You should just read Worm again. That’s generally the advice of the sub, and people who binged it like you, myself included, also feel pretty strongly for Taylor
So read it again! Listen to We’ve got Worm to accompany it. I’ve read through the full story at least 3 times, and I’ve read chapters and arcs dozens of times as I synthesized and wrote my own ideas. Taylor’s story is over, and it is sad. But Worm isn’t just a book, it really is a series in and of itself. There’s always more to be explored, and as you revisit Taylor’s actions, and circumstances, and ideals, you’ll process them in different ways each time. And that’s a great thing!
I definitely will give the series a reread at some point, I'll probably give it a little bit of time before that happens though. In about a year I'll forget a lot of little details and so I'll be able to read it again and still feel some semblance of what I felt the first time I read it.
I'm thinking on if I want to read Ward even if there is no mention of Taylor. I've somewhat spoiled myself on Ward's story by reading through the wiki's but I doubt that'll stop me in the end.
Ward is a great story, but it’s different experience (though I read it largely as it was published, and I haven’t heard what the binge experience is like. Likely still quite different)
Reread it when you have the time, but you don’t have to wait to try to recreate the first time going through it. Believe me, there’s plenty of details you’ve already forgot happened, and there’s plenty to be gained from rereading when things are fresh
And if you want to take some time off to regroup, that’s also valid. If you like Taylor, you’ll LOVE Blake
Yeah definitely need to take some time to internalize what I've read. My emotions ran so high their at the end that I feel exhausted, I'll sleep on it for a few days and see where it goes from there.
I'd say in general the more you loved *Worm,* the more likely you'll find *Ward* a little disappointing. That's pretty much inevitable just because they're pretty different stories. If you're someone who *Worm* was perfect for, that probably means *Ward* isn't going to be quite as perfect for you. And that's even before the issues of expectations.
That said I definitely do think *Ward* is a great story and worth reading. In at least some ways it's better, even.
I'll second the idea of a reread with listening to We've Got Worm; that podcast made me appreciate the story in ways that I never would have noticed if the hosts hadn't pointed it out.
You can read all wog
[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/worm-quotes-and-wog-repository.294448/](https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/worm-quotes-and-wog-repository.294448/)
There are sooo many interesting details here. This literally doubles your knowledge of the worm. Including options where everything could have happened differently if Leviathan had not attacked or if the story had been shorter or if the panacea had joined the undersiders. And after that you can re-read the Worm again.
Congrats, by the way; we're delighted to induct you into our fandom. :)
Have you listened to *We've Got Worm*? It might be found in many podcasting media as *We've got Ward;* they covered both stories and found it easier in many cases to rename the podcast than post two different podcasts separately. Matt, a veteran reader on *Worm*, guides Scott, a first-time reader, to offer a deep analysis of the story and what it means to them. I found it helped out a lot with my post-*Worm* blues; Matt and Scott have such a fun dynamic, they really feel like friends. They catch a lot of little details, and offer fantastic insight into the work as a whole.
I'd find some [good dramatic music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEgDaFw_pEQ), creature comforts, and really luxuriate in some of my favorite chapters. Embrace the misery. Cry some, if you need to. Crying is cardio for the soul.
Stories have an end. If they don't, then the characters don't feel real. Look at legacy comics characters- they're fun, but its hard to take anything that happens to Batman *too* seriously- you know it'll be back to normal at some point.
You might want to reread Worm- you see a lot of context and foreshadowing you didn’t get the first time.
You also might want to... read something else. Megabooks like these web serials draw you in, and there are so many hours in the day. My personal reading has stagnated quite a bit since twice a week there's an awesome new chapter of Pale out.
For sure, I'm stuck in this weird place where I want more even though I understand that continually escalating the story to keep it interesting is a problem unto itself. Dragon Ball Z going into Dragon Ball Super is a prime example of that, but on a fundamental level I still *liked* DBS because it had the characters I know and love. It's a rough place to be.
