Pact: A complete breakfast cereal brought to you by Wildbow [spoilers]

[Astral Avenger]

I'm liking it so far. my only complaint is that after having found worm in late November I actually have to wait for updates. Also, I'm thinking that Darth Granny is largely a result of her environment, doesn't mean she hasn't earned her title of Darth, but still...

[Maethirion]

The hair thing is probably something about sympathetic magic. It's a common way to curse and/or bless people at a distance in a decent number of magic traditions: By cursing the hair, you curse the whole person. And there's usually no easy to defend against this sort of connection. Voodoo dolls are often shown working by this method*.



I think Granny said she captured Barbatorem herself in the 50's.



*I have no idea if real-world voodoo does things in this way. I'm talking pop-culture voodoo, here.

This is what I was trying to get at. Completely forgot what it was called.

And had forgotten Granny capturing Barbatorem, so sympathetic magic is the only thing that comes to mind as to why taking hair could be so dangerous.

[Eldan]

Granny's magic seems to be largely hermetic, with its focus on circles, demons and the Seal of Solomon. But since we also have shamanistic evocation and hence animism and various traditions are explicitely mentioned in the text, there's no reason why there can't also be sympathetic magic and poppets.

[pita]

I wasn't that hot on this at first. The first and second samples really felt like the author has been reading too much Neil Gaiman recently. But once the rules got laid down, this got really good. I'm definitely liking this. Hoping (and thinking) the plot doesn't end once Blake's gotten himself out of the hole. Hoping it ends with him tampering with the forces that hold the world together and having to defeat the world. Wildbow should make that his author trademark. Characters who start from nothing who end up nearly destroying the world to save it.
I'm still mourning Boil. That could've been one awesome story. Here's to hoping it comes back once Wildbow feels up to it.

[J-H]

I see a parallel between Blake & Taylor. "I'm over my head, outnumbered, and I don't have enough information. I choose, act, and seize the initiative."

The parallel is there, of course, because that's the most interesting type of person to have in a story - one who leads instead of following, who improvises, and who acts instead of freezing up.

[Wildbow]

I'm not planning on this being horrendously long. It should get to a notable length, if I aim to write it for twelve to eighteen months, since my chapters are longer than they were for the first half of Worm.

Boil is a frontrunner for what I write after I wrap this up. I'll probably reinvent it or fix it up so the protagonist is more distinct and maybe tweak some other elements, then take another stab at it.

[Landis963]

I'm not planning on this being horrendously long. It should get to a notable length, if I aim to write it for twelve to eighteen months, since my chapters are longer than they were for the first half of Worm.

Boil is a frontrunner for what I write after I wrap this up. I'll probably reinvent it or fix it up so the protagonist is more distinct and maybe tweak some other elements, then take another stab at it.

And the other samples? I know Face you wanted to write as a webcomic, but what about Peer? Would there be a return to Worm somewhere in there?

[Wildbow]

Face I'd need to work with, but if I ever did it it would be as a webcomic, a year or more from now, with an artist I trusted to be reliable. I put a lot of pressure on myself to produce stuff when I say I'll produce it, and I wouldn't want to work with an artist who flaked out & sort of lose that reliability.

Peer... is more likely to be cannibalized for assets than kept for a story. I do want to do a fantasy story someday, but I don't think Peer is it.

A Worm Sequel may happen somewhere down the line. But I want to step away for some time, so I wouldn't expect it until I have Pact & one other story under my belt.

[Lamech]

Peer... is more likely to be cannibalized for assets than kept for a story. I do want to do a fantasy story someday, but I don't think Peer is it.

Its a story eat story world out there.

[Landis963]

Face I'd need to work with, but if I ever did it it would be as a webcomic, a year or more from now, with an artist I trusted to be reliable. I put a lot of pressure on myself to produce stuff when I say I'll produce it, and I wouldn't want to work with an artist who flaked out & sort of lose that reliability.

I know you're not actively looking at the moment but can we the fanbase suggest possible artists?

Peer... is more likely to be cannibalized for assets than kept for a story. I do want to do a fantasy story someday, but I don't think Peer is it.

I think that's the best thing, really, for Peer. I think that's basically what I suggested as well (I seem to recall posting a comment to the effect of "Rolf Thorbay is too good to lose to a first chapter plot-twist"). Although all I thought you needed was to rework Caspar into someone a bit more palatable as a protagonist. But you're the writer, and it's not my call, and it's probably the best call anyway, so there we have it.

A Worm Sequel may happen somewhere down the line. But I want to step away for some time, so I wouldn't expect it until I have Pact & one other story under my belt.

Fair enough.

[Lamech]

Blake caught Haunter. Would Blake like to give Haunter a Nickname?

[SlyGuyMcFly]

Blake caught Haunter. Would Blake like to give Haunter a Nickname?

