Arc 21: Imago

Transcript

Speaker: Worm is a web serial by J .C. McCray, also known as Wildbo. You can read Worm in its original format by visiting parahumans ah .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.

Speaker: Good morning, Brockton Bay. Turn yourself into the law. It's a Magio. Mark 21. What does... maybe i'm Maybe I'm crazy ignorant. What does a Magio... A Mago? What does it mean? No clue. Image. Yeah. Like a Mago day. Yeah. yeah Image of God. and can ah Okay. I am. Go.

Speaker: Fair enough. for You know, he was the it was the parrot and in in Aladdin. No, no, no, that was that was a Shakespeare character. ah

Speaker: mar I really want to yell now if I go. Yeah, yeah, that's right. Holy hell, does it feel wrong? Holy heck, does it feel right?

Speaker: There we go. I really just wanted you to do it, but I had to do it first.

Speaker: yeah my not great is Now I just just want Gilbert Godfrey to be skitter in my fan casting. I was going to go with the coil. Just the skin tight suit.

Speaker: you I mean, he can be a cord. He you can be. Oh yeah. yeah this is that That's what we're going with. Let's go with the cord. You know, just name Gilbert Godfrey is just going to be every main villain, right? He's Jack slash he's going to be arms master. But then when arms master becomes defiant to change us into Henry Cavill for some reason. he's Here we go. Here we go. Everyone account except for Danny DeVito has to be, um,

Speaker: up and It's really just a battle between Danny DeVito and... I like order trickster. Order means everything has its place and everyone has their place. Your subordinates place was not here. Rest assured, it's better to eliminate this disordered element.

Speaker: before it does too much damage. What a shame. Such a young girl. Don't worry, my pants. We just need to do it. We just need to do it. I'm reading for the picture. Just one more question. The picture and there you can go. Good God.

Speaker: good god ahead We'll do like a, uh, we'll do like a, uh, reverse fan casting. We just worst possible fan cast for every character. Um, worse that we still want to see that we still want to see. Yeah. All right. Well, uh, thanks for that lovely introduction. Uh, welcome back to the Brock and Bay book club. We got a full house here today and we're diving into arc 21.

Speaker: We are nearing the end. There are only nine more arcs. Don't say that. Don't put that kind of negativity out in the world. I don't need that slinkum. Excuse me? Want to try that again? Salami slinkum. Yeah. Jake's potato. Take me up before you go -go? Okay.

Speaker: Wakey, wakey, eggs and Jakey. That one's one of my favorites, yeah. Jakey. Sweet Jakey. Anyway. Jacob's dying inside. He's like, please don't call me. I'm trying so hard. I spent 32 goddamn years on this earth cultivating a normal use of my name. And one damn meme later is out the door.

Speaker: What are you gonna do? Yeah, what are you gonna do? What are you gonna do? Anyway, let's dive into it. You got a fun little arc here. but not ah Not a whole lot happens. i will not Okay, like until we get to the... like Listen, it's it's like not a whole lot is like some fun side quests and then and then everything at the end. It all comes together. Yeah. yeah's kind of Let's kind of get through it. I want to just go chapter at a time. I was kind of thinking Yeah. I have so few notes for such a small arc. I have so many notes and I'm going to warn everyone that there is a very high likelihood of me crying at a specific spot. Cause when I went to tell Alan about it today, I i started crying and he was so nice.

Speaker: And I just, yeah. so You're already going to cry now talking about it. I'm going to. No, I will cry though at at some point. So, you know, yeah we're here to get there. Let's dive in. Yeah. Chapter one. So as we all remember, as we left off, things did not end well for Skidder. She was outed. And so starting off chapter one, ah the undersiders gear up for retaliation and hit the PRT. We have a little conversation with Skidder and Tag. And Tag declares that this is a war, not a game, little girl.

Speaker: It made me really fucking mad. Goddamn tag. I have so many notes. I think I said my dude. No. What's the what's the name? I forget his name, ah like the lieutenant and starship troopers. That's who that's in my mind. That's who that's who tag looks like to me. Wait, the lieutenant. Like, yeah at the you know, he's like going with i a general. I forget it's been forever since I've seen the movie.

Speaker: But he's, he's, you know, just the total military hard -ass, uh, his sergeant. jars is zach Sure. Sure. yeah john mor ra back I'll take your word for it. Yeah. why You can add Starship troopers to the list of movies. I haven't seen them forever. Yeah. you know ask that How would you say that? R a S C Z a K.

Speaker: but raja right ra um zem yeah it's just got charles zem No, not him. Anyway, side to side turn it into a grumble at the end. ah rogerchester but Yeah, for sure. Oh, anyway all that to say. Yeah, the old guy. Sure. All that to say tag in my mind is the really like grizzled war vet just steps in to get shit done. And and it's really annoying.

Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. I just, I have, uh, God tag is such a little machismo bitch. yeah You just, i what a hard ass just backing up the fact that he has fucking nothing going on behind those eyes.

Speaker: I mean, at least he has a loyal wife, I guess. Nah, she's a bitch too. I mean, I don't like her either. Oh, oh wait, I have that last note. Fuck him and his wife.

Speaker: Well, like, I mean, not to, you know, actually, no, I'm not going to open that can of worms. Nevermind. Nevermind. Hey, you you support his, uh, his military action. She's like completely. I'm like, cool. Just as guilty. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker: You know, she tries to get the military discounts at places. Oh, 100%. She walks in. And then if they don't have, don't you know that I'm a PRT wife, yeah but that puts that on a resume prior experience, like military service spouse, you know. Yeah. Also tag going, uh, let's see. Um,

Speaker: I'm here to stay. Bitch, but you are like a bug bite away from being interim. yeah You realize your predecessor had powers and didn't make it to work, right? Yeah, she didn't even make it all the way into the office, my dude. like you Like what in God's green earth makes you think that you aren't just like, she walked in and was like,

Speaker: hey cool you're a dickhead right and he's like i'm totally a dickhead that is correct and then that's just you're dead so like i don't know what you thought was gonna happen but like you know you're done for son like i will say i'm here to stay get the fuck out of here she says how like the satisfying sound of of him when he starts screaming. And I couldn't help but, like, agree heavily. Like, oh yeah. Oh yeah, you might talk big, but you don't like cockroaches running all over your face. Do ya, buddy boy?

Speaker: I mean, neither would I, but everybody's a big boy until they get the old cockroach urethra trick. You know, I was going to say just a cockroach in the year, but like, what the fuck Taylor? We've just entered our first, uh, what the fuck Alan? Oh no, we have, we're going to have a couple of moments coming up. So yeah right yeah, this is a good, this is a good, what the fuck Taylor arc. Yeah. Oh yeah.

Speaker: That's I do love the beginning of this chapter where everybody is double checking their identities. You know, a very smart move. Hey, somebody just got outed. Let's, uh, let's a double check everybody. Good. Um, and, uh, you know, and then Taylor's like, I got more time to do villain shit. Cause I literally cannot do anything else. Not that she was going to, but, uh,

Speaker: delighted now Yeah. And then finally, there's a conversation. I forget who says the line, uh, but something about not batting for the other team. Um, Oh, it's, buts it's, uh, was at Lisa talking with Perian about, you know, yeah, yeah know like go back for the other team. And I got upset because I had to double check the conversation. I was like, bro, bitch is right there.

Speaker: To which I then had to go double check. I just looked it up right now. Bitch isn't gay. Yeah, I didn't know that per coil is black. Bitch isn't gay. Pig is not Amanda Waller. I was going to say this has been a flip. I've read like we've talked about. This is like my third or fourth.

Speaker: time reading it and maybe my second time listening you know on audiobook. Let's not even forget that I've listened to on audiobook a few times. um son I had no idea. ah Maybe I just made some assumptions. I mean, clearly you made some assumptions.

Speaker: To be fair, a big part of my assumptions, even my first time, and we'll get to things that I've missed every time I've read this, is when her little backpack is like snuggling with her on the couch, I was like, oh, that's cute. She's got like her, her, her little lesbian ah dog buddy.

Speaker: Wait, what? And i i mean yeah you know what I'm talking about? She got that one girl that like, she's the judge' jumping way ahead, Alan, but all right. i Well, I know, but I, I thought the first time when I was an innocent, we babe that that's the way she swung. And you know, I don't feel like I was ever proven wrong otherwise, but you know, not rethink everything I know, apparently.

Speaker: Just, you know, that's funny. I'm in shock. You're shooketh. I'm shooketh. I mean, to be fair, she's always struck me as a bit more of maybe leaning asexual, not in the sense that I know that she really is, but in the sense of like, she just doesn't care. Yeah. I also felt that, but I felt it more of the the pansexual side of it, of like she values loyalty more than anything else.

Speaker: Mm, maybe. I mean, I don't know, just... I mean, we're making assumptions about a character who, for all we know, never... That's true. ...has romantic relations in the story or in the past. She does. Yeah. Well, romantic is strong. Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll save that. Yeah, this is not the... This is the spoiler -free podcast. Indeed. Yes, they do. Did that for Dissecting Worm. Yeah. Well, we'll say, to this point then, we've not seen...

Speaker: roman could be wrong. Yeah.

Speaker: yeah it was' It's funny little scene though. I think that's part of one of those things where people are going to read into text a lot of things, you know, oftentimes regardless of what an author says about certain characters. And that's just how people read stories as long as it doesn't impact the story.

Speaker: That's true. is it You know what it is, Ellen? It's because she dresses kind of butch, doesn't isn't it? It it absolutely 100 % is. She's got the combat boots and the short hair and you just made a stereotypical judgment call. Typical straight white man.

Speaker: three and why man Dang. Gotcha, bitch. yeah

Speaker: every Every fucking time. Anyways. God, it always gets me. That's fair. Also, again, as always with those kind of funny little insights, it's always worth noting that the entire story is from Taylor's perspective. So, you know, unreliable narrator, who knows? It's part of the fun of the story. Yeah. Here's the thing. Fan fiction is a free country, freer than America nowadays. And ah you can believe you can believe or think whatever you want in the universe of fan fiction. Uh -huh. That's true. That's all. I will say though, I will say, okay, I want to give Tag a little bit of credit, not because I think he's not a boot hole, but

Speaker: um But mostly because I, I get the whole strong man thing because his whole thing is like, I am trying to restore this nearly dead organization. And one of the ways you can do that is to make a big move and to stand your ground. I mean, he's standing in a place where the previous person got kidnapped. Then the one after that, although he may have been a villain was assassinated essentially, for lack of a better term.

