Tag: Parahumans

Prey 14.8

Krixwell JaceLeave a comment

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!

End of Prey 14.7

Krixwell JaceLeave a comment

That was… inconsistent.

I feel like this was… not as tense as it probably should’ve been. Parts of the chapter dragged – admittedly that hurts more than normal because I’m liveblogging – and Taylor’s attack on the shelter was relatively tame because she wasn’t in much actual danger herself, apart from the possibility of Siberian deciding Taylor was a higher priority target than Legend. It didn’t help that I got temporarily confused by the fire tactic, though that may be more on me than on the writing.

Basically, the pacing and tension in this one was kind of weird. It had a long stretch of being… not much in order to set up Taylor being on her own, a somewhat undertensioned assault on the Nine, and a slow (but interesting and mood-appropriate) dénouement.

Anyway, I may sound very harsh on this one, because I don’t usually criticize the chapters this much, but I did enjoy it. 🙂

The climax in particular was great! The spectacle of the Bakuda bombing was very well written. Previously, I was expecting the Undertravelers, or at least Taylor, to get stuck inside it and have to dodge the effects, but this was better. I’m very glad we got to witness it from the outside.

The Nine are down to three members. Damn! But they’re not out of tricks yet, and they’ve still got a pretty harsh one: Bonesaw’s bioweapon. What’s it going to do, anyway? Turn Brockton Bay into a zombie apocalypse? Turn the capes’ powers off? Make all bananas evil? Who knows…

Y’know, maybe Leviathan did the city a favor. He eliminated the water taps as a way for Bonesaw to spread whatever this is. But I’m sure she has her ways. Maybe it’s airborne?

I suspect next chapter might be the dénouement of this Arc and then we’ll find out what the bioweapon does in the Interlude or the next Arc. I doubt we’re skipping ahead to find out in the next chapter.

I don’t really have much else to say, and I should be getting to sleep soon, so yeah. Good night, and see you soon for more Worm!

Prey 14.7

Krixwell JaceLeave a comment

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!

End of Prey 14.6

Krixwell JaceLeave a comment

And with that, I’m pretty sure this part of the Arc comes to a close, surprisingly enough without anyone having to dodge Bakuda bombs.

This was very good. I liked the bits of the Protectorate+Wards vs Mannequin+Crawler battle we got, how Taylor contributed to it and the way Weld accepted without hesitation that she wanted to contribute, but the real star of the chapter was the tangent about eating bugs the whole scene with Amy healing Victoria and arguing with the Undersiders (especially Lisa, who seemed to care a lot about the mind-manipulation in play) about the best course of action forward. At least she intends to undo what she did, even if she’s prioritizing the bodily repairs and then plans to run off again and find a job as a rogue healer without working for the government.

Regent was really good in that part. More of that Regent, please.

One thing I didn’t realize until right at the end was how much the Travelers were backgrounded here. Apparently they were present (but perhaps out of earshot?) for the whole healing scene, but they were barely mentioned and none of them said a word. Neither did Rachel, for that matter, but I’m used to that.

Anyway, it seems we’ve found our next destination: An evacuation shelter. I hope it’s the same one Taylor visited during Extermination, though that might be a bad choice on the Nine’s part, since Leviathan fucked the place – and the door in particular – up.

In there we’ll quite likely find Jack, Bonesaw, however many of Bonesaw’s latest victims, and possibly even Siberian. Sounds like fun!

I don’t really have any other predictions for it right now, so… See you there!

Prey 14.6

Krixwell JaceLeave a comment

…thriller, thriller night… la la lalala la la, lala… beast about to strike… thriller, thriller night… la la lalala la la, lala… thing with forty eyes, girl…

Oh, hi! Sorry, didn’t see you there. Maybe I should get some extra eyes of my own.

So. Last time Weld and Skitter worked together to take on Mannequin and to a lesser extent Crawler. Neither of them are properly defeated yet, though now at least the other heroes have joined the fray. But Crawler’s coming to fuck them up.

I think this chapter is going to be very much a direct continuation of the last chapter, a part 2 of the Mannequin/Crawler battle (with more focus on Crawler). Eventually we might also make it to the second barrage of bombs. I wonder, will Taylor have to figure that out by seeing the heroes withdraw, or if someone who recognizes that Skitter doesn’t deserve to get blown to smithereens – Weld or Legend, I’m thinking – will show the courtesy of warning her, and maybe even help her get out of the blast zone. Or maybe she’ll have to find out the hard way.

