Umbram Mortis is quite a bit better than I expected from the prologue. It's still only like a 3/5 story, but I'd initially not bothered with reading any further because the prologue was utter dreck.

 

https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/absolution-worm-au.375877/

Just four chapter in, but has lot of potantial.

Best glory girl charactrization I have seen thus far.

In summary, this is a Worm divergence where Lisa's revelations concerning the Dallon family in the bank scene of Arc 3 take a rather different form, and a bushel of butterflies ensue.

 

Let me start this by saying that I usually hate the trope that Amy's love for her sister came due to Glory Girl's aura. I hate this piece of fanon that seems so widely accepted as canon. it's cheap, to me. It gives something, or someone, to blame. It makes this tragic development a problem that can be solved via powers or whatever.

That takes ever from the emotional impact and weight this situation has.

That said, this is the story that has utilized this trope the best so far. It's interesting, since we have a focus on both, Amy and Victoria, who each take new, distinct paths from here.

So, yeah, good beginning, like the take on the characters so far, (even Piggot) so, promising start.

Might be mean to say this, but somehow feels like a story that's going to lose steam relatively soon. Hope I'm wrong on that.

 

The characterization in the bank scene was iffy and really didn't convince me that that was a plausible way for things to go, but I'm willing to overlook flaws in the PoD as long as it leads to interesting things, and the Victoria chapters so far are promising.

There should be at least one more arc that falls out easily from the premise and there's a bunch of really obvious scenes left (e.g. the first time Victoria and Amy find themselves on opposite sides of a conflict; them working together again during an endbringer fight; etc.), but otherwise it does have the usual problem with "What if X?" stories where you answer that question during what should be the introductory phases of your story and then have no where to go.

 

Promising so far. I agree the bank scene seemed overblown in that Amy believed Tattletale far too quick. However, I really like the Victoria chapter and I'm interested to see where this goes.

 

The snippets have been out for a while, having been posted on the Ideas thread a week or maybe three weeks back (I don't remember). Everything that's been posted so far in the story thread has already been posted earlier, just rearranged a little so it's more coherent (I assume). It may have very well lost steam, but I hate making that assumption.

Perhaps if we saw something new? Then again, it's only been a week or three. Writing takes time.


Edit: and as soon as I said something *poof* new material.

 

Really enjoyed what's there so far. As Nemrut said, it takes a trope that is often quite bad and makes it interesting by exploring how Victoria feels knowing she may have just been fucking up everyone she cares about.

I also really like the fact that it seems to be focusing on interaction between Lisa and Amy, rather than the way too common focus on Taylor and Amy. I'm sure everyone knows how much I love The Girls Who Can't Unplug. But even if there's no pairing there, I still enjoy seeing those two interact.

I don't think it'll stand up to being a longer fic though. Execution wise, it's not amazing. I felt Amy's reaction to Tattletale's felt way too artificial. I feel like she'd have taken a while to take it all in before reacting in that way. Denial, realization, understanding and THEN blame/anger.

Glory Girl is likeable, but certain aspects of how the narrative explores her thought process and emotions do make me feel like this story will struggle to remain good as the plot develops.

 

I second this story. It's pretty good.

 

I'll third Art of War.

Really enjoyed it. Refreshing (being non-Taylor), a decent enough OC character (if a bit plain), a plot that diverges from the original while still covering similar ground and isn't too cheesy (even though it felt like it at the start).

The summary is awful and the name is pretentious, but it's definitely worth reading. So far, Sun Tzu hasn't become a thing and I hope the author doesn't make it a thing.

 

I haven't found these mentioned in this thread or elsewhere, so throwing out some recommendations that might have passed people by, including some older recs that may have passed under people's radars.

First, Keeper. Sadly, it's abandoned, but what there was struck me as interesting. This isn't the Dungeon Keeper cross, but this one features an original character, Elizabeth Clark, as the protaognist. Elizabeth is a Trump whose ability allows her to form a "bond" with another parahuman, sharing emotional connections but more pertinently, allowing her to have a version of their power while simultaneously strengthening their power as well. The power feels suitably ironic for Worm—despite the fact that Elizabeth spends a lot of time strengthening others and helping others to get back on their feet so to speak, she herself remains highly vulnerable and emotionally fragile. I enjoyed reading about Liz's burgeoning hero career. What sold me on the fic were the Liz / Sophia interactions, the latter of whom she's friends with. DEAD.

My Friends is another sadly abandoned fic, but what was there was pretty good IMO and entertaining. Essentially, Taylor triggers as a very odd sort of Tinker—she can make "Friends," or basically semi-sentient or outright sentient Dolls which are able to accomplish varied functions. For example, the Chainer ties people up and has some Trump powers, the Indoctrinator literally brainwashes people, and so forth. What makes this fic somewhat unique is that it appears that Taylor literally houses aspects of her personality in each Doll she makes, so the further and further along she progresses with her Tinkering, the more and more... unhinged she becomes. Part 1 is pretty good, but Part 2 treads into iffier territory but the fic was abandoned more or less by that point anyway. DEAD.

A Change in Pace is a nice Dishonored cross, featuring Taylor receiving powers gifted by the Outsider. The Outsider features somewhat significantly in this fic and there is an undercurrent of mystery as Taylor comes across bone charms and other potential recipients of the Outsider's gifts. Taylor operates here as an independent hero and ends up partnering with Glory Girl, as well as becoming close friends with her. The Taylor / Victoria interactions (non-romantic) really help sell the fic and I have to admit that it's fun reading Taylor go to work between teleports and rat summons. ACTIVE.

