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I really liked today's update of Twig - it feels like Wildbow at his best - action, but not too much blandly described fighting, action with character interaction, with motivation, with worldbuilding, with strong plotting. I'm loving Twig.
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May 26, 2015 18:18
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Don't forget Sy loving with people. He is very good at that.
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May 26, 2015 18:50
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I gave up on Twig at about 2.2, catching up now and seeing what my $10 a month is paying for! It's paying for awesome. 
Nettle Soup fucked around with this message at 18:37 on May 30, 2015 |
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May 30, 2015 18:32
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What didn't you like about it?
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May 30, 2015 20:39
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I guess it just seemed a little slow after Pact, and I followed Pact all the way through chapter by chapter, I think I just needed a break. Almost caught up now and confirming that it is Good.
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May 30, 2015 21:05
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Nettle Soup posted:I guess it just seemed a little slow after Pact, and I followed Pact all the way through chapter by chapter, I think I just needed a break. Everything is a little slow after Pact.
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May 30, 2015 22:02
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Mary is really stealing the show in this arc, and I'm not sure I could be happier with that.
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Jun 2, 2015 20:47
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I really hope that we don't lose one of the Lambs this early.
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Jun 11, 2015 09:57
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devildragon777 posted:I really hope that we don't lose one of the Lambs this early. 
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Jun 11, 2015 17:16
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Daaaaaamn that's a good update.
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Jun 11, 2015 17:48
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This story is getting really good. I didn't *mind* the crazy pacing in Pact per se but I am definitely enjoying Twig more. The Lambs are all amazing and the prospect of seeing how they progress and move into the wider world of the Crown is enthralling.
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Jun 13, 2015 16:34
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The more considered pace gives the story more time to feel clever. Also, I really like Sy.
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Jun 13, 2015 16:54
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Yeah, I'm loving this so much; probably more than the equivalent point in Worm I think. The world is a lot more unique, and it feels a lot bigger somehow than Worm does even now - possibly because Worm is both Our World and a fairly standard Superhero World, where as this is clearly a VERY alternate history. Also, I think my favourite bit of this was the casual mention of the beast under Radham, as if that's a standard thing all the Academies have, and the casual mention of the chemical they put in the rain as a failsafe for Academy projects. Because it worked so well for Jurassic Park... And yeah, Sy is The Best.
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Jun 13, 2015 21:11
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thespaceinvader posted:And yeah, Sy is The Best. 
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Jun 13, 2015 21:55
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But girls are icky also he is nine. E: thinking about it, I think one of the best things about Twig so far is that Wildbow has avoided a problem I now seem to recall being quite prevalent in Pact - the 'as you know' or 'just so you know' type conversation - in Pact, a lot of these world details were explained in exposition, usually by Rose, and it got kinda boring - Twig is doing much better on 'show don't tell' here - it shows the loving terrifying security measures that are habitual and ingrained into the Academy by them being side-points, like the beast, or the rain, or gorger casually chowing down on sub rosa. thespaceinvader fucked around with this message at 22:57 on Jun 13, 2015 |
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Jun 13, 2015 22:53
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I thought he was twelve. How old is everyone again?
Pavlov fucked around with this message at 07:19 on Jun 14, 2015 |
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Jun 14, 2015 07:16
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He literally said his age in the last chapter good god people. He's eleven.
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Jun 14, 2015 07:44
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thespaceinvader posted:But girls are icky also he is nine. Gorger is the friendliest and most adorable bioengineered murder monster.  I really do like how he's basically buddies / friendly coworkers with the Lambs.
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Jun 14, 2015 08:34
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So I know this is the thread for serial readers, but do any serial writers post at all?
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Jun 14, 2015 17:50
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Man, I reread Worm recently, and as much as I enjoyed everything up to and including Skitter killing Alexandria, I didn't really like her time as an actual hero. I felt that part of her journey was underdeveloped. That said, I do like how he takes advantage of the less-visual medium to include powers that I can't see working nearly as well in comic book or television/film form. I agree that Pact needed time to breathe, and I'm liking Twig, but I guess I'm just a massive cape nerd, because I'm not as huge on Sy right away like I was with Taylor. He's been growing on me, it's just been a slower process.
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Jun 14, 2015 22:31
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Oh man, I'm looking forward to the next arc. Seems like the lamb's next target is pretty heavily based on the woman from the Boil sample story, if not the same woman? I'll have to go back and re-read that.
