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Distance Learning for fun and profit...

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Why do people keep panning the bread puns? You'd think they'd just roll with it. Instead they get all crusty and stuff.
 
Part of me wants the main story to continue, wondering how this Taylor is going to effectively deal with Scion before anyone around her is probably aware of the problem.

Another part of me, the part of me that loved the character of Tali in the Mass Effect games, really wants to see what happens with the omake. If Taylor is involved, I expect a comeuppance for both the Batarians and the Council that would be quite amusing...from a perspective other than theirs.
 
D'oh! Are you saying we're being a pita? I'm sure we could butter you up a bit, but a pundit's gotta pun... Though I suppose we may owe you an apology if we're really driving you veggie; might have to spread the puns out a bit, or at least change the nature of the puns so they only punish you if you come upon them from a certain mental direction...
 
So, I was doing some thinking last night, cause you know, traitorous brain like to throw things at you when you're trying to sleep.

I think I figured out why I love this story (and the side story) so much.

It's the only fic I've seen yet, where violence isn't the answer.

Even in other fix fic's there's liberal application of fist to face and boot to ass. Not that its not effective, but its still a chaotic shitty world full of crap, and its just the appliation of overwhelming firepower. Nothing is solved its just a new benevolent overlord. The world isn't really a better place most of the time, and would promptly go back to the shit show it was before we derailed canon.

In these stories however, things are getting fixed. Life is getting better, for everybody, not just Taylor and her friends. The city is getting fixed up, jobs are coming back, crime is down, people in shitty circumstances are getting the circumstances addressed.

The world is being built into a better place, not dragged there kicking and screaming, problems are being solved instead of punched (People like S9 getting nuked don't count, sometimes the solution is to just make it go away) this is a fix fic in the purest sense, while most are actually just revenge fantasies. (Not that Coil getting his shit wrecked will ever get old, but that's different.)

@mp3.1415player gets a new stamp.

*STAMP*

WHOLESOME!
 
TypoNinja said:
So, I was doing some thinking last night, cause you know, traitorous brain like to throw things at you when you're trying to sleep.

I think I figured out why I love this story (and the side story) so much.

It's the only fic I've seen yet, where violence isn't the answer.

Even in other fix fic's there's liberal application of fist to face and boot to ass. Not that its not effective, but its still a chaotic shitty world full of crap, and its just the appliation of overwhelming firepower. Nothing is solved its just a new benevolent overlord. The world isn't really a better place most of the time, and would promptly go back to the shit show it was before we derailed canon.

In these stories however, things are getting fixed. Life is getting better, for everybody, not just Taylor and her friends. The city is getting fixed up, jobs are coming back, crime is down, people in shitty circumstances are getting the circumstances addressed.

The world is being built into a better place, not dragged there kicking and screaming, problems are being solved instead of punched (People like S9 getting nuked don't count, sometimes the solution is to just make it go away) this is a fix fic in the purest sense, while most are actually just revenge fantasies. (Not that Coil getting his shit wrecked will ever get old, but that's different.)

@mp3.1415player gets a new stamp.

*STAMP*

WHOLESOME!
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:D

I do tend towards trying to make things better rather than worse in most of my stories. That's largely the theme behind Taylor Varga too, and Incompatible System also.

At least partly because it's much harder to write that sort of thing entertainingly in my view, as opposed to simply blowing shit up. I mean, don't get me wrong, sometimes blowing shit up is highly entertaining in its own right, but it's not the only approach, and often not the right approach.

It is, however, a very common approach for many if not most superhero sorts of stories, and very definitely the main theme in Worm stories. But generally I prefer my entertainment less apocalyptic than most of those are, so I write what I'd like to read, and this is the result. Luckily quite a few other people seem to appreciate it, which is nice :)
 
I'll be honest, If I had to pick between Taylor is DOOMED and this, I'd choose this every time. I do need some genuinely good people doing genuinely good things when reading fanfiction.
Edit: I meant DOOMed.
 
