Amelia, Worm AU [Complete]

[pepperjack]

They're likely defining 'railgun' as "a gun that super-accelerates the projectile through an energy source instead of chemical reactions" so it wouldn't matter how it is accelerated, just that it is.

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Gravity generation might be a good candidate for an acceleration method.

 

[doomlord9]

Gravity generation might be a good candidate for an acceleration method.

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That was one of the main ways I was thinking but 'Fucking Tinkers' compelled me not to assume. Gravity manipulation, twisting space, making the projectile think it's a frictionless mouse and the target is made of cheese, they do weird shit.

That point is, we have this thing. We need it to go really fast and hit that thing. Figure it out.

 

[Aras]

Is it me or giant railgun is bad weapon against grey goo Endbringer. The easiest way to kill Endbringers would be just teleport them in some random dimension there laws of physics are different or make some field that cancels one of fundamentals forces or use weapon like chinese did. They have enough tinkers. Phanteon should know that fighting Endbringers and Scion is not about Dakka it's about exotic effects.

 

[SamPardi]

Is it me or giant railgun is bad weapon against grey goo Endbringer.

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I am also somewhat confused why they used a projectile rather than a DEW. Though at the kinetic energy to matter ratio it probably shouldn't have mattered. On the other hand it was being shot at something that considers the laws of physics to be adorably naive suggestions, so meh.

 

[edale]

Well, we've never been shown someone attempting to communicate with an Endbringer. Have you tried having your characters, I don't know, be polite to them for once? Gees...

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I know that's sarcasm, but at Simurgh's first appearance they did try to communicate with her. It didn't end well.

You're acting as if she can't manage her own power.

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Your acting as if anyone can manage their own powers.

Seriously though, Lisa CAN and HAS been wrong before.

Also, review canon in the scenes where it shows Lisa's ongoing research into the source of powers. You get a pretty good idea at just how Lisa's power works. She CAN'T figure out Eidolon is the Endmaker under the current paths her power is taking, she NEEDS to at least consider those 2 points for her to come to the right conclusions.


And why has no one commented that even if it uses magnetic induction propulsion (what a rail gun uses) to add to the initial velocity, Dragon's weapon is still just a fancy Mass Driver.

 

[abyssmal_kismet]

And why has no one commented that even if it uses magnetic induction propulsion (what a rail gun uses) to add to the initial velocity, Dragon's weapon is still just a fancy Mass Driver.

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I'm not sure why, but this comment made me realize how it could be an actual railgun, using magnets, and still have an Endbringer-flesh projectile: just because the projectile is made out of Endbringer-flesh doesn't mean the ENTIRE projectile is made out of Endbringer flesh. Just have the back part made out of a magnetic material, and the "warhead" made out of Endbringer flesh. Boom, you have an actual railgun that fires Endbringer-dense projectiles.

 

[doomlord9]

That would work as well, it's called a Sabot and one in slow-mo use can be seen HERE.

 

[Diller]

I think that Pantheon's nightmare Endbringer (worse than any of the ones they've seen so far) is one that can freely jump between dimension.
That would give the Endbringer tactical mobility, evasion, and a chance to hit Pantheon right in their control setup.

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Eidolon's subconscious: Don't worry good sir! I'm working on that as we speak!

or

Eidolon's subconscious: YOINK thanks for the
idea bro.

Oh come you know it's going to happen sometime unless Eidolon learns how much of an asshole his subconscious is.

Khonsu already teleports so just extrapolate from there.

Hell Tohu could do it if it used a face like doormaker. Ziz too using tinkertech

 

[Snake/Eater]

That would work as well, it's called a Sabot and one in slow-mo use can be seen HERE.

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the media or the PHO crowd will probably call it the Endbullet.

 

[rooster]

The concern that this fic is going a certain place, isn't unfounded really.

I had a thought just the other day, that if this turns into a monster of the week type of fic, then I'll just stop caring what happens to these people anymore.

Most of them died at least once, and got brought back, then they fight endbringers with absolutely no end in sight, and it looks pretty hopeless.

