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♦ Topic: We’re Back Online
In: Boards ► Parahumans Online
Hope_In_Pithos (Admin)
Posted on August 15th, Y1:
To call the efforts of everyone involved heroic would be grossly understating things. This IT project required the efforts of seventy eight PHO staff members, employees of Stateside Online, former officials of the US government, former members of the United States space program, members of international space programs, the Guild (Masamune in particular), and numerous independent experts and volunteers. At a time when we’re all stretched thin and there is an incredible amount of work still to be done, seven hundred and eight individuals devoted spare time and valuable resources to get us and six other partners online.
Things will be clunky and frustrating. For most, with congestion being what it is, things will be slow enough that people can get a cup of coffee and come back to find the page hasn’t fully loaded. We’ve stripped away a bit of the polish and the gloss: the header images, badge graphics and the ability to include video or images are gone for now, to keep things simple and easy. We will be moderating very carefully to ensure nobody disrupts anyone’s ability to access the site. It will be painful. Help each other, be patient, and contribute the best you can.
In so many ways, things will be frustrating, slow, and painful. Care, helpfulness, patience, and contribution will make literal worlds of difference. In so many ways.
But we’re back. Stay tuned for bigger, better things. Bear with us as we sort through it all.
(Showing Page 34 of 34)
► I♥Lethe
Replied on August 16th, Y1:
@ Dgators – Generally, you want to be careful because you won’t get any updates to OS360 or other PC OSes, no patches to your phone. There is no tech support and there is little recourse for anyone hit with malware. Plausibly there’s a lot of desperate people out there who see that the defenses are down and we’re in early days. It’s probably easier for someone to come up with new means of attack than it is for anyone to roll out a proper patch. Presumably if they wanted to infect systems or get access they would want to do it now when it would probably let them get access to things that follow.
► KillDestroyKiss (Library)
Replied on August 17th, Y1:
Library project is moving ahead! Plenty of people brought laptops and phones and we’re piecing things together by loading from cache. It is more zombie net than real net but we’re finding things. There are more coming but people want to delete their search histories before they hand their computers over. Because porn.
Downside is now a lot more people know about the net access at the library. Hours-long wait times Q.Q
► Point_Me_@_The_Sky
Replied on August 17th, Y1:
I have access through the portal at the east of the city. When I go through I’ve been doing loops through the old neighborhoods to see what I can scrounge up. If you need something to fill major gaps I can try looking. If not, I’m going to see if I can round off my collection. Would be nice to have a good excuse if I get accused of smuggling or looting tho
► boaty5
Replied on August 17th, Y1:
what collection?
► Point_Me_@_The_Sky
Replied on August 17th, Y1:
Any/all of: Masque/Costumes Under Clothes/Heroine/Shine On
► boaty5
Replied on August 17th, Y1:
fuck that. I regret asking. screw the capes. screw everything about celebrating the capes. they. failed. us.
Site administrators discussed this post. We’re leaving up the first half as we feel it is important for people to process and address these feelings and sentiments. We’ve removed the second half (personal insults) and delivered one infraction.
► Point_Me_@_The_Sky
Replied on August 17th, Y1:
[Edit: removed this myself- I decided I don’t really want to get into this]
► boaty5
Replied on August 17th, Y1:
just because I’m on a site about capes doesn’t mean I like them. it means I recognize how important they are to what happened and what happens next
► KillDestroyKiss (Library)
Replied on August 17th, Y1:
Hm! @ Point_Me_@_The_Sky – We’re looking to get everything we can recorded digitally. Would you be okay with letting us scan your collection? You’re in the city?
► Point_Me_@_The_Sky
Replied on August 17th, Y1:
100%. I can bring it to your library. PM me with location & times good for you. Information is too important
End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 … 32, 33, 34
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♦ Topic: [Headline] Refugees Barred Access
In: Boards ► World News ► Main
Boo-chan
Posted on August 17th, Y1:
[Transcribed from print] Conrad James Freed and his family could tell a harrowing tale of their trip across Earth Bet’s America. They have finally reached the Northeastern Bet-Gimel portal, hearing rumor of wait times, only to be told there is a possibility they may not be allowed in at all.
They had been driving, hitchhiking and hiking for four months.
“They aren’t giving us answers,” he told Bulletin News on Saturday.
Their family had been trying to subsist on their rural property in Wisconsin when the weather took a turn for the worse. Though it was June, Conrad says he saw snow falling on the fields where he had planted the first crop of the season.
Two days later, there would be a knock at his door. Authorities had flown over and saw the lights of his house. They warned him the snowfall and the groundwater was contaminated. It would be the last straw, as the unseasonably cold weather had cut into the already thin initial harvest.
Conrad says the authorities wanted him and his family to leave right away. “They didn’t give us a chance to pack. One of the men even grabbed my daughter. He bruised her wrist, he held her so hard. I promised I would cooperate if he would only give us five minutes. I was in shock.”
