Weaver Nine Updated

Because Weaver wasn't scary enough without people thinking that her range is 10 miles...

 

Taylor with a ten mile range would be ridiculous.

 

Have you forgotten Khepri? What is ten miles compared to nearly every possible Earth?

 

I think everyone agrees Khepri's power was ridiculous. Too much min/maxing.

 

Taylor is the ultimate munchkin.

 

The Techno Queen finished its body switching arc sometime recently. Worth a read, it's still humorous (and adorable).

 

Honestly, I liked this in the prologue. Then it became all about Jack who is still an unredeemable pycho and I lost all interest. Then I tried again thinking it might change perspectives, and it was still about Jack. And I still want him to get shot in the nuts. It was really an exercise in frustration to try and read. I failed

 

Speaking of Weaver Nine, it updated again with the last part of the Weaver POV. We're finally back to the Leviathan fight.

 

Lol at the morality shitstorm the update caused. Awesome.

 

It's funny that someone wouldn't like Jack in this story to me, because up until his chapters I wasn't blown away, but I love his characterization here. He's almost as interesting as Weaver herself.

I do think that were I writing the fic, I'd keep the Society shrouded in mystique as long as possible -- show them from outside angles, make the readers keep guessing about them, build up the myth of this empire of Taylor's -- but hopefully the author has a specific reason to want to show the inner workings off.

I think Weaver Nine is my favorite bit of Worm fanfic yet, with that Tinker!Danny-centric piece coming in second and Cenotaph third.

 

Cenotaph is by far the greatest piece of Worm fanfiction.

I vote that Daedros, like his avatar, be summarily beheaded for blasphemy.

But honestly, none of the other fanfics in the fandom come close to Cenotaph - not in characterization, nor in plot, let alone in narrative thematics.

 

I think part of it is fanfic spoiling people when it comes to "convenient" things. Jack is an asshole. Now, he's a compelling one in the style of Wildbow but he's an asshole and a lot of fanfics tend to be convenient in some way Watching him sink his hooks into Voodoo was just disgusting (and compelling).

If you've just come from reading a bunch of fics where things go better because Taylor is now some sort of demigod from some tabletop game then you're gonna have a bad time.

Seems to be a similar thing happening with Weaver. I think one of the people complaining outright said he was pissed that the struggling utopians of the Society that he wanted to exist...didn't. But, to be fair, discussing the morality of Taylor's actions is an ancient pasttime at this point.

Meh, Cenotaph has a huge advantage in that it's done. I would say that the writing and characterization in Carnage is on the same level but, of course, with it only being a few arcs long you can't compare themes and the like. We'll see when it's finished.

As for the rest of the fandom, with the innumerable crossovers...I don't think that any of them come that close tbh. I wish I am wrong and will promptly be disappointed but I can't think of one offhead that would compare.

 

Zenith is great.

And I also enjoy quite a few others because they offer quite entertaining ideas at how to approach the idea of superheroes even if most of them escalate too quickly. I really like a more light-hearted setting than the last third or so of Worms which probably leads too many Worms fans disliking them.

 

Weaver Nine updated again with more of Tattletale and the Leviathan fight.

hmm I want a fic where there is no Path to Victory for Contessa.

 

The implications of that are apocalyptic, unfortunately.

Eden lives, no Protectorate, zero Cauldron capes (no Triumvirate), possibly any number of world ending events that got Contessad offscreen (world war III or something).

Better just have her quietly in the background.

 

Maybe, or you could have Eden successfully cripple PtV into complete uselessness as a last act of spite or whatever, and then she and Doc Mom would have to come up with their own plans. I could see them still figuring out how to create power formulas, though it would likely take longer, and getting something vaguely kinda like Cauldron up and running. The rest of it would go out the window, but there's plenty of room for things to go both better and worse, so it's not necessarily the end of everything.

 

Why? Just because fanfic writers don't want to deal with Contessa or The Simurgh in the easiest way possible-not have her care for significant portions of the plot- doesn't mean that we should essentially butterfly away Cauldron. Seriously, I can't even imagine the twists you'd have to create to make the world look similar.

There's far too much whining over Contessa. It never robbed the original plot of any tension or nuance.No one whines about God and he's even more bullshit yet something about Contessa grates on people, despite her relative impact. At least we're never sure that Contessa would bring back Gandalf the Grey or create a set of circumstances that will guarantee the victory of the heroes (except it looks random until the last minute)

Seriously, besides having a dislike of her power on principle what exactly did Contessa do that ruined the story enough that people want her excised?

Heh. It going well would be hilarious. Doctor Mother's main character trait is that she's an adult old enough and ruthless enough to channel Contessa, who was using her powers from the minute Eden died to create a plan. Cauldron runs because of her powers, at least once it's pretty much the deciding factor when it came to them being around. Think about all the building that needed to happen right after Eden's death. All the scouting and planning and the like.

To me this is like arguing that the Slaughterhouse Nine would survive without Jack. Theoretically possible but the story itself sets him up as such a fundamental component that it stretches credibility. And you take that risk for what?

 

There could be an interesting story coming out of such a thing, especially if it focused on exploring the realistic consequences of superpowers appearing during the tail end of the Cold War without a conspiracy with a built-in "I win" button micromanaging things behind the scenes. There's some real potential in examining how the geo-political landscape would change, what kind of impact the Endbringers would have, etc. It'd be a hell of a lot of work, but you could tell a fantastic story with that premise.

Of course, if you're gonna go that route you may as well simply come up with your own universe, it's just as much work and without the constraints of Worm, so I doubt it'll ever happen. I can dream though.

 

The Slaughterhouse 9 did manage before Jack came along. King was the leader until Jack and Harbinger took him down. King was the guy that could transfer any injuries he sustained to anyone he had touched in the last 24 hours.

Besides, it's not as though the Slaughterhouse 9 was a static entity. Members died every time they hit a city, after which they had to take time to recover and gather new recruits, if they hadn't picked any up while in the city.

 

I thought of that after I posted but I decided to let it fly because I think it was clear what I meant. The current S9 is thoroughly his creation. King might be able to make it run but the machine we see is run by Jack.

Also: most of the members don't matter. You read Jack's interlude. Jack is the glue. Without him Crawler would leave, there'd be no Bonesaw and Shatterbird would fuck someone up, causing at least one death. Cherish might have pulled her plan off too.

Jack, Siberian and Bonesaw are the core. And Jack is the most effective psychopath of the bunch- the others are the good muscle. Jack is the one that recruits.Jack is the one that makes sure that the recruits are viable.Jack is the one that twists people like Bonesaw. It's mostly him.

If he disappeared you really think that Siberian or Bonesaw or Mannequin could recruit the same sort of Nine? You think Crawler would be the harnessed force of nature he was? And this is ignoring the more subtle effect he has on their behavior, the way he guides them towards the exciting paths.

It would be a totally different beast.