#this concludes my shameless shilling for the day

[st-just]

What exactly is parahumans and why does it seem like something i would get absorbed into?

Okay, at current time it’s actually like 5 different things, which is going to make this a bit convulsed (but yes you should). 

The short answer is, there’s this Canadian guy on the internet, goes by wildbow, who started posting his writing online like ten years ago, and it’s very good! Problematically, he picks the most vague and generic one-word titles for his works imaginable, and so for ease of use/laziness, the general consensus is to use ‘parahumans’ as the tag/title for general discussion of his work, after the site name of his first story. 

(as a preliminary warning, Wildbow writes two-three chapters a week like clockwork, always several thousand words. So all of these are long stories, word-count wise.)

The stories under the general umbrella are

1. Worm (Posted June 2011-November 2013, 1.68 million words). A superhero (or, well, -villain) story in a world rather worn out and hard down by by the sudden appearance of powers in the ‘80s. Starring Taylor Hebert, a horrifically bullied 16-year-old girl who gains the ability to flawlessly control all bug life within a couple blocks radius. Primarily set in Brockton Bay, a fake city in the NE United States, which has the privilege of hosting the country’s largest gang of super-powered neo-nazis, a man who turns into a dragon when he’s angry, and [spoilers]. Depending on who you ask, it is either about bullying and trauma, utilitarianism, the point at which institutions become illegitimate, how sudden escalation and terrifying violence can solve most problems, or the dangers of texting and driving. Wildbow’s most popular work by a significant margin. Generally agreed to properly pick up around Arc 8 (which is kind of like saying ‘the series really picks up around book 3′, granted). Content warnings for...well, everything?

2. Pact (Posted December 2013-February 2015, ~950k words) Hanging on the exact dividing line between ‘dark urban fantasy’ and ‘horror’, set in the general urban fantasy setting of ‘looks like ours on the surface, but gods, spirits and mages control the world like puppetmasters in the shadows’. Stars Blake Thorburn, a young man who has spent his entire life as the universe’s chewtoy (this does not change). He finds out rather dramatically one night that a) he is his grandmothers heir, b) his grandmother was a powerful mage, and not the good kind, c) his reflection has been replaced with a twin sister that never existed and-most importantly- d) a lot of people want him dead. Probably the least popular of Wildbow’s works, though I couldn’t say for sure. Personally my favorite, but even I’ll admit the pacing is both uneven and relentless. Doesn’t so much punch you in the gut as jump you in an alley and kick your ribs in. Again, probably safer to just say content warnings for everything, but, like, moreso. 

3. Twig (posted Dec 2014-Oct 2017, 1.6 million words). The only one I personally haven’t read, but elevator pitch is ‘Frankenstein was a documentary, and developing on Wollstonecraft’s genius has allowed the Crown to dominate the world in a biopunk dystopia’. Stars Sylvester Lambsbridge, a conniving bastard of a child/mad science experiment, along with his siblings/friends/fellow experiments, are used as troubleshooters by the Lambsbridge Academy, dealing with troublemakers and unauthorized scientists. Written with the express intent of developing wildbow’s skill at character development and interaction, which I’m under the impression was a success. Can’t really speak to content warnings except oh boy I hope you like body horror. 

4. Ward (Posted November 2017-May 2020, can’t find a wordcount offhand I’m afraid) A direct sequel to worm, and thus essentially impossible to describe without utterly spoiling it, I’m afraid. I like it? But opinions vary. Pacing is, uh, not great, at minimum. Made worse by reading the comments, imo. 

5. Pale (Posted May 2020-???, as of last week it was at 115k words). Set in the same world as Pact, but otherwise unrelated, with Pact being very emphatically not necessary to read beforehand. In a break from tradition, Pale has three protagonists, with alternating point-of-view chapters. Avery, Lucy and Verona are 13 year olds in a small northern Ontario ski town, who have been recruited as-and agreed to be-Practitioners by the local spirits and monsters. Granted gifts of knowledge, power and protection, they have been charged with investigating the death of the Carmine Beast, an ancient and powerful spirit of violence and judgement. As might be expected, things aren’t as simple as they appear to be. (Currently updating Tuesdays and Saturdays around midnight eastern time, with bonus material thursdays). Since there’s few enough they can actually be more or less listed, notable content warnings for: child abuse (emotional), implicit/casual racism and homophobia, violence, mutilation, cannibalism (probably a couple more things I’m forgetting).  

In terms of whether you click with his writing, I’d recommend this interlude from the end of Pale’s first arc, which is more or less a horror short story our protagonists only pop into and try to interfere with at the end, told from someone else’s point of view. 

And of course, if you really enjoy his writing, here’s his pateron. 

[apathetic-revenant]

so By The Skin of Your Teeth has finally concluded and holy smokes was that an experience. I posted the first three paragraphs or so of that thinking “eh, no one’s gonna read this” but I WAS SO WRONG. I did not expect it to go on so long or get so, um, large in scale, or for lots of people to read it and tell me they loved it and make my heart go all fluttery. and I would genuinely like to thank each and every person who defied that expectation because seriously you guys have made my day so many times, you don’t even know. 

I don’t have any more fanfic planned right now, but I’m sure some more will come along eventually (I mean there’s tons of opportunities in this AU alone). for the moment, though, I want to focus on some original things, which, if you’ll allow me a moment of shameless self-shilling, are gonna be over here on my writing blog. 

but for now, the Mystery Trio are happy and so let us be happy as well, and I will leave you with the final collected playlist of all the AO3 chapter title songs, just in case anyone wants that:

1. ‘Monster’ by Caravan of Thieves 

2. ‘Fraud’ by Jonathan Coulton

3. ‘Fight From The Inside’ by Queen

4. ‘Shovels and Dirt’ by The Strumbellas 

5. ‘Building Steam’ by Abney Park

6. ‘Saints and Sinners’ by Flogging Molly

7. ‘Bartholomew’ by The Silent Comedy

8. ‘Orphans’ by Jack’s Mannequin

8. ‘Why Not Smile’ by R.E.M.

10. ‘Feel It Turn’ by Great Big Sea