History YMMV / Ward

** This issue only worsens with the introduction of the Titans, a band of InvincibleVillain [[PhysicalGod Phyiscal Gods]] each on the level of an Endbringer against whom the cast stands absolutely no chance of winning, carve through multiple named characters with ease, and multiply in number whenever a cape passes the DespairEventHorizon, which is quite often. Audience outcry reached a fever pitch with the Last chapter, wherein the last-ditch plan to defeat the Titans involves intentionally infecting themselves with lethal virus that causes bizzare and twisted dreams, to mess with the Shards' memory recording systems, something that many felt amounted to the cast giving up and committing mass suicide. This caused no small amount of controversy among the fans, with some stepping back from ''Ward'' as a whole, seeing it as an outright ''offensive'' handling of an incredibly sensitive topic, especially when the theme of the story [[BrokenAesop ostensibly]] was ''overcoming'' despair. However shortly afterward it's revealed that going in all the capes who accepted the virus knew that the unpowered people of the world would be given the ability to revive them, turning this into AnAesop about placing your life in the hands of others when your problems are too much for you to handle on your own... but some still view this as an AuthorsSavingThrow rather than the intended lesson all along.

** The Last Arc features the cast infecting themselves with a fatal illness in a last-ditch effort to defeat the Titans. The already clear connotations with a mass-suicide in a cult-like environment are further exasperated when fan-favorite characters like Tattletale and Ratcatcher voice objections to the plan are treated as in the wrong and are peer-pressured either into acquiescing with the plan or participating in it. The symbolism of the cast infecting themselves with a deadly disease is further worsened as the chapters were released during the 2020 Cornavirus Pandemic. While the author has already realized the horrible implications of what he's written [[WordOfGod openly stated]] there is more to the plan than what has been shown, the symbolism of the cast killing themselves has already caused a massive controversy in the fanbase and alienated a large number of fans.

* BrokenAesop: Ward is initially presented as a story about overcoming the hardships of the past in order to pursue a better tomorrow, exemplified both through the initial setting being a city being constructed in the aftermath of the end of the world and the main cast all being members of a therapy group all wrestling with their own mental issues. What seems like a strong foundation for these themes however gradually crumbles away further and further as arcs progress. The heroes rarely outright win, the City collapses into starvation and anarchy and is eventually abandoned entirely while the main cast either die or backslide mentally until they're even ''less'' in control of their mental issues than they were at the start. This comes to a head in the Last arc, where in a final act of desperation against the penultimate villains [[spoiler: the cast ''kill themselves'']]. What was ostensibly a story about overcoming trauma ended up looking like the FamilyUnfriendlyAesop "sometimes you simply can't change yourself or your situation for the better, and then the next best thing you can do is give up and die". [[BrokenBase The readers have not taken it well.]] [[spoiler: Luckily it was latter revealed that everyone could be revived should the citizens choose to revive them, which everyone appears to have known going in.]] Although many of them thought that the citizens would leave them to die, meaning they still effectively committed suicide.

** This issue only worsens with the introduction of the Titans, a band of InvincibleVillain [[PhysicalGod Phyiscal Gods]] each on the level of an Endbringer against whom the cast stands absolutely no chance of winning, carve through multiple named characters with ease, and multiply in number whenever a cape passes the DespairEventHorizon, which is quite often. Audience outcry reached a fever pitch with the Last chapter, wherein the last-ditch plan to defeat the Titans [[spoiler:amounts to the cast giving up and committing mass suicide.]] The fans are ''not'' happy, with some stepping back from ''Ward'' as a whole, seeing it as an outright ''offensive'' handling of an incredibly sensitive topic, especially when the theme of the story [[BrokenAesop ostensibly]] was ''overcoming'' despair.

* HolyShitQuotient: The end of Shadow 5.5: Rain's cluster summons their pre-hired army to go after the Fallen. The members of this army include the Hollow Point villains, a few of the mercenary team from the Daybreak arc, Tattletale and her mooks, Imp and the Heartbroken, Parian and Foil, and Bitch and her dogs. Of the last few examples, none of them except for Tattletale and her mooks had been confirmed as still alive before then.