Speaker: Like, I don't know, I mean, at a certain point you gotta ask, is this really the job? Like, who would you who who would want that job, right? Suddenly a director of the PRT of Brockton Bay isn't a promotion, it's like, oh, you want me to die, huh? So the fact that he was willing to take it, I give him a little bit of credit for that, not in the sense of like, he's a hero or anything, but just like, okay, I kinda see what you mean. He's like, got his whole like, I'm the one they send in when things are going wrong.

Speaker: when There's stuff to fix. You know, I'm like, all right, maybe you're a little full of yourself, but you probably got the cred to back it up at least. I don't know. Or at least the ego. At least the ego. Yeah. You have to be a little bit insane to take the position for sure. Oh yeah. 100%. Yeah, that tracks. I do love too though, that they make this whole plan and ultimately it's like,

Speaker: All Taylor really wanted was like, like she wanted to hit him where it hurt, but her whole thing basically was like, I just really need to ask tag. Why? Yeah. Like that's all she really wanted is that answer to that question. Are you a piece of shit? Also the real answer is not that he was qualified for the job of fixing up this place. The real answer is that he was so expendable.

Speaker: in the PRT. They were like, ah, if we lose this one, like, oh, well, he's literally a placeholder. Like, i could see i this guy is a uniform that will just do the work. He will just, he will just be a person there to, you know,

Speaker: combat the villains until we get our shit together. And if they kill him, like, oh, well, no great loss. Like, I can't imagine that he has much political like clout with anybody else because of that attitude.

Speaker: Maybe, I don't know though. I mean, it seems like right stubbornness might be in high need for the PRT right now, so. Yeah. I don't know if you're going to be a normal human working with heroes under the supposed belief that you have more authority than superheroes. I can understand that boosting your ego and your stubbornness a bit. I don't know. Obviously we don't know the inner workings of it all, but it is interesting to ponder and this like how much do they really value him? Yeah. Yeah. Cause I see your, I see your point. I'm thinking like pick it, pick it with stuff. I pick ah pickett was

Speaker: just as stubborn as this guy, but at least was smart enough to back it all up. Yeah, like she understood this is it because we've talked about this since the very beginning of the idea like that there's, you know, there's no black and white and, you know, everyone plays the game and, and he just kind of like, he's like, fuck it. And it's like, can you have a little bit of understanding of like what's going on? It's like,

Speaker: just yeah Your arms master approach to this whole situation is what got us here in the first place. Right. Yeah. Yeah. I think she's, I think Taylor says it in the sec in the second chapter or maybe the third, but she basically like this idea that like he's a bull in a China shop. he like He doesn't understand how delicate of a situation this is. Like there does have to be a balance and he just doesn't like, he doesn't get it. And it, it messes with the system.

Speaker: I think that's, she has says that she has that conversation actually with Ms. Militia later, but, but yeah. Yeah. I think doing a deep dive comparison between him and Piget would be really fun for an extended talk. I think Piget is literally just all the things. He has all the same traits as Piget, except Piget has more and better, which is why we like Piget. Piget also has a bit of tact.

Speaker: Like, she was she was brash with some choices, like using the Undersiders as bait. But like, she also like, I don't know. and She knew the deal with Tattletale. Yeah, she's also made the same decisions to be obstinate and stubborn and not helpful and be a dickhead, much like this guy. But she has all of these other traits to her that make up for the fact that like, yeah, she is savvy. She has a bunch of, you know, rules that she follows and also the same time is playing, playing a bit of politics with all of this. This guy has, like you said, no tact. Yeah. he He is kind of like all force and no tact, it seems. And I guess I could imagine the higher ups being like that that's the tactic they want to deploy in Brockton Bay now, right? Like they've had picket who kind of worked with the villains tried to,

Speaker: make things more, uh, copacetic, you might say, um, drink best word, best word. But I could see them being like, you know what, we just need to really show these villains. What's what, you know, picket or not picket tag, uh, weird that they both have double G's, you know, but anyways, um, but yeah, it's, it's just kind of like, you know what, we need to show these villains. What's what tag go in there and mess them up. I could, I could see that kind of being the, yeah.

Speaker: Yeah. Even if it violates all the, the code and everything. And more like guidelines than actual rules. Yes. I would just say pirate code. Oh my gosh. All right. Uh, so move on to chapter two. Uh, Taylor rides off on her own with one of Rachel's dogs, uh, and ends up having a chat at the graveyard with her mother and a debriefing.

Speaker: uh, and writes a letter to her dad.

Speaker: Not much in this episode, but a lot more of like self -reflection than anything else. I really liked this chapter. I'm trying to remember exactly what it was, but there was something about it that just Taylor reflecting on everything.

Speaker: And I think part of what it is for me that I think is interesting, one of my issues I've had with Taylor, not really a real issue, but just a small thing is that she does kind of have this belief that if everybody, not, she says she doesn't, but this belief that if everybody just did what she wanted, then everything would be fine. She's a little bit more like a chord than she may realize in that way. I was just about to say that, yeah. Yeah. You know, a chord's just a lot more Well, of course power might make him actually write more, more percentage of the time than Taylor, but, um, but I think this is kind of her reckoning of realizing, okay, how can I make this work when everybody's not going to listen to me? Everybody's not going to do what I want. Like, what's the right thing to do now? When I feel like I'm stuck and trapped and nobody's doing what I need them to do.

Speaker: And, oh, and I love the reveal of Dinah's note here as well. Yes. I've been waiting for this note. Yeah. Yeah. That was an old thing from quite a ways back. So I'm glad to see it revealed here. That was good. Yeah. Um, I have a note. My first note of this is, oh my God, Taylor, listen to Lisa, please. Uh, it's, it's right before she, she runs away this kind of like moment with Lisa where Taylor's trying to figure out like why would they do this? like I don't understand. Why would they act like that? And she's trying to figure out you know why Dinah would work with them. And like she's trying to come to terms with all of it. And like are are we all just Lisa in this scenario, just like listening to Taylor go off and be like,

Speaker: So I mean, yeah, but they're we are the villains. like They are trying to clear up the city. like You realize that this is, like they're trying to they're trying to do what they think is right. And it was just, but they're breaking the rules. It's like, okay.

Speaker: Taylor, it feels like after all of this, like the fact that you've officially accepted that you're a villain, like you're going to act like a villain now, even knowing how this arc ends, uh, like but this is, there's going to be people who don't, who don't get it. They're, they're going to be people in power who look at you and go, yeah, she's a villain. She cannot run the city. We're trying to rebuild. Now we have a portal trying to make stuff happen. And she like, like as much as,

Speaker: I don't know, she just like doesn't get it, but like they would they would not want her to be in empowered. like Yeah, well, we're going to maybe take some drastic action. As much as I hate what Tag did, like yeah, we're going to take drastic action to like get rid of you as an obstacle so that we can have our city back. And I don't know. i just i She like mouths off a little bit here and i'm just all I can think of is, like You're talking about the PRT not being flexible and not trying to like work with you guys to make the city better, but you're not like, you're not understanding where they're coming from either. Like this is a, this is one of those weird, yeah well, no one's going to agree. So we're all just going to stand here and yell at each other, like glare at each other. Like you're like, come on, Taylor, like have, have some perspective.

Speaker: Yeah, I think the Taylor's youth kind of shows itself here in that sense, specifically of like, again, it's that mindset of all I'm trying to do is good stuff for the city. But yes, you've done it in a villainous way. And that's part of what she kind of reckons with here at this graveside scene, which is part of what I like about it is she's like, am I a good person? Am I a bad person? I don't really know anymore. Like.

Speaker: I've done what I thought was the right thing and I don't think I'd go back and change anything that I've done. It all felt right to me in the moment, but you know, that perspective of kind of realizing, okay, yeah, I have done some bad stuff and maybe I need to, I need to make amends for that or need to fix it somehow, whatever that means. Yeah. Yeah. ah ah That groundskeeper though, what a champ. Oh, what a peach. What a peach.

Speaker: Can I ask you a question? This was something I wrote down, and I want to get y 'all's opinion about this as well. Taylor brings up the fact that the PRT, back before everything went down with Leviathan, whatever, that the PRT wasn't as aggressive against Empire 88 or the ABB in comparison to them, the undersiders, now. And this idea that, like,

Speaker: you know you had You had white supremacists and and ah a bomb maker blowing people up all over the city, and you weren't as aggressive towards them as you were to villains who have literally been cleaning up a broken city and helping people. and i' And I was thinking, I wrote that, I said, like why is this? Why is this the case? And I get that probably a lot of it is connected to the whole like while they're trying to rebuild it and the portal now is part of that. But like they were still aggressive with them before the portal happened. So like what do you guys think about that? there're this kind of like Is it just that they're trying to make ah make a an example out of the undersiders? I think I always kind of interpreted it as more that for the for ah prior to the undersiders,

Speaker: the PRT wasn't threatened by the villains. they They needed them. I mean, for the PRT to function, you have to have bad guys, right, to justify their existence. So it was almost like, it's kind of like a really deep cut. I don't know if Wild Bo intended this, but it kind of feels like a like a deep look at ah you know, generally how human society evolves where there's a whole concept of needing people on both sides of the spectrum to balance it out, that kind of thing, where the PRT needs their villains in place so that they can justify their own existence, but they were never threatened by them. And then post -Leviathan rise of the undersiders, now the PRT has

Speaker: I mean, we've joked about it kind of lost their purpose. They don't protect the city anymore. The undersiders do. So it always read to me as more like now there was an an actual threat to the existence of the PRT and what they do. So now they have to like try to eliminate the threat. I'd i'd agree with that too. And I think I'd add on to it as well that although I don't know, I kind of think of it like imagine a big city right now, like Chicago, New York, Atlanta. There are gangs that are active there, right? That the police are well aware of. They do their best to manage, but they're not, um, you know, they're not, they're not having an all out war against gangs, you know, like maybe they did in the past.