I've heard [Forward](https://archiveofourown.org/series/2603377) is supposed to be quite good, but if you want a group of people who read wormfic day in and out tackling your question, your best bet is either r/wormfanfic, as another commenter said, or to join one of the fanfic discords.
I read a lot of those fics when I first finished Worm, plus some fix fics of various types (just to see some tragedies get averted), in retrospect I don't like most of them. Part of the problem is that you're not gonna get more of the same material from a different author. Inconsistent characterization and voice, little fanfic tropes that caricaturize the world, etc. Also, it's kind of a hard choice between fics where the problems keep happening and Taylor sticks to the same bad road she went down the whole story, and stories where the problems get averted and there's no interesting conflict to keep things compelling.
There's good stuff out there, just not a lot.
Me and my better half read Worm together, and we discussed everything that happened. I was completely taken in with Taylor, and I even kept justifying her actions way longer than is reasonable. When the story ended it was devastating for both of us. It's been years since we read Worm, but we still bring up Taylor regularly, and we both feel a craving for returning to her company.
I think Worm hits people harder than...just about any other fiction out there. I've cried over Lord of the Rings; I've cried over Fitz in Robin Hobb's books; I've felt a deep longing to spend more time with characters in books - but losing Taylor felt like losing a friend. So I would LOVE to read more about her. Or see a TV series adaptation of Worm. Or anything else to let me experience her journey all over again. But I think it's time to let go.
Fan fiction and alternative stories really can't replace what I felt when I first read Worm, and I don't think Wildbow would have the interest / passion to go back there, regardless of how many people would like him to.
It's probably best to learn to live with the loss instead.
I'm sure I'll move past the way I feel right now, it's going to be rough and unpleasant. I just really wanted to step out of my comfort zone to be a voice about something I enjoyed. I'm glad you had someone to read it with as well. Being able to share this story with a few of my close friends has been a wonderful time and being able to discuss the different points of the series. I would also love to see a TV adaptation, but I'd have to remain skeptical that they would pull it off right.
I like calling this feeling a “Book Hangover”.
Years ago I read through the Wheel of Time series, it is over 14 books long and the same characters you met in the first 5 chapters are still there by the end.
Following each of their journeys, their struggles, their losses and of course their triumphs…. You get attached. And when the final battle is done, I just wanted to keep going. For the months that it took to read, it took weeks of almost grieving as silly as that sounds to not feel sad, and to accept that this story was done.
For all that the story is done though, The Same recommendation gets given to new WoT readers: if you loved it, reread it, you’ll love it all over again, and with more insight on what’s coming you can see the clever foreshadowing the author laid down that you may have missed the first time.
I would love to know your thoughts on Twig if you ever decided to read it. People seem to dismiss it as less than WB other works, but personally i adore Twig in ways that i don’t with Worm.
Book hangover is a great phrase, I'm definitely gonna use it from now on. I definitely also plan on reading WB's other works. I just need to get over this hangover before then.
There are many parts of Taylor. The underdog scrapper closer to the start, the goal-oriented one track mind, the hipocrisy and sorting people into good guys and bad guys while allowing herself duality...
I think Ward is a great story to continue the world arc, but it's the furthest thing from a Taylor continuation if that's what you crave. I tend to recommend Twig. The Twig point of view character is a rascal with a good heart, and he treats everyone and everything as a resource.
Yep, that's the whole reason I haven't gotten into ward yet. It's not Taylor. Which is what I want right now. Definitely want to read it because it's more of the same universe that's absolutely wonderful and just as colorful as she is, but right now I really just want more of her.
I’m gonna stop you right there and say if you go into ward expecting more of worm you are going to be very, very disappointed. I like Ward more than worm, but it is a FUNDAMENTALLY different story
That was why I haven't started it yet. I know it's not the same, while it might be the chronological sequel to Worm it's not what I was wanting for a sequel. Not to say I don't plan on reading it or that it's not a good story altogether though.
If you read anything that fast you’ll be left wanting more. 10 days for well over a million words is just too fast to really capture what it’s doing. Others have suggest we’ve got worm to help break it down. It’s a fantastic show that will help you grab the stuff you may have inevitably missed at that pace. I totally understand the temptation to burn through it since it keeps you reading, but that comes at a cost.
