Web Serial Thread: Wildbow Fanclub

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > Web Serial Thread: Wildbow Fanclub

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

Tollymain posted:

Same league? Probably not. There are other serials out there though, and I'd like it if we started searching out the good ones. The only one I'm currently solid on the quality of is Ra. I've been checking out some others, I just don't know about the quality yet.

Been reading this since you linked it. It has it's issues, but so far it's not bad. It seems to be what Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality wanted to be, a very logical, science based magic system.

It's a little wordy and I'd like a bit less explanation and a little more doing things, but I'm sure that'll settle down once it gets moving. Worth looking into thanks!

# ¿ Jan 15, 2014 18:37

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 10:52

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

Seriously, it took me 13 days and I basically did nothing else during that time.

I put up a longer review here, but basically said the same thing, it didn't need the extra endbringers really and could maybe have done with a little more "downtime".

# ¿ Jan 28, 2014 02:02

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

[4.12] Short term though, at least Evan could help him escape the police! :v:

# ¿ Apr 5, 2014 01:54

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

I didn't mind it, it gives a lot of background on the world. Especially if it's written by Grandma Rose, as the reader-comments seem to suggest.

# ¿ Apr 5, 2014 16:21

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

Apparently the previous diary entries also say you can lie via text, just that most practitioners won't, so as not to make a habit of it.

Whoever it is that hands over the book originally also refers to the author as female.

Nettle Soup fucked around with this message at 00:31 on Apr 6, 2014

# ¿ Apr 6, 2014 00:25

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

Hugoon Chavez posted:

Oh yes, 100%. The epilogue was kind of a cop-out, I feel that the ending was pretty strong but completely ruined with the epilogue.

Taylor's epilogue, that is. I liked the Undersiders' and finding out that Grue was dead was pretty sad.

Pretty much seconding this, Grue was sad, but I couldn't help but feel that the "real" ending, for Taylor, was much more fitting.

# ¿ Apr 9, 2014 16:19

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

Re-reading Worm, I just laughed as I realised that their first view of Coil's base is the archetypal "Villain's Warehouse"

[ Worm 7.1] "The interior of the sub-basement had none of the smell of the previous chambers, and consisted of two tiers with walls of poured concrete. The upper level we stood on was an arrangement of metal walkways that extended around the room�s perimeter. Crates and boxes filled the level below, and I could see fifteen or so of Coil�s people down there, sitting on crates or leaning against them, talking among themselves."

It's just a big, empty warehouse, filled with packed crates, the odd henchman sitting on a crate polishing his gun or chatting to another henchman. I missed it completely the first time.

# ¿ Apr 14, 2014 18:53

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

Worm actually split into "books" quite naturally as it went along, so that may happen again with Pact, I think the first Worm "book" ended around arc 9, but the chapters were shorter there.

# ¿ Apr 18, 2014 00:54

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

Grundulum posted:

I happen to have an exact count because I compiled all the chapters into a single multiple-MB epub file for offline browsing. It's just north of 1.6 million words. Longer than the first five Wheel of Time books together.

Edit: The first six Dresden Files books total 624,000 words. I got bored then, but they seemed to average about 110,000 words or so each at that point, so that'd make Worm longer than the entirety of the series released to this point.

Quote from earlier in the thread.

I think this chapter of Pact was the first real feel good chapter so far. It's the first time I've actually thought, "Well, that probably could have gone worse!" I'm glad he picked up Evan!

Nettle Soup fucked around with this message at 14:39 on Apr 18, 2014

# ¿ Apr 18, 2014 14:28

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

I don't mind the spoiler-tags, I don't want to spoil Worm or Pact for people!

Pact is finally starting to make me go "oh poo poo!" but it's still not Worm, re-reading it, even a second time it's grabbing me...

# ¿ Apr 26, 2014 21:54

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

Also he keeps jumping into these things head-first, and every time he does, he also puts her life at risk...

