scrape_r_rational/data/cache/2njca5.md

[RT] Cenotaph: A Worm altfic

Post:

Link to content

Comments:

• u/None:

  *Worm*, except where Taylor hesitates for a millisecond when talking with Armsmaster.
  
  This fic benefits strongly from using *Worm*'s characters, but I think it might actually be a better story. Taylor does a lot more thinking and plotting, and is more independent all-in-all. Much more rational than the original, I think. Also features some very clever worldbuilding for parahuman!Earth – things that made me go, "Of course things would be like that," but weren't mentioned in original *Worm*. Slightly deconstructionist, in this way, if that's even possible.
  
  [There's a sequel, too!](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2417525/chapters/5347754)
  
  ETA: Also, I just plain enjoy the author's writing style. 4.2, for instance, seemed just masterfully written. Good quality stuff.
  

• u/Roxolan:

  Hmm, I enjoy it, but I have trouble taking it seriously as rationalfic. 
  
  Now, I haven't read the whole thing yet, so *maybe* it'll all make sense later, but...
  
  SPOILERS FOR THE "Intermediaries" ARC (chapter 16+)
  
  [](#s "I don't find the resolution of the Lung vs E88 conflict at all credible.")
  
  [](#s "Kaiser is smart. Lung, while not a criminal mastermind, is no simpleton either. Along comes Taylor, and she manages to arrange a fight *just by telling each side that the other side will be there*. ")
  
  [](#s "When do parahumans fight? When they have no other choice, or when they think they'll win. That usually means ambushes, because if the other guy is coming to the fight knowingly, it means *they* think they'll win and that should make you reconsider. ")
  
  [](#s "Lung can't be certain he can beat the entire E88 cape rooster when they're waiting for him. You could say he's just *that* arrogant, but then he's not much of a character, more of a Hollywood zombie. Besides, if he thought he was that strong, he wouldn't employ Bakuda to make bomb threats for him; he'd be threat enough.")
  
  [](#s "Kaiser can't be certain he can beat Lung. He has a pretty good idea of just how dangerous Lung can become if given half a chance, and he doesn't know what tricks Lung could have up his sleeve. And Kaiser is *not* that arrogant.")
  
  [](#s "What's worse, neither side can trust Taylor, newcomer with unknown allegiances and their avowed enemy. For all Lung knows, this is all a giant Protectorate ambush and Kaiser won't be anywhere near the place. For all Kaiser knows, the meeting place is rigged with a thousand Bakuda bombs.")
  
  [](#s "And while both sides very much want to kill the other, they're not under *that* much pressure. They can afford to wait for a chance to catch the other side unaware.")
  
  [](#s "But okay, let's say Lung and Kaiser both go for it. Their actions *still* don't make sense.")
  
  [](#s "Lung's plan against a well-prepared team of parahumans of unknown composition... is to walk straight into the trap in his vulnerable human form, no warm-up, with known-quantity wounded Oni Lee as his only backup.")
  
  [](#s "Kaiser's plan against a guy whose power grows as he fights... is to start things off with *goons with shotguns*, spar for a bit, eventually pin Lung, and then finish him off with a giant metal spear that requires Kaiser's undivided attention - that he didn't bother to prepare in advance, despite his power being somewhat slow. Taylor causes the plan to fail, but frankly, the lightest touch of Murphy's law would've done the same.")
  
  [](#s "These are not the minds of the leaders of the most successful criminal gangs in a parahuman-infested city. These are Hollywood zombies who want a big dramatic fight to rewards Taylor's scheming.")
  

---