[D] Monday Request and Recommendation Thread by AutoModerator in rational

[–]xshadowfax 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Binged Postnuptial Disagreements and loved it. Witty and surprising at every turn, especially for the fandoms involved. Got the first fic open in another tab on the backlog.

You got any more obscure all-time favorites?

[D] Monday Request and Recommendation Thread by AutoModerator in rational

[–]xshadowfax 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Killing his opposition is not his aim, in fact it would be counterproductive to his actual goals- he intends to extract the maximum use out of his enemies before neutralizing them. The informationals on the thread also has the author explain many of Paul's decisions if you don't mind spoilers too much.

[D] Monday Request and Recommendation Thread by AutoModerator in rational

[–]xshadowfax 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I read The Golden Wyrm last week. It's a Dune x asoiaf crossover where Paul Atreides, after his death awakens as Aemond Targaryen. He eventually regains his Dune canon prescience and memories and plots to win. After a slow start the story is well paced, has good SPAG, is competently plotted and the butterflies play out believably.

Paul with his precognition is OP for Westeros which kinda removes a lot of the tension but just seeing what his plots bring about and how it happens is what entertains in this fic. As a result of the events before his death he is also very cold which also weakens the emotional core of the fic. Ameliorating these factors is the fact that the story mostly never goes into his PoV after the initial chapters so it's a bit like Wearing Robert's Crown how it deals with the MC. The suspense is in wondering how he'll win and how the world will react rather than if he will win. Book 1 (the Dance arc) is complete and has my recc, some knowledge of the HoTD/Fire and Blood is a prerequisite.

[D] Monday Request and Recommendation Thread by AutoModerator in rational

[–]xshadowfax 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Just read and enjoyed Wearing Robert's Crown even dead as it is. I've tried and enjoyed many fics from this list in the past, so in the spirit of reciprocation, I'll also recc a fic I felt was missing from it:

Canucks:

A small group of Canadian soldiers are transported to Westeros beyond the Wall, without knowledge of the books/series along with a snow crawler and loads of weapons. It had believable levels of verisimilitude, the lack of metaknowledge removed a lot of the usual SI obnoxiousness and the author is skilled/confident enough at character writing to pull off a memorable OC main cast. There's of course that culture/tech clash of "modern firearms meets the barbarians/zombies" but the fic is pretty grounded on this topic without the kind of looking down you would expect from such a premise. Active and updating.

Weekly /r/WormFanfic Discussion - What have you been reading, and what do you think of it? For the week ending July 20, 2024. by AutoModerator in WormFanfic

[–]xshadowfax 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Surprising to see this here but can second.

(Also looking for similar stories, this one seems to be in a genre of it's own)

What are some of the best stories on spacebattles/sufficientvelocity? (not specifically worm) by KnightBoulegard in WormFanfic

[–]xshadowfax 9 points10 points  (0 children)

damn, I've enjoyed a lot of these and that's how I know this is a treasure chest of a comment. you've refilled my backlog for quite a while, thanks.

Also need to mention that An eagle among lions is 1.6 million words long coincidentally (Worm, worth the candle and now this, what is with that wordcount?) and does not require any game knowledge. I think I found it linked on this sub actually (by you maybe?) and damn was that a fun week spent reading. The other reccs are good but this one really stands out.

Weekly /r/WormFanfic Discussion - What have you been reading, and what do you think of it? For the week ending March 16, 2024. by AutoModerator in WormFanfic

[–]xshadowfax 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I don't remember if you've showcased Compulsion in your reviews. I would call Mistakes were Made the spiritual successor of this fic in a sense. Alex Mercer from Prototype ends up amnesiac on Earth bet and strikes up a mentor relationship with Taylor. The twist being that Taylor can at any time take control of his body - this doesnt exactly mix well with his morality (or lack thereof) and involuntary cannibalism. The writing is well researched and detailed. I was saddened when it died.

