|
A big flaming stink posted:Well it ends badly, but not in the way you might expect! Each and every one of them is a loving rear end in a top hat that just loves "doing what's best" for another person, especially if it involves never asking said person what they actually want. In a bizarre way, Jen actually pissed me off the most at the end, just because she knew plain as day that she was making her decisions out of nothing but outright selfishness. I'm on board with the Jen hate but I think she lies to herself just like the other characters. Like how she thought of herself as heroically rescuing her friend from an evil father... by attempting to murder him and then manipulating a vastly less experienced and knowledgeable person to run away with her to the land of war, torture and racist elves. Also I have a random question about Ward. I haven't read any of it yet but every once in a while I browse the parahumans reddit and I keep seeing references to Tattletale being a talking decapitated head . Is this an actual thing that happens in the story or a meme/joke? Please someone explain it 
|
#
¿
Mar 24, 2019 23:30
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 6, 2024 11:46 |
|
|
violent sex idiot posted:fully real, a bad guy tinker with a cutting power and using data from another dudes power that lets him throw his extremities around built a whip that cuts people to bits and leaves them alive and able to feel all of the bits and all of the pain of the bits and used it to cripple a shitload of people because hes awful. he cut the better part of tattletale to kidnap and basically torture information out of her Ok thanks. Honestly I was hoping it was just a meme I didn't get. This sounds like the S9 stuff in worm which was the worst part and mostly unnecessary given how compelling the other characters and plots were. Or maybe I'm misjudging it and in the context of the story it's cool and good. Thanks anyway.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 25, 2019 10:18
|
|
|
Kefahuchi_son!!! posted:I keep seeing these opinions about ward, and it baffles me a little because people act like it is something new. The torture-horror-porn was present from the earliest parts of worm and it was always one of the things where you could see him trying too hard. Well worm was his first 'proper' story I think and while you are right that the torture porn stuff is present and weakens the work as a whole you have to make allowances for relatively new writers to experiment and see what works and what they are good at so they can get better. As a big fan of worm I was hoping that ward (his fourth story I think) would show that development and the S9 style psychos with superpowers would have all been replaced by characters with more nuance and depth which I think he has proven he can also write. If that's not the case then I'm a bit sad, especially if it's because of pressure from his fanbase, but whatever I'll still read it when it's finished and if it's half as good as worm I'll enjoy it. Although what that one guy said about there being no real story is a bit worrying, from a pure plot perspective worm was great and I could always get through the stuff that made my eyes roll because I was so eager to find out what would happen next.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 25, 2019 13:02
|
|
|
I think Wildbow did an excellent job of portraying Taylor's increasingly compromised morals in worm. If you want an example of her doing a straight up 'evil' thing though then maybe when she kills Tagg? Worm posted:And in front of me, Tagg moved, drawing his gun. His voice was a roar, “She knows!” Perhaps I am remembering incorrectly but Tagg's major 'crime' in the story was that he was partly responsible for outing Taylor's identity as Skitter and didn't want compromise with villains/agree to her list of demands when she turned herself in. Her response is to brutally murder him and I don't even think she feels guilt or regret afterwards, if she thinks on him at all it's more like 'he disagreed with me so I killed him and I was right to do so'. Again though perhaps I am not remembering right, been a while now since I read it. Lot 49 fucked around with this message at 11:50 on Jun 14, 2019 |
|
#
¿
Jun 14, 2019 11:47
|
|
|
Sax Battler posted:You are. I remember that but I thought that was all on Alexandria. I mean physically she was the one flying out there and getting fake bodies or whatever but she was also Tagg's superior and it was her plan to try and provoke Taylor or something. Tagg in the scene doesn't really do much apart from argue with Taylor.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 14, 2019 12:05
|
|
|
Sax Battler posted:Yeah, that sure sounds like an innocent man who doesn't know what's going on, I should absolutely stop and listen to his side of the story while more of my friends die. She has already stopped Alexandria. Tagg is just a dude with no powers in a room with a person he is almost helpless against. She takes his gun off him instantly and could incapacitate him just as easily, she does it to countless other characters. Instead she bites and stings him to death while acknowledging that this is nothing more than 'revenge'. It's one of the very few times in the story where Taylor admits her extreme violence is for a personal reason and doesn't try to hide behind greater good arguments so I am a bit surprised you are so defensive of her actions tbh. Lot 49 fucked around with this message at 12:55 on Jun 14, 2019 |
|
#
¿
Jun 14, 2019 12:50
|
|
|
I just read the first Episode of Pith. Reminded me so much of the beginning of Worm that I am curious if the four letter title and use of 'Caterpillar' in the first Episode name were cute references to Wildbow's story. Anyway I liked it and will keep reading! Also seeing as how to the author is posting in this thread I have a question that I always wonder when reading this kind of fantasy. How much time did you spend on creating the world of the story before you started writing? In fact how do you even begin to go about creating a fantasy world? Do you have like a history of the world written down or a map of the world drawn or is it all in your head?
