#worm arc 21

[gastlives]

worm lb 21 part 3..

he probably thought of blowing tattletale up 1000 different ways from this meeting

gulp

looks at her when she was friends w e mma

not my TV!!!!

agreed

smiles

poor parian

shes gay

woow

damn

new flechette

holy shit kiss moment

wildbow said yuri, fucked up

wow its next arc already wowowoe

[calcichel]

 I [...] let my bugs crawl up my body to sweep and brush my skin clean.  The bugs made their way up the sides and back of my neck to my hair, then weaved through it as a mass, their bodies and mandibles helping to set it in order.  Others progressed down my arms, making their way to the dress, doing much the same with the fabric. I was just about finished when I caught Brian staring at me. I raised an eyebrow, and he smiled a little, shook his head, turned his attention to his costume.

Brian, to himself: i cannot believe i'm just letting this girl go.

[snazzyscarf]

the thing about me is that I will absolutely shamelessly give my favorite little minor character who has cubed me a disproportionate amount of narrative significance than he actually has, BUT THE PROBLEM WITH THAT is that he (Clockblocker) actually honestly and truly DOES have one of the biggest impacts of any character.

like i know they were not giving out medals for the sake of preventing infighting after the leviathan fight, but Clockblocker damn well deserves one because quite literally everyone would have died had he not frozen the Titanic Waterbending Godzilla in time for several whole minutes allowing the remaining capes critical time to re-strategize and hold out for Scion. Additionally. everyone Also would have died had Skitter not been able to utilize his power to slice That Thang (Echidna) in twain. Two (2) S-Class threats within months of each other and he turned the tides on both of them.

it’s like. it’s honestly a testament to what Tattletale was saying about how a lot of parahumans never really get the chance to understand the full extent of their powers because they’re never under the right circumstances to do so. because if you think about it purely in situations like the bank heist or party crash early on in the book, Clockblocker’s power really isn’t anything to write home about. and if they lived in a reality where things like that were the biggest threats around he would probably stay that way!

but they don’t live in that reality. they DO live in a world with towering kaiju endbringers that threaten the planet every three months and they DO live in a world where monstrous parahuman accidents like echidna are likely to pop up, and it’s because of this product of circumstance that you can make a legitimate case for Clockblocker having one of the strongest powers in terms of utility. he lives in a reality where his niche is allowed to shine!

and it’s this kinda thinking that makes the fact that he is—at the end of the day—Just A Minor Character, so incredibly compelling because it further illustrates the idea that This Could Be Anybody. under the right circumstances, any parahuman could find their otherwise mid-level power suddenly become the most pivotal role in a survival setting. or the most dangerous! it opens up the floor to a wealth of possibilities.

like say what you want, and i do concede that of course my darling boy Dennis doesn’t hold the same narrative significance that any of the major characters do, but when you look at his role in the story from this perspective, He Really Is Kind Of A Big Deal.

[got-into-worm-by-mistake]

Arc 21, Reflections

So Taylor did get a bit of a chance to have a Warlord Era then, even if just the one arc, more like half an arc really. But we did see her and the Undersiders wipe the floor with threats that would have taken a long time to deal with (narratively, anyway) earlier, and it's our introduction to the Butcher's, whose powers have set off... at least 5 fics and probably more.

Arc 21 is another good arc overall - and while there's a few 'Damnit Taylor' bits (namely her attack on Tagg and her turning herself in, because DAMNIT TAYLOR), I think overall she made some right choices here. Valefor's defeat is definitely well done.

After the drag and slog that were 17-19, it's good that 20 and 21 were good. I'm worried about 22 is gonna go, and I'm probably gonna be yelling at Taylor a lot for her Generalized Stupidity Disorder (Protagonist Variant).

21 is also just a lot more sedate, across the board, while also advancing the story. Gives us a look at the way the team will be going without her, what the state of the city is, etc. The look at Number Man and the inside look at Cauldron just reaffirms my beliefs that Cauldron really is comically undermanned and that is at the root of all their bad decisions. It seems to come down to Doctor Mother being too controlling, I think? She only wants the people she and Contessa picked, or something?

