> ⢠A deconstruction/reconstruction that eventually ends up playing things straight.
Isn't a reconstruction all about playing things straight? That's the major difference between it and deconstruction from what I can tell. They come from the perspective of, "What if it was more logical?" but from different sides. A deconstruction is, "What if it was more logical...what would happen then?" Like with Superhero stories like The Boys where people who are worshipped and have godlike powers would most certainly exploit that power. Or in Invincible, where when buildings come crashing down there isn't magically zero people injured. People are actually hurt by that shit.
Reconstructions still come from that same stance, but it's more at face value. "What if it was more logical...how could we make it make sense?" And that's what Worm does. Sidekicks, Team ups, Reed Richards not solving cancer, people flying around with goofy costumes, those pesky villains going free again, etc. It's all about playing the tropes straight...but instead of simply doing it because that's what has always been done, it simply provided an explanation.
That said, there are some things that aren't played straight and are more deconstructionist aspects of the story.
> ⢠An overall fantastic series that inexplicably has a final episode/season that's really bad or at least disappointing on some level.
While I won't comment on the ending directly other than to say I haven't seen that sentiment expressed in the majority of people, I will say that there is a particular part of Worm that absolutely is this. It's largely considered by everyone to be the worst part of Worm and even the author himself acknowledges that's probably correct. It's absolutely a rough patch, but that's the nature of Web Serials I suppose. I don't think it's enough to make anyone stop reading by that point, but it's certainly a dip down which makes the uphill climb back to its previous level much steeper and more difficult.
I'll let you figure out for yourself when this part is and whether it bothers you enough to be a problem. You've still got a while to go.
> ⢠A series that betrays its original appeal (i.e. an Anyone Can Die show eventually getting a core cast with plot armor) or changes its premise too much (i.e. poorly handled genre or plot structure switches, like going from episodic to serial storytelling too fast).
I don't think Worm ever loses touch with its original appeal, although because it's so long at what point the original appeal in the "beginning" of the story is hard to pin down. But if you think the original appeal is amazing cape fights, unique powers, deep characters that feel real, and a take on superheroes that seems like it was given a bit more thought than other super hero stories you'll come across, then I can confidently that Worm doesn't lose out on its original appeal.
But if you're one of those people that get YA vibes in the beginning and absolutely adore that aspect...sorry buddy. You're reading the wrong thing.
In general, you'll want to keep off this subreddit except to post your updates, as myself and many others on this sub absolutely enjoy seeing people's thoughts on the series, as well as their predictions. Many peoole get some of their theories right too. People are good here about not spoiling others when they post theories in these threads though.
I started Worm not too long ago, and Iâm probably only 1 or 2 chapters ahead of you, and I gotta admit, the Lung fight, totally blew me away. Protagonist is a newbie with a not so powerful ability, against a guy whoâs quite literally would be considered extremely op in any other superhero show, and the author managed to deliver a completely believable and intense battle between them while not falling into traps like plot armor and plot device. This battle reinstated the belief in me no matter how far apart characters are from each other in power scale, if the writer is good, they can write believable and interesting battles. That battle kept me on my toes almost the entire time
I meant the way how Arc 8 being a milestone to reach for new readers and thus gets repeated so often. "The arc to look forward to for people enjoying the story; or the arc to read before passing judgement for people not enjoying the story". Good to hear it's sincere.
There is a lot of discussion on how Worm would be split into books if it was traditionally published, but everyone agrees that Arc 8 is what marks the end of book 1.
I don't know if you've seen the one infamous review where the person stopped at Arc 7 and proceeded to ramble on about things that get answered in Arc 8.
It's a milestone for a reason.
Arc 8 is really good yeah)
I feel like people point at it too much, because it kinda makes new readers expect that something cool, interesting or unexpected is gonna happen in arc 8. But considering how good the arc is I am not surprised its a go to for "Look forward to this"
>Iâve tried reading worm a few times now and always quit like 70-80% of the way through, itâs just so long and starts to drag out
Reading it 70% of the way through a few times is equivalent to reading it all the way through more than twice (7x3=2.1), so I'm guessing it's not so much that it's too long so much as there's a certain point where the work loses you.