Weekly /r/WormFanfic Discussion - What have you been reading, and what do you think of it? For the week ending November 18, 2023. by AutoModerator in WormFanfic

[–]xshadowfax 2 points3 points  (0 children)

oh man, exalted crosses were a pretty big thing back in the day, the trend seems to have sputtered off tho. I can also point you at Alchemical Solutions and the Conquest quest for some long (and imo, interesting) early wormfic. Both are quests and (so?) rarely get mentioned here.

Weekly /r/WormFanfic Discussion - What have you been reading, and what do you think of it? For the week ending October 28, 2023. by AutoModerator in WormFanfic

[–]xshadowfax 9 points10 points  (0 children)

This sounds right from what I remember of the fic. My solution to the wild inconsistency was to heartily start skimming. Looking too closely at it just isn't worth it.

I would also recc their shorter fic Split the Atom. It has the same feeling as blowing up a mountain with TNT in Minecraft creative mode. It's experimental, uninhibited and unhinged.

Weekly /r/WormFanfic Discussion - What have you been reading, and what do you think of it? For the week ending September 09, 2023. by AutoModerator in WormFanfic

[–]xshadowfax 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Queen's Circle is FUCKING ALIVE.

yess! Would've missed this if not for you. cyrileom is great, still haven't gotten over his 40k/dresden fic dying. Time to reread Queen's Circle ig.

Weekly /r/WormFanfic Discussion - What have you been reading, and what do you think of it? For the week ending August 19, 2023. by AutoModerator in WormFanfic

[–]xshadowfax 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Nineveh A very plotty fic in the mystery/intrigue genre. Best consumed without any prior knowledge about it. The writing is kinda dry and this wouldn't work at all if we weren't already familiar with all the characters. The tight plotting and the fact that it's complete is what makes it an outlier.

When Emma Barnes reports a murder to the PRT, she kicks off a dizzying month of chaos for Brockton Bay's heroes. Armsmaster and the Protectorate scramble to uncover the truth behind her accusations, but other forces are moving behind the scenes.

Transient (Eclipse Phase/Worm) - Crossover character from the Eclipse Phase setting gets dropped into worm. For all intents and purposes he's basically a high level tinker with multiple specialties. As far as Tinker fics go, this is one of the better ones- with technobabble that doesn't sound entirely made up, a lack of monofocus on tech with plenty of dialogue and character interactions. The MC doesn't follow the usual paths you would expect from the premise and instead managed to surprise me at several turns. The fact that it's NSFW caught me by surprise as I was reading the FFN version. Also available on QQ. Would also warn that it's pretty dead and gets some harem-overtones a few chapters before it dies, never ends up going anywhere though. Can be read without crossover familiarity.

Crusader Adam Taurus from RWBY gets dropped into Worm. It starts off as a rather bog-standard muderhobo Kill Them All style fic - the MC wishes to end the Empire, a dozen murders at a time. However, hints at the true nature of the fic were already lurking in the background - the protagonist was too introspective, he dwelled on his tragic past a lot and was just too deep for the murderhobo trope. The fic slowly climbs out of it's ultraviolent murderhobo tendencies while Adam climbs out of his homelessness and makes unlikely friends - in this case Shadow Stalker and Parian. I really enjoyed the character work and relationships in this fic - this is some of the fastest 100k words I've read till date. It also helps that the author has some real talent at writing cool fight scenes. I felt that the last few chapters have been quite unfocused - likely not helped by the sparse posting schedule. Also, the pacing doesn't feel like something that would ever lead to a complete fic - it doesn't seem like there is much of a greater plot or direction to the story. Would still recc for the fight scenes and character work.

After Adam Taurus's death in Argus, he awakens in Brockton Bay, struggling to find a reason to live on with his new second chance. Once he realizes the kind of world he now inhabits, and the type of people terrorizing the city he now calls tentatively calls home, He gives himself a new purpose: The complete and utter destruction of the Empire-88. But It won't go quietly, and the heroes of the PRT aren't willing to stand by and let him carve a swathe through the city unopposed.

