Nice points.

I could see her trying to do that, but the vague tack I have in my head—from all ten minutes of my meticulous planning, haha—is that she does try doing that, but she fails horribly and stops. Failure could occur on multiple levels:

1) She gets very badly beaten up. Unlike canon, she doesn't have a high-tier sensory power working for her and she can be caught off guard. Edit: Also, no uber spidersilk armor either.
2) She accidentally kills someone she wasn't trying to with her powers.

(1) in conjunction with (2) could be used for her to regard caping as having no possibility for her. (2) could have her realize that she can't really go hero—or at least, so she believes—given her power, whereas (1) impresses upon her that she isn't really cut out for it. In combination, she gives up the caping route as a failed experiment.

We do see various enormously screwed up capes, as a result of shard influence, throughout canon though don't we? Damsel in Distress and Black Kaze both come to mind, IIRC. Their shards influenced them pretty headily towards conflict and screwed with their headspace, but it's not clear they gained anything in exchange beyond the powers they already possessed. (Black Kaze for instance was pushed to the point of total physical exhaustion by her shard) It's not clear to me, for example, that Taylor doesn't have offensive capabilities matching some of those capes, considering she can, as you put out later, make nukes, in exchange for how her power screws with her.

Alternatively, it's very possible that she has a broken shard or something. For all we know, it's a situation similar to Leet here, whose shard was actively trying to kill him off.

Mmm... I'm not convinced. Wildbow's said before that if the situation at the school continued and Taylor never triggered / caped, Taylor would just eventually drop out. The bullies would cease to be a problem in that regard and would cease to actively be a situation for her to contemplate. That would probably rule out the "school shooter" Taylor plot Lamora was wanting.

By contrast, with the quirk to Miss Militia's power I suggest above, Taylor is physically incapable of ignoring the bullies, since she sees them every single time she has to go to sleep. She's constantly confronted with them... can't escape them... so naturally, things come to a head there, since even leaving the school won't stop them from being a presence.

That's the reason why I suggested the alteration to Miss Militia's power above, because otherwise I can't see canonical Taylor being pushed to consider a school shooting at any point. She'd just extricate herself from the situation entirely otherwise.

On a side note, where does it say that the Heberts don't have Internet? They have a computer at the house; the only reason I think Taylor didn't search for stuff re: the Undersiders or consider sending the email to Miss Militia from there was probably to avoid being tracked to her house or something.

It probably wouldn't be enjoyable to read, but I imagine that isn't the point. Ideally, it could be portrayed as a tragedy of sorts.

She could, but it would likely feel too narmy and silly if it got to that. I think it'd be more appropriate for it to end via a more standard suicide by cop, to keep things more grounded and sober.

 

And at the very end Wolverine says, "Hey, kiddo." He was secretly Danny the whole time.

 

It's decent but doesn't update often enough to hold my interest. It's still too early on in the narrative.

---

I've always had the story idea in my head that Winslow, the shitty school that it is, has a school shooter show up one day. Taylor gets caught in the crossfire and gets critically wounded. Maybe it causes her to trigger with Militia-like powers---

But what stops me from even delving down into that line of thinking is I just can't wrap my head around how you'd tonally write the story. Worm is this weird super hero universe where-- Heroes and Villains don't tend to kill each other (if they do they're 'crossing the line' and get removed; at least in most cases they do). Yet you have characters like Miss Militia who walk around with super lethal powers-- like, what? Tonally, if Taylor had gun powers, she'd use guns to kill people. Killing people with guns is rather grisly, no matter how you put it, and definitely 'dirties' the protagonist in some small way. That's great for writing a complexly motivated character, but Taylor's a shallow sixteen year old. Rather hard to make her spontaneously develop into something interesting-- So you have to ride the camp angle? But you can't ride the camp angle with serious guns & bloodshed...

With Worm, it's too easy to ride the angst angle. So to coutneract that you have characters like Victoria and Amy - totally unrealistic superheroine fashion model lesbians-- but either way you slice it you've got a parody. Even the more 'serious' villains like Lung have motivations which are hard to write seriously without totally rehashing things. Which is fine, but there's a point where people won't read your story because it's not canon-like enough...

 

I have a list of characters/powers, but they're not Wormy enough just yet. Logan would be a blend of Beast and Wolverine: an animalistic Case 53. Prof. X, dead for years at the start of the story, was a Cauldron backed Thinker/Master who went about collecting and mastering powerful parahumans to follow his "vision".

