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got-into-worm-by-mistake · 2 months ago

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Kylia Reads Pact: Bonds 1.3

This is a liveblog written as I read. Please don't spoiler me for future developments or details in the story.

“You going to be alright?” the woman in the driver’s seat asked me.

From the like, one spoiler I know, I'm pretty sure the answer is no.

But also, like, he's a Wildbow protagonist, so he's definitely not going to be okay.

Molly, it seemed, had been systematically dismantling those touches. Boxes sat by bookshelves, filled with books

Okay, that's an unforgiveable sin. She deserves everything that happened to her. :P

I was a little unnerved to see Rose’s vague shape reflected in the black screen, instead of my own. “There’s a mirror in the bathroom at the end of the hall,” she said.

Does Rose ever end up existing? Or is she always gonna be a mirror self thing?

“Is it bad?” she asked. “Been hurt worse,” I said. “That doesn’t answer the question.”

And raises a whole bunch of new ones.

I didn’t feel like answering that one. “They weren’t for me. It was for a friend. This’ll be the first time stitching myself up.”

Where's PanPan when you need her?

“It’s a house. A boring, ordinary house that my grandmother lived in for her entire life.” “Our��grandmother,” she replied. “It’s soulless,

Like Granny!

The second page… is going out of its way to outline that the notes accompanying the text ‘aren’t binding nor are they intended to be read as such’…

Ah, the height of ass-covering.

“Does it make more sense that we’re really truly free to walk away, or that there’s a trap waiting for us if we try?” “A trap,”

Soulless, like I said.

In the midst of the briefs and warnings regarding renovations, I saw a floor plan. Room layout.

Secret room!

The room was a study. A library. There were two parts to the room, suggesting it took up two floors in the house. The upper half was a ring, looking down through an opening, bordered with bookcases on the four exterior walls, with a wrought iron railing keeping people from falling through the hole in the middle. Soft, mottled light shone down from a dust-caked window in the ceiling, lighting both halves of the library better than lightbulbs lit the rest of the house.

SECRET LIBRARY! YASSSS! GIMMIE!

Pitiable: Transcriptions from informal dialogues with Vampir.

Vampire's are sexy, not pitiable. Stupid Wildbow not getting basic facts right. :P

Where did I even start, when it came to trying to look up bird-skull undead things?

Look for a Monster Manual? Seriously, I'd legit start with TTRPGs and then use the names they use for whatever those are as a starting point. Games are name magpies so it'll be a good starting point.

I sat back while I watched her take it all in. In the frame of the mirror, she turned and walked over to a bookcase, picking up a book. No effect on my end, I noted.

It's weird the sort of mirror but only partially existing space she lives in.

The Index is a catalogue of all things found in my library, which I penned myself, and will help direct you to solutions to whatever ails you.

Or you could check the index for 'bird skull undead things' I suppose.

The family line is a long one, and we have had some involvement in more anagogic sciences since the early 1800’s.

Call a spade a spade. it's magic. Pretentious bitch.

Magic. However, all things have a price, and it is impossible to become rich, powerful, wise or strong without paying in some form. For this reason, among others, practitioners rarely ascend to any great status and remain there. But our predecessors tried, they accrued a karmic debt, and they have passed it on to their children, and their children’s children, and so on down the line.

Aaaah, generational trauma. Wildbow's favorite plot device, apparently.

Also

youtube

Beings as long-lived as powerful Others have trouble telling us apart, when we live and die so quickly and when we often look the same, and it helps to establish a pedigree or pattern.

"all you Thornburns look alike!"

On a graver level, you may well doom yourselves and the bloodline with your failure, depending on how it plays out.

Eh. Feel like the bloodline deserves some solid doom.

Do not allow your familiar to take the form of a rat or dog.

But Cats are okay? Please say Cats are okay?

5. Find a good man to marry. By this, I don’t mean that he should be decent and kind. Such may be a detriment. You will need an ally in this, and a man who can support you in more mundane matters will give you strength in this world. I reckon many of the best partnerships in the recent past came about when our family married bastards rather than gentlemen.

Is this Granny being homophobic, or Others being homophobic? Or her just knowing all her granddaughters are straight?

6. Attend the council meetings. Second Saturday of every month, at the park, in the twilight hours. In a five year term, there will be sixty such meetings. Miss six in total, and your rights to the property will be forfeit.

Harsh.

“I’m supposed to marry a guy. I’m getting the impression this isn’t the first obstacle I’m going to run into.” “Gay marriage is legal,” she said. “I’m not gay.” I said. “I wonder if the lawyers will allow me any leeway, here.”

You can probably get away with this one. But also it's not like #5 has a specific timeframe or penalty clause.

8. See our bloodline to the end of the fifth year with less of a debt than we had at the start of your custodianship.

Wanna enlighten us as to how to reduce the debt, Granny? Since it sounds like the only way to survive is gonna be more debt.

Which I suppose is a nice late stage capitalism/cyberpunk dystopia type stuff.

Make no major deals or bargains. Until the end of the custodianship, you’ll need to run any major deals past Mr. Beasley (including the three major rituals. He will protect you from other decisions, or lend his aid if he can’t, but he will exact a price.

*rumplestiltskin voice* "All magic comes at a price!"

I'm never gonna be able to hear references to prices when it comes to magic related stuff without thinking of that line.

Mr. Beasley, as well as individuals you’ll find in Jacob’s Bell and the surrounding area, is described in a little black book I playfully dubbed Dramatis Personae, when I was younger. Our family has made enemies, and I confess that I have turned allies into more enemies.

Is Jacob's Bell some sort of magic-heavy area? How big is it as a town for it to have enough people to worry about? Hellmouth, Mystic Falls, what sort of vibe are we looking at?

Also: Granny made enemies out of allies? I'm stunned. I'm truly shocked to see gambling in this establishment.

I won’t ask forgiveness or understanding. I suspect you may find those things when the time comes for you to bear an heir and visit these wrongs on them.

Ah yes. Because generational trauma good.

“That old bitch.” “It doesn’t sound like she had a lot of choice,” Rose said. I spun around to stare at her. “You’re awfully sympathetic to the old woman who has your name,” I said. “Can we verify, again, that you’re really a female me?”

Everyone's got choices. Granny just made the ones she did. maybe they were the best option, maybe they weren't, but eh.

Also, I mean, she's a female Blake, but she presumably had different life experiences.

“We’re allies, Blake. Allies, understand? Look, the letter said a magic user can’t lie, right? I’m a unicorn from outer space, and I can’t speak English. See?”

If you can't use magic, what kind of use are you an ally, bitch? :P

Orange, purple and green cloth covers,

Orange? Purple? And Green? God, those three together have to make a garish eyesore

There were tabs. One for ‘allies’, which was virtually empty, with only the lawyer’s number.

Calling your lawyer an ally is like calling your therapist your friend.

Devils and Details.

Subtitle drop!

Pact

TITLE DROP!

She’d written them.

Given that she's the reason you're in your current predicament, how useful is her advice in her books?

Still intriguing, though the length of these chapters is making me consider going back to what I did with Worm after a while, a bunch of smaller posts per chapter. I dunno. We'll see.

#Kylia Reads Pact #Pactblr #Otherverse #Pact Web Serial #Bonds 1.3 #Youtube

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got-into-worm-by-mistake · 2 months ago

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Kylia Reads Pact: Bonds 1.2

(This is a liveblog, written as I read, please do not spoil me for anything involving Pact, I am endeavoring to have as spoiler free an experience reading the work as I possibly can)

I was dressed and heading out the door in less than a minute, a plain black toque pulled over my hair.