He and his wife decided to make the harrowing trip to the nearest portal without the assistance of authorities, a decision he says he made on the spur of the moment, after the manhandling of his daughter and the manner in which he was forced from his home. “I came to regret that decision.”
Conrad’s story is far from unique. Evacuation is still underway even two years and two months after Gold Morning. Where things took a turn for the worse for Conrad and his family, and where an undisclosed change in policy may affect uncountable refugees from Earth Bet, is that the border agents have apparently ceased processing refugees.
Tensions are rising and as the number of people in the refugee settlement slowly climbs and resources are stretched thinner, people are speaking out. Conrad says, “We know there is more than enough space on the other side. We see people coming and going but they won’t let us through or even meet us to answer our questions. We’re willing to settle outside of the city. I know agriculture and I know they desperately need farmers. Even if they give us a minimum of supplies and tools, it has to be better than this.”
Bulletin News reached out to authorities and received no response.
–Thoughts? Anyone know what was up?
(Showing Page 19 of 20)
► K.G. Ray (City: West Point)
Replied on August 17th, Y1:
They’re letting people through again now, and they’re letting a lot through. Speculation might have been right. Article might have been more about political pressure than anything else.
► Geronimo
Replied on August 17th, Y1:
Official word is that they wanted to pause and get organized so they could double the number of people coming through. Doesn’t make a lot of sense when it comes to their silence until now.
► Nakyak (Cape Geek)
Replied on August 17th, Y1:
lots of capes stationed at the portal.
some thinkers like Squint and Danger Zone are there.
pretty sure if you watch how they rotate in and out there will always be one thinker on duty.
screening refugees?
► Point_Me_@_The_Sky
Replied on August 17th, Y1:
@ Nakyak – could be. Could be that it means less need for pain in the ass background checks with internet running at 33K. Danger Zone sees likelihood a person commits violence to each and every person around them, recency, flavor of violence. Squint sees contraband, possible other hazards. Skip background check, move people along.
► Boosher
Replied on August 17th, Y1
Speaking of security, there was another thread where someone said something about rock & a hard place? It’s apparently being talked about a lot among the refugees.
► Nutty
Replied on August 17th, Y1
@ Boosher – This article, search for Nancy Y’s statement. People traveling across the US to get to portals are being warned about multiple threats. Word on the capevine is that with everyone having pulled out, all former quarantine zones are breached. In the US and elsewhere. Nilbog is the one everyone knows about. He’s in custody, his children aren’t. If you’re paying attention to hero groups and their movements, they’re making lots of trips out. They’re tired and people say they’re aloof.
I say they’re fighting a hard fight and they’re keeping their distance from public and media because they don’t want us to know it.
► boaty5
Replied on August 17th, Y1
they don’t want to tell us a lot of things. what even happened? the world ended and nobody is willing to explain.
► Point_Me_@_The_Sky
Replied on August 17th, Y1
@ Boosher – a big part of what was being talked about in other similar articles was the threat of bandits, bad weather, the wasteland and chasms, unstoppable robot armies, the food shortages. Edit: Nutty beat me to it. Slow internet sucks. I think boaty is a good example of why they’re aloof. People want to assign blame. Assign the blame to the man who did this. In times of crisis, look to the people who are helping. Support them or try to be one of them.
► ✘ [Post removed & user infracted]
► Deepwell5
Replied on August 17th, Y1
I agree for the most part, Point@, but it’s more complicated than that. I gotta side with boaty. We made a covenant with the capes. We put up with a lot. In exchange, they were supposed to protect us. It’s pretty clear they didn’t. Maybe it was impossible. That’s fine. But let’s not ignore that they broke their end of the contract. Let’s not ignore that the PRT is gone, we no longer have non-capes in charge of them, and they have more proportional power than ever. Let’s not ignore that they’re making a new PRT without any of the key rules that defined the last one. Less communication, no oversight.
I’m scared. You should be too.
► DonJon
Replied on August 17th, Y1
Amen
End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 … 18, 19, 20
■
♦ Private Messages from Glitzglam:
Glitzglam: u cant engage with them. u gotta let it lie.
Point_Me_@_The_Sky: I’m worried what happens if the wrong ideas get traction.
Glitzglam: So am I. Im more worried about u. Thought u might need pep talk.
Glitzglam: Have u got that email yet?
Glitzglam: ? ? ?
Point_Me_@_The_Sky: If this is a pep talk it isn’t a very good one.
Glitzglam: Thats a no huh? fuck
Glitzglam: u right though
Glitzglam: I hate typing on phone. Ice cream or coffee. I pep talk u in person. When u can fit it into cray schedule
Point_Me_@_The_Sky: You’re a beautiful person. Yes. Sounds nice. Soon
Glitzglam: We can talk about how gang is getting together for big shebang and what a disaster it will be.
