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When considering what the world would look like in 15 years, don’t forget the Endbringers.

That is a good point, though I’m not sure how much of a difference they make to the things I already talked about. They might set some of the research and preparation back by killing people and destroying important places, but even so, 15 years allows much more preparation than two years do.

But yeah, we might still lose some chunks of the planet’s habitable areas. Especially if the Endbringers for some reason get stronger as time inches closer to the reckoning.

I hadn’t really considered it until now, but there might be a correlation between the Endbringers and the future threat. I’m thinking that in-universe, the name “Endbringers” doesn’t intentionally tie in with the upcoming threat (especially since barely anyone even knows that’s a thing so far), but these apocalyptic monsters that destroy parts of the human world may very well be some sort of harbingers for the main threat.

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Hi! I’m not sure if this was your blog or somewhere entirely different, but I know one of the things I was reading recently referenced 2 Steps From Hell, a phenomenal neoclassical music group. I’m trying to find it now to show one of my friends who’s been into them for a long time, because I nearly fell out of my seat when I saw it referenced and I’m sure he’d be even more excited. Was that you? Blog search doesn’t show anything, but it could be broken. (If it wasn’t you, I’d recommend them :P)

Sorry, I can’t say I’ve heard of them. If I said something that could be read as a reference, it must’ve been by accident.

For future reference, no pun intended, I usually tag my references with the thing they’re from (though I sometimes forget to, and I didn’t do it as consistently early on), so if you’re looking for a reference to a specific thing on my blog, it’s worth checking /tagged/name-of-the-thing. For example, http://krixwell-liveblogs.tumblr.com/tagged/steven-universe brings up my latest SU references. 🙂

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“#it’s later on the right clock because 12:00 looked stupid on it #or is it earlier? #who can tell without an am/pm marker on the left clock” It’s definitely earlier. 12:00 in twelve-hour time translates to either 0:00 or 12:00 in twenty-four-hour time, both of which are earlier than 22:00.

Yeah, that’s what Sharks said too, but as a user of 24-hour time, I would never consider midnight “earlier” than 10 PM unless I was being super technical. Same goes for 1 AM or even 3 AM, for that matter.

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Whoo! And that’s just those of you who actually follow me on Tumblr – we learned a while back that most of you don’t, if the poll I did is to be believed. Thank you all for being here, whether you’re among these 500 or not! I hope to make it worth it. 🙂

End of Plague 12.7

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Looks like Taylor has another piece of guilt to plague herself with.

This was a pretty good fight. I was absolutely right – Taylor did end up using a simple but clever tactic to turn the tide of it and stop getting knocked around so much. I really liked a lot of what she did here, including but not limited to playing dead to give herself time to think, the crawleidoscopes and the use of webs, glue and dyes to create a sticky situation

for Mannequin.

(Look. I knew. You knew. We all knew, it was just a matter of time before that particular overused pun reared its ugly head. I valiantly held it off as long as I could, but in the end, I’m only human. Supposedly.)

Pacing-wise, it did feel like Mannequin’s last efforts stretched out more than they maybe should near the end, but not so badly that it ruins the experience. Besides, I’m liveblogging, meaning everything is more stretched out for me than for the average reader, so maybe it’s just me.

Other than that, I guess my only complaint is that Taylor found a way to spin her victory to a negative because of events she wasn’t in a position to stop, but that’s more a frustration with Taylor than with Wildbow’s writing. It’s completely in character, I just wish she’d learn to stop doing that, for her own mental health’s sake.

Maybe that’s why we had the bit at the end about Mannequin’s head? I mean this bit:

It was miniscule, but there was a drop of black fluid beading at the seam in the neck where the chain had been threaded.  Apparently that was enough of a flaw for Mannequin to abandon it.  I left it where it was.

Like Mannequin left his head behind because of a tiny flaw, Taylor is letting a (relatively, I mean; four lives is still nothing to scoff at) minor failure overshadow a major victory.

