Naw, pretty sure it was a completely different fantasy world.
But this derail has gone on long enough. Let's get back into Hogwarts; Spiderville is a silly place.
Riding Acromantulas and Understanding Magical Biology (harry potter/worm)
- Thread starter minuseven
- Start date
But this derail has gone on long enough. Let's get back into Hogwarts; Spiderville is a silly place.
It was definitely somewhere in Britain. One character option was a band of Roman soldiers, the other was a band of Celtic warriors.
- Location
- Portugal
- Pronouns
- She/They
Warning!
The chapter following in 60 seconds is still in beta-phase. As such, it may contain: orthography, vocabulary and grammar mistakes; blatant Americanisms; poor sense of space; out of character actions, reactions and perspectives; ramblings; misplaced and missing punctuation; plot holes and bad planning; and unfinished sentences. And wrong titles.
21. Trouble Bound: Train Wreck
- Location
- Portugal
- Pronouns
- She/They
Train Wreck
Another freckled red-head stood on the compartment's threshold, livid. He had to be related to the last three gingers. The family resemblance was too strong. But this one had glasses and held himself with the pompous self-importance and puffed out chest of a teenager recently given some authority. The shiny badge on his wizard dress just made it obvious.
I knew what to do.
Quickly, but without forcing it, I let go of Malfoy's wrist and glanced meaningfully at Skitter. Hoping she would follow my lead, I spoke up, meeting the older guy's eyes. "Malfoy attacked us. He was harassing us." Belatedly, I hoped he was not on this weasel's side.
Ginger switched his attention to Blondie. "Is this true?" In the background, Skitter, Taylor, had lowered her wand, though she kept it ready, and calmed down her dog, a hand on the scruff of his neck. The silence actually sounded that much louder without the rumbling from the dog.
Malfoy still looked angry at me, but even he had enough brains not to continue the fight in front of an older student. "It was just… a misunderstanding." Not very convincing, but I supposed not every blond could be Victoria, eleven or not.
"Oh, I understand what happened alright, Malfoy." I couldn't help a brief smile. Looked like Malfoy did know some people after all. "You're lucky you aren't at Hogwarts yet, but I will be having words with Professor Snape about this." He turned on the two gorillas that followed Malfoy around. "I will be speaking with your heads of house too. Now get back to your own compartment."
"Whatever, Weasly." Malfoy spat, disdain dripping from every word, and shouldered past him and into the aisle. "Let's go." He barked at his bodyguards.
The tension slowly drained away as the trio got further away from us, and with it all the anger that had fueled me. I collapsed bonelessly on my seat, feeling like I'd run a marathon. Had that been worth it? Draco Malfoy was going to be a pain in the ass for the rest of the year, and that was without counting all the trouble his supposed connections could make.
I snorted. Yeah, totally worth it.
Taylor sat down herself, putting away her wand away in her jacket and petting the dog for a job well done. It was so strange to see her like this.
The teen that had helped us out cleared his throat. "Very well, glad to see that's solved. Fighting is not tolerated at Hogwarts, so make sure this won't happen again. If there's trouble come to a Prefect or a Professor." We both gave obligatory nods of agreement. So this guy was a prefect then. Actually, looking at his badge, it seemed kind of obvious. It made sense that they would appoint a straight-laced honours student type to the position. But Hogwarts was a british boarding school. In the nineties. I was pretty sure that things behind the scenes would be quite different. "Now," he turned to Taylor, "I'd like to have a word with you."
Wait, what had Skitter done while I wasn't looking?
"Is something the matter?" The dark-haired girl looked perfectly composed as she spoke, calm and politely confused.
"Your animal." He gave the dog a side-glance brimming with displeasure. "Hogwarts only allows owls, cats and toads. Dogs are not permitted."
Seriously!? What was he expecting her to do? Throw the dog offboard? Ship him back?
But she riposted quickly, speaking over whatever next nitpicking he had prepared. "I have permission from Professor McGonagall about Sirius. Arrangements were made. He'll be staying with the groundskeeper, not at the castle itself."
"Hmph." He huffed. "I will verify that. For now, just make sure he doesn't disturb anybody." The prefect closed the door behind him, leaving us in silence.
