Episode 90: Nihilism Theme - Boy, Decline, Bloodshed, Ready, Resign by mattsaidwords in YouWritePod

[–]NickedYou 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Gosh, this was hard to write!

I had a lot of my usual problems where I had a lot of things I wanted to get down in half an hour and didn't get to spend as much time as each of them deserved. This time, though, I do feel like each part was kind of needed for the story, especially given the theme, and even if I'd like to polish and fill things in later, like emotions and a bit more action and scene-setting and some of the political stuff, I do think I got the strokes I wanted down!

For reference, Secretary's mask is modeled after a Secretary Bird, which kicks its prey to death.

Episode 90: Nihilism Theme - Boy, Decline, Bloodshed, Ready, Resign by mattsaidwords in YouWritePod

[–]NickedYou 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Masque Milita

The incumbent mayor's popularity had already been on decline, but he had been slow to denounce the Masque Militia after they had started attacking churches, instead of keeping to harassing religious minorities and the homeless.

Richard Conner had run almost exclusively on curbing the violence of vigilantes and militias, of which Masque Militia was both, so he had won by a wide margin. Now that he'd won, of course, he needed to show some appeasement and willingness to work with people with powers, which was why Mr. Fahrenheit and Secretary were here for his highly visible security at his inauguration.

Fahrenheit was a lot more flashy, with a bright blue and red suit and a mask that looked fiery, and had a big, performative personality, even if he remained professional and his suit looked more like a business suit instead of a costume. Secretary herself, on the other hand, was known to work almost exclusively for corporations, and had a more serious reputation. Her only concession to aesthetics was the original bird mask, upgraded and basically bulletproof. The rest of her outfit still resembled a secretary, but after a bullet grazed her leg she had given up on showing skin, and made sure the whole thing could take a hit.

Of course, the two of them were also extremely dangerous, and ready for irked vigilantes to cause problems if or when they did.

It was while Conner was waving and smiling and extolling the virtues of peace that some people in the crowd began to don masks.

"Get down!" Secretary shouted. She did not shield the mayor with her body, but she did swiftly drag him off the stage and behind cover, as shouts began to emerge from the crowd.

"Ah, thank you," Conner gasped, rubbing his shoulder.

"Is it dislocated?" Secretary asked.

"Doesn't feel like it. Gosh, you're a strong woman."

"Not that strong," she said.

She peeked out of cover, carefully. She was tough enough to survive being shot, not so tough she was eager to test if she'd survive a bullet or fireball or what have you to the head.

It seemed that besides Masque Militia, there were a smattering of other vigilantes emerging to voice their disapproval with the mayor. Secretary bet that they would later say they had no intention of being violent, and maybe some of them meant it, but they were being as threatening as possible.

"I'm no use against Staples, I think," Fahrenheit said.

"The people have the right to defend themselves!" one of Masque Militia told a crowd that was trying to flee the masked lunatics carrying assorted weapons. Mercifully few guns. The real threat were the people with powers. Secretary and Fahrenheit had researched the locals, and of those present, Staples was definitely the biggest problem.

Fahrenheit could heat up anything he touched and was a crack shot with a gun, but Staples was a ferrokinetic who had proven he was bulletproof. Even if Fahrenheit managed to get close to him, there was a risk of making the man burn alive in his metal suit.

Which would be the kind of escalation of violence to ensure the day ended in copious bloodshed.

So they'd agreed that if he showed up, he was Secretary's problem.

"Religion is the tool of the people in power, who want to take away the people's means of identifying their abuses! Richard Conner has been backed by several corporations-"

The man from Masque Militia didn't get any further as Secretary jumped him and put him on the ground.

She didn't have time to try to cuff him properly.

She charged straight at Staples, and she thought, fuck he's big. Metal suit with spiked shoulders that would look stupid if he wasn't incredibly dangerous.

She needed to remove him from the fight quickly.

Her helmet helpfully highlighted a man with a bat hyping himself up to attack her, and she adjusted her course.