** In ''Worm'' Tattletale bitterly remarks that Victoria triggered after becoming upset at a children's basketball game. In ''Worm'', the frank description is supposed to illustrate how easy it is for second-gen capes to trigger whereas first-gen capes like Taylor and Lisa have to go through the worst days of their lives up to that point. In ''Ward'' we learn more about the details of that trigger, that Victoria triggered as the result of deep seated feelings of inferiority, realizing her parents were bored and ignoring her ''at her own basketball game'' because they were so preoccupied by superhero issues that they didn't notice their own daughter's best efforts to capture their attention. Stack onto that the fact that a stronger girl on the other team was also effortlessly moping the floor with her, when she wanted so hard to be strong to be a hero, and it's clear that Victoria's trigger was no less traumatic or came from a place any brighter than Taylor's.

* BrokenAesop: Ward is initially presented as a story about overcoming the hardships of the past in order to pursue a better tomorrow, exemplified both through the initial setting being a city being constructed in the aftermath of the end of the world and the main cast all being members of a therapy group all wrestling with their own mental issues. What seems like a strong foundation for these themes however gradually crumbles away further and further as arcs progress. The heroes rarely outright win, the City collapses into starvation and anarchy and is eventually abandoned entirely while the main cast either die or backslide mentally until they're even ''less'' in control of their mental issues than they were at the start. This comes to a head in the Last arc, where in a final act of desperation against the penultimate villains [[spoiler: the cast ''kill themselves'']]. What was ostensibly a story about overcoming trauma ended up looking like the FamilyUnfriendlyAesop "sometimes you simply can't change yourself or your situation for the better, and then the next best thing you can do is give up and die". [[BrokenBase The readers have not taken it well.]] [[spoiler: Luckily it was latter revealed that everyone could be revived should the citizens choose to revive them. Making it a case of the capes putting their lives in the hands of the citizens rather then outright suicide. Although most of them thought that the citizens would leave them to die.]]

* BrokenAesop: Ward is initially presented as a story about overcoming the hardships of the past in order to pursue a better tomorrow, exemplified both through the initial setting being a city being constructed in the aftermath of the end of the world and the main cast all being members of a therapy group all wrestling with their own mental issues. What seems like a strong foundation for these themes however gradually crumbles away further and further as arcs progress. The heroes rarely outright win, the City collapses into starvation and anarchy and is eventually abandoned entirely while the main cast either die or backslide mentally until they're even ''less'' in control of their mental issues than they were at the start. This comes to a head in the Last arc, where in a final act of desperation against the penultimate villains [[spoiler: the cast ''kill themselves'']]. What was ostensibly a story about overcoming trauma ended up looking like the FamilyUnfriendlyAesop "sometimes you simply can't change yourself or your situation for the better, and then the next best thing you can do is give up and die". [[BrokenBase The readers have not taken it well.]]

* UnfortunateImplications: The Last Arc features the cast infecting themselves with a fatal illness in a last-ditch effort to defeat the Titans. The already clear connotations with a mass-suicide in a cult-like environment are further exasperated when fan-favorite characters like Tattletale and Ratcatcher voice objections to the plan are treated as in the wrong and are peer-pressured either into acquiescing with the plan or participating in it. The symbolism of the cast infecting themselves with a deadly disease is further worsened as the chapters were released during the 2020 Cornavirus Pandemic. While the author has already realized the horrible implications of what he's written [[WordOfGod openly stated]] there is more to the plan than what has been shown, the symbolism of the cast killing themselves has already caused a massive controversy in the fanbase and alienated a large number of fans.

* UnfortunateImplications: The Last Arc features the cast infecting themselves with a fatal illness in a last-ditch effort to defeat the Titans. The already clear connotations with a mass-suicide in a cult-like environment are further exasperated when fan-favorite characters like Tattletale and Ratcatcher voice objections to the plan are treated as in the wrong and are peer-pressured either into acquiescing with the plan or participating in it. The symbolism of the cast infecting themselves with a deadly disease is further worsened as the chapters were released during the 2020 Cornavirus Pandemic. While the author has already realized the horrible implications of what he's written [[WordOfGod openly stated]] there is more to the plan than what has been shown, the symbolism of the cast killing themselves has already caused a massive controversy in the fanbase and alienated a large number of fans.

