Going Native. Liked it before, liking it now, wouldn't have noticed the intervening years just from reading it.

Goetia. Not really Worm, but interesting thus far.

A Practical Guide to Escalation is alive! \o/

Echo Chamber's an interesting setup, but being billed as a oneshot, it's probably going to stay more implicit than explicit story.

Calling itself Rational Actor is a lie (which, in fairness, it makes abundantly and explicitly clear), but not a bad read, and a good example of unreliable narrator (and as such, good practice for my in-progress reread of Worm).

The Limits of Power. I'm a sucker for the ideas underlying MtG, and this seems an interesting 'de-gamified' take on them. There's not huge amounts of 'plot progress' yet, but that's fine; it's laying world and character groundwork.

The Speed of Light, by StargazingSeraph - Taylor as Legend’s niece, who moves to New York, after triggering with a bud of Legends power. More of the two main plot points in The Speed of Light, Taylor chafing under the authority of the New York Protectorate, and her subsequent belief that she can be more effective without the authorization of the PRT and the Protectorate leadership. Also further exploring Taylor and Lily together, who are both very sweet. 

Wick, by Ms Sym - Alt Power. Continuing the interesting world building for the Bay. The original characters (particularly Flock) are wonderful, and its a really interesting alt-power and (i think) creative take on Queen Administrator. 

The Girl in the Chair, by Alotoaxolotls - Alt-Power, and  an AU. It has been updated with a signature brutally depressing chapter. I like how enticing the strength factors of Taylor's power are to her, and how unwilling she is to use it, or rather, the process with which to use it. 

Here Comes The New Boss (Nothing Like The Old Boss), by HowlingGuardian - Taylor as the Butcher XV. After the break following the S9 arc, it's back with some down time between Amy and Taylor. If i remember correctly, all other major villainous factions in Brockton Bay have been taken care of, so unless the author introduces something to someone new, the Teeth, who are being set up as the next primary antagonists, might be one of the final villain groups, very thematic.

Mothers and Daughters https://archiveofourown.org/works/77018536 AU: Carol turns out to be Amy's biological mom. Author definitely wants to wreck your expectations, and it's working. Much more tragic than even I expected.

Don’t Touch the Hair... Monster! (Worm One-Shot) (Emma Triggers) https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/don%E2%80%99t-touch-the-hair-monster-worm-one-shot-emma-triggers.1266623 Things turn out worse for Emma in the alley, and she's angry for reasons. Such a shame she didn't get gentle powers like bugs.

Skitter's Transformation https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/gowonzus-snippet-thread-worm.1105390/page-20#post-117720737 Shorter snip. But I mean I HAD to include this one anyways.

Heart Shaped Pupil (Worm/Ward) https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/heart-shaped-pupil-worm-ward.1272029 Kenzie in the Bay! With extra cluster friendship! It's really starting to build up into the action now, even though that's not really her thing. Am hype for when the people around her realize what she's like.

Going Native https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/worm-going-native.337325 SI in the Bay who really did not want to risk being involved with Worm's chaos. Just bunker down and somehow avoid the plot while living in the Bay? That's a risky choice. He's willfully on the back foot a lot like ASSIF, but imo there's a visceral closeness to the consequences of his actions.

Girl in the Chair https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/the-girl-in-the-chair.1211060 Taylor and her terminal illness and wheelchair adventures. Colin remains an absolute boss.

Confoam Grenades https://archiveofourown.org/works/75035326 Elaine is killing me with her "I am a thousands of years old immortal. I constantly have to stock up on food for the many apocalypses I've experienced. And I look down so much on you savages for not having the practical options available to those with the magic we have." I don't know if it helps or hurts that the fic is written by Selkie the author of the original books.

Parahuman Testing Initiative https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/parahuman-testing-initiative.1265224 Taylor gets Portal powers. Well, more the GLADOS side of it. Time to see how Emma does with traps. Regardless, I approve this mess.

Maybe Tomorrow https://archiveofourown.org/works/49131766 Taylor decides she'll do what Dinah said and turn herself in. Once it's all sorted and things are safe and in order. Maybe tomorrow.

