#chapter i11f

[krixwell-liveblogs]

By LinaLeeZ.

LinaLeeZ’s art keeps being really good! I love all of these - especially the designs, expressions and hair - but I think my favorite of this batch is this one:

For its sheer adorableness. :3

[krixwell-liveblogs]

By dertodesbote.

I really love the mood the lighting and fog effects add to these already quite cool pieces!

I think my favorite of these is the first Mannequin one. :)

[krixwell-liveblogs]

We the sneeple disavow all actions by Coil because seriously, screw that guy. I bet he watches dubs.

Coil watches dubs and subs simultaneously, in different timelines, getting audio in both languages and subs that don’t necessarily match the dub’s translation.

[krixwell-liveblogs]

I solved it, guys.

Wildbow’s most well-guarded secret, the truth behind it all, the Deepest Lore of Worm.

It is all so clear to me now.

The mysteriousness. The goal to take control of local government. The snake motif.

Coil...

Is a snerson.

[krixwell-liveblogs]

By Zhaomeng.

Some really cool art of the Triumvirate and two awesome ladies of Worm, MISS MLITIA and AI.EXND...A!

I really like the details here. Especially the use of cross-hatching to shade (most visible and certain in the group picture), which makes this feel very comic-esque - alongside the contents, of course.

Also I was not aware that Legend was secretly Dirk Strider with more hair gel. That’s pretty neat. :p

[krixwell-liveblogs]

End of Interlude 11f

Sundancer is a Good, and Coil’s a dick.

So! In this chapter, we watched as Dinah saved everyone, at great personal difficulty.

I think it’s worth thinking of this chapter as split in two: There’s talking tactics, and there’s the horror portion.

There was a lot of discussion of tactics in this one, which... kinda drew long, but was a pretty decent demonstration of Dinah’s power and an alright way to introduce us to Crawler’s power. It grew especially interesting once the final solution of having Dinah look into the future more thoroughly and find out what they were going to do came up, which was an aspect of her power I did not see coming. Uh, no pun intended.

I think I like the horror section better - trapped in the dark with a potentially dangerous person sniffing at you from inside, and a definitely dangerous monster banging at the door from the outside. It does feel like it didn’t quite pay off, though, somehow - Trickster calmed Noelle down with relative ease and a gentleness that didn’t match the horror tone surrounding it, and Crawler was quite effectively stopped by the vault door. (The latter isn’t quite as much of a problem as it could’ve been, because it’s previously been solidly established that it’s a really strong door intended to keep berserk!Noelle in check.)

Overall, it was a fairly decent setup and used the uncertainty surrounding Crawler and Noelle’s appearances effectively, but ultimately the ending felt kind of anticlimactic. It was certainly not bad, though.

And then there’s Dinah. It was nice to see Dinah’s perspective on her situation, and I’m very glad that she does not like Coil. She has learned to not cross him, and does have a heavy addiction to the drugs that will be especially hard to break due to her power, but she does not like him. His abuse hasn’t gotten to the point where she starts telling herself he’s good to her, that what he’s doing is okay, that she doesn’t want to go home.

Sundancer (civilian name Marissa, which is nice) was also very good in this chapter, being protective of Dinah, but admitting to Dinah - to Dinah, talking directly to her - that her hands were tied by her bonds to the Travelers. I would love to see Taylor and Sundancer discussing Dinah, though it’s very unlikely to happen.

Speaking of Taylor, I have a feeling she’s a big part of why the chance of Dinah’s release is ticking up.

So yeah! Not one of the solidest recent chapters, but I enjoyed it.

Next up is either Bonesaw, the newbie or Hatchet Face. Probably Bonesaw, I’m thinking. See you then!

[krixwell-liveblogs]

With her armed escort, she headed to her room.  She collapsed gratefully on her bed.

She knew she’d regret it, but she used her power.  She had to know.  It would be one more use, to hold her over, and she would stop using her power for the next few days, at least.  Weeks, if Coil let her.

Know what, exactly? Whether Crawler will come back?

Or maybe, whether she’ll be saved, now that Sundancer brought up that possibility?

She clutched her covers and bit her pillow as her head erupted with pain.  More than half of the groundwork she’d so carefully laid in place over the past hour fell apart as she pulled the scenes into two groups.  Minutes passed before she had her number.

31.6%.

If it’s the latter, which I think it might be, that’s not that bad a chance.

More than four percent higher than it had been yesterday.

Okay, definitely not about Crawler, and this is something she checks repeatedly. I think I was right.

Thirty-one point six percent chance she’d get to go home someday.

Bingo.

[krixwell-liveblogs]

The main reason I’ve discounted the theory that Noelle is turning into an Endbringer is that Tattletale’s power said Leviathan was never human. But it just occurred to me that the same Interlude showed us that Tattletale is basically super-Sherlock, and we’ve seen several times that her power can be wrong once in a while if it’s basing things on insufficient information.

