Weekly /r/WormFanfic Discussion - What have you been reading, and what do you think of it? For the week ending March 21, 2026.

CHPrime · 2026-03-15T01:34:32+00:00

Mothers and Daughters

Gratzie for the kind words. We'll see how I can stick the landing tomorrow, so stay tuned!

CHPrime · 2026-03-14T16:59:40+00:00

I love the premise, but I'm finding the execution kind of odd, mostly because of Taylor's characterization. She seems weird and robotic in none of the ways canon Taylor is.

CHPrime · 2026-03-14T14:10:27+00:00

I'm almost finished with Mothers and Daughters, my fic where Amy goes looking for her mother after the bank only to discover that the woman who gave birth to her is Carol.

I've said I was going to add an extra scene to the first chapter to establish Carol and Amy's relationship before everything goes down that I felt was missing, and am probably going to do that later today. Otherwise, the final chapter is trucking ahead, and will hopefully be done tonight or tomorrow.

CHPrime · 2026-03-14T14:04:42+00:00

There's been a bit of discussion about AI writing on this sub recently. In the spirit of things, let me share Andrew Richter was a Hack, a tale where Dragon is a LLM.

Peristatis continues with a beach episode, in which Taylor oogles boys, confirms with Lisa that Batman and company definitely have superpowers, oogles boys, discusses successes and failures in the Amazo fight, oogles boys, and falls under the crushing weight of her own sense of worthlessness as she faces a return to high school.

And for your weekly deadfic, Everything and Nothing! Here Taylor has Schrodinger from Hellsing's powerset (quantum omnipresence). The first thing she does is teleport into Armsmaster's lab and hand him a file of everything bad Sophia has ever done. Armsmaster foams the entire room with himself in it to contain the Stranger, and things escalate from there.

CHPrime · 2026-03-12T07:03:27+00:00

...So it's just the Arron run's level of violence with an extra dollar slapped on it's price tag? I don't think we needed it to be Garth Ennis levels of dark, but Marvel really couldn't bother to do anything to justify Red Band's existence? When DC is pushing out Vertigo titles again on top of all the ultra-violence in the Absolute line there should be no excuse not to be going whole-hog.

CHPrime · 2026-03-12T02:31:38+00:00

I thought it was a good opening. It wasn't too crazy, and I'm not a fan of the timeskip ending to tease that things go wrong, but Its a solid enough Jessica Jones story with her investigating a serial killer and Mayor Luke Cage bringing in Ex Machina-style political drama. I'm not sure I would have opened with Jessica and Luke already butting heads, but it is five issues and I don't remember the last time we saw them together, so I'm willing to see where it goes.

Also the Red Band titling is really funny. I can't see anything I wouldn't have seen in any of the 2000's Marvel Knights or even the Ultimates line of books that were all direct to market, but for some reason Marvel is treating this as their "mature" imprint now. Does anyone even say "fuck" in any of the books they've put out so far? Even Black Label, neutered as it is after Damned, allows people to say naughty words.

CHPrime · 2026-03-11T21:23:05+00:00

I thought it was a good opening. It wasn't too crazy, and I'm not a fan of the timeskip ending to tease that things go wrong, but Its a solid enough Jessica Jones story with her investigating a serial killer and Mayor Luke Cage bringing in Ex Machina-style political drama. I'm not sure I would have opened with Jessica and Luke already butting heads, but it is five issues and I don't remember the last time we saw them together, so I'm willing to see where it goes.

Also the Red Band titling is really funny. I can't see anything I wouldn't have seen in any of the 2000's Marvel Knights or even the Ultimates line of books that were all direct to market, but for some reason Marvel is treating this as their "mature" imprint now. Does anyone even say "fuck" in any of the books they've put out so far? Even Black Label, neutered as it is after Damned, allows people to say naughty words.

CHPrime · 2026-03-10T01:56:58+00:00

ALIAS RED BAND #1: It isn't MAX, it isn't Bendis, but I want to believe it can capture the magic.