Speaker: They're just trying to do their best to catch people and they can stop as much as they can. And then maybe through the system, eventually it'll reduce the number of gangs, drug violence, whatever it might be. I think the difference would be like, if one of those gangs rose up and said, we own this section of Atlanta now. It's like everybody knew what empire 88 territory was. And you were careful if you were there, but they never like came right out and said, we own this part of Brockton Bay and this belongs to us now.

Speaker: And I wonder if that's part of it. She was right. The undersiders have kind of come up and said, it's not just that this is our territory and we're doing criminal activity in it. Even though they're doing good things, it's under the guise of this is my area. And even the heroes don't have the right to tell me what to do and what not to do. They've been more blatant about it. They've been a lot more blatant about it. Yeah. Like it's, it's a much more blatant power grab. And we talk about unwritten rules, like,

Speaker: The unwritten rule is that you do not own the city. The PRT owns the city, but you might, you know, run it in the background. Yeah, exactly. right And I think, I think too, there's a bit of, um, personnel, personal bias here too, because I do think that when, when Bakita started going, going off, like the PRT said, okay, everybody, villains included, let's take her out.

Speaker: You know, so it's not like they don't jump into action when somebody does threaten that balance because Bakita blatantly came out and said, I'm going to blow up the city. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do that. Yeah. So I don't know. I think maybe it's just the blatant, the blatantly of it of being like, yeah, we own the city. What are you going to do about it? PRT. And then how does that look to the outside world to be like, wow, the PRT is still in Brockton Bay, even though it's a villain owned city. What's up with that? How are they so weak? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. yeah real I don't know.

Speaker: You do know, Nick. yeah You do know. You do. You do know. That's a great answer. I don't know. It's just me. It's just me. Just me. I don't know if I'm making any sense here. It's just me.

Speaker: I don't know. I'm just saying words. and It's just words, man. It's just words.

Speaker: Just right off the dome, you know? Just right off the dome. How off the mind press? question Good question, Hannah. The brain griddle. Sorry. Yeah, no, I just I had that written down. I was thinking about it. But I think I think both of you are are absolutely right.

Speaker: Yeah, you know it. Also, it's ah one one one quick one one more little thing before I move on. ah Just because um honestly, only because I took notes this time. ah The idea that like one of the things that that i that really grinds my gears about Taylor is that she has such a hyper fixation on Dinah for such a huge chunk of of the you know the first half of the book.

Speaker: And it feels like in this chapter with her like thinking and talking about ah the PRT and the school and everything, and like it feels like we're we're seeing that hyper fixation again where she's like super super focused on the fact that like I can't believe they broke the rules.

Speaker: and like attacking the school like, oh my gosh, it's that's one step too far. And I find it i just find it interesting that like this is the thing. And obviously it's personal because it's her, but like this this this fixation on like the end of all the injustices, this is the thing that I'm going to fixate on, that this this is not okay. We can kill people and rob banks, but died like kidnapping a child, that's too far.

Speaker: Like it's the same idea of like well unmasking a supervillain is one step too far and i i I don't know I just I find it interesting that like Taylor who is so good at being able to see like big picture stuff is so can also so like fixate on the tiniest of things. It doesn't feel like it matters in the grand scheme like okay well now your person out and like now everybody knows who you are and you're you know.

Speaker: you know Your personal life is now revealed to the world, but like, it doesn't seem like that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. Yeah. It's kind of like your child brain. Yeah. I forget she's a kid. We always have to remind ourselves, I feel like. Yeah.

Speaker: Uh, I can move on to chapter three now. Uh, all right. So chapter three, uh, Taylor hangs out with Regent and imp finds out what they've been up to. And we end up taking down, uh, the fallen in the meanwhile and a very unfortunate incident with Valifor, um, where Taylor blinds him, which is our what the fuck Taylor moment.

Speaker: for the episode. ah Because what the fuck, Taylor? Jesus. That was all disgusting. i was That was truly revolting. I can excuse lung. I can excuse doing it with a yeah spoon.

Speaker: Not the spoon! But putting maggots in the eyeballs, that's where I draw the line. Oh, God, that's horrifying. And she's like, I think they could maybe fix it. Like, what do you mean? He's a normal person with maggots in his eyes. Like, he's not going to bounce back from that, Taylor. God. To be fair, I also remember Valfour taking way longer to deal with, and he is wrapped up in a single, single arc or single chapter. We dealt with him pretty quick. he's not even He's not even villain of the week length. This is just like yeah villain of the scene. He's not even a whole chapter. He just like takes up one a little section at the end. I felt like Butcher was also more than one chapter and then no. I remember Butcher going on for a while when I first read it. And to be fair, it does go on for a while within the chapter with no brains. It does.

Speaker: ah What? It is just a chapter. chapter Yeah. Yeah, but we'll get to that. Yeah. No, this whole chapter though was full of moments that I was re -remembering and I remembered them being not this close together. And, uh, this was funny. I got to the end of the chapter and I was like, wait a minute, what happens next? Cause or the arc, I was like, I, I, this was everything I thought was coming in like the next three arcs or so. There's some surprises. What were we calling it?

Speaker: Yeah, I was really re -listening to what Nick said in a previous episode and he was calling it worm mencha. Yeah. Worm mencha. Yeah. It's so good. Yeah. We all suffer from it. Back to our buddy Valifor. We do. of Of all the people, of all the people to put mag, like if you, you're going to put maggots in somebody's eyes. I do understand the choice.

Speaker: of villains to eyeball and fest. Like, I do, you may I mean, it tracks. Like, the guy is super dangerous because of of his of his of his his eyeball noggins. And that's, it's horri horrific, but like, I mean, it tracks. It's one way to take out a villain. I guess it's effective. It was just so cold about it. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Speaker: Try to try this before. Trust the old eye removal. I mean, India, he does have an eye based power. term mood Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. hike Taylor's signature move is eye removal. This right. at This right. It is bone. Saul would be proud. No, no. Yeah. Yeah. Anyways. ah Yeah, I asked.

Speaker: I, in the context of this whole arc of knowing now what Taylor was going to do, but not knowing it when I was reading, all I could think with this chapter is that Taylor's being such a bitch, like has zero self -awareness.

Speaker: Like the fact that she gets on Regent's case for not thinking like 18 million steps ahead. And she's like, you ought to be thinking about that. And he's like, I don't know. I'll just figure it out when we get there. And she's like, well, you need to know what you're going to do. And he's like, like, I don't, and yeah and I don't feel like I need to do that. And like now I know that she's trying to make sure that they're going to be okay without her.

Speaker: but Like in the moment, I was so annoyed with her. Like, oh my God, to get your head out of your ass. I think we're going to next chapter. We weren't situated here.

Speaker: yeah I did have way one one more thought on chapter three. Yes, yes, yes. I also have a couple more things. so Yeah, know there were a couple more things here. So reach an imp.

Speaker: that whole interaction was really cool. But at the same time, I realized I was like, I don't think I could ever trust someone to that level. It was ah like a really, really, it's a creepy interaction. Obviously it's it's very consenting there, but like, to to forfeit control of your body like that to somebody else is give me a little shake. So I was like, I i just i don't think I ah ah could ever do that. Yeah. yeah i It makes me think about ah two teenagers that I had in my um and my youth group. And after I left, there was a very bad incident that involved

Speaker: Uh, to technically consenting teenagers, but you know, because they're dumb as fuck, like it ends up being a really bad situation. Yeah. And their children, it ends up being a really bad situation. Um, not to unlike what could happen between region and, you know, uh, and AMP. So like.

Speaker: I'll be honest, I didn't think of anything of it while reading it. And then now that you, you know, you bring that up, I'm like, yeah. Like I, could I trust people now in that situation? Absolutely. Would I trust anybody when I was a teenager? Absolutely not. right Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker: I was much more trusting as a teenager. ah Yeah, no, I mean, I get it. imp's like i mean Imps reasoning is like, I wanted to know what it felt like. I get that. yeah I mean, it's the fact that it's... it's Yeah, the fact that it's region is the issue here. like but Yeah. because i mean He's our pal and all, but he's also a murderer and all and a rapist and a lot of other things. So that was bold move.

Speaker: Yep. Also, they are boning. like I think that's heavily implied, but also but also kind of not. like i think it's I think it's heavily implied that Taylor thinks they are, but I'm not convinced as a reader that they are.

Speaker: It feels very... ah Yeah, yeah it it's just one of those things where like, these are child characters and I'm never really comfortable talking about ah intimate relationships between yes children. children yeah um But to all that being said, a lot of the relationships sort of, it feels very much like it's ah more of a comfort than an attraction where both regions of NIMP are very similarly minded. They both feel like outcasts. They're both kind of part of the group, but also clearly not part of the group. And I think they have a lot of comfort in that with each other. yeah um You know, whether or not that is anything more, I think is, is intentionally vague.

Speaker: But yeah, it doesn't necessarily feel ah sexual in nature. I mean, physical parts aside, like I do really enjoy the camaraderie that they share as that dynamic of back and forth. And even like as Taylor's talking, the two of them like rolling their eyes and being sarcastic about, oh, well, mom's here, you know, whatever. like I really enjoy that aspect of of their relationship. And so in a way, it makes sense that imp would have been like,

Speaker: Yeah, sure. I trust you. like Why not? you know And when and you know with that being like, i what does she say? She says, with the understanding that like if you misuse the power, like I just have to wait till you're asleep and then I viscerate you. I mean, that that is true.

Speaker: Well, and it was even more was, I think it was more than that too, because, because of how Em's power works sort of in a reverse, like the second region just stops thinking about her for a moment. He he loses it because she's then she's back. So like she has a really, you have really nice fail safe sort of built in, but, uh, but yeah, still sketchy. and

Speaker: True. They kind of give me friends with benefits vibes at this point. If that makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. Like again, like you said, not necessarily sexual, but you be little no it's weird because both of them feel like they, they are just, I don't know, into casual sex, but then the two of them together feel like they are a couple of nerds playing video games. Yeah. Yeah. Right. It's a weird, I like, I like them.

Speaker: ah We are talking about children, but I like them. Yeah. Together. If that makes sense. Like it doesn't feel weird. Like I'm not a huge fan of Taylor and Brian just cause it just, it feels weird. But like if you had to group people up in the undersiders, like that's a pairing that like makes sense.

Speaker: Isn't that kind of funny how like our main protagonist's initial love interest never really feels like it works. And yet the two outsiders, it feels a lot more natural even though we get very little of their actual interactions.

