Spiders, Depression, and Acid Falls (Worm/Bionicle)

"I said don't do it! We are a hero, Taylor! It might not be in my nature, but we will follow the moral code that we agreed upon! Are you really so pathetic that you would go back on your word- our word just for petty revenge against three insects that made you stronger than anyone could ever imagine!?"
Heh, for all their bluster the Makuta miss being called Heroes.
"Do you know why we Makuta hate Toa so much? It's because you are what we could only pretend to be, once upon a time--heroes who do good for no reward. And so we call you fools, and even slay you... because we could not be you."
— Krika, Swamp of Shadows
 
How did we get here? Did we miss a chapter? No... The numbers add up, but the contents suddenly shifts... Watt?
Jysrin seems to like cut-away/timeskip transitions. It's kinda appropriate at some points, but here I agree with you, it's becoming way too frequent. It worked with the Cell--->Hotel transition, the Hotel--->Piggot transition, and even the Piggot--->Food transition if you stretch your SOD just a smidge, but this just feels like we missed at least a chapter's worth of lead-up from Living in a High Class Hotel to Stomping the Trio.

Edit: Derp, they met in the mall, not Winslow. Ok, SOD still suspended, but the chapter-to-chapter story jumps are grating just a tad.
 
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I think the author is going for a worm fanfiction speedrun. No really just about every chapter had a equivalent of an entire arc. I would not be surprised if scion does not end up dead in -7 chapters.
Jysrin seems to like cut-away/timeskip transitions. It's kinda appropriate at some points, but here I agree with you, it's becoming way too frequent. It worked with the Cell--->Hotel transition, the Hotel--->Piggot transition, and even the Piggot--->Food transition if you stretch your SOD just a smidge, but this just feels like we missed at least a chapter's worth of lead-up from Living in a High Class Hotel to Stomping the Trio.

Edit: Derp, they met in the mall, not Winslow. Ok, SOD still suspended, but the chapter-to-chapter story jumps are grating just a tad.
Yeah, it looks like you forgot to post a chapter.

Look, I get it. I really do. But doing this passive aggressive "Oh looks like you made a mistake" thing isn't really doing much as a valid criticism. In fact, it's these kinda comments that make me wanna write less. But as it stands I do get the confusion. Am I gonna change it? No, because I'm lazy and it's not worth the effort since I'm only doing this for fun. But I'll explain what I forgot to throw in: Taylor decided to go to the mall to buy some new clothes since she was in a good mood and then saw the Trio. That's literally all we missed.
 
Look, I get it. I really do. But doing this passive aggressive "Oh looks like you made a mistake" thing isn't really doing much as a valid criticism. In fact, it's these kinda comments that make me wanna write less. But as it stands I do get the confusion. Am I gonna change it? No, because I'm lazy and it's not worth the effort since I'm only doing this for fun. But I'll explain what I forgot to throw in: Taylor decided to go to the mall to buy some new clothes since she was in a good mood and then saw the Trio. That's literally all we missed.
Sorry, I didn't mean it as a passive aggressive thing, I genuinely thought you made a mistake. That being said, despite some obvious stylistic disagreements, I do like your fic a lot amd eagerly await future developments.
 
Look, I get it. I really do. But doing this passive aggressive "Oh looks like you made a mistake" thing isn't really doing much as a valid criticism. In fact, it's these kinda comments that make me wanna write less. But as it stands I do get the confusion. Am I gonna change it? No, because I'm lazy and it's not worth the effort since I'm only doing this for fun. But I'll explain what I forgot to throw in: Taylor decided to go to the mall to buy some new clothes since she was in a good mood and then saw the Trio. That's literally all we missed.
OK. I was just confused because I thought Tayrast was sitting in her apartment eating soup and then BOOM a wylde Trio appeared, so I was like "what are they even doing there?" and thought 'maybe Sophia was a fan, and got her friends in as well to autograph it up' but Tayrast encountering them at a mall also makes sense.
 
So, I can get behind the timeskips. They cut out a lot of filler that we can mostly fill in ourselves. I'd recommend that you spend at little more time setting the scene in future chapters.

