Amelia, Worm AU [Complete]

Cause if the couple on the chairs are guys... Well, we're in for a bad Arnold movie from the 90s.

 

Well, as a long time anon follower from spacebattles who couldn't be bothered to make an account, I must say that the move was a perfect excuse. As I think the move has been discussed to death in every venue possible, I'll move on from that to what I hope will be constructive commentary that you'll prefer.

Your characters are great, especially Taylor (your switch to SkitterTaylor again during the arc of angst was a wonder to read) and Missy (who you've managed to make exactly what she is - a battle hardened veteran and a little girl). Riley is adorable and terrifying all at once (she still stands in second to the joint Good Girl (Weaver Nine) and Bones (Atonement) versions of Riley), though I do feel she's grown up a little too fast. Still, you've managed to grasp her Bonesaw style tendencies in a way I don't think I've seen any author manage, as was her 'you're bad you can be reformed' approach to Emma. Lisa is well handled as well, though I'm pleased to see that her all work and no play attitude being shifted slightly in the latest chapter.

I actually like the schizophrenia of the tone - it fits reality very very well. The fact that it oscillates between serious and almost crack-like humour and laid-back attitudes is a huge part of Amelia's appeal, and I wouldn't put a disclaimer about it. Having said that, the pattern is a little predictable once you're into it - maybe shake things up a bit, lead us one way then hurtle another.

I have a few minor factual niggles (why did no-one in Pantheon seem to recognise Calvert's name when they heard he was director? Why is Theo's power multidimensional metal when there's no way he pinged off Flechette or anyone who'd grant his shard that power?) but the one issue I have so far is the sheer number of balls you've got to juggle. I might have missed the resolution of a couple of threads, but by my count we've still got to resolve Grue in the basement (what'll they do with him?), whether Taylor will edit her brain or not, Nilbog, what they did for Eidolon/Alexandria to improve their powers, Ziz's belief that her actions prevented the deaths of her brothers, that Vasil kid from the canon omake, plans for Scion, the whole Lily/Sabah mess, and so on. I don't doubt your ability to handle all of these, but I think the reason that so many other Worm fanfic authors write in arcs is it allows them to tie up smaller threads neatly and quickly. I'm not sure what you can do about it, but the structure as a whole is a little sprawling, lacking focus.

Which is kinda part of why I like it - we all need runny scrambled eggs sometimes (or in my case, quite a lot). But it's an issue that you should be aware of.

Anyway, I'll get back to lurking.

 

Don't mind the move. Was already here. Am annoyed that QQ is having issues with my watched threads.

 

Good to have you present and talking! Welcome to the fucked up family!

Some of these have been resolved, actually:

Spoiler: Grue in the Basement

They chased him off and freed the captives. (Memory's fuzzy, but I don't think he's dead.)

Spoiler: Taylor editing her brain

She did. It didn't work out well. She then became the Butcher and... yeah. If you mean "will she do it again..." well, that's up in the air.

As for the rest... well, many more plot threads have come and gone so far, so I can only imagine these will be dealt with in the same way.

TN hasn't failed us yet. I supposed we'll just have to give him our hope, so he can stick his fangs into it and continue to suck the joy out of our lives.

 

You misunderstand. As far as I recall

Spoiler: Grue in the Basement

I'm fairly sure they captured him though I could be wrong, and if he ran off it's still unresolved.

Spoiler: Taylor

Know that - meant will she try again, will Amy be ok with it etc.

 

Ahhh, I understand. My apologies. Yes, you're right.

Spoiler: Though seriously...

Did Grue escape, or did he go to the Birdcage/somewhere else? It's weird, but I really can't remember for some reason.

 

IIRC they mission-killed the Simurgh, not Leviathan.

 

Spoiler: Taylor

Honestly, the main issue I think was she didn't talk to Amelia about it first. I think this Taylor is less heterosexual and more pan-romantic emotionally, but still hetero physically. If they you know, talked first I can see her do it again and it not biting her in the ass.

 

Umm... they did? I don't recall them being surprised by the announcement, and as it was a Taylor interlude, and Taylor was all "holy shit, we won and ruined Piggot in order to replace her with our puppet", I'd say she was quite aware of who Calvert was.

Now, as only a handful of people in Pantheon know who Coil was- and they're all the upper leadership- the rest of the group wouldn't have any context of this- but Taylor certainly knew, as did Lisa, Amelia, and Riley.

No one else does, of course.

Why would he need a 'ping' to get that feature. Summoning matter out of nowhere is what his shard does. His power is summoning matter out of nowhere.

He was captured and turned over to Dragon. I'm sure this is mentioned. Something about her being the only one with gear that they were sure would contain him, and being ready to kill him if he broke free BEFORE he was contained... I know this was covered...

... Umm... that was a significant plot point...

It's clear Lisa's working out a perfect approach plan, and since they haven't done it yet, it's equally clear they haven't found one.

I don't see how that's really a "plot point" to juggle, but you'll find out when they show them off in combat.

Will likely never be seen in the story. As made clear in the omake.

