Charm Learning Shard (Worm/Exalted) (COMPLETED)

[Omnomimous]

There are only two answers to that question:

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There are other answers. For instance, that America is intended to be a meritocracy, but racists in the government (on both sides of the aisle) have subverted the system against certain minorities for their own separate purposes with, for example, the drug war and financial dependency programs.

 

[Anonymous Brainwash]

There are other answers. For instance, that America is intended to be a meritocracy, but racists in the government (on both sides of the aisle) have subverted the system against certain minorities for their own separate purposes with, for example, the drug war and financial dependency programs.

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But for the Nazis/Nazi recruits, that requires them to both, accurately remember history and have enough of a decent education.

Neither of which are particularly big things in the United States. Especially for the southern US where the Herren Clan and who knows who else is stationed.

 

[Omnomimous]

But for the Nazis/Nazi recruits, that requires them to both, accurately remember history and have enough of a decent education.

Neither of which are particularly big things in the United States. Especially for the southern US where the Herren Clan and who knows who else is stationed.

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You're assigning too little credit, I think. Remember, to a conspiracy theorist, all evidence is in favor of the conspiracy.

What the Empire would say is that those things did indeed happen, but at the behest of a third group who controls both parties. """"They"""" arranged for it so that they'd have an easily manipulable voter base in both parties and systemic inequalities that they could blame on their enemies, the white supremacists (all white people).

The key to effectively writing a bad faith debater is, oddly enough, the key to improv comedy: "yes, and..." At every level of discussion, the bad actor will redirect rather than contradict any fact that they can't superficially disprove with skewed statistics.

 

[Anonymous Brainwash]

You're assigning too little credit, I think. Remember, to a conspiracy theorist, all evidence is in favor of the conspiracy.

What the Empire would say is that those things did indeed happen, but at the behest of a third group who controls both parties. """"They"""" arranged for it so that they'd have an easily manipulable voter base in both parties and systemic inequalities that they could blame on their enemies, the white supremacists (all white people).

The key to effectively writing a bad faith debater is, oddly enough, the key to improv comedy: "yes, and..." At every level of discussion, the bad actor will redirect rather than contradict any fact that they can't superficially disprove with skewed statistics.

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Hmm… you're right. It's not just that Nazis are stupid, it's that their irrational. Clinging to the smallest of possibilities and finding any errors within their world view being brushed off as outliers.

We even saw that in this chapter when Taylor considered the one Black guy as an outlier.

 

[Robert413]

Oh Taylor, Taylor, Taylor... I'm so disappointed in you. You've actually gone from a Type 2 Nazi to a Type 1 Nazi.I expected better from you.

You see, there are TWO general types of Nazis. Type 1 are "Actual Factual" Nazis. It helps to be German and a member of the National Socialist Party in the 1930's / 40's. But that's Pedantic. If you believe in a strong central government, believe that one group / religion / genotype is inherently superior to another, have no tolerance for divergent points of view, enjoy attempting to exterminating other ethnicities, approve of applying violence to those with opposing political views, and believe that it's perfectly reasonable to burn / ban books by people you disagree with, you may be a Type 1 Nazi! It's is, in fact, a small community in this day and age.

Type 2 Nazi's are a FAR more inclusive and diverse bunch. All that's required to be Type 2 Nazi is to disagree with certain 'popular' social and political positions and, BAM! You're a Type 2 Nazi Easy peasy! Heck, you don't even have to disagree per se, merely refuse to support and advance those agendas! And since those 'popular' positions shift and move with great frequency, simply picking a moral position and standing by it will likely see you becoming a Type 2 Nazi in short order!

My biggest issue with this story thus far has been that, per Canon, the E88 are very much Type 1 Actual Factual Nazis. Who enjoy beating up and murdering minorities, silencing anyone who disagrees with them, and generally being enormous assholes. And yet the author has generally been treating them as Type 2 Nazis... Mostly harmless good old boys who want to share a drink and tell racist jokes in peace, acting as an expanded citizens watch to protect their neighborhoods. It's a bit of a disconnect from the source material.