TanaNari himself said (iirc) that he's trying to balance the good and the bad, so that we care when the bad happens. I look at the supposed good and waff'y chapters and see no good.
They're actually kind of mundane and boring to me, I almost skip them whole. Important issues that were never resolved were forgotten about. Zach and Emma was done in a way that I could care less about them together. Right now I'm like: the plot about Riley possibly going nuts? Forgotten about. Emma redemption plot? Forgotten about. Japan in Avalon? Nvm.
This and a couple of things. I felt no resolution.

With the Endbringers it might be interesting for a while, but if I wanted this I'd watch something like Power Rangers. This is just dragging on. If there was progress made, just a foreshadowing of the end, then I'd think "Fuck yeah progress!", but right now, I'm not feeling the conflict at all, it's more like "Wake me up when they beat the last endbringer".

AN imply that there is a lot of fun stuff going behind the scenes, but I'm too stupid to get them so they might as well not be there until they show up.

I know I have no control of the direction this fic is going, but this is just my analysis of what I felt reading it. It might be useful, who knows.

 

[edale]

I know, it's like sometimes he mentions something once, then expects us to have figured out all the interim stuff through... logic? ESP? telepathy? when the barely mentioned thing is suddenly a major factor, and apparently has been for a while but it just had no impact on the story until now so it was ignored...

Kinda a Dick move of him, eh?

Seriously though, TN, you'll want to break that habit when you get into Original Fiction. People are much less forgiving in original fiction because they don't have the draw of fondness for the canon material to keep them interested, like they do in fanficiton.

 

[Starfox5]

I am very tempted to skip through Endbringer fights - they add nothing for me to the story, unless they end with one of Endbringers killed. Anything else is just "been there, done that", almost filler. I am much more interested in everything else but Endbringer fights, or the consequences of those fights, not the fights themselves.

 

[GiftofLove]

I enjoyed this EB fight. It was very strong with showing development. Amelia and Taylor holding each other and crying as they sacrifice the only home they've ever known to spit in the eye of this twisted dark fuck for trying to use their families and people against them was a pretty powerful scene.



On relationships, while we see sex as a reaffirmation of love and intimacy, Amelia and Taylor have kinda gone completely beyond the need of physically reassuring each other they care. Of course, that doesn't mean it isn't still a need they have, but well, the big holdup here is Taylor's disastrous brush with mind altering technology.

If they ever get off their asses and address it they will probably be all over each other, in the biblical sense. But neither of them are well known for their ability to address personal issues. And all these excuses to put off the issue just keep falling into their laps.

 

[Cyclone]

*sees new chapter*
*hits Like*
*skims Endbringer fight*
Bye bye, Brockton Bay.
*shrug*
*waits for something actually interesting to happen*

 

[TanaNari]

Zach and Emma was done in a way that I could care less about them together.

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*Shrugs* Oh well. I chose a natural resolution, not a theatrical one. So that's a design choice.

. Right now I'm like: the plot about Riley possibly going nuts? Forgotten about.

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What story were you reading? Because that was never, ever, a plot in Amelia.

Emma redemption plot? Forgotten about.

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Chapter 142. Sure, it was a bit overshadowed by what came after, but it was painfully obviously resolved. And not just in the "if you're paying attention". Full tearful apology, forgiveness, waff, happiness, and enough trust to open the gate for what came after.

Japan in Avalon? Nvm.

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First: it's only been a couple months since that was even a plot point to begin with. Moving an entire country? That's a project measured in generations, not weeks. Also- Lily changed her mind about the arrangement, so consider that one a failed mission.

I enjoyed this EB fight. It was very strong with showing development. Amelia and Taylor holding each other and crying as they sacrifice the only home they've ever known to spit in the eye of this twisted dark fuck for trying to use their families and people against them was a pretty powerful scene.

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Good to know someone appreciated it.

Seriously. The fuck are wrong with people that they're like "meh, whatever" when the entire city gets annihilated like that?

Also... if they don't like it, they may as well walk away now, because it's the next major plot point.


*Shrugs* Oh well, I had similar bitchery around the Butcher arc. Apparently having bad things happen to the characters makes some people angry at me.

 

[Ack]

*sees new chapter*
*hits Like*
*skims Endbringer fight*
Bye bye, Brockton Bay.
*shrug*
*waits for something actually interesting to happen*

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I think that's a little unkind.

After all, TanaNari's doing his best to bring us interesting battles that don't just rehash earlier battles, giving the heroes a distinct challenge without actively nerfing said heroes, with all their advancements.