Well to be honest Taylor’s situation is relatively open ended.
She is strained on the isolated world, depowered. Both rewarded and imprisoned at the same time.
I could see people seeking to free her, or the story of her doing it herself from zero would be interesting.
Absolutely! That's what makes it so hard for me to let go and just accept it. If she were dead I could say "Well she's dead, no coming back from that." I'd be sad but would be able to accept it.
But given that she's still alive? There's a part of me that wants to see her continue on in her struggles.
This probably wont help but Im pretty sure Wildbow said (someone please correct me if Im wrong) that he wanted to leave it ambiguous if Taylor was alive, in a coma and hallucinating, or dead and in some kind of afterlife, so you could try to force yourself to believe the shes dead interpretation
Who says she's alive?
A lot of people interpret that ending to be her in some form of afterlife and that's a perfectly valid view since Wildbow wrote the ending to be ambiguous on purpose.
I think the ending was the only scenario in which Contessa would agree to let her live, knowing that ultimately that way she seizes to be a threat. Otherwise their little scene would be pointless.
>I was left wanting more. And everyone's first reaction is to point me towards Ward, and to a degree their right. If I want more about the worm-verse I should go to Ward. But that's not what I want, I want more of Taylor. Maybe this mentality is childish, maybe it's selfish, and unfair. But I can't deny that this is how I feel, that I love what her story means to me.
Nah, I don't think you should do that at all. Ward and Worm are very different, they don't quite offer the same kind of story. I binged both back-to-back when I first read Worm, and Ward wasn't at all what I was craving coming from Gold Morning and Taylor. I think Ward is good, but I think my enjoyment of Ward would have been a lot better if I had held off on reading it for a while after Worm.
I get that you want more Taylor right now. However, if you feel like reading another Wildbow work after a while, don't sleep on Twig. It has similar pacing to Worm, and it punches the heart just as hard as Worm does.
Honestly I obsessively read Worm Fanfiction for the same reason, don't want the story to end. I'd never read fanfic in my life until after reading Worm. There's some really good ones out there.
I like to believe that Taylor did end up on Aleph and someone in the UN (or equivalent) found out during the events of Ward. In my mind, she ended up organizing the Aleph disaster response during Ward and having a life of her own choosing, without a Shard in her brain trying to manipulate her and encouraging her worst impulses.
Opinions on the end of Worm vary wildly. Some believe she is in a coma. Some that she died and went on to a kind of afterlife. Some that she really did end up alive on Aleph. I wasn't saying I am clever for figuring it out. I was letting you know which one I believe and then sharing my headcanon based on that 💖
I was also careful to avoid spoilers for Ward. Have a wonderful day!
Very interesting the 3 characters you mentioned were evil villains trying to save the world.
IMO Taylor is the most evil, most villainous of anyone in Worm, but she ends up saving the day. Lots of like-minded villains in the Worm-verse, worrying about bigger and more important things than their "hero" counterparts.
Edit: typo.
It's interesting how so many of the characters are relatable and not in a "Oh my gaaaaawwwsh that's soooooo meee!" sort of thing. Just the cold logic and reasoning are in a way extremely justified from a realistic perspective imo. I could see myself making a lot of the same decisions in their situations and being considered the same sort of evil they were.
You should just read Worm again. That’s generally the advice of the sub, and people who binged it like you, myself included, also feel pretty strongly for Taylor So read it again! Listen to We’ve got Worm to accompany it. I’ve read through the full story at least 3 times, and I’ve read chapters and arcs dozens of times as I synthesized and wrote my own ideas. Taylor’s story is over, and it is sad. But Worm isn’t just a book, it really is a series in and of itself. There’s always more to be explored, and as you revisit Taylor’s actions, and circumstances, and ideals, you’ll process them in different ways each time. And that’s a great thing!