Up to this point I've been hoping / assuming that Taylor has merely been drifting into Type 2 Nazidom. You know "Boy these guys sure are racist. And their underlying philosophy and logic is garbage. But there ARE a few nuggets of truth at the fringes, and it's kinda crazy that Nazi's are the only ones willing to say some of them out loud. Ugh. Well, at last they have good powers to steal." But it really seems she's drunk the coolaid... Unless that was all a performance to break her relationship with her dad / gaslight the PRT... But yeah, that glimmer of hope is getting dimmer and dimmer...

 

[goricnac]

At thsi point I don't think theres much doubt that Taylor has fully drank the kool aid, there could possibly be some random reasoning about how she thinks the house is bugged so shes performing, but given the act she was trying to put at the PRT that wouldn't really make any sense, it also explains why she still returned to the Empire.

Gotta say feels fucking weird seeing a character trying to argue for the benefits of racial segregation and somehow have that presented as correct cause she spent the entire previous chapter fighting off incursions of dangerous thugs of various racial minorities into all white neighborhoods. Really feels like the plot and universe are being Tailored (Dumb pun) to validate the brand of retardedness Taylor is falling for, up to and including her only "positive" interaction with a black person being her mentally damaged due to drugs mastered slave that "knows her place".

 

[Zxzx24]

The author mentioned a while ago Taylor was spending all her willpower on acting as normal as possible.

I believe willpower is also used to resist social maneuvering?

So that probably helps justify the belief shift.

Also if she is spending all her willpower on acting normally...

Well she just lost a major source of willpower generation.

If shes still spending it to try and act normal shes gonna go from running on fumes to running on nothing.

Assuming she doesnt have infinite willpower for charms from QA or something.

Also assuming that this is all going somewhere. (I've been burned by that assumption before)

All in all nice to see the ugly nazism come out to play too. I do miss getting probably upset with and annoyed though. Ah well.

 

[Akuma-Heika]

Yikes, I guess that answers whether or not an exalted can or cannot drink the Kool-Aid in the end after all

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Its called the Great Curse inseries

All traditional Exalted drink Kool-Aid, just different flavoring added (and the Infernals and Abyssals are energy drinks and nitroglycerin respectively )

 

[Omnomimous]

If shes still spending it to try and act normal shes gonna go from running on fumes to running on nothing.

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That's when she starts to really act unhinged and racking up that sweet sweet Limit.

I think someone's first Limit Break has to be my favorite part of celestial exalted characters. Really looking forward to seeing what kind she has.

 

[Zxzx24]

I am legitimately impressed she hasnt already hit limit break.

Which I dont think she has? I can remember her doing some awful stupid stuff, but nothing... dramatic enough for the great curse.

 

[Daniel Snuts]

I'm pretty sure she got Nightmare Fugue Vigilance. She was trying to not get a weapon-based power, and Miss Militia is a Noctis cape, so that would qualify I think. I forget what one kW means, but since it was 2, and this charm is essence 2, it makes sense to me at least. Would mean more time available for activities, but would reduce her ability to gain Willpower from sleep.

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It was pretty obvious last chapter, but I can't hand out cookies until it officially shows up in the charm list. Have one now. Would you like to continue the hot streak by telling me about Ballistic's power?

Yeah it's certainly nightmare fugue vigilance. Not something Taylor's fraying sanity needed lmao.

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And another cookie.

In Taylor's eyes, are all of humanity just animals and slaves to her? I wonder if those mastered by her get some forms of rights or are they too like everyone else in that analogy.

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I think you misinterpreted her words/actions. 'Natural resources aren't people, and don't get human rights' is her statement about how the world works - but she opposes the world in this, becoming the villain. She affirms their personhood and their rights (to segregate/secede into a society of their own).

The relevant question here is whether PRT agent Adam Falconer was Coil's asset who made sure that Grue wouldn't squeal.

