Inchworm

Jenny and Ted discuss Extermination 8.1.

Episode Notes:

• Jenny's dying of suspense
• A parahuman response, but no military?
• We're meeting some pretty intense capes. Amazing that they're not gonna be enough
• This is gonna be bad...but fast, apparently
• We get why the heroes are here. Unclear about the villains
• Also unclear why the Endbringer is here, actually
• Jenny has sea monster theories
• Taylor's such a fangirl
• But sadly she's part of a one-person fan club right now
• This chapter is basically the lunchroom scene in Mean Girls
• Let's get Taylor back in with the Undersiders soon, mmkay?
• Some very teenage cynicism
• Taylor finding herself a bit of an unfortunate celebrity
• How are all these villains and heroes going to organize themselves?
• Some people's motives for being in this fight may be less than pure
• Death predictions
• We do a brief survey of the capes
• There's an awkward child soldier angle here

Links:

• https://parahumans.wordpress.com/category/stories-arcs-1-10/arc-8-extermination/8-1/
• https://www.patreon.com/Wildbow

Jenny and Ted discuss Buzz 7.x.

Episode Notes:

• How Hannah sees Colin
• Jenny isn’t attending this pity party
• Why does Armsmaster even want a management role if he knows he’s bad at it?
• If she gets the chance, will Hannah be ready to lead the heroes of Brockton Bay?
• Miss Militia is much more authentically patriotic than she first seems
• Does Hannah’s advancement reflect meritocracy or instrumentalization?
• The vision: Jenny connects a few ideas with red string and Ted asks for a vibe check
• Hannah keeps her own counsel
• Connections to Kurdish history and arc 7
• Hannah has accepted some inevitable casualties
• The triggering moment
• What Hannah lost to her power
• PTSD and/or the immigrant experience
• Meritocracy and management again
• Ted delights in tinker data science
• Armsmaster WISHES he couldn’t sleep
• Come on Ted, why hate on Kid Win when Armsmaster is right there?
• The Endbringer seems like a natural disaster. Is it also a cape?
• Uh oh, they target plot!!!!
• Ted counts the ways this is an excellent chapter
• Her power isn’t meant for solving big picture problems
• Predictions and names

Links:

• https://parahumans.wordpress.com/category/stories-arcs-1-10/arc-7-buzz/7-x-interlude-arc-7-buzz/
• https://www.patreon.com/Wildbow

Jenny and Ted discuss Buzz 7.12.

Episode Notes:

• Not what Jenny expected!
• Taylor's not just demanding the other Undersiders agree with her. She's demanding that they agree with her without stopping to think or talk about it
• “They still seem like they could be good people,” we lied
• Not fight an Endbringer? Have you MET Taylor?
• Do any of the Undersiders really know Taylor, after all?
• The power of labels
• Taylor does better with moral compromises when she has a sense of purpose
• Taylor's headspace here is emotional rather than strategic
• The Undersiders probably feel really betrayed right now
• Okay, but Alec is being heinous
• Taylor might be reading too much into Bitch's response
• The Panacea problem and effective altruism
• Brian could have higher standards for himself
• Taylor's been on a real rollercoaster this arc. Too bad it crashed!
• What if...WIldbow is the endbringer??
• Tattletale tries to justify the term “serious kidnapping”
• Oops Jenny was wrong about the odds
• Why does Lisa show up at the end, and what are they communicating to each other?
• Jenny tries to meta her way into Tattletale's character
• Purpose as a temptation
• Taylor's lack of reflection on how she almost sided with this guy
• Jenny speculates on existential horror
• We can't believe the Undersiders also want to fight
• The Endbringer as an easy out

Links:

• https://parahumans.wordpress.com/category/stories-arcs-1-10/arc-7-buzz/7-12/
• https://www.patreon.com/Wildbow

Jenny and Ted discuss Buzz 7.11.

Episode Notes:

• Jenny ALMOST knows what the story is about
• The cost of working with Coil
• Coming Soon: Insinuation 2.0
• Never tell me the odds (after telling me the odds in front of someone who hates all this)
• How Taylor can get the other Undersiders to go along with her presumed plan
• Dinah’s power and how her situation landed for Jenny
• Coil as a perverse parent
• We count the ways this is anathema to Taylor
• Taylor’s narrative force
• Just how cautious is Coil?
• Are the Undersiders in too deep?
• The urgency of saving Dinah
• Coil’s a control freak and a show-off
• Coil’s power helps people who are more creative and resourceful
• Uh oh, does this mean they’re going to start losing all the time?
• Even before showing them Dinah, Coil’s non-apology should have the Undersiders worried
• The problem of managing other capes
• The Undersiders came into this chapter united
• Skipping that week made the arc better paced and the chapter more exciting
• Can we just assume E88 stopped destroying the city when Purity did?
• Taylor’s grand purpose: turning other worms
• Brockton Bay continues to be a vivid character
• The Undersiders remind us that they are teens
• The effective emotional tension at the end of the chapter
• Predicting who kicks off next chapter’s conversation

Links:

• https://parahumans.wordpress.com/category/stories-arcs-1-10/arc-7-buzz/7-11/
• https://www.patreon.com/Wildbow

Jenny and Ted discuss Buzz 7.10.