Speaker: Yeah. I kind of wish we had more of it because I really do like Imp and I've always been a fan of of ah Regent. So I don't know.

Speaker: Yeah, we need another needs another interlude. Yeah, that would be nice.

Speaker: Any more thoughts on chapter three? Nope. I shall move on. Chapter four. Citrine and Taylor and Gru beat up and Citrine reveals that a court is making some new ah cauldron capes ah from hand selected people. They discuss the end of the world and then Brian and Taylor come together one last time. I swear to God I did not put that in on purpose.

Speaker: Dang, Hannah. It was a numbers. And my note, my note here is in all caps, my note is damn they boned. Also, she was like talking about them getting a little like handsy and like kissy. And she said, Brian and I straight up wrote, who the fuck is Brian? Cause I did not remember. I did not remember that Gru's name was Brian. I had completely forgotten that. And I think it just goes to show you how well - That is some hardcore goldfish brain. I mean, how well - That's some crazy war men show right there.

Speaker: yeah it's I think it has to do with how little I see Brian as like a human underneath the mask. like Regent, I can see him as the you know the the teenager underneath the the mask. ah But Brian's one of those people, like we don't see him outside the mask, and especially recently after all the trauma, like he he kind of hides himself behind his power, especially recently. So like Brian, I'm like, who's Brian? Who the fuck is... Oh, Brian! And I wrote, oh, I'm an idiot.

Speaker: For the amount of times we've said hot Brian is hot. I know, I know, but ah believe me, no one is more shocked than I. Wormentia's. The Wormentia is real strong. I'm going to get infomercial about it. Do you have the Wormentia? Yes, that's exactly what I'm talking about. yeah Exactly. Can't keep your capes and real people names straight? You're not alone.

Speaker: There's help for you. It's called rereading the damn fucking material. but godam attention Oh my God. Try reading comprehension call nine eight zero nine nine nine zero four three eight. Also, I wrote, I do not for one second believe that you had a condom tucked into that skin tight suit of yours. And if you did, I wouldn't trust it.

Speaker: and i wouldn try it first They have pockets he has a leather jacket yeah okay, but you think that Brian came prepared like You know what never mind guy did he come mean yeah but okay speaking of the Speaking of the children thing That

Speaker: that No, trust me. There's a point to this, I promise. We trust you. So when Taylor comes in, she says, sit she's like thinking to herself, right? She's like, Satrine's been keeping him company. Well, at least I hope not like that. right yeah And I'm like, excuse me. That's like a 20 something year old woman. He's like 17. Also, she says something along the lines of like, ah like She's not his type or something. And I was like, bitch, what are you talking? How the fuck? What are you, what the fuck do you mean? How do you know who Gru's type is? Can you please, like, oh my God, I don't know why. It drew drove me absolutely bonkers. Like that she goes, she's like, well, he's not really his type. I'm like, Taylor, you're not, not to not to be mean, but like Taylor, you are not all that attractive. Like, can you please calm the fuck down? Like what? It's so

Speaker: Oh my gosh. Although we once again run into the unreliable narrator thing where I think she's a bit more attractive than she thinks she is, of course. Is that what we're what we're banking on? Because i've I don't know. I think I've seen i've seen too much ah like fan art where she's just kind of like the boring chick. That sounded really mean. I didn't mean for that to sound mean. Yeah, well, no, it's fine. um I think we know what you mean, but I i don't know. I get the...

Speaker: Like that is her self description, right? And I think that everybody knows your own perception of yourself. Is off like for people who struggle with image issues in particular, like she does your self image is a lot worse than it actually is. Yeah. Um, you know, like if you could see yourself through other people's eyes to bring up an episode of a delicious and dungeon that I watched the episode where there's a bunch of mimics and it's all based on like how they see each other.

Speaker: um Which is really funny, but it's one of those things where like if you could see if she could see herself how Brian saw her. I don't know I just feel like you know even like when the construction workers catcaller she's like. It's not cuz I'm attractive or anything it's just cuz I'm wearing a dress and I'm not hideously ugly in a monster you know okay well maybe you can't call it's not like a good thing but like.

Speaker: I don't know. It just, it, it's that unreliable narrator thing for me. Yeah, yeah, definitely. Press X to doubt. Yeah, exactly. And I feel like we get a hint of that too, even with, um, if we go back to Emma's interlude where she's like, oh, she's really changed. Like you can tell she's like, like there's something different about her muscles. and yeah Yeah, exactly. That's what I'm thinking. Like obviously Emma's not looking at her from the lens of attraction, but I'm like, I don't think you're like Emma.

Speaker: looked at her and was like, Oh, wow. Look how much more confident she, you know, she looks. And that's, you know, sort of just the general thing of like, wow. You know, there just isn't confident in her appearance. She doesn't think she's pretty. Yeah. And, uh, I mean, even Emma is like, well, you know, she looks good when she, you know, basically when she feels good. Yeah. Yeah. Confidence does go a long way into attractiveness too. So.

Speaker: Chapter five, yeah so the only chapter that I actually have notes for. Yeah, it's a good chapter. ah Yeah. Okay. So, so chapter five, um, Taylor heads home in the rain, uh, and finds miss militia fleshat and Parian, uh, waiting for her.

Speaker: Miss militia apologizes they discuss tattletales portal and then make a truce for moving forward ah Regarding the PRT and the capes and the villains of Brockton Bay a Good fucking chapter for sure. There's a good chapter I really liked the conversation between ah Miss Militia and Taylor here. For the first time, it kind of humanized Miss Militia for me. i've i haven't I'm not really a fan of her character too much, just mostly because she doesn't do a whole lot in the story. um But here it really felt like she is

Speaker: essentially just a cog in the machine. And she is doing her best to do her best and recognizes that she's on the wrong side sometimes, but like her hands are tied. She can't really do anything. It was just a, it was a good little moment for her. I liked a little bit of growth we got for her character. I mean, I mean, since her, her interlude, I've really been interested in Miss militia and this did feel like,

Speaker: an appropriate move for her, right? For her to be the one to say, like, and, you know, this is the connection back to before the echidna fight where, uh, miss militia weld and Taylor had a conversation. And so it does, excuse me, I had to smack myself in the face of my microphone. Um, anyways, it feels like a full circle moment for them and their little interactions, which I like. Yeah. Alan, you had notes.

Speaker: Oh, I've got so many notes. Uh, miss militia is your best bet. Uh, it's just one of them. So like go with her, I guess. and Okay. Backing all the way up to the people who are trapped in the distortion field. Oh, ah right. Fuck use the distortion grenade. Like we know we've talked, I mean, we've talked about breaking up out the Bakata arsenal every now and then.

Speaker: But like, who the fuck threw that right in the middle of like three of their guys? Probably some dumb PRT officer named Burke or something. I was going to say, was it, was it kid win? God damn it, kid win. Just fumble, like pulls the pin, fumbles the grenade, and then like chucks it like two feet in front of him, right into the back of his teammates. It's so macabre too, that it's just there. Like you can see them.

Speaker: Like, it's cloudy and it's not super crystal clear, but they're there. You can make out the shapes. And that's sick, to be honest. They're gonna be there. There's some horrifying imagery in this series. Yeah. God.

Speaker: Not on topic at all, but you said you threw it into the back of his teammates and made me think of a story when I was young. I went paintballing and we were both, me and my teammate were right behind like this car. And, uh, yeah, his, his, he accidentally shot me like right in the butt at a point blank. And so um share that story. Thank you. Thank you. Did you have a welt on your butt then?

Speaker: It hurt. I don't remember, but it was very surprising and upsetting and I really wanted to shoot him back. and you You didn't, you didn't shoot him back? No, I was nicer then. yeah You're, you're a better man than I.

Speaker: I believe that it was an accident, which I don't know if it really was, but anyways. grenade to the friends. Yeah. the friends Yeah. Also the quote when Taylor leaves, uh, you guys, uh, like you guys just greased the wheels, I suppose. Like actually take, you know, levels of personal responsibility while also recognizing that, you know, other people suck. Like it's not your fault. I did make these decisions, but

Speaker: You guys were not helpful in the slightest.

Speaker: Yeah. Tell it like it is. Uh, let's see. Uh, finally a real division between the PRT and heroes. This was something big in the story that I have not really felt. Um, but to me, PRT and, uh, capes, like the hero capes, basically synonymous, like Yeah. When you say the PRT, the organization under which the heroes and the wards fall under and wards are just junior division. Right. But I guess the truth is it's the protectorate and the wards both fall under the jurisdiction and like ownership ah by the PRT.

Speaker: And this is the first time we've seen, and you know, once again, this is all just how it's felt in the story. This feels like the first time there's finally a division between the non -powered PRT as it were, and the people who have powers that are keeps working for them. Yeah, I agree.

Speaker: and It is nice to see that yeah it's nice to see. I don't know getting into the complexity of the organization which we haven't really done but realizing okay there's different groups different divisions. Protectorate PRT. Yeah just the differences between those is really interesting. ah Which is why again it was such a big deal of like oh the head of the PRT has to be a non powered person.

Speaker: Turns out it was Alexandria and that just feels like a betrayal of the whole setup of the system. This idea that non -powered humans have power over heroes. It was all just kind of a farce. Yeah. yeah Because isn't isn't the whole idea of having, yeah of it basically like, well, we don't want capes in the position of power because they could so easily ah use and abuse the power to manipulate the system, and manipulate the way that you know we we function and we work and stuff. And then like, I mean, isn't that the whole idea that like, you already have so much power. We don't want you also running the show. Like someone has to be over you. And then like, egg is it the top of the food chain? Well, it's Alexandria. God damn it.

Speaker: Of course it is. Um, uh, I mean a good convo between them, Flechette and Miss militia, but, uh, Flechette being like, wah, wah, wah, complaining and then Taylor giving some sound advice because like, yeah, if anybody knows it's me.

Speaker: True. I did like that conversation or that part of it rather. kind Yeah. Um, finally being given the benefit of the doubt, just give it to me literally one time. Hmm. Well, I stand by every time we dealt with the slaughterhouse nine and then a kidney like Taylor skitter specifically, but the undersiders in general have come to the PRT have come to miss militia of all people multiple times to be like, yo, this is what's up.