The Number Man isn't an edgelord in the same way Jack Slash is, but he is still sort of a teenager mentally, and LARPing as a capable, profound adult, or his idea of one. And his view of how everything is an illusion/delusion/not real thing is partially a function of his power, whatever it exactly is, but it is also real near-edgelord behavior, so he kind of is a lot like Jacob Knifeboy like that.

I appreciate there's something Wildbow is going for by having the Number Man be a former teammate of Jack Slash and all that but I have to admit, it kind of makes the Wormverse feel small, just a little. I don't mark that as a point against Worm or Wildbow per se, especially since the payoff may be down the line, but it does feel a bit weird as it stands. But weird is not disallowed or anything.

[worm-fanon-polls]

(Poll submitted by Anonymous)

Presumably this is in a scenario where the whole team is stranded after a plane crash or something. Note I am using the warlord era (Worm arcs 19, 20, 21) undersiders core team lineup.

Make sure to tell me what you think and why you think it!

[wormblr-polls]

From Worm Parahumans

[germesthegenie]

What can I say? Give me a lady with a cool power and/or silly outfit and I’ll probably draw them

Finished the rest of Arc 5, thoughts below:

As expected, big cape fight was very cool

Neat to essentially see, again, something we saw a lot in Worm but from a different perspective (and being executed by more morally questionable people). Hollow Point and the Undersiders mobilizing against the Fallen isn’t too different from things like the Somer’s Rock alliance against the ABB, but now we’re seeing a lot more collateral, and how the heroes have to respond to situations like that where villains are fighting each other with varying regard for civilian life

Little V and Big V reunited! Nice little reunion scene before things went to hell.

Valefor’s shard deserves to be talked about alongside Broadcast when it comes to playing favorites. He got heavily nerfed and just got his power reworked to be arguably stronger (with less control). Is this technically a second trigger or did the shard just give him this as a treat? And I guess what will it figure out next? Mind control through interpretative dance?

Jokes aside, Valefor’s scenes were terrifying and brought back the fear we briefly got from his Worm Arc 21 appearance. Victoria’s flashbacks were sad to see, and I do have another drawing idea based on that scene where she instinctively releases the Wretch. I do find it funny how the temporary solution to him was malicious compliance though lol

Speaking of the Wretch, nice to see Vicky getting more used to using it and learning to cooperate with it. Wonder what she can do with it if/when she gets full control? Bigger forcefield that can fight will be a lot more useful once it’s not fighting everything that gets too close.

Chris’ forms are certainly… something. He’s like Beast Boy except the shard used eldritch horror and books like All Tomorrows as a catalog for the forms. I’d try drawing them but I’m not even that great at regular animals, much less… banana thing.

Beast of Burden when he provokes the girl who blasts holes in people and she blasts a hole in him 🤯

Nice scenes with Ashley all around, lots of complexity to that one. She’s like Goth flavor Rachel (and now I’m seeing why the ship of her and Victoria is popular)

March! Still not sure what to make of her yet. Helped Rain, sure. But also, nemesis of Foil and kidnapped Parian one time. But also also, really cool power in terms of visuals. Imagine if Foil got the anime version of Sting and Worm ended with Scion getting depression-stunned into a Judgement Cut instead of a bolt.

What’s with the trend in cape names in Ward? Like we’ve got people who sound like names/subtitles for Dark Souls bosses (“Lord of Loss”, “End of Days”, etc.). Not opposed to it, just wonder if the post-apocalypse got people to break out the dramatic names.

Quick little detour away from the Fallen to let us know Cauldron’s still kicking, though seems Teacher’s taking over while actual founding Cauldron members were on “break”. Congrats to Citrine and Number Man on the marriage and their family of a couple identical clones of himself.

“Someone’s gotta represent the fourth”. Great twist, but also poor Tohu and Bohu. Who’s gonna rep them? Would they get a shared cult or individual ones?