That said, Eidolon's subconscious needs a serious boot up the bum.

I just wish, once, he'd get it wrong, and the Endbringer would pop up and get slammed out of the blue by something his subconscious overlooked. Pantheon needs a win, dammit.

 

[TanaNari]

Amelia, Ch 271- Tamara


I walked through what passed for a base for the Adepts. Not a lot to look at, really, just an apartment. My parents' house was so much bigger, and they were just farmers. Not that there was anything wrong with not being wealthy, but the Adepts liked to play at the bullshit pretentious elitism, out of a small dorm. The occult symbols strewn about only served to annoy me further.


Their leader actually had a throne to sit on. Ugh. I said nothing, but I thought a lot of uncharitable things. He was one of the parahumans that didn't wear a mask, public identity of a sort. Or the complete lack of a civilian life. Robes with lettering that I didn't recognize, but I'd bet money wasn't even from a real language. He was a little on the older side, a little on the pudgier side, and not at all impressive looking. He was also a time traveler of some sort, one of the hardest kinds of parahumans to predict or fight.


"Pleasure to meet you, Rosary," he said with a smile that made me glad my new armor from Pantheon was so form concealing.


"Likewise, Aeon," I lied. No point in making waves with them. We were both, theoretically, part of the same meta organization, now, alongside a dozen others. Including some really heavy hitters like Pantheon and The Guild. That was the whole reason I was here, to work with one of their members. "It'll be interesting working in New York. I hope you don't mind, but I've made my own living arrangements already." With my aunt and uncle, not that you need to know that.


"That's perfectly alright," he agreed. "I've already sent for Shaman, he's the one you'll be working with."


I nodded. Anything to get out of here sooner.


The kid showed after another minute or so. He was college age, I'd guess. Not too much younger than me, but still younger. Black hair, obviously dyed. And I was pretty certain he was wearing makeup. "So you're the flower girl?" he asked.


"If you're referring to the visual effect of my power, then yes," I sighed. "C'mon, dust boy, let's do the power testing."


....


"Basically, my power lets me break down an object into leaflike shapes, control those shapes telekinetically, and rebuild the object later if I want," I showed him, disassembling a brick into a few dozen pieces. "It rebuilds things perfectly, so I can even move electronic devices with it."


He whistled appreciatively. "Damn, with that power you'd be an insanely good thief. Such a tragedy you had to be one of the goody two shoes."


I frowned. "Yes, because I go through hell, get blessed by God, and the tragedy is when I choose not using that power to rob appliance outlets."


"Hey, there are worse things you can do with your time," he shrugged.


"True, I could write shitty emo poetry and cry about how no one respects me," I smirked. He didn't say anything, but the way he didn't say anything let me know I hit an actual nerve. I couldn't help but smile.


"Or sit around performing nonsense rituals that accomplish nothing?" he snarked back.


This time, I did roll my eyes. "Says the so- called magic user."


"Oh, I know that's bullshit," he replied. "Well, maybe not. Ain't like we can prove powers aren't magic. Pixies, aliens, standard white Jesus, flying spaghetti monsters. Your guess is as good as mine. But at least the Adepts have useful bullshit. Ways to really use your powers to their fullest by combining them with the right mental focus and equipment. Which is what we're doing right now, learning how to use our powers better."


"Okay, fine, so how's your power work, then? Or do you have no opinions about that?"


"I manipulate properties of matter. Touch it, change it into whatever I like, more or less. Only works on solids. I'm not really a telekinetic like you are, but if I want I can lock matter in place so it can't be moved by anything. Make something unbreakable. And it really is unbreakable. Know that chick with Pantheon? Atropos? The one whose power cuts through Endbringers?"


"Duh," I replied. Everyone knows her.


"Yeah, my power, it even stops hers cold," he responded. "Nothing can touch the things I control, unless I allow it.


"Really?" Wow, that's quite a power. "Well, they did say we could be the next Endslayer combination for a reason."


....


"You don't actually do anything?" I asked. "At all? What happened to going out and patrolling? Thought you guys were heroes now?"


"More like rogues, now," he answered. "We're basically just coasting on past scores and the new rep with Pantheon. Sure, shit goes all pear-shaped, we'll go out and kick its ass, but that whole wandering around punching muggers? That shit's for the heroes trying to make the press or some shit. Most of us are just in it for the money, and there's no money in that. Plus it's the middle of winter and freezing balls out there."