Enjoying your story, and hoping to read more :)
 
Look, I get it. I really do. But doing this passive aggressive "Oh looks like you made a mistake" thing isn't really doing much as a valid criticism. In fact, it's these kinda comments that make me wanna write less. But as it stands I do get the confusion. Am I gonna change it? No, because I'm lazy and it's not worth the effort since I'm only doing this for fun. But I'll explain what I forgot to throw in: Taylor decided to go to the mall to buy some new clothes since she was in a good mood and then saw the Trio. That's literally all we missed.
Well shit if I came of like that sorry. I do think the story is good as I would not be following its chapters otherwise.
 
Look, I get it. I really do. But doing this passive aggressive "Oh looks like you made a mistake" thing isn't really doing much as a valid criticism. In fact, it's these kinda comments that make me wanna write less. But as it stands I do get the confusion. Am I gonna change it? No, because I'm lazy and it's not worth the effort since I'm only doing this for fun. But I'll explain what I forgot to throw in: Taylor decided to go to the mall to buy some new clothes since she was in a good mood and then saw the Trio. That's literally all we missed.
This isn't passive aggressive, this is a legitimate criticism. I went back and forth twice trying to find a missing chapter (once using the threadmarks, then again to scan the posts inbetween incase it hadn't been threadmarked).

There is no set up or scene placement, it's just 'suddenly trio' with a single throwaway mention of a mall halfway through that is very easily missed.

Your overly aggressive, self-righteous response is what makes people not want to post criticism.
Your chapter has a major flaw. Most people noticed it as a general 'I feel like I missed something' but couldn't put it into words, yet they still let you know anyway because they still wish to help.

Not because they're being passive aggressive.
Not because they're being intentionally vague.

But because they can see that this chapter doesn't work, but they don't quite know why. So they speak up in case the author honestly made a mistake and knows how to fix it.

You want to know what's wrong with this chapter? That bit of scenery information you just gave that you don't think is important? It is incredibly important, put it in. Preferably somewhere in the first or second paragraph.
 
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This isn't passive aggressive, this is a legitimate criticism. I went back and forth twice trying to find a missing chapter (once using the threadmarks, then again to scan the posts inbetween incase it hadn't been threadmarked).

There is no set up or scene placement, it's just 'suddenly trio' with a single throwaway mention of a mall halfway through that is very easily missed.

Your overly aggressive, self-righteous response is what makes people not want to post criticism.
Your chapter has a major flaw. Most people noticed it as a general 'I feel like I missed something' but couldn't put it into words, yet they still let you know anyway because they still wish to help.

Not because they're being passive aggressive.
Not because they're being intentionally vague.

But because they can see that this chapter doesn't work, but they don't quite know why. So they speak up in case the author honestly made a mistake and knows how to fix it.

You want to know what's wrong with this chapter? That bit of scenery information you just gave that you don't think is important? It is incredibly important, put it in. Preferably somewhere in the first or second paragraph.
You idiot jysrin is gonna react badly to this, and you shouls know that by now, so go find some author you like and stop trying to get threads locked
 
You idiot jysrin is gonna react badly to this, and you shouls know that by now, so go find some author you like and stop trying to get threads locked

Calm down. They got a point. Their phrasing sucks ass and I'm still not going to change it since, as I've said, this is a project that's entirely based on how much fun I'm having with it and isn't worth the effort of editing beyond spelling and grammar mistakes, but they do have a point.

That said, the only way I'm editing anything after I posted it is if there's either glaring typos and/or grammatical errors, or if someone pays me to do so.
 
Also, if they bothered to pay attention to the last line of the previous chapter Taylor notes that she is heading out.
 
Calm down. They got a point. Their phrasing sucks ass and I'm still not going to change it since, as I've said, this is a project that's entirely based on how much fun I'm having with it and isn't worth the effort of editing beyond spelling and grammar mistakes, but they do have a point.

That said, the only way I'm editing anything after I posted it is if there's either glaring typos and/or grammatical errors, or if someone pays me to do so.
Ah, so you're like Horizon, you don't actually want criticism. You should probably put that at the top of the thread and let people know so that we can avoid this issue in the future.
 