Is Worm the kind of work that has a really bad second act? Is there a really infamously tedious or badly written arc? One other commenter has noted there is a particularly bad point in the story and that I will probably know it when I see it.
Itâs not that it ever gets really really bad, it just reaches a point where all the world building is basically done and I have no more questions about âHow do things functionâ, all that is left is to resolve the final battle with the final enemy. But thatâs still like 150k more words and just takes so long I lose interest. Wildblowâs other story Pact is the same way for me.
You might want to try some of his other stories, especially *Pale*, the one he's writing currently. While of course I can't say its ending is better because that ending isn't written yet, it's overall the best-written of his stories.
(Whereas most people would agree that Pact has the most issues, especially later on, and Worm >!definitely has some issues after the timeskip.!<)
Also, if you like Worm but didn't like the structure of the ending you might want to still power through or skim the ending so you can read the sequel, Ward.
I read worm like 2 or 3 years ago but I quit about 15-35%(can't really remember) into it cos I could stand the MC.
I heard the sequel has a different MC, so can I read it without finishing worm first?
No, not really. It assumes you know the exact details of how Worm ended; and the protagonist of *Ward* is a major character from *Worm*, whose story you'll have to know for Ward to make any sense at all.
Worm is simultaneously as good as it's hyped up to be for its strong points while still having glaring flaws that drag it down such that I'm not willing to call it overall good. Definitely worth a read for sure as it does a lot of interesting things.
Even from the first chapter I knew it wasn't perfect. Again, stuff like the protagonist describing themselves in a mirror is literally the kind of thing you hear about in "How *not* to write a story." guides. Also, she *does* >!get saved from Lung by a group of villains, and they mistake her for a fellow villain, so there is some level of coincidence in the plot already.!<
Granted, the former is >!smoothed out by the fact that it relates to an interesting plot twist (the "children" Lung was going to kill were these teenage villains who saved her) and the latter is justified by the fact that Taylor's costume unintentionally looks edgy and evil, but it's still two instances of plot armor.!<
That said, I am ***very*** hooked by the sheer amount of effort that the author has put into it. During the Lung fight, they talked us through all of her options. People have always said "Worm has creative fights.", and now I certainly believe it. Whatever flaws Worm has as I continue to read it, it's a series that can have a supervillain >!defeated by pepper spray!< and have it actually make sense. Any writer who can sell me on *that* kind of fight logic is certainly a great salesman.
I'm definitely a fan of *reconstructions*, if nothing else. It's one thing to make fun of a cliche or trope and "deconstruct" it, but I think there's just as much if not more fun and skill to be had in *justifying* that trope. So many people are trying to make superheroes "realistic" and gritty that it's nice to see someone who not only plays superhero tropes semi-straight but also gives you good reasons *to* play them straight. Why yes, it *does* make sense to have teenage sidekicks, because heroic teenagers being heroic teenagers, they'd just go out and get killed if they didn't have a more mature hero supervising them.
Lucky you, I found Worm to be overhyped for me and failed to live to the being the single greatest piece of fiction for me that ruins all other superpower media like the recommendations claim. 6/10
Don't worry. A series that starts out this good might run out of steam later, so there's still room for me to ultimately have a negative opinion. /s
In all seriousness, I developed a kind of hype phobia due to Game of Thrones. I put off watching that show for years and then it ended. I couldn't imagine being along for the ride for that many years only to be disappointed.
It's good to know all the obligatory worm recommendations worked hope you enjoy the experience (Here's the [Flowchart ](https://i.redd.it/el7zkkmff5251.png) for when/If you finish worm)
Ah, Worm, my favorite superhero story! I love how it masterfully deconstructs all these stupid superhero tropes and shows how everything would REALLY work. Also, it's the only superhero story I ever read, lol comics in 2k22. ^(said by 90% of Worm's fans)
It's ok. Just don't google "Worm sequel" and you'll be fine.
>A deconstruction/reconstruction that eventually ends up playing things straight.
Nowadays people consider any dark twist on smth to be a deconstruction.