Speaker: And they're like, no, every time. So like, just, she's just like begging them one time, just give me this one time where you will just give me the benefit of the doubt. I'm not even asking you to like go and, you know, do anything major. Just give me the benefit of the doubt one time. That's all I ever needed. And, you know,

Speaker: This feels like it's going to work. Finally. Um,

Speaker: um finally and then yeah, it's finally happened. And then last but not least, uh, what the fuck does accord even do? was He does his best. Okay. ah Like van he does his best, but I like, I can't imagine him doing anything more criminal than holding like.

Speaker: fundraising galas.

Speaker: and Like that's what I imagined his criminal, like, cause you know, every place he goes to, he's getting a really nice house. He's decorating it with like a minimalist, but super tasteful art. Everything is perfectly in its place. You've got all of the people that work for him are literally in their like cool masks. It's, you know, it's artsy, but.

Speaker: super elegant and yeah, you know it's it's rich Bond villain vibes with super OCD. What is he doing there other than hosting Gollis for people to come over and like donate money to him? And you know just wander around at a cocktail party. like There's nothing else that I can see him doing. He's a planner.

Speaker: but What? Can you see him like planning a drug deal? ah Drugs are so gauche. Exactly. Yeah. So like what is he selling? Guns?

Speaker: My head cannon is that he works as a consultant for other criminal gangs. So gangs say, you know, they're trying to do this. They want to rule that they want to steal this. They want to, you know, whatever the case may be. I want to steal the Mona Lisa and they hire a court. ah those steal dumb i You know what? Honestly, that I like that. yeah I mean, if he's just selling plans for stuff. Yeah.

Speaker: Well, I like that. He just hands you in a double thick binder. Yeah. Because I like that in his interlude that we got ah last arc, where he's solved everything. just He also realized that it's not going to matter because nobody's going to actually implement any of it. No. So it's like the most depressing power of all time.

Speaker: you know it It literally is. He basically is the Grinch. Jim Carrey is live action Grinch. He's got his own little, his his hideout where he just broods all day. Solve world hunger. No one. one or Or give everyone a binder and no one's going to read it. Yeah. Well, that was, that was why he left the PRT because I mean, we're kind of going back to that arc. I think we talked about this already, but the whole like, it's like, Hey, I can actually make this whole system work better. And the PRT just said, nah, can you do some more Excel spreadsheets for us though? Thanks.

Speaker: that yeah Like, if that's anybody's villain origin story, most relatable, honestly. Yes, exactly. He is the millennials, but it's me at every camp I ever worked at, like, all right, here's my list of things that would improve everybody's lives. Let's see if we can get any of them, you know, to pass. Approved, yeah. Oh, no.

Speaker: Hey, thanks so much. Can you go ah pick up the extra soccer balls off the pitch? Yeah. Yeah. You just have such a servant's heart. What a giver.

Speaker: It's just being cog blocked by the church. yeah what i wouldn't deserve for but Servant leader. Just sitting in the copy room, just like stupid PRT. Just listen to my good ideas. Make him do copies all day. Yep. Relatable. Where did we get onto a Gordon? I don't know about what the fuck does he do? Oh, like he's a villain. We know that, but we don't know how.

Speaker: in In the conversation with Miss militia, they they do mention that like, oh, when you're working with a cord, like, as long as you can keep a cord on a short leash, like we won't have a problem. And she's like, i worry we god what is it? The only thing I can imagine him being a villain, like that makes him villainous is that he accidentally kills people. Like I say accidentally, like he does it, but like he gets really pissy at somebody and has them killed. Like that's why people are after him. Otherwise, if they could just,

Speaker: keep people away from him and just, you know, I think he would be fine.

Speaker: Eventually. I like Jacob's head cannon though. That's good. Yeah. No, that was pretty fun. It's like the bank heist went wrong.

Speaker: Uh, did you follow the binder I gave you? Yeah. Yeah. We did everything, including the subsection about where like you had to wear this bright colored outfit and they were like, yeah. Well, we thought that was optional. None of it was optional.

Speaker: I love it. No refunds. No refunds. Uh, non -refundable deposit. It's your fault. yeah

Speaker: yeah that's it That's why that's why he could never get that's why he like that would plan would never work as a business model because everybody would keep fucking up and then blame him and he's like, look, I don't know how to tell you this. Follow it to the letter. It will work. Stop making deviations. Is that why they just hired the Accord team?

Speaker: like Like we talked about maybe he just makes plans for people. like well what if he just Instead of being like, oh yes, here's a three ring binder of how to steal the Mona Lisa. He's like, yes, you pay us a lot of money and we handle it for you. That makes a lot more sense. we could do it well do it right true It's gonna cost you a lot more. Also, much like somebody else we'll meet later in this section, um I got a good sense that Accords probably a great investor.

Speaker: yeah yeah like He probably doesn't even need to turn to a life of crime to make a lot of money. He just saw it as the faster way to achieve his goals. Well, that's what I'm saying. i don't think like I don't think he does the crime. I think the crime is that he just gets really fed up with some dude on the street and is like, Citrine, murder.

Speaker: man Otherwise, he you like he it literally is like, I've made a lot of money in the stock markets, which just you know I used to be on the lookout for. That was my job, was looking for stock manipulation. And then this.

Speaker: Also, we have yet to have a court actually kill somebody. like We know that that they turned over Cody or whatever his name is to a court, but we never actually saw that happen. And he threatens a lot that he's gonna just like murder somebody off the just because. like it didn't Like I could have mirrored you right here and it's like, okay, well you didn't send, we're all still standing. And like at one point he said, during his interlude, he's like, and I could have pushed the train down the stairs, but he doesn't. It's like, I actually really want to see him just like murder somebody. I would like that very much. It's an interesting point Alan brings up. 21 .6.

Speaker: 1 .6. We get into a fight now after some some kind of lower chill moments. we do We had the fight earlier, but I didn't even think of that as a fight. It was over so quickly. ah In this one, the Undersiders and the Ambassadors take out the teeth, which is very interesting. And Cherish makes a nod appearance, but ah brings down the Butcher.

Speaker: which seems like a really bad idea, but okay. And Taylor spent some time with Bitch in her territory with her doggos and her minions. The digging dogs. First she takes out the eye, then the teeth. Yep. um okay Eyes and teeth. My vote for creepiest power of like the last five arcs, including Echidna,

Speaker: is to, I forget his name now, who can machine gun out dumb bodies of himself. oh yeah Spree, three that's right. It's just horrifyingly creepy. And I loved every second of ah them trying to deal with him. And also that's my, that's my Gilbert Gottfried fan cast.

Speaker: That's just layering the voice over and over again. Oh my gosh. It's all them yelling as they're running. I love too that they get dumber the for like the longer they exist. They're just like, ah like they run out and skitters, like some of them have guns, but by the time they get to us, they're not smart enough to use them. God dang. What an unfortunate power. So close to being useful.

Speaker: Yeah, it's like almost.

Speaker: All right, next section. Oh, we'll touch briefly on ah on Cherish killing Butcher because that was a pretty fun moment. I was trying to remember because I remember that catching me off guard when I first read it and was waiting for it this time and it still kind of caught me off guard.

Speaker: It's because they get to the, the, the area. Like I remember them like somehow luring her out in and a boat or something, but no, they just kind of get her near the beach and you're like, well, they get her up to the beach. Yeah. Yeah. I thought she was further out, but you know, isn't she like under a buoy? Yeah. like They have her, they have her marked. Like they know where she is.

Speaker: And she has like a frame of, not a frame of reference. She has like a circle of influence. Yeah. Like they get to the very edge of it. Yeah. Yeah. Which is, I kind of totally forgot. I was like, why are they going to this place until the moment it happened? I had no fucking clue. And I was just like, what the heck is happening? And then region explained it. And I was like, yeah, we got to get in the water somehow. Like how are, when are we going to get there? And then she dies. I'm like, Oh, oh.

Speaker: well she like she does it and i'm like well are we what are we doing and then i remembered and i was like they're they're not using cherish like that that would be so stupid of them to use cherish and to give more powers to cherish and and then there there it was and i was like all i could think of was like this is gonna come back and bite us in the ass later like i know i like i don't remember But I know for ah for a non -fact that that that this is going to come back and bite us. Like it has to. like How can it not come back and bite us in the ass? because like

Speaker: but ah because ah ah Yeah, it's what it does. One of those things where it's like a butcher felt she's ah very strong, very strong enemy, but definitely felt beatable compared to what they fought. And it's like you, you opted for maybe the worst solution here. Like if you wanted her dead, I feel like there was better ways to do that. Right, right.

Speaker: Well, and it it's not just because they need her dead, right? It's because of the way the butcher powers work, whoever kills her inherent powers. So they can't have just, you know, they don't want a higher coil sniper to shoot her because then he's the butcher as good as that would be and as easy as it would be for him to do it, right? um Like we've joked about. oh was there danger said Yeah, it's true. She doesn't have the danger sense. Would have been difficult. Yeah. So they needed to kill her or remove her from the city, which, you know, no way to do that probably besides kill her. And they needed someone to kill her who they didn't really care about. Yeah. Cherish. True. That's true. No, it makes sense. It makes sense. Yeah. It just sucks. Cherish. I forgot about the whole whoever kills her gets her powers. That may makes it more complicated, but yes, it makes sense. Man.

Speaker: Butcher feels like ah like a s SPC a story. Yeah. If you guys ever read those, it's just like, yeah how do you deal with this? A lot of fun. Yeah. and And to be fair, the point you guys brought up though, um you guys are all in a accord with accord because he brings up the same point of like, that was real dumb. yeah Yeah. That was a choice that you made and was not wise perhaps.

Speaker: ah Maybe a chord was happy. Oh, oh boy, new problems to solve. Let's get to work. Terrible in a relationship.

Speaker: Just creating drama so he has more problems to solve. Pretty much. And that's the thing, because don't the problems have to be more complex for him? Like, the more complex they are, the easier the solution. Yeah, like, the quicker he can solve it. How can I get my coworker to invite my wife into a three -way so that I can catch them in just at the right time?

Speaker: Then I'll have divorce settlement paperwork to work through, and that's fabulous. that's fabulous That's a Sunday afternoon.

Speaker: I was thinking more of it in the context of like, you know, where the wife's like. I don't need you to fix my problems. I just need you to listen. Like a court would be like, well, if Janet keeps stealing your lunch at work, well, then you shouldn't. She's like, no, I just need you to listen to sympathize with me about Janet. She's like, don't fix them. me He's like, I literally can't not fix them, honey. We could kill Janet. And she's like, no.