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He was.

 

[ses]

It was pretty obvious last chapter, but I can't hand out cookies until it officially shows up in the charm list. Have one now. Would you like to continue the hot streak by telling me about Ballistic's power?

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After literal days of scouring Ninjasensei's wiki I think I finally found a candidate that's halfway believable that fits the training time! Changing my guess to this.

Gift of Motion

Cost: 3m
Mins: Athletics 5, Essence 5
Type: Reflexive
Keywords: Aether, Combo-Ok, Obvious, Avatar (1)
Duration: One action
Prerequisites: Dancing Ember Stride
Following the path of ever-dancing fire, the Terrestrial Exalted may escape the limitations of mortal flesh and achieve great speeds, or even liberate themselves from the pull of the earth and be carried through the air in the manner of a spark on the wind. With the understandings of Aether, a Dragon-Blooded may learn the ties between themselves and the world around them and, through this connection, impart this freedom onto the things which surround them.
With the activation of this Charm, the character causes an object within ([Essence + Athletics] x 3) yards of themselves to move or to levitate. They may push, pull, carry, lift or throw such an object as they would themselves with a [Strength + Athletics] check, but may use their combined Essence and Willpower in place of their Strength rating. The character's "hold" is maintained long enough to complete one action (for example, if this Charm is used to catch a falling object, that "grip" will last long enough for it to be put down, replaced or thrown). The character can pay this Charm's cost again on their next action to maintain the hold, allowing an object to be carried for as long as they have the requisite essence. At Essence 6 and each successive dot of Essence beyond that, the character can support one additional object at the same time, but each must be subject to a separate activation of this Charm.
This Charm cannot affect living creatures nor any objects that are currently subject to another beings' will, such as a thrown spear or a soldier's armour. For that, the character should learn the Martial Arts Charm, Clutch of the Chimera.

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I like how the description references Luke's hopes and dreams that the Robin vial would let him fly too. Honestly this probably should have been Rune's charm though.

 

[Cosmic Dream]

If you believe in a strong central government, believe that one group / religion / genotype is inherently superior to another, have no tolerance for divergent points of view, enjoy attempting to exterminating other ethnicities, approve of applying violence to those with opposing political views, and believe that it's perfectly reasonable to burn / ban books by people you disagree with, you may be a Type 1 Nazi! It's is, in fact, a small community in this day and age.

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The part about central government apart, that doesn't seem like a small community.

I'd argue the hardcore Evangelicals and other fundamentalist Christian groups of today should qualify under that definition. Theocratic fundamentalist Muslim groups as well. Not a few of those. Turkey is pretty fascist these days. And Russia ...

 

[raisins]

One of the reasons is because Nazism just makes explicit the inherent contradictions in "race-blind" liberal meritocracy. The common believe among the American homeowning suburban middle class is that America is a meritocracy, and anyone can make it with enough hard work and gumption.
So then the question becomes... "well then why are black people so poor compared to white people?"
There are only two answers to that question: you either go racist and say it's bc they're genetically/racially/culturally/etc inferior, or go leftist with a systematic critique of capitalist systems.

It is logically impossible to simultaneously assert both that America is a fundamentally meritocratic country where anyone can make it, and that black people are fundamentally equal in intelligence/moral worth/etc to white people. That's why it's so easy for so many suburban moderates to turn to fascism, they're already halfway there.

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The core of the illusion is taking the white perspective as the universal perspective. America feels relatively meritocratic, if you happen to be white.

My favourite illustration is taking success in life as the result of passing through many filters. Uninvolved people examine the closest relevant filter, declare it basically not racist, and ask what's the big deal?

But even in this best-case scenario, as most filters are at least slightly discriminatory, the cumulative result of hundreds of "basically not racist" tests in a row is harrowing.

 

[Jeremiah]

Taylor: ...natural resources aren't people, and don't deserve human rights.