"We have some of the best battle armor on earth," I pointed out. "We could spend our time hanging out in the arctic circle without any problem, I don't think New York winters are that bad in comparison."


"Yeah, but the crooks don't have our armor," he replied. "If they're out there in that weather, they've earned it. But they won't be. Take it from someone who knows. Criminals are lazy, and lazy people don't go out in weather like that."


I sighed. "Come on, we're going out on a patrol," I insisted, grabbing the lazy brat by his hair. "Or I'll throw you out the window without the armor and then call the cops to take your stash."


"Ow! Ow! Ow! Fuck, okay, I'll come!" he muttered. "But only because I got to see your high beams."


"My what?"


"Your high beams," he made a gesture at his chest.


Oh. Oh. "Just shut up and get your armor on," I sighed.


....


"Not an atheist, just don't care," he replied. We were sitting on the edge of one of the many skyscrapers in New York. The city was beautiful, in its own overcrowded, polluted, noisy, dirty, gray way. Turned out, he was right, criminals don't come out in this weather. No one comes out in this weather.


"So, agnostic?" I suggested. "You don't believe we can know if there is or isn't a God?"


"How about an 'apathetic'?" he responded. "It's not about whether it's true or not. It's that I don't think it matters. Same way I believe it doesn't matter who won the Oscars, and for pretty much the exact same reasons. You find a way to prove God exists, and I still won't care. Of course, you'll probably get the Nobel prize or something, so you'll be rich and what I think won't matter to you, either."


"That's..." I hesitated. "I don't even know how to respond to that."


"No one does, that's my favorite part about it," he replied. "Don't know, don't care, and have no opinion is the best way to not have to talk to people who don't know, do care, have strong opinions, and think they know."


He has a point.


....


"Okay, I have to admit, that was kinda fun," he laughed. The police sirens were just barely close enough to be heard, but approaching fast.


"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up asshole," Splash muttered, trapped in a cage I'd built out of a store window. He was a Case 53 that was made out of living water, or something similar to it. Coupled with his brute powers, well, containing him wasn't what one would call a simple task. I'll have to do something to apologize to the owners later. "Now can you at least give me back my pants?"


"You mean these?" Shaman lifted up a ratty pair of jeans. "Maybe if you tell me who you're working for now. Ain't the Teeth, they got their asses beat down so hard they'll never be comin' back."


"Fuck you, I ain't a snitch," he spat at the glass wall.


"Okay, fine," Shaman shrugged. "But if you're thinking about changing your mind, you might want to do it fast. See, no one's ever caught you before, and that's going to be front page news."


"You wouldn't dare," he punched the wall. But between Shaman's power and mine, well, that glass was going nowhere.


"Dare what?" Shaman leaned against the glass, facing toward me. "I already called that one chick. The one with the nice rack. Rosary, you know who I'm talking about, right?"


"Not really," I shook my head. Such a pig.


"Yeah, you're right, they all have nice racks," he tapped the cage. "Seriously, though, it's not my fault you climbed out of them to get away. So you'll answer my questions or you're going to be front page news. Starting with the most important question of all. Why the hell would you go commando in the middle of fucking January?"


....


"We've never done anything this large, before," I muttered. "Are you sure you can handle it?" The way his power works, this could kill him even if everything goes right.


"Hey, you've seen what that thing's doing, Tams," he forced a smile. Both his hands were on the sides of a small building, tuning it to his power. We'd been here for almost ten minutes while the battle raged on. "If this works, we'll be heroes. Like, the biggest heroes. Interviews, life story deals, women throwing themselves at our feet. Guys, too, if you're into that sorta thing."


"If it doesn't work, we're going to die," I pointed out. Utterly ignoring the other comments.


"Yeah, well, who wants to live forever?" he replied dismissively. Then his face got serious. "Just promise me one thing, for real."


"What?" I asked.


"If you happen to be right, and you meet God, can you ask him to give me some iced tea? I think I'm going to need it," he smiled. I considered slapping him, but the sweat running off the side of his face despite our Pantheon-gifted armor systems stopped me. He's scared, this is how he copes. "Oh, and brace yourself, this one's gonna be close."