Point_Me_@_The_Sky: you’re doing the terrible pep talk thing again. :0
Glitzglam *New Message*: 😮 :0 😮
■
♦ You have three unread private messages from an Anonymous account. Click here to read.
Last Chapter Next Chapter
This marks the first of 2-3 weeks of pre-sequel ‘bridge’ installments, or interim chapters. They’ll go up at the usual Tues-Sat(-maybe-Thurs) chapter times, they won’t be as long as my usual chapters (some may be a quarter this long), and at the end there will be a link to the new site.
I started on the mailing list but ran into a bit of a snag – it was clunky and I’m worried the emails came with extra clutter. If you find the comment section here & you received one of those first emails, can you let me know if there were any difficulties or hassles?
Email included the entire post, I don’t mind it but you might not get too much activity in the comment section if it stays that way
That’d be the email wordpress sent you, I believe – it just does that. I’m referring to a separate mailing list.
How much does the possibility of a rewrite of Worm influence how tightly entwined Parahumans 2 is with Worm? Or is the post–Gold Morning world distant enough that any rewrites will not have too much of a ripple effect?
Some. Some.
On the subject, will that rewrite be here or on another site or something?
I’m under the impression that the edited version will be published (either as an E-book or bound in physical paper and ink) rather than posted up here for free.
I came here from the mailing list email, and didn’t notice anything strange.
Much appreciated.
The email seemed totally fine to me!
Wildbow is back!
Wildbow never went anywhere. He spent a spell writing other stories before doing more with this setting. :p
Quite good ones at that.
Just making a comment so I can be on the mailing list 😀 Cheers and happy Saturday everyone!
So that’s how you join? Alright sign me up. SB let me find this new update and well introduced me to worm!
Same!
IT’S HERE
HYPE!
HYPE!
HYYYPE!
Meh, I can read it.
*Psycho Gecko is promptly crushed by millions of words and dies, agonisingly slowly and alone
Haven’t you heard? Sticks and stones may break my bones, but I can tell you as a survivor of War And Peace: words will never hurt me.
As a fellow reader of Wildbow, we both know that’s a filthy lie.
glad to see you here ! Your comments were really fun and now i can actually reply to them with a chance to get a reply too.
Well, ya can’t cross a river without getting wet. A different story based on the same universe, and a slightly different Gecko who used to be the one known, loved, and maligned (sometimes deservedly so) by so many of the readers. I don’t know how Pact’s comments went, and I missed pretty much all of Twig, but I’m happy to give people the full Worm experience.
To paraphrase George Carlin: “I’m goin’ for a drive. You’re goin’ for a ride.”
Well that’s hard to read.
Oh my god, it’s Psycho Gecko! And they replied to ME! On a comment on a NEW WIBBOW WORM CHAPTER!
Truly I have reached Worm-Nerd Nirvana.
Psycho Gecko is back. The end is nigh.
HYPE!!
HYPE
WE MADE IT!
ALL ABOARD THE HYPE TRAIN
I’m so excited I emailed this link out to like eight people already.
HYYPE
First “chapter” of Worm 2! Good job and thanks for the memories, Wildbow 🙂
dropping this here before reading, will probably follow up with thoughts
Damn, you even steal my avatar here.
use the bakugou one lol
Great chapter! Thanks for it!
Looking good so far! 😀
YES
Mm. Wonder who Point Me at The Sky is.
Our resident PHO board moderator appears to be absent as well. She could probably do a lot to help bring the tech back up to snuff.
How exactly would you know that?
I worded my original comment badly—resident was referring to the near omnipresent force of Dragon in the old PHO boards. Given the fact that she’s still operating by the end of Worm, it would make sense that she would likely have access to the reboot of PHO. As her systems are still technologically up to date compared to before Golden Morning (sort-of), there’s a lot she could do to address the issues brought up in this chapter (for instance, things to do with hacking/security).
There is a lot she could do, but that in itself may be a problem. Dragon was arguably one of the most powerful people in the world before the Gold Morning, and as Deepwell5 pointed out, parahumans have proportionally more power. Would it look good for her to involve herself so deeply at the start of this new internet?
Or, perhaps she’s simply too busy.
I don’t think that’s its because she’s too busy, there’s no way that she’s doing too much to run an internet forum, unless she’s working on something very big. Although, it wouldn’t really be that surprising if that was what was happening.
Also, it could be that the physical infrastructure to support everything is so damaged that they have to resort to a barebones site, despite having dragon’s processing power available.
It’s incredibly likely she is involved. What makes you think she isn’t?
The Admin’s name is Hope in Pithos. A pithos is a Greek urn. Trapping hope in an urn is the sort of thing for which Pandora is known.
Who, exactly, put their hope in Pandora, recently?
There is nothing to suggest that Dragon is not a part of this rebuilding of PHO, and a decent amount to suggest that she is.
She was not an omnipresent force on PHO beforehand. That’s mostly fanon – looking at interlude 19, there are far fewer hints than there are here of Dragon’s involvement.
