#worm hive

[allwormdiet]

Hive 5.2

Oh god who let the fucking Nazis talk

*sigh* Okay I guess Hookwolf is here now, great

Also oh hey a reflection of how Grue's efforts at restricting his outward emotions doesn't actually erase them

Oh so she never actually told them about her extra-curriculars. Whoops.

Interesting that Grue's the one who acts as a front-man when the situation calls for it. Like I can guess why it's not Bitch or Regent, neither of them would be good leaders and neither of them want to lead anyhow, but I guess Tattletale acts a little more behind the scenes while Grue takes front and center? Idk

Also, Christ, "you don't tell your guys to stop being homophobic, we don't tell our girl to stop busting up dog abusers," miserable that we even have to call those equivalents

Fucking Nazis. Least this is done with for now.

Still feels random that this group just, like, sprang from the ether, and now they're just there to be a kinda grimy shitty contrast to everybody else, including the fucking Nazis

This is not going to be a pleasant conversation

Knowing now how much Grue's dad fucking sucks about violence and coldness puts these moments in perspective. He hates the idea of acting like his father for even a single moment but it's the only way he's figured out to get Bitch to fall in line

And the conversation doesn't get any easier

I'm almost curious why Bitch never talked about this. Did she just figure they wouldn't care? That it was none of their business?

Also thank God Tattletale intervenes here

Oh no Tattletale is intervening here

Yeah, that's kind of it, isn't it. I hope she takes this into consideration moving forward, for everyone's sake.

And look at this, Taylor cares! About the team! And even about Bitch!

And yeah, y'know what, if Taylor was a turncoat at a low point for them, it'd probably fracture the group in an awful way. Almost as if. She shouldn't turn against them?

...God, it's so sad that Emma really was her only friend. What a shitshow.

Feel empathy! Form bonds! I know you can do it Taylor!

Let's fucking go, this is how we do things in this house! Loft, whatever.

Current Thoughts

I love these kids, please Mister Wildbow sir stop making them fight each other and also maniac villains.

[allwormdiet]

Hive 5.5

Thank god something less stressful: raiding gang territory

They're practiced at this, huh

Okay so that's what's up with their code. I've seen it come up before but knowing what it actually means makes things click.

Well, hey, honesty is good, it's healthy.

Honesty that you want to beat heads in because your civilian life is going poorly? Mmmm

Upside though, Skitter and Bitch might bond over this

She just cannot stand Regent like, at all, huh?

He's trying so hard and it's just straight up not working

Also, interesting that Taylor's powers are getting stronger. Wonder what's up there.

Yeah powers seem to have an extremely loosey-goosey relationship with, like, the laws of reality. Wonder if that'll come up at some point :P

Okay so the Merchants existed already? Were they just too small-potatoes for anyone to give a shit about before the ABB became a problem? It still feels like they just sprung up at some point when I wasn't looking

Yes! Bond! Bond over anger and injustice! Grow closer to one another!

Throwing my hat onto the ground and stomping it into the dirt

Peaceful silent coexistence is sometimes the best kind of companionship, so I get Rachel here

Get fucked Kaiser, you fucking Nazi prick, Rachel is infinitely better than you in every way

Current Thoughts

Obviously I've already read the rest of this arc so far but I hope that this turns into something for Taylor and Rachel to connect over. Anything that makes their coexistence smoother is a bonus, and if they become friends then all the better

Not thrilled we have to put up with Kaiser and his fucking Nazi arm candy, but whatever

[allwormdiet]

Hive 5.9

Don't worry everyone, dragons are notoriously easy to defeat with little harm done, right?

Taylor's attempt at bravado is very humorous, if dramatically misplaced

Also Sundancer I'm so sorry you have to catch up so fast on Skitter stuff, but this is what you deal with in Brockton Bay

I dunno Taylor, I get that the objective here is that the ABB gets taken down, but are you sure the correct answer here doesn't involve Kaiser getting his stupid pointy ass cooked inside that armor?

Snark aside, this isn't a fully incorrect complaint to have about a teammate who's like. Not fighting. On a mission where you kinda all gotta fight. Like I know why Sundancer's not doing it, but that didn't get explained in much detail to anyone else

Skipping the part where Kaiser does his thing because he's a fucking Nazi and he doesn't get called "cool" or "interesting" he gets called a fucking Nazi

What I'd give for the shoe to be on the other foot here, but alas

Taylor, I love the noble intentions thing, your dedication remains as admirable as ever, however: he's a fucking Nazi. You're not spinning the "it's bad to murder people" idea this time.

Yeah yeah yeah! There we go! Use the friendly fire power while the Nazis are in the blast zone! Perfect! Sundancer I forgive everything, you're great

please don't make me eat those words later

Jesus fucking Christ that is hot

Guess that's proof Lung isn't totally immune to fire though

Yeah that

Fucking Nazi scumbag idiot.

Kaiser dies, right? There's no way he comes out of this story in one piece. I hope it's undignified. I hope his own spikes pin him in the Family Guy death pose.

What a great fucking sell on this moment, Jesus Christ

Oh no.

Ohhh no.

