The "Why aren't you reading Worm yet?" Thread.

[phred]

Nice to get a peek into GUs head, and even Riley's rehabilitation seems to be going well. Heh, I'd be nervous about having all three in one room myself.

Yeah, she chose one of the most interesting people to start with. I'm not sure Riley hanging out with Nilbog to feel 'normal' counts as rehabilitating.
And those 3 in the same building probably qualifies as nightmare fuel to anyone who's crossed paths with any of them.

[Ahriman238]

Teneral 2 up. Epilogue: Imp.
Spoiler

I admit it, I laughed at the revelation of where Aisha's fancy vocabulary came from. And her interactions with the Heartbroken. And Sophia. Look, Imp was just awesome this time around.

Now whatever is Teacher up to, I wonder?

[Raw Shark]

Spoiler

I admit it, I laughed at the revelation of where Aisha's fancy vocabulary came from. [snip]

Totally.

Spoiler

Now whatever is Teacher up to, I wonder?

Spoiler

Same thing Teacher's always up to, Pinky: Trying to take over the worlds. Guys like Nero are like Christmas morning for Teacher: Ambitious and ruthless with a loyal team, but a third-rate power that can be unlocked into something extremely useful for colonization. He feels like he's coming out ahead, and even if he didn't, he wouldn't give up the "gift" because it's too useful for his immediate survival and prosperity, so Teacher remains in control of him and, by extension, all the resources his colony can muster.

[cadbrowser]

Imp/Aisha has quite quickly become my second favorite character that wildbow created for the Wormverse. That one of the limited epilogues focused on her and her little gang was nothing but awesome IMHO.

[Ahriman238]

Teneral 3 up, or Epilogue: D&D
Spoiler

Some people just aren't meant for the white-picket fence. Still, Colin and Dragon deserve their happy ending.

That was intense, cold and ruthless on Colin's part, heartbreaking for Dragon and Pandora's.

Oh well, for the first time ever, Dragon is whole and free! Remember kids, always back-up crucial data.

Now where, oh where did Saint and Teacher go? How fast and how far can they run?

[LadyTevar]

OMG, I loved that.

[cadbrowser]

Yes, that was a very nice surprise that D & D got their "happily ever after".

I really like the way that wildbow conducted (right word?) the cyber-fight. Very cool.

Now to wait for the next epilogue chapter...

[Ahriman238]

Teneral 4. Epilogue: Bitch.
Spoiler

Aww, Rachel really has come a long way.

Good to see MM still up and leading a team.

So, I'd already guessed the powers would keep coming for another 300 years, because the entities already shed and sent off the shards, but now it seems like some of them (20% according to MM) are broken and maiming the wielder or causing widespread destruction.

Which begs the question of both how they'll deal, and whatever will they do after the powers stop. Well, 300 years of the supermen should transform society in all sorts of interesting ways.

Nice setup for a Lisa Epilogue, I admit that's the one I'm really, really looking forward to.

[cadbrowser]

You aren't the only one looking forward to a Lisa epilogue. And yes, I love Rachel. She may have not been my most favorite character; but to me she was the most intriguing if not most complex.

We'll probably find out what happens to Scion's shards in Worm 2. I am hoping the last epilogue features Glaistig Uaine & Contessa...in a final showdown...

GU did end up having a soft spot for Taylor if you recall. I think GU would go ballistic on Contessa if she found out that she was responsible for Taylor's demise.

Can you imagine GU with Contessa's "ghost"?

[Ahriman238]

Teneral 5 up. Epilogue: Teacher.

Final update to the story on Tuesday.
Spoiler

Interesting idea, networking, exploring powers and their interactions, everyone gets what they want. Be surprised if he can pull it off though.

I wonder if Teacher is a low-grade thinker in addition to a tinker, given his opening spiel on all his skills and interests. Contessa, Ingenue, Satyrical, he really is picking up a lot of powers.

So I guess Amy is going villainous after all, more's the pity.

[Cycloneman]

Interlude: End up. Spoiler

Taylor is alive. Glad to hear it.

By the way, this has been bothering me: if a lot of powers manipulate alternate dimensions to have their effect, why don't we ever see the inverse effect? Like, why aren't there ever chunks of meat falling out of the sky because alternate-universe Scrub is doing his thing, or sudden shifts in the environment because alternate-universe Labyrinth is doing her thing? Is that ever explained?

e: For that matter, what about the "that alternate universe should still exist" effect on Coil's thing? Does his power just terminate the dimension he doesn't choose to live in?

