Starts out good, but now it's just devolved into

Spoiler

Deity-mode Taylor. Taking out an Endbringer single-handedly? Really wish it had just stuck to street-level, cape-on-cape fighting.

 

I like it.

Out of curiosity, Rym, Jarik, what about her being Dream incarnate made you think they would stick to street level stuff?

 

It's not that I thought it would -- I wish it had.

Basically, there's no conflict in the entire story anymore as Taylor is easily the most powerful cape/entity in universe. I don't care about the dream world and dream servants and maintaining a dream castle. I'm reading Worm fanfiction to see Taylor with a different power and her interactions with other capes. If I wanted to read "deity-mode Protagonist" I'd go read some Indy-Harry fics.

The great thing about Worm (in the beginning) was that Taylor had a mediocre power, made all the better by her ability to think. Here, we have a Taylor who could basically murder any cape she wants with a thought. Snooze fest, if you ask me.

 

There's still seems to be conflict, perhaps not in the traditional sense, from what I can tell. Not every thing is smooth sailing when you go from flawed limited human to flawed powerful god. But yeah, I can see why other wouldn't like it.

 

I see the logic behind what's being said here, but this story is awesome. I love it so far; the descriptions of Dream!Taylor's abilities are really intriguing, and I actually don't have a problem with the fact that she's becoming essentially a god, because I think it's just the story ramping up to the place it was always heading towards. Honestly any story that includes Taylor getting the powers of Dream can't stay on the streets; that would be ridiculous.

I expect to see a bit more of the Sandman mythos showing up to offer Taylor a challenge as she wades into a world she's completely unfamiliar with, and also I'm looking forward to what happens when Contessa shows up. Contessa/Eidolon working together might be able to be a credible threat to Dream if Eidolon was at the height of his power.

4/5 from me.

 

I agree that chapter two was a bit weak compared to the rest of the story, but I disagree that Taylor being OP is robbing this story of conflict. If you've read the Sandman graphic novels you'll understand why that is; Morpheus started the story as a god-like entity and over the course of the first arc of the series regained his full powers and became essentially omnipotent within his demesne.

That didn't dissolve the conflict because the focus was never on whether Dream could defeat his enemies. It was about the journey, the story that was created along the way. Like when Lucifer handed him the keys of Hell and told him to give them to whoever he thought best. That's the kind of story that made the GNs interesting, not the straight up fighting (what little of it there was).

Looking back on this story though, I will give you that it could do with some external focus. Sandman was punctuated with arcs focusing on mortals and other beings, with Morpheus playing a less important role at times. This story could have done with more of that; Taylor was far too isolated during the early chapters and could have done with having a companion of some kind to fill that gap.

 

Dream, and in fact any Endless, is not about power. They're the manifestation of an idea and must act within some very specific boundaries. Being Death doesn't mean you go around killing everything in sight. It's almost the opposite.

Taylor trying to strike a balance between being Endless and helping people is supposed to be the source of conflict here. There is no physical way anybody up to and including Scion can permanently damage her. Trap her, maybe, but not kill her. They just don't operate on that scale. The Endless are something the angels were leery of, as shown in Lucifer, pre-Fall.

 

I'm with Jarik and Rym on this one. I don't find the majority of what Taylor's doing as Dream interesting. It would be a different matter if we were getting more of an inclination about why the other endless (other than Death apparently) have disappeared. If we had been drip fed more on that particular mythos, I'd be a happy camper.

As it is, I don't really care about Taylor and what she's doing because I just don't see how it all connects. I also don't think that the conflict which is being focused on (Taylor as an Endless vs. Taylor as a cape) is being pushed hard enough to hold up the rest of the narrative. Like when she silenced the Simurgh momentarily for example. It was off to a good start with Taylor not even realizing the damage she had done, but I still never felt the gravity of her actions. We got a bit of a dream sequence (badum psh) where she saw all those graves, but the impact wasn't there.

The most effective moments of loss in Worm, for me, were when Capes that we knew and cared about were killed in callous ways. This Taylor doesn't have the emotional ties with characters to make the losses reach the reader. If she had acted as a cape on the ground for longer, and made more connections/ allies some of whom died during her snub of the Simurgh, I would've cared more.

One (potential) solution to this problem would be to have more interludes. Taylor, at the moment, is a very insular figure. Getting an outside perspective on her and her struggle about Cape vs. Endless might help things. It could also backfire spectacularly though. So yeah.

The story is getting more interesting as the cast increases (her new Corinthian, Sophia) but for now I'd give it a 3/5.

 

Morphosis by NonSequtur - M - Sandman/Worm

Title: Morphosis
Author: NonSequtur
Rating: M (for violence)
Genre: Drama / Gen
Status: Abandoned
Fandom: Sandman / Worm
Words: 74,499
Summary:

Links: Spacebattles, Sufficient Velocity, and AO3


Morphosis is something of a coming-of-age story. Taylor "triggers" in the locker with an alt-power, but she gradually comes to realize that her powers aren't those of a parahuman. The fic, while unfinished, does completely cover a long arc of Taylor struggling with her dream of being a superhero — and the reality of being an Endless.

There's little in the way of canon railroading. Morphosis goes in its own direction early on. There's also not much in the way of interpersonal drama or humor; the focus here is largely on Taylor's internal life. She's mainly a solo operator. When she does interact with people — (not other people, because Taylor isn't a person anymore) — they suffer consequences from brushing up against a member of the Endless. Sometimes it's good. Sometimes it's bad.


3.5 - Unfinished, but there's a completed character arc. Does things different than a lot of Wormfic. Weird in a good way. However, as a consequence not a lot of canon characters feature much beyond Taylor and, to a much lesser degree, Sophia.

 

Morphosis is already in the library:
https://forums.darklordpotter.net/showthread.php?t=26041
The Worm section has a few more:
https://forums.darklordpotter.net/forumdisplay.php?f=146

I hesitate to give a rating. It's different, but the interactions with canon characters bore me. The tone fails to capture my attention, but fits perfectly with the dream aspect. I think it was better than most Worm fics, but I can't remember a single plot point except the name of the bird on Taylor's shoulder. A second if you count the computer shop scene.

Worth a glance to see if you like it. ~3/5

 

Well crap. I hadn't realized there was another section for reviews.

My apologies, folks.

 

For future reference, use the search function at the top of the forum to check whether a thread has already been recc'd, and don't be afraid of necroing old library and WbA posts if you have something substantial to add, like a detailed review. Always good to have more reviews.

 

Funny you mentioned it I was gonna put morphosis up for review before I noticed it was in the library myself.