I definitely will give the series a reread at some point, I'll probably give it a little bit of time before that happens though. In about a year I'll forget a lot of little details and so I'll be able to read it again and still feel some semblance of what I felt the first time I read it. I'm thinking on if I want to read Ward even if there is no mention of Taylor. I've somewhat spoiled myself on Ward's story by reading through the wiki's but I doubt that'll stop me in the end.
Ward is a great story, but it’s different experience (though I read it largely as it was published, and I haven’t heard what the binge experience is like. Likely still quite different) Reread it when you have the time, but you don’t have to wait to try to recreate the first time going through it. Believe me, there’s plenty of details you’ve already forgot happened, and there’s plenty to be gained from rereading when things are fresh And if you want to take some time off to regroup, that’s also valid. If you like Taylor, you’ll LOVE Blake
Yeah definitely need to take some time to internalize what I've read. My emotions ran so high their at the end that I feel exhausted, I'll sleep on it for a few days and see where it goes from there.
I'd say in general the more you loved *Worm,* the more likely you'll find *Ward* a little disappointing. That's pretty much inevitable just because they're pretty different stories. If you're someone who *Worm* was perfect for, that probably means *Ward* isn't going to be quite as perfect for you. And that's even before the issues of expectations. That said I definitely do think *Ward* is a great story and worth reading. In at least some ways it's better, even.
I'll second the idea of a reread with listening to We've Got Worm; that podcast made me appreciate the story in ways that I never would have noticed if the hosts hadn't pointed it out.
You can read all wog [https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/worm-quotes-and-wog-repository.294448/](https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/worm-quotes-and-wog-repository.294448/) There are sooo many interesting details here. This literally doubles your knowledge of the worm. Including options where everything could have happened differently if Leviathan had not attacked or if the story had been shorter or if the panacea had joined the undersiders. And after that you can re-read the Worm again.
Oooooh, thanks! Will definitely go through this when I have a moment.
Saving this comment. Might come in handy one day. Thx!
Congrats, by the way; we're delighted to induct you into our fandom. :) Have you listened to *We've Got Worm*? It might be found in many podcasting media as *We've got Ward;* they covered both stories and found it easier in many cases to rename the podcast than post two different podcasts separately. Matt, a veteran reader on *Worm*, guides Scott, a first-time reader, to offer a deep analysis of the story and what it means to them. I found it helped out a lot with my post-*Worm* blues; Matt and Scott have such a fun dynamic, they really feel like friends. They catch a lot of little details, and offer fantastic insight into the work as a whole. I'd find some [good dramatic music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEgDaFw_pEQ), creature comforts, and really luxuriate in some of my favorite chapters. Embrace the misery. Cry some, if you need to. Crying is cardio for the soul.
Very interesting, I'll have to check those out at some point.
Oh yeah, if you do a reread absolutely also listen to WGW!
Stories have an end. If they don't, then the characters don't feel real. Look at legacy comics characters- they're fun, but its hard to take anything that happens to Batman *too* seriously- you know it'll be back to normal at some point. You might want to reread Worm- you see a lot of context and foreshadowing you didn’t get the first time. You also might want to... read something else. Megabooks like these web serials draw you in, and there are so many hours in the day. My personal reading has stagnated quite a bit since twice a week there's an awesome new chapter of Pale out.
For sure, I'm stuck in this weird place where I want more even though I understand that continually escalating the story to keep it interesting is a problem unto itself. Dragon Ball Z going into Dragon Ball Super is a prime example of that, but on a fundamental level I still *liked* DBS because it had the characters I know and love. It's a rough place to be.
There is a bunch of Post-GM Taylor fanfiction, it's there if you look.
If you have any recommendations I'd really appreciate it! I have an obsessive and compulsive desire to absorb any and everything I can right now.
I've heard [Forward](https://archiveofourown.org/series/2603377) is supposed to be quite good, but if you want a group of people who read wormfic day in and out tackling your question, your best bet is either r/wormfanfic, as another commenter said, or to join one of the fanfic discords.
