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Epilogue: Teneral - Dissecting Worm
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This story isn’t intended for young or sensitive readers. Readers who are on the lookout for trigger warnings are advised to give Worm a pass.
Complete list of potential triggers: here
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Dissecting Worm: The sister podcast to Brockton Bay Book Club where our hosts Jacob and Allan discuss adapting Worm for television.
Episode Description:
"Human extinction averted. Multiple earths saved. Transitions are complete, and systems are back online. Bonds remain strong despite new growing unrest. The need for further study is ever present but for now, Dissection is complete."
Find all our links, including our new merch @brocktonbaybc
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Timestamps:
(00:00) - Introduction
(01:30) - Dissecting Begins
Recommended
Transcript
Merchandise Launch
00:00:00
Speaker
Exciting announcement, we now have Brockton Bay Book Club merch. We've got our Brockton Bay Book Club t-shirt as well as the Brockton Bay's sweatshirt. They look sweet. Hannah designed them and they're amazing. So if you're interested in that, a link will be in the description and shout out to Hannah for all the sweet designs. Thanks so much for your guys' support and go check it out.
Introduction to Worm
00:00:25
Speaker
Worm is a web serial by JC McCray, also known as Wildbo. You can read Worm in its original format by visiting pairhumans.wordpress dot.com or donate to Wildbo's Patreon at patreon dot.com slash Wildbo. This story isn't intended for young or sensitive readers. Readers who are on the lookout for trigger warnings are advised to give Worm a pass. For a complete list, check the description for all of Worm's trigger warnings.
00:01:34
Speaker
Take that
Final Chapters Reflection
00:01:35
Speaker
you worms. We are back with the final chapters of worm into the epilogues. Putting the final bow on this season, onto this show, this little hypothetical series that we have concocted is coming to an end. Welcome.
00:02:02
Speaker
Yep. It's crazy. It is. It's kind of crazy. It's
Year in Review and Rewrites
00:02:08
Speaker
been about a year, a year in this series. Serial. Well, in series. More than a year. yeah actually Yes. Yeah. It's been more than a year, hasn't it? Man. And what a good year it's been. What ah what a great year.
00:02:26
Speaker
And I, we've already talked at length, you know, about how we, uh, would love to go back and revisit changes we've made and incorporate new ideas we've had and, and, uh, fix bad ideas we had. ah oh boy And as all I'm already planning for the rewrites, but we got to finish draft one first, which brings us here.
00:02:55
Speaker
to the epilogues.
Season Five Epilogues: Closure or Setup?
00:02:56
Speaker
How are we wrapping up this season, season five? That's the question.
00:03:07
Speaker
Alan, what did you like from the epilogues? What do you want to keep here? Okay. I like epilogues as a concept. I enjoy seeing people go throughout their, you know, their normal lives, kind of, uh, seeing how they progress.
00:03:23
Speaker
I like seeing the flash forwards, you know, where they are. Uh, yeah, all that really, really does it for me. Um, but, uh,
00:03:39
Speaker
I think there are some that kind of stray, uh, that maybe don't need to be as, uh, I don't know the, the, the, the strain of the more conflicting rather than just.
00:03:55
Speaker
kind of reestablishing normal. Um, so yeah.
Evaluating Epilogues
00:04:05
Speaker
Yeah. I i agree with that. i Yeah. I think there's some we keep. I think there's some we get rid of or majorly cut down, you know, same old, same old. Yeah. Pretty, pretty standard sort of, uh, as we've been doing, if you will, um,
00:04:24
Speaker
I think, uh, I guess we can just kind of go through them and see if there's anything individually from the epilogues that really like, you know, yada, yada, and then maybe, maybe try to put it all together for our final scene yeah or scenes. You know, so I think, I think going through each one, we need to talk about what is the point of this epilogue? What does it provide to the end of the story?
00:04:53
Speaker
Well, as an epilogue, is it just establishing what's going on? Like the the the standard from now on, you know, now that we've hit the climax, we're reestablishing. Yeah. the after Is this, you know, a little fan servicey? Okay. That's what, you know, epilogue kind of that, you know, for at least for me, you know, epilogue is very fan servicey. Um, does it, uh, does it introduce things that we need to look forward to or could possibly look forward to in a sequel. Um, but not to the point that like, we're going to be like, Oh my gosh, that's definitely what's going to happen if we go there next time. Um, right. Right. And, uh, I had one more. Is this straying too far away from our original story?