I’d guess Legend or another blaster. Someone with a power you don’t want aimed at you.
Someone with flight, is my guess. But as the civvie handle of a cape, who knows?
The “sky” part could be intentional bird imagery. It could be Aidan.
Or even the siiimmmuuuuurgghhh!
The Simurgh spending her time on message boards is a hilarious thought.
More messed up…
The Simurgh meeting people in the library 😉
The Simurgh can’t enter a library, her song is too loud. She would be kicked out.
Where would she keep her library card? She doesn’t have any pockets.
It’s good she can just manipulate the scattering of cosmic radiation to flip bits in computer memory to type her posts.
What are you talking about? Everybody knows she does that all the time as Winged_One.
I was so disappointed to learn that was fanon!
With WORM 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO finally entering the world, I think it’s time I reread the original so I can keep canon fresh in my mind – although WB’s already said there will be some changes with the rewrite, so… who knows?
It was really silly fanon.
It was AMAZING fanon! The most frightening depiction of an Endbringer ever. Who cares if you can destroy cities, a powerful precog on social media? Now THAT’S terrifying.
She IS known for manipulating people into becoming dangerous and violent. I can think of several communities she started up who have become prominent nowadays for murdering people over their color.
I’m talking, of course, about Bagel Lovers Anonymous.
Let he who is without sin cast the first scone.
Hehehehe. I think I’m going to like you.
Oh my.
I look forward to exchanging comments with the man whose comments on Worm amused me the most.
To be fair, we don’t know exactly when Defiant’s epilogue took place I don’t think? She could still be recovering from Pandora.
If that’s a cape we’ve seen before, then my guess is Sundancer, who has an old team and ties to a city and who also has a connection to the sky.
She’s there. Her or another iteration of Pandora. “Hope_in_Pithos” is a reference to the end result of the Pandora myth, wherein Pandora, after loosing all the evils into the world, closed the box before Hope could escape.
Cool new teaser. Nice to see what the normal people think about the whole affair.
Not surprised to see anti-cape sentiment being strong.
Glad to see this is happening! So excited for the sequel!
I’m ready for your next adventure, Wildbow.
Here we go. The ride’s warming up, fellas! The hype is real!
What is this?
An update…very surprised to see more after so long.
I’ll have to share this around a bit as I’ve recommended the series before.
It is the lead up for Worm 2, this, and the next couple updates, will be bridging the gap between the two.
Wildbow’s been off writing other things (twig and pact). This is an interlude arc(?) to bridge between worm 1 and worm 2.
It’s stuff building up to a sequel that was announced
Worm 2 is finally here!
It’s neat to see the interactions here between characters. I’m surprised that they only just got internet back 2 years after Gold Morning.
Who are Point_Me_@_The_Sky and Glitzglam, I wonder.
I got the vibe of Glitzglam being Imp (horrible peptalks and all) and Point_Me_@_The_Sky being Tattletale or something.
Doubt it, these seem like new spunky teenagers to me.
It begins!
Always been fond of PHO segments, and the subject matter presented is making me look forward to this even more.
AND SO IT BEGINS!
Heh, I was really excited for the click here.
So are records now kept in years after Gold Morning, or am I misinterpreting what ‘Y1’ means?
Glad to see that Masamune is still alive and helping with rebuilding.
I figured Y1 was Year 1, so this is 8 months after the Golden Morning.
One would have expected the big thinkers to know that you have to start with Year 0 to prevent the century/millennium off-by-one error? Anything divisible, like time or distance, has to start measuring at zero.
This was a great comment! Also correct – above they mention that it took nearly two years to get things up and running again.
Apparently we already have internet protocols designed for interplanetary networking (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interplanetary_Internet) but I don’t think anything exists for interdimensional networking yet, perhaps someone should start a github repo.
This is fascinating, and I love the attention to the infrastructure and how it impacts people’s lives. The use of thinkers to screen immigrants is clever. Worm 2 Hype! Or Parahumans 2? Glowworm?
Looking forward to it.
The reason that traditional networks fall over on an interplanetary scale is latency; depending on relative positions, it can be anywhere from 3 to 22 minutes one-way to mars, and the first data transmitted is received by the client after one RTT (so a minimum of 6 minutes). HTTP would then take a second round trip before any data at all could be sent; even with fast start, that loads a tiny web page in 12 minutes. Thus we have delay-tolerant networking, which is all about storing things closer to the person accessing them interactively.
Inter dimensional networking is much easier; bandwidth remains low. Presumably there’s not a lot of fiber running through the portal yet, so bandwidth is low, but assuming that distances and physics are similar on Earth Bet and Gimel and that a portal shows up at the same location on both, you have worst case 240ms latency. and everything works as expected.
Now, if time passes at different rates, you’ll start to see some things break. However, that’s mostly time-related things. All the routing protocols will send data through the slow-time side of the portal, though OSPF may save us because it explicitly considers costs. NTP, is, of course, completely hosed.
