On the topic of controlling all the bugs in the world: just how strong do you think her power is? Right now, she apparently has absolute control of everything in range that she can control. If her range extended to the entire world, she would be insanely powerful. There’s an estimated 10 quintillion insects in the world, and she can control arachnids and crabs and who knows what else too.

To be clear, I was exaggerating to make a point – I doubt it’s anywhere near that strong. All I’m saying is that it could potentially be a lot stronger than it already is, and we really shouldn’t scoff at the 2-3 block range (4-6 when in overdrive) she has now either.

What do you think of the dichotomy of Taylor fighting groups of enemies while noticing her tea is bitter. It’s one of my favorite sentences in the whole story, wonder if it caught your attention?

It didn’t, really, but when you put it like that, I suppose it could symbolize Taylor still feeling

on some level

that this is wrong. That this is not what she should be doing.

If applied specifically to fighting the Merchants, I disagree, but I think if this is a thing, it goes further than that. Out to taking control of the area, to working with Coil, to being a villain.

It could be a seed of doubt for Dragon to work with.

Because the “We’ve Got Worm” podcast was mentioned a while ago, I was reminded of something that happened there: the guy reading Worm for the first time guessed Tt’s trigger event with 95% accuracy the moment the relation between trigger events and powers was properly explained (Arc 4? Dunno). So, all the necessary information on that relation is present in the story already. You seemed to have difficulty seeing the connections between events and powers, but do you feel like speculating a bit?

My problem was that I originally, back when trigger events were introduced in Arc 4, hypothesized the connection to be far more concrete. For instance, I speculated that Taylor gained her bug power because in a moment of vulnerability and isolation, her brain reached out past itself to find company in the form of the bugs.

But when I started speculating further from there, I quickly turned out wrong with regards to Grue. I don’t see a concrete connection between his fight with his mom’s boyfriend and his power – in fact, Grue standing up for someone and fighting the threat head on was pretty much the opposite of my speculated trigger event for him, which involved him having to hide. Though I guess maybe he and Aisha had to hide from their mom’s boyfriend after that, and Karahindiba (or its like) decided to help in its own way?

So if I were to speculate on Tattletale based on my initial impression, it would involve a moment of intense uncertainty and lack of knowledge about something. I don’t quite think this is how it works anymore, but we do know from 9.3 that it would’ve involved psychological stress rather than physical. We also know that Tattletale hates being called stupid…

Maybe we’re talking verbal abuse? Maybe Lisa went through early life with someone who constantly, unfairly derided her as unintelligent, ignorant and worthless, to the point that one of the harshest incidents led to her getting her power? I don’t know.

Lisa looks very Eris with that apple. I could totally see her putting one in a PRT building that says “to the most heroic”

Oh my cod, yes. She totally would, wouldn’t she?

I gave her the apple because of the “fruit of knowledge” symbolism, but the Apple of Discord is so fitting too!

“And then Skitter somersaulted through a window, and came back through the same window ten seconds later, carrying the redhead’s brother.” Achievement unlocked! Krixwell has joined the universe of Skitter Facts.

Ahaha! Yeah, I suppose that would fit right into that. 😛

The interactions here are great if you think about them from an outside perspective, especially ‘That won’t do. You’ll come with me.’ and ‘This isn’t really negotiable.’ Great examples of how some things Taylor does that are ordinary/altruistic come off as really intimidating due to context, power, awkwardness, and costuming. Sierra can’t see Taylor’s face, she sees a supervillain in a mandibular mask who just claimed she can flay cows with her mind, and she’s strong-arming her into a sleepover.

Yeah, she really came across more forcefully than she probably intended. Throughout the Sierra flashback, there’s a common thread of it not really having sunk in for Taylor that she’s seen as a villain even by those who accept her protection – she regularly seems surprised at Sierra’s hesitant wariness towards her.

Another good example, that I don’t remember if I commented on, was the way Taylor practically told Sierra she was good at delivering excruciating pain. She said that to assure Sierra that Sierra’s request for Skitter to hurt the Merchants would be carried out, but when you don’t know much about the person saying it other than that she’s a villain, it carries some scary connotations.

I really, really like the dynamic resulting from this.

“I’m not sure I follow that logic” It’s not terribly sound, but the idea is that if he’s already that far gone, a few more hours won’t make much of a difference. They’re already in what statistics calls the “long tail”, where the probabilities are low enough that they’re basically flat.

Ahh. Yeah, I suppose that makes sense, at least somewhat.