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Decided to binge through everything over the weekend. Worm is really above any other web serial I've ever read. It manages to sidestep the problems of pretty much every other one that's been recommended to me thus far. There really isn't all that much out there, is there? So much of it seems like it could be decent (at least at a concept level), but then you're hit in the face with the author's desire to insert their fetishes/media obsessions/lack of editorial oversight into things. Is there a way we can discuss bad web serials? I feel like that's a much more fertile ground for discussion, at least in terms of discussing the sheer degrees of horribleness out there. It's always a shame to see worldbuilding fall to fetishes, but that seems to be what the internet does to writers.
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Sep 10, 2013 19:33
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New chapter is up! Sweet gently caress, this has been intense. Thank you for getting me to read it. Looks like Taylor got an ending, even if "happy" as a concept is beyond her now
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Oct 29, 2013 05:19
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veekie posted:Current bet, bind Rose as the familiar. Makes a lot of sense, in a way. I have to admit, I love the little hints as to whether Rose could be a manifestation of Barbatorum, or related to him in some fashion. The use of the young child in the ritual to bind him makes me think that it's being set up as a sort of escape route, especially with the familial connection and his apparent trickiness. There's also the element of Rose's freaking out whenever Blake tries to pull up more information on him, and this little point in the chapter. Pact, Chapter 1.7 posted:“I’m going to check on the barber again, if that’s okay? I won’t say or do anything. I just think it’s good to check.” This, especially considering that the first time Blake actually sees Barbatorum emerge from a reflective surface, reads like a hint that Barbatorum that they're related or are the same being. At the same time, there's enough contrary evidence, such as his inability to enter the home of a non-Practitioner uninvited, that shows she might not be. Right now, I'm gonna bet on "related Other who draws from his powers and existence by way of the small child who was involved in the ritual to bind him," because that would make the most sense. Or it might just be over-analysis - I'm just having fun trying to unwind the little hints he's tossing into the story. For those on the fence - Pact is shaping up really well, and the rules that he's set in the universe are going to be interesting as hell. Glad I read Worm, and even more glad that I was around to read the start of another web serial by Wildbow. First time I've ever donated to a web author, at least.
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Jan 12, 2014 06:43
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New chapter's up. This direction is wonderful. A chance to see the awesome internal elements of the world, plus we get to keep Blake, even if he's in the shittiest position possible
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Jul 26, 2014 05:31
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thespaceinvader posted:I wouldn't be so sure. Yeah, I think I agree. Why not consider the idea that Blake is a vestige of Johannes? With the false ties to the world cut, he's beginning to seem more and more like Johannes, both in appearance and in actions. Considering how both considered themselves "good practitioners with a bad rap", Blake has an appearance mirroring his, and the entire saga of the claiming of Johannes' demenses, who's to say that Grandma Rose didn't grab a piece of him during that particular struggle to further her own plans? Rather than machinations and convenient control over Blake's life (or supposed life, depending on interpretation), he's been mirroring some of what Johannes went through. One should also consider the warnings to stay away from him (which I can't remember if that's true, or where, but it's lodged in the brain anyways) and to avoid taking a dog as a familiar, Grandma Rose was merely manipulating things so that the piece of Johannes she took wouldn't suddenly break apart by getting too close to the real thing. With those ties cut, he's reverting to his origins. Plus, look at their goals and methods - anyone else see the similarities between the two, not to mention Mags maintaining connections to Blake and receiving a strange amount of help? Failing that, is Blake just conforming to the Johannes-form due to the man's nature as a larger-than-life figure with a tangential connection to him?
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Aug 6, 2014 01:28
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One thing I'm not getting is where it's stated that Johannes' pipes can control dogs. Children and rats are pretty clear, but I can't recall where the ability of the pipes to control dogs come from. While it can be inferred that they have some power over dogs in 8.6, the exact wording in 8.7 isPact 8.7 posted:“Well, at one point he asked why I hadn’t tried using my pipes.” It seems like the control of dogs thing is an inference on the part of others within the story, as Johannes doesn't directly admit that he has power over dogs - the wording of that statement could imply that others believe him to have power over them, an image he chooses to foster as the manipulator he is, and the "little bit of everything" means that there'd be something else - rats and children - inside Faysal to give him a shot at control. The dog symbolism is also brought up specifically in Histories, as well - remember that a specific mention is made of the Fool being "a boy and his dog", and Blake is tied to the Fool in some sense. Appearance and archetypes count for a lot in this world, so consciously adopting the persona of the Fool is to invite ruin and chaos on the practitioner - an archetype that Johannes has adopted. I'm probably missing something, and it's probably stated clearly somewhere that his pipes control dogs, but I'm just not getting any more than little vague hints in the story - of the sort that implies that the dog portion of the pipes might not be a real ability, and that it's one of those carefully-worded and presented statements to misdirect, which is totally in character for Johannes, and I feel like there's a deeper reasoning behind this. Admittedly, the note on Famulus wasn't directed directly to Blake, but the element of the Fool being tied to having a dog as a familiar means that there's a chance there's something different down the line. At the moment, I'm sticking with my insane theory until I can find some definitive answers - and it's a good sign on the prose in Pact that I actually cared enough to search through the site for information. If someone can find me a definitive explanation of Johannes' abilities or Implement, then I'll abandon this theory readily, but it just feels too close for comfort.
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Aug 7, 2014 00:41
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Goddamn this chapter. So, if I'm reading things correctly, Blake was real the whole time, just carved into two pieces by a failsafe set up with the Barber before Rose Sr.'s death. This is the major working alluded to in the first chapter by the various observers. So, Blake has been completely screwed over by things outside of his control, to the point where his humanity is slipping away, all because of Rose's desire to not be reduced back to the vestige and because of the humanity residing in the female - which, if it weren't for the "Practitioners can't lie" bit, I'd think of as someone desperately trying to justify keeping their existence. This whole situations is crazy, and completely awesome to read. It's really nice seeing how all the pieces line up, as well as if the Drains managed to change or alter that vision to make things seem even more horrible for Blake. I've been loving the story so far, and this bit cemented things for me. Awesome stuff.
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Oct 18, 2014 05:40
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