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mp3.1415player said:
"Not as stupid as PHO has managed," Chris said from behind them, having overheard. "Or that weird site, the new one..."

Carlos looked back at him. "SpiceBottles?"

"That's the one. Crazy people, they make PHO look normal," Chris chuckled. "Half the time they're trying to weaponize cinnamon or something, the other half they're screaming about politics."

Despite herself Vicky giggled. "I heard a rumor that site is run by the government who set it up so people would brainstorm new military ideas without realizing it," she commented with a small grin.

"Yeah, that sounds… unlikely," Chris replied, returning her look. "Where did you hear that?"

"That rumor site. Insufficient Veracity. They're full of that sort of thing. PHO has an entire section dedicated to trashing their paranoid delusions."
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I laughed way harder at that than I should.

Talk about a 4th-wall break, you shattered the damn thing!
 
Personally, I'm a fan of A Kernel of Truth due to the mixing in of Old European folklore with the gritty modern sci-fi setting.

Also, because there's hope that Annette and Emma (due to the entire background on the story going off the rails) could both end up with happy endings, something that's never happened before in a Worm fic.
 
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OstermanA said:
One has to admit, though, that the two Taylors meeting could be quite amusing.
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"You're so angry all the time, it's like a palpable force. Hmm, force..."
"What? Why are you staring off into the distance like that?"
"Gimme a sec, where did I put that phone? Ah, there it is."
"Keep that away from me! What are you doing with that thing?"
"Measuring the output of that Angry Force™ you're constantly radiating. And please put that gun away, it's rude."
"It's supposed to be rude. It's to keep people from sticking things in my face."
"Well then, if you're sure you don't want me to tell you about harnessing all that anger..."
"Harnessing? As in a power source?"
"Power source for the Biggest Fucking Gun ever. Its power would be over 9000."
"Tell me more."
 
Zombiesleuth said:
I'll be honest, If I had to pick between Taylor is DOOMED and this, I'd choose this every time. I do need some genuinely good people doing genuinely good things when reading fanfiction.
Edit: I meant DOOMed.
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mp3.1415player said:
They're quite different stories with very different end goals :D
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End of DOOMed: Everyone dies in an explosion of violence
End of Distance Learning: Everyone dies in a violent explosion

Are you sure? o_O
 
Well, DOOM!Taylor while impressive has a much narrower range of options, which limits what problems she can solve and how she can solve them. Unless she's really stupid there's a lot she won't even try.


"But, surely we can harness the power of these 'demons' and their so-called 'Hell' for the good of humanity! Maybe a...labor force or energy source or something like that!"

"I want you to google the term 'genre savvy', and think about what you just said. Really hard."
 
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mp3.1415player said:
:D

I do tend towards trying to make things better rather than worse in most of my stories. That's largely the theme behind Taylor Varga too, and Incompatible System also.

At least partly because it's much harder to write that sort of thing entertainingly in my view, as opposed to simply blowing shit up. I mean, don't get me wrong, sometimes blowing shit up is highly entertaining in its own right, but it's not the only approach, and often not the right approach.

It is, however, a very common approach for many if not most superhero sorts of stories, and very definitely the main theme in Worm stories. But generally I prefer my entertainment less apocalyptic than most of those are, so I write what I'd like to read, and this is the result. Luckily quite a few other people seem to appreciate it, which is nice :)
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That fact that you're an artist with dialogue and characters helps as well. An action film doesn't need deep characterization. The worlds you build do, and you've got the characters to hold them up.

I like these people, I care about these people, I understand these people, I feel for them. (you were the first person to make me feel sorry for Squealer and it was a hell of a sucker punch) I want things for them, and I look forward to seeing those things happen, and am happy for them when it does.

And of course, the shenanigans are glorious.

If I ever walked into a bookstore and saw your name on the cover, I'd be forking over my cash with no second thoughts.
 
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