Because the topic of other webserials came up, I’d like to talk to you about a relatively popular one, but that I feel doesn’t get as much attention as it deserves. A Practical Guide to Evil is a webserial that’s been running for a little over three years now, and is currently in the middle of its fourth book. It is a fantasy series, with a heavy focus on the deconstruction of common fantasy tropes and archetypes. It actually has a very similar tone and themes to Worm, but a different plot.
The main character, Catherine Foundling, is an orphan girl whose country, the Kingdom of Callow, has been under the rule of the Dread Empire of Praes for twenty years. Normally, a Hero would have risen to rally the kingdom and fight the Evil empire, but Dread Empress Malicia and the Black Knight have been systematically crushing all opposition to their rule in the most efficient ways possible. Determined, Catherine decides to join the imperial war college and change the system from within.
If you want to check it out, whether as a future liveblog, or just to read on your own, the official summary page is the first thing you see when you visit the site. Personally, I can’t recommend it enough, and I wish it was better known about than it is.
That’s a fairly interesting premise. I’d… say “I’ll have to keep that one in mind”, but in all honesty, I probably won’t remember it of my own accord if/when I finish Worm, let alone Ward, just because of how long that’ll be from now. Still, sounds pretty neat!
I don’t know what that asker was talking about, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone imply that Amy fucked up Victoria’s body on purpose. What people blame Amy for is insisting on fixing Victoria herself even though she wasn’t dying anymore and refusing to fix her mind so she can have a choice in the matter.
That’s fair criticism, yeah.
I don’t think the asker [the ask is here, but the link leads to my reblog of it here] was suggesting that people think she did it on purpose so much as the idea that there was some goal, conscious or otherwise, behind it. Such as turning Victoria into art, like this other asker [here] could be interpreted as suggesting.
All it says is, “The webserial Worm features a supervillain main character, who can produce clouds of amorphous darkness, codenamed Grue.”
Ah, nice. Thanks.
I kind of suspected it wouldn’t go into much detail, but better safe than sorry.
Just starting your blog, so excited! Also this homestuck music rocks!
Glad to have you on board! I hope you’re still enjoying my ramblings when you catch up to this ask response. 😉
And yeah, Homestuck music is very good! Whether you’re into Homestuck or not, all of you should check out a few of the albums (I say a few because it’s been very varied in style over the years) on the official Bandcamp, or just listen to LumiRadio for a while.
[LumiRadio is a YouTube stream and therefore regularly needs to restart with a new video url, meaning every link to it in the liveblog has been broken. To find it, search for it on YouTube or go to the channel it’s on instead.]
Though you should note that if you do intend to read Homestuck at some point, track/album titles and art can be quite spoilery.
Regarding Amy, remember that in between trying and failing to fix Victoria she was also talking very vague and kinda sketchy sounding “breaks”, which were implied to also involve Victoria (hence the sketchiness).
…eeeeesh.
`Taylor’s power has a minimum size limit on how small a bug can be and still be sensed/controlled. Popular fanon is that it’s a nerf because skin mites would be too useful to Taylor’s power if it worked on them.
Fair enough. Though that nerf sounds Doylist in nature, unless there’s something in-universe that concerns itself with keeping the powers balanced. Which does not seem to be the case.
As we saw in 13.9 the passengers personalizes the basic power, so the scope of Taylor’s power likely depends on the common and her personal definition of “bugs”. We don’t include skin mites but spiders and crabs, so she got to control the latter and not the former. We saw her sensing heart worms in Rachel’s dogs, so being inside a body should not diminish her control. Also her not sensing body shape’s automatically seems better from a doylist view, as her life would be somewhat easier with it 🙂
I don’t think Taylor considers crabs bugs, though, judging by 3.1. I don’t think most people do, either? They’re arthropods (which is a connection it took me way too long to make), but I don’t think I’ve ever seen them referred to as bugs.
But still, you’ve got some good points here. Especially the heart worms.
You were introduced to the Skitter Facts a while ago. I can now share with you my favorite of the list, based on this chapter and 14.11: “When Skitter makes out with a guy, she cures PTSD. When Skitter makes out with other girls, she cures the plague.”
Hah! And hey, let’s not forget that the plague in question was also mind-based…
…what if she were to kiss a corrupted Gem?
Do you believe that they will eat the chicken or that they won’t eat the chicken? What do you think the chicken will taste like? Do you think the chicken ties in with the end of the world or that the chicken does not tie in with the end of the world? Why or why not?
I would recommend they don’t eat half-cooked chicken that’s been left open to warm air overnight. I’m no expert, but that sounds like a recipe for food poisoning to me.
Brian and Taylor are both smart enough to realize this, so they throw the chicken in the trash. Little do they know that the chicken has gained sentience overnight, for reasons, and now begins plotting its revenge from the inside of the trash can.
If Jack Slash had died before leaving the city, the chicken wouldn’t have gained sentience. For reasons.
Just a single heartwarming moment, or the basis of a relationship? And if it’s serious, do you think it might work out?
In this story, it won’t be a fairytale romance. They’ll have their ups and downs, probably harsh ones. But I do think they’ll last, at least for a significant while.
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