“for some reason, one hand on the opposite elbow seems to be a universal signal of nervousness or the like, but why?” – I think that’s basically like hugging yourself. You need reassurance or comfort, so you mimic actions that provide it (getting hugged). Since everyone can see what you’re doing they can infer your emotions from it. That said, I can’t find a reference for where I read it, so could be folk psychology nonsense.
Hm, yeah. It may be folk psychology, but at least it makes sense. 🙂
What’s one thing you would like to happen above all else right now, in relation to any of the characters? [Something positive happening to a good person or something negative happening to a bad person are acceptable answers] On the other side of the coin, what’s one thing that you’re dreading might happen, but really don’t want to happen?
Hmm…
I guess I’d really like for Taylor and Danny to work things out, but it’s not really “above all else”, nor do I think it should happen immediately… It’d be interesting to see the Undersiders’ reactions to learning the truth about Taylor’s recruitment, I suppose. I’m also not against having Kaiser beaten the shit out of.
As for what I’m dreading… Well, the chances of Taylor’s planned departure sticking for more than an Arc are kind of infinitesimal (for much the same reasons I rarely doubted that she’d make the Decision to stay with the Undersiders instead of betraying them), but it also happens to be something I don’t want to happen.
As for more likely things… I suppose it’s back to Danny again. I really hope he doesn’t get hurt or killed by the Endbringer. Can you even imagine how Taylor would take that? And Lisa too, after having discouraged Taylor from making sure her dad got to safety.
…
I don’t want it to happen, for Taylor’s sake and for Danny’s sake and because I like Danny as a character and want him to stick around, but damn would it make for some juicy angst if Wildbow wanted to. Sometimes when I don’t want something to happen it’s because I feel like it’d cheapen the story, but that’s not the case here – if Wildbow wanted to kill off Danny, now would probably be one of the best times to do so.
After 7.12: Avengers, Assemble! Call the league! It’s a crisis!
All hands on deck!
For after 7.12: I think I speak for most of us when I say that we’ve been waiting for you to get to this point in the story for a long time. Any thoughts or guesses on what the response to or fallout of the current situation will be?
The expected response to the situation from the city has already been made clear: Pretty much every cape with a scrap of decency and courage, be they hero or villain (or even rogues, probably), does their darndest to protect the city and put down the Endbringer. I don’t think that will be subverted in this case.
As for fallout, I think we might be in for lots of death and destruction. It might include some characters we already know among the death toll, which is something this story has yet to do.
Basically, I think this might be where shit gets even more real than it’s been thus far, and your ask does nothing to dissuade that impression.
To minimize the chances of one of my questions being spoilery, can you tell what you know about endbringers as of now?
I summarized it in this post [here] following 7.5.
Since then, my one tiny piece of actual evidence for the “Lovecraftian horror” theory – that the Simurgh was the only known parahuman to have a name with a “the” in it – has been semi-broken, since Crusader was first mentioned as “the Crusader” (though so far only that one time). At least I’ve never claimed the “Lovecraftian horror” theory was a solid one, though it does accurately describe the vibe I’ve been getting about the Endbringers.
Do you have any speculations about the Endbringer?
Powerful, deadly, immoral or amoral, and possibly Lovecraftian in nature (though as I just mentioned in another ask, that theory has no solid evidence whatsoever). This might be the Simurgh, in which case they’re known to possibly have the power of mind reading, and are probably not only consciously intelligent enough to process thoughts, but straight up wise. The Simurgh is probably also birdlike in appearance.
I kind of hope it’s not the Simurgh, though. Learning about a second Endbringer would give me more to work with in the long term.
hextrudedcubes:
Appropriate that an Endbringer showed up at the end of arc 7, eh? Quite the buzzkill!
It certainly brought an abrupt end to the Arc!
thats-rough-buddy:
I LOVE that the story provides material to weight in this moment. B-B had a rampaging terrorist with sci-fi effects attacking at random while weaponizing the population. No siren. ENTIRE Nazi group, largest villain group in the city, rampaging on the streets, leveling buildings, murdering LIVE. No siren. A SINGULAR Endbringer: ABANDON YOUR HOUSES. NOW. atmosphere, whenever it gets mentioned again tinyurl.com/noacnpu Idk why but this sound makes me really emotional, so many heavy implications
I know, right? The build up for the Endbringers in general has been excellent – no one has told us anything directly about them, really, other than that they’re in the “monster” category and are treated with the city truce by default, as well as a few details about the Simurgh in passing. But it’s still obvious from the way people talk about them that they’re a step or five above the other monsters. It’s considered “morbid” to even bring them up (according to Tattletale, who can handle some dark stuff), and “when a fucking Endbringer is your precedent, people get spooked”…
This siren is another fantastic addition to an already well-done case of showing rather than telling.
mrcatfishing:
Not sure if it’s too spoilerish to bring this up in full, so I’m sending it in halves instead. 1/2: This has been on my mind after your posts on D&D alignment, but what Hogwarts house do you think each of the undersiders would be sorted into
(I don’t see a part 2, so splitting it up was probably a good call.)
Hm, let’s see. It’s time to play sorting hat for a moment.
Taylor: Slytherin. No doubt. She’s resourceful, cunning and ambitious, even though her ambition to become a hero kind of fell by the wayside as of the Decision. If she had to be something else, Ravenclaw.
Brian: Hufflepuff. A practical man who cares a lot for those closest to him.
Lisa: Ravenclaw. Not only does Lisa know a lot via her power, and show a clear thirst for even more knowledge, but she’s also rather wise. That said, she could fit right in anywhere but Hufflepuff – she’s sly like a Slytherin and adventurous like a Gryffindor.
Alec: Hufflepuff. For now.
Rachel: Gryffindor. Not so much the “chivalry” part, though.
Brutus, Angelica and Judas: Hagrid’s cabin. Woof.
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