Surprisingly, if distances are different, everything *should* still work. The routing metric would no longer actually *be* a metric space, but I don’t think that would actually impact anything.
My bet is on Wake since Sleeper seems like he could be important and the events will follow in the wake of Gold Morning. It also fits Wildbow’s 4 letter title pattern.
Hmm, seems like sequels might break/expand the pattern. Only one data point so far, but based on Glow Worm it looks like another four-letter word gets added.
Given how there was already some informational transfer (but not actual access) through the portal between Alph and Bet, they probably had some experience in it. But given there was only the one portal at the time, and access was probably restricted, that would have been very esoteric knowledge
“I’m scared. You should be too.”
Should be tabbed.
Fixed. Thanks.
Here we go. I’ve been waiting a long time for this. ❤ you WibblyBibbly.
Bracing myself for all of the post-GM fanon dying by the wayside.
Wow. This is the first time I’ll be reading one of WB’s stories serially and even though we aren’t *technically* started yet, I’m still pretty ecstatic. It’s not surprising to see an anti-cape sentiment after Gold Morning, and I’m wondering if the normal folks will managed to establish the upper hand anywhere.
The devastation in Earth Bet is also unsurprising. I wonder how many Earths will be relatively decent when all is said and done. If we can trust Taylor’s epilogue at all, Earth Aleph is sealed away and safe despite “minor” damage, but can we trust that?
Can’t wait for more!
I’ve just read what the Pithos was and remembering the only thing left in it when it was opened.I also remember a program called Pandora that deleted herself to help her sister be free after been set up by a very defiant man.
But, time will tell with that.
Wow, I’d forgotten that was Canon, I just remembered it as part of “Dragon Unchained”.
Dragon Unchained diverged from canon during the Pandora incident.
Ich look forward to this so much it hurts.
I can’t believe we’re FINALLY back. So is Glow-worm the permanent title?
It’s probably the name of the chapter, like Teneral was for the epilogue.
My personal guess is that Glow is the name of the sequel, and he’s calling the interim chapters Glow-worm because they serve as the bridge between Glow and Worm.
Nevermind, that has been confirmed to be inaccurate on Reddit. In that case I’m putting my bets on the rather longer name of “Rise of the Planet of the Capes”
“Get your dirty paws off me you damn, dirty Man-Ape!” Wow… no wonder they dropped that whole gimmick from the movie. It really comes together when you use it in a sentence.
My first time I’m able to keep up with updates! 😀
“• Thread OP is displayed.”
The above is duplicated.
I told myself I would wait before reading this. I lied.
IT’S HAPPENING
Well grease my grill and call me George Foreman. WE’RE BACK, BABY.
The internet reconstructed from caches? At 33K? Is it even worth surviving?
Tumblr and equivalents were hit the hardest. Unsurprisingly, Google’s caches provided most of the backup, but even their data was patchy due to system failures. The former US Government revealed that they had (prior to GM) a full backup of all social media, but that less than 1% was salvageable. That 1% was mostly photos, videos, and audio, meaning that at the “new, slow-speed”, it wasn’t viable to transfer it.
Local BBSs have started to spring up, providing a service that a scattered and isolated population sorely needs.
The IPv4 Address space is ruined. There were too many devices on any one Earth to fit, and with more Earths added to the network, it’s not worth trying. IPv6 is in place, but only as a stop-gap. Engineers are working on something new, and more resilient, but it’s slow work.
Finally! Yes! We’re back! It feels like years since the last time we… wait, it HAS been years.
Now it’s time to start figuring out who everyone is.
And so it begins…
The greatest story ever told is getting a sequel! Six months after finishing Worm and I’m still not over it. Thank you, Wildbow, for giving me a fresh source of Literary-Heroine (pun intended). Looks like I’ll be reading this alongside Pact and Twig.
Also, a Post-Apocalyptic Superhero story? Yes please! My guess is that we’ll be getting this prologue interludes spaced out, with months or years in between them. Point and GlitzGlam are obviously capes, and I reckon Point must be a flier. The only flier that I know survived Gold Morning (that played any significant role in the story) is Glory Girl, but I think she would go with GlitzGlam, because of both the alliteration and it just seems like a name she would pick. I guess Point might be Laserdream?
Or they could simply be fresh triggers or new characters entirely. There’s simply no way to tell.
I wouldn’t think it’s Glory Girl, I’d assume she’s still screwed up by Amy at this time.
In Speck 30.7, when Taylor released the hostages, Amy and Victoria were reunited. It’s been over two years since then, and Amy’s been shown to have gotten over her fear of healing people by the time Gold Morning ended, so I would be amazed if GG is still ‘Icktoria’ at this point.
Ah, I forgot about that. My brain linked Yamada’s interaction with VIctoria and the blinking with her talking to Valkyrie. I do wonder if Amy is willing to do much with Victoria’s brain, especially after her meddling in Taylor’s head/shard.