I’m definitely hoping for the second option. I like both Legend and Weld for being genuinely good guys, and I’d like them to keep that up. I think Legend is still distracted by Siberian, but Weld at least ought to warn Taylor– fuck, I just remembered, Legend is probably still the only one who knows about the second wave before Piggot orders the retreat, isn’t he. Damn it.

Well. Guess it’s gonna be time to dance at some point.

For now, though, let’s jump in and try to do something about Crawler!

End of Prey 14.5

Krixwell JaceLeave a comment

This was another good one. 🙂

I found myself talking to Taylor’s deaf ears a lot regarding two issues: Going back into the fray (though given the trouble Cache was in, it was probably worth it), and her attitude towards Amy after Amy showed frankly not unreasonable restraint in helping villains (not helped by Amy’s reluctant addition to Bailey proving unwanted, though that’s really not Amy’s fault). I’m not sure that’s a bad thing, though. The tension in the chapter is somewhat aided by the knowledge that the Bakuda carpet is coming in time (though presumably only after the Protectorate and Wards get out of the blast zone), and the bits with Amy serve to show Taylor’s harder side when she has things to do and little patience for those who stand in the way of that.

I very much enjoyed Taylor fighting alongside Weld. Not just for shippy reasons, either – my shipping of them has faded to the point where that’s just an afterthought – but because it’s neat to see them silently slip into teamwork like they did, and it’s an interesting break from the team dynamics we’re used to. Weld also cemented his worth as a quite capable fighter when it counts, which was cool.

I do kinda hope there’s an answer for why the cars didn’t stick to his blades, though. That was kind of distracting. I’m guessing I’ll have a few asks about that, unless answering it is spoilery, so I’m looking forward to seeing what you guys have to say about it.

Crawler’s finally getting some significant attention, which is fun. The bigger kitty seems to be a bit of a raging asshole, but that’s to be expected. The Nine can’t all be Bonesaw. Only the ones Bonesaw can perform plastic and brain surgery on can be Bonesaw.

So, next time, I guess we’re going to be dealing with Crawler somehow. Maybe the silk technique could work again, but Skitter is very low on bugs now compared to the millions she had before the bombs, and the surviving spiders might be out of silk.

Also, it might not be next chapter, but I think Grue using his darkness is going to become relevant. “Grue was also using his darkness, oddly enough.” with no further elaboration is very suspicious. Maybe he’ll be borrowing a bit of power that helps him save the day?

So yeah… see you there!

Prey 14.5

Krixwell JaceLeave a comment

A comfortable chair, computer on my lap, music getting pumped into my ears, bombs primed to grievously harm characters I like… It’s time to read some Worm. 😀

So, last chapter, Taylor and co. started a daring escape from the PRT’s blast zone, during which Taylor acquired a really cool steed (whom I’ll be calling Bailey until we get an actual name for him).

Now, they need to make sure they actually are or quickly get out of it as the bombings start. This chapter might continue and amplify the intensity from the previous chapter if they didn’t make it all the way out yet (or Piggot calls for the bombers to target the escaping Undertravelers, though that’d be harder to excuse on the PR and governmental fronts).

Alternatively, we might be getting the Undertravelers reporting to the Protectorate (maybe even directly to Piggot) that we lived, bitches, and/or more development on Amy.

Or all of the above. When liveblogging, you can’t dismiss the possibility that it can be motherfucking BOTH THINGS.

I worry for Amy’s life. She’s currently not equipped to move anywhere near as fast as the Undertravelers, and they’ve passed her, so if they’re still in the blast zone, so is she. I’ve been getting the impression from asks (more vibes than actual outright spoilers) that she does not become a villain or a permanent aid to the Undertravelers. There are plenty of other reasons for that available, but maybe this is why.

Without further ado, let’s dodge some bombs!

End of Prey 14.4

Krixwell JaceLeave a comment

My prediction that we’d be seeing Greg and Lisa’s first kiss didn’t come true, so this was clearly the most disappointing chapter yet.

…nah, this was a really solid one. Piggot can be beautifully devious when she wants to be, and the tension in the Undertraveler rescue mission was supreme.