00:05:54
Speaker
I think a lot of times with prologues to stories, you have things that are so out of the woodwork. And most of the time, you know the difference between that story and then your first chapter is worlds apart. But by the end of your story, you're kind of back to the prologue. Like, okay, I get the prologue now. I don't want the epilogue to be leaving that territory of what we've been reading either. um right Mostly I'm talking about regards to characters that we know. um And yeah, I think characters is probably the biggest thing we need to focus on for this. Yeah. Yeah, I agree with that for sure.
Yamada and Ciara's Future
00:06:43
Speaker
ah Well, I mean, starting us off in the first, ah first epilogue with ah Yamada and
00:06:53
Speaker
Ciara, fairy queen, or how do we say her name? Kira? Kira, I guess. Yeah, I think so. Jury's out. Yeah. ah Fairy queen, Valkyrie, Yara, Yara. I like this chapter.
00:07:09
Speaker
what's a lot with you ah like this chapter um I do yeah really like the idea of seeing Yamada with a cape um I think it makes sense that we don't change that from being ah Kira here. I like that. um There are a lot of this. This chapter does, I think, drag a bit in terms of what we would want to take from it, especially towards the end. But I like the idea of of just having a conversation with Yamada.
00:07:46
Speaker
kind of towards the end of the series. It feels very complete to have her present there. yeah Plus how we're gonna make a spin-off show about her if we don't, you know, have a little more tease. Yep. Right. Well, and and yeah, speaking to that too, cause like there is a fine line between ah setting up expected ah sequels and leaving your world in a, in a, in a state in which it's going to thrive, you know, without any more. Yeah. i'm I'm joking mostly, but it was but good. It was good to point out. Yeah. obviously Um, but yeah, so I do like this chapter though. I think, I think I'd want to keep most of it in concept at least. I think it's a nice conversation and wouldn't take a ton of time. Yeah. Um, what about the second half of this?
00:08:42
Speaker
Yeah, I don't really, I don't think I would add much of the second half. um I do. I mean, I like it reading it, of course. I feel like we sound like a broken record. I gotta always make that divide. I love this chapter. I liked the conversation with Bonsan, Nilbog and them, but I don't know how much it adds in terms of character conclusions or how much is necessary for character conclusions.
00:09:13
Speaker
Yeah. Uh, I agree. I think second half, I don't feel like we really need it. Um, in fact, I would, I would almost say that miss Yamada needs to be our focus character here instead of Ciara. Um, I think the purpose that Valkyrie does serve in this is number one to give us, you know show Yamada that's still there and then show the state of the PRT. Yeah. Which is now the wardens, so. Yeah, this this is the, like you're you're spelling it out perfectly. This is the PRT epilogue, you know where, what's what are they doing here to to scramble together what's left of society?
00:10:07
Speaker
you know And, uh, kind of setting that up. I think, I think you nailed it. yeah that I think, I think we cut Chevalier budding and I think is real stupid. Like, I'll be honest. I, I don't know Chevalier well enough probably to speak for him, but given what I've seen of him in like better times when he's not scrambling to save the world, I feel as if.
00:10:37
Speaker
He might be waiting right outside the door, but I don't see him like knocking on the door, being like, Oh, make sure she joins the heroes. Like, like, yeah, I think having him wait out right outside the door. So like, when she's done, Miss Yamada steps out, she's like, like, I need you to leave. Like, get out of here. Like, yeah.
00:11:02
Speaker
You know, and he's like, can, you know, can do still got to kind of like watch her until she makes a decision. And then, you know, the big question being like, is, is Valkyrie going to, you know, she's, she's talked, they've said, but ultimately is she going to decide, or maybe this is like her checkout appointment, basically to yeah affirm whether she's good for it or not.
00:11:29
Speaker
And her and Yamada have the conversation of like, do you want to be a hero? Do you want to be with this group? You know, is that even a thing you want to do? And and I feel like kind of like both are neither talking themselves into it or out of it. It's just a conversation about it. Mm hmm.