So that's what Rose meant when she told him to inscribe the vessel!

[Landis963]

Oh god, now I can't stop thinking of this in terms of Pokemon:

At the Starbucks: "The opposing Klinklang used ExtremeSpeed! It's super effective!"

On the way to Jacob's Bell: "A horde of Scraggy appeared! Can't escape!"

[Lamech]

It appears that Blake encountered an enemy trainer. Enemy Trainer chose Elf-Angel-Swordswoman.

[Landis963]

It appears that Blake encountered an enemy trainer. Enemy Trainer chose Elf-Angel-Swordswoman.

This is normally the point where the resident Pokemon Prof rescues him from the tall grass and gives him his starter.

[Lamech]

I do believe that he is about to get his starter pokemon.

[Dragonus45]

So far it seems like Blake is turning into a ghost type specialist. If you would count a vestige as a ghost type.

[Eldan]

So, one thing I don't get. The lawyer said both Blake and Rose lied to June's Ghost. I looked again, I don't see any lies.

[Reverent-One]

So, one thing I don't get. The lawyer said both Blake and Rose lied to June's Ghost. I looked again, I don't see any lies.

Not too June, just in the past half hour. And she mentions that it might have been sarcasm, which jogs Blake's memory. So it's likely this exchange:

“The legal documents give a phone number for the lawyers. The little black book says we just need to say the firm’s name three times. Same idea, I think.”

“Which isn’t ominous at all.”

“Not in the slightest,” Rose said, solemn.

[Lamech]

Luckily there are still forms of sarcasm they can use: For example "A amateur rectal exam is more useful than Laird." (I stole this from the comments section.)

[Forum Explorer]

I love how Darth Granny has managed to completely **** over her family and yet is still better then the majority of diabolists out there. Of course it doesn't seem that anyone in her family has been very good about the 'leaving the family in less debt then before' rule she gave.

[Landis963]

I love how Darth Granny has managed to completely **** over her family and yet is still better then the majority of diabolists out there. Of course it doesn't seem that anyone in her family has been very good about the 'leaving the family in less debt then before' rule she gave.

She made an oath to let them be screened from the problems of practitioning. Once she made that mistake, she didn't have much of a choice. It still doesn't sound like any of the Thorburns did the "karmic balance" thing right, though.

[Forum Explorer]

She made an oath to let them be screened from the problems of practitioning. Once she made that mistake, she didn't have much of a choice. It still doesn't sound like any of the Thorburns did the "karmic balance" thing right, though.

That oath could have been interpreted as 'I won't let them become practitioners until they are adults'. So she could have been teaching most of her family by now, or at least a few of them. Instead she waited until she was dead and couldn't give any advice at all.

[Landis963]

That oath could have been interpreted as 'I won't let them become practitioners until they are adults'. So she could have been teaching most of her family by now, or at least a few of them. Instead she waited until she was dead and couldn't give any advice at all.

She probably didn't want to risk it. Also the wording of the oath may be important here. I'll have to check.

[pita]

The oath protected her children, I think. Which is why she only gave her inheritance to her grandchildren.

[Lamech]

This is totally pokemon. Her hair, interesting prize to claim. What could that give him? The barber could probably be payed in it, but... that's a last resort I think.

[Landis963]

This is totally pokemon. Her hair, interesting prize to claim. What could that give him? The barber could probably be payed in it, but... that's a last resort I think.

To be fair, he doesn't have many first resorts.

[jguy]

I originally held off on reading any of wildbows samples of all his new works in progress because I didn't want to become attached to one story only for it to be put on the backburner or be thrown out. A few months passed and I had completely forgotten about the new stories until I saw this thread. I clicked the link to the first story and 1.5 days later I shotgunned all the entries and now have the front page added to my favorite bar.

I have got to say, I am very excited about this story and where it could lead. I so far enjoy all of the characters, the good and the bad, and the possibilities of more ghosts and Pacts. I feel that we should hold off on comparing Blake to Taylor as we don't want to color our perceptions of Blake with the long, deep shadow that is Taylor.

[jguy]

So a few new chapters up. I really liked the latest one as it explained more about familiars, demenses and implements. Any thoughts on what people would use for implements?

[Landis963]

So a few new chapters up. I really liked the latest one as it explained more about familiars, demenses and implements. Any thoughts on what people would use for implements?

I'd use a spyglass. Much of the same declarative advantages of the wand, but with a focus on far-sight (scrying things) instead of just messing with practitioner's workings, to be supplemented with shamanistic workings based on what I saw. Authoritatively, it can be collapsed down and hidden more securely than a wand, but is less versatile than the same. Phallic when extended, but non-combative, suggesting less aggression than the wand. An explorer's tool, suggesting a thirst for knowledge and possibly an adventurous streak. No idea about socio-cultural.