I really love worm, and it's infested my brain deeply since I read it. I was a teenager who related too much to alienation, and bullying, and the craving of some amount of power over anything.
It's a work that I think was deeply important in my growth into an adult person (which sure is embarrassing but that's okay) and I want to share it with people. Some of its just because I like it when I can talk to people about things I like that I normally can't but god, it's hard to recommend!
Its author is bigoted in an extremely specific manner, in the liberal 'i have so many unconscious biases that actually Aren't Bad because society agrees with me'.
He hates addicts, is homophobic, racist, and is deeply deeply committed to sharing a worldview with like, some annoying American foreign policy wonk.
I have a certain impulse to put these things in less brash language, and talk about how clearly wildbow's worldview includes some deeply deranged stuff about the global south (south america is a continent of criminals and africa is a continent of warlords), deeply sinophobic anxieties (china is an evil empire that's going to kidnap you for power) or queer people (it's pandering if the relationship isn't predatory, sorry how did you describe that schoolteacher's hands?). There's a million other things I haven't mentioned as well. The list never ends.
It's long, too, that never helps. 'oh here, please read the Bible so that I can talk to you about how much I love Michael, Homestuck so that I can talk about Rose Lalonde, etcetcetc'. Its a lot to ask!! And people have still done it!! And I feel bad about it!!
The front page of the parahumans site says something along the lines of 'this story has ever conceivable trigger, be wary' and it's true. It makes it so deeply difficult to recommend to my friends which are almost entirely made up of traumatized queer people.
The worst part is that they listen to all my stupid disclaimers and read it anyways. The worst part is that I've never recommended it to someone who didn't like it. The worst part about worm is that it's good.
Just imagine the potential of a tfatws season 2 that's composed of missing scenes from/between cap 4 and thunderbolts
just sambucky texting each other between missions, getting coffee and a pastry during the second act buildup, facetiming each other about their respective plot twists, cuddling up after the denouements..
like i fr hate sibling hcs but also i do think itd be funny as fuck to make the most random characters siblings with like the stupidest reasonings ever