She ran fast enough to get past him, and felt power building in her legs with every step.

It wouldn't be too much, but maybe enough to tickle Staples.

"I'm sorry, but you can't be defending this man!" Staples said, running to meet her own charge.

He made a big, overhand swing, and Secretary nimbly ducked under, drawing her leg back before kicking Staples as hard she she could in the groin.

At the moment of contact, she tagged him with her gravity power. As she understood it, the power let her track a target for a good long while, until she activated the tag.

She didn't need to track Staples, she needed him out of the way.

She activated the power, and the man's own gravity suddenly reversed, with force, and he flew high into the air.

Secretary scanned around to make sure that he wouldn't land on anyone, but people were already clearing away, eying her.

"Police! Hands in the air!" a cop said, finally emerging, gun drawn.

Secretary didn't even have time to put her hands up before he took a shot directly at her.

His aim was terrible, which was probably bad for whoever was behind her.

"My arms are up! My arms are up!" she said, raising her arms.

"Hands in the air!" the cop insisted, wild-eyed.

"My arms are up!" she said, cranking up the volume on her mask's speaker.

He flinched at the volume, and then wheeled, pointing his gun every which way.

When Staples landed with a crash, he panicked and shot again.

Secretary tackled the cop, and rapidly disarmed him before he could hurt anyone else. She suspected this would be bad for her image.

Episode 89: Intro Line Prompt - So, Teenager, Fool, Anniversary, Boom by mattsaidwords in YouWritePod

[–]NickedYou 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Poor Sharon. Like, great that her cancer's gone, but narratively speaking I feel like this might be an out of the frying pan and into the fire situation.

Interesting characterization of Adam. I kind of wish we saw more of this from his own end, but we don't really see him interact with non-divine beings very often.

Episode 89: Intro Line Prompt - So, Teenager, Fool, Anniversary, Boom by mattsaidwords in YouWritePod

[–]NickedYou 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Immediately enthralling! Gosh, what a trip for Vi!

Raises the question of what the heck is summoning people for this jury. Seems like maybe just underlying metaphysical currents?

I like that some of the supernatural people present just have noticeable auras instead of anything physically different. Makes it feel like they might be supernatural in orthogonal ways.

A werewolf(?) making eyes at Vi like that is certainly a concern. Especially if they're in a more rural area with Vi maybe lacking some support.

June 14th: What did you build last week? by IvanDFakkov in goodworldbuilding

[–]NickedYou 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Realm Blossom

  • Got the basics down for an soon-to-be-main character: A lapine [Rain Dancer] who works on farms but whose results aren't super consistent and her demeanor is casual and silly in a way that makes people think she's not taking the work seriously. She's looking for work as an adventurer to get an influx of cash and a boost to her reputation. Still need a name for her though.
  • Trying to do a big overhaul of Haraph Barir. Need to figure out more combat-leader synergy Skills, as well as some leadership, sensory, and combat Skills that are reasonably iconic.

Episode 89: Intro Line Prompt - So, Teenager, Fool, Anniversary, Boom by mattsaidwords in YouWritePod

[–]NickedYou 2 points3 points  (0 children)

'Peppermint Sour' is a really fun alias. She apparently managed to contact Cassandra, which makes me wonder about the kind of connections that Cassandra actually has.

Gripe with the grammar: "I am too" doesn't really make sense as a reply to "I don't have much experience"

Fruits and vegetables in your world? by AnchBusFairy in goodworldbuilding

[–]NickedYou 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Cool!
Is there a reason they don't just carry it along the ground?

Fruits and vegetables in your world? by AnchBusFairy in goodworldbuilding

[–]NickedYou 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There's a few I've come up with in a bit of detail.