Its rare that I have to look words up when I read, at least English Language ones. Even if I don't know the word, context is usually enough. But I had to look up 'toque', which apparently is a common Canadian term for those knit winter hats people wear. I've always just called them knit hats (or caps, I'll be honest and say I'm inconsistent).

Worm definitely had it's Candianisms, but I suppose I should expect more in Pact since Pact is explicitly set in Canada. I may have to hit up a Canadian friend for more terms if more come up.

Kind of embarrassing honestly, now that I think about it, how little Canadian 'words for things' (as it were) I actually know. I probably know more Britishisms than Canadian ones.

Mirror people, visions of talking dogs and stretched faces, vampire hunters or witch hunters or whatever they were. It was unbelievable, impossible to wrap my head around. So I didn’t believe it, didn’t try to understand it. I didn’t disbelieve it either. I was processing it, really, filing it all away for future consideration.

Okay, but I was under the impression that the Otherverse was one where magic and stuff was like, a known quantity, not some hidden secret world.

I had never been mistreated, exactly, but there hadn’t been a lot of love to go around either.

Guessing we can lay a lot of blame for that on Granny. Wildbow sure loves his familial generational trauma.

Molly’s death wouldn’t have been random. There had been a reason, and that reason had driven my grandmother to do what she’d done. All of the fallout from that, the divide in the family, the animosity that had driven me from home to a cold, hostile, unfriendly world, shared that same root cause.

I wouldn't be surprised if there was some magical principle at work that said only one person could actually inherit and have the protection. Though said protection comes with the enemies. Really Granny shouldn't have let anyone inherit her enemies, but Granny's a bitch, so :shrug:

“Blake? It’s five in the morning.” He had a trace of a Quebecois accent. “Joel. It’s an emergency. I need your car.” “Yeah?” He switched from annoyance to concern in an instant. “Need a ride?” “Out of town emergency. I’ve got to steal your car for a bit. Please.” “How long?” he asked, turning away from the door.

The fact that this is Joel's response does say a lot about their relationship. It's not 'fuck off' or 'I'm not letting you have my car', it's 'how long'. Which isn't an immediate yes, but it's a very specific delay of an answer.

“Shhh,” he interrupted me. I made myself stop. Very calm, soothing, he said, “It’s fine. I’m so sorry about your cousin, baby.”

Very interesting choice of term for Blake here.

The girl in the mirror raised her arms. Forearms crossed against one another, forming an ‘x’. “Do me another huge favor?” I asked. “What’s that?” Joel replied. When he looked at me, I had trouble meeting his eyes. I wasn’t used to omitting the truth when dealing with friends. “Go back to bed. Sleep. I’ve got a bad feeling, and I’m not sure if it’s just because I feel like you’ll never get back to bed if you go now or if it’s something else. But I’ve got to go, and I feel like I’d be a lot happier if I knew you were in bed, instead of wandering around a dark building alone.”

Please listen to Blake, Joel. I like you already.

“No. I think I’m you. Your- our parents named me after her.” I was silent, taking that in. “I know I’m supposed to say something witty here, make a quip, but I’m barely thinking straight,” I said. “I’m you, with one fundamental difference,” Rose elaborated. “I’m a girl. I think grandmother is trying to game the system somehow. A failsafe or trap or something, that kicks in when Molly dies and the inheritance turns over.”

So weird opposite gender alternate universe clone thing?

I’ve got a lifetime of memories, but I get that I’m a fake.

That's gotta suck tho, tbh

“Paige is last?” I asked. Okay, I got that maybe Kathryn would fit. She was a mom, a professional. A serious personality. Maybe a bit cutthroat, but I could get that. “Paige is last,” she said.

I'm guessing Paige is too practical minded for Granny, most likely. She was probably never in the running.

“A bit ago,” I said, noncommittal. No use volunteering unnecessary information.

I suppose it makes sense to not give too much info to your weird mirror doppelganger.

Was there a chance this was all a lie? I could wonder if I was losing my mind, but… I felt lucid.

"I don't feel insane, so I must be fine" is not really how this works, Blake :P

While that wasn’t a guarantee I was sane, I knew, but I felt lucid, and it was hard to sell myself the idea that I was insane, if there weren’t any clear symptoms.

At least he's aware

“I’m not any happier,” she said. “If something chases us, you can run. Where can I run? There isn’t much room, on this side.”

Where exactly is she? Some sort of... mirror space? A liminal world between reality and nonexistence?

Can the thing that might chase them even hurt her there?

“It’s not- no. Blake, the lawyer told me to go. He pointed in a direction, and told me to take a leap of faith if I wanted to help you. I did what he said, and now I’m here. I’m jumping from mirror to mirror, and I’m worried I’m going to jump and I’ll miss, and I’m not sure what happens when I do.”

Kinda terrifying when you think about it.

It was a person, tall, dressed in a long cloak or layered garment of some sort. Right in the middle of the road. The cloth had been white to begin with, it looked like, but it was badly stained. He –or she– wore a mask or a helmet shaped like an overlarge bird’s skull, with a pair of antlers.

Well, there's a villain for ya.

“We left it behind,” I said, firmer. “You got close, and it latched on,” Rose said. “Believe me on this.” Again, I turned around, trying to see where it might have done so. Nothing outside the windows, nothing in the mirrors. When I returned my attention to the road, my eyes darting up to the mirror, she insisted, “It did. It still feels like it’s here.”

I believe Rose, but I wonder where it could be. Again, based on some earlier line, I'm imagining there's some sort of liminality in the space it exists, maybe?

I didn’t have weapons. I didn’t have much of anything. Even information was scarce. How was I supposed to label the bird skull thing?

I was really under the impression this was all a known quantity to at least some extent in-universe. Huh. I guess I was wrong, or something.

It had been three quarters of the way full when I’d started driving. Now it was at the twenty percent mark.

So it somehow is siphoning the gas? Man, that's just fucking cheating.

“You cannot leave me here!” There was a note of hysteria in her voice.

Are you even there? Like, where are you and can the bird mask antler dude even get to you?

I hesitated, then used my bag, looping the strap around the mirror. I hauled down with almost all of my weight. It snapped off.

You are gonna have to owe Joel a mighty big explaination.

I found the spare tire and a slot for the tire iron. I grabbed the iron.

Classic weapon. Only less classic than a crowbar or baseball bat, honestly.

If the cell phone hadn’t worked because it was scuffed, then this might be having the same problems. I needed a clear reflection, apparently.

Figuring out the rules as you go.

Except I couldn’t be sure it would work. They might find themselves running out of gas in some inexplicable manner. Then the good Samaritan would be caught up in this.

So do all these magical shit mess with technology, or just this one? Also, where is the case going? Disrupting electronics is a lot simpler than just... disappearing gasoline like it's a dissident in the Soviet Union.

I might as well have struck another tire iron, for all it mattered. The weapon bounced off the hand, the hand was knocked back, and then it clawed at my face. I twisted partially away, keeping it from getting my eyes, and felt the pain in my cheek, instead. I backed away, and my scarf stayed. Caught in the ragged ends of the nails.

Fun! I guess it was nice knowing Blake! Great web serial Wildbow, nice and short! (/s)

“No way,” I said. Taking a step to the side, so I was as off the road as I could get without standing in the snowbank. “I get what you’re after. You want me to get hit by a car or something.”

So it's a creature that causes or creates nice and 'accidental' deaths, then?

Standing still, waiting for this thing to make a move, I could feel my legs getting colder. I wasn’t wearing long johns.

Does anyone wear long johns?

“How does this end, then?” I asked. “We wait out here by the side of the road until I freeze to death?”

"So what now, Jack Sparrow? Are we to be two immortals locked in an epic battle until Judgment Day and trumpets sound?"