I watched Taylor and after a few seconds, time enough for him to get out of hearing range, she finally let her shoulders slump. Should I say anything? Ginger Weasel sure has a wand up his ass, something like that? I didn't usually mind the silence, but this one didn't exactly feel comfortable. Probably something to do with who I was sharing it.
She took the choice out of my hands, straightening up and staring me in the eyes. "What was that all about?"
Oh, she was not going to lecture me on this. Not her. And not now. "Told you. Middleschool is hell." I shrugged.
"I thought the plan was to not make waves. Blend in and keep our heads down." She insisted.
"Well, I don't know if you've noticed or anything, but I'm the latest national hero. The Girl Who Fucking Lived, etcetera? Just… Urgh." I didn't even have enough steam to snark at Skitter. I sighed and reached up to massage my temples. "Look, low profile is just not in the options. Trust me, I tried but even if I don't do anything people will come looking for me."
She crossed her arms, but still had to get the last word in. "You still didn't have to handle the situation like that."
I could help but scoff. "Yes I did. What? You think he'd just leave? He's a bully. He wouldn't stop because I said: thank you but no, please leave me alone. He'd just get worse."
"You were provoking him!" She hissed.
"As opposed to what? Ignoring him?" I felt my temper rise up again, twice already in quick succession. "Newsflash: that doesn't work! I might as well be giving them carte blanche. The only way to make bullies back off is to fight back."
Taylor eyed me disbelievingly. She looked like she wanted to say something, but she clenched her jaw and stared out of the window. I copied her. It was a nice view. We stayed like that for a few minutes. Ignoring each other's presence.
Finally she spoke, getting up from her seat. "I'm going to explore the train, see if there's anything interesting. Sirius, guard."
I nodded.
Whatever. Good riddance.
Last edited:
bobnik
Memetic Warfare Specialist.
You know, it's kind of hilarious to see Amy mindscrewing an Undersider Lisa-style, even if it is by accident. Very much like this chapter.
- Location
- Portugal
- Pronouns
- She/They
It did. It's a thing that'll happen. However, if I wrote that well enough, it should be understandable within the first paragraphs. Moreover, with linebreaks it won't be as jarring.
Ando Owen
Yandere Illya is watching you.
- Location
- Montpellier
I saw your latest HP/Worm chapter. I think you mixed the reactions. It is Taylor who hates bullies with a passion, and she has a habit for escalation, she wouldn't complain about kicking an arsehole. As for Amy and middle school.... Yeah, with New Wave in the background, it's understandable to have kids being annoying/mean to the capes's kids.
This is early Taylor, her way of dealing with bullies has always been to be a complete doormat. Its only recently that she's started to learn to fight back and she might not have internalized it properly yet.
Jackercracks
In a British accent
- Location
- England
Well, not that early. She has started going properly warlord by the time the Siberian fight happens
Ursine
Concerned Citizen
- Location
- Home, Sweet Home
Taylor has the remarkable ability to adjust her response appropriatly to the enemy.
In other words, she does not put school bullies in the same category as supervillians or even just gangmembers.
She only escalates with those that are dangerous, and school bullies do not fit that criteria.
In other words, she does not put school bullies in the same category as supervillians or even just gangmembers.
She only escalates with those that are dangerous, and school bullies do not fit that criteria.
apeljohn
Non-Player Character
- Location
- Earth Aleph
Taylor and Skitter are very different people when it comes to bullying. Taylor has been beaten down over the last two years by a school system that follows the Principle of Least Paperwork - i.e. punish whoever forced you to take notice of things like bullying, which is normally the victim - combined with multiple forms of low-level corruption. The lesson she has learned is: doing anything only makes things worse, because it encourages the bully to summon reinforcements and/or escalate.
Skitter, on the other hand, beat the everloving shit out of Lung on her first night out, and only ramped up from there. She has been able to develop a sense of control over her life, and has been able to keep that control when challenged by heroes, villains, hell, even her own team members (coughBitchcough). The lesson she has learned is: the bigger they come, the harder they fall.
I guess what I'm saying is that we probably shouldn't expect her behaviour to be terribly consistent, because she's been programmed with two completely contradictory sets of responses. Minuseven seems to be handling this pretty well.