00:11:49
Speaker
Yeah. Maybe instead of like actually interrupting, maybe he's just like peeking through the window up front and the back, just like constantly leaning in, looking, leaning in and finally Yamada is like, okay, hold on. Give me a second. Yeah. And then she was amount of feel that feels more Chevalier. That's right. Or she's like, Hey, ah give me a moment. Um, and then goes outside and as a word, you know, word with him. Yeah. yeah and like yeah And then, you know, and then I,
00:12:19
Speaker
I think we cut from there to a different thing. I think we have the announcement later. Oh, that's a good thought. Yeah, I like that. Actually. And I break it up a bit. Yeah. Well, let's let's cut there then. Let's come back. Let's go to ah epilogue two imp and fan the heartbroken children. A shadow
Imp and the Heartbroken's New Beginnings
00:12:43
Speaker
stalker at the end. I like this. Yep.
00:12:48
Speaker
I'll let you go. and I mean, I'm curious what you have to say. I ah like this a lot as a chapter. This is one of my favorite but ah chapters of the epilogues here. It's it's so good. um yeah I do think all of the heartbroken children, as much attention as they're given here is probably too much for a whole epilogue. Like this is like this is like a full setup for a whole new cast of characters.
00:13:14
Speaker
ah But I, yeah, I like the, I like seeing imp thrive afterwards. I think is, is something we should show. Yeah. I think imp being this weird foster mother to them, uh, talking, having to talk with shadow stalker, and then ultimately we'll see her later on. Um, I think, I think it's also a really good, another good two parter.
00:13:45
Speaker
I love seeing that, uh, you know, we've got civilization on one point where, you know, we're in a city, things are happening with, uh, Yamada and Valkyrie. Uh, but out here in the outer, you know, outer lands that winter's coming, things are hard. And, you know, I like showing off, Oh, this guy's kind of a dick. He's doing a little warlord thing out in the border lands. And then all of a sudden imp and you know, her gaggle show up and they start doing their thing. and you know, just showing off and and maybe there's like a message like, hey, while you were torturing this guy, you got a text, you know, tattletale says she wants to meet, you know, okay, cool, cool, cool. And then they bounce.
00:14:30
Speaker
um I don't know if we necessarily need to have the shadow stalker conversation right away. Cause I actually kind of like it later. I think it would work better later too. I agree. Yeah.
00:14:41
Speaker
So remind me of, yeah, if I'm, uh, misremembering or just, I don't know, does, is it confirmed as imp kill a heartbreaker? Yes. Okay. When, when did that happen? Is that implied to have happened after the end of the world or? No, no, no, no. Look right after Alec dies. Okay. Six months. Yeah. I couldn't, I couldn't remember exactly when that, okay. Got it. Okay. She has the heart broken by the time she sees Taylor again.
00:15:11
Speaker
Oh, oh, that's you've right. Okay. Okay. okay Yeah. All right. Yeah. And then I like agree. Save the conversation with shadow stalker for the, uh, for the end. Yeah. Um, and I think that's another you know point of this epilogue shows AMP. What is AMP doing? How is she grown? Uh, and then the conversation with imp and shadow stalker kind of discussing, uh, honestly, the fallout of Taylor more than anything else. Yeah.
00:15:40
Speaker
yeah um and and also showing the state of the world, you know another part of the world, because you have the city that's trying to rebuild and you have these people that are struggling on the outside of the city.
00:15:58
Speaker
This episode of the Brockton Bay Book Club is sponsored by Maid Marion. Maid Marion creates custom cottagecore and Renfaire clothing designed for everybody. Whether you're looking for our a lace-up bodice, rustic apron and pinafore, or ethereal dresses, you'll find items customized for every individual's fit and design. All items are lovingly hand-sewn with attention to detail and a touch of whimsy.