The figure pushed through the cover of branches. A bird skull, a covering of overlapping hides, bleached white and stained, and a heavy wreath of branches around the neck and shoulders, like a nest.

Same one, different one?

There, in the distance, in a gap between neat rows of trees. A third, with the hides forming a hood over the bird skull. Shorter than the others.

So a whole pack of them. And they have visual distinctions, so they're not all identical. Fascinating.

Were they wanting me to try to cross? Was that the plan?

If they're trying to get you to die by accident/natural causes/etc, then... would they actually stop you if you just forced your way past them? Granted, I can see why maybe you don't try that, but.

“I don’t think they’ve got brains in those skulls,” I said. “Someone gave them orders.” “Makes sense. Who?” “Does it matter? I think those orders are why they’re behaving this way. Barring my path to keep me from certain areas. Driving me away from shelter, wearing me out.” “They want plausible deaths.”

Which means they probably don't have permission to kill you if you just try and force your way past them.

“Go for an implausible death?”

Good plan.

“All I can figure is they don’t want to claw me to death.” “Molly was clawed to death,” Rose said. I closed my eyes. “They don’t want to kill two of us the same way,” she said. “Molly was partially eaten, too, but I don’t think these guys are the type.”

That would definitely attract too much attention.

The three-masked one slowly removed one mask from its shoulder. It dawned on me. That mask was going to be mine.

Huh?

Woman’s hands, oddly enough, with flecks of nail polish still on one. Wizened, worn, abused, with bits of nail splintered off where they had maybe scraped violently against something.

So they're made from corpses?

It lay there for a good ten seconds before the ice broke. I watched as the things plunged into the water. Leaving me with only two to deal with.

Does it really? Do these things even drown?

“If you’re positive,” he said. “I don’t want you haunting me or anything, and I don’t want lawsuits either. I don’t make that much money.”

Such a Samaritan.

We’d have a relatively safe way to the house, soon enough. We couldn’t get there fast enough, for the shelter or the answers we could find there.

I imagine this is gonna be pretty common. Just sorta surviving rather than winning. Very Wildbow.

Another interesting chapter. I remain intrigued.

#Pactblr #Kylia Reads Pact #Pact Web Serial #Otherverse #Bonds 1.2

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got-into-worm-by-mistake · 2 months ago

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Jesus christ that was a long chapter though. I don't remember Gestation 1.1. being that long.

#Kylia Reflects on Pact

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got-into-worm-by-mistake · 2 months ago

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Kylia Reads Pact: Bonds 1.1

(This is a liveblog of Pact, written as I read. Please do not spoil me, I am trying to maintain a spoiler free experience of reading Pact)

I was already regretting coming. Damn me, I thought, not for the first or second time.

I don't think I have ever used the phrase 'damn me' in my life, or heard anyone else use it, in this sort of manner.

Their eyes on my back, I pushed my motorcycle, guiding it through the gap between car and fence. I set it on the lawn, leaning against the inside of the fence.

He has a motorcycle? Does he look cool on it?

It fit, somehow. No consideration to the guests, only self-aggrandizement.

*snort*

I kicked off my boots and made my way past the front hallway and into the actual house, tucking my shirt into my jeans as I went.

A nice touch about his family, that he feels the need to tuck his shirt in before seeing them. I don't bother to do that before I see either of my parents. Especially not with jeans.

Books lined shelves in nearly every room with an available wall, some old with cracked spines, some new, recent bestsellers. It was all sorted more like a library than a home, clearly by some arrangement of age and alphabetized.

Okay, but now I'm jealous. I want this house. A house that is more like a library than a house sounds perfect.

A litterbox, with a toy. Not a dirty litterbox, to look at it, which struck me as odd. I couldn’t imagine my family had emptied it. It didn’t fit them.

Someone has to, Blake (I assume Blake?). Unless they just have a litterbox but no cat for some weird twisted reason.

When I crested the top of the stairs, I saw them. One family, divided into four factions, all dressed in black.

Ah, politics.

Nine cousins, spread into three camps. Uncle Paul, his ex-wife, and my Aunt Irene.

Four factions and three camps? What, is there one faction no cousins want to be in? Poor that faction? Or do the camps cross-section the factions the way pre-1789 France was a crazy quilt of overlapping and mutually exclusive jurisdictions for every little thing? (Court districts didn't line up with provinces didn't line up with tax districts didn't line up with church dioceses)

My Uncle Paul had a wealth of kids, four by his first wife, two by his second. The oldest of my cousins had a child of her own, while his youngest was twelve. Six in all, with Paige and her twin brother Peter in the middle. Those two would just be partway into college, I was pretty sure.

Am I going to have to keep track of all of these cousins?

Paige and Peter being the only ones namechecked suggests that maybe they're the only ones that matter.

Paige looked like she wanted to approach me, but doing so meant getting between Uncle Paul and Aunt Irene, as they pointed fingers, digging at each other. I tuned the words out. It had been a while, but I knew this refrain already.

I may not like spending time with my extended family (most just because I am an introvert who'd rather just sit and read) but while I'm jealous of the Thornburn house, not jealous of this family. Not at all.

Uncle Paul’s family, his first wife Stephanie, my Aunt Irene, each with their respective kids. Three groups, three factions. The fourth group would be ‘mine’, for lack of a better word. My cousin Paige had recognized me before they did. My parents.

Ah. So there are no cousins in the 4th faction because it's his branch of the family. At least until someone marries their cousin. Which I already feel like I couldn't put it past someone in the Thornburn family.

Kinda boring that the factions are just that simple tho. Any mutual assassinations? if there's no assassinations, are they even factions?

“Except for leaving to spend the night with friends and never coming back?” my dad asked. I responded with a glare. He changed the topic, “I can’t help but notice you got tattoos.” I looked down. The shadows of my tattoos were visible through the sleeves of my dress shirt. I pressed my sleeve down so it was flat against my arm, making the tattoos, clear. “Watercolor tattoos, by friends. An artist friend I owe a lot to offered to outline them, another friend inked them.”

If I had this family, I'd leave and never come back too, at least if I had to deal with it regularly.

Watercolor tattoos? Those are a thing? He can't mean like, someone painted on his skin with watercolors, right?

I had set rules for myself, to avoid getting caught up in this energy, yet I was baiting my father. I could see him squirm, wanting to say something. Question was, would he be willing to criticize the tattoos so soon after my homecoming?

Old habits die hard?

“I’m glad you’re safe,” he said, with almost no affect. “You know I never harbored any ill will.” “I know you didn’t.” I held my tongue before I added anything else. That wasn’t ever the problem, was it? I shrugged, my hands in my pockets, and looked at the baby. “Who’s this?”

So was the problem the lack of any will, not just ill will?

“Ivy,” my mother said. “She’s one and a half.” “Hi Ivy,” I said. She responded by pressing her head against our mother’s shoulder. “Busy soaking it all in, kiddo, so you have some good stories to tell your therapist, ten years down the line?”

So Blake didn't even leave a phone number or email or social media? What kind of teenager isn't on Faebook, or whatever socialmedia the Otherverse has?

(are there even Fae in the Otherverse? Don't tell me)

“How hard did you look, Dad? Mom? I got in touch with some of my old friends, you know. Seeing what happened. My friends, the only ones you actually called, said you stopped asking about me after a month.”

What, was this some sort of BS test to see if they cared? Man, Blake, that's stupid.

“Nothing to say,” I said. “Is it okay if I send Ivy some presents for the special occasions? Birthdays, Christmas?” “You don’t get to pick and choose,” my dad said. “Family isn’t a halfway thing.”