The fic would follow the teenage capes (ala Animorphs) who make up the various teams, as well as something like a kill squad headed by Logan. One nomadic team under Madeline/Jean that starts in Brockton, one under Emma in Canada, one under Storm (haven't decided where), and the kill squad that travels to places like South America and Africa. And the "school" of course, hidden in another dimension.

 

Anyone reading Unsung Heroes: Scorched Earth?

Only two chapters so far but it is a story where Taylor lands in Azeroth, close to Goldshire and starts her adventure in the world of Warcraft. Not much to go on, but I have a soft spot for these types of crossovers and it had a decent enough start, although I am a bit torn on the implementation of game mechanics as things in story. Like all clothing and armor being enchanted to fit all sizes, bags being magical to fit 16 items regardless of how big the items in it are and hearthstones being a thing. On one hand, it's oddly charming to see that stuff played so straight and the Warcraft fan in me kinda likes it, on the other, it does seem a bit lazy?

The first chapter also had a bit of a wonky start, what with Taylor discovering the changes in her body which was...implemented in a very meh way.

Anyway, really not much to go on, nothing amazing so far, certainly but I'm oddly optimistic. One of the story threads where one should definitely avoid reading the comments though.

 

Going to check it out. Meanwhile I found Second Best. Sadly the chapters are very short and not that well written, but the premise is interesting and a change of pace. I'll keep an eye on where it's going.

 

Just caught up in El-ahrairah and I'd say it was worth it for the last chapter alone.

I do have problems with the story, but it feels like the best ongoing fic in the fandom currently. I didn't notice anything major with the spelling and grammar. It has a good narrative flow, I cannot stand the parts where Taylor talks her shard but after their introduction proper, they peter away and become pretty ignorable.

Scenes generally flow well. The humour falls flat for be but I find The drama and The action gripping so it makes up for it.
The author has a knack for character voice, and while they by match the originals precisely they feel extremely well executed in the context of the story.

The next update should be final showdown with Jack and I can't wait.

 

Aqir Another WoW x Worm story. Taylor wakes up in Thunder Bluff and "apprentices" under a Druid from the Cenarion Circle. Unfortunately there isn't enough of the story to really judge yet, although, it seems like pacing may become an issue.

 

Huh, the portrayal of the characters is probably my biggest issue with that story because in my eyes all the dialogue (or at least that in the first third) sounds/looks like what teenagers would say (and to a lesser extent that is true of the behaviour too) which is okay when Taylor is speaking but makes it hard for me to take any adult in that story serious.

 

I agree with you on that. I just put that under attempts of humour and levity and ignore it as I do with almost all fan fiction. If its something that can't brushed over it'll hamper enjoyment. So suppose your right in that the character voice could be better. I'll stand by what said in a more general sense, sans humour of course.

 

A Percy Jackson crossover Classical Hero manages to be good fic in both fandoms. I think Demigods really work in Earth Bet.

 

Classical Hero gets Percy's voice down, which makes up for the merely okay plot. Enjoying it so far.

 

Sand and Fury

AU where Taylor is a boy, not a fantastic story, but a decent time-waster.
His mother is alive instead of his father who disappeared under mysterious circumstances, not a plot-point that has been developed as of yet, but it makes the story a tad more intriguing, and that future promise was enough to make me follow the story. That rather than being a hero also seems to have been the initial impetus to him going out and doing cape stuff,

Best of all, no locker and no bullies.

 

Classical Hero. Ehh. It's... not great. I never read very far into the Percy Jackson series, but the character voice seems to be close enough, from what I remember. Everything goes downhill from there though.

The plot is pretty non-existent in the first 6 chapters, with Percy just wandering around with random scenes like the Undersiders trying to recruit him, and teaming up with Purity. It gets really terrible in the 7th where Greg becomes a parahuman and joins Percy's team.

Then more shitty "Taylor in school and Percy comes to fix™ it" with Greg. Then they all make a team together, yay!

Irritating. It's above average for SB, but I don't like it.

---------- Post automerged at 10:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:06 PM ----------

I can't get far enough into Sand and Fury to give it a proper review. The "male Taylor" and Taylor have literally nothing in common, not even powers. He controls sand.

It's the worst of both worlds. "Taylor" is too OOC to actually be the character (IMO), and if I try to pretend it's just an OC, the name and vague resemblances keep reminding me that it's supposed to be Taylor.

 

Been doing a few reviews over at SB. Decided to post a few here re: stories I haven't seen either mentioned here, posted in the Library, or made it into the Almost Recommended category.