Lifeblood https://archiveofourown.org/works/75196441 Taylor gets the power to heal anyone with her blood. Extremely underrated. It starts out as the perfect angst machine, but I like that the author doesn't hide the stakes. They're really testing the limits and experimenting with consequences.

I wanna kiss that Angel! https://archiveofourown.org/works/76963746 Title is self-explanatory. Completely. Oh my god she's doing my head in and her friends are staring at her like ahhhhhhh!

Use Your Words https://archiveofourown.org/works/74046506 Taylor has the power to translate and communicate with anything. I do enjoy the small details it added, from explaining the nazi signals to the people who DON'T respond positively to her trying to cheat code their language without shibboleths or tact. It's currently building up to the part that will really test the fic.

New Reviews, stories I haven't mentioned before:

Footprints on the Moon [Nier:Automata, 3/5] - Taylor comes out of a mysterious event with powers loosely based on a YoRHa android. She starts a day job working for Parian and going out on patrols to fight the Machines that recently showed up. Danny is worse than normal. Several characters are aged up for more comfortable shipping (Taylor x Sabah). She's rather street level, relying on protagonist power to survive, so I guess there won't be too much escalation.

Every Disease Known to Man [Crack, 4/5] - Taylor comes out of The Locker with bug control, but that's not important right now, because this story dives into an ocean of Crack and never surfaces. Plenty of giggles and laughs as she's drawn into orbit with Amy and Vicky, rabid romance and whacky hijinks spinning out of control. Rather insane and extreme. Good writing with fun turns of phrase. References to other fanfics, lots of POVs. The second half isn't as fun as the first, but there's a satisfying conclusion.

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Update Reviews, commenting on recent chapters, mild spoilers:

Use Your Words [Alt-Power, 4/5] - Taylor continues to find new uses for her seemingly weak power, and the details matter more than ever. Happy to see Kid Win get positive screen time. An interesting side quest with Spitfire as well.

Stars of Power [SI, Gacha, 3/5] - A bunch of magic tinkering fills the time until the author decides to move on in life. Hiatus ho.

Worm Saving [Peggy Sue, Crack, 3/5] - The author reloads against a longer timeline event, one of the few wiling to do so. Too many time travel stories pack too much into one line to then just be erased. Follow this example and bite the bullet! Taylor's personality continues the crack theme, tho not in a funny way, more like someone playing a video game. Author wonders if they took it too far, a good sign.

New Year, New Me [Nier:Automata, 3/5] - Sophia nerfed to set up plot points, including a ship with Emma. Oh, the Machines are here after all, though it doesn't make any sense that they could build an army without anyone noticing, especially when some are building-sized. Tinker 12 Squealer is a new take, I'll grant. Very video game-y.

Confoam Grenades [OC, 2/5] - This is exactly what you'd expect to happen if a lenient DM let you send your fun-loving godlike character to Earth Bet. She's already trying to decide on best methods for destabilizing governments.

The Wandering Gamer [OC, The Wandering Inn, 5/5] - Kevin, Riley, and Sibby make it to Liscor! This feels like when Erin met Ryoka, all the protagonists finally getting together, but not even recognizing each other. Canon events popping off left and right.

The Silent Queen [WH40k, 2/5] - Not sure what's going on with this, pretty chaotic and weird with internal visions, Shard stuff, and unreliable narrators.

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Disclaimer: My opinions are weakly held. I read these stories for fun. I appreciate every author who's willing to put themselves out there and write stuff for us.

"Pinches the bridge of their nose" count for the week: 0 (total: 534). Popped 'p's: 0 (143).

I just this moment finished The Charlatans, and highly recommend it. About 40,000 words and complete. 

The story is about a team of the three capes Dinah predicts are most capable of killing Jack Slash: a Stranger/Tinker who makes encryption no parahuman can crack, a Master who controls corvids, and a Trump who can steal charges of other capes' powers to later use themself.

As the name and premise suggests, all 60 3 of the are faking their powers.