Speaker: But hear me out, sweetie. Hear me out. Hear me out. We poison Janet slowly. You know how easy would be? It's so easy to make these things look like accidents, honey. Sorry. ah Oh, man. Any who? Shall we move on or are we still... I mean, there's a lot that happens in this chapter. I don't want to talk about the powers that we see, right? So we talked about Spree, we talked about Butcher. um Who are the other ones? I'm trying to remember what they do.

Speaker: um There's one that has like a minor, uh, blood bending. Yeah. yeah and somebody she eight She is one of the new ones, um, that accord has just added the blood bending. Right. I thought, no, I think the blood was, uh, oh, is she in the teeth? Yeah. I'm not going to lie with all the names. I i got a little confused a couple of times. Like what side we're on. There's also the one that creates essentially the fiberglass.

Speaker: splinters of like shields and thin air, like can fill an area with very tiny. Yeah. Uh, VEX. VEX. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That was the air with just what I assume is literally like, if you were ever fallen in fiberglass as a kid, you know, like insulation and the attic, it's just like walking through that.

Speaker: for an entire area. Yeah. So yeah. So the other members are, so there's butcher 14 Animos can transform into a four legged creature, just a bit smaller than bitches dogs. And while he's in that form, he has a screen that temporarily nullifies powers. Right. So I remember that because they talk about, they talk about having to take him out quickly because they couldn't like, they had to take him out from long range before he could affect them.

Speaker: I thought that and he he tries to take out one of the dogs at one point and they're like, well, it's actually not the dog's power. It's bitch's power. So it doesn't work. Yeah, exactly. Um, right and then yeah, VEX has the tiny razor sharp force fields with collective cumulative resistance. The one, um, the one that I i liked though was a hemorrhage. Yeah. This isn't a power moment, but when Taylor hemorrhage hemorrhage. hemorrate hemorrhagia Hemorrhagia. Hemorrhagia. Like Hemorrhage? Hemorrhagia. Okay. Whatever her name is. Hemi. Hemi. I do like, it's just this little personal moment where like she's made chili for everybody and then the bugs are crawling in and she puts the lid on the pot and just like, hell no, not my chili.

Speaker: yeah Taylor has a good reason for two. She's like, you, you get, you, it's all, it's the little things. It's the little things that add up to be like moral, morale killers, basically. It's the little things that make it special like chili after a good day's work. I felt so bad. Not my goddamn chili. There's nothing worth spending all this time and effort on food and then it getting completely just destroyed.

Speaker: Aw, that kind of sucks. Yeah, it was just a fun little personal moment. And then who was it? Uh, Vex, who's like on the toilet and is like, or Spreer Vex, whichever one of them it is. And they're like bumbling with their pants trying to, no, no, no. They gotta make the decision about which articles of clothing you're grabbing. Yeah. Yeah. The bug's like dragging away this piece of art. He like looks back. He, she, I can't remember who it is. Looks back like logging late. The one piece of armor like, damn it. I really liked that armband and like, man has to keep running.

Speaker: It's just a funny, it's just like those funny little things. I also wanted to talk about though, the new heroes that, um, that a Accord has acquired. Yeah. Uh, say that five times fast. Accord has acquired. Yeah. Heroes. We'll put that in a heavy court. Heroes. i Did I say heroes? I mean, I mean, like his powers. yeah Um, I thought they were interesting. So, um, one of them dies. Codex. What was Codex's power?

Speaker: Who cares? That's what it is. What did they do? It was interesting. It was interesting was interesting how they died. Yeah, I mean, she got shot through the neck. The ultimate compound bow through the neck. Also, we can straight up D a &D. This is like whatever the Titan bow or the old composite bow from 3 .5 where you can put your deck modifier into the damage except Butcher's Dex modifier is like plus 20. Yeah. gee That was really cool. And never misses. Always true strike. Yeah. So yeah. So she was a blaster thinker hybrid. and She can strike anyone within its area of effect with permanent brain damage and memory loss. Memory loss. Yeah. yeah In exchange for granting her a temporary boost of power. So kind of interesting. Uh, yes, we have her, we have, uh, legit lizard tail and Jack light.

Speaker: So kind of some interesting, and then we get to see Citrine's power as well, which is really cool. I've just sort of the nullifying zone where she can kind of determine and reshape reality to fit what she needs it to be. Yeah, that was cool.

Speaker: Yeah, I loved i loved because Satrine and Othello are the two ambassadors who survive the nine's attack on and on ah on um the ambassadors. And in the back of my mind, when you're reading that, you're like, oh, that's kind of cool. like Already, that's some good world building because you're like,

Speaker: What do they do? you know how did they How did they survive the night? A fellow hit in the other world. That's how he did. yeah let's do yeah i mean Hey, don't lock my boy, Othello. I love him. but like But it was cool getting to finally see them in action a little bit and just sort of getting a taste of how they operate. It's kind of neat. Oh, yeah. Yeah, definitely. I did like Othello was basically like Taylor looks over and he's just standing in the back with his hands in his pockets. She's like, he's doing something. Something. What is he up to?

Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. So some cool powers. Jack lights got his little lights that. God, what do they do? They do dumb things. They Jack. They Jack like nope just lightly though. um

Speaker: That's a space warping thing, right? So it's a space warping thing. It's kind of cool. um You've got lizard tail who's got like healing powers. ah he it has more It's like healing, but it's also like an or like a heal aura thing too. like Because you can heal yeah people around him as well. yeah And then Ligia has the water bending basically.

Speaker: yeah so i just got You would think like that of all those people... Lizard Tail feels like the name that is... Like Lizard Tail and Jack Light, to be honest.

Speaker: Do not feel like names that a court picked out, right? They feel beneath them in terms of their crudity. And I feel like given, you know, codex, Lydia, you know, like she would have sprung for something in like Greek, you know, and, yeah and he went with lizard tail.

Speaker: Did he get, did he pick their names or did they get to pick their own names? Like he's paid for their powers. I was going to say, I mean, I think he lets them pick their outfits and their names. Oh, not their outfits, but he 100 % dresses them.

Speaker: Well, I was gonna say, we know for a fact he does. that's one of his like its said It's not like we don't think it's an actual cape power. He's just really good at it. But he designs all of their costumes and hand makes them. So we we know he dresses them. His team looks the way he wants them to.

Speaker: And their masks are super freaking cool too, because I i forgot about that until this arc again. But his mask is like a bunch of it's like metal, but it's all it all blinks and moves with him. So like when he closes his eyes, the mask shutters closed, and when he opens them, they open back up. So like that's super cool that he also makes them all himself. It's very impressive. yeah Yeah, you know what it honestly was probably, Alan? Panacea was taken already.

Speaker: So it's like, all right, well, what there are regenerates. There's other does feel like a placeholder name, honestly. Yeah. And I mean, am I stupid that I just now got the lizard tail thing that lizard's tails grow back? You said regenerate and I was like, Oh, that's right. Yeah.

Speaker: Like, like on top of that. Okay. It's lizard tail, but lizard tail feels like it's something that an individual might have. Like, what's your ability? Oh, I can just, you know, you cut off my limbs. I regenerate them. Okay. Lizard tail. It's still crude, but feels more fitting to the name, but to have an aura of regeneration feels like it should be cooler name. Like panacea, you know, would also be an appropriate name for that, but you know,

Speaker: something medical or here's like sanctuary, some some name that involves a place maybe. When he's got this Celtic knot mask, that sounds really cool. So cool. Oh my God. So cool. I don't know. Yeah. I think you're right. Is he just feeling in that style that day? Like he was like, Hmm, I'm feeling old. You know, i you know, some of these I've gone more modern. I've gotten more chic.

Speaker: This, I'm thinking ancient. We're going ancient. I'm thinking leather, tattoos.

Speaker: Yeah, I don't know. I mean, maybe. I give him a name like Grendel or something. I don't know. Something mythological. Oh, gross. Not Grendel, Alan. Grendel, not Grendel. I know what you said. I still think Grendel is gross. Oh, I mean, he is, yeah.

Speaker: Listen, and sometimes the inspiration - Correct me on my mythology. I'm sorry, you reacted so violently. I was like, uh, okay. Wonderful. Sometimes the inspiration just leaves you. Tolkien created an entire language and then assigned names for characters based on language variants within his imaginary language and then named the tree with the beard, tree beard. So sometimes sometimes you just just got to move on.

Speaker: it not He just, that was the placeholder name and he had to do the, forgot to do the ah control fine. Control F. place yeah so I imagine maybe that's the same. Jacklight, I kind of get because it, it feels like a will of the wisp thing, but easier to say than will of the wisp, right? Um, yeah so I kind of get that one, but yeah, lizard tail does feel a little like at a place. I agree. It's funny.

Speaker: Yeah. I imagine like, look up any Greek, like, I imagine that there is a Greek healing temple that was probably mostly just taking bath salts, but like, how is one of those not his name? You know, ah I mean, labyrinth, something like labyrinth sanctuary, you know, in that vibe of like, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker: We get it. Yeah. ah so do i have to i have to I have to say it because they're already typing. Yes, I know treebeard is just the name the common folk give him. It's not his actual name. And i read and I'm going to fight back with that. He still decided to name the trolls and the hobbit, William Burt. And I forget the third one. So my point still stands.

Speaker: And also, Nick also knows that there probably wasn't a control F back then when he was writing it. So he we also know that. Yes, that was a Jake Michael. yeah it was i know i'm just know you gotta get you yeah They were already typing. You got to get ahead of it. Just in case. Got to cover our bases. Exactly. We have our mentor, but we we know, we we yeah we know things. Exactly. Some things.

Speaker: All right. Are we on to chapter seven? Yes. So, uh, the final, the final, uh, chapter chapter seven, Taylor visits tattletales layer. Uh, and they, they have a quick talk. Lisa tells her to give them hell and Taylor heads off to the PRT and surrenders. Damn. Yeah. Hmm.

Speaker: I like this chapter a lot.