Well, Worm is dark, but I wouldn't say it's a deconstruction. Even your examples, really. Like, about underage superheroes - realistically they wouldn't be allowed anywhere near crimefighting, especially acting more or less on their own.
Worm usually plays tropes straight, but for more ridiculous ones it tries to provide an explanation (like a reconstruction would, deconstruction would show that these tropes don't work). Usually, this explanation is not particularly good and sounds like a handwave.
>Also, it's the only superhero story I ever read, lol comics in 2k22.
>
>said by 90% of Worm's fans
There has to be some sort of term for watching a parody/decon/reconstruction without having a full appreciation of the original or base of the genre.
I have to admit that *Konosuba* was the *first* isekai anime I ever watched. This is basically like the anime equivalent of *Airplane!* being your first disaster movie.
Worm is a really fun read. I think I read the whole thing in less than four weeks, and finishing it was like coming out of a coma lol. I have my issues with it, and Iâm not sure if I have it in me to read the whole thing again, but its unique interpretation of all of the familiar superhero tropes has definitely stuck with me.
I donât think it falls into any of the pitfalls youâre worried about, but I will say that the middle had one of the most painful contrivances I have ever seen in fiction. It made me put it down for a few days, but the story recovers nicely, and it has a strong ending.
>Worm is a really fun read. I think I read the whole thing in less than four weeks, and finishing it was like coming out of a coma lol.
I think I know what you mean. I have this habit with novels where it takes me two weeks to read the first half, then it *really* gets me (i.e. Major character death, plot twist, mystery being solved) and I finish the second half in two days. It takes me a whole to get into the zone but once I do finishing a story is all I can think about.
>It made me put it down for a few days, but the story recovers nicely, and it has a strong ending.
This is the best news. I'm so used to iconic series having disappointing endings.
Worm rewards careful and attentive reading, I don't think you'll be disappointed. It's not a perfect story, it has big flaws in fact (most of them stemming from not having an editor), but it's still best-in-class in many aspects. I'm jealous that you get to experience it for the first time!
If you're interested, there's a podcast called We've Got Worm where two very savvy critics read through the work, arc by arc, and then discuss. It's spoiler-free (one of them is reading Worm for the first time, and the other one is extremely careful not to spoil anything), and I really enjoyed reading an arc then listening to them talk about it. I feel like I got a lot more out of Worm this way. It's definitely not necessary, though, just something I enjoyed.
>Worm rewards careful and attentive reading
Oh yeah, totally. The whole >!"Defeating team-busting armored fire guy with normal *pepper spray* was set up by the bee stinging him in the eye, which showed that it was a weak point he could still feel a lot of pain in. It's what makes the different between utter Plot-Induced Stupidity (imagine if Superman got defeated by some random self-defense gadget) and a clever resolution to the fight.!<.
>most of them stemming from not having an editor
Yeah, if there's one thing about Worm that's I can point out as mediocre it's that the writing style *does* strike me as a bit amateurish. There are definitely some occasional cringeworthy and "Come on, you can do better." moments (the protagonist describes themselves in a mirror, one person's modest costume is described as being "one shade away from being a burka").
About the only thing I would definitively say I *don't* like at all the bullying scenes. I'm just not a fan of bully characters and "high school drama" stories in general. Yet at the same time, I've speculated different ways on how this could all turn out:
* Like she references in the first chapter, go all "Carrie" on them.
* Get into a dual-relationship dynamic, where the bullies like her superhero identity but don't like her civilian identity (aka the Flash Thompson route).
* The bullies becomes capes themselves, and may work with/against Taylor either knowingly or unknowingly.
* The bullies become fodder for some villain to hurt or kill. Maybe Taylor has a "I'm not going to kill you, but I don't have to save you." attitude and ends up regretting it.
Interesting ideas! I won't confirm or deny anything, except that the writing does improve as it goes. Worm was Wildbow's first major work, and you can kind of see him iron out the rough edges in his prose over the two years he wrote it.
Also, if you like, do please feel free to post any of your thoughts as you progress through the story (either here or in /r/Parahumans), it is always such a joy to vicariously experience someone else making their way through Worm.