And so one of four in the Mall Cluster falls. It’s interesting we get a sort of afterlife scene, with Snag free from the cluster/shard influence and still able to communicate to some degree with his clustermates (though muted whenever he tried to tell them not to kill each other lmao). And an ominous ending damn

[l-mop]

Worm arc titles are so cool except when they're not. (worm spoilers) Arc 21 - Imago: Fascinating arc name. Related to the psychology of the characters during the arc, while also referencing a stage of bug development that reflects Taylor's confidence and actions during these chapters. Arc 22 - Cell: taylor is in a cell

[cairavende]

Worm Arc 21 thoughts:

Well that was sure a turn around from last arc's "I'm going to rally the students so I don't get captured."

I know my daughter has made some . . . mistakes, but I'm not a fan of her turning herself into the openly corrupted and also bad at their job parahuman cops.

(Parahuman cops as in "cops who police parahumans" not "cops who are parahumans")

Like look, I get it. A precog told her to cut ties. I can't say it's wrong to follow that advice. But she could do that in a lot of ways that don't involve the PRT.

The second not from Dinah just being "I'm sorry" is brutal.

But before she can turn herself in she has to absolutely fucking crush the PRT/Protectorate for outing her civilian identity.

I love how fucking simple taking out the entire PRT headquarters was for Skitter and her girlfriends!

Who needs anyone else? Bitch brings muscle, Tattletale brings information, Skitter brings battlefield control. Lesbian polycule power activate!

Was it an overboard response? Maybe. Was it badass how she just took out so many heroes and PRT troops with ease? Yes.

Poor Dovetail has one of the most embarrassing introductions ever. First time we see her and Skitter is wiping the floor with her and thinking about her "crummy power".

God I hate Tagg so much that he makes me miss Piggot. Like she was absolutely terrible, but he's worse! And making me miss Piggot makes me hate Tagg even more!

Kindly old cemetery groundskeeper who doesn't pay much attention to the news! Never a bad trope.

They gave Butcher 15 to Cherish???!? Like sure they give all the reasoning for it but like ... it just seems like a really high risk situation. If she ever gets out it's going to suck. A lot.

THE SCENE AT RACHEL'S PLACE OH MY GOD!

SHE IS BUILDING A COMMUNITY! I LOVE HER SO MUCH!

Rachel just over here finding everyone like her and giving them a place. Legit crying. Look at that fucking growth!

(Also shout-out to my wife for having basically done the same thing. It's how I met her. It's how I met one of my girlfriends. And so many other important people. So ya. I fucking love this.)

Also you ever like a girl so much you try to give her an entire planet? Cause Taylor sure has.

"Rachel I don't want you to be sad when I'm gone so you can basically have this whole other planet we found."

GGGGGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!

Imp let Regent take control of her . . . welp. Like, I'm not really surprised by this. And in a different situation I wouldn't even really find it that weird. I'd do it with the right person. But combination of age and the situation they are in and Regent being Regent annnnnd ya. Welp.

I did love how much of the interactions between Skitter and Regent/Imp really was just her struggling with parenting two teenage supervillains.

IT'S NOT SO EASY, IS IT CHILD?!? MAYBE YOU'LL CUT ME SOME SLACK AND LISTEN TO MY ADVICE IN THE FUTURE!

(She won't)

I fucking LOVE that she made the bible themed hero kneel. Absolutely fucking amazing.

Oh shiiit, Skitter just flat dropped that guy multiple stories. Is she going to far?

. . . wellll, these guys do literally worship the Endbringers so I guess a little aggression is ok.

Damn, Valefor sure has some fucked up powers, I wonder what they're gonna do abou-

. . .

. . .

. . . . . .

. . . wellll, these guys do literally worship the Endbringers so I guess a little aggression is ok.

. . .

Yep.

. . .

. . . I think I preferred when she just used a knife.

