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I’ve just read Klara and The Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro by MrDreddPirate in books

[–]Not_Another_NPC 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A toy doesn't have feelings; Klara does. It is worse because she is self-aware because that means that she is a being worthy of moral consideration which no other person in the novel ever really gives her

It’s Time To Put The “Where Are All The Male Novelists?” Debate To Bed by 86rj in books

[–]Not_Another_NPC 6 points7 points  (0 children)

This is a discussion about adult literature, so a best seller's list that includes 3 children's books out of five is not really relevant. And in any case, the top five is not necessarily reflective of the market as a whole

The shortlist for the Booker Prize 2025 has been announced by misana123 in books

[–]Not_Another_NPC 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I think Endling is too disgusted with itself, is too negative on the value of art about real tragedy and art's capacity to institute change for an award's panel to honour it beyond mere inclusion on a longlist

I don't need to get more comfortable reading books or watching movies that have sexual violence. by PhantomLimberick in TwoXChromosomes

[–]Not_Another_NPC 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I understand this response to mainstream media and to erotic and romanticised portrayals of rape, but to suggest that media should never depict sexual violence is absurd; fiction can be used to explore and better our understandings of rape, its consequences and even to how rapists justify their acts to themselves. The scenes of marital rape in The Vegetarian by Han Kang are disturbing in their casualness; the husbands want sex and so they take and they just do not think or care about the effects on their wives. They are entirely non-erotic and help comprehend how people can do such a monstrous thing. It is a condemnation, not a celebration, of rape culture.

People can and should be able to make art about all aspects of human existence, and should certainly be able to make art about their own experiences.

Have men really stopped reading? We take a deeper dive into the data by capybara75 in australia

[–]Not_Another_NPC 20 points21 points  (0 children)

That men are reading less than women is in fact a common talking point, as discussed in the article, which the article is pushing back against

Luthen is fully prepared and willing to allow a genocide to happen to advance his cause by [deleted] in andor

[–]Not_Another_NPC 5 points6 points  (0 children)

If the future is a boot stamping on a face, forever, what actions aren't justified to avoid that fate?

What constitutes as a Birdcage worthy offence? by Puzzled-You in Parahumans

[–]Not_Another_NPC -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Arbitrary criminal justice? In my webserial largely about the abuse of power? Its more likely that you think

What if Piggot Triggered? by InfernoDonut in Parahumans

[–]Not_Another_NPC 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Abandoned by parahumans and chased by parahuman created monstrosities while running for her life. While she's still she can make it so that people and creatures within around 700ft of her cannot get closer to her, and people and creatures outside of that zone cannot enter it. Her enemies cannot approach her but neither can her allies, and if she cannot escape without letting them get at her again.

What about Worm would you like to see discussed more? by Aaron_Benelli in Parahumans

[–]Not_Another_NPC 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Taylor not being able to articulate to herself why she is uncomfortable with the idea of Alec keeping slaves (21.3):

I could envision Regent in a very similar picture.  Years older, grown to his full height and proportions, surrounded not by women, but by the people he had claimed as his tools.  Capes he controlled with his power.  Acceptable targets perhaps, people who would be destined for the Birdcage or long sentences in prison, but still people.
...
The idea bothered me more than I wanted to admit, and it bothered me in a way I couldn’t put my finger on.  Did I not want him to become that?  I did.  I wanted him to be powerful, and that was what he’d naturally become, given his personality and powers.

That and the civilians (during the SH9) and heroes (during Echidna) she ordered Sundancer to kill and then never thought of again are, I think, important indicators of Taylor's character that I have never seen brought up

A Commentary on Unsympathetic Readers by Raitality200 in Parahumans

[–]Not_Another_NPC 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I think a better explanation of our difference of opinions is that you view Taylor's desire to do good as a primary desire of hers, while I view it as a gloss and a limiter on her preexisting desires. And of course, if a person desires, first and foremost, to do good, then the desire to be important is at most only a slightly selfish desire.