# ¿ May 8, 2014 14:20

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

~~He's gone to a wedding, and the comments section is encouraging him to take it easy for a couple of weeks (quite rightly!)~~ ah no that's in a month :downs:

Todays update would have been better if he'd just ended it 6 lines earlier and tagged those on the front of the next one... He does the whole "I've figured it out! [ END ]" way too often.

Nettle Soup fucked around with this message at 19:18 on Jun 7, 2014

# ¿ Jun 7, 2014 19:12

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

Worm was mainly about the characters, every side character had a name and a backstory, and it was about them as much as Taylor, Pact doesn't seem half as character-driven, the only real people we care about yet are Blake, Rose, Evan and maybe Laird. Fell is out of the picture already and none of the others have really grabbed my attention, Worm had so many I'm not even gonna list them.

Maybe it's partly because of the different way he decided to do interludes, Grandma Roses diary instead of the inner musings of the hero/villain of the week, (There have been a couple of character ones, I know, but not half as many as Worm!) or maybe he's working up to something.

# ¿ Jun 11, 2014 10:32

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

9.3 > I was gonna say, "He's totally gonna take The Cracks as a Demesnes", but then I realised, that's kind of what Johannes has done, the escape Blake is looking for may be an escape into his domain.

Getting the feel that they're similar and might get along, but not that they're the same person.

# ¿ Aug 2, 2014 13:50

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

That depends on you really and how much you can keep up, I don't find Pact too much or too long, but I'm used to his style of writing and I'm interested in the story enough to read through it every week.

# ¿ Aug 4, 2014 20:30

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

Explains why he could never see himself in the mirrors, too.

drat, I might have to read this through again now.

# ¿ Aug 5, 2014 13:16

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

Yu-Gi-Oh fight! Bring it on!

# ¿ Sep 11, 2014 09:56

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

blastron posted:

The more we hear about Rose, the less I'm inclined to believe that Blake was actually originally the vestige. Isn't it awfully convenient that all of Rose's belongings were damaged in a flood and thrown out? Why haven't we seen any of her own things? When Blake was thrown into the Drains, his stuff was all still there and the landlord had to throw it all out. If Rose was real to begin with, she should have left some sort of mark on the world.

Thinking pretty much the same thing, Blake had belongings but Rose has nothing to call her own, not even friends or contacts.

# ¿ Sep 16, 2014 11:14

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

I'm quite enjoying it. :shobon:

Makes the aftermath more satisfying too.

# ¿ Oct 14, 2014 13:52

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

Blake can be a girls name.

# ¿ Oct 18, 2014 16:38

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

TOOT BOOT posted:

According to the comments Twig isn't a Pact followup as many people had guessed.

We also found out Wildbow is deaf.

Because you said that with no context, I went and had a look, the 2 comments for reference are from 13-2 and are:

wildbow posted:

wildbow November 6, 2014 at 12:01 am
Hi guys.

Was super duper distracted today. I�m working on arranging a move, and that means utilities and setting up a wad of stuff, and all the appointments and phone calls I was expecting over the past week just happened to come up today. Water, electric, internet, a thing about my cochlear implant, my landlord is doing final touch-ups on my new place and wanted my preferences on interior design, and I had a call back from a friend who was going to help me move some stuff, and virtually all of it involved several steps (like double checking details or passing on messages to people, like my landlord).

In light of those calls and appointments, I�m sort of making a small adjustment, and moving the second donation chapter of this month from next week (the 13th) to the 20th. Long story short, I need internet set up in my new place, and they told me to be available between 8am and 5pm on the 13th to let the guys in to hook stuff up, but I�m moving to another town, and physically getting myself over there is� a bit of a task. I�m leaving a window of opportunity to just be there, lack of internet (and ability to write) or no, in case the landlord can�t arrange something.

If the 2k benchmark is somehow hit, then the third chapter for the month will be on the 27th. It�s more likely the 2k is just going to absorb anything in excess of the more typical 2 bonus chapters a month.

TL;DR: Next Thursday chapter on the 20th, not 13th!

Votes on topwebfiction are appreciated, as ever:

http://topwebfiction.com/vote.php?for=pact

And, as always, thanks for reading. You guys are great!