There was the distinctive crackle and boom as the lightning-strike-like effect of the new Endbringer consuming a mass of the city for her body occurred yet again. The shockwave nearly knocked me off my feet, as air rushed to fill the vacuum left by the air being annihilated, consumed, and converted to Endbringer tissue. "You could have warned me sooner!" I shouted.


"Hey, I'm busy punching everything the human race knows about the laws of physics in its sweat dripping gonads, I have a right to amuse myself at the expense of anyone I want. Now, are you ready to do your part?"


"I'm ready," I agreed. Normally, breaking down something this large, while in my power, was basically useless for me. Today was different. The building started splintering tiny amounts at a time, turning into what was more or less a pile of coins. I kept them from falling on top of us and killing us but, but that was about the extent of what I could do with so much mass. My suit did its thing, responding as it was programed to generate a wide antigravity field to make my job easier, allowing me to hold a lot more weight. Several thousand tons of raw mass were now under my control, and infused with Shaman's power. We were ready to do our part.


=================

A/N- This chapter was actually written yesterday. Before 270, in fact. I felt it needed to wait until now for release. For my amusement.

 

[Jackercracks]

Seriously. The fuck are wrong with people that they're like "meh, whatever" when the entire city gets annihilated like that?

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It's an empty city, you know? They can just grow it back next week. There's nothing important in there to be lost, maybe a few civilians that no-one cares about because they weren't characters.

It is an unfortunate and unavoidable side effect of resurrection being cheap and easy: the main characters have no real risk of dying so tension drops there, the minor characters no-one cares about enough to mind overly much if they die.

Be careful you don't start lumping actual literary criticism in with "bitchery". It's a difficult line to draw, and drawing it in the wrong place makes growth... difficult.

 

[TanaNari]

the main characters have no real risk of dying

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The main characters never have any risk of dying. Except in the final climactic event, of course.

If a character dies before then? They were never a main character.

I've replaced "plot armor" with "backup plan", and made it an honest plot point instead of lying about it behind the scenes, that's all.

 

[Daunmi]

Seriously. The fuck are wrong with people that they're like "meh, whatever" when the entire city gets annihilated like that?

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I think, though obviously can't speak for people, it might be because it's a fairly reoccurring thing. Apparently you don't like cities? I don't blame you. The issue with Worm though is that anyone who's read almost any other Worm fic, or Worm itself, knows that cities are largely meaningless: In the end, the world is potentially screwed. Your fic itself actually lets all the involved characters know that pretty much any loss of life and infrastructure is fine (for an unfortunate understanding of 'fine') because their end goal is the destruction of a multi-versal entity that eats worlds for funsies. The scale of this hurts your fic by restricting the impact anything less has and is, thanks to Worm, not really something you can get away from.

And you can't really say that Amelia's ability to regrow the city (sort of) in a day or so makes it easier to care about what happens to one. Then there's the whole "One death is a tragedy, a million is a statistic" thing. Then there's the fact that, to us, none of the people involved are real (immersion is a thing, but we know it's a story), or that none of the characters that you make us care about are in the city that got destroyed (killing off untold numbers of unnamed, unknown civilians has very little impact (no pun intended)).

None of this is your fault as a writer, at least as far as I can tell. It's just a restriction born of humanity's inability to not care about people we don't know, along with the foreknowledge of Worm.

Also... if they don't like it, they may as well walk away now, because it's the next major plot point.

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This is a good attitude to have. You can never please everyone.

If a character dies before then? They were never a main character.

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This is an interesting thought, to me. I'm not sure why.

 

[Swingline#57]

The main characters never have any risk of dying. Except in the final climactic event, of course.

If a character dies before then? They were never a main character.

I've replaced "plot armor" with "backup plan", and made it an honest plot point instead of lying about it behind the scenes, that's all.

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A bit of imprecise wording I think. The main characters do die, the condition just doesn't stick thanks to SCIENCE!

 

[Jackercracks]

The main characters never have any risk of dying. Except in the final climactic event, of course.

If a character dies before then? They were never a main character.

I've replaced "plot armor" with "backup plan", and made it an honest plot point instead of lying about it behind the scenes, that's all.