Taylor you are so fucking brave and that is a problem

Ho-ho-holy fuck this is so dire, it's great but also horrific.

See, yeah, I'm pretty sure that's the mistake that's gonna keep getting made here, and I'm pretty sure Lung's not even gonna get the worst of that. He's, y'know, still alive by the end of this.

Totally forgot about Newter's hallucinogen the first time I was reading this fight. So fucking cool as a detail.

So I joked back in Arc fucking 1 that either Lung was going to keep getting his eyes fucked up or Taylor was going to keep going for the eyes. I didn't expect to get more data for those at the same fucking time, but here we are I guess

God that's nasty, also incidentally not how eyeballs would come out, learned that by hanging around discussions of Naruto's plug-and-play magic eyes

(Short version is that the eye tissue would give up before the optic nerve would, so any eyes you yanked out would be. Less than whole.)

Oh thank God, I'd wondered about that actually

Nazi capes fuck off!! You tell em Taylor

If this isn't the vibe of Taylor interacting with other capes outside the team, I'll eat my hat.

Current Thoughts

Hoooooooly shit what a fucking chapter

What a fight, what a display, what an interwoven dance of stupid and clever and desperate and resolute

Taylor is only getting more brutal over time and I think she's gonna notice the blood on her hands (literal or otherwise) even less as she goes

Leaving it here for tonight, finish the arc tomorrow and keep this train a-rolling.

[allwormdiet]

Hive 5.1

I just read this entire arc in like an hour, let's fucking go

Wildbow really fucking knows how to set up a location. I know the exact kind of bar this is, I've experienced enough of them in my life at this point, I can fucking smell the spilled beer smell that never leaves

I'm going to take this as my cue to start calling Taylor Skitter when appropriate, now that she's heard the name herself

Also maybe it's just me but I almost feel like Alec and Rachel meeting Danny would at least make things work faster, if not necessarily better

Fucking Nazis. Go back to whatever bunker you crawled out of (and then we can get some Soviets in to do what they do to Nazi bunkers)

Not sure how I feel about the fucking Nazis having the biggest cape game in town, if they're hiring on people from out of town and even out of state it makes some degree of sense, but also just, y'know. Rotten fucking vibes.

Fucking Coil. I know enough of your deal to know I want you the fuck outta here. Scrawny bastard.

Faultline's crew seems cool. Interesting that she's got two people with visible mutations and matching tattoos. Pretty sure I know what's going on there but I'll wait to find out the whole of it.

Aww, Tattletale has a rival, good for her

Also lmao Alec

I looked back through my notes and Squealer was the only one who's come up before, but Skidmark is the one who's taking point as leader it seems like. These are the Merchants? Did they form up during the events of the past week, or did they somehow operate under the Empire's radar for however long? This feels off.

...Also what kind of gang leader gets high on their own supply? Isn't that like crime management number one, don't get yourself hooked on the product bc you need to be sober while making decisions? What the hell

Skipping the argument between Skidmark and Kaiser bc there's no joy to be found there

Fucking random, but okay, sure, definitely no ulterior motives going on here right

So here we have the "unwritten rules" on display, of course. The ABB are on the warpath, and even if they burn out they're gonna make things a nightmare for everyone in the meantime, and nobody wants that so everybody's willing to grit their teeth and deal with the ones who aren't playing the game anymore.

More pageantry, more emphasis on the role of image in this subculture

And, of course, almost everybody's pageantry is just there to hide the ulterior motives at play. The game isn't nearly as honor-bound as people think it is, it's just a matter of being subtle or getting caught.

Current Thoughts

I hate like almost half of the people in this building lmao, fucking Nazis and Coil's bony ass as a "bonus"

Still bugged by whatever the hell is going on with the Merchants, I feel like they sprang out of the streets of Brockton fully formed and here to provide unfortunate stereotypes about drug users. I can't imagine this was just to pad out the roster, the Travelers seemed to do well enough for that, but hell if I can figure out what else is going on there.

[allwormdiet]

Hive 5.10

Thank god, some fucking cooldown after these fight chapters

Skitter: I'm helping!

Oh Taylor, you're just styling down the course of this slippery slope, aren't you? Slaloming even.

Very nice of Taylor to grab gift bags for everybody, except for the fucking Nazis of course

Well hell, not like you could've known that he had disease immunity as a side benefit of his powers. Putting that extra effort in wasn't really wasted.

Fucked up that powers can tweak your mind, honestly. What if getting laser vision fucked up your ability to interface with the world and people around you? Terrifying.

Also, being real, I don't know if Taylor's power does have a drawback, but I'm not sure she should count herself in the clear yet. Things have a way of sneaking up in this story.

Wait hang on, what place. What's the fucking place. Goddammit that's going to come up later and be horrifying, sad, or both, I can feel it now.

I would absolutely ride on dogback if I had the opportunity, that fucking rules, I'm glad Taylor is getting that experience with the wind in her hair and everything

Incredible date idea too

God these two are fucking hilarious

Kiss kiss kiss kis-awwwww.

Also Jesus fucking Christ that's a badass wound to have, but also yeah no way can she figure out a way to hide a full-body handprint from the dragon that tried to squeeze her like a rubber ducky.