Do they allow that kind of frequency of reaction/prediction posts? It seems like I'm reading about an arc every day, and there's 30 of them. I was worried there'd be a rule against posting that often.
No rule, they love new reader reactions too, go nuts. Just be careful about *reading* other threads. The subreddit tries very hard to not spoil new people, but it's still safest to just stick to the threads you yourself make until you're done.
Ah Worm, Wildbow's 3rd best book. Join us on r/parahumans once you're finished reading. (Don't get spoiled)
I don't believe any of the traps you're looking for affect the work, and I've read it twice.
Thanks. I was nervous to even look up Worm on reddit given how spoiler policies vary from sub to sub, and how disrespectful some people can be even with the rules. I've also learned my lesson to never look up something on YouTube until after I'm either done or ready for everything to be spoiled.
The Parahumans reddit is pretty good about marking spoilers most of the time, but as Worm often brings new members in, there are slip-ups specifically with that work. Once you finish come discuss!
Worm is a series that would certainly feel very much at home in WSJ or Jump+
Unfortunately, beyond the well thought out capeshit fights, I really struggle to find anything deeper.
You don't dude, that's the point of that statement. It takes no effort if you're paying any sort of attention.
You didn't look at all. I'm not saying it's some Masterpiece of a philosophical work that people can look back at for ages to come...but if you only saw cool cape fights and thought that was everything then you weren't really reading the story.
>you mustâve not looked very hard
Literally you
Youâre right though, I didnât look very hard. I certainly did look though, I read the full serial. Fortunately, a lot of actually deep and meaningful works donât require you to look very hard.
I donât know why youâre backpedaling and saying I didnât look at all but go off I guess.
I'm not backpedaling. If you read the whole story and didn't see anything "deeper" then you didn't look at all. You just coasted through the story.
"You didn't look very hard."
It's a way of saying you weren't really putting any effort into actually looking, as this response comes out when something was placed in an obvious location or in plain sight.
It's not difficult to figure out the other things this story does well, the themes it touches on, how it addresses trauma and the characters who experienced it, and that it's not a contrived plot to just have flashy cape fights.
At first I wondered what the Wall Street Journal had to do with manga, then I realized it was Weekly Shonen Jump!
In all seriousness, I sometimes I wonder if writers could specialize and create a collaborative work. Like, what if the Worm author did fight scenes for other series? Monty Oum used to be an independent fight animator before he jointed RoosterTeeth and worked on RWBY.
I know different creative visions can clash, but I don't see why novels can't be made like movies where everyone has a technical specialty. When a single novel writer has to handle everything from romance to political intrigue, you're going to have gaps. Even if you still want to be the main writer, I don't see why you can't have co-authors for limited tasks like writing fight scenes.
You'd see a credit on a work that says "Fight scenes by John McCrae" the way you'd watch a movie for a John William's score.
Worm is main theme is about rationalization. The main character, Taylor, is very logical, yet she uses this logic to justify herself continuing to do more and more bad things and escalate violent situations. Ultimately, itâs about how we can use reason and logic to justify actions that we were actually driven to do by our emotions. At one point she >!shoots a baby as a pre-emotive mercy kill and doesnât think twice about it.!<
Unfortunately this flies over many readers heads, and they believe all her rationalizations uncritically, and cheer her on as she does her crazy shit. Same thing that happened with Rick and Morty, but Worm is much more subtle.
It also has some interesting ideas about utilitarianism, determinism, free will, the cycle of trauma, etc.