Would it surprise anybody to see Amy and Victoria have their story and how they reconcile albeit not flawlessly by a long shot, be a noticeable part of this story?
Amy was still likely alive during and after GM considering Taylor made a conscious decision not to use her. If Amy lived, I doubt she would not rest until she put Glory Girl back together. If we see either them, they’ll both be extremely world weary.
Right rereading the second to last chapter, Marquis confirms Amy is alive so that’s pretty much settled there. So I imagine Victoria will be fine. If not then Bonesaw can manage it.
They both survived and were reunited at the end of Gold Morning.
Can’t be Laserdream, she doesn’t have a secret identity. Very first part of the chapter talks about protecting Point@‘s secret identity.
Excellent point. One commenter mentioned that it might be Legend, though at this point it’s probably an OC. As a counterpoint though, given the general hostility towards capes in the post-GM worlds, and given that there’s barely anyone from Brockton Bay left, it might actually be Laserdream, and she wants people to stop blaming parahumans without outing herself as one, which she couldn’t really do in person.
Obviously you’re new to the Internet and think everyone should use their real name for their screen name?
It’s clear there’s anti-cape tensions, why wouldn’t the New Wavers use different names for their “capeless” posts?
My best guess for Point’s identity is Vista. Her space-folding thing is kind of like a telescope, right?
More Vista/Missy would be totally awesome. She definitely had a lot of personality and work done to make her feel real despite how little screen time she got.
I want to see more of Vista’s power, but still think this is an OC. Assuming Point is even the protagonist, which is premature.
oh man, very excited to read this live unlike I did with Worm. and, of course, I’m already invested and interested and can’t wait till tuesday. damn you wildbow!
Holy hell, it’s happening!
Interesting. I wonder how large a factor our new, more authoritarian cape system is going to be this time around.
I’m very excited to see the state of affairs as people rebuild infrastructure. A real nice hook in the form of the (multi)geopolitical situation teaser. Congrats to Kyakan for getting a PHO cameo. 🙂
Already giving a bit of anxiety to the world, I like it. Can already see the potential, should I say, conflict? Excited to see where this goes and who the PoV character here turns out to be (if it’s even someone we already know)
I wonder how many civilians are like Boaty5 and don’t even know the basics of Golden Morning, that it was Zion that caused it.
The only people we know for sure know what happened are the ones that were fighting before Taylor went all “control everything” as I don’t recall any mention of the awareness of capes that came under her control.
Also, I can’t seem to find this on the table of contents, is that on purpose?
Added it.
Thanks.
From the Gold Morning Wikipedia Page: “As everyone knows, the Gold Morning took its name from the most important event of that date, the Gold Shower. Ah, the Gold Shower, where the blessings of Scion rained down on men, women, and children alike. The blessings tasted a little bit like asparagus, some might say, but at least they were sterile and safe for a short amount of time.”
So happy this is going up! My friend and I got into Worm 1 in Christmas 2016 and I’ve been geeking out on this thing for a week! Thank you, Wildbow, for being a damn legend.
Ps. Emojis have made it into Worm. I am happy.
YES! Off to a great start. I have so many questions, though, and I can’t just binge-read the rest of the arc to find out.
This is my “I was there” comment.
Typo thread?
# W E W A S T H E R E Y O
I can’t really express how excited I am to read this serially as it is being published. It’ll be the first Wildbow work I got to do that with. This chapter was amazing, and did some great world building about the feelings of the general populace. Can’t wait to see what world gets rebuilt.
So many memories. I guess I better read the original again.
It’s nice to see people are rebuilding. Cats and cockroaches, eh?
I wonder what the civilians would say if they learned how the PRT was corrupt in its roots. I guess they’d lose even more faith – which, now that I think about it, is likely why they haven’t been told.
Outside of that, there’s all the surviving big threats, the endbringers and those other previously contained capes…
This is shaping up to be quite a dangerous scenario. Well, it’s Wildbow after all.
The last time we saw them, the Endbringers were dormant, right until Lung managed to annoy the Simurgh. As for others, I think Taylor killed some of the really big threats she couldn’t use against Scion, when she took over everything, so it’s not as bad as it could be.
oh my god.
Just wanted to say this reminded me to drop an ending donation for twig… not that I’m unbelivably hyped for W2, because I sure as fuck I am, but seeing a new chapter reminded me that Twig is finally, incontrovertibly over and I need to pay my pound of flesh.
We’re back! I’m so ready!
I love the PHO parts, this will be great 😀 It’s so interesting to see the different opinions on what happened, I wonder how much the average person actually knows.
Well here we are again. It’s always such a pleasure.
Snow in June? (Yeah, I know it’s Wisconsin.)
Some people predicted that the end of Worm would leave Earth Bet in a nuclear winter, and it’s confirmed for sure here.
I’ve been waiting so eagerly for this!
Of Course you have.