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Warning: Let's stay cool, everyone.
let's stay cool, everyone. Hello everyone! Just stopping by to remind everyone that constructive criticism is valuable, but as Niel Gaiman once said, "GRRM is not your Bitch."
You idiot jysrin is gonna react badly to this, and you shouls know that by now, so go find some author you like and stop trying to get threads locked
So first things first @Alastor, it's not particularly fair to paint valid criticism as an attempt to harass the author. Let's not do that in the future.
Ah, so you're like Horizon, you don't actually want criticism. You should probably put that at the top of the thread and let people know so that we can avoid this issue in the future.
Having said that, @Mgunh1 your response here is no longer a criticism of the work, but is becoming a harangue about obligations that do not exist. Jysrin has acknowledged the points you and others are trying to make, and probably intends to keep it in mind for future chapters. If he is unwilling to rewrite a chapter that is already finished that is entirely their prerogative, and not an indication they are unreceptive to feedback. You can express your disappointment without going to extremes. Please try and keep the difference in mind going forward.

As this is below the threshold for any administrative actions, and I hope none will be necessary in the future either, I am simply leaving this Warning.
 
I apologize for my actions, I over-reacted due to how far the Spacebattles "critics" took it too far and Jysrin gave up on that site
 
[WARNING="Let's stay cool, everyone."]Hello everyone! Just stopping by to remind everyone that constructive criticism is valuable, but as Niel Gaiman once said, "GRRM is not your Bitch."

So first things first @Alastor, it's not particularly fair to paint valid criticism as an attempt to harass the author. Let's not do that in the future.

Having said that, @Mgunh1 your response here is no longer a criticism of the work, but is becoming a harangue about obligations that do not exist. Jysrin has acknowledged the points you and others are trying to make, and probably intends to keep it in mind for future chapters. If he is unwilling to rewrite a chapter that is already finished that is entirely their prerogative, and not an indication they are unreceptive to feedback. You can express your disappointment without going to extremes. Please try and keep the difference in mind going forward.

As this is below the threshold for any administrative actions, and I hope none will be necessary in the future either, I am simply leaving this Warning.
[/WARNING]
I know it's not really looked upon favourably to dusscuss issues with mods on these sites and I'll admit I was a little butthurt due to how put off I was by Jsyrin's dismissive attitude and I apologise for that. However, I do feel I must point out that I'm not wrong.
Jsyrin has literally said he isn't accepting constructive criticism in his stories. I don't see how simply asking that he make that more well known to his readers so that they don't bother him further is out of line.
 
Bruh, just let it go. The mods don't care if you're wrong or right, if this topic keeps going on they're probably gonna lock the thread or some shit and then I'll actually get pissed.
 
I liked the last chapter, but @Jsyrin , if you're going to time skip, can we please get a brief setting exposition before you go straight to the "suddenly; murder!"? I love ya man, but yah keep confusing me.
 
Chapter 19
Chapter 19

"Why did I do that!?" Taylor all but wailed as she slammed her head against the wall of the cell that she'd teleported into and immediately locked by forcing the door shut and holding it there with magnetism, ignoring the banging on the door from a very confused PRT trooper asking her to please come out, the cell is meant for Master Strange confinement, not nervous breakdowns. "What the fuck is wrong with me!?"

"What!" THUD "Was!" THUD "I!" THUD "THINKING!?" CRACK

Taylor stopped and blinked as she suddenly found her face not resting against, but embedded in the thick, reinforced wall of the MS Cell, the dusty taste of concrete dust and paint settling in her nose and mouth as she pulled out, making her cough and gag as she spat the dust out and wiped her face. "Whoops."

"Are you done with your tantrum yet?" Gorast deadpanned in Taylor's mind, forcing the girl over to the sink and manually growing a new pair of arms to wash Taylor's face. "You've spent the last fifteen minutes screaming and the only reason why is because you finally stood up to the worthless sacks of flesh haunting your nightmares and then put them to sleep! You didn't even maim them, despite how close you were to losing your Spirit-damned mind before I intervened! I thought you'd be jumping for joy by now, not damaging government property in the middle of an unjustified freakout!"

"Yeah and I just left them there! I probably looked like a fucking villain doing that!" Taylor screamed into the mirror, punching the wall with both of her right hands and cracking it with a shower of chips and concrete dust as the image of Gorast flashed into existence, overlaying her own face with the Makuta's.

"Then simply explain your situation, you Akilini-head! Your slow-think these days is just about as terrible-bad as when we first merged! Except somehow even more bad-worse since this is panic rather than depression!"

