The Slippery Slope [Worm AU]

[Ack]

I was a bit relieved when that fight went about as expected, without unneeded complications or surprises. (Almost) no plan survives contact with the enemy.

Poor Mr. Hebert. Conscious, but watching helplessly as his daughter just keeps losing her way more and more.

I'm getting distinct (Dark?) Professor X vibes from Kaiser at this point.

That was the best and most effective wrecking of Sophia's worldviews I can remember ever seeing.

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Lung's plan was to draw Taylor in, then overwhelm her with fire and strength.

She knew what his strengths and basic strategy were, and she prepared for it.

 

[Jade Isentry]

Lung's plan was to draw Taylor in, then overwhelm her with fire and strength.

She knew what his strengths and basic strategy were, and she prepared for it.

Click to shrink...

In other words, his plan didn't survive contact with the enemy. Hers did. Hence, the result.

 

[Ack]

In other words, his plan didn't survive contact with the enemy. Hers did. Hence, the result.

Click to shrink...

Exactly and precisely.

That's the downside of fighting a Tinker-adjacent character. When they fight you a second time, they've adjusted their tech and strategies to beat you.

 

[Neko Tamo]

Nooo, not Othala you bastard! Why not kill Hookwolf or similar for your damn drama needs She was such a creampuff, now I'm sad. And I wasn't over Jenna and Bronson yet either.

Okay let me back up a bit.

So as I said on the voting thread, new fan here

And quite the fan I have become since this is just such a good story. I have a lot to say but I'll keep it (relatively ) brief but if you are the kind of author who feeds on comments let me know and I'll say more

First off what I like the most is that you make the motivations and reasoning of the E88 people realistic and human rather than some cheap strawman as you easily could have. But then this would have been a far inferior story, since ofc real people don't work like that and the story would not map to real life or teach anything. There are many reasons to have racist beliefs and many ways people get there. Many like Taylor fall into it because of people around them, because we all want friends and to belong. Or you see negative examples of certain races and then you generalize it, Sophia being a perfect example, I like how robo!Taylor tore into her about that. And it's all a positive feedback loop right? The more racial strife there is the more seeming hate crimes are committed by all sides which radicalizes more people... It is not weird at all Brockton Bay is rife with it when you have the racially motivated gangs going at it, it is hard to imagine an environment more conducive to racialist thinking. Or take Peter, he is a great kid, brave, diligent, honest but he grew up in that world and so that is where his loyalties lie. And more than even that everyone's a hero in their own story, everyone thinks they are fighting for the right thing. You'd probably be hard pressed to find a single person who truly believes they're bad in the whole world.
Obviously it's a complex issue with deep and enduring roots or we would not be dealing with it still. In fact I think racism is an issue you can never fully deal with in multiracial societies, people are inherently tribal and will always seek ways to divide each other and then dick over the "other" for personal gain, especially when the going gets tough. Best you can do is keep it mitigated, and with effort at that.

And you explore these themes well enough, which is why this story is so engaging. And I hope you keep it that way, honestly Taylor going all "oh no I was totally wrong" and doing a 180 would be boring. My personal hope for the story is that Taylor sees the hypocrisy and rot at the heart of the Empire and takes over, moderating the organization in the process. Maybe into some kind of apartheid stance? Other races have their place and can stick around as long as they know who is boss. That is obv. far from ideal but the Wormverse is such a shithole that if she can bring peace and order to the city it might be better than the status quo, even to the minorities.
Anyway looking forward to see how you play it.

And it makes sense too, if you buy into the idea that it was Kaiser who killed his own sister so as to not share power and because she was too bloodthirsty. And ofc Taylor is deeply in love with said woman's son (I am a bit pissed you made him incapable of triggering, it was set up so well, but I guess you are probably snickering how you had us all going I even had the scene in my mind you know ). It's obvious how finding that truth could lead to an instant blow up and a hostile takeover. And it's hardly the only issue that could, the E88 does a lot of shitty stuff even to it's own as seen in the conversation Kaiser and Krieg had about Taylor's dad. Though Kaiser actually came off better in that conversation than I expected. Given that he genuinely cared for the feelings of his nephew, and even Taylor herself. There are a lot of skeletons she might want to take out of the closet, but again we will see how it shakes out.

If I had one "complaint" it would be that your work is too detailed. I say this to a lot of fanfic writers though you seem more dedicated that most. Obviously more detail is good and tends to make for a better story but my fear is that if the work becomes too big it is more likely to be abandoned or at least without an end in any reasonable timeframe. Simply put this is a hobby for you I imagine, and there is only so much free time that can be put towards it. Better to have a "zoomed" out perspective and allow events to happen in the background than never actually see those events play out because you are approaching this like a book instead of a fanfic. Consider that the vast majority of chapters in this story happened in less than a month of in-universe time. How many chapters will it take to reach the end then, you know?

OTOH, the Merchants are out of action at best and the ABB decapitated which leaves the E88 virtually unchecked and poised to take over the city. So things may develop very quickly. Potentially right to the very end, depending when and how you mean to close out this story.
It will be interesting to see, it's a massive and sudden power vacuum. With only Coil in their way and he is not one for direct confrontation anyway. Leaving the local "heroes" in quite the predicament, it is not out of the question that the greater Protectorate gets called in to stop the E88 from taking the city, maybe even the Triumvirate. Fun times.

Last thing I want to mention was something I only noticed near the end when you blatantly hinted at it, ofc provided it wasn't another misdirection Namely how Sophia feels something ancient and inhuman stares at her out of Taylor's eyes. That something clearly being Queen Administrator, which would mean robo!Taylor is very closely or even directly interfacing with her shard. This explains her great power and even more so why she is so quick thinking and rational, as well as why she is machine-like to begin with. Seems kind of obvious in hindsight but well done all the same, it's a clever twist.


Aaand now you see what my standards are for a relatively short review As I said before I have more to say but that can wait for another time or for you to ask for it

That's about it, great fanfic and I can't wait for more!

PS. You should also stop putting "trigger warnings" and constantly reminding people that just because you write about something doesn't mean you believe it. Smart people already understand and people who are just looking to be outraged about something will likewise be outraged anyway.

 

[Ack]

<snip>

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Thank you very much for your in-depth analysis. it's greatly appreciated.

(I love comments. Comments are how I know people are actually reading and thinking about what I'm saying).

We're getting toward if not the endgame, then the leadup to the endgame of the fic. It's definitely going to go in directions, mwahahaha.