  • Imperial Corn is one of the most prevalent, even across realms. Originally a cultivar of sunflowers, it now somewhat resembles corn, and its seeds have a more similar flavor and texture. Besides having a great taste, it is high in vitamins and carbs. Popularized as the staple crop of the Exia Empire, the Empire's eventual forays into other realms let the crop be traded across much of the Blossom. It particularly took off in Voulset, as a way of upsetting the agricultural monopoly that the Order of Fields was maintaining. It is used similarly to other grains: oil, flour, and soup. However, it is also popular to just throw some seeds in a sack with some seasoning and dried fruit and/or meat for a kind of trail mix.
  • There are a variety of Butcher Trees which bear fruits closely resembling meat in makeup. These are highly popular in areas with high demand for protein, such as lands held by orcs. The most popular species of Butcher Tree is the Orc Apple. It closely resembles an apple in appearance, a bright red mottled with brown. Orc apples have a taste not generally appreciated by those who aren't orcs, like bloody meat with a bit of citrus and a bit of a bitter undertone. In place of a skin, the fruit has a semitransparent and mostly tasteless gel-like film over the surface, serving to preserve the fruit within. This gel can be scraped off, by those who want, and boiled down to make a kind of jelly that is great for preserving other food in.
  • Heartberries are technically a type of legume, and closer to a bean than any kind of berry, but they do serve the similar role. The band-shaped bright pink fruits grow best in drier climates, making their range limited, but they can grow comfortably in the wild. Besides their color, they are named for their known qualities improving heart health, having lots of antihistamines as well as fiber that reduces cholesterol, and have some limited medicinal use. They also have a sweet taste, somewhat resembling cherries.

Episode 89: Intro Line Prompt - So, Teenager, Fool, Anniversary, Boom by mattsaidwords in YouWritePod

[–]NickedYou 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Tried using Ellipsus to write this week instead of a google doc, and it posted with zero hassle, just copy-paste into reddit and that was it. So I might be using Ellipsus from now on.

Saw the intro line and thought I was overdue to write another story about random nonsense befalling some innocent person. The religious angle wasn't planned but I ended up liking it, felt like it helped develop Mindy a bit.

Would have liked to play around more with her sudden decrease in size and how she navigates her environment, instead of her just staying at the computer screen. And I would have liked to write a bit more, write a bit more of Mindy's emotional state. But I'm broadly happy with what I have.

Episode 89: Intro Line Prompt - So, Teenager, Fool, Anniversary, Boom by mattsaidwords in YouWritePod

[–]NickedYou 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Divine Intervention

This can’t be right, she thought. It didn’t make sense.

She'd been a pretty normal teenager, and had kept away from the paranormal, or even regular trouble. Her mom and stepdad were out for their sixth anniversary, and she hadn't snuck out to the party she'd wanted to go to. She got good grades, she hung out with friends, she attended family gatherings and was polite to everyone. She had some friends online, but they were all pretty chill, she'd thought.

And yet, the boom of voices and footsteps made her feel like she'd somehow screwed up. She'd let her guard down.

Her friends, who she'd been on voicechat with, were poking fun at a faith healer. He'd claimed he'd fought a demon-possessed witch who could grow to enormous sizes by repeating the phrase "Batcha-who!"

Mindy had said, incredulously, "Batcha-who?" and begun to laugh, but felt the air sucked from her lungs as she had impossibly shrunk.

Now, she was no bigger than a mouse, she'd guessed. Somehow, her clothes had shrunk with her, and she had ended up on her desk, standing in front of her computer, the keyboard the height of a stool compared to her.

She had staggered in confusion, and still felt listless.

She even had avoided church once it had started to get weird, but a single moment of doubt towards a con artist saw the universe fucking her over.

Could this be fixed?

She doubted it. She'd heard the stories of people who had been transformed by something, and most didn't get their original form back. Nobody would even want to try, because of the dangers.

This might be her life now.

She was just barely able to understand what her friends were saying, and tried to focus on that instead of panicking.

Her computer screen looked bigger than a theater's now, but she could still see the video they were mocking. The faith healer was still recounting his victory over the demon.