Reply

wildbow posted:

wildbow November 6, 2014 at 12:40 am
Also, in response to rampant commentary on what I considered a more or less innocuous sidenote on my last post-chapter report, in terms of Pact ending, Twig, and Worm2�

The goal, stated almost from the beginning, was for Pact to be about half the length that Worm was. Now, in terms of wordcount, I think it�s already past that point, but in terms of the number of chapters/arcs, we�re only getting closer to that endpoint.

My personal feeling is that, well, real life sort of got in the way during the early part of Pact � my mom was (and still is) in the hospital an awful lot, and my brother had a very logistically complicated wedding way out in the middle of nowhere, and there was a bunch of other minor stuff. I�d actually planned to move in April and I�m only getting underway now, which maybe says a lot.

But the long and short of it is I sort of struggled to find my stride, in the midst of it all. I like Pact�s world, but because I was off kilter for so much of the writing, I feel like key parts drag on too long and it took far, far too long to get to the meat of the story. I don�t know that it�s quite in the position where I�d really want to sit down and edit it, short of a publisher reaching out to me and expressing interest in doing something with it.

I enjoy writing Pact, and I enjoy the comments and I love the commentary. But when I look at the whole, I feel like I could do better. In contrast to Worm, the writing in Worm was rougher, but it was, barring a few rough patches, the best work I could put out with the skills I had at the time. Worm as a whole feels more like a whole than Pact does, if that makes any sense.

So that�s my thinking in terms of Pact and putting Pact to rest. I don�t want to rush it, though I�ll be glad to move on to something fresh that I can put my all into, with minimal distractions, and it may well be that Pact needs 5 more arcs or 6 or 8, to tie up the loose ends and come together. It ends when it needs to end, no sooner, but we�re approaching that point.

I do plan to return to the Pactverse, but Twig won�t be that return (I�m surprised at how many people think Twig will be more Pact).

Reply

Interesting about how even he's not happy with how the pacing has gone.

# ¿ Nov 7, 2014 21:25

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

I'm not gonna stop following it, but sometimes the jump from place to place throws me. Why are they even going after Mara, it doesn't seem to flow as well as Worm did, things come and go with no future reference, they may as well have not been there in the first place.

# ¿ Dec 23, 2014 15:45

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

thespaceinvader posted:

I get the feeling that Blake is gradually surrendering himself to help Rose win. But I'm not sure.

But what i can say is I'm REALLY liking Pact at the moment. now that we've got a bit more into people and plot and worldbuilding and a bit less RUNFIGHTRUNFIGHTRUNFIGHTABYSSFIGHTRUNRUNFIGHT stuff, it's knocking along nicely.

Yeah.

He recognised what his problems were a couple of arcs ago and is writing a lot better as a result, I'm checking and looking forward to each chapter of this again.

I agree it would have been cool to have a more Harry Potter-ish view of the magic though, even as a side story. We never really got to see what it could do and some proper lessons in the basic fundamentals rather than just Blake having to work it out as he went along would have been cool.

Also RIP Blake.

# ¿ Feb 1, 2015 13:59

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

Not many, there's another month or so of updates at most I think?

# ¿ Feb 23, 2015 15:41

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

https://wildbow.wordpress.com/ sum up here.

# ¿ Mar 7, 2015 17:08

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

Twig 1.1

Tollymain posted:

This setting seems familiar.

Elaborate on why?

Although, it feels kinda familiar to me too, but then again, so did "guy goes home for a funeral" so I'm not judging.

I was gonna say it would be interesting if this is from the PoV of the "bad" guys, because in my mind Wildbows characters are all firmly on the side of Good, then I considered Taylor and the Undersiders and now I'm confused. Taylor was always reasonably focused but the others, not so much. Should be fun to see where this goes!

I can't help but wonder what the snake is gonna do now, that they've just left it there to fend for itself.

Also this site is much prettier than Pact.

# ¿ Mar 10, 2015 14:44

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

It's worth a go, it's not terrible, it's just not as good as Worm.

# ¿ Mar 11, 2015 00:05

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

Just a bump to this to say 1.4 is up and it's really getting quite interesting.