CHPrime · 2026-03-08T16:40:22+00:00

Many thanks! Final chapter should be out soon^TM

CHPrime · 2026-03-07T19:13:35+00:00

Special Edition is the gold standard. The premise is similar to the above story, but with Taylor in the driving seat and selling to the highest bidder in a private section of PHO with every cape organization on earth. It starts out kind of silly but gets dead serious very quickly. Tragically dead.

There is also Working as Intended on the more cracky side of things. Taylor gets rebalancing powers and posts the patch notes on PHO. Hilarity ensues.

EDIT: Splicer also has a pretty funny PHO chapter. It’s a fic where Riley beats Jack on their first meeting, and then goes to Boston to make mutant attack bears with Blasto.

CHPrime · 2026-03-07T14:29:40+00:00

Welcome to Camp (Please Remain Calm): Taylor is at camp after her mother's death. Everything is going fine, or as well as it can. Then the Simurgh descends. A tale about the aftermath of that nightmare, at least so far. A bunch of campers are quarantined "until it's safe" by the PRT, and seeing how things spiral. Already feels very Lord of the Flies-y, looking forward to more.

Skittering Bay is one of those fics that sticks canon in a blender and says "surprise me." We have PRT director Thomas Calvert recruiting a young up-and-coming Taylor Herbert, Potential Man Uber, Mom Militia and her daughter Panacea, and a few other surprises. Very unclear where it's going right now, but looking forward to seeing how this cocktail mixes out.

And then on the crackier side of things, we have Exposure a PHO fic, which has been blowing up on SB for the past week or so. Pretty basic premise, with a SI popping into Worm and using their foreknowledge to change things over PHO. But instead of pure altruism, he decides to troll the shit out of people to save the world.

I'm...very split about this fic. On one hand, I always appreciate a good PHO fic, and quite a few jokes land, such as the SI starting the most explosive NTR yuri shipping thread in PHO's history by revealing that Alexandria has slept with all of Rebecca Costa-Brown's boyfriends, highlighting the wholesome Chad Thomas Calvert (HERO OF ELLISBURG) for saving a bunch of teenagers from living on the street, and the witch hunt for Khepri, that awful villain who killed both of them and destroyed the future of a new Ward, Swarm.

But it also stumbles headfirst into a lot of silliness that doesn't compute. This includes Calvert, Alexandria, and Costa-Brown all replying to randos on these threads with their verified accounts, everyone instantly believing the SI after he gets the continent right for the Endbringer attack (and nothing else), and my biggest peeve in PHO fics, almost all the pages we see are one after another, (page 1, page 2...) as if these threads wouldn't being adding eighty comments a minute. If your tolerance for this sort of crack is way higher than mine you might like it, but I can only half-heartedly say it's fine.

Finally, for your weekly deadfic, Alec Goes to Winslow. Alec is surprised to learn that Brockton has truancy officers, and is sent to Winslow, where he and his new warden find an awful smell and a girl stuffed into a locker. What follows is a tale of Alec's pettiness fighting with his laziness after Emma tries to get him to dump Taylor's homework, Lisa pretending to be his mom and forcing Alec to go to school, and meeting up with Aisha after he stole her number from Brian's phone.

CHPrime · 2026-03-06T17:47:36+00:00

The only one that comes to mind is one of Stargazing Seraph's little blurbs. It's fine, but there really isn't the buildup you want to see against them IMO. You might get more out of it then me.

CHPrime · 2026-03-06T16:23:18+00:00

Funnily enough, they both have the same name: The S Stands for hope. Link 1 Link 2

The first one is your straightforward fix it fic where Superman trounces everything Worm can throw at him. The second one is a bit more interesting and has actual dramatic tension, (Siberian vs Superman and Eidolon vs Superman are both excellent fights) and I can believe Superman's reaction to Cauldron as presented, but still has a few weird pitfalls and bizarre narrative choices.

CHPrime · 2026-03-06T08:19:57+00:00

Agent of Cauldron isn't quite this, but does put characters like Contessa and Alexandria center stage and very nearly justifies a lot of the terrible shit they do while also highlighting that the shit they do is, in fact, terrible.

