...I might enjoy alliteration too much. But anyway, this is a thread for discussing the works of web serial author Wildbow, writer of Worm, Pact, and (most recently) Twig.
8| okay, I only read most of Worm, but I have feels. Not happy feels. I made it to about part way through the second endbringer event(Behemoth). Part of the reason is my brain gets bored with really long works(patterns and styles start to become apparent and my brain just stops caring. It's annoying like that). The other reason is... Spoiler Regent dies. Like, I know he wasn't a particularly important character, and I saw the signs coming, but I sort of latch on to characters. Latching on can help keep me interest in longer works, because while I will gradually lose interest in the plot and the majority of the cast, I can be invested in knowing as much as possible about an individual character. Regent was my character for this work. So let me talk about Regent for a sec. So, he's a "good guy"(haha, I know that's a weird descriptor for just about any character in this work, and he doesn't quite fit the usual mold), he has little to no empathy, he's manipulative and immature, he has powers in which he controls others, and a history that ticks my interests. And for the most part, you only get little glimpses, because he's really not that important. Which is fine. I have a tendency to like moody background characters. But then his chapter happened. I cannot express how happy that chapter made me. It ticked all my little happy boxes. He was powerful, heartless, but also looking out for his team. That glorious combination is the stuff I feed on. I was so satisfied, I almost stopped reading right there, because I knew, I KNEW, that I would not read another chapter that would give me that much satisfaction and sense of completeness. The only reason I didn't stop was I was reading the comment section on the chapter. There were comments made about a vague thing he would do later(very unspecified, but serious hints of character development), so I decided, I might as well see what he does later, because I enjoy his character so very much. :| so much regret. Not only was I upset that he died, but I'm particularly upset by the way he dies. He basically kills himself so Imp can live. Yay. He's not heartless. Glad that was an important thing to express about his character the moment he ceases to exist. You know, because he's never looked out for his teammates before, ever. Ugh. And the whole scene felt awkward and forced in my opinion. It could have easily been avoided(because the author is damn creative, but I understand that one of the main cast had to go eventually, and that Regent was the best one to sacrifice). So, I read the next chapter, checked to make sure he was actually dead, and stopped reading. #I was upset for days over this #Still am a little bit
@rorleuaisen Spoiler: okay but can we agree that at least his last line is the best I'm on arc 12 of Pact and I'm really happy about it because WOW what plot twists. I don't know anything about Twig yet. Anything. Worm is really good but I don't have time to talk about it right now.
Yeah, Wildbow's style of writing is essentially 'how fucked-up can their situation get before they all die?'. I won't give spoilers if you don't want any, but I will say that I think you should read the rest of Worm. Just because a character is dead doesn't necessarily mean that they have no more impact on the story. After all, they leave people behind. Also, mentioned this in another thread, but am I the only one who think Armsmaster/Defiant is autistic? Because he really gives that impression to me.
@Bel Capricorn hmmm. Maybe. Not his best line, but one of the better ones for characters in that situation. @Scheherazade I might pick it back up one day, maybe. While that plot point really affected me, I was already wearing thin on the story. The first endbringer event was a drag to read, so when the second one showed up, I almost put it down(talk about a lot happening but very little getting done). My brain simply lacks the patience for it. Also, as I mentioned, my brain picks up on patterns and such. When I get continuous "shit is terrible and it just keeps getting worse!" over and again, I have a hard time caring. I applaud the author for keeping my attention as long as they did(I really think it was very well written, truly), but the continous grind loses me eventually. I was honestly still reading at that point because I was waiting to see what happened with my character. I found out. I didn't like it. I lacked a reason to continue reading(I have no doubt he still has influence, but none of the other characters intrigue me enough to suffer through another endbringer event). As far as far as Armsmaster/Defiant, I think it's possible. I'd be curious to see why you think that though.
I'm meaning to finish Worm one of these days. I'm right at Interlude 28 (the one about Simurgh.) I always liked the detail of the powersets and such, though the whole 'everything is sad and terrible forever' thing is... yeah.
Hope you enjoy it. Starts out slow, but once things get going... just try not to get too attached to anyone who isn't a main character. Sort of a combination of lots of little details... his issues with social cues, his obsessive focus on one particular thing, the way he, at one point, just sort of steps back into a conversation that the other participant thought was done, that sort of thing.
anyone reading it, see if you can figure out the abcd rule. A friend and I came up with it and for the most part it holds true. It might take you a while; I think we'd just finished Worm when we first thought of it. ALSO I am almost done with Pact and oh my god it's so good. Two and a half arcs left. I'm so excited. @rorleuaisen Yes that's what I meant. also, does anyone have thoughts on Psycho Gecko?
Ah, Psycho Gecko, Worm's equivalent of the blooper reel in the deleted scenes. Funny if you aren't too opposed to... scatological humor. Or sexual humor. Sometimes simultaneously.
@rorleuaisen also if this makes you feel any better Spoiler: i just remembered that by that point, Wildbow was actually rolling dice to see who would die, and actually had a whole alternate ending set up for if Skitter did.
@Bel Capricorn ;u; it does! Though, now I'm curious at which point Wildbow rolled said die. Start of chapter, several chapters beforehand? What kind of prep did the author have before executing it? Hmmmm.
I think that might have been for the Leviathan fight, I'm not sure he did the same thing for Behemoth. I remember there being a link to where he talked about his plans for if Taylor hadn't made it.
There's an argument currently going on in the Sufficient Velocity thread for Worm that's kind of bugging me, but I'm having trouble articulating why. If I post a link here, can you guys give me a second opinion?
It's a website that got spun off from Spacebattles (a website popular for sci-fi fandom, among other things) a while ago. Worm is fairly popular on both sites. So, the argument gets started on this page (https://forums.sufficientvelocity.c...ecs-and-fic-discussion-thread-1.190/page-1882) by posts #47030 and #47031, although no one responds to it until #47048, at which point it continues on until the next page.
...It looks like someone just wanted to start a fight. Is your issue with how they're arguing or the specific points up for debate?
The specific points. I guess just the weird, sudden jump into character bashing and the vaguely misogynistic tone are weirding me out. Particularly the stuff on the second page.
Yeah I think that someone was in the mood to start an internet slapfight so they set up an argument where you can either be on the side of Assault where Battery is a terrible bitch, or you can be on the side of Battery where people jump to defend her and therefore bash Assault as well because, well, internet slapfights. It sucks but what can you do? I'd just suggest staying clear until it boils over tbh.