So anyway

Not a fan of Taylor having more alone time with Brian (not because I have any issue with the idea, but because I think she needs to be focusing on her girlfriends), but I am a fan of her using bugs to clean her dress and fix her hair afterwords while Brian just kinda sits there and has to contemplate what he has gotten himself into. Queen shit.

Flechette was SO mad that Parian wasn't "cute" anymore, I couldn't stop laughing. Sure, she said "You had to take the playfulness away? The joy?" but we all know what she meant. Of course, it's won't take very long for the new costume to get Flechette's attention. (I have to mention that this is basically exactly what I said when reading the scene, and the interlude a few chapters later just proved me right.)

Flechette is just so hopelessly gay

Miss Militia is actually getting very mild respect from me right now. Like, she's still working for the cops but she is actually agreeing to silently push against some things. Now, she says she doesn't have more power then that but she is a very well known hero and if she would publicly speak out about certain things there is a decent chance she could do more. That would of course be putting her position at risk though. Which is why she only gets very mild respect right now.

OH MY GOD I DIDN'T JUST GET TO SEE TATTLETALE'S MURDER WALL, I GOT TO SEE HER ENTIRE MURDER ROOM!

Fucking multiple bulletin boards with threads connecting them. Everything color coded. Reference numbers to files with more details. Multiple TV screens, computer with constant information dump. God. It's like a literal representation of the inside of my mind while I read Worm. SO MANY THINGS TO FIGURE OUT!

I love a lot of characters, but Tattletale always stays near the top. She gets me.

And from the fucking joy of getting to see that setup I come crashing the fuck down.

Like, I have completely figured out at this point that Skitter is turning herself in. I know what is coming. She's had her moment with everyone else and Tattletale is the last one.

And then. Then just . .

No goodbyes.

😭😭😭😭😭

HOW DARE THIS BOOK MAKE ME FEEL MY OWN FEELINGS!! I'M TOO GAY FOR THIS!

I do find it hysterical that the PRT officers working the front lobby don't all recognize Skitter on sight. Fucking gas station employees will manage to keep track of people with pictures on the "bad check" board, you'd think the PRT could manage to have their officers keep track of the face of one of the most well know villains in the country, if not the world, who also controls their city. PRT is forever bad at their job.

That one guy did notice her eventually though, so I guess he gets to be employee of the month.

The Number Man interlude thoughts:

The inside of this mans mind is one of the sexiest things I have ever seen and the constant reminder of the horrible things he is helping Cauldron do to all their prisoners was very helpful because it was the only thing keeping me from deciding that The Number Man is a perfect soul that can do no wrong.

I have no illusions here. I am weak. This man is a monster and I should not have any trouble remembering that.

But fuck shit fuck oh god fuck I don't even need him to touch me. I just need him to TALK to me. I just need him to get high with me and let me pick apart how his mind works!

He understood numbers, and through them, he understood everything.

That line. Absolute killer. Fucking take me.

. . . anyway yes it's a very interesting interlude!

Loved seeing more of the inner workings of Cauldron

I very much want to see the final level of their basement that only the Doctor goes into because I said that I thought Cauldron had a dead (for values of dead that are non-definable) higher dimensional being in their basement back during arc 15 and now I know for sure that there is something down there. I wanna know if I was right!

Oh my god he was friends with Jack

"Friends"

Look I make everything gay ok? It's not my choice! Sure it means I get to enjoy every tiny bit of Wolfspider and Chatterbug cause I see all of it. But it also means I see the ships I don't want to think about!

I men what was I supposed to think when Jack said “We can live this. Together. Every waking second…”?

Gay

Parian interlude thoughts:

And speaking of gay!

Fucking Flechette just full blown "Fuck all of this I want you to tell me what to do for the rest of my life!"

Full U-Haul lesbian.

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

This is Parian's new costume having an effect.

Just so gay. I love it.

Also Bitch just so fucking ready to break Skitter out. So fucking gay.

And the incredible loyalty, which is gonna hurt if she ends up feeling betrayed by Skitter.

Still gay though.

