Title: Speak with the Dead.
Author: Ziel.
Fandom: Worm.
Pairings: None.
Status: Abandoned
Summary: Taylor "died" in the locker and is now a ghost who can't interact with the world. The only people who can see or hear her are the dead parahumans she grabs with her power. GlaistigUaine!Taylor.
Link: http://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/speak-with-the-dead-worm.304123/

More quoting myself from the Worm fic thread:

The characters are what makes this story great. However, this fic also hasn't updated since March 9, so maybe keep that in mind. <_<

4/5.


Checked by Minion, October 1, 2015
The author labelled the story as "dead"

 

This is above average compared to most Worm fics, so I'd rate it as a 4/5 as well. Could be better, but it could be way worse.

 

I have issues with this fic -- mostly with Taylor's characterization, but it's still a pretty good story. I like most of the secondary characters -- especially Allfather. The premise is good and I am interested in the main story, but the Black Kaze subplot is meh. Still, the positives outweigh the negatives, and I continue to follow this fic in the hopes that Taylor will go over completely to the Dark Side, just like I do for every Worm story I read. 4/5.

Oh, I almost forgot -- The Emma interlude is just beautiful, and is one of my favorite chapters in all of fanfiction. Give it a read for that alone.

 

This story lost me at the rally. It was just one of those scenes whose stupidity pushed me too far.

3/5. It is worth a read, and you may love it. I sure did at the start.

 

Not my cup of tea. Taylor just felt wrong to me, and it felt like the author couldn't decide if Allfather was a Monster Knight, an Anti-Villain, or a Draco In Leather Pants.

I like the concept a lot, but the execution, particularly the main characters, just didn't work for me. I get that Taylor's circumstances have changed her character, but she feels like she's 10, and her hard edge of pragmatism and focus just isn't there.

2/5

 

Taylor should feel a little wrong, since she fucking died. I think death would change anyone, especially murder.

The only weird thing about this story is... Sophia's black? How did I miss that detail in Worm. Or is that just something this story made up? And well, maybe Taylor's a bit too lenient on fucking neo-nazis. I'm willing to forgive it, since the writing at least awarely admits the awkwardness to it all.

Er, anyway! So this story is good - not because of Taylor necessarily though. It's good because she's talking to the dead, stirring up bad shit with people. It's a good sort of drama. I really wish it updated faster, but this is really good in that perspective.

5/5

 

Yes, Sophia is black in canon. It's easy to miss, I'll admit.

 

Wildbow doesn't make much issue of skin colour. The only people I recall having their skin colour explicitly mentioned are Brian and Sophia.

 

Oh shit really? I thought he looked like Willy Wonka.

 

I don't think I have ever seen an artist so desperate to hand every minority group positions of authority/import. It is one of my major complaints with worm actually. The desperate keening for political correctness does not appeal to me.

 

Which characters are you talking about? I can't recall any other characters (oh wait, Skidmark) whose skin colour is mentioned.

 

Doctor Mother is black. I'm pretty sure that's mentioned somewhere.

 

What the fuck? Race is pretty much a non-issue outside of the story having Neo-Nazis. There are three named black characters. That's it from what I recall.

 

No.

The setting is a fictional US city. Close to 40% of the US is non white. So it would makes sense if like 2/5 of the people are minorities. Also, you've kind of implied that minorities don't hold positions of authority, or at least that it would be weird if they were to...

 

Most people in positions of authority are white men between 45-75. Due to the time period where they were getting their start, there are very few women or minorities who would be well-positioned in their careers to replace them. As time goes on, the demographics will normalize but as it is currently, minorities are not the norm when it comes to positions of power in the United States.

 

This. Off the top of my head I can think of maybe two regular white guys in positions of power on the hero side. Armsmaster and Eidolon. To me there is a clear disparity with how Wildbow set up his political scene and reality.

This is kind of my point. It is very easy to make characters interesting by tacking on a minority group to them. This goes double for people who are an authority or those that play a major role. Wildbow abuses this method. It is also the inherent tool of hack writers. Even Eidolon gets this treatment; the most powerful human in the world was a cripple before drinking a magic potion.

Armsmaster had perhaps the most fascinating character arc in the series outside of Taylor. Because the author actually worked at it rather than just making him a minority. Which he seemingly did with every character.