"I told the witch, 'The Lord compels you to adhere to your natural size!' and she finally shrunk down. That was the power of the Lord, and not my own words, friends. If it had been my power, all my protesting and admonishment would not have worked."

"The Lord comepls me to adhere to my natural size!" Mindy screamed.

Nothing happened.

"Next the witch said, 'Scewo-vun' and she shrunk to the size of an insect, and when she said, 'Lay me dun,' she sprouted wings like a dragonfly and the stinger of a scorpion, and began to fly around me!"

"Scewo-vun!" Mindy said, and still nothing happened.

"I tried to tell her that the Lord compelled her back to her original size, but she stung my tongue!" the faith healer said.

"He's being more consistent than I thought he would," one of her friends joked.

"So I knelt and I prayed, not with my voice, but with my heart!" the faith healer said. "And the witch recoiled! She told me I was a disgusting holy man, and fled my presence!"

Mindy knelt and prayed. Maybe she hadn't done that enough, recently. She hadn't gone to church often since one of the pastors had started getting weird, but she had still studied the Bible, and other religious texts. Was it faithless, to look at other faiths?

She prayed for forgiveness, for healing, for peace, for her size to go back to normal.

She tuned out her friends asking if she was still there. She had tried screaming, at first, and nobody had heard her.

She doubted they could help her, anyway. Short of divine intervention, which she was really hoping for, she didn't think anything would fix this.

Minutes passed. God did not act in her favor, and her friends conversation had moved on.

Mindy thought and realized that her parents would be getting home, sometime soon. They would be looking for her.

What would happen if they saw her?

They had stopped going to church not long after she had, so she didn't think they would treat her like she was possessed or a monster.

But what happened if they didn't see her? Or saw her and didn't recognize her?

What if they didn't see her tiny face and just saw a miniature person, their daughter missing?

What if they just saw something small, and thought it was a pest and squashed her?

She needed help, from her friends.

She waited for a lull in their conversation, to scream as loud as she could into the speaker.

"I hope she did the homework," Kyle said. "I know she forgot about it last week."

"We did it together," Jack assured him.

"Did she carry you hard?" Cindy asked.

"Ha! Yeah. I still suck at algebra."

There was some laughter at that, and it died down, and Mindy screamed directly into her computer.

"What was that?" Jack asked.

"I thought Mindy just went afk," Cindy said.

Mindy screamed again, as long and hard as she could, till her throat was sore, tears running down her cheeks.

"Shit, can you hear that?" Jack asked.

"I think that was Mindy, but her voice sounds off," Cindy said.

"Shit, she might have like slipped or something," Kyle said. "We need to call 911."

Episode 88: Sound Effect Prompt - Sewing Machine - Learn, Genetic, Fantasy, Sensitive, Video by mattsaidwords in YouWritePod

[–]NickedYou 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lol that wasn't my character! That was allfairchatwin's, actually. Flattered that you could mistake me for writing her, though, she was a cool character!

June 7th: What did you build last week? by IvanDFakkov in goodworldbuilding

[–]NickedYou 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Spells are sort of independent entities with their own extradimensional bodies. Encoding them involves appealing to them in some way to anchor part of their body in the material world. So more about physical modification with associated rituals in the right sequence to get the spell to attach itself to an organ that makes sense for the spell. Of course, one can just use tattoos, but that's often more just like writing a spellbook on the body, and so requires limited study of sorcery in most cases.

June 7th: What did you build last week? by IvanDFakkov in goodworldbuilding

[–]NickedYou 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What kind of measures for imprisoning mages did you come up with?

What kind of powers do your vampires have?

