TBH the actual effect has been that I want to look up APGTE and do a quick read of all the epigraphs back to back, without paying any attention to the chapters.
An Impractical Guide to Ascension (Worm / Practical Guide to Evil)
- Thread starter Alivaril
- Start date
- Crossover
- Location
- On a speck of dust, floating through the void.
She's going to forget to ask, isn't she?
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
She heard the song and climbed the tower.
I personally cant wait for the completely and utterly expected betrayal.
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Crazael
Rehydrated Demon King
- Location
- Lost to the vagaries of time.
You're a sap. Also, I agree with you.
That said, this has been an entertaining read, even if there were a few points where Roma's exposition made it hard to read.
Evilreadermaximu
Unimpressed Asgard
Damn, Roma is a manipulative smug bitch, and I can't help but like her anyway. I really want her to meet Lisa now. Whether they liked each other or not, the proverbial, or not-so-proverbial, fireworks would be very entertaining.
I get that Roma was a Dread Empress and all, but I think she's still been pretty good influence on Taylor, even if she's manipulative at times. Earth Bet is a rather awful place. Teaching Taylor some ruthless cunning probably isn't a bad thing.
She seems pretty genre aware. It's doubtful she'll betray Taylor. They'll probably have many future disagreements about what constitutes ethical behaviour though.
Funnily enough, I actually think it could have been worse if a dead Hero was sent to this universe instead. Most were murder happy zealots and would be telling Taylor to hunt down villains and kill them in their sleep.
She seems pretty genre aware. It's doubtful she'll betray Taylor. They'll probably have many future disagreements about what constitutes ethical behaviour though.
Funnily enough, I actually think it could have been worse if a dead Hero was sent to this universe instead. Most were murder happy zealots and would be telling Taylor to hunt down villains and kill them in their sleep.
K von Carstein
Likes to go for a walk
- Location
- Belgium
- Pronouns
- He
Most Heroes aren't all like the Saint of Sword and the Mirror Knight. Also, nearly all of the people they murder are absolutely monsters.
Tariq would have asked her to be a hero, and would have been a great mentor. It's kind of his thing, and under his guidance Taylor would become a compassionate yet pragmatic Hero.
Hanno post-Keter or Roland would have been also great. But most other Heroes wouldn't have the Story knowledge to efficiently help her.
It took the end of the world to break the masquerade in canon
Tattletale would have a field day with Fate.
Morality arguments: the fic?
I mean nothing really stop Taylor from becoming a Hero or gaining a Hero name I think
Like Squire, Heiress is a transitional name though more open that Squire
And well the Evil Mentor teach the hero is a trope even known by Preasi
Example I remember Black telling something about how Transitional Names were dangerous because it could be that it a alignment Evil Squire could reject Black Knight and becoming White Knight
Though he talked too about the Natural Mentor Hazard trope
Like Squire, Heiress is a transitional name though more open that Squire
And well the Evil Mentor teach the hero is a trope even known by Preasi
Example I remember Black telling something about how Transitional Names were dangerous because it could be that it a alignment Evil Squire could reject Black Knight and becoming White Knight
Though he talked too about the Natural Mentor Hazard trope
- Location
- Queensland, Australia
I mean, it is following in aPGtE's wake with how Black and Catherine's relationship developed to the point that they both admitted that Black was effectively
her father figure
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Black can be seen throw willful ignorance and the main pov bias as a decent enough person that maybe even has some good points instead of classical villain whining about how above "cheats" and one sin, one grace is the way.
Roma even from just what we have seen here is a self-aware believer in the dogma of below and the ways of the Dread Empire which in universe can be showed in a good light to a degree to manipulate Tay but her actual views makes her the reverse of sympathetic.
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With Roma getting a body soon fate has the opportunity to create a 'family drama' with Roma as the 'mom' Taylor as the 'child' and (with a bit of manipulation on fate's part to cause a misunderstanding) a hero as the 'father'.
Even Tariq started an angelic plague to kill a villian, murdering an entire innocent town in the process. I have no doubt he would be encouraging Taylor to be a hero, I just don't think the PRT would agree with his definition of one. He was also perfectly willing to kill Kat despite her giving extremely generous terms for peace, because he was threatened by her sheer existence as a villian.
There's no way the heroes of Calernia (at least before the later books in the series) would ever fight non-lethally against the villians, especially those like Hookwolf or Lung.
Roth963
If I become inactive with this massage, I died
Pink is QA, we know it from the author's other stories, it could be different here, but I think the author would have used a different shade if she did it to avoid confusion.