00:16:25
Speaker
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00:16:41
Speaker
Third one. Are you probably one of the tougher ones? Yeah, that
Defiant and Dragon: Simplifying Complexity
00:16:49
Speaker
honestly, again, it's a ah I love Defiant. I love Dragon. I love their relationship. I think this is one of those we'd kind of would probably simplify a bit. Maybe just having Defiant fixing her ah code. ah If you want to leave, it I guess maybe a little ambiguous just for fun you can, but I think the whole fight between Pandora and Dragon would, unless you want to go like full, you know, computer code CG renders,
00:17:19
Speaker
Something like that would look really odd. Maybe I'm just not thinking about it the right way, but I feel like that gets way too- I have an idea for it, and it would be simplifying it. Throw it out. Okay, so my first instinct, of course, is to get rid of this or show this in a montage of people's happy endings. So you just, oh, there's Defiant and somebody he's with that, oh, kinda looks like Dragon, and in their happy little Dragonheim village.
00:17:47
Speaker
However, if you really wanted to make it, uh, feel closer to the emotion or to emotional turmoil that's going on, you have defiant working on something. drag You know, in the ship dragon comes and gets him like, Hey, dinner's ready. And he like, you know, touching me like, Hey, you're like, we've talked about it a lot. And basically cause this little,
00:18:15
Speaker
very quick conversation that like, would you rather have your freedom or would you rather like, like what, what would you want? And she, uh, her basically give him an answer. That's like, I want the, you know, I want us to be free together. Like that's, that's the goal. Like if I can't be with you, you know, as who like, who I'm supposed to be with you, then like, it's not worth living. And he goes like,
00:18:43
Speaker
Okay. Like that essentially answers it for me. And then when she leaves, he like quickly seals the thing and then, you know, hits the like Pandora's box open thing. And maybe we have him have a quick thing where he's inside the ship and he basically says like, um, you know, this is the, you know,
00:19:12
Speaker
you ask like, uh, you know, what what's, what's the price of freedom essentially? And this is what, you know, it means killing you. And then he hits go and so like, just slunks slinks, slumps, slumps down but while the computer like starts engaging the code. But obviously there's two different like lines or colors of text going back and forth.
00:19:41
Speaker
And you can hear like a banging on the outside of the ship. Like, what did you do? What did you do? And he just kind of like sits there and kind of like cries. Um, and later on, you know, a couple of scenes later, we have him, even the banging has stopped.
00:20:05
Speaker
And, you know, there's just the three, you know, the, the waiting to input code thing, like dot dot, you know, just kind of flashing on the screen. ah Right. And he opens the door and dragon is there in her human form, but clearly it's not the same one. And she's like, you know, she calls him like defiant or arms master, even like arms master. Is that you? Like, where am I? What, you know, what happened? Yeah. and He's like, he just goes like, you're free.
00:20:39
Speaker
um
00:20:43
Speaker
Yeah, that's that's not bad. I think that those work a good bit better. I think you can do it very quickly. And I don't think you have to explain too much, just that like, we know that she can boot up from cloud saves.
00:21:02
Speaker
And we know that we're doing that requires you to overwrite the save. So, nah. Yeah. It works. Yeah, I do. I do like that. I think that's better. It gives them it gives them a ah slightly more ambiguous, but a hopeful ending, I think, which is nice. Yeah. Yeah. um They deserve it. Yeah. Yeah.
00:21:29
Speaker
And I, yeah, and I also like, because ah Pandora had some weird stuff where she really wasn't that long ago. Like she was still when dragon and defiant were together. Yeah. Like I believe the time they lost is literally the time skip. I think so. Yeah. It's it's so like they were together for a little bit. And so they had that. And I think, you know, that,
00:21:59
Speaker
I guess it's okay to take it back there, but if you really wanted to really wanted to make it hurt, you'd take it all the way back to her calling a Marms master.
00:22:10
Speaker
Yeah, that'd be rough. I think that'd be fun to play around with. I'm not set on either one idea, but I think there's potential for both depending on how you wanted to end it.
00:22:21
Speaker
um Because again, it's a loss. And I think that's kind of the fun thing you can do with Dragon as a character is is you can still, there's still consequences for her dying, but she does get to live. She's a robot, you know you cutting and can get away with that. you know And if we want like one of those quick one sentence explanations, all of her backups got destroyed on gold morning, except for some of the older ones.