Tattletale, basically without powers, just completely giving Accord the "fuck off, we're in charge" was amazing. All she had to do was promise to consider his binders and he was all in. This poor man just wants somebody to read his ideas! He's like a aspiring screenwriter just begging people to read his script.

[b-a-pigeon]

As you might expect from a couple of queer indie authors, Fell & I are going hard on the sales and promotions for Pride Month! I'll try to summarize as succinctly as possible, and remember that you can always click the links for a full synopsis ;)

Are you in the mood for...

✨ An emotional, reflective gay fantasy romance following a werewolf cowboy whose family takes in an amnesiac vampire? Fell's debut novel, Both Sides of the Moon, is on sale! You can buy a paperback for $11.99 & the ebook is on Countdown Sale June 3-7, starting at $0.99!

✨ A short and sweet sapphic contemporary fantasy read? My novella Worm in a Jar is pay what you want on Gumroad all month, so you can download it free if you'd like!

✨ A not-romantic fantasy novel with queer trans protagonists, about a demon and a demon hunter who must team up to prevent an imprending wave of violence? Our upcoming collab, Hierarchy of the Unseen, comes out June 21! It's up for preorder now, and available as an ARC on Netgalley :)

✨ The above, and also deals and/or supporting queer trans authors? This month, we're running a special offer on Patreon: all new & current patrons starting at the $4 tier will receive a free paperback of HotU (in addition to the ebook downloads, early access to our work, behind-the-scenes exclusives, and more already offered to patrons)!

✨ Finding more queer indies to support? Check out Pride SFF Reads & Read LGBTQ Authors on Bookfunnel!

I'll post about these individually in the coming weeks, but just wanted to throw it all out there at once 🖤 Reblogs appreciated! Thank you all for your support!

[waihtie]

Supernatural Season 4

Facts | Rewatch Guide | Main Plot | Character Analysis | My Thoughts

Facts/Stats

Sam Deaths: 1

Cause: Struck by lightning from a wish.

Revival: All wishes were undone.

Dean Deaths: 0 (but started off dead)

Revival from S3 death: Cas gripped him tight and raised him from perdition

Cas Deaths: 1

Cause: Apparently he was blown up

Revival: None yet

Important Character Deaths:

Pamela

Alastair

Uriel

Adam

Ruby

Overall Deaths: 74

*This includes all people and supernatural creatures who died during an episode, even if they come back to life.

Important information: Lucifer is freed. Cas is dead? Chuck is idk, he was with Cas.

Rewatch Guide

Plot: 1, 2, 3, 7, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22

Cas/Misha: 1, 2, 3, 7, 9, 10, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 22

Not Plot:

4 - skipable

5, 6, 8 - skipable, but are fun

11 - skipable, watch if you like scary

12 - skipable, has 1 minor plot convo between Sam and Ruby

13 - not main arc, but is full of flashbacks, so it is world (character) building

14 - skipable, but fun

19 - not main arc, but we meet Adam

Main Plot

The big thing this season is stopping Lilith from breaking the 66 seals, which will free Lucifer. We are also introduced to angels. They saved Dean from Hell and are either trying to stop or help Lucifer being freed. Sam is growing his psychic demon killing powers with the help of Ruby and drinking demon blood.

Character Analysis

I am struggling to put it in words, but I will try my best.

Sam of course is losing himself further and further. He's still traumatised by Dean being dragged to hell, so his mind is set on revenge. That, plus Ruby and demon blood taking over his brain, he grows darker and darker. We also see him struggle with being seen as not-human, or a monster, or a freak. It's something he's always struggled with, and he's literally being called those things now. I think he finds comfort in the fact that Ruby sees those aspects as a good thing. If those things are true, at least they can be helpful and make him strong

Dean should be struggling more with the PTSD of being in Hell for 40 years, but that would be quite the can of worms. We do see some, tho. We see him struggle with understanding what about him is worth saving. He tortured people in Hell, he was unable to stop seals from breaking, and he couldn't help / stop Sam. He's seeing himself as a failure. He doesn't give up on what he believes, tho. He keeps his faith in humanity, despite what Sam and the angels say. Tho, he doesn't react to his feelings on Sam very well. He sees his brother, the person literally protects with his life, become something he can't protect him from. And that scares him. And hurts him. So he pushes Sam away.