And so it begins, the great storm of our time.
I’m excited and anxious and I can’t even explain the chills I get just going over each little section. I get to experience this post by post this time, no shortcut binging and it’ll be my first experience like this.
Looking forward to what comes after. 😀
I’M SO PUMPED!!!! IT’S HAPPENING!!!! AAAAAAA
Easy there with the Swedish-made penis enlarger.
Hi, guys! First time following a Wildbow serial as it’s being written. Quick question: what’s the time zone used when Wildbow posts stuff and the time that’s written next to a comment? I’m guessing Eastern Time?
Yes, Eastern Time!
Alright, thanks!
I’m thinking the only thing we can really read into here is that Point@ and Glitzglam are established capes, with a team that no longer operates as a unit. I’m hesitant to make assumptions about powers, especially if the forum would message Point@ for having a username that hints at their cape persona. That would be a bit idiotic if they’re trying to maintain a secret identity. Even if it is a hint, it could be any number of existing capes with a variety of powers (honestly, pretty much anything aside from a thinker) or a brand new one that we haven’t heard much about.
Good to be back on here. I’ve been waiting for this since the last chapter of Worm posted almost 4 years ago, and your work since then has only served to make me more excited for this. Looking forward to seeing what you have in store for us, Bow.
I made an account JUST for this. This will be the first of your serials I’m reading in real time – I’m so excited!
What timing… I first learned of Worm 21 days ago consuming a Worm AU qq story that I thought was so well done I should probablly locate the original.
Fan assembled ebook found 14 days ago. Finished 20 minutes ago. Worm 2 post apparently appears while im consuming the last arc. My Kindle has never been so charger dependent, and i deny all accusations of attempting to read a novel while driving.
I’d love to see an author approved, reader maintained story github repo that we can maintain a branch of typo/formatting corrections for posts like:
“I’m scared. You should be too.” Should be tabbed.
A minor community contribution to save/sreamline Wildbows editing and polishing time. Other things like maintaing formatting patches for epub device compat support might also provide value?
that’s a lucky coincidence ! I suppose you haven’t read Pact and Twig, like me ?
Hey, Wildbow. I only found out about Worm last year, and I blitzed through the whole thing in about two months. I’m happy to see this continued, and I’m sure NYC is still an absolute mess from the portal spam Khepri did in the last stages of Gold Morning.
HOLY SHIT, Parahumans 2 is here! Never been so hyped in my life!
And here we go.
Yeah! Here we go!!
Oh man, I am so excited.
I am so looking forward to the continuation.
HYPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It begins!
Really interesting-i’m liking the worldbuilding tack this is going on. I hope it keeps the feel of rebuilding after the apocalypse into the story proper-that’d be very fun.
Yay! It’s alive!
I missed the release of the original to spam at the comments, but am totally doing it for this one.
The thing that jumps out at me the earliest: why, if it took them two years to resurrect the Interwebs, are the dates saying Y1?
But also, civilian-accounts for capes is going to exploderize the fandom, after the whole custom badges arguments.
Finally: Glitzglam and Point used to be part of a gang? A hero team? Crap, I gotta go recheck who survived GM…
Color me entranced!
Y0 was the first year, is my guess
>>Glitzglam and Point
They sound like Parian and Foil for me. It’s not my native language to catch a clue, but it seems to me that the first is related to the fashion, and the second to the aiming that of the known connected characters gives exactly this pair.
Welcome to the prologue! If you’ve reached this comment then BEWARE! There are spoilers below and probably spoilers in comment replies above too. If you got to this point without reading Worm then you’re terribly lost.
Please keep all limbs and belongings inside the ride at all times and silence all devices. The show’s about to begin.
So this begins. And it’s called like a fanfic.
Well, after 4 years the name was bound to have been taken.
I also found extremely amusing the fact that the first chapter of Parahumans 2 is a PHO interlude. Was laughing my was off the fist minute or so.
Heh. I assumed that I’d missed an obvious hint or two about the identity of the accounts, and that the comments would make me feel like an idiot. But it seems y’all are just as in-the-dark as I am.
the time has come !!!! the hype is real !!!!!
Well, Dragon or whoever is running Parahumans Online is certainly a fair administrator.
Initial thoughts:
1) I♥Lethe is a character we already know. Our beloved author confirmed Lethe is referencing someone. Many of us think it’s Imp, since Lethe is a Greek spirit of “oblivion” “forgetfulness” and “concealment.” This lead me to believe the user was one of the Heartbroken, although I can’t recall if any of them were particularly… “techy”… for a lack of a better word. Could just be a fan, I suppose, but if that’s the case, Imp has probably changed her name and gained quite the reputation for herself.