Episode Notes:

• Does Lisa’s gambit put her at odds with Coil or not?
• Taylor didn’t read Purity’s interlude, but Lisa got the gist of it from her power
• The potential for rifts in Empire Eighty-Eight
• Doesn’t Coil care about his investment in this team? Or was some of this his idea?
• Purity wants to be seen as reasonable
• This flight Purity and Tattletale took together must have been a feast for Tattletale's power
• Tattletale gets to be the robber she wants to see in the world
• Seems like things are about to wind down?
• A lot can happen in the next six days re: Coil and E88
• Night is so scary powerful it’s good she has that major limitation
• We don't know what's up with Fog but we don't like it
• Taylor puts herself on the front line even when the bugs aren't involved
• The Undersiders all do so well… if only Grue hadn’t been falling apart!
• Okay but what if you were a medic interacting with Skitter
• This might be the first time Lisa's tried to kill someone

Links:

• https://parahumans.wordpress.com/category/stories-arcs-1-10/arc-7-buzz/7-10/
• https://www.patreon.com/Wildbow

Jenny and Ted discuss Buzz 7.9.

Episode Notes:

• The lost chapter of Worm
• Can Grue set his darkness to auto?
• We compare Night to Mystery Men and Scholomance
• How does Night’s power actually work? And how can they possibly beat her?
• We’re at the point in the story where we can fill a battlefield with over a dozen familiar cape names
• Will any heroes take this chance to settle a grudge?
• Ted gets on board with violence
• Ghosts aren’t real, Crusader!
• Why do powers have a family resemblance?
• A return to Mom (and Dad) discourse
• Just how close was Regent to killing Rune?
• Taylor knows the answer won’t change anything, so why is she asking Grue if he’s okay?
• The damage is really piling up over time
• Some Panacea theories

Links:

• https://parahumans.wordpress.com/category/stories-arcs-1-10/arc-7-buzz/7-09/
• https://www.patreon.com/Wildbow

Jenny and Ted discuss Buzz 7.8.

Episode Notes:

• The pleasures of hidden plans
• What’s that? More power interactions? Hooray!
• Who needs romance when you have synergy
• Once again, knowledge is power
• Speaking of which, when are people going to learn not to underestimate Skitter?
• Despite its fallibility, Grue’s darkness is clutch!
• Wait, so, if his insides are hooks…? Huh?
• RIP legs
• Do morals get in the way of combat effectiveness?
• Coil's soldiers feel like red shirts even though they’ve all survived
• Oh yeah, this fight is definitely going to be worse than the one against the ABB
• Do Hookwolf and Kaiser ever get jealous of each other?
• Empire Eighty-Eight might have a too-many-capes problem
• Oops all Wolverines?
• Two adjectives are enough to give us major Regent feels
• The Taylor & Alec relationship hasn't really settled into a shape yet
• Is Brian trying to live up to Taylor's view of him?
• Brian's transparency vs. his one-way perceptions
• Cliffhangers vs. anticipation
• The Undersiders' powers vs. Purity
• We're rooting for a widespread baby-snatching program. And also more single-minded villain dads.

Links:

• https://parahumans.wordpress.com/category/stories-arcs-1-10/arc-7-buzz/7-08/
• https://www.patreon.com/Wildbow

Jenny and Ted discuss Buzz 7.7.

Episode Notes:

• A disas(terous chap)ter!
• Credit where credit is due, Brian was NOT being paranoid
• Neither was Lisa, in that crossing this line leads to bad places
• What were they thinking, taking Aster like that? Both in principle and pragmatically
• Or did someone kick the hornet’s nest? (BUZZ BUZZ)
• Purity's white power, literally
• The thing is, there are a LOT of hornets
• Jenny assumes Coil is holding yet undropped shoes
• Even based just on what we’ve seen from E88 by the end of the chapter, this fight isn’t gonna go well for Skitter
• Taylor has to cover up in front of Brian because her hero is showing
• Brian disappoints Taylor and she shames him
• What if this all had happened before she confessed?
• Lisa splits the difference without taking a moral stance
• Jenny lays down her marker about what the story is about

Links:

• https://parahumans.wordpress.com/category/stories-arcs-1-10/arc-7-buzz/7-07/
• https://www.patreon.com/Wildbow

Jenny and Ted discuss Buzz 7.6.

Episode Notes:

• Sophia: uh, wow, disturbing
• Worm ideology
• The real worm was the power we got along the way
• Sophia calls Taylor a coward but turns out Taylor's rubber and she's glue
• Re-hashing Emma theories
• Oops, reverse racism
• Keeping the bullies relevant
• Sudden Danny feelings
• Give Taylor a good boy fight any day
• She’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing in wolf’s clothing
• Taylor’s so honest, but Brian wouldn’t lie, right?
• This story doesn't need the will they/won't they narrative engine
• On a reread, Ted can’t accept that it was all in Taylor’s head
• If Brian won’t get in touch with his feelings, we will!
• Responsibility, stereotypes about women, control, and trauma
• Taylor is finally looking up dog psychology and Jenny feels so vindicated

Links:

• https://parahumans.wordpress.com/category/stories-arcs-1-10/arc-7-buzz/7-06/
• https://www.patreon.com/Wildbow

Jenny and Ted discuss Buzz 7.5.

Episode Notes:

• Jenny was not expecting this trope!
• Taylor gets her perv on
• Was this kiss poetry or a subtle use of power?
• It certainly wasn’t subtle that Taylor was doing this to prove something to Sophia
• Brian keeps his cool
• Why have Sophia in this scene?
• The things Taylor likes most about Brian
• Alternative sleeping arrangements
• Taylor as Brian’s confidante
• Alec is the odd one out in terms of closeness to Taylor
• The costume metaphor of it all
• How seriously will Lisa take Brian’s demands of Coil?
• Predictions and names

Links:

• https://parahumans.wordpress.com/category/stories-arcs-1-10/arc-7-buzz/7-05/
• https://www.patreon.com/Wildbow