00:22:51
Speaker
right Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. You could work around it pretty, pretty easily. Yeah. Yeah. yeah i think it's yeah next but yeah i think I think that's good way to keep that in. Yeah. I think you can, I think you can fit that in Rachel's interlude. I like it. I like Rachel's interlude a lot. Um, yes. So if I'm, I'm trying to, trying to frame all of the epilogues here,
00:23:19
Speaker
and how to make them cohesive as possible. um And the one way I like, I think it kind of would work well is ah like pick a date, let's say a year post capri and all of that. um And it's gonna being set up as we are checking in on the undersiders primarily, but also the state of the world.
Rachel's Growth and Role
00:23:45
Speaker
Year's probably too long, but you get my drift, anyway.
00:23:47
Speaker
um and we're seeing kind of where they're at. But in order to sort of put a thread of unity through these through these scenes that we're seeing, I like the idea of them sort of coming back together for say like the anniversary of the event to mourn the loss of their undersiders that they've lost. So,
00:24:12
Speaker
AMP, we get ah Rachel here, obviously we're gonna get Tattletail at the end, um just sort of seeing them in their environment, seeing their and their absence. But the last scene, kind of to skip ahead, I i like the idea of closing on the undersiders together, you know? So making all of them making their way back towards that final interlude essentially. um So I like the idea of of getting a scene with Rachel, living her best life, ah taking,
00:24:43
Speaker
ah to heart what Taylor has told her over the years. A conversation with Ms. Militia, I think is good. ah Again, it's so it's a lot of this ambiguous, you know, how's the world really gonna be in the future? um Is humanity gonna survive or not? do You know, all this kind of stuff, but just seeing seeing Rachel doing well, I think,
00:25:12
Speaker
is important. I think that's how you want to see her character end. Hmm. Yeah. She's thriving. Yeah. Thrive it. Thriving is a strong word, but as much as she can be driving, I think, um, for sure. I mean, the image of her riding into town on the back of a dog, exactly. You know? yeah Yeah. Yeah. Cut right to the Western, you know, she's rolling in. Yeah. She's looking for this guy.
00:25:43
Speaker
You know, get some miss malicious like, whoa, whoa, whoa. And she's like, are we going to have a problem? Which is like, just tell me next time. And then something goes off. And, you know, she's like, Hey, you guys take that guy on my head out with miss militia and help out and, you know, or see what's up. Run in, see the broken trigger, which is a nice little tease, but, um,
00:26:12
Speaker
I think either we get her over there to talk to Miss Militia. I think as much as I like the idea of Miss Militia being like, what are you, you know, like, hey, what are you doing with this guy? I think it'd probably be better for them to run to the thing. And then her be like, hey, what are you doing here, by the way? And she's like, oh, we were like man hunting. And she's like, you can't do that. No, no, no, no.
00:26:42
Speaker
So another good two-parter, the track, the guy down. yep ah you know And then ah you can jump all the way over to you know going to see the trouble and then having to talk with Miss militia afterwards and then leaving for ah you know her ah for the meeting. So three-parter there, I think all worked pretty well. Yeah, I agree.
00:27:08
Speaker
um In my head, she's just getting like, It's just full Western in my head. The it opens on, uh, the guy she's been tracking being thrown through the saloon window, um, outside a dog and, and then he just, he just falls, you know, off the the front porch. Uh, and he's like about to get up and then he hears what you think is like the horse. He's like, it's like all the horses are like lashed up.
00:27:36
Speaker
Yeah, front but one of them's a dog and he's like, yeah he's laying there next to the dog and then Rachel west home rachel comes out of the door. Yeah, yeah exactly. so ah So funny. That's great. Just full Western anime mix. Oh yeah. It'd be awesome.
00:27:58
Speaker
ah Um, yeah, yeah. um I dig. I really think they lean into the the Western thing. It'll be real fun.
Teacher Epilogue: Necessary or Not?
00:28:07
Speaker
Um, at blog five teacher, cut it whole thing. It's gone. Get it out here. Say no more on agreement. Oh yeah. Yeah. Again, need chapter. But in terms of the stories we're wrapping up here, just does not fit in with anything we're telling.
00:28:29
Speaker
yeah um Again, I wouldn't mind revisiting this if we, you know, restructure certain things as we, you know, come back from multiple drafts and start putting pieces in order. But as we have it right now, cut it. Yeah. And finally, the last interlude. The
Taylor's Fate: Ambiguity and Alternatives
00:28:52
Speaker
the big shebang.