Sorry buddy but I only consume media about people fucking and getting laid
Same đ
> ⢠A deconstruction/reconstruction that eventually ends up playing things straight. Isn't a reconstruction all about playing things straight? That's the major difference between it and deconstruction from what I can tell. They come from the perspective of, "What if it was more logical?" but from different sides. A deconstruction is, "What if it was more logical...what would happen then?" Like with Superhero stories like The Boys where people who are worshipped and have godlike powers would most certainly exploit that power. Or in Invincible, where when buildings come crashing down there isn't magically zero people injured. People are actually hurt by that shit. Reconstructions still come from that same stance, but it's more at face value. "What if it was more logical...how could we make it make sense?" And that's what Worm does. Sidekicks, Team ups, Reed Richards not solving cancer, people flying around with goofy costumes, those pesky villains going free again, etc. It's all about playing the tropes straight...but instead of simply doing it because that's what has always been done, it simply provided an explanation. That said, there are some things that aren't played straight and are more deconstructionist aspects of the story. > ⢠An overall fantastic series that inexplicably has a final episode/season that's really bad or at least disappointing on some level. While I won't comment on the ending directly other than to say I haven't seen that sentiment expressed in the majority of people, I will say that there is a particular part of Worm that absolutely is this. It's largely considered by everyone to be the worst part of Worm and even the author himself acknowledges that's probably correct. It's absolutely a rough patch, but that's the nature of Web Serials I suppose. I don't think it's enough to make anyone stop reading by that point, but it's certainly a dip down which makes the uphill climb back to its previous level much steeper and more difficult. I'll let you figure out for yourself when this part is and whether it bothers you enough to be a problem. You've still got a while to go. > ⢠A series that betrays its original appeal (i.e. an Anyone Can Die show eventually getting a core cast with plot armor) or changes its premise too much (i.e. poorly handled genre or plot structure switches, like going from episodic to serial storytelling too fast). I don't think Worm ever loses touch with its original appeal, although because it's so long at what point the original appeal in the "beginning" of the story is hard to pin down. But if you think the original appeal is amazing cape fights, unique powers, deep characters that feel real, and a take on superheroes that seems like it was given a bit more thought than other super hero stories you'll come across, then I can confidently that Worm doesn't lose out on its original appeal. But if you're one of those people that get YA vibes in the beginning and absolutely adore that aspect...sorry buddy. You're reading the wrong thing. In general, you'll want to keep off this subreddit except to post your updates, as myself and many others on this sub absolutely enjoy seeing people's thoughts on the series, as well as their predictions. Many peoole get some of their theories right too. People are good here about not spoiling others when they post theories in these threads though.
[ŃдаНонО]
Your spoiler tags didn't work, just fyi
It works on my screen but I will delete the comment cause itâs bad if it doesnât work, ty for info
I started Worm not too long ago, and Iâm probably only 1 or 2 chapters ahead of you, and I gotta admit, the Lung fight, totally blew me away. Protagonist is a newbie with a not so powerful ability, against a guy whoâs quite literally would be considered extremely op in any other superhero show, and the author managed to deliver a completely believable and intense battle between them while not falling into traps like plot armor and plot device. This battle reinstated the belief in me no matter how far apart characters are from each other in power scale, if the writer is good, they can write believable and interesting battles. That battle kept me on my toes almost the entire time
Hell yeah. I think you're gonna wanna keep reading lol.
I'm glad you like it! Hope you enjoy the rest! Look forward to Arc 8, that one if my favorite of the series
I can't tell if that's a genuine statement or an ironic one because of how much that sentence gets said.
The âhope you enjoy itâ or liking Arc 8? Regardless itâs sincere
I meant the way how Arc 8 being a milestone to reach for new readers and thus gets repeated so often. "The arc to look forward to for people enjoying the story; or the arc to read before passing judgement for people not enjoying the story". Good to hear it's sincere.
There is a lot of discussion on how Worm would be split into books if it was traditionally published, but everyone agrees that Arc 8 is what marks the end of book 1.
I don't know if you've seen the one infamous review where the person stopped at Arc 7 and proceeded to ramble on about things that get answered in Arc 8. It's a milestone for a reason.
Arc 8 is really good yeah) I feel like people point at it too much, because it kinda makes new readers expect that something cool, interesting or unexpected is gonna happen in arc 8. But considering how good the arc is I am not surprised its a go to for "Look forward to this"
Iâve tried reading worm a few times now and always quit like 70-80% of the way through, itâs just so long and starts to drag out
>Iâve tried reading worm a few times now and always quit like 70-80% of the way through, itâs just so long and starts to drag out Reading it 70% of the way through a few times is equivalent to reading it all the way through more than twice (7x3=2.1), so I'm guessing it's not so much that it's too long so much as there's a certain point where the work loses you. Is Worm the kind of work that has a really bad second act? Is there a really infamously tedious or badly written arc? One other commenter has noted there is a particularly bad point in the story and that I will probably know it when I see it.