....I don't see how sending presents for occasions is 'picking and choosing'. I can see why Blake wanted out if this is how the family defines things.

“Got a call,” I said. I glanced back at my parents. The lawyer found me, alive and well, without much trouble.

Lawyer has a job and money on the line if he doesn't find Blake. That'll always motivate someone.

figured this was maybe the last time we’d all be together.

So at least the shitty cousins don't live in the same house as Blake.

(As an aside, I am now recalling the experience of feeling like a Worm Chapter should be over about 2/3s of the way through it. He really does write long chapters.)

“If you think you’re going to worm your way in-“ “If I was, do you think I’d be wearing these jeans?”

Someone's dead and there's a will, obviously.

“Jesus fuck,” she said, for the second time. “Hey, Paige.” She reached out, arms extended for a hug, and I flinched. I stepped back, and nearly knocked a picture off the wall behind me as I bumped into the wall. She looked stricken. Her arms dropped to her side. Her hair was done up in a french braid, and she looked as comfortable in her clothing as her older sister hadn’t. It was how she’d always been. Prim, proper, preppy. She was almost into her twenties, now, but I could see where she could easily be at home in the world of ties and pantsuits. “No, I just-” I said. “I… reflex.”

Why doesn't he like being hugged?

Also where's Rose? That's like the only other spoiler I have, that she exists.

I knew what she was asking, but I answered a different question instead. “I didn’t see any reason to stay, so I left.” “You ran away.” “I always think of little kids leaving with a bundle on a stick, when I think of ‘running away’.”

I think we can all blame old Warner Brothers cartoons for that.

“Not a word, not a call? I mean, I know we weren’t close, but I thought maybe you’d say something, let me know you were okay.” “I didn’t make it hard to find me. I figured I’d go back or whatever if anyone bothered enough to track me down. But they didn’t, so I didn’t.”

Okay, so yeah, it was a test, ish. Pretty shit move, Blake.

“You still keep in touch with the people from high school? Shannon? Miracle?” “Mira. She’s finally going by a different name. No longer a testament to why immigrants shouldn’t let their kids choose their English names. She still asks about you, you know?”

I mean, Miracle ain't a great name, but I've heard far worse ones given to white people born in America by white people born in America. Does Canada not have stupid Candians giving their kids stupid names, or is Paigey just a bit racist?

“Yeah,” Molly said, hugging herself tighter. “They weren’t all made up. That bit about great-grandpa and great-grandma being related?”

CALLED IT!

*banjos begin playing in the background*

“Killed,” Paige said. “I don’t think it counts as murder if it’s during a duel.”

Depends on the laws involved. And also if dueling is legal. Or was, anyway.

“I love arguing semantics,” Paige said, smiling mischievously. “Don’t get me started.”

You'll make a great lawyer then, Paige.

Too many things that don’t fit. Strangers knowing who I am and not liking me right off the bat. Does that make sense?”

Getting real 'the store that wasn't there' vibes.

Like a third of the people around here have decided we’re their mortal enemies.”

Nothing like a good blood feud to keep an urban fantasy story full of hexes and curses.

“You are their mortal enemy, Molly. We are. It’s a small town, people obsess over the smallest things, and this is a big deal to people.

Fuck Small Towns. All my homies hate small towns.

“Fuck you, Peter. Fuck you!” Paige said. Even from the far end of the hallway, there were tears in her eyes. Peter smirked. “I didn’t say anything that wasn’t true.” “You don’t know anything, you asshole. Fuck you! I needed this.” “Ellie needs it more.” “Ellie needs it because she’s a fuckup that hasn’t worked a day in her life. I’m trying to go to school, Peter! You make up lies, to sink me? You’re supposed to be my twin!”

Girls, girls, calm down, I'm sure you both suck.

Someone clearly didn't get much in the will. Wonder what lies Peter spread.

“I think you and Ellie have demonstrated you aren’t worth the effort,” Uncle Paul said, his voice low. He’d approached Paige, reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder.

Father of the Year, eh? *golf clap*

She stepped away, instead. She was crying, now. “I thought you’d at least play fair, Peter. Maybe you have to be loyal to Ellie because you grew up with her, but I thought you’d be fair, with me. We’re supposed to have a connection.”

Twins, but Peter grew up with Elle?

Also this does sound a bit odd from Paige just assuming Peter would side with her, tho if he did lie, that still seems a bit much on his end.

“It feels like all the rest of them are dressed like they can’t wait for my funeral. Or maybe they’re too cheap to buy two outfits for the occasion.”

I like this Granny. She's got attitude.

“With all due respect,” I said, picking my words carefully, “I don’t give a flying fuck, you disgusting, evil, rancid cunt.” I could see the nurse tense, though the lawyer didn’t react.

Lawyers hear worse than that from their clients every day, I'm sure.

“I would argue they are at the roots of their individual problems. I didn’t make them petty, I didn’t make them greedy,” she said. She sighed a little. “This ridiculous money business.”

Bitch, you raised them all. I'm sure you had a hand in making them petty.

“You took advantage of those things, making all of this one big fucked up game. Laying down the rule, that only one person gets the property and the millions from selling it. Then you say it has to be a grandchild-“

Well, that's a surefire way to create decades of intrafamilial spite and anger. Great going Granny.

“Don’t offer me anything, then, thank you,” I said. I looked at my grandmother. “I don’t want anything she has to offer. Not tea, not the inheritance-“ “To clarify,” she said, “I’ve stressed repeatedly that it’s a female grandchild that will get the inheritance.” “I’m not about to rule out the fact that you’re messing with us, grandmother. I could see you handing something over to Callan just to see our reactions. Not to mention the trouble I’m having with the ‘I’m dying’ bit, which you’re doing a really bad job of selling.”

:cackle:

Gotta say, I'm liking Blake, and at least right now, I'm enjoying the drama.

“Weren’t you a lawyer?” “I am a lawyer, Master Blake, and I expect to be one until I pass on. I’m disappointed that you would make assumptions about a whole profession.”

Lawyers don't generally actually lie. At least, they don't lie by falsehood. They lie with the truth. It's Tumblr's 3rd most favorite passtime, after lying with falsehood and lying by omission.

“He also fucked his cousin, if I remember right.”

*banjo intensifies*

“I only want to understand my grandchildren before I make my decision.”

Liar

“Then pick Paige,” I said. “She’s smart, she’s hard working, she’s independent. If you’re looking for a clone of yourself to inherit the place, to look after it, I’m betting she’ll fit the bill pretty well. She’s not a bitch, but I imagine you’ll have to make some concessions. Besides, if anyone can squeeze a few dollars out of this stone, without breaking the rules you set, it’s her. Get bribes from people, maybe, or figure out a way to keep the house while still draining the marsh, so she can go to law school.”

*cackle*

“I have to say, I’m painfully disappointed,” my grandmother said. Nobody had words to reply. “Don’t worry. The feeling is mutual,” I said, because someone had to.

I like Blake. I really do.

“Molly,” my grandmother said. “No,” Molly responded. “Until you’re twenty-five, the estate and all materials herein, my accounts, and all other pertinent materials enclosed in the documents,” my grandmother tapped the papers the lawyer held, “will be managed by Mr. Beasley and his firm. For that time period, you retain control over those assets, with free access to the full funds, modest as they are, and full access to all things relating to the property, excepting the ability to sell it. When you turn twenty-five, you may do with it as you wish.” “I don’t want it,” Molly said, stepping forward. “Molly! Don’t be rash!” Aunt Irene admonished her. “I don’t want it,” Molly said, again. She grabbed the footboard of the bed. “No.“ “Molly, don’t be silly.”

I mean, sell it when you're 25 and give the money to someone you like then? I don't really see the problem.