Speaker: it's I like it that it gives us such a great insight into Tattletail's lair, which I feel like we really... Or her thought process as well, which I feel like we really haven't gotten to seen all that see all that much. um So I really do like that a lot. ah And so kind of seeing it through Taylor's eyes as well is really interesting. I like how their friendship is developed and you can kind of see how far it's gotten to where no words are really spoken at the end, but both know that the other one knows, you know, like it's sort of glued in there with the whole like give them hell at the end. Like, um,

Speaker: it's It's just a really subtle, well, not that subtle, but in universe, it's subtle communication between them that ah it says so much. It's a great little little moment. Although I don't want to gloss over that There's a time traveling Cape, canonically and worm. Yeah. Just want to point that out. ah fuck I did not remember that. And maybe I have no memory if they ever show up again. Truly, I completely forget. But I do like the thought that there is a Cape that is capable of time travel. Just casually throwing that out there. we we we Back up. What, what are we talking about? today well he's Going through the Cape stuff on the all the, all the boards. There's a Cape that came time travel.

Speaker: Yeah. Just noting all of all of Lisa's notes. She's like going through lists and she just grabs one group, yada, yada, led by, I forget the Cape's name, led by so -and -so capable of time travel. Oh, it's not Haven. ah Yeah. Yeah. No, there's the, the watchdogs. so No, no. And it's like a, it's a, it's a simple little, I'm going to look it up again, but she even has the thought, which, which was I will a hundred percent throw a billion dollars behind. This was just wild bow. Just writing, not in character. Just like we're, cause Taylor's like, I don't even want to think about how complex that could get. and like just on That was wild. That was a wild bow. Just saying we're not, we're not going to get into it. It just exists. Accept it.

Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Time travel. Yeah. Getting flirted with by your mother. It's a good time. Well, ah okay. All right. let's start get ahead of Jacob, you said you wanted back to the future. I did, but I want to be doc. Um, yeah. I want, I want the time traveling dog.

Speaker: Not the mom. Just to confirm. I mean, the mom doesn't time travel. Just just to confirm. just So no, mom. Just, you know, just double check.

Speaker: ah So are we are we we feeling good about moving on? How are we feeling? I have been feeling about. We got two interludes and I'm not going to lie, I'm I'm saying I have no notes for the past three chapters. It's a chill. It's a chill arc.

Speaker: Yeah. It's been very just like, okay, stuff happened. Yeah. Like it's a big deal story wise, but it just kind of, yeah, I don't know. It doesn't, doesn't hit like some of the other ones where you're like, Oh yeah, this is the stuff. I have a lot of things to say, you know? Yeah, exactly. Number man. Any thoughts on old number man?

Speaker: Yep. Uh, the next interlude is the number man. Uh, we get a little bit of his life and a little look into Cauldron. Um, he prevents an escape, looks at an old costume and thinks back on an old friend. This bastard. That's my note for the whole chapter.

Speaker: Cool power. Uh,

Speaker: Definitely an unexpected application of a power, I would say.

Speaker: Like you, you, you hear the name, the number man, and you're like, all right, nerd, you know, speaking of people who like go do some Excel sheets, um but his application, first we see him just absolutely wrecking groups with the touch of a button, right? Like that's this whole thing. And she's like, Hmm, this group's gathering funds. They're being problematic. I'll slow them down.

Speaker: Click, click. Okay. They're slowed down for probably two weeks at least. If not longer, you know, it's like, Oh, that was, yeah. So just the way he's able to, and the fact, okay. The fact that Cauldron has access to all of this stuff. Like he on his little computer, wherever he is in some universe, some alternative earth has access to like every bank in the world. What the hell Cauldron? Yeah, they crazy.

Speaker: Like maybe, maybe I was rushing over this or maybe it's just foggy in my memory, but like the implication I got from all this like fun stuff was not that they were directly linking into the banks and maybe I'm wrong, but that he is really, really good at manipulating. Like, you know, just generally like stocks and funds and where things go. And because he's really good with those numbers, he can slow down. Oh my gosh. Like.

Speaker: There's money going in here. I can cut off their revenue stream by selling this and doing that. That's the implication I got. I don't know. It felt like he had a direct touch to some bank accounts. Yeah. Cause he was putting stuff in and then like leaving it just enough for people to like notice and then like would shift it again.

Speaker: and probably little like he would He would make transactions in in the names of the groups he was messing with. I mean, the other thing we know is that almost everybody uses the number man. So maybe he just has direct access because everybody uses the number man as their account manager. yeah He doesn't like you. he doesn't and like He doesn't openly like, Oh, let me fuck you up. Like it's just, you know, you're not making money as fast as you were a second ago.

Speaker: But I do also love the application of his his powers in his fight as well with, to be fair, what also sounded like kind of a cool Cape power. Um, this guy who's been, he's been distorted, like his bodies in multiple different universes at the same time, but he can generate like massive attacks where basically it's him. He has a super strength and he can punch in like every area in a certain area because it's like,

Speaker: Every version of him is punching in a different like part of the world. It is a very weird power, but it's very cool idea. I mean, it sucks that he had to die, but you know, number man's got a number. Yeah. Can't stop the numbers. Nope. The numbers just keep coming. And I do, I do love his like, see the matrix kind of thing, you know, where he's like, yeah, I can calculate your exact move. I know exactly where you'll hit right now.

Speaker: It's pretty cool. I mean, I'm i'm not gonna lie. It's pretty cool. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It is. It is a power. I have written many stories as a child about yeah essentially just ah an assassin hooked up to a supercomputer so that, that you know, he does all the math to, you know, avoid things and do other stuff. Nice. It's cool. Yeah. Um, he's being switched out for Contessa.

Speaker: Contessa's coming in, he's going out. We also see he was Harbinger, he was a member of the Nine. Oh yeah, and that was a whole - And the OG. Yeah, he was one of the OG's, helped ah Jacob, helped Jacob kill - Classic villain. A classic Jacob move. Dammit. No, his name needed to be Alan, come on, we had this. It was right there. Also, thank you. No, he saves the cool villain names for people like Jacob, apparently.

Speaker: We do also get another name drop with Grey boy. Oh, we did. Yeah. Yeah. I know that Grey boy is important, but I don't remember ah why. Yeah. Like he said, like clearly there's a lot of animosity there, but like, I don't remember why. Like I know I should, but I don't. I'm upset.

Speaker: No spoilers,

Speaker: no no spoilers but I think the implication is that Greyboy, at least in in the past and with this, he's been, he's as powerful as Siberian kind of level. Oh. um Yeah. Like he's, he is, if I remember right, and this isn't a spoiler, I don't think, but he's in a list of the like,

Speaker: most absurdly dangerous pair of humans of all time with Siberian. Yeah, he's definitely, he's an he's an S -class threat in it of himself. Pretty much, yeah. Yeah. So yeah, yeah. Interesting character though, he gets dropped name dropped again. um I do think it was interesting they were talking about like, I really wish we could have used Siberian against the the end bringers to see like what effect that would have. Could the end bringers have affected Siberian, but sadly,

Speaker: Manton was cuckoo. Yeah. What a bummer. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was, it was just kind of like a, it felt kind of like a lore dump in, but in the best way, yeah right? i will And those are honestly, some of my favorite interludes are just the Lord dumps, like like not nice little breaks from the main story. It's some world building move on. Yeah, exactly. And we get some more. We get another little one with, uh, with period next.

Speaker: Yeah, so the the last interlude of Arc 21 is Parian's. We get a little bit of information about her background, her early life, the nature of her powers, and then the Undersiders meet up to discuss Skitter Surrender, Accord shows up, and then Parian takes Lachett on as her lieutenant. We have a little switcheroo there.

Speaker: Parian's a fun character. I kind of wish like we, the story allowed us, like it's so packed as it is, but she's one of those characters that I do wish we had more of up to this point. yeah Like she's in the story a bit, but she's a neat character.

Speaker: Yeah, I like her a lot. I think her power is really cool. And I like that she's she's like so uncertain about being with the undersiders and she has to take... like she She doesn't really know what she what she wants to do. And like we see that even more here in this interlude where you know she she was... on a path and she left the path and she started something else and she was doing fashion design and it's just like she hasn't been able to like find the the the space where she feels comfortable yet. like She's still trying to figure it out. And I like that. I like that she doesn't know what she's supposed to do.

Speaker: yeah Power is really interesting too and she even like recognizes she's like I feel like I have this affinity for cloth and light material but I feel like that's not what my power was really for so she even has this awareness of like. I'm using this but I don't really feel like I'm using this right like she's not really yeah enjoying the full extent of what her powers could do which I think is a really interesting bit of.

Speaker: self -awareness, I feel like a lot of people probably get their powers and just assume, well, this must be all there is to it. Like skitter with bugs or bitch with dogs, but like, has bitch tried to use her power on a person? She tried to use it on like a cat, you know, like, like other life -forms? Has Perian tried to use her powers on other things? You know, and skitter even mentions like she can control crabs, but she doesn't really, you know, she's not crab girl.

Speaker: That's a totally different story. Yeah. Yeah. ah You know, that's, that's a great alternate universe worm fan fiction, right? Have, ah have Skidder become What would it be? Mollus, maybe, instead of Skitter of the Claw? I know already for a fact that there is a crab fanfiction of Taylor. Really? That's awesome. Good for you, random internet person who wrote that. So don't good for me as if it's my fault. No, no, no. Good for you, random internet person, I meant. Yeah, for writing it. Not you, Alan, for having read it. Not you for telling us about it. Unless you did write it. You did nothing, you useless son of a...

Speaker: ah Would you love me if I were a worm? No, but maybe if you were a crab. God damn it. Brian. Brian, no. Oh my God. Anyways. Yeah. Yeah. i I hate to see the that that talk with the undersiders as they're all like coming to terms with the fact of what Skidder just did. Like ah she just turned herself in and, uh,

Speaker: Yeah, they it that that conversation with all of them sitting around together is really, really kills me. And this is the part where Hannah is going to cry. ah the when When Bitch shows up,

Speaker: And she's she's so sure that Taylor has a plan. And she's so sure that she's going to come back. And there's like this this blind trust and faith that Taylor... Well, Taylor's smarter than me. like she's I've never understood her plans. This is just another plan, right? like This is just another...

