#though in general i don't mind taylor i just think the writers have made poor choices sometimes

[got-into-worm-by-mistake]

Arc 2, Reflections

So, I had some... strong opinions about some of Wildbow's choices in the Interlude 2 Live Reactions.

That's going to happen. I don't always agree with or like or even really 'accept' the choices of creators sometimes. I bitch about them. Happens. They don't necessarily mean much about my broader opinions about the creator as a creator, and they definitely don't mean anything about what I think about them as a person.

I don't know Wildbow, and I'm not likely to. Whatever he's like as a person, I don't know. As a writer, he's obviously talented, dedicated, and somehow able to churn out words at a disturbingly fast pace. He's also made choices I don't agree with (I've never met a creator that doesn't) or like or think were really the best choices he could have made with the characters/story. But so what? It's his work.

Doesn't mean I don't like Worm. 2 Arcs in, and I still do.

Anyway, the point is, the occasional bitching about Wildbow and his choices, or the Sequel to Worm that Really Should Not Be Named don't represent some sort of 'I hate Worm and Wildbow' thing.

Anyway - as for Arc 2 itself, it's good. It does feel a little fluffed up, there's definitely some parts of 2.1, 2.3 and 2.4 that could have been cut, or condensed, but it's not so bad that it substantively or really even noticeably detracts from the arc.

Arc 2 is clearly both establishing for Taylor why she's going to make the choice to join up with these villains despite her stated desire to be a hero, the desire that has motivated her for three months, kept her going, and why we the readers should see this as reasonable, both for her, and from a broader standpoint.

Taylor obviously justifies it to herself with 'I need to find their boss', but equally, she I think, pretty clearly, wants to be... well, wanted (not in a sexual sense, though perhaps that too, but just in the 'they want me around' sense. Minus Rachel, anyway). She hasn't had a place to belong, or people that aren't Danny and... I guess maybe Greg, that really wanted her around in a very long time (as a teenager reckons things). And Armsmaster does a poor job of showcasing the Hero side, and Taylor's got too much baggage to really grasp the case about the Wards he was making, etc.

So yeah. It does make sense. She's got no trust in authority in general, be it Protectorate, PRT or the School. The Undersiders have a boss, but Money is nice, and a place to belong is even more, and she can tell herself she's still aiming to be a hero and turn on them eventually.

And yet - we as the readers see humanized villains, who are all kids too. All (well, maybe not Rachel, yet) decent...ish people. They're not Lung, they're not Empire 88. They're not dealing drugs. They don't really hurt people. (Rachel again excepted)

And we as the reader already have a poor opinion (ish) of Armsmaster, and then we have Vicky.

Vicky, Vicky, Vicky. Glory Girl the Cop. Police Brutality in a Tiara. Collateral Damage Barbie.

She gets better, I believe that, and that this picture of her is just an out of context one, but it really doesn't make a good showing of the character, or of the Heroes side in general. Even Panacea - she's a hero too, and she's calling Victoria out, but she does it the same, all the same, covers it up.

And then there's that Aura, which - we don't know much about it yet, but the fact that a character is just... slinging a mind-altering Aura around like that so casually, to the point where her sister calls herself 'immune' from overexposure, even as what may have been a joke...

Yeah. That seems... fucked. Vicky being this way, so casual about what she did to the guy, effectively torturing him (and Amy kinda gleefully joining in at the end, sorta)...

It doesn't do a great job of showing the heroes of the Wormverse in a good light. Which is, I would imagine, the whole point.

We as the readers are supposed to be okay with our MC being a wannabe hero that decides to join Villains, and one way we're expected to be okay with it is the classic trope - the good guys are actually as bad or worse than some of the baddies.

The Undersiders try not to hurt random people. Vicky fucking - I mean, fuck she nearly kills a guy. Not in self defense. Not in a fight. Not to save anyone.

Just because she got angry and didn't care to stop herself.

Maybe, just maybe, the heroes aren't all they seem cracked up to be. Maybe Taylor being a villain is the more moral choice. That's what the Interlude is trying to imply to us.

Ish.

It's hard to really read Interlude 2 in Isolation, since Amy is my Blorbo so much already, since the Brainrot™ of her has taken over my brain, but I suspect I would like Amy anyway, between her generally bitchy attitude, how much she does care about her sister (not that we know the full details yet) and her 'Fucking hell Vicky, stop doing this shit!' attitude. She makes a good, appealing showing of herself, and she's the sort of character I'd tend to like anyway.