But also I'd bet Granny was looking for the granddaughter who did not want the property.

I watched as the nurse approached the bedside. He touched my grandmother’s hand. Things went quiet very quickly. Nurse Rich looked at his watch. “Two past twelve.”

Ah. So some sort of magic reason she was dying, to be so sure of the general when.

“Get out,” Molly said, her voice hard. “You heard my daughter,” Aunt Irene said. “Out. It’s her house and her say.” “You too,” Molly said. “Everyone out.” Aunt Irene looked shocked at that. Uncle Paul, for his part, smirked.

:rofl:

“Why is the cat dead?” she asked.

Presumably, it's her familiar.

Four months later.

Or maybe not 2/3s of the way through. Jesus christ Wibbles this is a long chapter. Good thing I was only planning on reading the one today.

“Huh,” the man at the one end of the table said. A member of the family. “I’d hoped she would slip in her old age. A shame, she made other arrangements.”

Suicide play? The plot thickens.

“Cold-forged iron,” he responded, a little sullen. “Bone. Paper. Every other follows different rule. What looks like a goblin could be a demon, or a wraith, or a glamour. I mean, you remember those ‘vampires’ from out west.”

I'm inclined to assume 'vampires' is in quotes because they aren't vampires since I gathered once WB doesn't want to write Vampires. (man has no taste, surprise surprise) But I guess we'll see.

“The faerie? Sure.” “You’re not getting what I’m saying. If they can fool themselves into thinking they’re vampires, and believe it to the point it becomes sort of true, sparkly skin aside, then they can fool us.

A dig at twilight. How 2013 Internet of him. :rofl:

“Molly’s dead,” she said. “You’re next.”

It wasn’t my face in the mirror above the sink. Nor my body. A girl looked at me, her forehead creased in worry. She was wearing a camisole and pyjama bottoms. She looked strangely familiar.

Huh. I thought Rose was his sister, but now I'm vaguely recalling something about her being a genderswapped version of him? Huh. is this rose?

“Blake, I get it. I do. But you’re next, understand? Grandmother made other arrangements, and those arrangements just came into play. The house is in your custody now, and so are all of Grandmother’s enemies. Understand? She has a lot. The house is sanctuary, Blake. Molly died because she panicked, and she left the safe ground. Don’t make that same mistake. Move. Run.” “But-” “Run!” She hit the mirror, and it cracked from the point of impact. Pieces on my end fell, landing on the countertop and sink. I ran.

Welp.

I'll give Wildbow a lot of shit, for stuff in Worm and Ward and his WoGs and his general conduct and probably for some shit in Pact, but uh... yeah. This sure is a great start.

#Kylia Reads Pact #Pactblr #Pact Web Serial #Otherverse #Bonds 1.1

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got-into-worm-by-mistake · 2 months ago

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The Live Read of Pact Is Here

This is a sideblog of @kyliafanfiction when I reply to replies on this blog, they sometimes come from that blog because tumblr is annoyingly designed.

This was my blog for my worm live-read, which is now done, and can be found under the tag '#Kylia Reads Worm', as well as my Worm Retrospective and various thoughts I had not while reading Worm, but while thinking about what I'd read, under the '#Kylia Reflects On Worm' tag.

As I noted during my live-read, and since, here and elsewhere, I went into Worm knowing it was not 'for me' (and came out really knowing that). Cape stuff is not really my main interest, I never really consumed comic books or much superhero media, so a lot of the meta-references and commentary on the genre that was baked into Worm went over my head, and a lot of the capeshit in general was just very 'shrug' to me.

And of course, during my live-read, I wrangled with the fact that I had spoiled myself for a lot, and had in the years before reading Worm, picked up errant bits and pieces of stuff about Worm from cultural osmosis. And also, I really took issue with a lot of Wildbow's choices, not just in Worm itself, but the Sequel that I don't want to (and won't) read.

But as anyone who read the liveblog knows, I do like Wildbow's overall writing. there are some amazing parts about Worm - Wildbow's character work tends to be very good, he writes compelling fiction, and in Worm, crafted an interesting world. He's a talented writer, whatever else is also true about him. So I have wanted to try reading more of his stuff. But there's also certain author habits of his that, by all accounts, persist in his other works, that I don't like.

So it's a mixed bag. But I wanted to try it, and so, I'm gonna try Pact. I have almost no spoilers beyond that the MC (apparently?) dies at the end, which is... well, it's WB, so I could have guessed that.

And unlike my lack of familiarity with the genre at work in Worm, I have read a lot of and know a good amount about the broader genre stuff that should presumably be informing Pact. Though given what I have heard (secondhand) is Wildbow's wildly off-base opinion on Vampires, we may be coming at this from very, very different directions, so I suppose we'll see.

#Kylia Reads Pact #Pactblr #Pact Web Serial

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got-into-worm-by-mistake · 3 months ago

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Chapters: 3/? Fandom: Dragon Age: Inquisition, Parahumans Series - Wildbow Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Amy Dallon/Original Female Character Characters: Amy Dallon | Panacea | Red Queen, Cassandra Pentaghast, Leliana (Dragon Age) Additional Tags: Crossover, Canon Divergence, Teenage Inquisitor (Dragon Age), Knowledge of Dragon Age Is Intended To Not Be Necessary To Follow The Story, Isekai, Amy Dallon and Her Hudson News Worth of Issues, Self-Loathing, guilt complex, Mommy Issues, Limerence, What Would Vicky Do?, Is a Question She’ll be Asking Herself A Lot, Amy Dallon is the Herald of Andraste, Amy Dallon is the Inquisitor, Because putting a traumatized self-loathing teenager with superpowers in charge of a quasi-religious military organization is a great plan!, Spoiler Alert: It ends up actually working out, But It’s Going To Take Time To Get There, Because Amy Dallon Is A Mess, The Amy Romance will be very slow burn, Amy Dallon Needs A Hug, Amy Dallon Will Need To Experiment With Her Powers, But Only To An Extent Because She’s Still Terrified Of Them, Amy’s Powers Will Play A Key Role At Various Points In The Story, Additional Character Tags to be Added Series: Part 1 of Amy Dallon, Hero of Thedas Summary:

Amy Dallon. Panacea. A self-loathing, damaged, troubled young woman who’s sanity teeters on the edge of a knife. In love with her sister, feeling like an alien intruder in her own family, desperate for the approval of a mother seemingly unable to give it, and overwhelmed by the monstrous potential of a power she never wanted.

In theory, the last person you would want to rest the entire fate of the world on.

But when a Bakuda bomb plucks her from Earth-Bet and drops her in Thedas, leaving her with a glowing green mark on her hand, and a hole in the sky that only she can close, Amy will have no choice to rise to the occasion - or die trying.

I’m probably going to die trying - Amy Dallon, 9:41 Dragon.

—————

I don’t think I’ve actually crossposted about this one here. Anyway, I’ve mentioned this fic a few times as something I was planning, and if you like Amy, the this may a fic for you. Let’s see how this girl and her issues handles being forced to save the world!

#My Fic #Shameless Self-Promotion

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got-into-worm-by-mistake · 4 months ago

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@neoduelverse

@kyliafanfiction That’s not a helpful answer.