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Jun 16, 2015 16:24
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Amazing interlude. I'm really hoping Genevieve manages to convince the Lambs to join her somehow. The more cartoonishly evil the Crown/Academy is shown to be, the less cool I am with the protagonists doing their dirty work. My prediction is that Genevieve will escape somehow, but not before sowing some doubts in the Lambs' loyalty.
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Jun 16, 2015 18:00
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As an aside, it looks like Wildbow took the post-worm previews down from his blog, but they're still archived on archive.org. Is it kosher to post links to content that the creator has since removed?
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Jun 16, 2015 18:10
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Coca Koala posted:Oh man, I'm looking forward to the next arc. Seems like the lamb's next target is pretty heavily based on the woman from the Boil sample story, if not the same woman? I'll have to go back and re-read that. It's her and her head-friend, yes. And her tentacle monster. I'm somewhat conflicted here - I really liked Genevieve from the sample, and Boil was my favourite of the samples, but I was really looking forward to the Lambs being an episodic casebook of interesting monsters, rather than a 'us vs the world' plot, which it seems poised to turn into. I dunno. Good chapter though.
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Jun 16, 2015 18:35
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Mr. Wednesday posted:The more cartoonishly evil the Crown/Academy is shown to be, the less cool I am with the protagonists doing their dirty work. I actually feel the opposite. It's so interesting to follow protagonists who work for a pretty evil organization, but are just too young and immature to care about anything beyond their own goals and problems.
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Jun 16, 2015 23:53
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It might be that most of them just realize that they have to work for the academy if they want to stay alive, so they never had to consider it much. The pills they just got are a good example. I think this new antagonist might provide them their first real alternative.
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Jun 17, 2015 05:24
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Fray is amazingly dangerous if she's capable of outplaying the academies this hard. The Lambs are pretty outmatched here. Highlight of this chapter: Chocolate cake.
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Jul 1, 2015 06:10
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devildragon777 posted:Fray is amazingly dangerous if she's capable of outplaying the academies this hard. The Lambs are pretty outmatched here. I don't know. An intelligent, dedicated individual being able to maneuver around a bureaucracy isn't really that surprising. Especially when they have intimate knowledge about how the organization works. Fray makes me think of the unibomber. Yeah, the unibomber was a dangerous guy, but he wasn't superhuman. Fray is dangerous, but I don't think she's operating on another level from the lambs. It's just that she's already deep into her game and the lambs only now showed up to the board.
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Jul 1, 2015 09:02
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Fray is explicitly superhuman though. In more ways than one.
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Jul 2, 2015 01:46
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And so is every single one of the lambs. Her superhumaness isn't on another level compared to the protagonists. I think this is getting to the heart of what I really love about Twig. In Worm, the threats were scary because their powers were overwhelming, and Taylor won with clever thinking and strategy. In Twig, the enemies don't have overwhelming superpowers. Instead, the enemy's thinking and strategy is what's really intimidating. And the heroes overcome with even more excellent cleverness.
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Jul 2, 2015 08:44
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Yeah; the best bits of Worm were when relatively low-powered people were having interesting think-offs against other relatively low-powered people. The giant super-fights were generally less interesting. It's the main reason why Pact was nowhere near as good as either, it had way more of the latter and less of the former.
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Jul 3, 2015 20:03
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I really like Twig. It relies on the strength of several characters getting about as much time as narrator, and I think it makes for a better story then just Blake's constant angst or Taylor's meticulous planning (not that I didn't enjoy both). The protagonists are morally ambiguous at best which is also new and react way less to things as opposed to instigating them. The main six people are certainly my favorite element, whereas in Worm/Pact the surrounding world began stealing the show.
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Jul 7, 2015 23:42
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The stitched are becoming increasingly depressing as time goes on. At first I assumed they were just flesh automatons, but it seems more and more like they are people.
