Inchworm

Jenny and Ted discuss Extermination 8.x. Episode Notes: Merry Inchmas! It’s the first Noelle chapter Coil hasn’t won yet but realistically who’s gonna stop him? Details of horrible vices left as an exercise for the reader Are Coil’s timelines basically a guilt-free personal Westworld? Do absolute power fantasies corrupt absolutely fantastically? And yet, Coil is unhappy While writing these notes,...

Jenny and Ted discuss Extermination 8.8. Episode Notes: The end of Book One of Worm The power of “I can do better than that” The mystery of what Taylor will do next Can Taylor get Dragon’s number from Armsmaster? Envisioning Taylor’s Crew Bug-based humanitarianism The distancing effect of a small time skip Is it time for Taylor to make amends with Danny? Arc 8 shows how Wildbow is an excellent Gam...

Jenny and Ted discuss Extermination 8.7. Episode Notes: This revelation to the Undersiders had to happen, actually Why did Tattletale go along with the lie? We think better of some of these heroes than Taylor Legend is someone who cares about optics Turns out Armsmaster is a shameless hypocrite with a lot of reasons to hate Taylor Jenny is still rooting for the Amy / Taylor friendship The meaning...

Jenny and Ted discuss Extermination 8.6. Episode Notes: Oops, Taylor and Jenny both forgot about protecting secret identities Odds are good that Sophia doesn’t know Taylor is Skitter Reviewing what we remember about Sophia’s two identities in light of this knowledge If anyone other than Taylor knew that Shadow Stalker had caused Skitter’s trigger event, wouldn’t it be a huge deal? Taylor’s reason...

Jenny and Ted discuss Extermination 8.5. Episode Notes: One of Jenny's least favorite moments of anything ever! We're outraged by the medical establishment and also the PRT Maybe Taylor should have known better than to, uh, be a villain Taylor got here through a tragedy of circumstances Maybe she should've just joined the Wards, though Panacea predictions Scion is so Jesus-coded Theories about Tay...

Jenny and Ted discuss Extermination 8.4. Episode Notes: We got just as caught up in the drama of Armsmaster vs. Leviathan as Taylor Why cars are just the roofs of the street Taylor’s clever thinking earns her the front-row seat Taylor Hebert’s Bug Recon A glimmer of cooperation How will a life debt change the Armsmaster and Skitter dynamic going forward? If this Armsmaster guy would shut up we mig...

Jenny and Ted discuss Extermination 8.3. Episode Notes: Welp, it sure was a down chapter Not to be all Taylor about it but why is this the best the heroes can do? What does Taylor think she's going to be able to do? "So... we good now, Clockblocker?" The action is out of scale with our hero. What does that mean for the narrative going forward? Some of the losses are starting to hurt Compartmentali...

Jenny and Ted discuss Extermination 8.x (bonus). Episode Notes: The Tattletale interlude was great but we are counting the chapters until 2 Tattle 2 Tale Fic idea: Tiny Tim triggers with his initials-sake’s power The headcanon that makes Tattletale Ted’s favorite “Dying” in your own chapter is very GRRM Stories have plot armor until they demonstrate that they don’t It’s very Tattletale to have a w...

Jenny and Ted discuss Extermination 8.2. Episode Notes: Jenny wants it to be even weirder The story demands Taylor do something big but what could it possibly be? smol bean Leviathan theory It remains great that the Undersiders are underdogs How does Legend actually feel about the bad guys? How do normal people actually feel about the good guys? Listen out for the spoiler warning if you haven’t re...

Jenny and Ted discuss Extermination 8.1. Episode Notes: Jenny's dying of suspense A parahuman response, but no military? We're meeting some pretty intense capes. Amazing that they're not gonna be enough This is gonna be bad...but fast, apparently We get why the heroes are here. Unclear about the villains Also unclear why the Endbringer is here, actually Jenny has sea monster theories Taylor's such...

Jenny and Ted discuss Buzz 7.x. Episode Notes: How Hannah sees Colin Jenny isn’t attending this pity party Why does Armsmaster even want a management role if he knows he’s bad at it? If she gets the chance, will Hannah be ready to lead the heroes of Brockton Bay? Miss Militia is much more authentically patriotic than she first seems Does Hannah’s advancement reflect meritocracy or instrumentalizat...

Jenny and Ted discuss Buzz 7.12. Episode Notes: Not what Jenny expected! Taylor's not just demanding the other Undersiders agree with her. She's demanding that they agree with her without stopping to think or talk about it “They still seem like they could be good people,” we lied Not fight an Endbringer? Have you MET Taylor? Do any of the Undersiders really know Taylor, after all? The power of lab...

Jenny and Ted discuss Buzz 7.11. Episode Notes: Jenny ALMOST knows what the story is about The cost of working with Coil Coming Soon: Insinuation 2.0 Never tell me the odds (after telling me the odds in front of someone who hates all this) How Taylor can get the other Undersiders to go along with her presumed plan Dinah’s power and how her situation landed for Jenny Coil as a perverse parent We co...