I mean, I wasn't trying to be helpful? I think I was pretty obviously trying to be snarky. Also not sure why you're chiming in on a comment from January on a post even older than that

But the point being, if someone thinks Worm is genuinely 'one of the best books [they've] ever read' (to the point where they're apparently utterly baffled by my post here) then the gulf in our perspective is so vast that there's just no common ground for us to have a meaningful conversation (or at least one that I feel like having). I have genuinely not met anyone - short of like, Ridtom - who loved Worm so much that they don't believes that the story has some issues and problems that very much make it 'not for everybody', so I'm not sure how the person I replied to could be so baffled by my opinion. Even if they didn't share it, it should be readily understandable. That it's not suggests that there's just no common ground. This isn't to say they're wrong, it's a matter of opinion, but I have no real interest in discussion across a gulf that large. Besides, if you or the person I responded to really needed to know why I see Worm the way I do, you have an entire liveblog that makes my opinion clear, not to mention my post-Worm retrospectives. All of which were posted before the person I responded to replied to my post.

As this reply may make clear, I can be somewhat long winded when I get going, and I don't really feel the need to rehash it all again when I've said it a few dozen times already.

Also, like, if my answer wasn't 'helpful' (again, not that I was trying to be), your comment is also not helpful? And maybe you too, are not trying to be helpful, but if you really care, I have an entire liveblog for ya. Have at it, or leave me alone. I don't care to repeat myself. I have and have said my opinion, I'm comfortable with it, and I don't owe you or anyone else any more answer than I care to give.

Around a third of the way into Worm, by Arc count, and I've come a conclusion:

Everyone who told me I shouldn't read Worm, when I asked around before I did? They were right.

BUT

Everyone who told me I should read Worm? They were also right.

I don't think I could ever, in good conscience, recommend Worm to anyone. But I do think, perhaps paradoxically, that people should read it. I just don't want to bear the moral responsibility for anyone's experience of reading it.

Worm exists in a quantum superposition of 'everyone should read it' and 'no one should read it'.

#Kylia Isn't Presently Reading Worm #Kylia Answers Your Pressing Questions #In A Manner Of Speaking

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got-into-worm-by-mistake · 4 months ago

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Are you going to do a readthrough of Wildbow's other stuff like you did Worm? (I know you're not doing Ward)

The plan is to try Pact, which, as I understand it, is Urban Fantasy and thus more in my wheelhouse than Worm. If I enjoy that, I'll be trying Pale, Claw and Seek. (Twig will not be read, on account of the transphobia)

If I don't like Pact, odds are I just don't like Wildbow's style, which is entirely plausible.

But with Worm having been such an exhausting read, I needed (and need) a break before I read Pact. The plan was ~6 months, and that is indeed still the plan. So at some point in May, give or take, I'll start reading Pact and I'll do my liveblogging on @got-into-worm-by-mistake

(Probably won't change the name, even if I'm reading Pact, though it will be under the 'Kylia Reads Pact' tag and so forth, of course).

Wildbow is an unquestionably talented writer (though all available evidence suggests I wouldn't enjoy talking to the man. I may or may not be right - I have no desire or intention to find out, and someone can be unpleasant in conversation and still a good writer), but talent alone doesn't make something enjoyable.

I did enjoy Worm - as I've said, about 60% enjoyed it. Hopefully, I'll enjoy Pact more than that.

Going in more or less blind - beyond knowing that the MC suffers and apparently dies at the end (Maybe? Don't tell me if I'm right or wrong) and that it happens over a pretty quick timescale, I know very, very little about Pact, and that's going to also make the experience interesting.

I was spoiled for virtually all the plot points, twists and key details of Worm before I read it, and the experience of *knowing* the payoff for various things made the experience better overall, even if it did have it's downsides.

So with Pact... who knows, I suppose, right?

#Blog Management Tag #Kylia Isn't Presently Reading Pact #Self-Reblogging For Fun And Profit

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got-into-worm-by-mistake · 5 months ago

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Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Parahumans Series - Wildbow Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Amy Dallon | Panacea | Red Queen & Victoria Dallon | Glory Girl | Antares, Amy Dallon | Panacea | Red Queen/Taylor Hebert | Skitter | Weaver Characters: Taylor Hebert | Skitter | Weaver, Amy Dallon | Panacea | Red Queen, Victoria Dallon | Glory Girl | Antares Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Taylor Is a Vampire, Amy Is Still Panacea, Victoria Dallon is Super Vanilla, And Doesn’t Know What To Think When She Gets a Glimpse At Amy’s Kinks, Victoria Is A Bit Overprotective, But She Does Love Her Sister, And Mostly Just Wants Her To Be Happy Series: Part 6 of Earth-Bets That Weren’t, Part 2 of Bloody Bliss Summary:

Victoria Dallon knows her sister, and knows her many quirks and foibles. So when she finds out Amy has been cutting her hours at the hospital, she immediately worries something is wrong with her sister. She should have been less worried, though she definitely isn’t sure how she feels about this Taylor girl her sister is dating now.

Spacebattles Link | Sufficient Velocity Link | Questionable Questing Link

#My Fic

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got-into-worm-by-mistake · 7 months ago

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Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Parahumans Series - Wildbow Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Amy Dallon | Panacea | Red Queen/Taylor Hebert | Skitter | Weaver Characters: Taylor Hebert | Skitter | Weaver, Amy Dallon | Panacea | Red Queen Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Taylor Is a Vampire, Amy Is Still Panacea, Unhealthy Relationships, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, But Also Probably As Healthy As They Can Get In A Lot Of Ways, Useless Lesbians, Amy Especially Series: Part 4 of Earth-Bets That Weren’t Summary:

“Do I have permission to heal you?” Wash, rinse, repeat. Even after moving out of Carol’s house, that’s still Amy’s life. Built up over years, the numbness was broken only by her crush on her sister. Until one day, Amy met someone - until Amy had her blood drunk by Taylor Hebert, a vampire. The blissful feeling of her blood being drained cut through the numbness of her life, letting her feel contentment, real contentment, for the first time in years. But after six months, Amy doesn’t want to just be Taylor’s blood bag. She wants to be more.

If only she could bring herself to admit it.

—————

Vampires + Lesbians. Is there anything more fun? :P Vampires + Lesbians + Pillbug, I suppose :rofl:

Also first time I posted anything with Taylor onscreen, so there’s that. Hope I got her reasonably correct.

Spacebattles Link | Sufficient Velocity Link | Questionable Questing Link

#My Fic #Worm Fanfiction

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got-into-worm-by-mistake · 7 months ago

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Okay, I've Read Worm: A Retrospective Part 5: What Was I Fucking Surprised By?

So, as you may remember, I got into Worm thoroughly spoiled by the wiki and Wormblr and r/parahumans and r/Wormfanfic and actual Worm fanfic. I knew pretty much all the basic details of all the plot twists. And yet, of course, there are things I didn't expect, things the fandom or the wiki mislead me about, etc. Things I was surprised by.

So let's talk about a few:

Taylor Hebert: As I've said, I kind of worried, before reading Worm, that I'd find Taylor insufferable. The sort of character that tries to be a hero and then convinces themselves to do all sorts of bad stuff while telling themselves they're still a hero/good person/etc is hard to write well without being really unpleasant to read/watc/etc. Self-righteousness in general is hard to enjoy for me. Taylor, honestly, stops thinking of herself as a good person partway through the post-Levi period, in most ways, and she never gets self-righteous about it. So Taylor was much more sufferable than I thought. Which is good, because I would have dropped Worm like a hot potato if she'd been insufferable as the main POV.

Eidolon & The Endbringers: (Sounds like a band name). The whole 'you needed Worthy opponents' thing, and the way people talked about Eidolon (seriously, this fandom as a whole is hugely unfair to the guy, istg) really gave me the impression of like, this vainglorious piece of shit guy who wants adulation and doesn't care how he gets it. And like... I don't get that impression from his Interlude at all? He doesn't seem to give two shits about fame, just about knowing what he did mattered. And he knew that well before the Endbringers. Obviously, he subconsciously created them, and then [High Priest] got all goddamn malicious in his compliance but he's not the vainglorious asshole who charges off to face Scion in single combat or w/e the way the fanfiction gave me that impression. Also, like, maybe it's just me, but I define 'Worthy Opponent' as 'something the person could have a reasonable chance of defeating in a solo fight'. So for me, a worthy opponent would be a rowdy 12 year old with maybe a white belt in karate. the Endbringers are not solo-able opponents for Eidolon. So absolutely not doing what he actually wanted. I really think the fandom is unfairly hard on Eidolon.