QA has a role in thr cycle which is pretty horrifying, crippling all other shards under Scion's hands, before being nearly destroyed by him when she is last, thrown aside and weakened while all the other nobles can give powerful noble because she is too dangerous to leave whole in the cycle
Turning this around is great for her because she would call the shots, but don't fool yourself into thinking she is a good person and lacks free will, she isn't malicious, in that her morality is different, but she would likely easily torture entire worlds rven without Scion, she isn't against the cycle, and if she controlled the entity she would likely continue as normal with only a few changes.
Roma mentioned things similar to shards about how she came here (namely them eating hell or chunks of it but not understanding much about magic, at least at the time), Taylor got her powers from trigger, and Roma seems to be under the leash of QA.
K von Carstein
Likes to go for a walk
- Location
- Belgium
- Pronouns
- He
Yes, Tariq doesn't hesitate to do horrible things, but he does so only after trying everything else. There wasn't another way to stop Black from escaping and causing hundreds of thousands of innocent deaths.
And he's pragmatic and smart enough to not do so where the PRT can see Taylor. Or at all, given that the risk of discovery is very high. Tariq isn't a moron.
He wasn't offended by Cat's existence as a Villain, he was perfectly willing to ally with Cat at the Third Liesse. He was concerned that being a Villain and a ruler, she would make Callow's Story a Villainous one. Given that the other Villainous nations of Calernia are Praes, Stygia, the Everdark, Bellerophon, the Chain of Hunger and Keter, he's right to be afraid.
All Heroes aren't idiots, they could very well see how impractical it would be, and that Taylor wouldn't go with it. And they would likely be more focused on protecting the actual people.
- Location
- United States
Would they be unjustified in doing so, though? A fight against Lung or Hookwolf necessarily involves lethal force (at least on Lung or Hookwolf's part).
There's a place for less-than-lethal options, but who would suggest that people fighting Lung or Hookwolfs' IRL equivalents limit themselves to tasers, tear gas, and harsh language?
- Location
- Earth
The PRT does demand that from their own heroes and independents.
- Location
- On a speck of dust, floating through the void.
Well, that's the prt being dumbarses as usual
If I was writing the laws on Bet, it would absolutely be legal to defend yourself with lethal force against known mass murderers that are in the process of trying to kill you.
Unfortunately, Cauldron basically wrote the laws, and all they cared about was building a massive cape army. Dead capes can't be in the army, so everyone's gotta stay alive or go to the birdcage instead. They don't really care how many civilians someone like Hookwolf kills as long as they don't undermine faith in the PRT too much.
Honestly, we hate on Tagg a bunch, but he has the most believable reactions of everyone. In real life if someone robs a bank and threatens hostages, that's enough for a manhunt and lethal force. The stuff the Bet government let the Undersiders get away with was insane by our standards.
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- Location
- USA
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I love this little bit of character building for Taylor. It's tragic, but in a really sweet way.
I love this as a manipulation tactic because it's both so easy to sucker Taylor with and also so easy to imagine how information Roma and Taylor don't know might have made the situation more complicated than this.
Hahahahaha, Taylor. Taylor no. Taylor she told you that you could put her back in the bottle. Never trust the ancient trapped evil when it tells you the conditions of its "temporary" release.
See, I still don't trust this. Because the link is still very much one-way, Taylor isn't reading Roma's thoughts, and the emotional link from Roma (if it's honest) is only provided at her discretion.
...
And yet I'm still not sure it would actually be a bad outcome for Taylor if Roma were released. Because she is very, very good at this game.
It'll depend on if Earth Bet can or can not let her keep her name without Taylor, seeing as the name shennanigans seem to be operating on Taylor's shard juice. Roma is unlikely to betray Taylor unless she actually gets to know capes that can keep Taylor's powers working, seeing as the only cape with that level of passager knowledge right now is bonesaw, Taylor's odds are good here.
Roth963
If I become inactive with this massage, I died
There is also Ciara, but she is unlikely to help Roma become independent of the administrator.
Roma, you are pretty good at this game, but QA is writing the rules. Trying to separate yourself from Taylor might not go as well as you think.
- Location
- Norway
Kind of want to read a practical guide to evil now
- Location
- A single human dimension
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I highly recommend it; its completed, free, and quite good overall! (At least for now, it might stop being free once it's properly published as books or w/e.)
You can read it by following this elegant and finely-crafted link.
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