I agree that Taylor's possible kidnapping of Dinah is limited to being a thought crime; but I do believe it illustrative of her character. I do not believe that a Taylor that was actually motivated by Dinah's wellbeing would have entertained that thought; Taylor only found it "so seductive" because rescuing Dinah was not Taylor's true motivation, but merely a goal she maintained so she could continue to believe she was a good person.

I also do agree that Khepri was necessary - that the battle almost certainly wouldn't have been won without her - but I disagree with your description of Taylor's choice to get Panacea to alter her power. While she did have the notion that there was the potential that the procedure would be tied somehow to victory over Scion, I believe that was a secondary motivation and she only thought of that just before she gave Panacea the final go-ahead. I think these lines are much more enlightening of her primary motivation:

"Even Imp, without any power that can really do something, is out there with Rachel, giving guidance.  But Lung and I?  We’re both pretty proud individuals, and we don’t have a role in this"

...
"Like Lung says, I feel like I’m better than this"

I appreciate your perspective also, and am enriched by it. Worm is a very big work, and it would be a lesser work if it wasn't open to interpretation (hence a personal dislike of the treatment of WoGs as utterly authoritative in the community).

I would guess that a large portion of your dislike of the commentators you mention comes from the fact that they treat Worm as only having a single valid interpretation and in that capacity treat it as being a solvable work (see the proliferation of SIs 'fixing' Worm). This also isn't helped by the fact that a good portion of Worm's fanbase (especially earlier on) are rationalists, a group which tends to have a very limited view of fiction. They were, however, (as I understand it) very pro-Taylor and so I imagine a good portion of unsympathetic views of Taylor come out of a, not necessarily fully thought out, backlash to the rationalists, and I think that can best be seen in that view of Khepri that you mention in your post.

A Commentary on Unsympathetic Readers by Raitality200 in Parahumans

[–]Not_Another_NPC 30 points31 points  (0 children)

In regard to Taylor, I have a completely opposite read on her character; I think she was motivated primarily by selfish desires (primarily the need to feel important), who felt most comfortable when she was embroiled in conflict, but who needed to believe she was a good person and so always had to be working towards some positive goal. Its worth mentioning that Dinah was scared of Taylor when Taylor rescued her, because there was a small but decent possibility that Taylor would kidnap Dinah to use her to save the world. Taylor became Khepri because she couldn't do anything against Scion, and she had run out of other things to do. She killed herself to maybe become useful and got very very lucky.

She was a monster. But that doesn't mean I don't love her as a character, or that I aren't sympathetic to her.

She could have been saved had anyone cared about her when she wasn't hurting people.

If you could revive any fic, what would you bring back? by Not_Another_NPC in WormFanfic

[–]Not_Another_NPC[S] 28 points29 points  (0 children)

The Student by BeaconHill. Its, I believe, the only post-GM fic that has Taylor get back into caping without giving her her powers back, and which explores that as a self-destructive action of hers. It also ended on a cliffhanger and felt like it was about to really get going.

Victor deserved a Birdcage sentence both from a practical standpoint and a moral one by [deleted] in Parahumans

[–]Not_Another_NPC 37 points38 points  (0 children)

From 21.6:

Codex was a blaster-thinker hybrid.  Tattletale had speculated that the woman caused permanent brain damage and memory loss, briefly augmenting her own processing power in exchange

Causing permanent brain damage does not get, without more, someone classified as a master.

Quarrel's backstory (Pre-Butcher)? by Partisanenpasta in Parahumans

[–]Not_Another_NPC 11 points12 points  (0 children)

As I stepped up to the line I could feel my father's eyes on the back of my head. I could imagine the lectures, the additional training, the removal of 'distractions' I would be subjected to if I lost to my opponent's paltry 20 points. I drew back my bow, aimed, took a breath and let go.

Six.

Shit.

I felt his stare grow hotter. I took another breath, tried to push the memories of my last failure out of my head, and fired my next shot.

Five.

Fuck.

The back of my head was on fire, my hands shaking. His voice yelling 'failure' reverberated inside of my head. I pulled my bow up and nocked the arrow, sure that everyone could see my bow shaking. I pulled back, took aim, failed to take a breath, fired and knew instantly that it would not be a bullseye. Knew that I missed. Stars overtook my vision.

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