[Imperial528]

I may be reading too far into this, but...
Spoiler

Did anyone else find it strange that Contessa shot Taylor twice? It's a fact that she'd know exactly where and how to shoot/stab/harm someone to kill them instantly if the action was possible. Has she ever fired more than once at someone? IIRC when we see her against the Slaughterhouse groupies she pulls of the one shot one kill thing each time.

Spoiler

I fucking knew it. She's ALIVE

[Ahriman238]

So yeah. It's over. Not sure how I feel about that. It seems amazing to me that I only heard of the series 8 months ago, when Raw Shark made this thread.

I'm glad that Taylor made it, and can speak and walk and so on again. She is short an arm, and somewhat traumatized, and now she has to figure out how to live without powers and the burning drive she's had since, what 15, 16?

Itty-bit sad not to see Teacher get too clever while the Undersiders, D&D and the Wardens are all gunning for him. But I suppose it'll be epic in my imagination if nothing else.

So, wildbow will be putting up the first few sample chapters of a couple of works he's thinking of pursuing:

For the coming few weeks, I’ll be previewing the works I’m thinking about writing. I listed a wad in Worm’s FAQ, and I’ve pared down the list to the ones I feel most confident about. Keeping in mind these are placeholder titles, the stories are:

Peer (Fantasy)

Body (Biopunk)

Face (Thriller)

Pact (Horror/Modern Supernatural)

and seeing what response he gets from potential readers. He'll also be editing/re-writing large parts of Worm for publication, a project he estimates will take 2 years or more.

There may be a sequel down the line, but not before a good long break from that world.

[Raw Shark]

[snip] Raw Shark made this thread.

Correction: I actually found out about Worm from this thread, also. (Thanks, RazorSmile!)

Not sure how I feel about the ending. Going to have to think about it some more. I liked the story overall, though, and I'll probably check out Wildbow's next project.

[LadyTevar]

PACT sounds interesting, and a nice change of place.

[cadbrowser]

I loved the ending. However, I feel like I'm turning into a fanboy or some shit. PACT is alluring to me as well, I am a massive fan of the horror genre, not so much the SuperNatural one tho. I am sure that whatever wildbow's next project is, I will be reading it with the same intensity as I had with Worm.

[Raw Shark]

Am I missing a link to a fuller summary of the new project ideas? The "The End" page says they're described in the FAQ, but I didn't see them there...

[Cycloneman]

Am I missing a link to a fuller summary of the new project ideas? The "The End" page says they're described in the FAQ, but I didn't see them there...

Seems like they used to be there but not anymore. Nothing in-depth anyways.

[Raw Shark]

First sample's up: Peer #1.

[Raw Shark]

First sample's up: Peer #1.

Ghetto Edit: I like it, but I'm not gaga about it. Similar "awkward-but-smart super-powered protagonist thrown out-of-depth" theme to Worm, with a different setting. Feels a little more info-dumpy than its predecessor; Worm would very enticingly allude to stuff that wouldn't be explained for many chapters more, while this chapter seems more full of tell and not show. Keeping the jury out until we see the other three.

[cadbrowser]

Am I missing a link to a fuller summary of the new project ideas? The "The End" page says they're described in the FAQ, but I didn't see them there...

Seems like they used to be there but not anymore. Nothing in-depth anyways.

I believe you have to check out wildbow's personal blog to get more info. See HERE!

[Raw Shark]

Peer #2 is up. It's growing on me, but I would've rather seen four #1s, then four #2s, etc so the options get an equal shot (though I recognize that it would be much harder to write that way). Prediction: Wildbow's loyal fans fall in love with Peer before even seeing the other options.

[White Haven]

Sight unseen, I find the idea of Pact more interesting. Peer's been neat so far, but it just hasn't grabbed hold of my imagination the way Worm did.

[Raw Shark]

Sight unseen, I find the idea of Pact more interesting. Peer's been neat so far, but it just hasn't grabbed hold of my imagination the way Worm did.

+1. I'm generally all up in fantasy, but the themes suggested by the title+genre of Pact draws me in and I'd like to see equal treatment given to the ideas.

[Cycloneman]

I was enjoying Peer alright, it had an interesting main character and set-up, but I really didn't like the way #2 ended. The whole relationship between Caspar and Esmenet... I liked it right up until the "you love this girl" crap. Blech. That really left a sour taste in my mouth.