"Hey! I'm not an Akilini-head!" Taylor protested, then paused and blinked as Gorast seemed to reel back in shock at the fact that she'd just used Le-Matoran Chutespeak. ".... Wait. What the hell was that just now? Those weren't Makuta terms you were using…. W-were you just…?"

"I spent some four hundred years as a Le-Matoran immigrant to Metru Nui as a vacation and picked up some of the dialect. Shut up." Gorast's illusory image grumbled quietly, turning away from Taylor and crossing her arms in a huff, her entire body visibly lighting up with embarrassment- veins of pink covering her the same as the veins of blue-ish purple confusion covering Taylor's body.

"Weren't you the ruler of the Tren Krom Peninsula, though?" Taylor muttered, stepping back from the sink and catching her breath, shaking her head as she sat down on the bed and rubbed her forehead. "How did you manage to spend four hundred years on Metru Nui with nobody wondering where you went?"

"I know you're trying to distract yourself from the actual issues plaguing your mind. But very well, I shall quick-tell you about my time disguised as a Matoran. And for your information, this was right before the Great Cataclysm. There was not much in the way of things to do during that time, and I preferred the hands off method of rule."

Gorast cleared her throat with a heavy sigh, groaning at having to recount that entire section of her memories- not really happy about having to tell about how she spent a whole four hundred years disguised as a male Le-Matoran since apparently Metru Nui's only female Matoran were Ga-Matoran and she wasn't about to pretend to be a water loving weirdo when she could be at ease with Matoran who liked being in the air as much as she did.

Taylor sat down as Gorast began talking, eagerly listening and feeling her worries and panic slip away under the sound of Gorast's narration filling her mind, echoing in her ears with a sonorous buzz that kept her from thinking about anything else.

>*<

"It started about… Hm. There aren't any good translations for how time was measured in Mata Nui's body, but I suppose that's what happens when everyone is but a small part of a giant robot. But there was a time about… oh… fourteen hundred years before my death when I wasn't doing much of anything. Oh, sure, that no good, slow-think, Akilini-head, roodaka piece of kane-ra shit Teridax was still around giving orders, but he was pretending to be Turaga around that time anyway. I didn't much give a shit. Life was slow, most of the matoran on my peninsula were used to me not doing anything except occasionally murdering Toa of Iron or Magnetism, I didn't have much of anything to do and I was between assignments anyway. Ah- wait no, Teridax impersonated the Turaga near the end of that vacation. Hm, old age makes for slow-think and ever-forgotten memories, it seems… even though this happened only a millennia ago...

"Anyway. I took a vacation and posed as a Le-Matoran named Gizi, a scrap trader looking to begin a new life far away from the Northern Continent. And there, I quick-sailed from the Tren Krom Peninsula and up through the Sea Gates to Metru Nui. Ah, even for me, the queen of the Tren Krom Peninsula, the first view of Metru Nui is a grand sight… the shining towers of Le "Metru gleaming from the light of the Silver Sea, the vast web of chutes and tubes stretching across the sky- for a moment, just that brief moment… I was the Le-Matoran Gizi, coming to the city for the first time… nevermind the fact that I'd been there a few times before, but never before then was it so grand!

"You should have seen it- even the docks, where recycled scrap from the other Metrus was thrown out and taken to the other continents for reuse- it was full of buzz-flying transports and quick-talking Matoran, so much to do and see… It was different and amazing to look upon the holy isle of the Matoran without any designs or plots, to simply immerse myself in what these seemingly lesser beings had managed to create.

"It was actually quite hard to acclimate at first- the Peninsula was not as hospitable, and of course, I was the Queen of the land, not some Matoran slave, working to keep the Great Spirit content. The Le-Matoran of Le-Metru were… strange to me. Friendly, honest. Nary a scowl or a smirk in sight. There was, despite the city's vast size and its massive structures, a sense of ease and simple zest for life in those towers and walkways. I loved it there. I could forget that I was a queen of a distant land, forget that I was going to take control of this pitiful world with my brothers, forget that I had killed Matoran for getting as close to me as these ones did. Instead, I could spend my days working in the scrap yards, touring the city, and just… existing.

"A small part of me was a bit confused, since I don't think I had ever simply just… let myself be. There was some fear-dread about that. Even we Makuta were driven by duty as much as Matoran sometimes, and not having anything really to do was… odd.

