Tag: Worm

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When Dash walked into the store, she was immediately greeted by her host, who was bouncing in excitement.  “Yay, you’re here! I’ve been waiting aaall day,” said the jumping pony.

Wow, cheerful one, are you? Nice.

Also, the use of “pony” here is a little weird. If it’s just a nickname for citizens, you should be able to replace it with “Ponyville citizen”, but “said the jumping Ponyville citizen” sounds very out of place given Dash’s and Pinkie’s friendly relationship.

“Sorry if I’m a little late, Pinkie.  I was doing my afternoon exercises and lost track of time,” Dash apologized.

Yeah, sure, you totally weren’t considering blowing her off, no sirree.

Pinkie giggled and responded in a gleefully reassuring tone, “Oh that’s
ok, you’re here now. What‘s a few more minutes? I’ve been sooo excited thinking
about all fun stuff we’re gonna do, I haven’t stopped bouncing since I woke up.
I mean, I almost forgot to breathe I’ve been so happy.”

Really cheerful.

It’s… kind of contagious, actually. I don’t even know what they’re doing yet and I’m already a little excited.

Dash gave a slightly uncomfortable laugh. She had
always appreciated Pinkie Pie’s friendly, outgoing way of life, but Pinkie’s
overabundant enthusiasm almost creeped her out.  Dash maintained a polite
expression, however. If Pinkie was this worked up, whatever she had planned
must be good.

Dash isn’t quite as sold on it, but at least she recognizes it’s a good sign.

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Suddenly, Dash remembered that she had somewhere to be; she was supposed
to meet with Pinkie Pie in five minutes.

Oh, hey, plot. And another new character… Pinkie Pie? Certainly an unusual name. I mean, Rainbow Dash isn’t super typical for Worm either, but at least that sounds like a cape name.

Dash had gotten so caught up in her exercises that she’d nearly
forgotten that Pinkie had asked to meet her at Sugarcube Corner at three.
Pinkie hadn’t said why or what they’d be doing, but Dash knew that with Pinkie,
it could be anything.

Hm, sounds like Pinkie is an unpredictable one.

So does this Interlude just… not have anything to do with the Slaughterhouse Nine after all? I mean, we’re following these new characters in a town we’ve never heard of as they do something at a place called “Sugarcube Corner” (a bakery, maybe?), and the Slaughterhouse Nine are supposed to be in Brockton Bay?

Dash wasn’t sure if she really wanted to go, though. She was so engaged
with her stunts that she thought about blowing Pinkie off to continue flying.

Rude.

But, Dash’s conscience got the better of her. She knew that it would
hurt Pinkie’s feelings; after all, Pinkie had said it was going to be something
special just for the two of them. Dash considered it and thought “why not?”
What did she have to lose?

That’s the spirit.

Heck, it might be more pranking. Pinkie might have found a bunch more
fun stuff to pull on folks, and they’d had so much fun the last time. Dash
kicked into overdrive to make up for lost time, and sped to her appointment.

Ooh, mischievous couple girls, huh?

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The air was warm, the sun was shining, and everypony in Ponyville was having a glorious day.

Huh? Looks like we’ve got a new location. Is this a real place? “Ponyville” doesn’t seem like a name Wildbow would come up with.

The town square was bustling and crowded and busy ponies filled the streets.

Ponies?

What?

Is that like a nickname for the citizens of this town?

All the pony folk seemed to have somewhere specific to be. All except Rainbow Dash; her place was in the sky.

Looks like we’ve got our POV character – apparently a cape with the power of flight. What else does she have, I wonder? I think we all know characters in Worm don’t generally have just flying on its own.

The name sounds vaguely familiar, but I can’t for the life of me remember why.

She tore freely through the air, speeding one way and the next, buzzing
the tree tops and racing the wind. The blue pegasus swooped over a schoolyard,
much to the delight of the children, then climbed several hundred feet and
dove, streaking downward as fast as she could. Seconds before hitting the
ground, her wings flew open and she pulled up back into the clear blue. Rainbow
felt alive.

