When did Aisha trigger her powers? She just showed up one day as a member of the Undersiders. Before that, I just thought she was a regular, underachieving teenager.

 

During the battle with Leviathan I believe.

 

I just assumed her powers were affecting the reader as well.

It took me by surprise every time when she took out some enemy. I somehow always forgot her in the middle of the action.

 

Same here, reminds me of WoT actually(if you know what then you know, if not then not going to spoil even if it I doubt it could be considered spoiler), Jordan did it pretty well and wildbow does too. Not a single time that she does things I remember she was also there.

 

The only mention of anything happening is that she and her dad were attacked in the aftermath of Leviathan. I'm guessing it happened then.

 

Well, looks like we're on to a new arch here. We even already got a confrontation with the PRT (sort of)! I'm actually really excited to see Parian kind of involved with the Undersiders now. Call me naive, but I'd really like to see all the members of the Undersiders make it through this...then just like hang out. I would totally be satisfied with an epilogue about them ordering a fucking pizza and watching crappy movies and just forgetting all the crap that's happened to them.

That would be so satisfying.

But of course this chapter just seems to indicate that there's no going back for any of them. Any satisfaction I had at seeing Parian sort of join up is tempered by the fact that I sense imminant character death. Things look like they might be going almost too well for the first time in ages (Skitter's revealed identity not-withstanding). Skitter recognizes she's acting unstable but I have a feeling someone's still going to have to pay for the sort of power the Undersiders are exercising on the city now.

I'm starting to think that the PRT is going to be quiet for a while The big problem is going to be the Teeth (calling it) and probably something from left field that's been hinted at and I'm too tired to properly take account of. I'm also kind of getting curious as to the motivations for the other Undersiders. Grue was originally trying to get money together for Aisha, but she's involved now. Skitter is likewise a little rudderless right now. Bitch is bitch, Reagant seems to just want to keep on carrying on, and Tattle Tale...well I'm sure she's got something planned. I feel like the Undersiders are in a stronger position than they've ever been before...but closer to burning out too.

Is Wildbow doing another donation this Thursday? Fuck, it feels like I'm asking after a dealer or something. "So when're you going to be in town next Joe? Oh Saturday? Well how about I give you double if you come by Thursday eh?"

I'm an addict.

 

The very first line of the new arc, and it reads like a metaphor for the chapter. It felt like they're standing on the precipice, perilously close to the edge for the whole of 21.1. And in the previous [non-interlude] chapter it was mentioned that Skitter was standing on a ledge, metaphorically.

It feels like things are about to take a twenty-five storey nose dive. ):

Edit:

This arc is called "imago". Wikipedia has a description, and as far as us readers are concerned, it's looking damn good.

Tagg calls her "Little girl" in this chapter. This might be the last time he does.

 

I'm not sure how much sense these new villain groups make.

We know about Accords motivations, but what about his Ambassadors? What reason do they have to follow him? Especially since it seems like he occasionally kills them - or at least punishes them - for any mistakes. It's like Voldemort Crucio-ing everyone. There needs to be a very good reason for them to put up with him. Does he just pay a lot of money? Does he have some leverage over them? Do they share his goals?

It's sort of similar with the Teeth. What are their motivations? Are they just psychos - sort of a lesser version of the Slaughterhouse Nine?

With the original groups in Brockton Bay you had a good idea of what they were about and they made at least some sense. The Merchants and the ABB were sort of normal gangs on crack. Empire 88 just pooled the white supremacist capes of that part of the country. They all earned money the normal (illegal) way through drugs/prostitution/gambling. The Travelers and Faultline's crew each have a common goal that binds their group together.
Coil had his own goals, but paid a lot of money for other people to do what he wanted.

Even the cult for the Endbringers makes at least some sense - you will always have at least a handful of crazies who can form a group together.

I have a similar problem with Hookwolf joining the Nine. Wasn't he forced to do this at first? Especially now that Siberian is dead, he doesn't really have to fear the rest. He's an almost perfect counter to Jack and Bonesaw. Why doesn't he try to kill them?

 

Maybe he has tried. In the last interlude where we saw the Nine, it's shown that Hookwolf's mind isn't all there; he complains about it. It's likely that Bonesaw is keeping him on side by affecting his brain.

 

I'm pretty sure that it was stated or implied that he never got the antidote for Bonesaw's Mad Cow.

With the escalation in the latest chapter, I'm starting to think that it would be incredibly naive of the PRT to assume the Undersiders won't bring up the dirt they have on them. The PRT is playing with fire, and while their only real threat is imprisonment, the Undersiders can bring the whole house of cards down. I'm actually a little surprised, what with all that has happened, that the PRT aren't giving the Undersiders a bit of space until they can get their own house in order.

Or maybe BB and the portal are so important to the powers that be that they would risk the PRT to have control of them.

 

When it comes to Hookwolf, it is partly 'drugging' him (or Bonesaw otherwise manipulating him on a physical level) and partly Bonesaw and Jack 'breaking' him of his previous ideals on a psychological level. Without certain elements of personal memory he will be less attached to his old mindset, he's a prime candidate.

 

This was put forward as a possible image of Skitter in the comments section, and I thought you guys might get a kick out of it. Hair doesn't look quite right to me, but it's good nonetheless.

 

Heh. Nice shirt.

I believe Taylor's meant to have curly hair though. And she wears glasses.

 

Well, she did wear contacts during the S9 arc because of Shatterbird. I like the picture--she looks like she doesn't take shit from anyone.

 

Looks like a man.

Now I'm really looking forward to the Behemoth fight. I want to see what Skitter and Alexandria's interaction is like, because boy did Alexandria fuck over Skitter after she stood up for her and saved the PRT from immediate meltdown.

 

That's because this isn't supposed to be Taylor. It's "The Citizen", a villain from a Russian comic titled "Major Thunder". Someone just recoloured her hair to black. The original image is here: http://phobso.tumblr.com/post/47527420219/evil-villain-is-evil

 

Is there a posted update schedule for this story? I'm confused as to when there are Thursday chapters and when there are not.

 

Thursday chapters appear on an adhoc basis, depending on whether Wildbow has had time to write one.

He may post a tentative schedule for the current week in the comments, but it can change at any moment. Tuesday and Saturday releases tho? Those are set in stone.

edit: ninja'd. Oz. >:/

 

Worm updates every Tuesday and Saturday. These chapters are part of the main story and told from Taylor's point. (The exception to this is the once an arc interludes which can be from anyone's point of view.)

In addition wildbow accepts donations and when the donations reach a certain amount (currently $600) we get a Thursday update, called a Donation Bonus. These chapters are like the interludes: not told from Taylor's point of view and generally tangential to the main plot.

Recently, wildbow has been getting a lot of donations so we get a lot of Thursay updates but he can't manage them every week. Check this to see when they are scheduled.