|
|
#
¿
Apr 4, 2020 22:11
|
|
|
violent sex idiot posted:the most recent arc of ward is maybe the best stuff wildbow has ever written so if you like the things he writes it's probably worth catching up Still not read any of Ward. What is so good about the current arc? Incidentally I did my monthly check in with the parahumans reddit yesterday and it was the first time I'd ever seen multiple posts of people criticising the story on the first page. Normally it's nothing but praise for Wildbow on there. Lot 49 fucked around with this message at 09:48 on Apr 11, 2020 |
|
#
¿
Apr 11, 2020 09:45
|
|
|
I will probably regret asking this but how does someone get raped by a house?
|
|
#
¿
May 1, 2020 11:43
|
|
|
Oi! Person who writes Katalepsis. I demand more Twil.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 15, 2020 09:53
|
|
|
Algid posted:Unlike Moby Dick, DBZ experienced critical and commercial success when it was published as well as going on to influence other works in its genre. Moby Dick just somehow managed to get itself canonized as "American Literature" despite no one seeming to actually like it. I've read two versions of Moby Dick in my life. The real one and an abridged and illustrated version from this book: https://www.etsy.com/sg-en/listing/723150390/1974-classic-adventure-stories The abridged version which removed all the bad philosophy and pointless guide to whaling stuff is a legit great story and 10x better than the real thing.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 21, 2020 11:13
|
|
|
Just wanted to say I have been really enjoying Katalepsis recently. Twil owns and I liked the change of scenery to a rural location. Someone needs to talk to Zheng about her language though. Calling everyone a monkey might have been okay back in the day but in 21st century UK she is getting cancelled for sure.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 3, 2020 10:03
|
|
|
I lost a bit of respect for Heather in the latest Katalepsis chapter.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 17, 2020 11:21
|
|
|
Which is better Pact or Twig?
|
|
#
¿
Jan 27, 2021 12:35
|
|
|
Kalas posted:This is going to have very subjective answers. I understand. I was thinking about starting one and wanted to know if there was a general consensus that one was clearly better than the other but it seems not. Thanks to people who gave input anyway
|
|
#
¿
Jan 27, 2021 20:17
|
|
|
Hungry posted:Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it and I hope the anxiety isn't too bad. Unless it's the good, narrative-related kind. If you don't mind me asking, is it the content causing that? The themes the story touches on? Something else? Again, if you're uncomfortable answering, please don't feel you have to. Not the person you asked but as a fan of Katalepsis the thing that gives me the most anxiety by far is Heather's vomiting. Due to my own health problems I always dislike it when a character is being physically sick and your girl throws up an awful lot. I understand this is an important part of the character and you can't change it but I would unironically appreciate it if she could start carrying some mouthwash or something around with her. It will make it just that little bit less gross and will save Heather's teeth from getting wrecked by stomach acid like mine are  Anyway I am still loving the story. Can't wait to meet Seven's family!