The story is excellent, all about people relying on using actually clever plans and misdirection to achieve their goal. The author does frequently mix up there/their/they're, your/you're and to/too, but that's not the end of the world. 

I'd recommend also reading the comments, if you've read Worm; it's Ao3 so there's like, four of them, and I got a laugh out of a couple comments speculating on the specifics of the S9K and being a little unhappy with the author for... things that happened in canon.

Also, most emotionally impactful Endbringer fight I've read in a while. Against Khonsu no less.

Could've used an epilogue with The Generalists finishing their plan, but that's life.

Teaching a Worm how to Link Summon: Eidolon, Vicky, Taylor and a surprise character all learn about the heart of the cards...in the middle of Leviathan's rampage through Brockton. And after our climactic finale of Eidolon vs Leviathan, we might just see the first glimpse of what may be Earth Bet's god cards...

Case-104 / Pluribus What it says on the tin. Taylor triggers as a hive mind, and quickly swallows the entirety of Brockton Bay. Only Amy and Lisa are spared, and now two people and a hive mind have to figure out how to live together.

Go Gently is my old deadfic of the week. This is a crossover with Welcome to Nightvale, though from what I can tell no knowledge of the podcast is required. Essentially, after Danny triggers and moves Taylor into an apartment building, Taylor starts to notice strange things happening around Brockton Bay. When she gets her powers, she becomes a radio host intent on making sure no one in the city gets caught off-guard by the creepy and unusual things they all have to live with.

This fic is hilarious, and more of a full-fledged AU then many other works, with Taylor being the energetic neighbor to the gruff but kind Kenta (who forces the Empire to send her a Get Well Soon card after their goons hurt her), best friends with the overprotective Emma and Sophia (who are secretly Wards), and a fledgling romance with the pretty boy Alec, who looks an awful lot like that Regent character who took Taylor hostage...

Oh yeah, there are also eldritch abominations roaming the streets or something. Great fun while it lasts, but it has been dead for ten years as of two weeks ago.

Acknowledging Privilege Dean after he survives Leviathan, and then Echidna. He resolves to be honest with Victoria about his origins after she is transformed into a monster and locked away in the asylum. Short and bitter.

I've kind of been blitzing through Masterweaver's work for the past few days, as well as reading some fandom classics that I hadn't gotten around to seeing yet, like Tank and Internship. I haven Deputy pinned on my taskbar but I haven't cracked it open yet because I've honestly just been reading the shorter-chaptered stories first since they're easier to chew on if that makes sense. Which is going to be an issue in a few days since I'm rapidly running out of those, but eh.

So far, its all been delightful. I have a number of new stories I'm following now that I'm genuinely looking forward to updates from and I have a few oldies that I'm glad to have read. Tank especially made me crack up more than once. Its also got me thinking about my own wormfic ideas again, and ready to dive back into Worm proper to keep writing my notes.

I probably shouldn't read 'til my eyes start hurting though.

Just the Two of Us (https://archiveofourown.org/works/8676778/chapters/19891792)

This was well written and very enjoyable to read. I won’t comment on the central concept here because it is a spoiler and I do think the fic is more effective if you don’t know going in. However…I have some issues with how it portrays certain things and wrote a whole long thing about it. I wasn’t very satisfied with the ending; it really wanted to act like things were all wrapped up nicely but they really weren’t, like, at all.

What Doesn’t Kill You (https://archiveofourown.org/works/76621291/chapters/202583761#workskin)

I really hope this is as fun and hilarious when I’m not jetlagged to hell after a red-eye as it is when I am jet lagged to hell after a red-eye

I have to ask what's 'Alternative Helix' [Worm/HI3rd/HSR] all about?

I don't get the premise of the story.

Skittering to the Top by LongDoggos. Its a Uma Musume AU and i love it.

Плоды Проклятого Дерева — This is a Russian fanfiction about a diabetic guy with German roots. In the first chapter, he almost dies because of his mother, but becomes an inventor and is saved. I really like that the fanfiction retains the atmosphere of the original "Worm" in terms of characters. Bad deeds, but for good reasons. The story is long and complete. https://author.today/work/34146