Danny's going to be trying to figure that one out for a while, I reckon lol. I've never played Exalted, but would the drain on her willpower be making her slowly more deranged? Or is that just from the narrative side of her going through a lot of shit recently?

 

[Whitesnake Pelinal]

The core of the illusion is taking the white perspective as the universal perspective. America feels relatively meritocratic, if you happen to be white.

My favourite illustration is taking success in life as the result of passing through many filters. Uninvolved people examine the closest relevant filter, declare it basically not racist, and ask what's the big deal?

But even in this best-case scenario, as most filters are at least slightly discriminatory, the cumulative result of hundreds of "basically not racist" tests in a row is harrowing.

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Imagine being raped by the local diversity, and then having to listen to something like this from a teacher, in a public indoctrination facility slash daycare funded by the same government that inflicted said diversity on you in the first place. Probably for the best that Taylor skipped a lot of school.

All the yammering about how someone feels discriminated against kinda fades into Charlie Brown wah-wah-wah noises once racial violence has darkened ones life. "White Perspective!? My perspective is, I want a town where people find a naked girl and call an ambulance!"

 

[Stanley_Jeb]

I'd approach this from another angle and argue that the reason why black people tend to be poorer has nothing to do with race in either direction. It's simply that the way they were originally integrated into society left them poor to begin with, and poor people tend to have poor children growing up to be poor adults, a vicious cycle that just happens to be part of capitalist societies. This isn't a guarantee, but statistically you tend to stay in the bracket you were born in, simply because that's the bracket you were nurtured in.

Plus, really, I'd say it's more "institutionalized racism," if you wanna call it racist at all, as opposed to "systemic." The system is fine, because technically no law is innately racist. Even in the judicial and executive systems, racism isn't written on anything anywhere (or at least, not in an affirming manner). It simply happens that the starting bias from which the actors within the system used to operate tended to be grounded in racism (who, in turn, can hire and elect successors, which have a good shot of being biased in the same manner).

 

[raisins]

Imagine being raped by the local diversity, and then having to listen to something like this from a teacher, in a public indoctrination facility slash daycare funded by the same government that inflicted said diversity on you in the first place. Probably for the best that Taylor skipped a lot of school.

All the yammering about how someone feels discriminated against kinda fades into Charlie Brown wah-wah-wah noises once racial violence has darkened ones life. "White Perspective!? My perspective is, I want a town where people find a naked girl and call an ambulance!"

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Everyone wants to be safe. Racial violence and racial inequality are a feedback loop.

 

[Whitesnake Pelinal]

Everyone wants to be safe. Racial violence and racial inequality are a feedback loop.

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The Empire would say that if there is such a relationship, the obvious the way to break that loop is through segregation. After all, it's not acceptable to sacrifice some fraction of their children to racial violence for any reason. Good fences make good neighbors, so get the races separated and they'll have an easier time being neighbors. The more separated the better.

 

[R.A.G.]

If the S9 come to town, I don't suppose she'd be able to pick up a charm from Bonesaw to turn people white? That seems exactly like the sort of overly-literal fix to a complex problem an Exalted would toss down.

 

[Jeremiah]

The Empire would say that if there is such a relationship, the obvious the way to break that loop is through segregation. After all, it's not acceptable to sacrifice some fraction of their children to racial violence for any reason. Good fences make good neighbors, so get the races separated and they'll have an easier time being neighbors. The more separated the better.

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That is indeed the idiocy of the Empire in one, isn't it? The solution to pain is more pain, leading to a crapsack city where everyone loses. Of course, the self-inflicted suffering has an obvious scapegoat.

 

[Alucard 109]

Good fences make good neighbors, so get the races separated and they'll have an easier time being neighbors. The more separated the better.

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And in the Empire's opinion, the separation between the alive and the dead is just about big enough to solve the problem...

 

[BreezyWheeze]

find a naked girl and call an ambulance!"

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Yeah but calling an ambulance is what would actually happen.

This story, by contrast, is a cartoon being drawn from the perspective of an unhinged traumatized girl being sucked down a racism rabbit hole.