|
|
#
¿
Oct 17, 2021 11:42
|
|
|
Plorkyeran posted:I love katalepsis’s model of each arc being goofy slice of life and romance drama gradually escalating into intense action and horror, but arcs do tend to have a chapter or two too much of building. Different strokes for different folks. Personally I love the slow pace.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 24, 2021 09:28
|
|
|
Having literal teachers deliver lessons to the protagonists about the world and the magic system is also the easiest possible way to avoid the exposition dumps that plague fantasy. As an aside I always feel a bit sad for writers like Jill Murphy when people attribute these tropes to Harry Potter. I don't know how popular her books were internationally but in the UK at least I think everyone over a certain age knew that Rowling was copying huge chunks of The Worst Witch series for her setting and characters.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 11, 2022 12:05
|
|
|
nrook posted:I tried TWI, but I bounced off the writing style really hard. It was just so wordy, and there were so many sentences that didn’t add anything. I can deal with a slow pace, a meandering plot, or even mediocre prose, but when every chapter could be half as long without losing anything, it’s exhausting. I had the same experience. I never understand the constant praise for the author for writing such a massive volume of words when they take so long to say so little. Kind of glad I bounced off it too given how much reading time it requires. Although I guess if I had loved it then the massive wordcount would have been a bonus!
|
|
#
¿
May 7, 2022 10:24
|
|
|
I think one of the reasons I like Worm so much more than most people in this thread seem to is I actually love Taylor as a protagonist because she makes terrible decisions. She's self-righteous and short-sighted (i.e. a teenager!) and watching that type of person get super powers and lock themselves into a spiral of ever increasing conflict was ridiculously entertaining to me.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 9, 2022 10:51
|
|
|
Patrick Spens posted:It's annoying because the story would actually be substantially better if it was half as long, and came out twice as slowly. But instead she keeps working herself into collapse to write too drat many words. I agree. It's just like with Wildbow where the author's worst tendencies are reinforced by their fan base. The number one thing I see people praise Pirateaba for is not their plotting, their characters, their themes, their use of language etc but that they write 'so many words! look at all the words! look how many words their are!' Just last month I saw someone on reddit say that Pirateaba was the greatest fantasy author of all time and their #1 point was that they wrote so many words. https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/v489y5/pirateaba_and_the_wandering_inn_just_did_the/ I don't even know how to respond to people when they say stuff like this because it's not an argument I ever see with regard to other authors or even other forms of stories. I mean nobody has ever told me that the best TV show ever is the one with the most episodes.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 10, 2022 10:07
|
|
|
While Wildbow fans do still praise him for his secondary and tertiary characters I don't think I've ever read any of them, even the most zealous, make the claim he is the only writer in history to write non-protagonists that feel like real people. Would love to be proven wrong though. The 'my favourite web serial writer is actually the greatest writer of all time' posts are often amazing to read.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 11, 2022 11:28
|
|
|
The quality of that football manager lit rpg story has taken a massive nosedive since that author decided that Max should be an incredible footballer.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 16, 2023 10:59
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 6, 2024 11:46 |
|
|
Insurrectionist posted:Yeah I have to agree, for me it's just that reading about someone being good at football is a lot more boring than reading about someone being good at finding players or managing or whatever. Like the moment-to-moment action of a football game or most other sports is not especially nicely translated to the page, and there was a lot less focus on that stuff before. That's a big part of the problem yes. The other part is that the stakes and tension of the story were derived from Max trying to break into the world of football using his superpower but constantly getting push back and opposition because other people don't have his power and therefore can't understand his decisions. Now Max is as fast as Mbappe with the free kicks and passing of Beckham it feels like he's already won. He got to quit his crappy job and sign a pro contract and I didn't care because he barely had to try to earn it.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 16, 2023 16:15
|
|