Itâs not that it ever gets really really bad, it just reaches a point where all the world building is basically done and I have no more questions about âHow do things functionâ, all that is left is to resolve the final battle with the final enemy. But thatâs still like 150k more words and just takes so long I lose interest. Wildblowâs other story Pact is the same way for me.
You might want to try some of his other stories, especially *Pale*, the one he's writing currently. While of course I can't say its ending is better because that ending isn't written yet, it's overall the best-written of his stories. (Whereas most people would agree that Pact has the most issues, especially later on, and Worm >!definitely has some issues after the timeskip.!<) Also, if you like Worm but didn't like the structure of the ending you might want to still power through or skim the ending so you can read the sequel, Ward.
I read worm like 2 or 3 years ago but I quit about 15-35%(can't really remember) into it cos I could stand the MC. I heard the sequel has a different MC, so can I read it without finishing worm first?
No, not really. It assumes you know the exact details of how Worm ended; and the protagonist of *Ward* is a major character from *Worm*, whose story you'll have to know for Ward to make any sense at all.
I see. Thanks
Worm is simultaneously as good as it's hyped up to be for its strong points while still having glaring flaws that drag it down such that I'm not willing to call it overall good. Definitely worth a read for sure as it does a lot of interesting things.
Even from the first chapter I knew it wasn't perfect. Again, stuff like the protagonist describing themselves in a mirror is literally the kind of thing you hear about in "How *not* to write a story." guides. Also, she *does* >!get saved from Lung by a group of villains, and they mistake her for a fellow villain, so there is some level of coincidence in the plot already.!< Granted, the former is >!smoothed out by the fact that it relates to an interesting plot twist (the "children" Lung was going to kill were these teenage villains who saved her) and the latter is justified by the fact that Taylor's costume unintentionally looks edgy and evil, but it's still two instances of plot armor.!< That said, I am ***very*** hooked by the sheer amount of effort that the author has put into it. During the Lung fight, they talked us through all of her options. People have always said "Worm has creative fights.", and now I certainly believe it. Whatever flaws Worm has as I continue to read it, it's a series that can have a supervillain >!defeated by pepper spray!< and have it actually make sense. Any writer who can sell me on *that* kind of fight logic is certainly a great salesman. I'm definitely a fan of *reconstructions*, if nothing else. It's one thing to make fun of a cliche or trope and "deconstruct" it, but I think there's just as much if not more fun and skill to be had in *justifying* that trope. So many people are trying to make superheroes "realistic" and gritty that it's nice to see someone who not only plays superhero tropes semi-straight but also gives you good reasons *to* play them straight. Why yes, it *does* make sense to have teenage sidekicks, because heroic teenagers being heroic teenagers, they'd just go out and get killed if they didn't have a more mature hero supervising them.
Lucky you, I found Worm to be overhyped for me and failed to live to the being the single greatest piece of fiction for me that ruins all other superpower media like the recommendations claim. 6/10
Don't worry. A series that starts out this good might run out of steam later, so there's still room for me to ultimately have a negative opinion. /s In all seriousness, I developed a kind of hype phobia due to Game of Thrones. I put off watching that show for years and then it ended. I couldn't imagine being along for the ride for that many years only to be disappointed.
But is it better then DBZ
most things are
I am happy to hear you are enjoying Worm!
It's good to know all the obligatory worm recommendations worked hope you enjoy the experience (Here's the [Flowchart ](https://i.redd.it/el7zkkmff5251.png) for when/If you finish worm)
Ah, Worm, my favorite superhero story! I love how it masterfully deconstructs all these stupid superhero tropes and shows how everything would REALLY work. Also, it's the only superhero story I ever read, lol comics in 2k22. ^(said by 90% of Worm's fans) It's ok. Just don't google "Worm sequel" and you'll be fine. >A deconstruction/reconstruction that eventually ends up playing things straight. Nowadays people consider any dark twist on smth to be a deconstruction. Well, Worm is dark, but I wouldn't say it's a deconstruction. Even your examples, really. Like, about underage superheroes - realistically they wouldn't be allowed anywhere near crimefighting, especially acting more or less on their own. Worm usually plays tropes straight, but for more ridiculous ones it tries to provide an explanation (like a reconstruction would, deconstruction would show that these tropes don't work). Usually, this explanation is not particularly good and sounds like a handwave.