Of course, I'm not reading this blind, and I know Amy is even more the sort of character I'm into, narratively. And here she is at the start of her fucked up journey into fucking up so fucking much. Poor little Amy. If she knew what was coming...

Well, I honestly wouldn't put it past her to just try and kill or birdcage herself now, so she doesn't do that to Vicky. Or she snaps early and goes hogwild, I suppose, but I don't think so.

Anyway, back on topic, before I babble about Amy for hours ( :rofl: ), Arc 2 is a big set up piece, really. Arc 1 is the inciting incident, the big deal that sets the tone for what's to come, introduces the world and some key players, the basic ideas and notions...

And Arc 2 is building out on that. A lot does and does not happen, but what definitely happens is a fluffing out of the world, a showing us more than just what we had seen, laying the groundwork for what's to come.

Certainly Amy and Vicky will be showing up again at the Bank, and yet, we probably don't realize, as blind readers, where they fit in. Or that the bank is coming.

But we have to know, have to suspect, that Taylor is gonna have to do villain stuff at some point.

Arc 2 lays all the groundwork of who these people are, the world they live in, and the consequences of Arc 1, of Taylor fucking taking out Lung.

Fucking LUNG.

Pound for pound, objectively, Arc 1 is better. But Arc 2 has a lot going for it, and of course, AMY!

I have no doubt I'm going to continue to enjoy this work. What I'm most curious about rn is if I'll keep hating Tattle-bitch.

[lovecolibri]

This whole 'let's make a characters trauma about another person' and 'character with a history of terrible trauma can totally handle another one like it's no big deal' on 911 thing reminds me of Roswell and Carina's approach to storytelling in the worst way. She was doing it with Malex and Alex's enlistment, not to mention just with Alex's character in general, and she was doing it with Max and Michael too about Michael's abuse in foster care. What's baffling the most is Athena and Bobby are right there on the same exact show maturely dealing with Athena's trauma as something that primarily happened to her but also affected someone who loves her and their relationship. This show keeps failing Eddie and his PTSD specifically, first with that weird fight club subplot that went nowhere, now this, and it's pissing me off.

Uuuuuugh, MOOD. I really liked the Bobby/Athena scenes the past few eps because it shows them getting upset in a very emotionally compromised and complicated moment (Bobby is Going Through It with sponsoring that lady and if I recall didn't Michael cheat on Athena? So she might be triggered by Bobby lying to her though I don't think her mind went to cheating. Can you imagine?! Bobby would never.) but after cooling off they took the time to think about what the other person said and stand in their shoes and then talk it out like *gasp* actual mature adults. I personally thought it was really refreshing to see.

And yet. On the flip side we have that interview that made it clear Eddie getting shot was only to further Buck's storyline, and specifically b*ckt*ylor. What?! Also, weird choice given that Eddie getting shot should have been a reason to further Eddie's storyline with Ana, either to solidify that relationship (😑) or to break them up. Instead she had *checks notes* zero lines? *deep sigh* Eddie is an interesting character and while most of Buck's scenes all episode were so great (Oliver killed it this ep as always) especially the ones with Eddie and Chris, it still feels like this episode should have been more about Eddie. And if I had hope it would be explored next season I might be more inclined to let it go, but again that interview was...frustrating to say the least.

And don't get me started on the writing for Taylor. That 'you didn't chase after me' line after she made it clear multiple times they were just friends? Not to mention the scene people seem to forget where she lectures Buck and specifically says derogatory things about behaviors we were literally just shown in Buck Begins are trauma responses. I could have lived with them being shenanigan-having friends because those eps were great! But every time they try to push the romantic aspect it just doesn't work for me. I don't understand because this show already has a great lesbian relationship with Hen and Karen so I don't know why they are so adamantly opposed to letting Buddie happen. Tim even said he knows it's a thing but he doesn't want to stop writing the characters like he is. Like, what the actual fuck is that?! You would not have to change anything about how Eddie or Buck are written! The only thing that would change is the lackluster parade of women being thrown at them with zero development. That's it!

Now I'm all fired up about 911 AND Roswell New Mexico, because damn was that a spot on parallel. Sorry for rambling nonnie, I just have a lot of feelings.