- Location
- Portugal
- Pronouns
- She/They
@apeljohn makes most excellent points, listen to him.
First off, your view of Taylor. Taylor is very passive when it comes to bullying. Oh she hates it, she hates the humiliation, she hates bullies, yada yada... but she never does anything about it. She's given up. Her solution to improving her life involves doing nothing about the bullying, it involves becoming somebody else, somebody better, a hero, something people can't push around. And that's Skitter. Skitter still hates bullies, still hates the humiliation and it shows in her morals and... some times, in her actions. And Skitter is hell-a-active.
(let's not get into the fact that Taylor/Skitter can be a massive hypocrite when it suits her because 1 it's human nature everybody's an asshole in Worm, 2 Amy's on this story too even if her issues are different)
Taylor Granger? Right now she's kinda stuck between those two modes. Notice how she doesn't complain about "kicking an asshole". She's positively satisfied with the turnabout in part 20. Draco getting the tables turned on him? Satisfying as fuck. What she is unhappy with was how Amy did it. Amy went too far, she was too obvious, she made enemies. In Taylor's experience, that only makes the bullies escalate (and with Draco... well, she's not too far off) and Taylor has never had the ways to defend herself with. And now they're trapped in what knows where, they were supposed to keep a low profile and Amy just painted a target on their backs. That's what Taylor is arguing about. Amy just drove the conversation to its logical conclusion, from her p.o.v., they're bullies, I was going to have to do this sooner or later. And suddenly, at that word, a part of Taylor is seeing the bullying happen all over again to her and she's getting emotional, defensive, she's automatically going into that mode in which she runs instead of confront, in which she never does anything because she's better than that, and she's pinning the blame on Amy.
It's very subcouncious, but Taylor is still not over the bullying. She never will, one way or the other, even if she gets past her personal bullies and adopts new strategies. And you can bet Amy's the exact same thing.
About her... Amy has been through some pretty bad bullying too. She's not only relying on methods that worked for her (see her playing Percy) she's also indulging in what she would have wanted to do (see her trampling Draco verbally). Here: let's be plain, she's not in a good place, she lost her temper. Now I wish I could explain it... but it's something that's going to have to come up in story at its own pace. Because Amy wasn't alone in middleschool. She had Victoria. And Victoria's trigger is pretty damning in and off itself, whitewashed or not.
... that scene was not intended to be interpreted that way. Amy is not making Taylor have a "revelation".
Right. Let's get down to this.
First off, your view of Taylor. Taylor is very passive when it comes to bullying. Oh she hates it, she hates the humiliation, she hates bullies, yada yada... but she never does anything about it. She's given up. Her solution to improving her life involves doing nothing about the bullying, it involves becoming somebody else, somebody better, a hero, something people can't push around. And that's Skitter. Skitter still hates bullies, still hates the humiliation and it shows in her morals and... some times, in her actions. And Skitter is hell-a-active.
(let's not get into the fact that Taylor/Skitter can be a massive hypocrite when it suits her because 1 it's human nature everybody's an asshole in Worm, 2 Amy's on this story too even if her issues are different)
Taylor Granger? Right now she's kinda stuck between those two modes. Notice how she doesn't complain about "kicking an asshole". She's positively satisfied with the turnabout in part 20. Draco getting the tables turned on him? Satisfying as fuck. What she is unhappy with was how Amy did it. Amy went too far, she was too obvious, she made enemies. In Taylor's experience, that only makes the bullies escalate (and with Draco... well, she's not too far off) and Taylor has never had the ways to defend herself with. And now they're trapped in what knows where, they were supposed to keep a low profile and Amy just painted a target on their backs. That's what Taylor is arguing about. Amy just drove the conversation to its logical conclusion, from her p.o.v., they're bullies, I was going to have to do this sooner or later. And suddenly, at that word, a part of Taylor is seeing the bullying happen all over again to her and she's getting emotional, defensive, she's automatically going into that mode in which she runs instead of confront, in which she never does anything because she's better than that, and she's pinning the blame on Amy.