00:28:54
Speaker
um Well, everything with the Undersiders, Tattletale, Parian, Foil, the rest of the gang, everything there stays, I think. it's Absolutely. I agree. It's very good. Yeah. When it comes to the ah Bits with Taylor in Alternate Earth, I don't mind. No, we stand ah opposed on this interlude overall. I don't mind a far far more ambiguous ending of sorts if we want to. um Maybe just between Tattletale and like Contessa or honestly and this is something I thought a lot about because she's not really in these epilogues at all despite maybe being the one character
00:29:43
Speaker
outside of the Undersiders that should have been, um maybe a brief conversation with like Amy and Tattletail, where the kind of a two people who are in the know wouldn't explicitly say it, but just like, she's safe, you know, she's over there, whatever, you know, we could kind of reword it a bit there. um Because the implication being that Contessa and Amy and Tattletail would have all been probably maybe maybe the only three that that knew what happened to Taylor. um yeah So open to ah suggestions for this series as well. I don't mind ah making it more conclusive, ending it on the Taylor's death with ah with no possible other alternative and just
00:30:41
Speaker
you know, ending it that way, I think is is equally valid for the, for the story we're telling here. But, uh, either way, maybe a way to honor the original work without changing it too much, you know? Yeah. I'm i like I said before, I am very okay just ending it, you know, with Taylor's death in terms of her storyline. But also when we were talking about this on the book club, uh, I think perhaps changing up the conversation with ah the the grandma, the old woman on the train. I like what you said. In favor of you know her mother not knowing it's her.
00:31:23
Speaker
um and And talking about like, you just having this conversation, maybe Taylor starts it by, hey, like I see you're reading a book. like you know My mother liked to read yada, yada, yada. And you know we've got you know injuries or something like that.
00:31:43
Speaker
Or maybe that that maybe the injuries don't show until the, you know, she goes to grab her wrist, you know, and the hand comes off and we never show her face or maybe even it is a different, like you get a different actor that looks very similar so that, you know, she can talk, show her face, you know, from under the hood, but not have it, you know, be obvious that it's Taylor. Right.
00:32:11
Speaker
Um, but have this conversation, have her basically have all the injuries that she should have. And then when she goes to see, you know, she gets off, you have her meetup with a guy and throws her arm around her and says, was it her? And she goes, yeah, but like, um,
00:32:36
Speaker
you know, i you know it but it wasn't at the same time. And they walk off, but the voice is very Danny, which would be great because we haven't heard from Danny in five ever. So you don't even show his face. You just kind of have the silhouette and them turning and walking and the audio be him asking, was it her? And Taylor, of course, going i like, you know, yes, but no or whatever.
00:33:05
Speaker
um Yeah. Or, you know, you're doing okay. Like, yeah. Um, glad I got that out of the way. They, they turned and walk and that way you never have a conclusive who it is. We don't say who it is, but you're also maybe the importance of that. I think is a little bit of fan service just to see Taylor's alive, have her interact with her mom in a way. And I think have a conclusive ending. There's a bunch of these conversations. um The most important ones being imp and shadow stalker talking ah about Taylor and the impact and the choices she made and how that lasts, you know, how that's going to be viewed forever. And then on this flip side, we have Taylor talking about the choice that she made. um And I think, ah I think
00:34:01
Speaker
you know, you maybe have to change the focus of the conversation just a little. Um, ah yeah, I think, I think you could have it in there and yeah, make it, make it tasteful, make it work. Yeah. I think you can even start with the girl and the woman on the train starting up a conversation. That's the opener. Then you cut to Jessica Yamada cut to the warlord.
00:34:31
Speaker
Cut to Defiant working on code, cut to Rachel tracking down people, you know, cut back to Emp, doing her thing, back to the visit, back to the warlord, Defiant doing his, you know, breaking out from the button, Valkyrie getting announced. yeah Rachel, ah you know, as she gets announced, you know, Rachel and all of them meet up.
00:34:55
Speaker
And you're right, I think it would be really good to have maybe not Amy, although I think if we directed this show in a different way, Amy would be the conversation here with Tattletail. But I think Contessa and Tattletail having a wee bit conversation would not be a mess.
