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PaperclipPerfector  5mo ago (text post)   3793 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for June 14, 2024

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Really? I've heard the exact opposite, that Wildbow went out of his way to basically piss off the surprisingly large Worm fan community in terms of how he handled common topics of discussion like Panacea and Gray Boy loops (some accuse him of actively retconning characterization in the case of the former).

I've never cared enough to read enough Ward to find out, personally.

He certainly pissed off the Worm fan community (by refusing to bring back the main character, and re-writing a lot of the continuity from Worm). But uh Panacea yeah... apparently now she's a Evil with a capital E because she's a rapist. Before there was some moral complexity and shades of grey, she did bad stuff but only because she was so messed up at the time. Now, no, she's just pure evil.

At least, that's what people say in summaries, I've never actually read that far. I've only read the first 5 arcs, I just can't bring myself to go further because of what a slog it is. So, so much of it is just therapy talk + dumping on this christian cult strawman punching bag.

I place Wildbow in the deeply leftist camp, but I hold Worm in high esteem, and you haven't been paying attention that the original was already plenty clear that whatever Panacea had done, there had been an undeniable sexual component to it.

Also, the omnibenevolent therapist character gets bamboozled by a fabrication about the protagonist being eeevil later on, and that was satisfying. Fuck therapists.

I feel like it's a huge motte-and-bailey to jump from "there was an undeniable sexual component" to "she's a rapist, and now her entire character revolves around wanting to rape again." But again I didn't actually get that far, I couldn't make it past the opening arcs that seem to be just this neverending slog of boring therapy talk. It's almost like it's telling the core Worm fans why there immature and wrong for liking it and expecting more of the same.

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