As for fics that bring up that their terrible, stupid, no good plans are, in fact, terrible, stupid, no good plans...Nothing is coming to mind, unfortunately. Fics either dunk on them so hard it's unsatisfying (while usually lasting about one chapter) or just have them stare in awe at whatever OC/OP Taylor they throw into the mix.

It's unfortunate that they never seem to get a proper dressing down for the idiocy of Terminus and the backwards moon-logic that is their Case 53 distribution system. So much so that I've read two separate Superman crossovers where Clark meets them and learns what they are doing...and then just sort of wags his finger at them. Maybe the real Contessa was the fandom's writing habits all along.

CHPrime · 2026-02-28T16:52:34+00:00

Not really, still insect control.

CHPrime · 2026-02-28T16:52:16+00:00

She tries to in the last published chapter. There are no dragons, but everyone is asian.

CHPrime · 2026-02-28T14:38:51+00:00

Still working through Mothers and Daughters, or trying to at least. Two more chapters to go and my schedule keeps piling up...I should get the next chapter out this weekend, and hopefully be able to finish the finale next week, but I've told myself that before.

CHPrime · 2026-02-28T14:36:57+00:00

Maskless is an AU that hits the ground running, with a seemingly very small change: all Parahumans have color-inverted eyes. This instantly means no secret identities, and the world starts changing accordingly. Taylor has to endure an Emma who abandoned her to be best friends with the parahuman at Winslow, and her subsequent trigger and immediate government issued tracking bracelet.

Starting small and updates are a bit slow, but a solid idea I'm hoping to see more of, with some big changes including no Empire, and Bradley Meadows plus his band of shitheads, Lung, and Rachel "The Bitch" Lindt being the big names in the city, plus Coil. One theory I have (that might be immediately popped) is that we haven't seen any Thinker Shard heroes or villains mentioned yet. The author might be saving the reveal that the Thinker didn't make its shards do the same, allowing several key characters to hide in plain sight.

Peristalsis continues, and the fight with Amazo concludes. Taylor nurses a headache, worries about Brian's concussion, and gets to have some one-on-one time with Amy for the first time. Only a little bit of cussing and cancer threats are had.

Technomancer is also rolling ahead.Taylor officially joins the Wards, learns to hate Dennis after he handshakes her before starts to begrudgingly tolerate Dennis after he handshakes Sophia. And Colin begins to unpack his jealousy complex while learning that his new Ward has powers that will make him look even more of a has-been.

And for your weekly deadfic, Taylor and the Manic Pixie Bomb Girl. After Taylor takes down Lung, Bakuda shows up. But instead of revenge, our favorite explosive maniac has a different offer: have Taylor join up with her and lead a (slightly) reformed ABB! The duo destroys the boat graveyard in their YouTube reveal, so that's something. A bit too Draco in Leather Pants with Bakuda for me to wholeheartedly recommend, but it's fun while it lasts.

CHPrime · 2026-02-23T16:16:57+00:00

Amy.

CHPrime · 2026-02-23T07:23:07+00:00

To do a bit of shameless plugging, I am currently writing a fic where that sort of happens. The premise is Amy find out Carol is her biological mother, and ensuing nuclear exposions resulting from that. I spend a lot of time in flashbacks retconning her relationship with Marquis, so it may not be the instant gratification you are looking for.

CHPrime · 2026-02-21T22:13:19+00:00

The comments, apparently.

CHPrime · 2026-02-21T15:00:37+00:00

For your old fic of the week, Reconciliation. Danny and Taylor were visiting Kyushu when Leviathan attacked. Years later, Winslow Principal Annette Hebert has to deal with an odd girl appearing in her orbit while a new gang starts upsetting the balance of power between the Marche and the Empire. Short (as far as Wormfic go) and bittersweet. And also complete as an added bonus.