Next chapter, I’m guessing we’ll have Taylor beating herself up some more about the lives she failed to save rather than feeling good about the lives she did save. She’ll probably also be heading back to the Hive and see for herself what it’s like after the Shattering.

If she could, she would probably be trying to contact the Undersiders to hear how Tattletale is doing and tell them about the encounter with Mannequin, but just about every phone in town is busted now, so I don’t think she has any good means of doing so without physically going to their locations.

Actually, maybe that’s where she’s headed. She’s dealt with her territory like Coil wanted, so now she’s going to go follow up on Tattletale and/or Danny? Though I’m not sure she’s actually finished dealing with her territory just like that.

Whatever the case is, I’m looking forward to the next turn Wildbow’s going to throw at me. Maybe Taylor will run into another Slaughterhouse member soon? Who knows. (You do.)

So yeah, that’s it from me for today. See you next time!

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I cut the threads with my bugs and let the arm fall from the ceiling.  More than one person was startled at the sudden drop and impact.

Heh.

“Throw the head and the arm into the ocean,” I said, to nobody in particular.  “If you can find a boat, drop it somewhere deep.”

Come on, Amethyst, don’t drop those limbs in the sea like tha– oh, oh right, this isn’t Steven Universe.

“Okay,” Charlotte said, her voice quiet.

“I’m going to go.  I’ll be using my bugs to watch for more trouble,” I said, as I began limping toward the door.

…where? You could use a patch up yourself after that battle. I understand why you don’t want to be here right now, but it seems like the place you should be.

I’d won.  So to speak.

Taylor… please. Yes, four people got killed. That was not your fault, and once you found out about the threat, you did your darnedest to keep him from killing anyone else. This would’ve been an all-out massacre if you hadn’t been there. You did great, you won against all odds, and you really shouldn’t feel guilty about this one.

(Of course, Mannequin made your relief efforts out to be the reason he was doing it, but I honestly don’t know if I believe that at all.)

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With Charlotte’s help, I stood.  I shook my head at her offer for support standing.  Moving slowly and carefully, not wanting to embarrass myself, I walked over to the dismembered head.

Oh right, he didn’t get that with him. Trophy time!

Heh, that reminds me of my first ever D&D session, where I ruined the DM’s plans for a character to return by chopping his head off to take as a trophy. A couple months later I finally listened to the song the session was based on and found out that decapitation was the only way to keep Shivo the Buff down. :p

It was miniscule, but there was a drop of black fluid beading at the seam in the neck where the chain had been threaded.  Apparently that was enough of a flaw for Mannequin to abandon it.  I left it where it was.

Huh. Gotta be a perfectionist with his specialty, I guess.

Then I hobbled over to the body of the gray-haired doctor.  Getting onto my knees was painful, but I did.  I gently turned her head and stared into her open eyes.  Light blue, surprised.

Surprised? Sounds like she was the first victim inside, then.

“I’m sorry,” I told her.

I couldn’t think of anything more to add or say.  A minute or two passed before I gave up on it.  I left her eyes open; using my fingertips to close her eyes seemed presumptuous and trite.

And here you thought Trickster was weird for talking to a corpse just four Arcs ago, Taylor. 😉

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I watched him leave with my bugs.  Felt him get three, four, then five blocks away with my power, before he was out of my range.  The second he was gone, all the strength went out of my legs.  I collapsed onto my knees in the center of the room.

…I was just wrong about who was about to collapse one last time. :p

I hurt all over.  If Mannequin hadn’t broken something in my ribs or collarbone, he’d fractured something.  But pain was only part of it.  Physically, I was exhausted.  Emotionally?  Doubly so.

Yeeah. You just fought one of the most dangerous people in the United States.

And won.

Charlotte appeared at my side and offered me a hand.

Oh, hey!

The murmurs of conversation started to sound around me.  I tuned it out.  I couldn’t take the criticism, and I didn’t deserve any praise.  How many people had been hurt while I fought Mannequin?  How many people had died because I hadn’t been on the alert?

Aaaand we’re back to guilt.

The answer, Taylor, is “many fewer than would’ve died if you hadn’t done all of this”.