Nine Last Chances
Author: Discreet (SB| AO3)
Links: SB | AO3
Author's description: Avery is on "vacation" in dead-end city Binghamton. Sent there by the Protectorate for a mistake she'd rather forget, Avery gets another chance to prove herself a hero when Binghamton is visited by the Slaughterhouse Nine.
Synopsis: Multishot novella. Drama, psychological, thriller. Follows a pair of OCs, Avery / Rev and Lucy / Connect, who are part of the local Protectorate in Bingahmton when the Slaughterhouse Nine attack. Occurs after the Slaughterhouse Nine are on the run after their failed gambit in Brockton Bay, with Dragon and Defiant at their heels. A fast-paced story revolving around Avery's character and her relationship with Lucy—and her own self-doubts as she's pitted against Jack Slash.
Main character(s): Avery Sidell / Rev (OC), Lucy / Connect (OC)
Status: COMPLETE
Thoughts:

Spoiler

As the synopsis suggests, this story explores a pair of OCs in the context of a Slaughterhouse Nine attack. The attack itself occurs after the Slaughterhouse Nine arc in Worm, in which the remnants of the Slaughterhouse Nine are left on the run, with Dragon and Defiant giving chase. The OCs are a pair of transfers from New York City: Avery was remanded into Protectorate custody after she accidentally killed someone and in the wake of Leviathan's attack, was transferred to Binghamton, which is further north in New York state. Lucy by contrast is a Protectorate cape that is deeply attached to Avery, a venerable "fan girl" of sorts, though she's a competent cape in her own right and their relationship to each other is one of the foundations upon which the story rests.

Avery serves as the protagonist in the story and the main point-of-view character, with Lucy serving as the deuteragonist. Dragon and Defiant also prominently figure, with their own point-of-view sections at times, but their story, while also developing and well-characterized, primarily takes a backseat to Avery and Lucy.

As far as powers are concerned, Avery's power seems to be gathering energy and releasing it in localized bursts, ranging from anywhere to bone-shattering force to outright vaporization—in one scene, she's able to practically shred steel to impressive effect. By contrast, Lucy's power is a Manton-limited telekinesis: she can manipulate objects around her, although she is unable to affect herself. She cannot even, for example, stand on top of a rock and levitate the rock to fly, as explicitly noted in the story. Of course, ultimately, the powers themselves are not the focus of the story, though I did find Avery's power to be quite interesting and entertaining to read about.

The characters are well-developed, with their own distinct personalities and voices: Lucy comes off as fiercely protective of Avery, with a partly naive streak to her. By contrast, Avery is more world-weary, unpleased with being transferred to Binghamton and feeling a degree of frustration and anger at her predicament. She also has insecurity and anger issues in relation to herself and her powers, as well as her self-image as a hero, issues that Jack Slash taps into in the midst of the story.

One thing the author does with Avery's power though is incorporate how they play into her issues—there's a nice irony in that when she builds up her energy, she is forced to eventually release it: it isn't something she can indefinitely contain or bottle up. In a certain sense, one could use Sophia / Shadow Stalker as an analogue for some of the issues Avery faces—not in terms of any sort of Social Darwinist philosophical ideals or the like, but like Shadow Stalker, there's a part of her that frequently toes if not crosses the line—and perhaps wonders if she shouldn't be free to cross it more.

These insecurities and issues formed, as I saw it, the principal narrative arc through which the story traced, and which Jack Slash directly touches upon. For as many fun action sequences there are, they're ultimately a tool to tell a story about Avery's character and how she's struggling to come to grips with herself. Lucy also prominently figures in Avery's story, as a foil to Avery's character and her arc, while also partly serving as a morality chain to Avery as a whole. Their relationship, as mentioned earlier, is one of the key foundations of the story and I found the way it was characterized, developed, and ultimately conclude as well done.

Another thing the author does excellently is creating a palpable tension and sense of unease and suspense. Let's just say that there are no guarantees when it comes to dealing with the Slaughterhouse Nine, and you will be worried for our starring duo. One sequence towards the end struck me as particularly well done in that regard.

While Jack Slash does exist in this story, he doesn't really develop as a character or anything of the sort. This isn't really an issue with the story, since his character development isn't a part of the story's themes or premise. He is reasonably well-characterized here, with a flair for the dramatic and a monstrous streak as wide as a mile. Bonesaw also features in a lesser role, but she also feels true to her character by this time point in the series, as a disturbingly precocious budding Dr. Mengele.