Jenny and Ted discuss Buzz 7.10. Episode Notes: Does Lisa’s gambit put her at odds with Coil or not? Taylor didn’t read Purity’s interlude, but Lisa got the gist of it from her power The potential for rifts in Empire Eighty-Eight Doesn’t Coil care about his investment in this team? Or was some of this his idea? Purity wants to be seen as reasonable This flight Purity and Tattletale took together m...

Jenny and Ted discuss Buzz 7.9. Episode Notes: The lost chapter of Worm Can Grue set his darkness to auto? We compare Night to Mystery Men and Scholomance How does Night’s power actually work? And how can they possibly beat her? We’re at the point in the story where we can fill a battlefield with over a dozen familiar cape names Will any heroes take this chance to settle a grudge? Ted gets on boar...

Jenny and Ted discuss Buzz 7.8. Episode Notes: The pleasures of hidden plans What’s that? More power interactions? Hooray! Who needs romance when you have synergy Once again, knowledge is power Speaking of which, when are people going to learn not to underestimate Skitter? Despite its fallibility, Grue’s darkness is clutch! Wait, so, if his insides are hooks…? Huh? RIP legs Do morals get in the wa...

Jenny and Ted discuss Buzz 7.7. Episode Notes: A disas(terous chap)ter! Credit where credit is due, Brian was NOT being paranoid Neither was Lisa, in that crossing this line leads to bad places What were they thinking, taking Aster like that? Both in principle and pragmatically Or did someone kick the hornet’s nest? (BUZZ BUZZ) Purity's white power, literally The thing is, there are a LOT of horne...

Jenny and Ted discuss Buzz 7.6. Episode Notes: Sophia: uh, wow, disturbing Worm ideology The real worm was the power we got along the way Sophia calls Taylor a coward but turns out Taylor's rubber and she's glue Re-hashing Emma theories Oops, reverse racism Keeping the bullies relevant Sudden Danny feelings Give Taylor a good boy fight any day She’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing in wolf’s clothing Ta...

Jenny and Ted discuss Buzz 7.5. Episode Notes: Jenny was not expecting this trope! Taylor gets her perv on Was this kiss poetry or a subtle use of power? It certainly wasn’t subtle that Taylor was doing this to prove something to Sophia Brian keeps his cool Why have Sophia in this scene? The things Taylor likes most about Brian Alternative sleeping arrangements Taylor as Brian’s confidante Alec is...

Jenny and Ted discuss Buzz 7.4. Episode Notes: The principle of pivot chapters This doxxing is fine. The timing, maybe not Can Bitch have a villain origin story if she's already a villain? Sorry, Lisa, turns out the unwritten rules are fake Lisa might actually have a conscience? The realness of neo-Nazis has us feeling differently about this whole thing Coil's already blending the cape and civilia...

Jenny and Ted discuss Buzz 7.3. Episode Notes: It’s almost lunchtime, and we know what that means… Here’s Skitter! Just how rational is this brutality? And how disturbing? We greatly prefer a coldly rational combatant to a tropey Hollywood hero When Taylor fights, she leaves nothing on the table Surprisingly, Bitch holds steady while Taylor escalates Will this situation push Bitch toward taking Co...

Jenny and Ted discuss Buzz 7.2. Episode Notes: Bitch: a mystery box that's just as good when it's open! Bitch is just Undersiding for the dogs Taylor's working so hard at equalizing the dynamic Bitch as a chosen name rather than a cape name Bitch is a dog healer! Bitch brings out Taylor's impulsive side Power synergy in a non-combat situation! Dogs in packs, being socialized Wildbow is good at avo...

Jenny and Ted discuss Buzz 7.1. Episode Notes: It’s a loft chapter! Why Bitch trusts Taylor and not Coil What Bitch, Alec, and Taylor have in common (or not), family-wise Alec has one foot out the door We’re heartbroken What, if anything, is Alec feeling? Well, he definitely felt something about Taylor’s bullies Taylor might need to keep a close eye on Alec… … or maybe not! He’s really tough to re...

Jenny and Ted discuss Tangle 6.x. Episode Notes: We're so invested in Canary Jenny is incensed about the "justice" system Feeling safe vs. being safe Wildbow is a master of adjusting our allegiances Canary the revolutionary? We analyze some power classifications We want to know so much more about this Birdcage tech! Dragon passes the vibe test How does the Birdcage deal with teleporters? Turns out...

Jenny and Ted discuss Tangle 6.9. Episode Notes: The shoe drops on our emotions, sparing the plot It’s nowhere near as bad as 5.4 for Jenny At the spoiler warning, skip ahead 30 seconds if you don’t want to hear how this is different than what happens in Buffy season 2  Which came first, the chicken(ing out of talking to Danny) or the egg(knowledgement of her Under-desires) The comb-over as s...