It's very subcouncious, but Taylor is still not over the bullying. She never will, one way or the other, even if she gets past her personal bullies and adopts new strategies. And you can bet Amy's the exact same thing.
About her... Amy has been through some pretty bad bullying too. She's not only relying on methods that worked for her (see her playing Percy) she's also indulging in what she would have wanted to do (see her trampling Draco verbally). Here: let's be plain, she's not in a good place, she lost her temper. Now I wish I could explain it... but it's something that's going to have to come up in story at its own pace. Because Amy wasn't alone in middleschool. She had Victoria. And Victoria's trigger is pretty damning in and off itself, whitewashed or not.
Oh, she can argue. It's been discussed that the "fighting back" thing that most people teach to bullied people isn't the optimal choice or even one that works most of the times (see: female bullies, social bullying). That and the "ignore it". She was very much going to say something about the lines of "what about the people that can't fight back" but held herself in check, seeing as this was entering very personal territory (for both of them, unknown to Taylor) she honestly didn't want to "share" with Amy. Bullying is a very sore spot for every girl and dog in that compartment. Yes, even Victoria the owl.
laaaateeeer /zombie
It's implied in Taylor's lines. Didn't have to handle it like that, you were provoking him. Unsaid goes:... he was eleven, you didn't have to go that far; of course he reacted badly, he's a kid!... as part of her general argument and her major complaint: Amy was excessive.
It's about fucking time someone spelled this out to Taylor.
OverReactionGuy
Verified Sanity
To be fair, Taylor was molded by her bullies to become the perfect victim and that shit hole school did not help matters.
helnae
Mlem~
- Pronouns
- She/Her
And as Taylor learned over and over, fighting back doesn't work for everyone.
Fighting back only works if you're willing to take the hits that'll come your way for doing so. If you can't, you shouldn't bother. If you can take the hits and keep fighting, you can make it stop.
At least, that's been my experience.
apeljohn
Non-Player Character
- Location
- Earth Aleph
I'm really liking Amy's character by the way. She's willing to take shit up to a certain point, after which her self-restraint checks out for lunch and she basically starts trolling the hell out of all concerned with no regard for consequences. I almost feel like she'd get along well with Regent and Imp.
Your experience wasn't at Winslow High, so you presumably weren't dealing with apathetic/spineless school administrators who were practically bending you over for the bullies. (I hope.) The situation Taylor was in, if she took the hits and kept on fighting, it was far more likely that she'd have been expelled than that the bullies would have stopped.
Ursine
Concerned Citizen
- Location
- Home, Sweet Home
I was bullied in school. It ended when I showed that I would hit back harder than I was hit, no matter who was doing the hitting.
The difference between me and Taylor, besides the obvious differences in gender and family background, is that the administration was fair. They treated us properly based on what happened and what we did.
Taylor did not have that advantage. She has been trained, by the bullies, the teachers, the administration, even the police, that noone cared what was actually going on, that noone was on her side. That to survive, she had to endure in silence.
To be blunt, her attitude to bullying is a decent adaption to surviving her environment and situation.
Amy might have been bullied, but the fame of New Wave would have ensured that the administration could not just look the other way. She would never have been in a position where she was left completely without recourse.
Basically, both of them were looking at the current situation from the lense of their previous situations, so of course their interpretations were different.
Finagle007
[Verified Great Old One]
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Path to Khepri?
No, it wasn't Winslow High, it was the Deep South of the US. Bullying wasn't even a thing that was acknowledged as existing between boys. It was all "boys being boys" the worst that would happen is a week of suspension if you got caught fighting in school. At worst.
Most of the time the administration didn't bother going that far.
So yeah, I dug my fucking heels in and proved that I would hit back no matter what they did and it eventually stopped. Believe me I learned all about escalation too, because the bullies had more friends than I did.
The school did exactly jack shit either way because the school didn't care, they had a football team to pamper and none of the people involved were on it. The whole cliche about jocks being bullies? It was bullshit at my school, the jocks were too busy either getting blowjobs from the administration or training to bother.
Finagle007
[Verified Great Old One]
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
You poor sod. At least the staff in Toronto schools deal with that shit... though too late to save my innocence re: The Internet in one respect...