Castiel is slowly becoming an independent being. He's an angel who was made to follow orders. To not feel. As he works with Dean, things change - "For the first time, I feel", "My superiors feel I have begun to express emotions." He's started to disobey orders, have his own thoughts, and make his own decisions. He's seeing the good and beauty in humanity. He tells Uriel as much, but when he comes back from being dragged to heaven, he questions it. He asks Dean what about it is worth saving. Of course, he finds that answer in Dean.

Cas and Dean are so good for eachother this season. Cas, angel of the lord, who shouldn't feel or disobey or care, does bc of Dean. That is so beneficial for them both. For Dean bc he's struggling to see himself as worth anything, and then here comes all that. For Cas bc he's discovering free will. He's discovering beauty. All the gateways to discovering love. They both are kinda seen as a failure, by others and by themselves, and they find some worth in eachother.

I know all 4 of those go a lot deeper, but I'm not very good at reading people, or expressing my thoughts and feelings.

My Thoughts

I was so excited the first time I watched this season. I had been growing bored of the show, and then they finally introduced a 3rd fricken character. And it turned out to be a character I could finally obsess over. And that character happened to be played by Misha Collins, who seemed to change the direction of the show. I swear they started changing their target audience with him. I really am not the "rock-n-roll, horror-movie, grey-filter, classic-car, men-being-overly-masculine" type of person.

This season gave me all the things I needed - a relationship I could obsess over, a bigger plot, and a change in vibe.

I love Cas so much, I wish there was more of him. He was in only half of the episodes, and most were for just a few minutes, if even. I really need more of him.

Babyface Sam is gone. I am so sad about it. He was so adorable. He goes through an awkward teenage phase for the next many seasons, before getting hot in like season 12 or 13 or something around there.

[gastlives]

worm lb 21 part 2

dies

what if she meant for u to literally cut a tie

inchresting

simurgh hates ur ass ig

woow ure still using test subjects huh

thats fucked up

eats math

wow

number man kinda SUCKS huh

what for..

oh

oh man

More?

oh its jack.... wayy long ago

thats craazy

i finished the chapter just kind of thinking they were silly friends buddies how old is jack at this point even

oh hey parian pov

:(

i think its awesome that u learned it :)

oh god a nice guy

wow not even being gay helps

runnnnnnn

i like how tattletale is just TT tattleTale [TT]

she was rose lalonde all along

hes sooo mad

and i get why

blonde???

she believes in taylor...

no no!!!!

im like bitch rn honestly

cries

heeelp

i have asshole rights

shes not in a good mood 😭

and she also hates him so thats that its ok theyre supervillains Not actually landlords

[artbyblastweave]

You said you needed to be prodded to elaborate on why Worm should have been longer? Well consider this a prod, if I may be so bold.

A big chunk of it is rote contrarianism. Part of it is that I like Worm, my experience reading so much Worm was "Sweet! Even More Worm! I've got so much Worm left before I'm out of Worm!" So a version of Worm with More Worm is prima facie an enticing prospect.

In the non-reflexive, genuinely considered sense, there possibly should have been an interlude arc to flesh out the timeskip, make it feel like it was as much of her powered career as it objectively was. And I'm far from the first person to make this observation. But on another level, there's a sense where "Worm Should Have Been Longer" is conflated in my head with "Worm's Timeframe Should Have Been Longer." Which is tricky, and invites further unpacking-

