(separate anons) Yeah, fair enough. Sharks also mentioned that first thing after my first response on this topic. Reminders in general are fine – might want to keep it a little vaguer, maybe (for example, pointing out the evidence instead of going directly to the conclusion), but in retrospect, this wasn’t really spoilery. That said, […]
Alright! I’m feeling a lot more awake today, so let’s dive into this ask pile!
Sharks returned to proper wi-fi last night, so I’ve received roughly a quarter ton of asks that have built up over the last few chapters. On top of this I’m rather sleepy right now (my sleep schedule is currently fucked), which could go either way by the time I sit down to blarg.
So I think what I’m going to do is have a dedicated ask answering session tonight, and postpone the chapter liveblog to tomorrow (Tuesday), at least unless I find myself finishing the asks early and not being all that sleepy anymore (which I doubt).
See ya then 🙂
Hm… no, I think I’m gonna have to postpone the ask session too. I’m just really not feeling up to it at the moment (see: fucked sleep schedule) – hopefully should be better tomorrow, though.
Sorry!
krixwell: :dreamworks: Also applicable as :tattletale:.
Tom is actually much more analogous to Draco Malfoy than bottle man is, by the way. Kid from supremacist family, tasked with proving himself by killing someone and trying to work up the courage to do so…
Bottle man, however, was the one who said “Kaiser will hear about this!”, though, so he’s the one who gets to be nicknamed after Malfoy. Them’s the breaks!
Bonding between Rachel and Taylor is kind of quiet and lowkey, but it’s still bonding. And this chapter had quite a bit of excellent Rachel-Taylor bonding. Taylor is beginning to understand Rachel better, and Rachel is beginning to respect Taylor more. It’s great on both ends. 🙂
And then there’s the encounter with Tom, Draco Bottlefoy and the other skinheads. Rachel showed her more level-headed side, which was cool, and then Taylor became a bug monster and scared the E88ers away, which was awesome.
…hm. We never did get an explanation for 83. Maybe it’s something one could look up, or maybe I’ll learn about it later in the story. We’ll see, I guess!
Next time, we’ll probably get to know what Brian has to say about what happened here, whether it’s through Taylor’s narration or actually getting to see the scene starting immediately after Taylor filled him in on what happened. Other than that, though, I have no idea what’s up next. The end of this chapter does seem like the end of Rachel-Taylor bonding time for now, though maybe I’m mistaken.
So… yeah. See you then!
I looked over my shoulder in the direction the skinheads had retreated.
“I’ll help,” I decided aloud. “I said I would, and you might need backup if they decide to come back in force.” Besides, I’d texted Brian to come, and he’d need a proper recap of what had gone on.
Yeah, better stick around.
She only whistled twice for her dogs to follow her back inside, glancing back to see they were still following. She looked at me, and I wasn’t entirely sure, but I thought maybe she didn’t look as angry as she usually did.
Development! 😀
She shook her head.
“I mean, maybe if I hadn’t come out, it wouldn’t have gotten violent.”
“He was working up the courage to shoot me,” she spoke. “It’s fine.”
Yeah, it might be a bit harder to get yourself to shoot an actual human than a humanoid mass of bugs, but he was getting close.
“What are you going to do?”
“What?”
“I mean, they’re going to come again. Maybe soon. Depending on what they say or who they complain to, there might be people with powers the next time around.”
“I’ll manage.”
Seems like an excellent time to accept help. Worth noting that Taylor is talking like it’s not really being offered – maybe she’s adjusting to the knowledge that Rachel would take that offer as an implication that she’s not capable of dealing with this herself.
Which… she might not be able to, but still.
“I know this is your space, I think it’s perfect, but maybe you should consider moving somewhere-”
Nah, she’s not backing down.
She gave me a hard look. “Do you want to get hit today?”
Hehe. Yeah, that was the wrong thing to say.
I shut my mouth.
“I’m going inside to pick up the shit. You can help, or you can go back. Doesn’t matter to me.”
As in the literal shit? The stuff she asked Taylor to pick up last chapter?
The two of them picking up the shit side by side like Taylor said last chapter would be a pretty good way to end this chapter, to be honest. It would be symbolic of the development of a certain respect between them that wasn’t there last time picking up the shit was discussed.
“Leave!” Bitch shouted.
Tom, still mindless with pain and fear, jumped at that command. He tried to pull himself to his feet and failed, falling to the ground again with a ragged scream.
😀
When he reached out, imploring his friends for help, the skin of his hands and face were almost completely covered in bugs and blood. It did a lot to help spook the rest into a retreat. Most of them fled.
Let me guess – bottle man stayed?
The bottle man cautiously moved forward to Tom’s side. I didn’t move from where I stood/crouched as he bent down to help Tom stand and limp away.
Did he walk away with the limping Tom, or did he help Tom stand up and then Tom limped away on his own as bottle man stayed behind?
“Fuck,” Bitch muttered.
“I’m sorry,” I said, “I hope I didn’t do anything wrong by stepping in.”
The former, then. It’s over… for now. As silly as it sounds, Kaiser will hear about this – and then there’s a good chance shit hits the fan. Or at least starts flying in slow motion towards it.
I left some of my bugs on and around Tom as I moved away from him. He screamed frantically and struggled to crawl away.
So to recap, this person (I’m not sure Tom can tell it’s a girl) made entirely of bugs enveloped Tom, stabbed him from the inside of their body, and left part of said body on him…
yeah, Tom is having a bad day.
It was more brutal an approach than I might have liked, but as I interpreted it, any effect I generated by injuring him like this, would hopefully prevent others from joining the fight, and would lead to less people getting hurt in the long run.
Yeah. That said, I’d feel no sympathy for Tom or any of the others (except maybe the twelve-year-old, who quite possibly doesn’t fully understand what’s going on) if Taylor were to hurt them more.
I didn’t like Kaiser’s followers, I had zero respect for them, but I didn’t want to see them torn apart by Bitch’s dogs.
That’s fair, though.
“This territory is ours,” Bitch growled at them, as people backed away. Brutus, Judas and Angelica were larger now, their skin split with bloody spikes of bone sticking out of the gaps. “Leave.”
“Kaiser will hear about this!” the bottle man shouted.
This was a really cool moment… and then bottle man went and reminded me of Draco Malfoy and suddenly it’s a lot sillier 😛
Still cool, though.