Bittersweet is another Tinker!Taylor fic, but one that has rather dark undertones. Taylor ends up being captured by Coil and a lot of what makes the fic work is the persistent, unsettling unease that pervades Taylor's thoughts and interactions with Coil. Thankfully, she's not drugged up or anything as Coil needs her lucid, but she's definitely stuck in a hard place. More recent arcs have her taking a more active role on Coil's behalf and the most recent chapter is building up to one heck of a clusterfuck. I'd say this one is worth a read. ACTIVE.

More recently, Aberration. Aberration is a D&D cross featuring a Binder of Zceryll tossed into Worm, looking for the ultimate "munchkin." Freakshow, the protagonist, starts out as a member of the Merchants, develops a friendship with Squealer, and largely ends up butting heads with many other groups in BB before she mellows out some. A decent read if nothing else and one of the rare fics that actually has the Merchants, at least initially, as something of a force to be reckoned with. More recent arcs have had Freakshow move onto bigger and better things so to speak. ACTIVE.

 

I enjoyed Aberration quite a bit. Though perhaps like Harry Potter and the Natural 20 you have to be a bit of a D&D geek to fully appreciate it. With that caveat I think it is good enough to get into the library.
It updates quickly, which is nice, can also be a warning sign, not much time for introspection or second guessing plot decisions, just look at Amelia, but it seems like this author has a beta that helps keep things more restrained, relatively, rather than the opposite.

Burnout was pretty good, but it's the kind of story that just leaves me depressed when there isn't even the slightest hint of a happy ending in sight. There were a lot of back-story implied at that I would want expanded upon to see how things turned out like this.

Spoiler

I liked the meeting with the rebranded Shadow Stalker, sad and a bit awkward as it should be.
I think I remember a Wildbow quote that said something like that Piggot wouldn't throw out Sophia if the bullying came to light, but would expect Taylor to suck it up if they both were in the Wards, or she would cover it up if Taylor wasn't, and I guess the premise is something in that vein?

 

Title: Wonderful
Author: Mazinja
Rating: T
Genre: Alt!power/AU
Status: In-Progress
Pairings: None
Summary: Crossover with a Wii-U game called Wonderful 101. Alt Power Taylor but also different world, as in, some characters who are dead in canon are alive here and vice versa.

Link: Spacebattles

Not that long so far, but I like the set up in this world and while I don't think it's going to be library material, really can't see this story lasting all that long, it is enjoyable. Charming and fun. Very lighthearted, focusing on teamwork and cooperation. The Whole Emma, Taylor and Sophia situation is fun and the powers are interesting.

Then there are the casual mentions of how the world differs to canon, which are not just spewed out in the beginning but instead sprinkled over several chapters, which keeps things interesting. So, yeah, nothing amazing but a lot of fun. A positive 3.5/5 so far

 

Signed up just for this. (I'm normally a filthy lurker using this to keep an eye on good fic recs).


It was legitimately bothering me that almost 100% of everything people said was positive when I unabashedly stated how mediocre it was on several occasions.

It was literally done as mind to document to upload, no pauses, plans, edits, etc.

Like "Gais. No. Really. I don't mind if you enjoy it, but it's not good. Staph dragging the fan base down!"

I did some fun stuff with technical bits, but it's certainly not worth reading the fic over.


So thanks for this! Made my night! ^_^

 

Rayndeon A Change in Pace actually brought back my appetite for Worm. It's quite well done, and held my attention far better than any Worm stories I've read in the past year, bar Dominion. The Dishonoured subplot with the Outsider was actually interesting. Any other decent Dishonoured crossovers or Victoria/Taylor-centric story anyone can recc?

 

Title: Black Widow
Author: Mr. Noodlezz
Genre: AU/Taylor has same power as canon
Status: Regularly updating
Summary: CPS judges Danny to be a bad parent and take Taylor away, which she doesn't like and decides to run away from CPS.

I quite like the story, probably the one I'm on the look out for the most apart from Dominion. Danny is a non-factor aside from the very start of the story and it is interesting how Taylor still interacts with canon despite being quite removed from the canon story. The story is quite AU from the Lung fight (which isn't shown in the story thank god) on with the Undersiders being a defeated gang and integrated into the Wards.

I'd rate it as a "has me interested for now/5" for now leaning towards a strong 3 to a light 4.

 

I think the writing quality overall is a bit lacking, everything happens far too fast in not enough words.

The author doesn't seem to have the best grasp on the characters either. Taylor (who could barely stand her bugs directly on her skin for most of canon) has, specifically three days after leaving home, started keeping roaches "exclusively for food" which she describes as crunchy. So also picked "Black Widow" for her name? Start-of-canon Taylor? Really?

I lost interest pretty quickly, but I also didn't like how Taylor was just randomly in the exact right place

Spoiler

to save Dinah from being kidnapped.

Some sort of setup would be nice, otherwise it reeks of a fix-it fic.

I'd give it a 2/5.

 

As I read Black Widow I'm assuming that Taylors shard is hitting her far harder than canon, making her like Burnscar. Otherwise it makes no sense.

 

Title: Saiyan in Brockton
Author: DesertChocolate
Genre: SI, DBZ Crossover

Basically, it's a saiyan SI. It's nothing special - 2/5 at best, probably (though that's standard for SI fics, really). I've been enjoying it, however - if only because I have no standards when it comes to any and all things Dragon Ball.

 

Title: Mixed Feelings
Author: Kittius
Genre: AU?
Status: Regularly updating
Summary: Astrid Berklow has problems. Triggering has solved exactly none of them. Can she escape the shadows of her past and avoid becoming the person she fears she could be?

This is really good. I think it might end up being library-worthy. The story has an original plot in a fandom where that is very rare, and is also well written. At the moment, it's in the middle of the second arc, so it might be a bit early to put it in the library, but it's a 5/5 for me so far.