Speaker: thing that Taylor's doing and she'll be back by the end of the, like don't even worry about it. Like she's so, she's so like faithful and true and loyal and like the, it gives me

Speaker: It gives me like that that like terrible image of like a dog that's like sitting at its owner's grave, like just waiting. like Of course you'll come back. You always come back. like you always like i I trust you, and of course you're gonna not leave me here. That was the vibe that I got with this whole section of like Bitch has come so far with her relationship with Taylor and and now Taylor has left and she is You know, whatever her her reasoning might be and I have no I don't remember what happens in the next arc I have no idea if Taylor has a plan or not but like from where we are now like

Speaker: It sounds like like Taylor's turned herself in because she thinks that this is the the bed, the best way to to go about saving the city and saving her friends. And and Rachel's just sitting there like it's fine. Taylor will be back like she always comes back, you know, and that bet that fucked me up reading that bit. I'm just it's just it makes me sad.

Speaker: Yeah. And it just means that when Taylor doesn't come back, it's just going to be all the more painful for bitch to trust people again, you know? Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker: Yeah. Now that was a, that was ah one of those hard moments where you're like the amount, you know, the, and this is really an interesting sort of full circle from their story, right? from Yeah.

Speaker: bitch not trusting Taylor fighting her the first time they meet Taylor earning her trust. Then bitches feelings of betrayal tries to betray Taylor. They, you know, Taylor kind of alphas her. And then they have such an understanding where even in this arc we see Taylor says, can I borrow a dog? Yeah. And bitch just says, you going to take care of it? And she's like, of course I'll do this, this, and this. And she's like, okay, go for it. And just that,

Speaker: That deep trust is just, yeah, is very much, you know, you could, you could feel that. And I think Parian, Parian's a great perspective character from this, right? To be like, you know, it's like, it's like if something really bad happens to a friend's family while you're over at their house, but you don't know them that well. Like when you were a kid, that's not ever happened to me, but you're just like,

Speaker: I don't feel like I should be watching this. Like I don't feel like I should be here right now. Like I'm intruding somehow. Yeah. and i Yeah. And I think that that, that awkward feeling of intrusion is perfect for what, what Wild Bill is trying to achieve. I will say we do know a little bit about why Taylor left. Um, and it's because of the note from Dinah yeah basically saying cut ties. I'm sorry. Implying.

Speaker: Somehow from Dinah's perspective, she knows that if Taylor stays with the undersiders, it won't be good in the long run. We don't know what that means, but we do know that that's what she's trying to do. Yeah. And it's not like you can explain that to somebody and be like, well, I got to cut ties with you guys because, because a preprocess so because because if you tell her, then it's like, well, you're not really cutting ties. Then you're.

Speaker: explaining just why you're not seeing them anymore. You know, like in a way cutting ties implies you have to hurt them to an extent. And that's. ah Yeah. Yeah. Hmm. Art stuff. Bitch is just waiting for her to come home and she won't. And it just.

Speaker: It's a good chapter.

Speaker: Also, Perrien kisses Flechette. Yeah, that was sweet. That was very sweet. I love it that it was the capstone to her conversation basically being like, i'm i'm not I'm not making ties or making promises. She's like, cool, it's fine. I'll just be your lieutenant. She's like, cool, seals it with a kiss. like ah da Makes messages when all right.

Speaker: Yeah, but it's an interesting power dynamic, right? Cause Perry and his whole thing is like, I don't want you to feel like you own me or like you deserve me or anything like that. Right. Yeah. And you know, and then she's like, no, no, no, fine. I'll be subordinate to you. And you know, I just realized that's a, it's like a sub Dom thing almost. Yeah.

Speaker: that Kinky. yeah

Speaker: Yup. Let's go.

Speaker: Use my own sound bites against me. What else am I here for? Oh my gosh. On that note, any other, any other thoughts on Arian or number man? We kind of grouped them together a little bit. um Any final thoughts on those chapters? Oh, I did. I do really like how, uh,

Speaker: again, from the outside of Perrien's, you know, how she sees different members of the, of the group, but how she labels the different type of scary that they are, specifically a cord. And she says that a cord is the type of scary that would be sitting, eating with a, you know, the perfect correct way to hold ah a knife and fork and eating like a human, a human limb.

Speaker: as he's talking to you. And it's like that that like terrifying ah Silence of the Lambs vibe of like yeah the absolute ah you know so perfect table manners while eating human flesh. like that And I love that. I think that's really a really fun way of seeing a cord. And it kind of makes him... It puts him in a different a little bit of a different light for me, but I really i really like that image. He's giving Hannibal?

Speaker: But yeah, yeah, I did think that was fun versus like even like grew and bitch intimidating levels where grew is like He's just this presence, right you feel like that kind of intimidating Yeah, bitch is more the scary of like you just don't know what she's gonna do like she does my predictability She might throw a a chair at you without you know with very little provocation Yeah All right, we're Perry and she's like, I joined this group because of skitter and now she's gone. She's gone. Right. Interestingly though, I feel like Perry is kind of trying and unintentionally to take up the mantle, right? She says, I need to stay with the undersiders to try to guide them onto a better path. Yeah. So it's an interest cell, interesting how, although the leadership torch has been passed to grew, maybe the

Speaker: The moral heart torch has been unintentionally passed to Perian. So we'll see how that goes. I also like, she mentions she mentions talking about how ah she she she loved to, she liked to see the respect that people gave Skitter and how like, even though she did a lot of the same things that Skitter did with her territory, with like giving away supplies and stuff.

Speaker: They don't look at her in the same way that Skitter's people looked at her. And like this idea that she kind of wants to emulate Skitter a lot with like how she runs her territory and how she interacts with her people. I thought that was really cool. I like that a lot of like her basically like looking to Taylor and being like, okay, well, I'm going to try and and be that in my territory. And it's just not working because it's like it doesn't translate over the same way. Which I i wonder if it's like a confidence thing or if it's just like,

Speaker: you know, Skitter was always a little bit scarier or if it's like the part of town that it is, like whatever it it was that made Skitter's territory, you know, Skitter's territory, it's like somehow the respect there is vastly different, even though Karrion's trying to do the exact same things. She's just got to make like a doll full of spiders or something and then it'll work. It's horrifying. Oh my God. That's not... No.

Speaker: It's a mental image. A resident arachnophobe. It's Crabs. It's just unicorns filled with crabs.

Speaker: abby Grabby, grabby, grabby unicorn. Anywho, shall we do favorite powers and then wrap this this this puppy up? Yeah, we'll wrap this one up. That's some favorite powers. You got a few to choose from here. A lot of lore. Yeah. A lot of good ones. I'll shout out Spree. I loved Spree. Really simple, horrifying power, but really effective visually for me when reading it. It was just like, it was really fun to read. It was just kind of chaotic. So gross. Yeah. A lot of fun of it. Yeah. I think, I don't know. It's kind of hard to pick. Um,

Speaker: getting Othello's powers more explained. I feel like this is an appropriate chapter to mention him. And Jacob, you're right. Like it's one of the coolest powers. I love it. What it is is like having a body double ah sort of planer shifted in D and &D terms. An imaginary friend. Yeah. Oh, it's it's so interesting.

Speaker: um So I love his, I i do i do like, um I like the little powers too though. So like Jacklight and Vex are kind of interesting to me. Even ah we didn't talk about her, but Rosary is kind of an interesting one too with that. Yeah. So just, I like the powers that are small because I do feel like it reminds me like Taylor's power is a quote unquote small power, but she does so much with it, right? So you imagine with training, like what could Jacklight do? What could Vex do? What could ah Rosary do?

Speaker: Um, it's just an interesting thing to consider. Yeah. Yeah. I also was going to say Othello. I think Othello is really, really cool, but it, since you beat me to it, I'm going to say Valifor.

Speaker: Even though it's very creepy and scary, I love the idea of being kind of like a Simmer type cave where you can plant an idea into somebody's mind and then tell them to forget that you ever told them to do it. Like I love kind of that subterfuge. I think that's really cool. I like that a lot. And paired with - It's very death naughty.

Speaker: Yes, very definitely. And paired with Imp, I think that that's kind of like a fun potential, you know, could be back and forth vibe, but like, obviously we don't see that happen. But I, but I do really like that Valeforce. You got to look at you and then you're done for. Scary. Mine's real quick. It's, it's the number man.

Speaker: ah He's doing the calculations, math be massing. Math be massing. And he did the math. He did. He did the math. He did. Just imagining anybody asking them like, I mean, what did you do the math? And then the man just like. Just glares. You know who the fuck I am.

Speaker: that That's when the ballpoint pen goes right in the eye. Right in the eye. All right. I think that wraps us up for arc 21. Fun little, but the whole whole arc, little bit of a, just sort of a down, what's the word I'm thinking of? yeah ah Lower stakes. Yeah. A little low stakes. Some low five beats for a worm.

Speaker: yeah Especially after all we've been through. In the immortal words of Gandalf, it's it's a deep breath before the plunge. You know, just sort of gearing up. Yeah. And we love that.

Speaker: oh I don't even know what happens next and I can't I don't I have no clue ah but I'm so excited I feel like that thing where you're holding your breath ready for the drop and it hasn't happened just yet and you're just waiting and you're like yeah i can't Wait for you to get to the chapter where ah Taylor sleeps with clock blocker. It's great yeaht even put that one totally Okay but actually though Hannah, Hannah ships, Hannah ships that, that match up way better than every ship is possible. You have yes, but no, I mean, I like that pairing way better than, than grew and skitter. So, you know, well, we know Alan likes that pairing better too. yeah and an aend That is my preferred pairing, my my OTP, if you will.

Speaker: We have, well, coming up but next ah next week will be dissecting worm for arc 21. You're getting ahead of me a little bit there, but yes. we I won't be here for that part. That's fair. So for those of you who skipped dissecting worm, join us next time for arc 22. Arc 22. There you go. No, no, it's you're you're right. But don't skip dissecting worm. Join us next week for arc 21.

Speaker: We will attempt to fit this into our into our current season, season four. So we'll see how that goes. And then yes, and then Hannah's right after that. And then arc 22, VB! We'll be back for arc 22. Get into it. It's gonna be a lot of fun. ah Thanks for listening. We appreciate it. i think I think that's, yeah, I don't have any other notes. That's all good. Michael, play us out. Bye!

Speaker: Thank you so much for listening. Read along with us at parahumans .wordpress .com. We'd love to hear your thoughts. What did you love? What did you hate? Anything you think we missed, etc., as long as it's kind. If you'd like to get in touch, you can find us on