Survival of the fittest also includes being just bad enough to keep on surviving. If a predator is too good at what it does its prey may go extinct, causing his own specie to die from stravation.
That’s a really good point!
And we do kind of see this with the Nine, too, with them killing off large swathes of their prey at a time. The only differences are that they don’t actually need their prey for sustenance and they can just move on to another city if they run out.
In short, Jack’s social darwinist “survival of the fittest means being a monster is human nature” philosophy is full of shit.
Love following your live-read Krixwell. Have you read anything else that you found as consistently engrossing?
Glad to hear you’re enjoying it!
Hmm… I’m not sure. I don’t read anywhere near as much as I used to many years ago, except for this, so a lot of my reading experience was a) when I was way less critical about my reading material, and b) long enough ago that details about my opinions on the parts rather than the whole things slip my mind.
I have been reexperiencing the Wheel of Time series in audiobook form recently (I’ve found that the format change helps me with some of the same things liveblogging does). That’s a really good series if you’re into magic, cosmic struggles of light and dark, reluctant heroes, prophecies, cultural worldbuilding, fantasy politics, badass ladies and boys who have no idea how to talk to girls.
Fair warning, though, it’s pretty long. It clocks in at about 2.75 Worms. Also, being able to keep track of a lot of names is a plus. Seriously, there are 2782 named characters (admittedly that’s largely because many of the bit characters get named), and many of the important ones have multiple names and/or titles.
You getting flashbacks to when Taylor and Danny confronted Sophia and Emma and the Winslow principal? When she asked to be transferred to Arcadia in lieu of any punishments and also didn’t want them to get expelled because they would only have Arcadia left? I wouldn’t be surprised if the capes needing access to the roof is exactly why it’s got more of a lock on it. The heroes get keys, along with the certainty that no-one will have snuck up there when the heroes get back.
Yeah, I don’t doubt that Arcadia was a good school – certainly better than Winslow – I just don’t think it was quite as perfect as Taylor’s narration indicated she thought. That’s just very rarely how things work in this ‘verse. Which is why I think Taylor has bought into the PR a bit too much and overromanticized Arcadia in her head due to her desire to go there and get away from the Harpies.
(There’s also Immaculata, but since that’s a rich kids’ school, I don’t think it’d be the main subject of Taylor’s daydreams, so she probably hasn’t romanticized that quite as much.)
I’ve been thinking about the effects of the miasma and Legend since you brought it up and I thinking i have a working explanation. Taylor remembers Legend because she doesn’t have a personal relationship with him. She knows him from TV, news, and forums. The miasma only erases personal bonds. Theoretically, she wouldn’t forget Legend anymore than she would forget Abraham Lincoln or Johnny Depp. Likewise, once she ID’s Jack, she’s knows his power and goals because he’s an (anti) celebrity.
Hmm. I’m not sure the last sentence is true. Taylor seemed to quietly figure out what Jack’s power did when he used it against her, and his main goal of getting to Amy was pretty easy to figure out from the context.
But yeah, the rest of this makes a lot of sense! She remembered the idea of Legend but not her personal experiences with him and, initially, has a hard time recognizing the mask.
There is such an AU! In “Amelia” Amy teams up with Lisa, Taylor and Bonesaw to form a new team after Prey 14.2. It’s a Amy/Taylor shipping and fix-fic, but there is enough suffering for all involved. Complete with living power armor and disposable Zerg-army. Many many biotinker shenanigans and if I remember right even Bonesaw is shipped: Theo/Vista/Bonesaw.
Oh man, that sounds really cool! Certainly one I’d like to read someday.
(Bonesaw and Vista getting three-shipped with Theo is… interesting but a bit iffy on the age side, I think? Unless I’ve misunderstood what age Theo is supposed to be.)
To make you feel better after the barrage of “you doofus” asks: Scott from the We’ve got Worm podcast (where he as a first-time reader discussed arc by arc with a preexisting fan) also missed the reveal at the end of 14.8. And he was otherwise a superbly perceptive reader (e.g. guessing by Arc 7 that Sophia was a cape and by Arc 11 that Brian would second-trigger). You should try listening to it after you finish (not before, because of other accurate guesses he made that could spoil you).
Neat! And yeah, I’m definitely going to read and listen to other Worm liveblogs down the line. I love reading liveblogs of stories I like, and this time I’ll have a record of my own reactions to compare to and a strong personal stake in the world of Worm liveblogging, which should only increase my desire to read liveblogs of it.
Also, guessing in Arc 7 that Sophia was a cape makes sense – she did put up a good fight at the mall, speaking to experience – but I’m curious about the second trigger. How did he figure that out in Arc 11, let alone that it’d be Brian specifically? What foreshadowing did I miss there?
On top of general curiosity, that’s especially relevant considering my own reaction to the second trigger was somewhat colored by an impression that the only real build-up behind it was it being indicated one time that it might be a possibility, eight Arcs before it happened.
I’m pleased with the fact that the Nine were trying to convince Amy to join them rather than to kill her. They need the members, and this led to a pretty interesting dialogue.
I’m not sure how much to care about the revelation that Jack apparently killed Allfather’s daughter rather than Marquis. It seems like Jack told Amy that to drive home that Marquis wasn’t all bad, but I don’t think his code against killing women and children redeems him much at all. I suppose it’s what Amy thinks about it that matters, though, and Amy is far more likely to respect someone’s dedication to a personal code of honor than I am.
(Let’s also take a moment to consider that – while children are one thing – specifically sparing women is not actually all that honorable in a modern setting like this. If he can spare the women, he can spare the men. If he can kill the men, he can kill the women. Treating them this differently is just sexist if anything, and I’m not even sure which gender it’s sexist against. Possibly both.)
Anyway, I did enjoy Jack’s attempts to convince Amy. He clearly knows what buttons to push. The parallels to Lisa are not lost on me, either – Jack is showing himself as roughly as much a dark counterpart to Lisa as Cherish is, and it’s very fitting that we got to see him do that to Amy in particular. I have to admit, he did manage to make some of what he was saying sound quite good – silver tongue indeed.
The fight against Jack was very good. It’d be fun to see that one in motion, I think, with all the strategic moves and rapid slashes and everything. 🙂
Next chapter… well, the Nine have escaped and the miasma’s cure has been put into motion, so I’m not sure what Taylor can do from here. Range bugs or no, she can’t cover all the paths Jack and Bonesaw might’ve taken for much longer. She could try guessing, but she’d need quite a bit of luck. Besides, it’s a shell game, and Jack is smart enough to know that the ball isn’t supposed to be under any of the shells.
So if Taylor can’t catch the Nine… what’s next? Seeking out the rest of the Undertravelers to cure them of the miasma by sweating at them? Maybe asking Amy again whether she’d like to join the Undersiders? Whatever the case, I think we’re actually going into the dénouement this time.
I do wonder if Jack will bother with attempting to save Cherish before he heads for city limits. She’s certainly a useful tool for Coil and the Undertravelers to keep around if they can, so it might serve a story purpose for her to get busted out. I’m just not sure Jack wants to.
There’s also Siberian, who is apparently in a similar cocoon-like setup as Victoria. Will they fetch him before leaving? And then there’s Shatterbird, who could break free of Alec’s control at some point. The core of the Nine may be leaving, but we’re not quite done with the team’s members yet.
So yeah. This was a good chapter. See you next time!
Krixwell Liveblogs 