00:35:14
Speaker
I actually, yeah, i I agree there with you a lot. And this is a thought I had the other day after we finished recording ah for Arc of 30, which was, i I like the idea of at the very end, Contessa and Taylor having that final conversation you know away from everybody.
00:35:38
Speaker
um If that conversation was between Taylor and Amy, feels more thematic um just because they actually share a bit of history in the show where Contessa really doesn't. Contessa should still be the one to pull the trigger, but I like Amy being there. Just something to kind of think about. You could have that Amy talk to somebody wrapped in bandages in a bed. Yeah. I mean, just in terms of, just in terms of,
00:36:08
Speaker
the kind of The final conversation between Contessa and Taylor, just thinking about how that works, I think would be more satisfying if Amy was the one speaking instead of Contessa, but the random thought. And all that to say, I like the idea of if we gave Amy something more to do with that scene than Contessa talking to Tattletale in the finale here, I think would work a lot better.
00:36:36
Speaker
Yeah, i i I agree. I think, yeah, once again in a different arc and a massive rewrite that I would love to present, you know, streamlined, but I think a cleaner ah path, you know, I've, I've mentioned before where I think Amy and Taylor being the dual narrative would actually be really strong. Ultimately having Amy be the one that sets Taylor off and then Amy be the one that's, you know,
00:37:05
Speaker
essentially portals in, puts her hands on Taylor's head and is able to shut the, uh, you know, fix, fix her brain sort of, um, and, and say like, Hey, I, you know, I could, I could end you right now or I could, you know, fix you up, yeah you know,
00:37:30
Speaker
And i mean Taylor being like, after all I've done, it's not worth it. Yada, yada, yada. If, and also you could do it where Amy's like, you know, being a little bit sadistic is like, no, you don't get to just die and get away with it. Like, yeah, you wouldn't let me, you know, go, you wouldn't let me, you know, just roll over and die for the slaughterhouse nine. Why would you think I would make your life any easier now e on a flip side?
00:37:53
Speaker
if we had you know the character the by you know the character arc of them going back and forth, you would have Amy have her character growth moment kind of at the end here going like, we fought, we've teamed up, we fought again, and here at the end, you know like I'm gonna choose to essentially give you back life. and But we don't say that, we just cut. Yeah, yeah.
00:38:17
Speaker
I mean, the strength of worm has always been how little handholding there is. um So much is ah implied or or hidden or ah you know stated through action, not exposition. And oh i i think you could I think by this point, the audience ah Hopefully the audience is as invested in the story as you want them to be. It should be able to sort of pick up the pieces there, you know? Yeah. No, i like i I like that a lot. I think
Crafting Taylor's Ending
00:38:54
Speaker
there's a lot of really subtle and fun ways that you can just sort of tweak tweak the ending a bit so that it's a bit more conclusive. Feels a bit more finished. yeah I mean, i feel I feel like it's a good finish. I think
00:39:12
Speaker
Maybe there are some of those conversations that don't need to be as long. um yeah I think, I think you really, eat I mean, you really could have Amy step out of a portal, put her hand on Taylor's head and go like, I could make this all go away. Or, you know, if you wanted it to, if you wanted to keep living or, uh, you know, we could, you know, I could fix you up.
00:39:40
Speaker
What's it going to be? And Taylor, you know, just kind of mumble something. And, you know, she goes, basically, it was it worth it? You know, at the end of all this, was it worth it? And Taylor says her little line. And then Amy, you know, fucking brain zaps her. Yeah. I don't think it has to be more than, you know, I mean, I think you can. ah Yeah, I mean, I don't even mind extending it too much, but I think you can.
00:40:09
Speaker
Yeah, yeah there's I mean, there's a lot of really fun ideas that you can you can play with. There's, you know, Taylor is such an idealist and she's so confident in herself that I think it'd be kind of fitting if at the end she has accepted death. ah She's standing there, Amy's there, Amy's like, I can fix this for you. And Taylor's like,
00:40:35
Speaker
You can't, yeah I know she's not supposed to really be able to speak here, but you know. I mean, a Amy Brains apps are there, she could speak now. ah You're right. but the The issue is that, so like, Taylor's like, you can't fix this. My passenger won't let you get close enough to me at this point. Passenger's taking over. um you know she Taylor is just so set in this being her end. And I i like what you said about ah Amy being like, nuh-uh, you don't get to end this.