And then there’s Amy giving Skitter a flying mount by merging many small bugs into one big bug (that Taylor has to micromanage in flight because it doesn’t know how to function)! That was awesome. I’m looking forward to seeing Taylor incorporate her new steed into her tactics, and maybe even bonding with him. I wonder what she’s going to name him – Buzz Lightyear is a bit too untaylorish and unwormish. Buzz Aldrin might work a little better. Fly-int Coal? Beetle Ray Cyrus?

But nah, Taylor’s not one for silly names, so she might just call him Boberto Francesco or something serious like that.

The end of the chapter unexpectedly left the question of whether the Undertravelers were out of the blast zone as a cliffhanger, rather than give us an action hero explosion escape shot (or at least showing the explosion in this chapter), so I guess they’re still not quite in the clear. Time to dodge Bakuda tech? Though Taylor has a major advantage with flight capabilities, she’d still need to find a way to help the others.

Maybe she could do that by having the bugs (try to) catch the bombs in silk nets? Or failing that, at least fill the air above her friends with bugs so she can sense the bombs’ trajectories and give them signals regarding where to move?

It’s also worth noting that the Undertravelers are moving way faster than Amy is, so if they’re not out of the blast zone, I worry for her.

Whatever the case, the Undertravelers are going to have a serious bone to pick with the Jirector of the PRT when this is over and the Nine are defeated, if not before.

So yeah! Next time we make sure we’re out of the blast zone and maybe tell Jemily than “we lived, bitch”. Also Leviathan invites the Undertravelers to some tea and cakes. See you then!

Prey 14.4

Krixwell JaceLeave a comment

Oink! Krixwell here, ready to read some more Worm!

So. Last time, the Protectorate showed up, and Piggot wants to talk to Lisa. I do not trust this in the slightest, knowing Piggot’s plans of backstabbing the villains of Brockton Bay. Even if the main topic on the surface is Siberian’s “creator”, she’s quite likely going to try to set up the situation that allows that backstab.

At least she’s talking to Tattletale, which might have some interesting results. Though as a downside, that probably means we’ll have to rely on context clues to tell what Piggot is saying as it happens, unless Lisa puts Taylor on the line for some reason. Hrm.

As for Siberian… their real body is, as far as we know, still in the crater, possibly suffering from whiplash (the car being invulnerable wouldn’t help against that), so unless the Protectorate, Wards and Undertravelers all spectacularly fail to pay attention to the crater, they can at least arrest the real body. Question then is whether they’ll be able to hold on to them with the Monochrome running around.

And that’s if Piggot doesn’t completely mess up the priorities here.

So yeah… let’s hear what the Jirector of the PRT has to say!

End of Prey 14.3

Krixwell JaceLeave a comment

This was a fantastic chapter! I love everything to do with Amy in it, and the chase scene was really good too. And then the more mobile members of the Protectorate and Wards showed up, along with Glory Girl for extra Amy goodness. Fortunately, rather than bombing them (I suppose this is too different from the plan to go through with that just yet), Piggot wants to talk to the Undertravelers, and for some reason she (or Chariot, if Piggot didn’t specify) went with Tattletale as the Undertravelers’ spokesperson in spite of all the data that tells them to avoid talking to her. That might backfire.

I suppose Piggot wants to know what they mean re: Siberian’s “creator” and how they found out, but there’s gotta be more to it. It wouldn’t warrant a dramatic chapter ender if there wasn’t. Maybe this is how they begin to set up the trap?

There’s also the issue that Siberian and the other Nine are still running around nearby, and who knows what the situation is for the other part of the Undertravelers, now that the PRT is involved. Hopefully we’ll find out next chapter.

Fuck, this situation is such a mess.

Amy. Amy, Amy, Amy. I love Amy’s character so much these days. If things do – this is against the odds but currently very possible – end up making her a permanent Undersider, I’m gonna have a new favorite on the team.

In this chapter, we got to see her development with Taylor pay off as she admitted things she wouldn’t say to just anyone, actively chose to help the Undertravelers out, and even – after a questionable pep talk by Lisa – joined them in the race against Siberian. This is major character and relationship development and I love it.

So… yeah. Next chapter, it’s time to talk to Jemily, hopefully find out how the other members of the Undertravelers are doing, and see Greg and Lisa’s first kiss. See you then!