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Jul 12, 2015 14:35
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From the sounds of it they vary a lot. I get the feeling that high-quality stitched are basically resurrected people, and low-quality ones are basically zombies.l
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Jul 12, 2015 16:28
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Just started a Worm reread. I've been checking out some of the comments early on in this thread, when it was still ongoing. It's funny to read how people reacted at the time. People were willing to give Taylor a free pass on a lot of bullshit. When I was first reading Worm, I did the same, and it was only at the end that my dislike for the character began to crystallise into clear thoughts. She does a lot of unnecessarily brutal things while rationalising her actions and not pausing to reflect Her need for everything to be on her terms is apparent quite early, too. Her shard was influencing her personality very soon after her trigger event, it seems. I am quite sure McCrae intended for her to be interpreted in the manner I have described, but he perhaps could have made it clearer through some more time spent with characters who could call her out and provide a counterpoint to her attitude towards the authorities that be. Also, it would be nice if Taylor wasn't so humourless, makes for kind of a drag to read her inner thoughts sometimes. I'm actually hoping after Twig he spends some time editing Worm, it's a great ride but it needs some editing here and there and possibly some major changes . Some more time with the Wards would be cool (maybe prune some of the warlord stuff for that). Also, cut out Contessa altogether or rework her power majorly.
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Jul 17, 2015 16:19
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I don't think it's just her shard effecting her. Sure, it's no coincidence that she both strives to be fully in control and possess the "control fully" shard. But as I saw someone point out, Taylor has crazy trust issues even before triggering. When her mom died, her dad pulled into an angry grief cocoon and wasn't there for her when she needed him most. Then her best friend betrayed her and stated a full on torture campaign. Then her dad and every other adult in her life totally fails in their duty to protect her from this bullying, even after her horrific trigger event. Now she has powers, is suicidal, and desperately needs some measure of control. She plans and prepares, and kicks a lot of rear end on her first night out. Unfortunately, her first contact with one of the "good guys" is a megalomaniac rear end in a top hat who totally fails her because he's too worried about making himself look good. Then the first "bad guys" she meets includes someone who genuinely wants to help her. That Skitter took the path she did is a no brainer. Still, I'm always surprised when people don't like Taylor. I adore her. She's everything a darker sort of superhero should be. Kicks rear end, but not because she's way more powerful than everyone. Does good, but is always really morally conflicted. And above all, she embodies the major themes of the story she's starring in. Worm is all about the tension between power and cooperation, the importance of trust vs. the desire for control. Taylor plays it out beautifully.
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Jul 17, 2015 16:46
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Neurosis posted:I am quite sure McCrae intended for her to be interpreted in the manner I have described, but he perhaps could have made it clearer through some more time spent with characters who could call her out and provide a counterpoint to her attitude towards the authorities that be. Also, it would be nice if Taylor wasn't so humourless, makes for kind of a drag to read her inner thoughts sometimes. Neurosis posted:I'm actually hoping after Twig he spends some time editing Worm, it's a great ride but it needs some editing here and there and possibly some major changes . Some more time with the Wards would be cool (maybe prune some of the warlord stuff for that). Also, cut out Contessa altogether or rework her power majorly. Btw, following r/parahumans plus spacebattles usually keeps one abreast of most of these things. Also, yeah. Contessa is a narrative crutch. But it should be noted that one of its drawbacks is mental immaturity / lack of development, because any physical or mental need is fulfilled automatically. Hence, her actual agency is low, which is why she defected to Teacher. Doctor w-rw-rw- fucked around with this message at 17:01 on Jul 17, 2015 |
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Jul 17, 2015 16:58
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Oh, I don't have any problems with how she developed, it all made sense given her circumstances. But just because a character's development makes sense and the character is a good character doesn't mean spending the vast majority of some couple of million words in that character's head won't get grating at times, and I think including some more interaction with people who could provide a different perspective to undermine some of Taylor's rationalising and conceits would do a lot to alleviate that. More time with Clockblocker or Miss Militia, maybe. Theo's too much of a pushover to fulfill that role (his 'oh, okay' reaction to Aster being shot, ugh). Awesome that McCrae's editing Worm as he goes with Twig, my hat's off to his work ethic.
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Jul 17, 2015 18:06
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Neurosis posted:I'm actually hoping after Twig he spends some time editing Worm, it's a great ride but it needs some editing here and there and possibly some major changes . Some more time with the Wards would be cool (maybe prune some of the warlord stuff for that). Also, cut out Contessa altogether or rework her power majorly. I just finished a reread, and honestly, Contessa is one of my favorite characters. The chapter where she takes apart Faultline's crew offscreen and her PoV chapter at the end are two of my favorites. Actually, now that I think about it, almost all of my favorite chapters are interludes.
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Jul 17, 2015 21:11
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Agreed on the interlude chapters. I think the serial could have worked well with a shifting PoV, although with the proliferation of characters it might have been hard to keep from sprawling out of control.
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Jul 18, 2015 04:31
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