The action sequences in general feel well done, with a snappy and visceral feel to them. No long drawn out, unrealistic encounters, with breaks and stand-offs inserted at appropriate points. The plotting and pacing in general is superb, with little in the way of wasted space or padding. Writing mechanics and style, as you can imagine, are also done well.

The main problem with the story, ultimately, is the ending, and the place of Dragon and Defiant in the story. While Dragon and Defiant play an important role in setting up the narrative between Avery, Lucy, Jack Slash, and Bonesaw, at times, it feels like they unduly take on too much importance in the story, in comparison to what narrative weight they actually contribute. There are developments in Dragon and Defiant's arcs that do head down interesting directions, but feel more suited for a different story than the one ultimately told here. As such, the narrative that was traced out felt a bit jumbled together in that sense.

This partly haphazard construction continues onto the ending, where Dragon plays a seemingly pivotal role, but ultimately, the narrative doesn't really focus on her. It focuses on Avery and Lucy and while I did like aspects of how their arc culminated, I wasn't sure if the particular ending was entirely appropriate for the themes the author seemed to be sketching out. And to that effect, it felt like the author had to cobble together an ending that approximated the themes and message that they were trying to convey, without fulling sticking that landing.

Nonetheless, a highly recommended read as far as I'm concerned.

Off-the-Cuff Rating: 4/5

Sword and Song
Author: wkz (SB | SV | FFN)
Links: SB | SV | FFN
Author's description: A singer without a voice. A sword with a soul. A world of Process chasing them down. A villain of status wanting what is his. Secrets and organizations prodding them along. What's the big secret, causing two separate dimensions to hound these two? Why is it in the hands of these unlikely souls? What, exactly, is the Transistor? A Worm-world Transistor-storyline short story fusion.
Synopsis: Chaptered novella. Drama, action / adventure. Paige Mcabee / Canary from Worm finds herself embroiled in the events of the video game Transistor, in a Worm / Transistor fusion. Like Red, Paige has lost her voice and wields the Transistor—a sentient electronic sword and her sole companion as she fights against Processes plaguing Brockton Bay and as she tries to uncover the mystery of both her circumstances and the sword's—as well as who is pulling the strings behind the curtain...
Main character(s): Paige / Canary, Transistor
Status: COMPLETE
Thoughts:

Spoiler

An interesting fast-paced action / adventure that effectively adapts Worm's universe, character, and metaphysics onto the story portrayed in the video game Transistor. It's not a direct carbon copy however and it very quickly takes on its own unique dimensions disparate from the plots of both works, with the author doing a clever job of adroitly fusing characters, events, entities, and other components into a coherent whole between the two universes.

The principal characters of the story are Paige / Canary, who plays the role of "Red" from Transistor: a formerly acclaimed vocalist who has now lost her voice, and the Transistor, a mysterious electronic sword that has taken on the sentience, memories, and personality of the last individual it killed. The identity of this individual is one of the core mysteries of the story, though various clues are interspersed from beginning to end.

The Transistor itself functions as the core point-of-view character, with its own first-person narration. As Paige is mute, the Transistor provides the majority of the dialogue for both characters, creating a dynamic reminiscent of the video game composing the second half of the fusion, and creates an interesting and appealing character dynamic in general: Paige is forced to rely on a great deal of non-verbal communication, her affect and gestures and face doing the talking for her, while the Transistor is able to reflect, contemplate, and dialogue. We can see both the Transistor and Paige develop, despite Paige's inability to communicate and the dynamic between the two is likely the most prominent part of the story.

The story is tightly plotted and paced, with not much if anything in the way of padding. Technically competent, with no glaring grammatical or typographical issues. As the synopsis suggests, the storyline is partly adapted from Transistor, but the Worm elements and fusion take in quickly diverging directions. Without getting into spoilers, the principal antagonists and the final confrontation may not be who you expect. While there's foreshadowing laid throughout, the final set-piece and what the author intended to accomplish with it fell a little flat and I wasn't entirely sold on the characterization of the antagonists in question.

Nonetheless, another unique story well worth the read, in my opinion.