One thing about Worm I've noted in the past is that the villain portion of Skitter's cape career- more than two thirds of the book- only takes place over about three months, but- speaking only for my reading experience- this was surprisingly easy to miss or elide in my consideration of the narrative. One reason for this is that Taylor and her supporting cast are so heavily fleshed out, are so well-realized, undergo so much character development in a compacted timeframe, that it felt like I had been following them for much longer than I had. This is enhanced (was enhanced?) by the out-of-universe passage of time; The S9 interlude arc is, like, a little over the one-third mark of the story, but Worm had been running for a year at the time that that was published, and it certainly felt like I’d been reading a years' worth of fiction while binging it. In this way Worm was truly faithful to its comic book origins; story arcs that take place over the course of hours but are published over the course of months, building reader familiarity with characters who objectively haven’t been at what they're doing for very long. A third element (noticed on rereads) is that Wildbow often opens with scene transitions/cold-opens or what-have you that, are generally contiguous with the preceding events, but simultaneously slightly obfuscate exactly how much time has passed. Arc 6 opens with Taylor finishing up with the ABB mop-up, and it’s blocked to demonstrate how far she’s come in such a relatively short time period. It can’t have been more than a few days since Lung. It explicitly wasn’t. But it had the vibe of having been a while.

What I’m working towards here, inch by inch, is the following conclusion: Worm has what I call an eyedropper approach to Taylor’s three-months and 22 arcs. Any given escapade feels like it’s just one vignette, emblematic of a longer, two-or-three-year stage of her life, scooped out and displayed as a representative sample of what’s going on. When shit hits the fan with Dinah, it feels like the upset of a longstanding status quo, even though by that point, Skitter has only been in five or six major engagements alongside the Undersiders. When they spend Arc 21 lancing various supervillain incursions into the city, it felt like I was watching a day in the life, like this was something the Undersiders had been dealing with, and would be dealing with, for a while- even though arc 21′s handful of engagements are basically the only times Skitter did that before she left. Purely from a vibes-based perspective, you could tell me that the first two thirds of Worm are occurring over the course of eight to ten years, and I might roll with that for a minute.

But the catch is- her villainous career has the vibes of lasting a long time, but it’s actually really thematically and logically important that it doesn’t. Skitter’s friendships within the Undersiders are strongly predicated on her ping-ponging from crisis to crisis so quickly that no true reckoning about their differing morals can ever come about. Skitter’s ability to administer as a benevolent warlord is heavily predicated on her lines of credit from Coil- and you cannot stretch that tension out much longer than it was stretched in canon without Dinah dying or Coil getting fed up with Skitters non-profitability. Breathing room is anathema to the story’s depiction of a pressure-cooker society where every crisis begets a new crisis. Nothing between Lung and Alexandria plays out the same way if anyone is allowed any amount of time to think about or process anything. And you actually see this in arc 21; it’s the first time that Skitter has a real opportunity to think about what the long-term looks like, and there’s a whole sequence where she’s getting nervous about her ability to reign in Regent over the long-haul. It’s the first time in three months where she’s had the luxury to worry about that kind of thing. 

You square this circle by.... basically, by striking the canon balance. There's a sense in which I'm increasingly convincing myself that I'm not talking about a problem Worm has so much as a problem Worm already has a workable-but-imperfect solution for. Create distinct periods in Skitter's development- "Rookie era," "Warlord Era," "Wards Era," whatever-each of which feel like they could balloon out into a years-long status quo if this were a comic, even though the cast are really living through the weeks where decades happen. Rely on the Sheer Amount Of Worm to smooth over the breakneck pace at which everyone's character growth and interpersonal connections are developing. There are a few points in the story where "fuck, has it only been three months?" is a salient mood to invoke. The get-together with Danny's coworkers, the back-to-school portions of arc 20. But for the most part the work already does a really good job of making the pinched timeframe a minor bit of fridge logic and not something hugely dissonant and immersion-breaking.

In the process of writing this I've basically argued myself out of thinking that there's much to gain from fucking around with this delicate balance. I don't know if that has implications for whether or not additional arcs covering the timeskip would help or hurt that balance- at a certain level of focus, that whole "you liked us, but you didn't love us" bit about Skitter's time with the Wards vs. The Undersiders becomes a much harder sell. It was already one of the hardest sells in the book for me, the thing that got me thinking about this in the first place. (two years vs three months!) But at some point, I have to bite the bullet- in a work as ambitious as Worm, "good enough" is a fine thing to settle for. It's good enough!