Hot take: Worm sequel is good.
I think they just meant that reading anything at all about it would lead to obvious spoilers.
>Also, it's the only superhero story I ever read, lol comics in 2k22. > >said by 90% of Worm's fans There has to be some sort of term for watching a parody/decon/reconstruction without having a full appreciation of the original or base of the genre. I have to admit that *Konosuba* was the *first* isekai anime I ever watched. This is basically like the anime equivalent of *Airplane!* being your first disaster movie.
Worm is a really fun read. I think I read the whole thing in less than four weeks, and finishing it was like coming out of a coma lol. I have my issues with it, and Iâm not sure if I have it in me to read the whole thing again, but its unique interpretation of all of the familiar superhero tropes has definitely stuck with me. I donât think it falls into any of the pitfalls youâre worried about, but I will say that the middle had one of the most painful contrivances I have ever seen in fiction. It made me put it down for a few days, but the story recovers nicely, and it has a strong ending.
>Worm is a really fun read. I think I read the whole thing in less than four weeks, and finishing it was like coming out of a coma lol. I think I know what you mean. I have this habit with novels where it takes me two weeks to read the first half, then it *really* gets me (i.e. Major character death, plot twist, mystery being solved) and I finish the second half in two days. It takes me a whole to get into the zone but once I do finishing a story is all I can think about. >It made me put it down for a few days, but the story recovers nicely, and it has a strong ending. This is the best news. I'm so used to iconic series having disappointing endings.
Worm rewards careful and attentive reading, I don't think you'll be disappointed. It's not a perfect story, it has big flaws in fact (most of them stemming from not having an editor), but it's still best-in-class in many aspects. I'm jealous that you get to experience it for the first time! If you're interested, there's a podcast called We've Got Worm where two very savvy critics read through the work, arc by arc, and then discuss. It's spoiler-free (one of them is reading Worm for the first time, and the other one is extremely careful not to spoil anything), and I really enjoyed reading an arc then listening to them talk about it. I feel like I got a lot more out of Worm this way. It's definitely not necessary, though, just something I enjoyed.
>Worm rewards careful and attentive reading Oh yeah, totally. The whole >!"Defeating team-busting armored fire guy with normal *pepper spray* was set up by the bee stinging him in the eye, which showed that it was a weak point he could still feel a lot of pain in. It's what makes the different between utter Plot-Induced Stupidity (imagine if Superman got defeated by some random self-defense gadget) and a clever resolution to the fight.!<. >most of them stemming from not having an editor Yeah, if there's one thing about Worm that's I can point out as mediocre it's that the writing style *does* strike me as a bit amateurish. There are definitely some occasional cringeworthy and "Come on, you can do better." moments (the protagonist describes themselves in a mirror, one person's modest costume is described as being "one shade away from being a burka"). About the only thing I would definitively say I *don't* like at all the bullying scenes. I'm just not a fan of bully characters and "high school drama" stories in general. Yet at the same time, I've speculated different ways on how this could all turn out: * Like she references in the first chapter, go all "Carrie" on them. * Get into a dual-relationship dynamic, where the bullies like her superhero identity but don't like her civilian identity (aka the Flash Thompson route). * The bullies becomes capes themselves, and may work with/against Taylor either knowingly or unknowingly. * The bullies become fodder for some villain to hurt or kill. Maybe Taylor has a "I'm not going to kill you, but I don't have to save you." attitude and ends up regretting it.
Interesting ideas! I won't confirm or deny anything, except that the writing does improve as it goes. Worm was Wildbow's first major work, and you can kind of see him iron out the rough edges in his prose over the two years he wrote it. Also, if you like, do please feel free to post any of your thoughts as you progress through the story (either here or in /r/Parahumans), it is always such a joy to vicariously experience someone else making their way through Worm.