On another hand, if Leviathan was human at some point, what would the narrative point in a mostly trustworthy source saying he wasn’t be? Was something planned to rely on Tattletale believing the Endbringers were never human? I suppose if Noelle were to be turning into an Endbringer, inaccurate beliefs about Leviathan may cause her to not be able to figure that out, but that still feels like a stretch as far as justifying such a misdirection for the audience goes.

A third option is that Leviathan was never human, but the other Endbringers were. That would imply that Leviathan was the source of their power somehow. I’m not sure I like this hypothesis.

Also, another point against this theory is Noelle’s increasing hunger. That seems to clash with the existing Endbringers appearing not to need substinance, though it might be a result of an incomplete transformation.

So yeah, currently there are more things pointing away from Noelle transforming into an Endbringer than towards it, but it’s something that’s worth keeping in mind nonetheless.

She’s definitely turning into something, and she probably ain’t gonna stay contained indefinitely.

[krixwell-liveblogs]

“Scared.  Hungry.  She said she didn’t get her meal tonight,” Trickster answered, his voice quiet.

Aw.

Coil folded his arms.  “She did.  I personally observed the delivery.  I suspect she’s needing more food as of late.  Unfortunate we find this out now.”

Hm, so that would imply she’s developing into needing more energy for her body. A larger form, perhaps, or a more powerful one?

Also, does she genuinely believe she didn’t get her meal, or is she just saying that in hopes they’ll give her more? If it’s the former, her memory may be failing too.

“She asked me to turn out the lights on this end of her room.  Said it would be easier if she can’t see us.”

Ahh, that would explain the darkness in this timeline.

Are all the dark timelines from earlier the ones where they escaped here?

Also, it sounds like Noelle is fighting an instinct to kill. I have a feeling it’s only going to get worse if this, whatever this is, continues.

[krixwell-liveblogs]

But she did it, because as much as it would hurt, it would hurt more if she didn’t get her candy.  If Crawler got his hands on her, it wouldn’t hurt at all after those first few moments of pain, but that was bad too.  It meant dying.

Yeah, that ain’t ideal.

She focused hard on that scene, taking it from an image small and vague enough that it could have fit on the end of a pencil to something full size.  Her head exploded with pain.

How big is “full size” relative to the end of a pencil, though? For physical representations of images, that term could range all the way from an A5 sheet of paper to a full school board, or even bigger.

She caught fragmentary images as she felt herself double over and heave the contents of her stomach onto the metal catwalk and Sundancer’s legs and feet.

Whoops. Doubt Sundancer’s super happy about that. It’s better than dying, though.

Sundancer could have yelled, but she didn’t.  Instead, she fell to her knees and grabbed Dinah by the shoulders to steady her.

Sundancer is a good.

It was just in time, because Dinah felt fireworks erupt in her brain, felt her body go spastic.  Too much, too fast.  The image was overly sharp and detailed, overwhelming her senses, shredding all sense of time and present.

I suppose if she looks at a full section of timeline at once, that’s a bit like making her brain deal with interpreting a huge number of moments at once, instead of just the one present moment we deal with at a time. No wonder it gets fried.

(Well, technically the brain does attempt to predict the future to deal with delays such as the one between the eyes and the brain. I’m kind of including that in the present moment, I suppose.)

[krixwell-liveblogs]

If each of the tens of trillions of universes were like pictures, then they were organized into a mosaic, constantly rearranging itself and shuffling.

Ooh, are we getting multiverse cosmology lore?

Also, who would know stuff about this, besides a new character? Dinah?

...I guess Professor Haywire wouldn’t technically be a new character, but I highly doubt that’s whom we’re following. Even besides them being a super minor character who’s been mentioned exactly once so far, in passing, I don’t think they’re in Brockton Bay.

Then again, that didn’t stop up from following Rainbow Dash. ;p

Anyway, let’s take a moment to think about flexibility, love and trust what’s actually being said here. So the universes’ relative positions and borders are constantly shuffling? Except we also know that a hole between two realities can be sustained over an extended period without suddenly being a hole into a different reality, or tearing open from the universes moving in different directions. So I don’t think this is quite that physical, at least not in a conventional, euclidean sense.

Taken in as a whole, it was a muddle.  Depending on how it shuffled, sometimes patterns emerged.  A predominant color, perhaps, or lots of scenes that were blurs of motion and activity.

Parallels between the universes.

I really like this metaphor so far.

Hm. Could we be seeing the perspective of a dandelion? That sounds a bit intense. Also, if that’s the case, I highly doubt the POV character is about to be invited to the Slaughterhouse Nine. :p

[krixwell-liveblogs]

“Nine point eight percent,” she managed.  Was she being carried?  They were venturing inside, past the first of the two heavy vault doors.

Alright, so the chance is three times higher for Noelle to kill them than Crawler, but still significantly lower than the chances of Crawler killing them if they stay out. Sounds good to me.

How much time had just passed?  Where was Trickster?

Her grip on the present moment just keeps getting weaker.