[dorminchu]

semi-organized impressions of dune, parts 1 and 2

below the cut. mild spoilers.

12/??/21

pt1

+ despite never reading the books and going in blind, I was very interested in the world and characters. could follow along pretty well despite the density of the plot.

+ favorite characters would be leto and lady atredies, and reverend mother mohiam. the baron is a good adversary too.

+ paul's perception of chani, and his fate/fates of others around him, changes multiple times over the course of the film. I love that scene where they finally meet for real, and she asks, something along the lines of if his visions of her were true, and he doesn't quite answer.

+ there's this air of both majesty and inescapable tragedy that permeates in this film.

- music, at times, felt like set dressing. I think toto's score compliments the vibe a bit better (the prologue/main theme certainly fits the trailer). which hurts to say, as I am a big fan of hans zimmer's work.

02/29/24

pt2

+ jessica is still a fantastic character.

+ chani and paul really grew up! both of them have excellent character arcs (and a very touching, bittersweet romance). I went through a complete 180 on my opinion of both characters (found her a little undercooked & him ambivalent to the point of vague in pt1, it feels more intentional by pt2). I've heard chiani is quite different in the books, but I can't imagine her character or their relationship being written another way.

+ paul's nutty cousin feyd was a lot of fun, as were the reverend mother(s).

+ the emperor's daughter might be my favorite character so far. paul might've met his match when it comes to strategy.

+ the zero gravity suits are so sick! guerilla warfare between the fremen & harkonen was interesting to watch unfold.

+ paul's duel with feyd is worth the price of admission.

+ riding sandworm scene(s) also worth price of admission.

- I almost wish this movie was 30-60 mins longer. could've fleshed out little bits here and there (the significance of the sand worms & loss of the temple? what/why is spice? what are the other houses like?) but at the same time, it was so much fun to be engrossed in the world and its mystery.

bonus: funniest scenes (to me):

pt 1:

during paul's duel with jamis, his mom decides NOW is a great time to chime in, "oh, paul's never been in a real duel before" or something to that effect.

pt 2:

paul explaining to chani about optimal sand-strafing technique, which was taught on the holobooks, and chani gives him a look that could either be interpreted as, "what's a holobook?" or, "okay nerd, you're still doing it wrong, let me show you how to do it properly so you don't get killed".

the baron clumsily attempting to clamber up the stairs while everyone else is busy apprehending paul. then paul looks over like, "oh hey, I haven't gotten to you have I?" and ignores EVERYONE else including THE EMPEROR just to put the baron out of his misery.

[got-into-worm-by-mistake]

“Lots of time to myself.  I don’t have classes, but I have homework and self-study, and that cuts into reading time, or I’d have read more.  But it’s kind of nice, if you ignore… pretty much everything else.  I’ve had time to think for the first time in months.”

And this is a line that puts a lot of context around a lot of Taylor's past actions.

I have, in the past (not sure if I have here) complained about how fast paced Worm is, not in terms of the story writing per se, but in terms of how much is happening in how short of a time passage in the story. And I hold to that complaint. While I can grasp at least an idea of why Wildbow was doing it like that, it's still a choice I don't like and it is a bit of a knock against the work as a whole (though just a bit, it's not like Worm is suddenly bad because of it)

And yeah, I think Worm would have benefited overall if the timeline was stretched out more (not the story, but the timeline - i.e. with a bit more time between various events and stuff).

BUT, given the time compression of Worm, the point about Taylor not having had any time to actually think, to really sit down and consider in a while, is true. She's constantly reacting, constantly scrambling to take control of the situations she's thrust into. Only a few times is she really acting (Arc 21, for instance) and in those times, she's still constrained by acting in reaction, as it were.

Yeah. I've said let Taylor have a fucking nap before, and I guess she finally has.

[rakdos-dogdyke]

So uh

Worm arc 21 huh

What the fuck was that