It’s that time again – time to start a new Arc!

Due to this ask I now know that Prey is considered the end of book 2, which I means that we are not ending the book in Colony. That has implications: For one thing, this is very likely an Interlude Arc like Sentinel.

For another, we’re most likely not seeing an attack from the Simurgh yet unless this Arc follows characters from a different location dealing with that, which I find unlikely because unlike regular Interludes, judging by Sentinel, Interlude Arcs seem like they should be at the beginnings of the books and an Endbringer attack is very much something that belongs at the end of a book. Although with the scaling of the threats, maybe that won’t be the case for much longer. Also, this Endbringer attack would need to have some connection to the main plot – getting to see the attack just because it is happening would be weird, considering that at this point, they’re just a thing that happens in this world. Thirdly, we’d need to have reason to care about the characters involved, though I suspect Wildbow could pull that off.

So if this is an Interlude Arc and not an Endbringer Arc, what are we in for? Whose POV?

My first thought is the population of Taylor’s territory. But we’ve just had an Interlude from the POV of one of a total two or so non-Taylor residents we have reason to want an Interlude from the POV of.

Hmm. Colony, ant colony, ants, workers… Docks? Something to do with the rebuilding of the town? Or maybe the Guild, finally learning what their deal is beyond “Dragon is part of both the Protectorate and the Guild”?

I don’t know. Even with some of my options practically ruled out by the knowledge that this isn’t included in the Slaughterhouse Nine book, this Arc remains very hard to speculate on. Much like regular Interludes, actually.

I think it’s time that I just jump in and find out! And try not to get bitten by too many ants that are pissed at me for jumping into their Colony.

Well this is a fine pickle. Let’s see how Taylor solves this!

Last time, Taylor once again proved much smarter than me, even though I was supposed to figure it out before she did. Hell, I had a major advantage, even, and she still beat me to it. Let’s see if I can be less of an idiot this chapter. :p

She was still fooled long enough for it to count, though, and now Jack and Bonesaw know where Amy (and seemingly Victoria, who might be an issue for them) is, and intend to make it so she isn’t. There or elsewhere.

Oh cod, Bonesaw probably wants to turn her into part of an amalgamate so she can use Amy’s power on her creations like she asked of Amy in Interlude 11h. I’m guessing she’d find it appropriate to mash her up with Victoria in particular, if she knows anything about their relationship.

Meanwhile, Taylor needs to do what she can to save Amy and probably Victoria. She has a couple school stories worth of time to do it, but I kinda doubt it’ll be that easy.

I’m guessing we’ll see the return of some of the tactics she used last time she was protecting Amy from one of the Nine, such as using her bugs to reduce visibility for the Nine, and perhaps setting decoys in a bunch of spots in Arcadia High. She should probably make the decoys seem to collapse if sliced through, so the Nine have to take a closer look to determine if they got Amy or not.

Like I mentioned at the end of the previous chapter, I have a feeling Bonesaw will die soon, possibly in this chapter, but Jack might make a break for city limits.

I don’t really know what else to speculate on, so I think it’s time to jump in and see what Taylor does with this situation!

Alright, looks like we’re seeing this through in this Arc.

Howdy! It’s time to play some Paranoia! Wait, no…

So, last time in Worm: Things went to shit, as they do, and Brockton Bay is now wicked cool looking covered in deadly red miasma that first makes you lose access to most knowledge of other people, causing almost everyone to have trouble trusting anyone else. Taylor has managed to meet up with and regain a shaky trust in Lisa and Brian, and thanks to Lisa’s power circumventing the miasma’s effect, they may actually have a shot at fixing this mess and saving the city from succumbing to the prions.

This time, we need to find cell reception (is it the miasma that blocks it?) or physically travel to Cherish (bad idea). Also, I just remembered, they found Cherish a place in the Trainyard, didn’t they? So she’s not quite as safe from the miasma as I suggested last chapter, though it might not have spread that far (yet). It’d be interesting to see how it interacts with her and her power.

If we have time for it this chapter, we might also track down Amy. Maybe. Oh jeez, what does she think about Victoria if she’s affected by the miasma? Or maybe worse, what does Victoria think about Amy?

I don’t really have anything else to say, so let’s get into it!

Howdy!

Let’s wiggle a bit – it’s Worm time again!

Today, I’m expecting a somewhat low-intensity chapter, a dénouement to the Arc, as I feel like the Nine’s revenge belongs in a separate Arc from everything that’s been going on in this one and the Arc would grow quite long if it were all in one.

I’m not sure what exactly I think will happen in this one, but I’m guessing the question of which scholar Siberian used to be might get answered (because he’s at the center of this Arc and it doesn’t seem like a big enough question to drag out over a longer time), perhaps by Lisa after learning about the swan and what Legend said.

I suppose we’ll see the Undertravelers reunite and go back to one of their bases, unless we’re skipping to the next day. They may also be left thinking about what’s ahead of them with regard to Bonesaw’s punishment.

So yeah… let’s crawl in and have a look!

Howdy-doodle! Let’s read some Worm!

Last time, we rounded off the Amy/Victoria subplot of the Arc and got ready to leave behind the battle of the heroes vs. two pieces of Nine in order to go track down the remaining two. Or three. Siberian might’ve joined up with them, or be going to.

Lisa believes Jack and Bonesaw are in an Endbringer shelter, and I think she’s right, but I don’t think they’re alone. Such a place sounds like a perfect art studio for Bonesaw, so it’s probably well stocked with her works.

Another thing to consider is this: How are the Undertravelers supposed to get in? The shelters are built to withstand Endbringers, so they might be able to deal with Sundancer and Ballistic. It might be the same shelter Leviathan visited, so the door may be busted, but even in that case, the door’s a bottleneck that Jack can easily make use of to get in some slashes at them. Taylor’s bugs would get in easily through a busted door, but can’t do much actual damage to Jack and Bonesaw on their own.

I suppose Sunny might be able to send a small orb through the door and then expand it on the inside. The difficult part of this tactic would be convincing Sunny to unleash the sun on Bonesaw’s victims.

Or maybe the correct question to ask here isn’t how they get in, but how they get the Nine out? Hm.

Let’s read and find out!