Off-the-Cuff Rating: 4/5


The Hunt is On
Author: Farmerbob1 (SV | FFN)
Links: SV
Author's description: None provided.
Synopsis: Longfic novel. Drama, action / adventure. A man approaches Cauldron and receives powers he never expected: he becomes effectively Wile E. Coyote... complete with cartoon physics and technological prowess. However, it's 2002 and a new entity has appeared, catching the world's eye: an angel descending onto Lausanne...
Main character(s): Willie Davis / Wile E. Coyote / Genius
Status: COMPLETE
Thoughts:

Spoiler

A rather unusual story all around. The premise and initial tone would suggest comedy, and while there are comedic elements interspersed, particularly towards the beginning, the story as a whole is largely sober and serious, functioning principally as a dramatic action / adventure piece.

The main character is Willie Davis, who receives his powers from Cauldron and ends up triggering as Wile E. Coyote, complete with his appearance. His power comes with an interesting quirk: Wile E. Coyote himself inhabits his body as a second personality, with the two having to mutually control his body. The dynamic between Willie and Wile E. is one of the key cornerstones of the story and one of its most interesting pieces.

The other key character in this piece besides Willie and Wile E. is Mouse Protector. Mouse Protector serves as the key relationship that Willie develops in the story, with the dynamic and friendship between the two being another critical component in the story, as Willie adjusts to life as a cape as well as his own current unusual circumstances.

As hinted at in the synopsis, the time is 2002 and the Simurgh is descending—though no one thinks her Endbringer yet.
The burgeoning and eventual conflict between the Protectorate, Willie / Wile E., and the new Endbringer occupies attention front and center come the second and final arc of the story. The author does a good job of teasing out bits of world-building and pieces appropriate to that time, letting us take a peek into a rarely explored area of the Worm timeline within the fandom and for that alone, I found the story immensely interesting.

Despite the seeming inanity of Willie / Wile E's power and circumstance, I found them both as characters as surprisingly intriguing and compelling to follow, especially in relation to their friendship with Mouse Protector, and the author teases out some surprising implications and wrinkles to their power. Let's just say that Willie / Wile E ends up being more significant to perceived canon within this story than you might initially suppose...

The main issues with the story perhaps is the almost disjointed tonality of the story itself, a problem exacerbated by the abruptness of the story's end in connection with the substantial epilogue. The first half, especially given the premise, initially would seem to set one up for a comedic piece, but come the second arc and especially by the epilogue, pretty much everything is sober, serious, and perhaps even grim. The disparity in tones and presentation struck me as more than a little jarring, and I wonder if the author couldn't have achieved a similar narrative trajectory they were aiming for with a power and set-up that was just a little less seemingly silly. That arguably would have allowed for a more consistent and coherent presentation.

The second main issue has to do with the ending, which as I mentioned, is rather abrupt and moves from between the end of 2002 encounter all the way to a much more distant encounter, with not much in the way to connect the two. Willie / Wile E themselves become rather different individuals by the end of it, and the lack of development in that direction made the story suffer, in my opinion. I wouldn't necessarily expect the author to detail every bit in the interim—much of it would likely be narratively idle—but some degree of connection would have been helpful, more so than what was present.

In addition, some of the characterizations of the characters from Worm felt somewhat off, most prominently the Cauldron cast and staff. Not a dealbreaker, but somewhat noticeable regardless.

Still, unusual though it may be, I'd recommend checking it out.

Off-the-Cuff Rating: 3.5/5

 

I found this unreadable. The prose is dreadful, the gimmick of having game mechanics apply very literally is something that's been run into the ground by SB, and the human lowbie zone quest chains are really not something that needs a novelization.

 

This warrants repeating. The prose is the worst I've read in months and perhaps all year.

 

Iirc, the author basically admitted this was an intentional bait-and-switch, which massively turned me off of the story and other work. Interplay between humor and serious situations (even if flawed in execution) is one thing, purposeful trolling of the readers through abrupt tonal shift into a derp downer ending that basically renders the story meaningless quite another.

 

Poor Saot. A cooler person than him said the same thing and he gets all the thumbs up. TIS OKAY SAOT I GAVE YOU THE THUMBS UP.

It's a bit funny since I confused Zaralann with another terrible FF.net writer than uses that same program to make their avatar... that I should find out to complete the joke but that's hard yo. It's still okay though, Zaralann still has multiple harem stories and one !Gamer!!!!!!!! story.

He also has stories written in some Greek looking language so odds are English is not his first language.

 

The worm/tokyo ghoul cross over I found to be pretty enjoyable. Does things quite differently and has managed to avoid the two things that I hate most in worm fics, being "kiddo" and overly dramatic triggerings.

https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/centipede-worm-tokyo-ghoul.431353/

Has a good bit to read through currently, and it doesn't show any signs of abandonment.