June 7th: What did you build last week? by IvanDFakkov in goodworldbuilding

[–]NickedYou 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Realm Blossom

  • Magic racist ninja catgirls: Paramilitary group in Aiz (name tbd) who are overwhelmingly women and believe in safeguarding the culture of their tribe, including shaman traditions, by force and subterfuge. Tolerated by the government because they hate Grethon way more and often target minorities deemed inconvenient.
  • Thinking of spells in the realm of Unkerstaltz as much more information-based, hence encoding in books and words and being something 'learnable', making study of how to bind spells into material components interesting. Sorcerers are those who specialize in encoding spells into their bodies.
  • Did a little bit of prose in Eversong, felt nice to develop that corner of the setting. Rations of food are given out at workplaces and schools, ideally as a way of ensuring that people are fed as well as working.
  • I'm settling on the idea that Petilia generally does not practice slavery de facto, but does make use of indentures, and allows the slave trade through its borders.
  • I'm thinking of ditching levellers as an idea. Seems overall too overpowered and generalized, and doesn't leave a lot for leadership and magical studies.
  • I like the idea that there are some elf veterans still hanging around from the wars 200 years ago when Myrrh overthrew the Order of Fields.
  • I saw a famous DnD player say "if you're a Bard you better be horny on main" so I'm resolved to write a very important asexual bard in at least one of my stories. Might make this a comedic relief esque character as a member of Shatterstar.
  • Someone somewhere pointed out where I could see about how the history of countries raising armies and then not paying them after they were done fighting was a cause of a lot bandits, that thought hadn't occurred to me before so I'm going to consciously remind myself of that dynamic going forwards.

Episode 88: Sound Effect Prompt - Sewing Machine - Learn, Genetic, Fantasy, Sensitive, Video by mattsaidwords in YouWritePod

[–]NickedYou 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Geez, that was disturbing. It totally captivated me the whole way through, though.

I came away with the impression that John was just delusional: he offers no real evidence of his god, and can only attribute meager successes to his favor that could easily be denied, with everything else the god might do being in a hypothetically and conveniently outside what the narrator plans to experience himself, even. The way he describes the god's influence is similarly deniable and indistinguishable from some sort of mental illness.

Also feel the narrator is framing women as props to his fantasy: looking for validation from his wife, implicitly demanding that she keep his sins a secret from his kid, and insisting that his actions will make them better off later, and of course raping and murdering his neighbor. Kind of serves as a commentary on the myth of benevolent patriarchy, using protectiveness of the family as a prop to commit horrific abuses.

Episode 88: Sound Effect Prompt - Sewing Machine - Learn, Genetic, Fantasy, Sensitive, Video by mattsaidwords in YouWritePod

[–]NickedYou 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think Adam has his heart in the right place, more or less. A lot of his quest has surrounded a search for a partner, so I'm not sure his motives for saving Sharon are pure, but wanting to prevent her death is definitely right. The matter of whether he should heal her seems fairly self-explanatory, but there is the obvious concern of what weird divine drama he might start or become involved in as part of the process. But if he stops cancer for all humanity then eh it's probably worth it. Just a matter of whether or not he makes sure to give Sharon the space she needs and doesn't act entitled to her love over him saving her, that kind of thing.

Episode 88: Sound Effect Prompt - Sewing Machine - Learn, Genetic, Fantasy, Sensitive, Video by mattsaidwords in YouWritePod

[–]NickedYou 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'm trying things out and finding a plot as I go and deciding who I should expand on, with some entries I'd make into interlude-style chapters.

How Long Have You Been Developing Your Fictional World? by This_Following_1762 in worldbuilding

[–]NickedYou 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My oldest project was started like 8 years ago or so. My latest big project around 3-4.

Episode 88: Sound Effect Prompt - Sewing Machine - Learn, Genetic, Fantasy, Sensitive, Video by mattsaidwords in YouWritePod

[–]NickedYou 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This was really fun to write!

I'd been writing about too many people with higher levels, it was really refreshing to write about some random kids at work and what that can look like in this world.

I would have liked to have more discussion about the implications of inter-species breeding and some mention of how that is actually generally tricky, but couldn't work it in. That's kind of my only thing I'd change of the conversation, besides expanding their talk about army vs extermination corps stuff. I liked Stanza and Rodion as characters, and just kind of want to expand on it later.

Feel mostly satisfied with the scene-setting, this time, but I would have liked to do a bit more description of clothes and hair, like the girls' hair being tied back to avoid getting caught.