** This issue only worsens with the introduction of the Titans, a band of InvincibleVillain [[PhysicalGod Phyiscal Gods]]each on the level of an Endbringer whom the cast stands absolutely no chance of destroying, who carve through multiple named characters with ease and multiply in number whenever a cape passes the DespairEventHorizon, which is quite often. Audience outcry reached a fever pitch with the Last chapter, wherein the last-ditch plan to defeat the Titans [[spoiler:amounts to the cast giving up and committing mass suicide.]] The fans are ''not'' happy, with some stepping back from ''Ward'' as a whole, seeing it as an outright ''offensive'' handling of an incredibly sensitive topic, especially when the theme of the story [[BrokenAesop ostensibly]] was ''overcoming'' despair.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: While Rain is generally one of the most popular characters, a small but vocal portion of the fandom is much more critical of him. The story doesn't shy away from showing how much of a scumbag he was before and shortly after his trigger event, and his change of heart apparently coming from his cluster's personality bleed can make his attempts at redemption feel completely undeserved. His prominence in the early parts of the story doesn't help either. The reveal in arc 12 that his HeelFaceTurn was genuine, and that the personality bleed actually came from Cradle helped convert a good number of those readers to his side, but for others it was way too late, and still doesn't make up for what he did.

** This issue only worsens with the introduction of the Titans, a band of InvincibleVillain [[PhysicalGod Phyiscal Gods]]each on the level of an Endbringer whom the cast stands absolutely no chance of destroying, who carve through multiple named characters with ease and multiply in number whenever a cape passes the DespairEventHorizon, which is quite often. Audience outcry reached a fever pitch with the Last chapter, wherein the last-ditch plan to defeat the Titans [[spoiler:amounts to the cast giving up and committing mass suicide.]] The fans are ''not'' happy, with some stepping back from ''Ward'' as a whole, seeing it as an outright ''offensive'' handling of an incredibly sensitive topic, especially when the theme of the story [[LostAesop ostensibly]] was ''overcoming'' despair.

** It returned in force with the Last chapter, wherein [[spoiler:the plan to defeat the Titans and Entities amounts to the capes mass-suiciding.]] The fans are ''not'' happy, with some stepping back from ''Ward'' as a whole.

** Amy's behavior throughout Ward paints her as a far worse person than she is commonly depicted based on Worm, with some readers taking her self-absorbed nature and actions in arc 9 in context with some of her more questionable actions in Worm and declaring her a narcissist.

* CrackShip: Ashtoria (Ashley/Victoria), depending on who you ask.
** On one hand, neither of them have explicitly expressed interest in each other, or in women in general, and Victoria has residual trauma from Amy's brainwashing that affects her interest in any relationship, let alone a gay one.
** On the other, they've grown quite close and familiar, especially as the story has gone on - living together, sharing meals, essentially acting as surrogate parents to Kenzie - and they both pay ''a lot'' of attention to the appearance of other women.
*** Some of Ashley's dialogue in particular seems almost deliberately misleading:
----> “Cute young men in elegant black uniforms who run to obey when you snap your fingers,” Damsel said. Two claws clacked together.\\
“And young women,” Swansong said.\\
Damsel arched an eyebrow, “You think so? Are you more worldly now, or is this a strategy? Distracting male visitors?”\\
Swansong shook her head. “We’re talking about Rain. Rain would want women, I imagine.”
*** As of [[https://www.parahumans.net/2019/04/13/black-13-4/ Black 13.4]], it's acknowledged in-universe in the fake diary planted on Victoria's computer:
----> Ashley was very good at pruning, and very easy to prune now that I was close enough.\\
That was without getting into the various degrees of non-platonic subtext.