This is extremely sweet

and now it's awkward again

Poor girls just can't figure out how to fucking talk to each other

Well. This didn't not work.

Interesting that she's drawing the line to Labyrinth here, it's not a connection I'd have made.

Very reassuring Lisa, good job

Also the "ahhh" is so fucking funny

Man. This is kinda sad actually. Easy money says that Rachel was already some kinda neurodivergent before her powers came in, so human interaction getting even harder must be. Ugh.

Powers are real motherfuckers like that, huh. They become something you lean on in your time of need but they never seem to fix the actual problem, or the fact that they're your only solution.

Wonder if Taylor's gonna connect the dots on that for herself, or what

Yes, yesss, more empathy for Rachel! Maybe Taylor will actually start calling her Rachel in her head at some point.

Concluding Thoughts

Don't think I forgot about whatever "place" Labyrinth was sprung from, I'm holding that one in the back of my head

But more importantly for now, more Rachel! God I love Rachel, she's so good

Wild that your powers can make you even more autistic than you already were, or else just decouple your perceptions from reality all the way. Fucked up, too.

Interlude up next, stay tuned

[allwormdiet]

Hive 5.7

Cape fight cape fight

Ahahah, this is going to get nasty fast, oh boy.

Also, again: Skitter rushing to help Bitch because that's her teammate

So his power is limited to line of sight? Some comfort, at least, as much comfort as you can wring out of a teleporting assassin

God this is so fucking cool. Kinda shocked Lee was scared off the Undersiders that n- no, duh, Grue hard counters him for sure and Regent probably does too? That makes sense. Meanwhile this is more up his alley.

This is a fucking annoying power to fight, god fucking damn

Also hey, more eye horror. Wonder how that'll work out for Brutus after it's over.

Actually you know what, Skitter, I take it back, the spooky mask is just fine, keep it there. Fewer knives in the face, the better.

Understatement much?

Yeah okay, this is neat. Great way to figure out a counter in the middle of this.

Her knight in shining jacket...

Fucking sickass power, goddamn. Barely understand it but that's still really cool.

Get fucked, Oni Lee, holy shit

Okay where does Coil find these people, that's an insane flex as far as battlefield composure goes

One cape down, and a wholeass goddamn dragon to go.

Concluding Thoughts

Wildbow writes a fucking sick fight scene, this is so cool. A logical weakness of his power that allows them to eventually manages to turn the tides of an overwhelming fight.

Let's get to the fucking dragon.

[allwormdiet]

Hive 5.6

God work sucks. Anyway: Worm

"Bitch's power move was really cool and all but it didn't make us any friends; thankfully, that's what I was there for."

Okay teasing aside this is actually a decent effort on Skitter's part! Sundancer is. Not entirely playing along, it seems.

Yeah the full-face dark mask with big ol eyes is gonna bite you on the ass at least a few more times before this story is up

Also awwwww she's defending Bitch! Her friend!

Hell is even going on with the Travelers that they're traveling so much, anyhow. That can't be a sustainable business model for your villain gang, or whatever they are. What actually are they? Not heroes if they're slumming it with the rest of these groups. Mercenaries like Faultline and her people?

Aw man, the fucking Nazis wound up being uncooperative shitheads, crazy how that worked out

Meanwhile, Skitter and Bitch showing off more teamwork! Skitch? Bitter? I know their ship name is Wolfspider but what's their in-universe ship name, that's the real question.

Actual coordination on display in this alliance? A miracle.

Also, an observation of attractiveness on another guy. I think Taylor is like, what, 2 for 6 on men versus women? Ish? I'd have to flip back through and check but I don't want to

More team stuff.

Interesting that the Travelers have a high capacity for collateral damage. Wonder how that reflects on their general operation.

God but this is clever. It's not even that her power is changing, it's that she's getting more creative. It's like fucking JJBA in here.

Skitter is so fucking cool

Fuck them up Bitch!

Newter seems cool too. Hallucinogenic sweat's gotta be a wild power to work with.

Knowing Kaiser it could be both at onces

Fucking whoops

Putting two of your capes on one warehouse is a little aggressive, but maybe this works out for the ABB. Somehow doubt it.

Also: wuh uh.

Current Thoughts

God I love the fucking fights in this story. Let's get more of it.

[allwormdiet]

Hive 5.4

God I hate this part. Let's just rush through this, huh?

I hate shit like this so much. Petty mind games and displays of authority over others. I'm too autistic for this horseassery.

It's not hard to guess that the outcome of this meeting is predetermined, but it is hard to read

This entire breakdown, not just here but the rest of it, is fucking insane.

Gladly can die screaming for all I care

I wish this worked. I wish so badly that this worked. What a fucking relief it would be.

Horseass.

Now, Taylor, I don't think this is any more out of line than what you've been made to put up with today, but that 's a little bit villainous

What a heinous fucking life Taylor's trapped in where throwing herself into pitched combat with a massive criminal organization at the risk of her own life is her escape from high school.

Current Thoughts

Yes, please, god, let's get back to the cape stuff