#chapter 12.3

[krixwell-liveblogs]

Just to set things straight as to what is and isn't confirmed, here's the exact WoG about Gallant and Amy (which seems to be pretty non spolilery at this point): (1/3)

"Gallant knew, he was aware of where Amy was at and where she was going. He also knew that pushing her too hard or too fast would end in disaster. He gently raises the subject, she reacts badly, he backs off. She avoids him, he continues to act friendly in the hopes that when things start getting bad, she can get past her jealousy of him and reach out. He couldn't read minds, but he could get enough of a sense of where she was emotionally to plot that out pretty damn well." (2/3) 

"He plants the seed, he offers his help, but then the city gets chaotic and busy and Amy is off helping people who were affected by Bakuda's bombs and he's patrolling the streets and off doing jobs and they only see each other in passing. Then Leviathan comes, and in Gallant's last moment, he thinks of the girl he genuinely cares about and he has a flash of fear, a moment of regret that he didn't leave a message somewhere to let someone know what was going on with Amy." (3/3)

...what a good guy. Seriously.

Glory Girl may be shortsighted and judgmental from time to time, but at least she’s got good taste.

Rest in peace, Gallant.

[krixwell-liveblogs]

Do you want to look back over the PRT power classification system and try to assign ratings to the characters, particularly the S9?

Let’s see...

Siberian is a Brute, what with her invincibility and resistance to any sort of force being applied to her, other than the ones from the Earth. (By the way, I like how “unstoppable object” extends logically from “immovable object” - she can’t be stopped because you can’t apply a force to slow her down.)

We know Jack used to be classified as a Nuker, in the overlap between a Shaker/Blaster. I see no reason to argue with that.

Burnscar is a Blaster/Mover. At least as long as teleporting counts as Moving.

Pinkie Pie is a Baker.

Mannequin is of course a Tinker, specialty biospheres. The extent to which his mannequin body can change shape might also qualify him for Changer.

Shatterbird is a high-level Blaster, perhaps with a small bit of Mover due to the way she uses her Blaster abilities on her outfit and would be able to use glass as a hoverboard.

Crawler is a Brute. Maybe also Changer, but it’s not something he can do at will, so it might not count.

Cherish is a Master.

And finally, Bonesaw is naturally a Tinker, specialty medical equipment and biotechnology.

[krixwell-liveblogs]

I wish the SU fandom was better at keeping secrets, I don't even interact with the fandom and I got spoiled, the episodes were only out for a day before my youtube got filled with video on those episode, including some with spoilery titles (even if I had been kind of expecting the twist it's still annoying). Not everyone can watch the episodes as they come out people...

Yeah, sheesh.

And hell, it’s not even just the fandom, but Cartoon Network itself, what with the constant leaks. At least I’ve been able to avoid the current ones so far.

Whoever summarizes upcoming episodes is good, though, with episode synopses like “We finally see inside Steven’s bathroom.” and “Steven helps Pearl find her phone.”

[krixwell-liveblogs]

Plague 12.3

So, with the intro theme out of the way... Howdy, everyone! Krixwell here, back to liveblog another chapter of Worm!

Last time, the third truce meeting (I’m counting Extermination) in the story went right down the crapper for the Undersiders and Travelers, thanks to some clever group manipulation by Hookwolf. Now the Undersiders are in the precarious position of being excluded from the truce, which means not only do they not have the other teams’ direct support in the event of the Slaughterhouse attacking them, but they also have to deal with the potential for one or more of the allied parties (especially Fenrir’s Chosen) keeping up their attacks on Undertraveler territories without repercussions for breaking the truce, on top of preparing for the Slaughterhouse without getting to cooperate with the other groups.

Coil, being in on the alliance, might be able to help by feeding the Undertravelers information, but other than that, they’re largely left to fend for themselves. All they have is each other, which I think might lead to some Undersider-Traveler bonding.

And on top of everything, the Undersiders have a potential betrayal brewing in their midst.

Yeeeeah. Things are not stacked in their favor.

This chapter, I expect they’ll be heading off to discuss how they’ll deal with this mess. Maybe the Travelers will be included in the discussion, too. Maybe we’ll also see one of the Nine again at the end of the chapter, though it might be too early.

So, without further ado, let’s dive in and figure out what the hell we do now!

[krixwell-liveblogs]

We! Are Undersiders We’ll always save the day And if you think we can’t We’ll put bugs in your eye That’s why the people of this world Believe in Regent, Tattletale And Gruuue AND SKITTER!

[krixwell-liveblogs]

“I’m guessing you named him?” Regent asked, as I reached the top and stepped down onto solid ground.  I missed Bitch’s response.  Had she nodded?

“I was surprised you brought him tonight,” Grue said, being remarkably delicate about the fact that Bitch had undercut any presence our group had by bringing the cute ball of fluff.  It would have been better if he’d brought it up earlier, but he might have felt the same way I did about provoking Bitch before a major event, when she’d been so short tempered lately.

Yeah, I think he too knows to be cautious about that by now.

Also, I think undercutting the presence of the group is excusable when it comes with this sort of cuteness. :p

Of course, none of them know what it really signifies.

Bitch’s response was surprisingly verbose.  “Had to.  For the first year and a half, he’s going to be like a dog.  Need to train him as much as I can, get him used to me.  It’ll be too hard if I wait.”

“He’s going to be like a dog.”

So she’s not going to maintain the pretense that he is a dog. That might lead to some awkward questions. Like “How did you end up with a wolf pupy, anyway?”

[krixwell-liveblogs]

Re: Taylor hearing better through her bugs while on drugs, I have a different theory- When Taylor was knocked unconscious from Bakuda's bomb, her bugs kept doing what they were told to do before she passed out, namely surrounding her so the doctor had to wake her up to send the swarm away. She was ALSO trying to hear Grue, but the impact messed with her head and she couldn't understand him. I think her power was trying to comprehend speech the whole time she was out, which is why it did so well. 

Oooh. This is an interesting interpretation - I like it!

[krixwell-liveblogs]

“Easier said than done,” Grue sighed.

Noelle’s face disappeared from the webcam, and a blond boy popped up in its place.  Oliver?  “Trickster, Genesis is waking up.  She’s done whatever you had her doing.”

Oh, so doing her thing puts her real body to “sleep”? Makes sense.

Reminds me of the fairy doll spell from El Goonish Shive. It puts the real body to sleep and creates a directly-controlled fairy avatar of the caster somewhere else, which turns into a doll (that can be reanimated by the spell at a later time) when the spell is dismissed.

“Long stint,” Trickster replied, “She’ll be groggy.”

“That means Imp is probably done too,” Grue spoke.

Ah, yeah... I wonder whose boat she snuck on board to get back to shore. And she doesn’t know where the Undersiders went.

“She’ll need a ride back,” I finished his thought.

“Should leave her there for a bit as punishment for staying behind,” Grue grumbled.  Still, he stood and pulled on his helmet.  “But it’s not worth the grief she’ll give me.”

Hehe. :)