** A number of readers argue that the story would have been more interesting is Rain had been the main protagonist, and that with the amount of screen time he has he [[{{Deuteragonist}} basically is anyways]]. Interestingly, a number of his more vocal critics (see the UnintentionallyUnsympathetic entry) state that they would have less of a problem with him if he 'was' the protagonist, as they would have had more time to learn to appreciate him.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: While Rain is generally one of the most popular characters, a small but vocal portion of the fandom is much more critical of him. The story doesn't shy away from showing how much of a scumbag he was before and shortly after his trigger event, and his change of heart coming from his cluster's personality bleed can make his attempts at redemption feel completely undeserved. His prominence in the early parts of the story doesn't help either. The reveal in arc 12 that his HeelFaceTurn was genuine, and that the personality bleed actually came from Cradle helped convert a good number of those readers to his side, but for others it was way too late, and still doesn't make up for what he did.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Tori has a short segment of narration in Interlude 12.x, which is there mostly to explain how Vista survived and showcase March's demise, with her dying of blood loss at the end of it. Many fans wished that her POV could have instead been saved for a full interlude that would have shed more light on Goddess's cluster and Earth Shin.

** In ''Worm'' Tattletale bitterly remarks that Victoria triggered after becoming upset at a children's baseball game. In ''Worm'', the frank description is supposed to illustrate how easy it is for second-gen capes to trigger whereas first-gen capes like Taylor and Lisa have to go through the worst days of their lives up to that point. In ''Ward'' we learn more about the details of that trigger, that Victoria triggered as the result of deep seated feelings of inferiority, realizing her parents were bored and ignoring her ''at her own baseball game'' because they were so preoccupied by superhero issues that they didn't notice their own daughter's best efforts to capture their attention. Stack onto that the fact that a stronger girl on the other team was also effortlessly moping the floor with her, when she wanted so hard to be strong to be a hero, and it's clear that Victoria's trigger was no less traumatic or came from a place any brighter than Taylor's.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: While Rain is generally one of the most popular characters, a small but vocal portion of the fandom is much more critical of him. The story doesn't shy away from showing how much of a scumbag he was before and shortly after his trigger event, and his change of heart coming from his cluster's personality bleed can make his attempts at redemption feel completely undeserved. His prominence in the early parts of the story doesn't help either. The reveal in arc 12 that his FaceHeelTurn was genuine, and that the personality bleed actually came from Cradle helped convert a good number of those readers to his side, but for others it was way too late, and still doesn't make up for what he did.

** Byron. He's stuck in the same body as his twin, a twin who overshadowed him and ruined things without even trying before they triggered. They're stuck seeing and experiencing everything the other does. They can't escape each other, and they can't even communicate. But Byron is an introvert who constantly has to deal with the consequences of Tristan's behaviour, and worse, if Tristan decides to do something major- like joining Breakthrough- Byron can say he doesn't agree, but is dragged along anyway and has to participate despite his misgivings.

*** As of [[https://www.parahumans.net/2019/04/13/black-13-4/ Black 13.4]], it's acknowledged in-universe in [[spoiler:the fake diary planted on Victoria's computer]]:

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: When the plot point of Victoria's fake diary was introduced, the entire fandom drowned in theories about it, with various popular ones centering around the idea that Victoria's shard was responsible for it somehow, mostly through pupeteering her body when she was asleep. When subsequent chapter revealed that not only was Victoria's diary not an isolated incident, but Teacher was the one behind it as well, several fans were disappointed that the culprit was the most "predictable" option and that those theories could have made for a more interesting plot.

*** His actions during his reunion with Breakthrough in Arc 14 raise even more questions. He's become a lot meaner than before, now throwing around genuinely hurtful insults to Breakthrough rather than the vitriolic banter from earlier in the story. He also uses a serum of his to render Victoria unconscious and set up a meeting between her and Amy. On the other hand, some have interpreted his actions as lashing out due to his fear of getting close to people, and convincing himself he does not need anyone to succeed. Despite his repeated insistence that he does not care about Breakthrough, he also decides to lie to the guards after catching them sneaking out to get electronics, and later uses ExactWords to fool a lie detector for their benefit. Wether that was too save his own dignity in failing to stop them or because he genuinely decided to help them remains to be seen.