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You'd have a hard time convincing me Regent or Coil, for example, were never main characters. A certain character may not actually have any chance of dying, but convincing the readers otherwise is something that a lot of time is generally spent on. It's one of the reasons game of thrones got so big: when you can believe that even the smallest skirmish could kill your favourite character it tends to up the tension.

It's always been a favourite thing for me, watching a show where the characters can lose important things in the fight, lives included.

 

[The Shadowmind]

The chapter reminded me of something.
Will Riley be the flower girl for the Amelia x Taylor wedding?

 

[TanaNari]

It's one of the reasons game of thrones got so big: when you can believe that even the smallest skirmish could kill your favourite character it tends to up the tension.

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Ah. Maybe that's why I find the series so brain killingly boring. Because I can't suspend my disbelief enough to buy what he's selling. I know the real main characters aren't going to die. So. Meh. Also, I don't like anything else about the series.

You'd have a hard time convincing me Regent or Coil, for example, were never main characters.

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Major characters? Maybe, and honestly Regent barely even qualifies as that. Main characters? Nope.

Also: Coil died in a big climactic event, and Regent got a "heroic redemption" death... so, my point still stands on both counts even if they are, by whatever stretch of the imagination, main characters.

Grue on the other hand? Eh, he was too boring a character to be the main in anything other than a Visual Novel. So he didn't even get to die on screen.

 

[daimahou]

obviously dyed

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[Jackercracks]

Ah. Maybe that's why I find the series so brain killingly boring. Because I can't suspend my disbelief enough to buy what he's selling. I know the real main characters aren't going to die. So. Meh. Also, I don't like anything else about the series.

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Well that's the point isn't it? The real main characters (by your definition) aren't going to die, but you have no idea which ones those are so the tension is still sustained. It's like in DBZ, how much did you really mind when Goku died for the 2nd time?

 

[TanaNari]

Well that's the point isn't it? The real main characters (by your definition) aren't going to die, but you have no idea which ones those are so the tension is still sustained.

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Not for me, it's not. Too easy to predict whose on the chopping block. It can usually be summed up as "that guy who wasn't all that important before, but now suddenly is, oops he's dead now".

Either that or "that guy who was important before but hasn't done anything all that interesting recently".

The former are the ones he's building up to kill. The latter are ones he's gotten bored with.

It's like in DBZ, how much did you really mind when Goku died for the 2nd time?

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I didn't mind when he died the first time. Probably because I watched Dragonball. Also: I never really liked Goku.

Krillin's death was FAR more interesting. Both times.

The first, because it made for amazing character development and made the story more than just goofy kid stuff. The second because, well, Freeza was a fun character to despise. Definitely the most interesting villain in any of the series.

 

[GiftofLove]

Rosary Big Tits and the Emotionally Challenged Co-Ed

I am now emotionally invested. Let's watch them die, shall we?

 

[cosoco]

paroling

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patroling

"More like rogues, now," he answered. "We're basically just coasting on past scores and the new rep with Pantheon. Sure, shit goes all pear-shaped, we'll go out and kick its ass, but that whole wandering around punching muggers? That shit's for the heroes trying to make the press or some shit. Most of us are just in it for the money, and there's no money in that. Plus it's the middle of winter and freezing balls out there."

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Finally! Somebody comments on how stupid wandering around looking for crime is.

"How about an 'apathetic'?" he responded. "It's not about whether it's true or not. It's that I don't think it matters. Same way I believe it doesn't matter who won the Oscars, and for pretty much the exact same reasons. You find a way to prove God exists, and I still won't care. Of course, you'll probably get the Nobel prize or something, so you'll be rich and what I think won't matter to you, either."

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"So... this church of yours... do I get anything for signing up?"

"Well, you get eternal salvation."

"I want eternal salvation and a big screen TV."

"...done."

 

[Zooboss]

I know the real main characters aren't going to die.

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But when you first read the series you don't know who the 'real' main characters are (by your definition.

And if they don't die, they certainly do lose meaningful things.

Not for me, it's not. Too easy to predict whose on the chopping block. It can usually be summed up as "that guy who wasn't all that important before, but now suddenly is, oops he's dead now".

Either that or "that guy who was important before but hasn't done anything all that interesting recently".

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Just curious, in which of those categories would you put the first major character to die?

He was important throughout the first book and doing 'interesting things' pretty much all the way up to his death.

Or where would you put the characters from a certain wedding?