Fanfic Cannot Recommend
There isn't really a plot here - just the Fandom Cliche that when Amy Dallon and Taylor Hebert join forces, it becomes OP. There's no real conflict here aside from the emotional rollarcoaster, because of the aforementioned OP bullshit. I kept waiting for a villain to appear, and no one ever stepped up. The romance/Mind Rape plot wasn't good enough to be the primary plot, and it came across as very FanWanky without any real substance.
I feel this story would have worked if it was a oneshot of the first section, ending with Amy and Taylor teaming up to get revenge for Victoria and Brockton Bay. None of their efforts to make monsters, no pointless Shout Outs, and no amazingly OP teammates (which was basically Grey Boy, but in reverse, meaning that person was basically indestructible).
It's just a juvenile power fantasy, and I'm amazed that it got as much attention as it did. There's a 'reason' that the mods at SpaceBattles.com temporarily banned the author, who later chose to move his stuff to another forum. Abrasive characters who make off-color remarks are always a problem to handle, and TanaHari goofed up.
Fanfic Pretty Damn Refreshing
Amelia is a lot like Pacific Rim: it delivers exactly what it promises, and if you don't want what it promised, you're not going to like it. But if you like what it promises, it's going to be Fucking Awesome.
Most of the complaints I've seen are more about the type of story Amelia is than about the story itself. This story isn't about obtaining power, it's about what you do when very ordinary people are given very extraordinary power. The author delights in putting the characters through an emotional roller coaster ride without it ever getting overwhelming for the reader. The OC'ness that I keep hearing about is largely the result of some serious character development.
I also like that it doesn't drag out plots, it's a refreshing look at what the world of Worm could be like if Grimdark wasn't the only option.
Fanfic One of the most unbelievable fics I've read, great if you don't mind amoral perversion
This is bad enough that it reminds me of Perfect Lionheart, probably the most sociopathic fanfic writer of all time. There's not so much "obvious sociopathy" comparatively, so I guess the average person might be able to read this without wanting to vomit every few chapters when things inevitably become gross and perverted (or every chapter where Amy continues to mind rape Taylor)
Fanfic Had potential, ultimately disappointing
That snippet seems like a running theme with Worm fics. Amy quickly becomes OC and the villains become jokes, but not in a funny way. Everyone is way too overpowered, and it gets boring after a while. It refuses to be a crack fic even though the premise became nonsensical, which hurts the quality of the fic.
Fanfic Too Good for Fanfiction
It "suffers" from the same issues as Ang Lee's Hulk, or almost everything written by Kubrick.
You go into it expecting a generic story. You come out hating it.
You go into it expecting a work of art? What you get is a work of art. You get handed a complex character study of what it means to be human. What it means to do the right thing. What it means to be a monster. How godlike power changes people.
The OCs are brilliant, complex, and you can fall in love with them in a single scene- usually their first character perspective chapter, Tana always waits a while to show those for some reason.
Tana Nari does canon characters justice, and in many ways makes them *better* than Canon.
Now? The flaws.
Writing skill: Kinda like the art for EGS (which I was introduced to thanks to Amelia) and Sluggy Freelance... Tana's writing skills leave a lot to be desired at first. Not bad, but not amazing.
He gets soooo much better. He implied he was a writer, already. I believe it. Plays or perhaps movie/TV show/video game scripts. Def not books. He started weak (as a writer) while being a great storyteller. Then became great at that, too.
And the plot is brilliant. Also creepy as.
The accusations of "mind rape"? Is it rape if it's mutual and consenting? It's a bizarre, transhumanist sort of storytelling that is MEANT to make you uncomfortable.
Tana says it squicks him out sometimes. He calls it the "darkest fix fic", and that's what he delivers. It's a beautiful story of hope, love, triumph over tragedy and an epic tale through and through.
Until you look beneath the surface. And then it's creepy as. A perverse tragedy full of death of main characters, brain fuckery, and a bunch of characters trying very hard not to think about just how fucked up the shit they do is.
Kinda like the modern interpretations of Alice in Wonderland. Amelia's not that creepy. YMMV.
So. If you like fanfic like you like summer movies. Cheap, flashy, and ultimately shallow action? Pass on Amelia. Pass on it so hard.
If you like a story that goes out of its way to challenge the preconceptions of the audience, and makes you think? Then you can't do better.
And the ENDING! Fuck me running, that ending. Perfect.