Good to hear she’s having fun!

But, uh. Blue pegasus?

I guess if she have the power of flight in a town where the citizens are nicknamed ponies, that would make her a flying pony, or pegasus. I wonder if her power actually gives her wings, though. That’s something we don’t see a lot with the flying capes in this story. The closest I can think of was Iron Falcon, and I don’t recall if those wings were real or just a costume choice.

As for blue, I suppose blue skin isn’t too out there.

Interlude 11d (Anniversary Bonus)

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It’s that time again! Let’s meet our fourth Slaughterhouse member.

So, who do we have left…

  • Bonesaw
  • Mannequin
  • Shatterbird
  • Crawler
  • Hatchet Face
  • a thus far unnamed female newbie

I feel like going with the newbie this time would be a good way to create some continuity between this and the last chapter, similar to Siberian being brought up by Burnscar and possibly Jack (though now that I remember the existence of Crawler, chances are they’re the implied human-eater). That said, it also feels a little early?

Besides, it’s entirely possible we won’t get a chapter about the newbie at all (and Hatchet Face takes that spotlight slot), and we’ll have to learn about her through the Undersiders when they’re surprised by her existence on the enemy team.

If we’re not meeting the newbie or Hatchet Face this time, maybe… Shatterbird? Just a random guess, really.

Whomever we’re meeting today, though, I’m sure it’ll be good. Let’s just jump right into it!

End of Interlude 11c

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This was a really solid chapter. We got to learn a little more about Elle/Labyrinth and to a much lesser extent Spitfire and Shamrock, Gregor got to be the MVP putting up a strong but losing fight alongside his allies, and perhaps most importantly, we were introduced to two new characters: High and sober Burnscar.

Burnscar, Mimi, is a victim of circumstance and addiction who believes that to survive, she needs to continue hurting people, to keep herself in the fiery high that comes with her power. (I don’t even know if I mean that last thing as a reason or as another thing she thinks she needs to do, but I think it might be both.) In her intoxicated state, she becomes, well… evil, by some definitions, dropping her moral and empathetic inhibitions and losing herself in the swirling inferno of her power. But when she’s sober, she’s a pretty decent person, really, one wracked with guilt that she goes back to the fire to avoid.

Anyway, point is: She’s a fantastic character, and far more sympathetic than I expected any of the Fellowship to be… Hey, Slaughterhouse, how ‘bout we trade? Rachel for Mimi?

No? Fair enough.

Another interesting detail we’ve learned: Hatchet Face has been replaced, though he’s still “kinda” around. So we’ve got someone in the mix who wasn’t on the list, with a power that helps her “find” people. Maybe we’ll meet her in one of the upcoming Interludes.

So yeah. This was a good time, up to and including the sad final part. 🙂

I think it’s time to give up the idea that we’ll be learning who the nominees are just yet, by the way, since neither Jack’s nor Mimi’s chapters ended up actually telling us. Other than that, though, we are definitely keeping up this pattern of meeting Slaughterhouse members one by one, and it’s working very well so far.

Next time… another POV character, another Slaughterhouse member.

See you then!

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As for Burnscar?  There would be no helping that girl.

I guess not. At least not from you. It’s not something you should focus on, given the effect it has on your own health and the fact that there doesn’t seem to be anything you can really do for her other than provide company.

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“We had some good times,” Elle lied.  “Take care.”

You’re a good kid, Elle.

Burnscar pulled away, and Elle let the girl go.  She saw Burnscar find the door to the indoor balcony that overlooked the dance floor, heard her run down the stairs.

Elle sank down against the wall, pushing away the sharp things that would cut her with a use of her power.  She put her head in her hands and closed her eyes to the sights around her.  She’d wait a few minutes.  She’d take a few minutes wait until she could be sure Burnscar was gone, then she would leave to check on the others.

See ya, Mimi.

And yeah, waiting a couple minutes and checking on the others sounds good.