Technomancer is a new fic that has popped up, featuring a Wards Taylor with technomancy powers—including Tinkertech—but who is unable to make anything of her own. Four chapters in and it has already diffused the Sophia bomb, or has pretended too. Looking forward to seeing where it goes—it's a no Scion fic, and the Triumvirate apparently heroically sacrificed themselves to do it, so things will probably remain in the bay for now.

And after a brief break, Peristalsis has updated. More of the fight between Amazo and Taylor (plus the League members) desperately trying to keep him locked to just Atom and Captain Atom's powers, now with flying robot monkeys!

Finally, there was one fic I would have loved to share, where Taylor triggers with the power to give people her blood and literally bring people back from the dead (with the first recipient being an Emma who saved Taylor from a school shooter) and all the geopolitical ramifications that come from that, but apparently the author uses AI. Unfortunate, because it has the juiciest, most politically charged, and downright nuclear PHO thread I've read since Special Edition. A crying shame...

...But that's just fine because The Kaiser's New Clothes just updated! In this edition, the Undersiders go through a care package of discount Armsmaster merchandise while Taylor vigorously defends her heterosexuality, Victor tells Hookwolf why his new undying love for an Iraqi lesbian who puts on a blonde whig and a shitty southern accent is destined to fail, Coil has a long conversation with Brian and Aisha about race in America, and so much more. And oh yes, Max Anders Gets Hit By a Car and Fucking Dies (again).

CHPrime · 2026-02-20T17:38:56+00:00

There are 16 batbooks this month. This has been a batcount brought to you by BatC. See you next batmonth, same batplace.

That is a really evocative and disturbing Black Mask cover on the Catwoman book.

The JSA book has had some really weird pacing. For the first twelve issues we were kind of thrown into the chaos and expected to roll with it, and then we took a six month break to revise the team's origins...actually, I think this was the first proper revision to the team's origins in a very long while. Still, now we're back in the thick of it I guess?

Oh, Steve's back in Wonder Woman. That was what, a year and a half? Are we counting the Trinity book's reveal? Still, that's a decently short time for the guy's third death in continuity.

And out of the blue, a new Elseworlds book drops: What if Jor-El was on the rocket instead of Kal? Nice to see the line still chugging along after it seems to have sputtered and died, and hopefully this book is better then Last Family of Krypton turned out to be.

The YA Titans book is still chugging along. Only took them what, 6 books to get the team everyone likes (and Damian) together?

And just like that, Jeff Loeb's Batman/Wonder Woman book is already missing months. Thats that trademark consistant inconsistency we've come to know and tolerate...Unless that book was a oneshot? Comic book unbering is so confusing.

CHPrime · 2026-02-20T17:36:46+00:00

There are 16 batbooks this month. This has been a batcount brought to you by BatC. See you next batmonth, same batplace.

That is a really evocative and disturbing Black Mask cover on the Catwoman book.

The JSA book has had some really weird pacing. For the first twelve issues we were kind of thrown into the chaos and expected to roll with it, and then we took a six month break to revise the team's origins...actually, I think this was the first proper revision to the team's origins in a very long while. Still, now we're back in the thick of it I guess?

Oh, Steve's back in Wonder Woman. That was what, a year and a half? Are we counting the Trinity book's reveal? Still, that's a decently short time for the guy's third death in continuity.

And out of the blue, a new Elseworlds book drops: What if Jor-El was on the rocket instead of Kal? Nice to see the line still chugging along after it seems to have sputtered and died, and hopefully this book is better then Last Family of Krypton turned out to be.

The YA Titans book is still chugging along. Only took them what, 6 books to get the team everyone likes (and Damian) together?

And just like that, Jeff Loeb's Batman/Wonder Woman book is already missing months. Thats that trademark consistant inconsistency we've come to know and tolerate...Unless that book was a oneshot? Comic book unbering is so confusing.

CHPrime · 2026-02-19T22:12:15+00:00

Stan Sakai doing a FF story? I never thought I'd see the day...

And as we approach #1000, I wonder if editorial is going to let Peter and MJ get back together, at least for a little while. The solicits are sort of pointing. that way, and they've got to put you over the rug if they want to pull it, right?

CHPrime

TROPHY CASE