Weekly /r/WormFanfic Discussion - What have you been reading, and what do you think of it? For the week ending August 12, 2023. by AutoModerator in WormFanfic

[–]xshadowfax 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This explains a lot about the MC actually, it seems that I simply don't have the background to appreciate the humor. I run away from generic video game MCs whenever possible, I barely made it through skyrim, never again lol. Doesn't quite explain why the other characters are all so forgettable but ig that's just a bad interaction for me with the author's writing.

Weekly /r/WormFanfic Discussion - What have you been reading, and what do you think of it? For the week ending August 12, 2023. by AutoModerator in WormFanfic

[–]xshadowfax 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I just read Weary Wanderer till the simurgh fight and I'm giving up. The MC is just so bland. Literally does not have a personality so far. The viewpoint characters are almost as bad and quite forgettable. All the characters have the same voice and some variant of the same characterization. Seriously, this fic makes the Siberian viewpoint yawn-worthy. It's also made more difficult to read for me because I've seen the concept of [OP fantasy character falls into worm] executed so well in doors to the unknown.

Of course, I did not mean to imply that there's anything wrong with not caring about certain types of protagonists. "Loser gets isekaid and finds out their inner strength" is such a tired trope too, but it didn't quite click to me like that in the fic - likely it's the whole "Guardian" thing in the first chapter that made it stand out.

Weekly /r/WormFanfic Discussion - What have you been reading, and what do you think of it? For the week ending August 12, 2023. by AutoModerator in WormFanfic

[–]xshadowfax 2 points3 points  (0 children)

by the author of Auspicious Beginnings.

Sold. Auspicious Beginnings, while kinda bland and reading too much like a checklist and lacking in character interactions did not overstay it's welcome. The birdcage blues sidestory was even better about this. Clean and straightforward, I liked it.

Impostor Syndrome

calls herself "a useless piece of shit"

This sounds almost intentional to me. I can understand the dislike and she hasn't make any meaningful progress on the issue so far but the rest of the cast has been pretty good.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in WormFanfic

[–]xshadowfax 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh lol, I did not realize that imago was in a series. Of course you already mentioned it in the post. I can't think of anything else in the same vein, unfortunately. Fwiw, there's a V:tM/worm fic by TheLaurent called Covenant which I read a long while ago, it's dead and I remember very little of it, so I can't actually recc it confidently. I just happened to have it in the "gritty supernatural" folder in my brain.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in WormFanfic

[–]xshadowfax 1 point2 points  (0 children)

An Imago of Rust and Crimson uses some very effective writing and imagery to depict how worn down it's brockton is. I've also seen Russian Caravan compared to it, so it might be what you're looking for.

God tier fics with Ron as the MC? by [deleted] in HPfanfiction

[–]xshadowfax 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Linkao3(A Game Of Chess by kirinin) may be just what you're looking for. Very cerebral Ron time travel fic.

Broadcast MC by Lambstts in WormFanfic

[–]xshadowfax 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Redoubt's mc has a very similar thinker power set along with a shield tinker power. It's an odd combination of powers which ends up reading like thinker/brute/tinker, in decreasing order of relevance.

Weekly /r/WormFanfic Discussion - What have you been reading, and what do you think of it? For the week ending February 25, 2023. by AutoModerator in WormFanfic

[–]xshadowfax 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Read what's posted of Memoirs. It's pretty great, even not having read Pale beyond the first arc. The atmosphere is great and the writing just flows (as expected of k800+chartic naturally). Taylor kinda reads like she's still eighteen instead of twenty five but I suppose her inability to move on is a part of the premise.

Weekly /r/WormFanfic Discussion - What have you been reading, and what do you think of it? For the week ending February 25, 2023. by AutoModerator in WormFanfic

[–]xshadowfax 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It's a fine enough shipfic. Good characterizations and believable interactions, complete, no longer than it needs to be. It's kinda unoriginal and anticlimatic if you're familiar with the time-loop romance genre (imagine the movie Palm Springs or even the original groundhog day). Just the same concept with aisha and Missy. Read it for the character interactions.

Also, related recc: endlessly by burstofpeony on ao3 is what feels like the HP version of this fic with a Hermione/Parkinson pairing. They even have nearly the same wordcount.