Interlude 15.x: Look, at the risk of starting discourse - I'm sorry. I've read 15.x Backwards and forwards and there is just Nothing pointing towards rape in the text, even looking for it as I was. I really expected I'd see some line, some implication, some fucking hint and there's just... absolutely nothing. The text of Worm as written, whatever Wildbow claims he meant and whatever he did mean, does not support a rape interpretation of events. And that sure as fuck surprised me.

Extinction 8.6: The way people - and even some fics - talked about the scene where Amy messes with Taylor post-Leviathan made it sound like Amy straight up ripped off Taylor's mask or something extreme like that, and then Taylor sees unmasked Sophia while trying to run and hide after being unmasked. What we got was Amy being a bit of a bitch, deliberately refusing to answer a question Taylor asked because she knew not answering would upset the girl (not cool), Amy's bedside manner being shit, and Taylor's own paranoia (and the godawful choice of the heroes to handcuff her to the bed) filling in the blanks. And this absolutely tepid-ass shit is pointed to by people as proof that 'Amy was a bitch the whole time'.

The Leviathan Fight: It was a lot shorter than I expected. I enjoyed reading it in ways I was worried I wouldn't.

Cauldron: Now, here's the thing. Characters that do bad things, knowing they're bad, but in pursuit of a greater good? That shit is my goddamn jam. I fucking love characters like that. They're my catnip! And I went into Worm sympathetic as FUCK to Cauldron. and I come out of Worm going 'Jesus Christ what a bunch of fucking idjits!' Their shoestring illuminati was run by a bunch of teenagers who never grew up and a college student who's a worse control freak than Taylor. Their incompetence appears to be the whole point (until Wildbow's WoGs turned everything into Cauldron social engineering and he went out of his way to make a big thing about how Cauldron was totes necessary for making things better. Man just cannot shut up). They try for decades to put some final fight against Scion together, and they fail epicly. No groundwork, no real success, and they turned to ACCORD for their post-apocalyptic plans. And apparently had no plan for a mass Case-53 breakout/attack. Which is... sure a choice. Dumping the Case-53s the way they did. The choice of which Case 53s to dump (Sveta sure was a choice of who to just... let out into the world. Like, not an issue with her personally, but you don't release that kind of uncontrollable murder tentacle out into the world, maybe? Just maybe?). I went into Worm thinking I'd be on Cauldron's side, at least a little, and I came out just... god no, you people are stupid.

Amy's Birdcage Arc: I really thought we'd see more of Amy's time in the birdcage, but 16.z really was all we got.

Alexandria's Death: I don't quite know what I did expect, but I didn't expect Alexandria's death to be so goddamn Darwin-award worthy. The woman died like the biggest of CHUMPs and that was much funnier than I expected.

The Drugs are Fantastic line: I knew it was being taken out of context, but it wasn't quite in the place I expected, I'll be honest. Not sure what I did expect.

Taylor's Weaver Arc/The Timeskip: I expected... I dunno. Less of an abrupt transition, I guess? I thought the timeskip would be like, a series of small scenes skipping ahead over two years between them? Instead, right in the middle of Arc 25, it just jumps ahead two years without ceremony. Did not expect that. At all.

Slaughterhouse Nine: I was not prepared for just how goddamn boring the Nine were. I don't think I read any spoilers about how Jack Slash being boring af was the point until I'd already started the S9 arc, but I especially didn't expect how pathetically bland as characters Manny the Kinless and Burnscar and Crawler and Sibby the Friendly Neighborhood Cannibal would be. Cherish managed to be interesting by being such a failure, and Bonebitch, to my eterntal frustration, managed to be funny, but the rest? Also, I thought Manton would die in the Bay, rather than be killed unceremoniously offscreen while in Boston.

The Butcher: For a character who appears in all of two chapters, the Butcher has a much larger presence in the fandom. But that is Worm for you, because groups like the Elite and the Fallen also show up more in the fics than their presence in the main story merits (Though the Fallen have more of a presence in Ward, even if I gather Ward kinda sorta retcons like half the details or at least presents irreconcilable visions of the organization)

Empire 88: They were way out of focus, compared to how much they appear in fics. But it is fun in fics to see Nazis get beat up all the time, so this is valid. But also, like, even their post-Levi remnants were weaksauce af. Someone in a server the other day said that taking out Marquis took out an entire faction, and that Levi proved that taking out Kaiser (or Allfather before him) doesn't stop the Empire, gesturing to the Aryan's Chosen and the Pure as proof but like... lbr. Both groups were pretty damn pathetic in the post-Leviathan bay. Regardless, I expected to see more of the Nazis getting beat in Worm itself, and we really didn't. But this is one time where I don't care, because as I said, seeing Nazis get beaten up over and over again in the fanfic is fun.

Ward: I was worried reading and finishing Worm might make me want to read Ward. Thankfully, it did not. *whew*

Now, there are probably others, but nothing else as major. But there are also some things I just plain wasn't surprised by.

Amy Dallon: I went into Worm expecting her to be my blorbo, and that didn't change. She's definitely my character type. I feel the same about her storyline in Worm as I did going into it.

Tattlebitch: I expcted to hate her, and I stayed hating her. Lisa sucks. Like, she has her redeeming moments and features, but overall, I still hate Lisa.

Carol Dallon: My Sympathy for Carol remains about as theoretical as it always was.

The PRT/Protectorate: I suspected the PRT/Protectorate was not as useless and incompetent and ACAB as a lot of fics painted it and... I was right.

My Ultimate Opinion: I went into Worm thinking it wasn't really for me, but that I'd probably find it well written and that many characters would be engaging. I figured it would have massive gaping plot holes and that I would never find it to be the 'amazeballs perfect wonderful' that some people seem to find it. And yeah, I was right about that too.

#Okay I've Read Worm: A Retrospective #Wormblr #Worm Parahumans #Worm Web Serial #Worm Wldbow #Kylia Reflects on Worm #This Is A Carol Dallon Hate Blog #Anti-Tattletale

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got-into-worm-by-mistake · 7 months ago

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Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Parahumans Series - Wildbow Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Amy Dallon | Panacea | Red Queen & Carol Dallon | Brandish, Amy Dallon | Panacea | Red Queen & Victoria Dallon | Glory Girl | Antares, Carol Dallon & Sarah Pelham, Amy Dallon & Original Female Character Characters: Original Female Character(s), Carol Dallon | Brandish, Sarah Pelham | Lady Photon, Mark Dallon | Flashbang, Amy Dallon | Panacea | Red Queen, Victoria Dallon | Glory Girl | Antares Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Pre-Canon, sister relationships, Carol Dallon-Centric, Carol Isn’t A Great Mom To Either Of Her Kids In Canon, It’s Not Entirely Her Fault And She Does Try, but she’s really not, But She Does Love Her Kids, She Really Does Love Amy, Little Kid Victoria & Amy Are Adorable, Family Isn’t Just Blood, Family, Amy’s Biological Mother Had Terrible Taste In Men Series: Part 3 of Earth-Bets That Weren’t Summary:

Celia Quiston cut her sister out of her life when Siobhan took up with Marquis. She was out of the country when Siobhan died, and only found out years later Siobhan tried to reconcile when she was near death, tried to ask her to take her daughter Amelia in. Eventually, she tracked her niece down, finding her in Amy Dallon, daughter of Brandish and Flashbang of New Wave.