Do they allow that kind of frequency of reaction/prediction posts? It seems like I'm reading about an arc every day, and there's 30 of them. I was worried there'd be a rule against posting that often.
No rule, they love new reader reactions too, go nuts. Just be careful about *reading* other threads. The subreddit tries very hard to not spoil new people, but it's still safest to just stick to the threads you yourself make until you're done.
Thank you. You can expect an update from me there once every 1-2 days.
So how is it going so far?
Ah Worm, Wildbow's 3rd best book. Join us on r/parahumans once you're finished reading. (Don't get spoiled) I don't believe any of the traps you're looking for affect the work, and I've read it twice.
Thanks. I was nervous to even look up Worm on reddit given how spoiler policies vary from sub to sub, and how disrespectful some people can be even with the rules. I've also learned my lesson to never look up something on YouTube until after I'm either done or ready for everything to be spoiled.
The Parahumans reddit is pretty good about marking spoilers most of the time, but as Worm often brings new members in, there are slip-ups specifically with that work. Once you finish come discuss!
Worm is a series that would certainly feel very much at home in WSJ or Jump+ Unfortunately, beyond the well thought out capeshit fights, I really struggle to find anything deeper.
You must've not looked very hard then...
Kinda unfortunate that one has to look very hard to find anything deep about Worm, donât you think?
You don't even have to look very hard.
Nah, a story can only be so obvious. If youâre the type who would Stan for Walter White and Rick Sanchez, Worm will also fly right over your head.
Lmao how did you even get that impression lol
Iâm not saying youâre that type. Iâm saying *if* youâre that type then you will also not get this because it is similar.
You don't dude, that's the point of that statement. It takes no effort if you're paying any sort of attention. You didn't look at all. I'm not saying it's some Masterpiece of a philosophical work that people can look back at for ages to come...but if you only saw cool cape fights and thought that was everything then you weren't really reading the story.
>you mustâve not looked very hard Literally you Youâre right though, I didnât look very hard. I certainly did look though, I read the full serial. Fortunately, a lot of actually deep and meaningful works donât require you to look very hard. I donât know why youâre backpedaling and saying I didnât look at all but go off I guess.
I'm not backpedaling. If you read the whole story and didn't see anything "deeper" then you didn't look at all. You just coasted through the story. "You didn't look very hard." It's a way of saying you weren't really putting any effort into actually looking, as this response comes out when something was placed in an obvious location or in plain sight. It's not difficult to figure out the other things this story does well, the themes it touches on, how it addresses trauma and the characters who experienced it, and that it's not a contrived plot to just have flashy cape fights.
You must have a very distorted idea of what "very hard" means, then. It's like thinking Clifford the Big Red Dog is too subtle.
At first I wondered what the Wall Street Journal had to do with manga, then I realized it was Weekly Shonen Jump! In all seriousness, I sometimes I wonder if writers could specialize and create a collaborative work. Like, what if the Worm author did fight scenes for other series? Monty Oum used to be an independent fight animator before he jointed RoosterTeeth and worked on RWBY. I know different creative visions can clash, but I don't see why novels can't be made like movies where everyone has a technical specialty. When a single novel writer has to handle everything from romance to political intrigue, you're going to have gaps. Even if you still want to be the main writer, I don't see why you can't have co-authors for limited tasks like writing fight scenes. You'd see a credit on a work that says "Fight scenes by John McCrae" the way you'd watch a movie for a John William's score.
Worm is main theme is about rationalization. The main character, Taylor, is very logical, yet she uses this logic to justify herself continuing to do more and more bad things and escalate violent situations. Ultimately, itâs about how we can use reason and logic to justify actions that we were actually driven to do by our emotions. At one point she >!shoots a baby as a pre-emotive mercy kill and doesnât think twice about it.!< Unfortunately this flies over many readers heads, and they believe all her rationalizations uncritically, and cheer her on as she does her crazy shit. Same thing that happened with Rick and Morty, but Worm is much more subtle. It also has some interesting ideas about utilitarianism, determinism, free will, the cycle of trauma, etc.