Everything about the narrative and world-building departures from canon are utterly cartoonish in their efforts to justify the E88.

I can't help but read this as a subtle and hilarious critique. Like, "oh you wanna make the E88 the good guys? Okay well fine, fuck you, THIS is how absurd you hafta get if you wanna make the E88 the good guys!"

It helps that the prose is fairly crisp and the plot is kinetic and kinda funny. Makes it an entertaining read as well as a strange sort of Andy Kaufman-esque performance art piece.

 

[goricnac]

BTW am seeing a lot of people discussing Taylors mentality as an exalted but... she isnt exalted, im like 90% sure nuts told us a while back her shard is creating charm like powers. She's not actually exalted, she has a power that simulates exalted charms mechanically, while a lot of her actions could be explained away with "Exalted see all people as inferior" that wouldnt explain why this only applies to non-whites.

This is not exalted mentality, this is a traumatized self admitted moron buying into propaganda and rhetoric in a world that seems to have been twisted to give that propaganda some level of validation. Still can't forget about that library scene where it became in universe canon that the empires reputation for hate crimes turned out to be just the media blaming black on black violence on the empire and framing empire vigilantism as hate crimes.

 

[Edifier]

Lol, you trust the news? Good odds most of the papers are in E88 pockets.

 

[Daniel Snuts]

Tales from the Cutting Room Floor

Spoiler: Dream Girl

Cape Name: Dream Girl
Civilian Name: Unknown
Gender: F
Age: Unknown
Alignment: Rogue, Independent
Ratings: Stranger/Trump 5

Dream Girl will randomly appear next other parahumans and follow them around. She shows up dressed in what has been described as "an extremely good cosplay version" of their costume, with her apparent age and hair color (if visible) matching theirs.

She will engage in conversation if addressed, but will evade any questions about herself, her powers or her purpose, and refuses to acknowledge that there is anything strange or even noteworthy about her behavior. PRT psychologists theorize that her trigger event caused a type of dissociative disorder, and that she has internalized the fact that she is parahuman as "I am that particular parahuman", the details changing whenever she encounters another one.

She will accede to simple request such as "could you pass me that item?" or "could you hold this door open?", and she once caught Clockblocker of the Wards unprompted when he was almost knocked off a bridge in an altercation with villain group Merchants (see incident report ENE-18345). She will however ignore any requests to stop following people.

Her helpfulness has made her an accessory to burglary on one occasion when she followed villain Trainwreck around (see incident report ENE-18598), but the Protectorate ENE decided not to bring any charges due to her probable altered mental state.

If attacked, she will either disappear again, or fight back with a version of her target's powers. She will similarly sometimes pursue Movers who try to evade her, and sometimes not. No pattern has been determined for when she decides to use powers and when she simply disappears.

The audience will of course have realized that the deciding factor in whether she disappears or not is whether she's already acquired a power similar enough to that of her target that it can be passed off as their own.

Dream Girl was an early idea of mine, the result of Taylor and Aisha having a competition to see who could receive the highest Stranger rating from the PRT. I had to cut it because it simply wouldn't fit into the timeline. I later changed Shadow Stalker's charm from Dematerialize to Bloodless Murk Evasion, too.

The only scene I had concretely planned was her baiting Velocity into attacking her and completely no-selling him with Mantis Form, which makes you immune to Onslaught penalties - the malus to dodge/block you get from being attacked multiple times in quick succession.

(bonus cookie for telling me what charm Velocity would have given, it's really obvious if you know your flavor text)

My mental notes also read "something something Assault" and "something something Armsmaster".

Spoiler: something something Assault

"I swear there is nothing between us!"

"She's been following you around an awful lot lately."

"I'm not the one who named her Dream Girl! You're the only one for me, puppy."

Spoiler: something something Armsmaster

"Why are you in my lab, Dream Girl?"

"I like it here." Truth

"I don't mind if you follow us around on patrol, but there are classified things I'm working on here."