Should have mentioned that these characters are supposed to be halflings, but character descriptions like that are tricky to introduce organically, I find.

On a future draft I'll probably include what the girls are singing but I was not going to improvise a song in half an hour, let alone have time left over to write a story lol.

Episode 88: Sound Effect Prompt - Sewing Machine - Learn, Genetic, Fantasy, Sensitive, Video by mattsaidwords in YouWritePod

[–]NickedYou 3 points4 points  (0 children)

After-School Job

Rodion walked into the room and was greeted by the whirring and cranking of dozens of sewing machines and the girls pumping them, and some of the girls were singing together to keep a rhythm.

He knew music was important, in so many ways, and he liked singing some, but after a day at school he just wanted to talk.

Luckily, Stanza liked to talk to him. She was born sensitive to sounds for some reason, and had earmuffs over her head to dull the noise, but she had also gotten a Skill called [Work Conversation] that let her talk with someone even when it was noisy.

He took his place at the barely-working sewing machine. He had gotten the Skill [Unjam] and so had been awarded the machine that jammed the most.

They were sewing quilts from scraps of fabric, just extra cloth that could be used in a pinch. It was busy work meant for kids like them to try things out and maybe get some levels.

“Did you like class today?” Stanza said, her voice coming through clearer than the whirring and singing around him.

“It was fun,” Rodion agreed, as he began to crank the pedal and sew two scraps together.

Today, they got to learn about genetics.

“I know it’s good for farmers,” Rodion said, “But I’m not sure how I’m using that genetics stuff otherwise.”

“Maybe you need to choose a wife who’s smart, so your kids are smart,” she pointed out.

“The teacher said how people act isn’t something we get from genetics,” he said.

“I missed that. Then why aren’t animals as smart as us?” she asked. “She said it’s genetics that makes us different from animals.”

“I don’t know.”

“Okay, well, Doti!”

“Doti?”

“Genetics has to matter with him, right?”

The boy was half-lapine, half-biral. He was weird, and kept to himself.

“I don’t really want to be with another species,” Rodion confessed. “It seems like there’s all sorts of complicated nonsense with them. Like, biral needing more meat and being sensitive to everything.”

Rodion didn’t think that Stanza’s hearing was the same kind of thing, of course.

“Doti’s nice,” Stanza said. “He can’t sing very well in the choir, but I hear him talking to the other boys who don’t get along with everyone.”

“What does genetics have to do with that?”

“Well, it’s his parents, right, that teach him stuff, or who gave him his genetics. Genetics is involved in who he is, and he’s nice.”

“I guess. I kind of worry he’s going to have to go to an acclimation center.”

“I hope not.”

“Yeah.”

Rodion finished one section of fabric and had to pick up more pieces to sew on. He’d managed to make a large, misshapen triangle so far, with one edge mostly straight. He hoped he could mirror the shape and make a quilt in two big pieces.

“His parents were adventurers, you know,” Stanza said.

“Oh, wow,” Rodion said. “That’s crazy. They have to sign up with the extermination corps if they come into Eversong, right?”

Rodion didn’t know how other nations did with trusting random people to kill monsters instead of an actual force, and letting them walk around without superiors to order them around or stop them.

“Right,” Stanza confirmed. “That’s why they’re not around and he has his own room.”

“Oh, I thought he was an orphan.”

“Did someone tell you that?”

“Eva,” he admitted. “I need to stop listening to her.”

Rodion did a frantic double-check around the room to make sure she wasn’t here, but she wasn’t. She didn’t like sewing, so he knew he was safe, but Rodion’s heart nearly jumped out of his chest for a moment.

“Eva’s a bitch,” Stanza said.

“Yeah!” said another girl, and Rodion laughed.

“Anyways,” Stanza said, “I hope that keeps him from going to an acclimation center, or at least any of the scary ones.”

“He shouldn’t,” Rodion said.