Part of their problem is they have no plans for Scion. He's unbeatable and they don't know how to fix that. They occasionally mention thoughts in several chapters to this effect. They have no answers.

What mess?

 

Which reminds me, next omake idea is being worked on. Will get it to you...soonish. Maaaaybe tonight. Prolly tomorrow.

 

Well now interesting chapter, liked how things went with the"intervention"towards Lisa, not exactly what I expected but that's a good thing . Now I wonder what the reason for the Party will be, are Yumm Kaax and Rapture getting married ? Does Nilbog join the Team ?

Now it is true Lisa needs someone Like Taylor, Missy and even Riley have to a point to talk to and to be close of however I do not know who would really fit that bill as they would need to be at least very resistant to her power and be able to cope with her quirks.

I also wonder if Victoria will get close to Zach during the party and cheer him up a bit.

Very nice update.

 

Lisa is OOC in last chapter. Was all of this parts of a cunning plan? Or her powers messing with her head? I mean really - Zach and Emma? Worst plan ever.

 

NoooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoo thank you please. Nilbog isn't just a Class-S threat and a bad person, he's a guy who created an army of monsters which completely depopulated a town—and which are implied to have eaten everyone inside. He makes Bonesaw look nice. There is a reason We Don't Talk About Ellisburg is in effect throughout the PRT, and it's not just because they fucked up. It's because he's one of those Parahumans who you either nuke until the crater touches the mantle, or wall off and leave the hell alone. Pantheon may have a... few walking disaster areas, but they do their best to pretend they don't, really. Recruiting Nilbog would be pretty damn hard to hide, and would also be PR suicide on par with revealing "hey, we've been harboring Bonesaw since we were formed."

Beyond that, he's also redundant. Amy, Riley, and Rey can do what he does, probably more efficiently than he can. Plus, his god complex means he wouldn't settle for being anyone's subordinate... which would be a pretty big problem.

 

Keep in mind that she just triggered again, and that has seriously fucked with her head. First she triggers when her brother suicides, then again when her best friend practically sister suicides, and all because of her actions indirectly they may be. She is completely fucked in the Greek tragedy way. If I was Lisa, I think I would rather live in interesting times.

 

*points to the pantheon having access to dead earths*So recruit him and make him breed an army for the fight against Zion on one of those...(not that I was being really serious when I mentionned him being recruited, but eh this IS Amelia)

 

Keep in mind that from the canon meeting between Weaver and Nilbog, so long as one speaks to him in the right way, you can get away with a lot. So, rather than making him a subordinate, treat it as a meeting of equals.

basically this. Except phrase it as one god doing another god a boon, with an boon to be returned in kind, later.

 

Nilbog doesn't view himself as a god. He views himself as a king, nothing more.

 

Eden was heavily injured and lost a lot of shards.

Scion might still be too powerful for (3rd trigger) Path to Victory to work on him. PtV may simply not be able to out-think an actual space-wale.

 

Bullshit. It is literally multiple times better than his own and if it could see him it could beat him.

That said. Not only is that a cheap way out they have no reason to trust Contessa nor a way to get where they could trust her not to turn on them.

 

That, and they don't know she exists. Makes it hard to do anything.

In addition, breaking Taboo doesn't break shard limitations. It breaks the memory limitations. Contessa already has a broken Taboo, she did it to herself early on... so moot point, that.

 

I'm glad that QQ has upgraded the forum in time for this whole spectacle. Glad to see you moved the story here, sorry to see it was under those circumstances. I am, however, pleased with anything that brings more traffic to this forum.

You don't even really need to go that far. Scion will be a threat to him no matter what, so he is doing himself a favor too.

 

When are you going to do the tea party with Nilbog already? And make me wonder if GU will still keep content in the Birdcage when all the other major shard is having a real blast outside.

 

Well, looks like I'll have to follow this forum a bit more actively now.
Glad to see you're still at it.
Now to catch up on the updates.

 

Taylor: "Mmm, icecream."

Amelia: "I just made you lactose intolerant."

Taylor: "NOOOOOOOO!"

 

This was really nice to read, as it shows that most of the team really care about Riley and the girl really needs that especially in light of the latest events.

Also the Idea of Lisa having a crush on Zach made me smile, and with her playing matchmaker I get why everyone says she should get laid...Wonder if Amelia could somehow help with the power related problem Lisa has with that. I also wonder how things would go if Victoria and Zach get together.

On completly unrelated note, given all they are doing shouldn't the Pantheon shards be firing buds left and right, at least Amelia and Taylor's given all they get through the bond.

 

We're probably approaching a 'bud-zone' from at least a few of the shards. The problem is that they have to have someone to bud 'to.' That someone typically needs to have spent a long amount of time near the person from whom the bud came from.

So...recipients for a bud: Victoria, Danny, and...

...there aren't a lot of normals around, are there?

 

Amelia, where the breather episode is A Birthday for Bonesaw.

 

To be fair... I... Actually I got nothing.

 

While this comment was most likely humourous, I could see Amelia and Riley create artificial wombs that could hold a developing foetus, they are after all capable of such things as cloning.