“That’s good information to have, pet,” Coil said, from somewhere near her.  “Squad leaders.  As you gather inside the containment room, I want you organizing your troops into ranks, your backs to the door.

Ahh, that’s fair. So is that to defend against Noelle?

Weapons need to be locked, loaded and ready to fire.  Be sure to equip the laser attachments and battery packs.  Don’t venture any further than ten paces inside.”

I doubt Trickster’s gonna like this plan, even if it is necessary.

[krixwell-liveblogs]

Coil turned and swept her up in his arms.  Her skin crawled at the contact of her body against his.

Ugh.

She didn’t say or do anything about it, in part because she wasn’t able, too sick, hurting too much.  The other reason was because she had seen the numbers shift each time she flinched away from his touch or made her disgust known.  Little differences.

Hm, that’s odd. The numbers do seem to already incorporate Dinah’s possible actions like everyone else’s, so is this a side effect of Coil’s power?

He was angrier with her, more curt, if she pulled way, if she complained about it.

Yeah... Classic abusive behavior, training her into not complaining.

There was safety in the numbers, in following the rules she set on herself.  It kept her power in order, it ensured Coil was tolerant with her, and it meant she didn’t have to go without her candy for even a short time.

The rules?

[krixwell-liveblogs]

The soldiers that were at ease in the lower area of the base jumped to action, grabbing weapons and protective wear.

So, uh... wasn’t this one of the things the numbers just indicated they should *not* do? Did Coil just get so fed up with the bad chances that he went “screw the numbers”?

It wasn’t going to make a difference.  The numbers weren’t changing enough.  But he was already upset, so she didn’t tell him that.

I suppose his influence could theoretically make it worth a shot, but it doesn’t seem like it’s doing that in practice.

So does he have another reality where he didn’t mobilize the troops?

Trickster, Oliver and Sundancer appeared, running along the metal catwalk.  Sundancer had her mask off, and her permed blond hair was damp against her scalp with sweat.

And the Travelers, for that matter.

Are the soldiers going to use the purple beams, and Coil and Dinah going to leave the premises, just to fill out the bad idea bingo card?

Also, Oliver? Ballistic?

Oliver was in casual clothing, like Trickster.  He was good looking, his features chiseled.  Athletically built.  Trickster wasn’t.  He had a hook nose and long hair that didn’t suit him, but she knew he was smart, and she would have guessed it even if she didn’t know, just going by the way he looked at stuff.

Yeah, Trickster’s a guy who seems to know what he’s doing.

[krixwell-liveblogs]

Anxiety crept up on her.  She wanted her ‘candy’, to take the edge off, to help clarify her thoughts.

Of course she does.

Incidentally, those quotes seem to imply that she’s fully aware that it’s not candy.

She knocked on the door to her room.  She heard Coil say something on the other side and tested the knob.  Finding it unlocked, she stepped through.

Might want to tell him about the chances of something bad happening, unless she thinks that’s the cause.

Coil sat at his desk, on the phone.  She didn’t want to talk to him, but she wanted to die less.

Yeeah.

I’m honestly glad to hear Dinah doesn’t want to talk to Coil. This relationship is fucked up enough without Dinah seeing Coil favorably beyond him being in charge of the “candy”.

“It’s unfortunate,” Coil was saying.  “Step up recon, call in a secondary team to ensure twenty-four seven surveillance.  We’ll want a replacement for our Leah the moment they start recruiting again.  Yes.  Good.  Let me know.”

Oh! Damn, Coil, back at it again with the moles, huh?

[krixwell-liveblogs]

Interlude 11f (Anniversary Bonus)

Howdy! Krixwell here, back for another chapter of Worm!

Five Slaughterhouse members down, three to go. I’m guessing we’ll be meeting the Newbie last (unless Hatchet Face takes her spot) so we’re probably in for either Crawler or Bonesaw today. I’m hoping for Bonesaw, because crazy and unpredictable sounds like fun right now, but I’d be down with the creepy crawlies too.

As for who Bonesaw might want to recruit... Panacea sounds like a weird but plausible option, if I’m right about Bonesaw having a specialty in medical equipment and thus probably also a medical background. We’ve established that Panacea’s power can be used offensively, too, and she is the daughter of a known bigshot criminal - those things might appeal to the Slaughterhouse as well.

But yeah, if Panacea is an attempted recruit, I don’t think it’ll work, unless she is forced like Hookwolf was (and I doubt that’s happening in two chapters in a row). Panacea has a spiteful, slightly darker side, and might be tempted by the prospect of dropping the exhaustion that comes with her responsibilities, but I think at the core, she’s a very good person who cares about fulfilling those responsibilities at the expense of her own health.

Incidentally, if Amy is Bonesaw’s attempted nominee, she’s likely to be the POV character for whichever one of these Interludes is about Bonesaw. Perhaps we’ll learn something about those secrets of hers that would wreck her relationships if they came out.

(Crawler, on the other hand, might go for Night, as I’ve previously speculated.)

So yeah! Without further ado, let’s jump in and see what happens!