Abaddon Bourn(e) 18.10
Added 2021-05-09 05:04:30 +0000 UTCRemember Tommy Boy?
Also, Bank Robbery 2: Bullshit Boogaloo
Comments
Entertaining chapter. Mouse is always a winner. That said I have noticed a lot of the secondary characters getting phased out in the last several chapters, like Amy or Taylor. There was a whole lot going on with both of them, not to mention several other major secondaries that just kind of... went away. There were plotlines and interpersonal drama and a real vein of something Lee just couldn't punch his way out of and all that's kinda gone away and it's making a lot of the story increasingly bland. Lee is an interesting character and the main plot is gripping, but when they exist in a vacuum it detracts a lot from the pacing and makes everything feel sloggy. The city-building stuff is neat, I guess, but there's definitely been a shift from the scope being more personal to a more broad, more world-buildy kind of perspective that I don't find terribly engaging. Lee has some genuine relationship problems going on and it turns out we're passing time in blocks of weeks and months while the little loading wheel spins and everything is happening offscreen, like this thing with Herb and Smith and Kayden, and it makes it feel like Lee has just outright stopped caring and because he's the POV character the others don't exist unless he's interacting with them. It's leaving the story feeling real empty and sterile, from where there was a really strong foundation. It's not the best trend to be seeing and I don't see it in your other works. Interpersonal interaction is important, especially in a drama like Worm. It fills the void during downtime between disasters but the idea that just... nobody is bothering to try reaching out to Lee, when several members had really strong ties to him, like the aforementioned Taylor and Amy, and even Glory Girl, Kayden, Theo, and so on, and it just feels like an empty set without it. That's just my observation though.
Alex Piskura
2021-05-09 10:13:20 +0000 UTC