It would be weeks before she had made up for the ground she had just lost, in terms of her mental health, in pushing past the bad memories and the bad place.

Ouch.

She reassured herself with the thought that she would get better, in time.  She’d gotten there once, she could get there again.  If the others were okay.

That is a good thought to hold onto. 🙂

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“Oh fuck.  Fuck me, I’m sorry,” Burnscar said.  She turned away, fumbled with the metal door.  Elle realized it had locked, adjusted things to allow it to open.  Burnscar pulled it open, then stopped in the doorway.  Her back turned, the girl said, “I’m sorry about your friends.  I really hope they’re okay.”

This… visit didn’t exactly go how anyone wanted, did it.

Seriously, I didn’t expect this to get sad of all emotions.

I kinda love it, though. It’s sad in so many ways, but it’s well-written, creative sadness.

“I do too.”

“I’m glad you’re doing well.  I hope I didn’t fuck everything up.”

Burnscar is my favorite Slaughterhouse member right now, I think. Jack is great personality-wise, and there’s no doubt I have a weak spot for the charismatic ones, but Burnscar has a fantastic story and an awesome power.

It took a bit of courage, but Elle hurried to cross the room and wrap her arms around Burnscar, hugging her from behind.

Hey, Mimi… Elle may not have seen you as a friend back then, you may bring up bad memories now, and Elle might have a couple disagreements with your way of going about life… but maybe you could still be friends now.

It’s not too late.

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Then she turned and looked around.  Her face fell as she saw the padded walls, the bed that had become a cot, the shit stains, the blood, the needles in the corner, the broken glass and the razorblades that were embedded in every surface, waiting to catch anyone unsuspecting that put their hand or foot in the wrong place.

Yeeah. Welcome to the bad place.

“No,” Burnscar said.

Elle tensed.  “Sorry.”

Burnscar’s face fell.  “This… this isn’t beautiful.  I remember this.”

The asylum, right?

“Would show you the others… if I could.”

Burnscar’s voice was choked.  “But you can’t.  Because I remind you of the asylum.  I remind you of the bad times, the times you were most miserable.”

Now you’re getting it.

Jeez, this is sad.

Elle looked down at her feet, swallowed past the lump in her throat.

“I thought we were friends.  We had our moments, didn’t we?  Only a few times, when we were both allowed out of our cells, when we were having good days.  A few jokes, stories.  I mean, I know that some of the time I was coming off a bad spell, so maybe I snapped, or I called you names, or threatened you…”

The slow realization that it wasn’t always good times, at least not both ways…

Burnscar trailed off.  Elle stayed silent.

“It.  It wasn’t, um.” Burnscar stuttered.  Her eyes flashed orange.  “Did you see me as a friend?  Don’t you dare lie to me.”

And there it is. The big question.

And I don’t think she’s gonna like the answer.

Elle couldn’t come up with a reply.  They used me as an enticement to get you to cooperate.

Ouch.

“I saw you as a person I was being used as a tool to control.”

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“Can’t keep hurting people, Mimi.”

Stopping that would be preferable, yes.

The problem is that this is a lot like telling an addict “Can’t keep using cocaine.”

“I have to.  I- I can just use my power.  Stay in that headspace where I don’t feel bad, where I act the way the Nine expect me to.”

Yeah, no, this argument ain’t gonna appease Elle. She brought this up as a thing she hated before you even got to mentioning it.

The bad place was intruding on the room further.  Elle spoke up, “Mimi…  Can I touch you?  Anchor you?  Don’t want my power to hurt you.”

Ahh, anchoring, that’s a good term for making someone immune to her ability. It’s like tethering them to reality, keeping them from truly being pulled into the liminal space created by Labyrinth’s power.

“So you want to keep me out of your world?”  Mimi smiled and shook her head.  “No way.  Half the reason I came here was because I heard you were making beautiful things these days.  I have to see it.  The things you can make, now.”

You don’t realize the effect you’re having on Elle at all, huh.