The statue, the bookworm, the knight and the dragon.

# ¿ Mar 19, 2015 13:39

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

On that note, Twig 1.5

# ¿ Mar 22, 2015 16:35

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

1.6

I wonder how this is going to play out. Also I found the bit with the board in the middle slightly confusing...

# ¿ Mar 24, 2015 14:53

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

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. :suspense:

Nettle Soup fucked around with this message at 18:37 on May 30, 2015

# ¿ May 30, 2015 18:32

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

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.

# ¿ May 30, 2015 21:05

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

Well ok then.

# ¿ Jul 24, 2015 18:39

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

Yeah, it makes a lot more sense and I think I like that idea more, just, he really needed to make it a little bit less subtle.

Catching up on Twig again, poor Jamie. I guess maybe, in a way, he's also a spy on the Lambs, if they can take out and read what he's seen in some other way, without asking him directly.

Things are starting to get interesting though; with the drugs in the water their chemical leashes are suddenly a lot looser, I wonder what's going to happen to them if the Academy falls.

Nettle Soup fucked around with this message at 20:10 on Jul 25, 2015

# ¿ Jul 25, 2015 13:21

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

I'm reasonably sure the world, or at least their part of the world, is going to be in absolute tatters by the end of it. It wouldn't be Wildbow otherwise.

Twig 6.9: Poor Gordon though, and Jamie

Imagine what Jamie could become if he wanted too and he wasn't being held back by his handlers though...

Nettle Soup fucked around with this message at 23:43 on Oct 2, 2015

# ¿ Oct 2, 2015 23:13

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

twig 6:13: Jamie.

and here we all thought it was going to be Gordon!

# ¿ Oct 19, 2015 18:40

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

Twig 7.8: Well that got interesting fast!

# ¿ Nov 9, 2015 13:52

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

7.15+ Twig is a little bit heartbreaking sometimes.

It also feels a little like, at least to me, that Sy kind of abandoned Jamie. He didn't try and watch over the new one, he just avoided it. There's no recognition, because this time he wasn't there.

Also thinking back over how far Twig has come so far, 7.15 seems a really low number!

# ¿ Nov 26, 2015 15:17

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

Sweet idea, but good lord this first chapter is awkwardly written.

# ¿ Dec 9, 2015 21:16

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 10:52

Nettle Soup: Jan 30, 2010; Oh, and Jones was there too.

She used the word "motion" three times in two sentences. She uses "Drawled" "gestured" "replied" and is awfully fond of "shrugged" all in an attempt to avoid the use of the word "said", and I had to stop like, three times and read back just to work out what the hell the sentence meant.

Not knowing the American school system, I also assumed when it said "school starts tomorrow" that she was about 11, as in my mind that's about the age where you care about the school paper. If this is a new school, which they're implying it is, how does she even know it has a paper!

quote:

�Eh,� I shrugged. �I have my moments. This time? Nah, it wasn�t hard to figure out. You made it way too complicated. It was bound to blow up on you sometime.�

�gently caress you,� he shot back bluntly. �Who the gently caress do you think you are, some kind of junior detective?�

�Reporter, actually.� I corrected him automatically. �For the school newspaper.�

�School hasn�t started yet!� He roared in disbelief, as if that was the biggest thing he had to worry about.

�A good reporter never passes up a chance for a story.� I gestured absently. �Even if she is the only one in the school that cares about the paper. But this was a little bit bigger than some school news story anyway. You sell nasty poo poo to teenagers, Cal. You belong in prison, and that�s where you�re going.�

�My word versus yours,� he insisted with a dirty look. �Who do you think the cops are gonna believe?�

�Probably you,� I admitted.

It's driving me up the wall, she does this for every single spoken sentence, but I'll give it a few chapters to see if it improves, the start of Worm is pretty ropey too, but not this bad.

Nettle Soup fucked around with this message at 14:35 on Dec 10, 2015

# ¿ Dec 10, 2015 14:28

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > Web Serial Thread: Wildbow Fanclub

«‹›2 »