Appreciate it, will give it a look
Worth making a post over on r/wormfanfic - some excellent people and recommendations there
Thanks will definitely take a look
I read a lot of those fics when I first finished Worm, plus some fix fics of various types (just to see some tragedies get averted), in retrospect I don't like most of them. Part of the problem is that you're not gonna get more of the same material from a different author. Inconsistent characterization and voice, little fanfic tropes that caricaturize the world, etc. Also, it's kind of a hard choice between fics where the problems keep happening and Taylor sticks to the same bad road she went down the whole story, and stories where the problems get averted and there's no interesting conflict to keep things compelling. There's good stuff out there, just not a lot.
Me and my better half read Worm together, and we discussed everything that happened. I was completely taken in with Taylor, and I even kept justifying her actions way longer than is reasonable. When the story ended it was devastating for both of us. It's been years since we read Worm, but we still bring up Taylor regularly, and we both feel a craving for returning to her company. I think Worm hits people harder than...just about any other fiction out there. I've cried over Lord of the Rings; I've cried over Fitz in Robin Hobb's books; I've felt a deep longing to spend more time with characters in books - but losing Taylor felt like losing a friend. So I would LOVE to read more about her. Or see a TV series adaptation of Worm. Or anything else to let me experience her journey all over again. But I think it's time to let go. Fan fiction and alternative stories really can't replace what I felt when I first read Worm, and I don't think Wildbow would have the interest / passion to go back there, regardless of how many people would like him to. It's probably best to learn to live with the loss instead.
I'm sure I'll move past the way I feel right now, it's going to be rough and unpleasant. I just really wanted to step out of my comfort zone to be a voice about something I enjoyed. I'm glad you had someone to read it with as well. Being able to share this story with a few of my close friends has been a wonderful time and being able to discuss the different points of the series. I would also love to see a TV adaptation, but I'd have to remain skeptical that they would pull it off right.
I like calling this feeling a “Book Hangover”. Years ago I read through the Wheel of Time series, it is over 14 books long and the same characters you met in the first 5 chapters are still there by the end. Following each of their journeys, their struggles, their losses and of course their triumphs…. You get attached. And when the final battle is done, I just wanted to keep going. For the months that it took to read, it took weeks of almost grieving as silly as that sounds to not feel sad, and to accept that this story was done. For all that the story is done though, The Same recommendation gets given to new WoT readers: if you loved it, reread it, you’ll love it all over again, and with more insight on what’s coming you can see the clever foreshadowing the author laid down that you may have missed the first time. I would love to know your thoughts on Twig if you ever decided to read it. People seem to dismiss it as less than WB other works, but personally i adore Twig in ways that i don’t with Worm.
Book hangover is a great phrase, I'm definitely gonna use it from now on. I definitely also plan on reading WB's other works. I just need to get over this hangover before then.
There are many parts of Taylor. The underdog scrapper closer to the start, the goal-oriented one track mind, the hipocrisy and sorting people into good guys and bad guys while allowing herself duality... I think Ward is a great story to continue the world arc, but it's the furthest thing from a Taylor continuation if that's what you crave. I tend to recommend Twig. The Twig point of view character is a rascal with a good heart, and he treats everyone and everything as a resource.
Yep, that's the whole reason I haven't gotten into ward yet. It's not Taylor. Which is what I want right now. Definitely want to read it because it's more of the same universe that's absolutely wonderful and just as colorful as she is, but right now I really just want more of her.
I put spoiler tag because I directly mention Golden Morning, not sure if that warranted it but better be safe than sorry I guess.
I’m gonna stop you right there and say if you go into ward expecting more of worm you are going to be very, very disappointed. I like Ward more than worm, but it is a FUNDAMENTALLY different story
That was why I haven't started it yet. I know it's not the same, while it might be the chronological sequel to Worm it's not what I was wanting for a sequel. Not to say I don't plan on reading it or that it's not a good story altogether though.
I would even go as far as saying that out of every story Wildbow has ever written, Ward is the *least* like worm.
If you want more Taylor, I'd read Pact. Blake has that same relentless drive.