"Of course, my vacation was very nearly cut short when barely after some thirty odd days, I nearly died because some akilini-head, slow-think, loud-talk moron forgot to check the go-lights and safeties on the test track and nearly smash-bashed my spirit damned body in half when he decided to swerve out of the way of a mata nui-damned phase dragon and crash-wreck a test bike directly into my perfect green ass. Fortunately, I managed to actually come up with a good enough excuse as to how I'd survived that without losing my entire damned body and only had to pretend to take a week off of work at the docks to "repair" my damaged arm and back plating. Idiot. What kind of slow-think moron tries to swerve to avoid a phase dragon!? They phase through everything! Hmph. Oh well. I was pissed off enough that I was this near-close to killing him in his sleep during that week while I was stuck in my vacation lodgings, but I suppose it was only a huge-big amount of luck and destiny itself that stopped me. If I hadn't kept myself from giving him a swift hard-fall off the tallest tower in Le-Metru, then the little bastard- what was his name, Matau? Yes, that was it. Then that little bastard Matau never would have been a Toa and Mata Nui would have had to seek-find a new Toa candidate very rapid-quick.

"But the rest of my vacation was…. Passably normal, all things considered. Very boring by most standards, but for me it was the most relaxing four centuries I'd ever had…

"And then that bastard had to cause the Great Cataclysm and I had to quiet-sneak my ass out of Le-Metru and back to my fortress before the Vahki could stuff me into one of those spirit-forsaken orbs and stasis me for the next thousand years… although all things considered, if I'd ended up living in Le-Koro and forgetting that I was ever a Makuta, maybe I wouldn't have died…"


>*<

Taylor blinked as Gorast's narration faded off into a series of quiet grumbles in the back of her mind, staring up at the ceiling and wondering when she'd decided to lay down on the bed… and when she'd relaxed her hold on the door of her cell… and how long had Armsmaster been standing next ot her anyway (And why was he only wearing his chestplate, boots, and gauntlets)?

"Miss Hebert?" Armsmaster sighed quietly under his breath as he cleared his through awkwardly. "Are you… conscious?"

"... Uh… yeah? Sorry about the cell… I uh… kinda had a panic attack and… well…" Taylor managed to hide a blush through a quick illusion over her cheeks, but didn't quite manage to hide the pink lines tracing over her body in time. "... Sorry about that."

"... I'll assume it's linked to the incident at the Brockton West Mall approximately an hour ago?" Armsmaster almost deadpanned, his mouth contorted into what was almost a mix of a wry, knowing smile and a deep, deadpan frown.

"... Yeah."

"I see. Well, the three girls you put to sleep have been taken to the PRT headquarters for safety's sake. We'll get their stories later, but for now, why don't you tell your side of the story?" Armsmaster sat down slowly, having dragged over a folding chair along his way to the cell she imagined, and leaned forward. Idly, Taylor thought that he didn't quite look complete without all his armor on.

Taylor sighed and breathed in, gathering her wits as she sat up and faced Armsmaster, finally speaking her story to someone that wasn't the voice in her head. "Well… I guess it all started about two years ago now… back around the summer of 2009…"
 
The Le-matoran part kind of came out of left field. Comes across as a weird non-sequitur mostly. It doesn't seem to serve any purpose beyond a justification to use chute-speak/tree-speak. Of course, I might be wrong and this is proven as some extremely important plot point...

Personally, I don't really have much of an issue with it, though. Others might, but it doesn't really change how I view the story.

In a way, I could certainly believe that immersion into the cultures they're supposed to rule over would actually be pretty wise of the Makuta to do, which is probably why we never heard about any doing so.

Come to think about it I would actually be really neat to read about the experiences of a Makuta trying to blend in with Matoran, say on Spherus Magna after the reunification or something like that. Ah, the possibilities. Thanks for getting me thinking!

Anyways, I enjoy your chapters!
 
If I hadn't kept myself from giving him a swift hard-fall off the tallest tower in Le-Metru, then the little bastard- what was his name, Matau? Yes, that was it. Then that little bastard Matau never would have been a Toa and Mata Nui would have had to seek-find a new Toa candidate very rapid-quick.

This is so stupidly in character for Matau, I wouldn't be surprised if this was in Farshtey's character notes. And I'm sure The OoMN would have kept Matau alive. Somehow. Probably replace him temporarily with a spare Av-Matoran or some shit.
 
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