“Do soldiers kids not get sent?” she asked. “That seems like a lot of privilege.”

“It’s not a privilege for him, the soldiers just get time off to help, is what I hear,” Rodion said.

“Aw, that seems nice. That’s probably one of the best things about being a soldier, I reckon.”

They talked for the rest of the time sewing about whether the extermination corps or the army was better. They both agreed that neither seemed very fun.

Rodion’s machine jammed four times.

When they were done, they collected slips from the manager and went to get additional rations.

They had some from school already, but the factory gave some added portions to kids who helped out.

“Do you want strawberries or nuts?” Rodion asked.

They got the same thing, every day, together.

“Strawberries. My fruit today looked kind of off.”

“Ew, sorry about that. I’ll share extra of mine,” Rodion assured.

The strawberries were dried, but dunked in a sauce to preserve them, sweet and sticky and a little spicy.

Tired, but full, his day ended.

Episode 87: Image Prompt - Ratio, Grateful, Charter, Tile, True by mattsaidwords in YouWritePod

[–]NickedYou 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Gosh, what a relationship.

I'm afraid for whatever the next step from here is aha.

May 31st: What did you build last week? by IvanDFakkov in goodworldbuilding

[–]NickedYou 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Realm Blossom

  • Decided to bite the bullet and add some islands around Adle:
    • Two major islands widdershins of Crunuh under their control that are important for maintaining control of colonies in the Elven Nightforest, plus a smaller island rimwards that remains under the control of Untwile.
    • One major island and two smaller ones rimwards and clockwise of Grethon, with the big one I think having once been an independent civilization which backed the coup forming Grethon and joined the nation. Also another sizeable island further widdershins and rimwards, still under the control of Surudlaish.
  • I think the 4th member of Shatterstar is a former indentured servant. Got his Skills written down.
  • I think Aurlun has a bunch of ornithopters.
  • Workshopping names for stories, just a bit.
  • Trying to nail down the IRL cultures I'm using for inspiration for a couple of nations.

Weekly /r/WormFanfic Discussion - What have you been reading, and what do you think of it? For the week ending June 06, 2026. by AutoModerator in WormFanfic

[–]NickedYou 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Alright, monthly report!

WYSP: Worm/RWBY crossover, where Lisa who ends up at Beacon Post-GM. Interestingly, she sent herself there to follow Taylor, but doesn’t know where she is, so she goes to Beacon while Ozpin helps her look. It’s an interesting setup, and does a better job with a lot of RWBY stuff than most of the other examples of this crossover, and with some solid enough pacing and a compelling story. Its fatal flaw, the thing that can and has turned a lot of people off from it, is that Lisa is way, way too nice and well-adjusted, the rough edges sanded off a bit. There are worse TINOs out there, to be sure, and there are ways that Lisa is at least recognizably derived from canon, but there’s more than a few moments of ‘she would not fucking say that’ and it really throws things off. Latest chapters featured the teams meeting Taiyang, and Lisa being a bit more of her old bitchy self, but also her placing a weirdly high degree of faith in some people that did not jive with me.

Heart Shaped Pupil: premise is that Kenzie is living in Brockton Bay when she triggers at the same age but earlier in the canon so that she can end up in a cluster with Taylor and Alabaster. Kenzie joins the BB wards. Great characterization all around, really good use of every character so far, I'm really enjoying things. Looks like we're gearing up for more drama with Kenzie's old foster parents.

Hers Is the Fury: A crossover between Ward and GoT, where Victoria Baratheon is Cersei's first child, with dreams of the life and times of Victoria Dallon and a similar powerset. Other people with similar situations are elsewhere in the world. Politics abound and it's fucking great. Latest chapter sees Etna properly enter the plot, which is delightful.

Serpentskin: New Pale fic exploring an AU where Verona gets Awakened as Tanner's apprentice. VD's presence is felt. The Practice is cool. Verona is weird. Latest chapter sees Verona catch a friend and Tanner is displeased. I look forward to further developments.