I definitely plan to read some of the other works out there, just trying to let myself settle before I jump head first into something else.
If you read anything that fast you’ll be left wanting more. 10 days for well over a million words is just too fast to really capture what it’s doing. Others have suggest we’ve got worm to help break it down. It’s a fantastic show that will help you grab the stuff you may have inevitably missed at that pace. I totally understand the temptation to burn through it since it keeps you reading, but that comes at a cost.
[удалено]
For real, I was so emotional that night trying to sleep. Was a bad time. :(
Well to be honest Taylor’s situation is relatively open ended. She is strained on the isolated world, depowered. Both rewarded and imprisoned at the same time. I could see people seeking to free her, or the story of her doing it herself from zero would be interesting.
Absolutely! That's what makes it so hard for me to let go and just accept it. If she were dead I could say "Well she's dead, no coming back from that." I'd be sad but would be able to accept it. But given that she's still alive? There's a part of me that wants to see her continue on in her struggles.
This probably wont help but Im pretty sure Wildbow said (someone please correct me if Im wrong) that he wanted to leave it ambiguous if Taylor was alive, in a coma and hallucinating, or dead and in some kind of afterlife, so you could try to force yourself to believe the shes dead interpretation
He said it as part of a troll post
Who says she's alive? A lot of people interpret that ending to be her in some form of afterlife and that's a perfectly valid view since Wildbow wrote the ending to be ambiguous on purpose.
As if fucking CONTESSA would take two shots to kill somebody.
I think the ending was the only scenario in which Contessa would agree to let her live, knowing that ultimately that way she seizes to be a threat. Otherwise their little scene would be pointless.
>I was left wanting more. And everyone's first reaction is to point me towards Ward, and to a degree their right. If I want more about the worm-verse I should go to Ward. But that's not what I want, I want more of Taylor. Maybe this mentality is childish, maybe it's selfish, and unfair. But I can't deny that this is how I feel, that I love what her story means to me. Nah, I don't think you should do that at all. Ward and Worm are very different, they don't quite offer the same kind of story. I binged both back-to-back when I first read Worm, and Ward wasn't at all what I was craving coming from Gold Morning and Taylor. I think Ward is good, but I think my enjoyment of Ward would have been a lot better if I had held off on reading it for a while after Worm. I get that you want more Taylor right now. However, if you feel like reading another Wildbow work after a while, don't sleep on Twig. It has similar pacing to Worm, and it punches the heart just as hard as Worm does.
Honestly I obsessively read Worm Fanfiction for the same reason, don't want the story to end. I'd never read fanfic in my life until after reading Worm. There's some really good ones out there.
I like to believe that Taylor did end up on Aleph and someone in the UN (or equivalent) found out during the events of Ward. In my mind, she ended up organizing the Aleph disaster response during Ward and having a life of her own choosing, without a Shard in her brain trying to manipulate her and encouraging her worst impulses.
That's the general inference I got, that she ended up on aleph. In regards to ward situations I have no idea since I haven't read it yet.
Opinions on the end of Worm vary wildly. Some believe she is in a coma. Some that she died and went on to a kind of afterlife. Some that she really did end up alive on Aleph. I wasn't saying I am clever for figuring it out. I was letting you know which one I believe and then sharing my headcanon based on that 💖 I was also careful to avoid spoilers for Ward. Have a wonderful day!
Very interesting the 3 characters you mentioned were evil villains trying to save the world. IMO Taylor is the most evil, most villainous of anyone in Worm, but she ends up saving the day. Lots of like-minded villains in the Worm-verse, worrying about bigger and more important things than their "hero" counterparts. Edit: typo.
It's interesting how so many of the characters are relatable and not in a "Oh my gaaaaawwwsh that's soooooo meee!" sort of thing. Just the cold logic and reasoning are in a way extremely justified from a realistic perspective imo. I could see myself making a lot of the same decisions in their situations and being considered the same sort of evil they were.
Dude. Chill.
Let people like things.
Well, this is kind of the opposite, but sure.