Carol Dallon didn’t think she’d ever grow to love Amelia when she took her in. But when the prospect of losing her adopted daughter hits her head on, she realizes that whatever else, she does indeed love and care about that little girl.

——-

Once more I really should be sitting on this longer, but like I said, I suck at that.

The question of Amy’s biological maternal family is one that I’m surprisesd so few fics ever decide to stop to explore. I agree there’s virtually nothing to work with, but that’s never stopped fanfic writers before. I have a number of ideas about premises involving Amy having an Aunt (so much so that this fic’s working title was ‘Untitled Amy’s Aunt Idea #1′)

Thanks extended to @mechakingghidorah100-blog for beta-reading

Spacebattles Link | Sufficient Velocity Link | Questionable Questing Link

#My Fic #Worm Fanfiction

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got-into-worm-by-mistake · 7 months ago

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Okay, I've Read Worm: A Retrospective Part 4: Let's Give Wildbow Some Fucking Well-Earned Praise

So, I've had a decent number of harsh words for Wildbow over the course of my liveblog, and also over on my main blog. Overall, most of them are about his WoGs or Ward, rather than Worm itself. I've also commented I don't think I'd enjoy talking to him (not that he's likely to ever reach out, but you know). But I've had some complaints about Worm too.

But the thing is, I did read Worm. I read the whole thing. A desire to write fanfic would not have kept me going through all 30 chapters if I hated it. Or even if I just thought it was like, mediocre. It's 1.6 Million words. I am not that kind of masochist.

Life is short, Worm is long, if I wasn't enjoying it, I'd have left a long time ago. So I did enjoy it.

And the thing is, even if I never pick up his other works (and I do intend to try some), I am no doubt going to have more harsh words for Wildbow in the future. And I have no doubt that even if I love say, Pact or Pale or Claw or Seek or... I dunno, his next Web Serial after Seek called *throws a dart at a wall* Iota, I'm sure I'll have harsh words. I can't think of a single creator of anything that I don't have at least some issues with something they put out.

And to be fair, even most people who fully like Worm and Ward tend to have some harsh words for him now and then, or at least negative ones.

BUT, I liked Worm. And so, I think it's fair to really sit down and give him some unalloyed, unambiguous praise.

The Pace of Output: This is probably low-hanging fruit, but it is genuinely impressive that Wildbow wrote Worm as quickly as he did, sticking to a schedule as consistently as he did. I am in awe. I think even if I didn't have to work at all, and was able to write all the time, I wouldn't even be able to match half of what he did in the same amount of time, in terms of output. Wildbow accomplished something that is genuinely amazing here.

The Shards, Entities and Powers: Shard mechanics are not my favorite thing about Worm. But the whole thing really does come together well. It's a pretty cohesive, pretty well directed power system to tell the story he wanted to tell. I don't consume much cape fiction, so I don't know what stuff beyond Marvel and DC are really like in terms of how powers work and how they all fit and service the story, but for Worm, the Shards work to tell the story he wants to tell, really well. I read and write mostly fantasy and sci-fi, and spend a lot of time in worldbuilding spaces dedicated to both, or have at least, and a lot of would be writers fall into the trap of trying to overdevelop the magic system or the rules for whatever crazy supertech their story has without really stopping to figure out how it fits for the story they want. That's generally not a great approach if the intent is to have a story, and not just a cool setting or a fun magic concept. Wildbow created a pretty cool system, and then managed to avoid the common trap of getting so attached to the power system and it's rules that it interfered with telling the story he wanted to tell. Instead, he built and bent the system with his story as the driving purpose, and kept it all cohesively working within that framework.

The Interludes: The Interludes are without a doubt some of the best shit in Worm, overall. The way he is able to convey so much about these characters in these cutaway scenes and expand the world and advance the story and develop ongoing themes and narratives? Nearly every Interlude is doing like, 4 things at once, I swear to got, and the way he juggles that all together is awesome, and the end result is great. I will never go back and reread all of Worm from start to finish. But I will sure as shit go back and read some of the interludes just for the sheer fun of it. The way these cutaways manage to get you inside the head of these people, see their perspective is really good, takes real skill to make you go 'I really kinda see Saint's POV here' for his Interlude, for instance. Really good.

Amy Dallon: So like, I think it's clear I love Amy. She's fascinating. I have big feelings about her, and she's a divisive as fuck character. But Amy Dallon is the most fascinating character in Worm for me personally and she's genuinely one of the most fascinating characters in anything I've read. I'll have more to say about Amy if I manage to get a version of that Amy retrospective I'm happy with written, but unironically? Wildbow, thank you for writing Amy Dallon. I bitch about how much she's taken over my brain, but Amy is such a fascinating, interesting, enjoyable and engrossing character that she has been a net positive for me. Reading Worm and reading about her has enriched my life. Thank you. You did a damn good job with her in Worm, Wildbow.

Taylor Hebert: As I said back in Part 1 of this retrospective, I was worried I'd find Taylor insufferable. Her capacity for self-rationalization should be an issue for me. It often can be in other characters. But Wildbow managed to write Taylor amazingly. He created a character who is multifaceted, multilayered, complex, nuanced and yet, pretty simple. She's intensely relatable, and yet, she is also deeply, deeply alien and abnormal. She does absolutely insane shit, and yet, when you're reading along with her POV, so much of what she does and thinks makes her seem like the only sane woman in the room. Even when you take a step back and realize what she does, she's very hard to not like. Even if you want to grab her by the shoulders and shake some sense into her, you like her. She's great. She's an everywoman, she's no woman. She's clever and stupid and brilliant and unimaginative all at once. She is... She's Taylor Hebert. She's an antihero, a villain protagonist, a hero hero and... she's just some fucking girl.

Heroes/Villains: What I mean by this bulletpoint is - villain protagonists, making villainous characters sympathetic - that's easy enough to do. And making the 'official heroes' of a setting not really as great as they might seem is also fairly easy to do. But it is hard to pair the two together as well as Wildbow did. The Undersiders do a lot of bad things (I would disagree with people who say they're all *fundamentally* bad people - even Regent... ish, kinda sorta. He's so fucked up due to his background that calling him fundamentally bad is probably not really accurate. Though some people draw red lines around some of what he did, so that's more subjective. But like, the key thing is that he did that while *also* still making them pretty sympathetic without like... running protag-centered morality and still making them have done quite a bit of good (and a ton of bad) AND the handling of the heroes. Because it really does look a lot like he's doing a bit where the 'official heroes' are the real bad guys of the story between things like Armsmaster's shit and Interlude 2, but he also doesn't actually do that. And he executes it in a way that is really well done, without doing the thing where the narrative acts like someone is evil but like... the person isn't.

This isn't really an exhaustive list of 'everything Worm did well' or even 'Everything I liked about Worm', but it is stuff that Wildbow did really fucking well, that I really liked or am impressed with, and that he deserves unalloyed praise for.

There are reasons why I kept reading Worm, and those are some of the reasons.

(There could also be a point on how he manages the readers' information diet, but it's really hard to say for sure if it's something that I really liked because I came in so thoroughly spoiled. From what I can see, I think I would have liked it and given it the unalloyed praise normally, but it's impossible to say because I knew what 75% of these clues were ahead of time).

Mr. Bow - you did a lot of shit I don't like. But holy motherfucking shit, you did some goddamn amazing stuff too.

#Okay I've Read Worm: A Retrospective #Worm Web Serial #Wormblr #Worm Parahumans #Worm Wildbow #Kylia Reflects on Worm

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