  Brockton Bay’s rising star.  It would have been easy to peg him as a tinker, but he apparently wasn’t.  His power let him, according to details he’d leaked when he’d appeared on TV and in magazines, imbue his gear with a little bit of power every day.  Thing was, every bit of power he parceled out had permanent effects.  Every day, he was just a little bit stronger than he’d been the day before.  A little bit more versatile.  It was expected that he would eventually surpass even the likes of Alexandria, Legend and Eidolon, the ‘triumvirate’ of the Protectorate, the top dogs.  That kind of made him a big deal in Brockton Bay, a hometown hero.<br><br>I didn’t follow that stuff, didn’t buy into the hero worship.  I’d always found the capes ''interesting'', I’d followed the non-gossipy news about them, but with the exception of a phase around the time I was nine where I’d had an Alexandria t-shirt and had my mom help me find pictures of her online, I had never really got giddy over any particular hero. - [[Tangle 6.7]]</ref><ref>A scattered few independent heroes and villains were around as well.  Few I could name.  I saw a girl dressed up like an old fashioned doll.  Parian.  She was local, and she wasn’t hero or villain.  A rogue, who only used her powers for business or entertainment.  She could sometimes be seen doing some promotion for a store downtown, giving life to some massive stuffed animal or a store mascot.  She’d done an interview in a magazine I’d read back before I had powers, and I knew she was a fashion student, though she wasn’t revealing just who she was until after she was more established. - [[Extermination 8.1]]</ref><ref>Worse, if by some small miracle two capes managed to find comfort and support in each other, there was no guarantee that those other two points that Sundancer had raised wouldn’t ruin things.  The intensity of our lifestyle and the sheer violence.  Lady Photon had lost her husband in the Leviathan fight.  Glory Girl had, if the magazines and papers were any indication, maintained an on-and-off relationship with Gallant.  He’d died too.<br><br>So this?  Lying here beside Brian?  It was sort of bittersweet, with maybe a 60-40 split on the sweet vs. the bitter. - [[Colony 15.4]]</ref> She looked forward to the part of her World Issues class where they discussed capes "since the start of the semester".<ref name="1.1"/> She had seemingly never heard of [[Trigger Event]]s, but this may have been a mistake by the author.<ref>Being completely honest, even as the author, I'm a little surprised Taylor didn't know or even voice that she'd come across the idea while on ParahumansOnline. I thought I remembered the dialogue going more like, "Do you know what trigger events are?" "I've heard of them, but..."<br><br>I suspect I may tweak it just a bit when I return to the chapter while doing the edits for the polished final version. - [https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/posts/2465484/ Comment by Wildbow, archived on Sufficient Velocity]</ref>

She was "'surviving', for lack of a better word," from the point her mother died, and then surviving from the point she started getting bullied -- she just wanted to get by. She responded to stress with silence and withdrawal.<ref name="IRC eEarlyTaylor">Wildbow: Early Taylor responds to stress with silence and withdrawal.<br>[...]<br>logiccosmic: Anything else you remember from the shit show?<br>Mishie: back<br>Wildbow: The big issue is it doesn't feel like Taylor.<br>Wildbow: When writing a character, you gotta start from the motivations. Taylor, starting out, just wants to get by.<br>''(logiccosmic scribbles furiously)''<br>Wildbow: She was 'surviving', for lack of a better word, from the point her mom died, and then surviving from the point she started getting bullied.<br>Wildbow: She compartmentalizes things, but she's very prone to having her perspective skew like crazy.<br>Wildbow: (I really want to emphasize this more in the rewrite, for the initial arcs) - [[Wildbow]] on IRC, [https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/17202689/ archived on SpaceBattles]</ref> She was starved for touch.<ref> Lisa, though, put one of her arms around my shoulders and gave me a one-armed squeeze of a hug.  She was a little older than I was, so she was just tall enough to be at the perfect height to do it.  What caught me off guard was how nice the gesture felt.  Like I had been needing a hug from someone who wasn’t my dad for a long time. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2011/07/26/insinuation-2-7/ Excerpt] from [[Insinuation 2.7]]</ref> She suspected that she would hurt herself before she hurt [[the Trio]].<ref name="1.2"/> However, Wildbow has stated that if she hadn't triggered, Taylor would likely have simply stopped going to school rather than harming herself.<ref>People keep saying suicide, but that isn't quite it.<br>Taylor likely would have stopped going to school. She was already on that road. - [https://redd.it/2szsy2 Reddit - "What would've happened to Taylor if she'd never triggered?"]</ref>

She was afraid of illegal drugs, saying she "had this sense" that they were like "an unstoppable black hole". Just the idea of being around someone that was high made her mildly anxious.<ref name="5.8">[[Hive 5.8]]</ref> She disliked taking painkiller pills because they never seemed to make a difference.<ref>Brian insisted I take two Tylenol, though the pain was still limited to a mild ache in my arm.  I grudgingly obliged.  I’d never liked taking pills, and never felt they made a real difference. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2011/08/02/insinuation-2-9/ Excerpt] from [[Insinuation 2.9]]</ref>

She was familiar with navigating computers from a young age thanks to her mother.<ref>I knew my way around computers, my mom had made sure I had one since before I could read and write, but I would be lying if I said I could tell if I was being hacked or do anything about it. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2011/07/19/insinuation-2-5/ Excerpt] from [[Insinuation 2.5]]</ref>

She was a "nonbeliever", as opposed to an 'atheist', when it comes to religion, as the subject was not something she put a great deal of thought into and certainly not to the point where she'd label herself an 'atheist'. Due to her habit of blaming the people in charge when things started becoming bleak and messed up, it would be a stretch for her to be faithful in a world with poor conditions like Worm.<ref>[https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/worm-thread-gimel-tinker-taylor-weaver-worm.690769/page-62#post-16919488 Comment] by Wildbow on RPG.net</ref>

Disliked the idea of having her bodily autonomy taken away even before she triggered.<ref name=":2">That was disturbing.  I didn’t have a better way of putting it.  I’d almost been paralyzed by Leviathan in the Endbringer attack, but even before that, the idea of being left conscious but unable to move of my own volition had always spooked me.<br><br>I’d never had a relative in the hospital suffering from anything like that, and I couldn’t remember seeing any movies or shows on television that might have put the idea in my head at an impressionable age.  Still, it was one of the first places my mind went when I thought about worst case scenarios and horrific fates.  It had been in my thoughts more over the past two or three years, and the idea had been showcased in more than one nightmare over the past two weeks.<br><br>Maybe it was more general than that.  Not a fear of paralysis, specifically, but of helplessness.- [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2012/05/01/parasite-10-3/ Excerpt] from [[Parasite 10.3]]</ref><ref>“You… ''voluntarily'' gave him control over you?” I asked.<br><br>“Little while back,” Imp said.  “I wanted to see what it was like.  Could come in handy.  ''Did'' come in handy.”<br><br>''It’s Regent'', I thought.  I’d fought beside him in life and death scenarios and I would never have allowed him to take control of me.  Couldn’t fathom it.<br><br>Was there a way I could diplomatically say as much?<br><br>None I could think of, right this minute.<br><br>“I can’t imagine submitting myself to that,” I said. - [https://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/04/16/imago-21-3/ Excerpt] from [[Imago 21.3]]</ref>

Taylor was canonically heterosexual.<ref>[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/worm-web-serial-discussion-iii-after-the-end.274031/page-70?post=12862094#post-12862094 Wildbow] on Spacebattles.</ref>
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