"That's okay. I won't tell anyone." Truth

"That's not- did you draw a beard on yourself with marker pen?"

"Yes."

---

"How are you here again? I specifically installed anti-Stranger measures."

"You did? Can I see? Oh, ooh, is that a gravity wave detector? How did you make it work at sea?"

"Wait, you can tell-"

"Ooh, and a transverse dimensional shunt? Did Dragon loan you that? Can you really afford the power draw of running that all the time? That's really neat! But you don't have a reverse orgone oscillator?"

"...go on."

---

"You forgot to put my vital signature into the reverse orgone oscillator."

"...yes, I forgot. But since you're here, what do you think about-"

 

[GiantAnteater]

Tales from the Cutting Room Floor

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I was expecting a horror-verse omake after a title like this.

 

[ses]

(bonus cookie for telling me what charm Velocity would have given, it's really obvious if you know your flavor text)

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Self As Cyclone Stance?

 

[bornagainpenguin]

Must say, I'm either not clever or deranged enough to understand her oil analogy.

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At the risk of being tarred as a nazi for understanding the nazi mindset I think I can explain having seen a different version of this used before.

The setup is the claim that there is no civilization without white people. That modern civilization lies on the back of white men. Think 'White Man's burden' and you'll get where this is going...

So on that basis access to White people is essential for Non-whites to be able to experience civilization themselves. Non-whites need to be able to live in White areas and go to White schools in order to succeed. Without access to White people and a healthy helping of affirmative action Non-whites cannot be properly propped up to succeed. On this basis the claim is made that Whites are oil and Non-whites are water. They don't have enough energy in themselves to actually propel themselves into civilization.

This makes Whites and access to White people a resource needed to prop up the modern liberal world order. To allow more Non-whites to succeed they must have access to White neighborhoods and White spaces to be able to ape their betters. It's a variation on the theme of 'magic dirt' theory which uses some of the same tropes to explain why somehow Non-Whites seem to thrive only when surrounded by Whites and how their children only seem to do well academically in White schools.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to take another shower today....

 

[Whitesnake Pelinal]

At the risk of being tarred as a nazi for understanding the nazi mindset I think I can explain having seen a different version of this used before.

The setup is the claim that there is no civilization without white people. That modern civilization lies on the back of white men. Think 'White Man's burden' and you'll get where this is going...

So on that basis access to White people is essential for Non-whites to be able to experience civilization themselves. Non-whites need to be able to live in White areas and go to White schools in order to succeed. Without access to White people and a healthy helping of affirmative action Non-whites cannot be properly propped up to succeed. On this basis the claim is made that Whites are oil and Non-whites are water. They don't have enough energy in themselves to actually propel themselves into civilization.

This makes Whites and access to White people a resource needed to prop up the modern liberal world order. To allow more Non-whites to succeed they must have access to White neighborhoods and White spaces to be able to ape their betters. It's a variation on the theme of 'magic dirt' theory which uses some of the same tropes to explain why somehow Non-Whites seem to thrive only when surrounded by Whites and how their children only seem to do well academically in White schools.

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The most important part vis-a-vis Danny and Taylor is that the whole thing requires reducing whites (and particularly white children) to non-humans whose suffering does not matter, and can simply be ignored in favor of changing the topic when they bring it up. Necessary sacrifices for the glory of Omelas.

I thought Taylor was straight-up pushing Danny away, doing the "unpleasant but necessary" parts of shutting down the 'Taylor' identity by convincing her father that she was a true believer. I'm not so sure now, it could be 4D chess to force Danny to come to a particularly unpleasant revelation when he finds out more of what's happened. Taylor was made available for sexual use by the vibrant Sophia Hess... but most of the worst in Taylor's life was long before that, when Danny and his generation made Taylor available to Sophia for the Greater Good.

It's easy to pretend "crime statistics" are just a bunch of numbers as long as they are faceless, but Danny might not be able to do that with Taylor.