Do you have any more guesses about the source of Grue’s duplicate power?
Hmm.
I suppose it would be possible for Hookwolf’s contingent to have a new member with powers that Taylor didn’t notice. Piggot did mention he’s been recruiting.
Or maybe Ursa Aurora was hiding in the bushes.
But honestly, my existing hypothesis that someone in the crowd of duplicates had triggered and gotten a duplicate-related power seems more likely and appeals to me. But it was set up as a mystery, so maybe the answer is going to be more interesting.
Whoever it was, though, they’re incredibly powerful. Grue only gets a tiny fraction of their power, and he creates a duplicate that’s this strong?
It’s true that Earth Bet has a little less homophobia than our world (a lot thanks to Legend himself) but there are states where gay marriage was legal even in our world at the time the story is set. Remember that the US does a lot on the state level so looking at national level policies can be misleading.
WoG is that Legend being openly gay as a top hero helped a lot with these issues, which would probably include gay marriage being made legal sooner, though things still aren’t perfect and homophobia still exist.
Huh, that’s pretty neat!
And yeah, of course it’s not going to be perfect. This is still Worm, after all. 😛
“Siberian is seriously not many steps below an Endbringer.” Glad to see you’re figured out how badly you were underestimating her at first. Also re Piggot outranking Legend, the whole point of the PRT/Protectorate is to put the capes under the control of the civilian government. So even though Legend is the head of the Protectorate any PRT director still outranks him.
Yeah, fair enough. It feels weird that the leader of the Protectorate as a whole is outranked by a local leader of the PRT, but it makes sense when given some thought.
Also, you are 100% not the only one who pictures Miss Militia as a sexy badass.
*finger guns*
29C? I hate you. It’s 43 where I am. :I My truck’s AC has basically given up.
Ouch. Rest in peace…
Using a Bakuda bomb to open a portal into a parallel dimension (usually around Arc 4) is actually a trope I’ve seen in Worm crossover fanfiction. So you’re not the first here ;D
Hah, nice! 😀
Honestly, one of the main reasons I did it that way was so I could get on the Protectorate’s case about using them again, just for fun. 😛
Seriously, though, I can’t believe I wrote a story where unforeseen consequences happen because the Protectorate used Bakuda’s bombs while butting in on a fight between the Undertravelers and the Nine right before Piggot’s plan to do pretty much that exact thing was revealed.
“ it seems like there may have been a tendency for stronger capes early on.” It’s an interesting theory, but beware sampling bias. People probably remember the strongest capes longer. And weaker ones also die easier. I won’t say it’s impossible given Scion and Eidolon but it’s a risky guess.
Yeah, like I mentioned in the post, the statistics are iffy.
I think the main reason I still suggested it was that Eidolon is still one of the strongest capes, almost thirty years later.
Scion is a bit of a thing for himself, maybe. It’s unclear if he was ever human, and he’s way stronger than most.
General fan speculation suggests that Hero is named after Hero of Alexandria, a prominent first-century scientist; this is in large part responsible for Hero/Alexandria being a popular Worm ship.
Huh. I suppose that makes sense given that he was a tinker.
Armor Gadget should have a missing leg, maybe even proesthetics on his face and stuff. Depend on where on the “disgraced” path. Is it when he’s still under house arrest or after he escapes folling the Mannequin attack?
Yeah, that stuff just wasn’t an option in the pony creator I was using. I know there are newer versions of the creator that might have something like that, but I couldn’t get them to work.
I suppose my excuse is that it’s pre-Extermination, if Extermination even happened in the pony dimension. 😛
…wait, shit, I specified “disgraced former” leader. Hmm.
>I drew some bugs around my lower face and eyes as a makeshift mask. -> Remember that not long ago Taylor did not want put bugs on her skin. Now she does it casually.
Huh, yeah! I guess she’s grown used to it.
“Cupcakes is quite brutal even by Worm standards…” -Krixwell, 2 April 2018 Can you appreciate the cackling from Worm fans at this line (and your liveblog of Cupcakes in general), knowing this arc was coming up?
Pfft. Yeah, now that you mention it, the Undertravelers being in Bonesaw’s clutches was quite reminiscent of Cupcakes, even if it didn’t go anywhere near as far, and Brian’s… condition… was similar to something you might find in Cupcakes fanart or Fluttershy’s shed.
(#2 April? fuckin’ timezones)
Krix please consider what the psychological impact of having your organs and nerves methodically torn out and draped across a room would be.
Throughout your read I was having my doubts but now I am a little bit more sure. I think you are underplaying just HOW MUCH trauma Brian went through. Its not just the hours of literally impossible inhuman torture, but being made to watch as your whole team/family member you consider highly get caught, then starting surgery on one, and proceeding to decide to just torch them as you can’t do anything to stop it. Going on an emotional tirade is the least to be expected
Yeeah, fucking hell, he needs all the hugs. Honestly, he’s handling it surprisingly well.
I do have a tendency to underplay this kind of thing, that’s true, though I think someof what probably came across as underplaying was more me trying to consider all the possibilities. I repeatedly mentioned how his change could be a result of his new power and didn’t make it clear enough that I thought that this and way morewould be justified as simply a result of the trauma.
In fact, I don’t think I would’ve liked it as much if it had turned out it was his new power doing it. It would diminish the impact of his trauma in much the same way it seemed like I was doing by suggesting that could be the case. I just felt the need to acknowledge the possibility.
[reblogging the ask about Legend’s status helping combat homophobia]
[Discord]
Lizzy Shork Queen [Sharks]:
@Krix the Brave and Glorious I guess, in a world as dark as Worm.
You could call Legend.
A beacon of light.
Oh yeah, one more prediction for Prey: I suspect one or more of the minor protagonists is/are going to die to Siberian, or at least get mauled. Maybe even one of the major protagonists. This would mirror the Case 01 video, perhaps even closely.
At the end of Arc 11½, I did a favorites ranking [here] of the Nine. At the time, this is what I wound up with:
- Bonesaw
- Cherish
- Jack Slash
- Burnscar
- Shatterbird
- Siberian
- Mannequin
- Crawler
After Plague and Snare, how has this changed?
Well, for one thing, Crawler’s a cat and I love the contrast between this enormous beast and how adorable his mannerisms can be, so he’s jumped up a couple spots. (It’s worth noting he was mainly on the bottom because we knew almost nothing about him.)
Mannequin has proven himself to be quite entertaining compared to his first impression, so he goes up the scale too.
And finally, Siberian has traded spots with Shatterbird, because Siberian’s scary as fuck in a good way. Meanwhile, I actively dislike Shatterbird as a person (she was only that high on the list because of her power), and apart from her sheer impact through the Shattering, she hasn’t had much opportunity to make me like her more.
Which means the list ends up looking like this:
- Bonesaw
- Cherish
- Jack Slash
- Mannequin
- Crawler
- Burnscar
- Siberian
- Shatterbird
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