00:41:04
Speaker
on your terms, like you you don't, you're not going to get off that easy, but can't get closer. And then behind her, you know, Contessa steps out and fires two shots. and yeah And Amy's like, you know, again, you don't have to spell it out, but just, you you know, then maybe Contessa and Amy have a, i were you know, I'm i'm throwing it at the whiteboard here, but you know,
00:41:29
Speaker
um No, that's fun. A little conversation. What do you want to do? This is up to you. you know ah exact you know Anything you want to do like that. You can make you could do it a dozen different ways and make it work, I think. um Have a lot of fun with it.
00:41:47
Speaker
it's a really really I love the way Taylor's story ends. I think it's fantastic. I think there's a lot of room to really drive it home.
00:41:59
Speaker
yeah
00:42:01
Speaker
Can't wait for you guys to tell these ideas to the other the members of the Rock and Roll. We'll have to
Adapting Worm: Creative Challenges
00:42:07
Speaker
organize a few of these ideas. So shocking. I love it. No, I like I mean, it's it's fun. I like ah this is this is what it's all been about. um You know, contrary to popular belief, we have no contacts in Hollywood. ah We're not on any sort of studio payroll. This isn't getting made. But the but it's been such a blast getting to think about it and and have fun with these ideas and and think through the problems and challenges and ways in which a different medium can really ah can really enhance the story beyond what but the serial can and where it lacks a lot of times, you know, make where it's really difficult. So yeah it's ah it's a lot of fun, gonna talk through this. Yep.
00:42:58
Speaker
For sure. Any ah any last thoughts on these epilogues, Alan? No, no, I think honestly, I feel like we agreed on most things. I think we're good. and Yeah, put a nice little bow on the series. definitely and Definitely enough to work with here where I think we can give five seasons of intense television a pretty satisfying, just slow burn of ah of a fade out, nothing too sudden. I think Wild Boat gave us enough to work with on that front. yeah or just you know Or just cut to black with the two shots in the back of the head, play some Linkin Park and call it a day.
00:43:43
Speaker
I like it. Yeah. Well, if there's nothing else to be said, I think we'll go ahead and wrap up this episode. ah Thank you,
Conclusion and Future Excitement
00:43:54
Speaker
both of you, Michael and Alan, for joining me as always.
00:43:58
Speaker
Thank you. A special thanks to our patrons who have been a shining light on this long year. 2024 was so much fun. We got a lot done and our patrons have been with us the entire time. And a special shout out to all of you. Thank you so much.
00:44:14
Speaker
If you want to ah join our exclusive patron discord, we share memes and jokes and ideas and talk about the episodes and the stories, consider joining. ah We have a variety of tiers, including just a $1 tier, $1 a month to join our special little special o club. And if you think, well, why would I join? They're almost done.
00:44:40
Speaker
you fool
00:44:45
Speaker
As if we're not going to reward, as if we're not going to, uh, as if we're not going to continue making content, uh, Oh ye of, uh, of little faith. And we do have bonus content and episodes for our patrons exclusively, some not worm related, some barely worm related. So we have a lot of fun.
00:45:13
Speaker
It's going to continue. 2025 is going to be a great year. We're having a blast and we thank you so much for listening. We hope that you could continue at the very least would be be honored to have you join us for the rest of the year. And that on that note, we'll go ahead and call it there.
00:45:28
Speaker
Thanks so much for listening. Tune in next week for, uh, what will probably be, I don't know when this comes out, Michael can edit over my voice here, uh, for what probably be the, uh, the season and series finale of dissecting worm. Uh, where we get to yeah display this in its full glory to Nick and Hannah and get their thoughts and put the final bow.
00:45:54
Speaker
on the pie, on aye ah tree. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. ah I nailed it. Got it. And until then, as always, take that, you worms.
00:46:13
Speaker
Thank you so much for listening. Read along with us at parahumans.wordpress dot.com. We'd love to hear your thoughts. What did you love? What did you hate? Anything you think we missed, et cetera, as long as it's kind. If you'd like to get in touch, you can