2) Point_Me_@_The_Sky and Glitzglam are probably not our protagonists. I suspect Point is female mostly for the “You’re a beautiful person” comment and Glitz’s talk of bringing icecream, but otherwise the character’s gender is pretty ambigious. Glitz reminds me of Tattletale in the way she texts, but I wouldn’t go so far to say it’s her, yet, particularly due to the username. That said, I do not think it’s Glory Girl based on the alliteration. Personality should be more telling, there, and while it’s been two years since Golden Morning, I don’t believe Victoria would change *that* much.
3) For those wondering, Wildbow has already said in the Cauldron discord server that Glow will not be the name of the new serial. As a fun fact, he was originally considering the name “Firefly” for this little arc, but shied away from it due to the connotations of that name.
4) I’m gonna go out on a limb here and guess that Wb will be referencing the actual new MC at some point during these PHO interludes. I doubt it’s Point/Glitz, but it could be another female who is prominent on the forums. My current pet theory is that it’s going to be Conrad’s daughter, who either triggers due to the contamination (maybe their whole family ends up getting affected) or triggers naturally during their “harrowing journey” to Earth Gibel. I wouldn’t be surprised if that little article was just a matter of worldbuilding / establishing tone, but personally I’d at least love to see the family show up at some point in the story. Calling it here and now if it happens for cred 😛
5) It appears Point names four novels that deal with capes: Masque, Costumes Under Clothes, Heroine and Shine On. These could all just be throwaway titles for the sake of worldbuilding, but considering past references Wb has made to his stories within his stories via book titles, I can’t help but wonder if these are applicable too. If anyone else wants to help me come up with crack pot theories about what these could be easter eggs of, feel free to comment.
Aaaand I think that’s it. Thanks for being so awesome and inspirational, Wildbow. Looking forward to your next update.
1. Referencing someone awesome in the community.
re: 1 & 3: I generally prefer that people ask before sharing comments from various chats and such. Too easy for misinformation to spread.
1. Oh, I see 🙂
1&3. Sorry about that! I’ll keep it in mind for the future
Thanks
>I don’t believe Victoria would change *that* much.
The last time we saw her, she was a shoggoth. I imagine Amy and Yamada had to rebuild her personality from scratch.
Yay, new Worm! I’ve been waiting years for this. Figured I’d finally try and figure out these comment sections and follow along, since I came in after the fact for the first one >.>
Wild guess here, tattletale helped set up or encouraged setting up pho again to get access to a database of information. Will this be the only time skip with each pho chapter moving further along in time setting up this new world. I wonder what underlying themes will be present for the sequel such as worm had a theme of escalation. An important question to wonder about the protagonist is: who’s side are they on and what sides are there?
Well, the epilogues left a couple factions. There’s the new PRT, no longer headed by a Cauldron puppet, apparently to the dismay of general populace. There’s Teacher, with people like Contessa, Satyrical and Lung on his side. There’s Dragon and Defiant, who are probably going to beat the shit out of Teacher sooner or later.
I’m sure the political landscape has shifted a bit by now.
Don’t forget that the remainder of the Undersiders and Heartbroken were finally pissed enough with Teacher to go an neuter him too at the end of their epilogue.
Omg! New Worm content!!! I’ve been looking forward to this ever since I binged the whole thing this past summer!
This is the first time I’ll be reading one of your stories serially, I’m really excited for this and I know I will love Parahumans 2 !
Gold Morning was in June of 2013, and judging by that article and the post dates, we’re now two years and two months after that event. Assuming that’s true, it looks like they’ve started using a new calendar, with Y1 equating to 2015. I do wonder why they have that set as Y1, rather than the first year following Gold Morning. Maybe it took them until 2015 to get enough infrastructure rebuilt to actually communicate and discuss things like calendar issues on a large scale?
Yaaaay hype! Danger Zone reminds me a little of Arbiter!
I hope we get more details about what happened worldwide.
Most post-apocalyptic worlds go “here’s what happened in the USA”, and you just mostly assume that everywhere else is the same.
Like, I’m French, and I wouldn’t care much what form the new american PRT would take. How is the Internet in post Golden Morning Europe? Russia? China? Maghreb? I ask in part because I’d expect Scion to have hit some places harder than others, and for the least-hit places to become hubs from society to reform around.
Well, from the tiny bit I remember, Scion pretty much obliterated England with his first blast. I predict poor internet coverage over yonder.
… I should just go and reread everything.
Is there any nation-state anymore? With everyone being a refugee originating from every corner of earth Bet, is there any USA or Russia anymore?
I don’t need to ask about the state of PHO in my home nation… Scion sank it.
Said every fan in the British Isles. Oh well. Keep calm and pray it was just Bet’s, eh?
The survivor motto: Stay calm and keep swimming
Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming…
Alternatively, they just went ahead and made Finding Nemo/Finding Dory the national movie.
You’re french too ? Nice to see a fellow countryman here !
Happy to see worm coming back. Just wish the story was already done so i don’t have to wait on each installment. 🤔
Woot woot, it’s finally here! Didn’t expect it to start by parahumans online, I’m wondering if the faces behind the forums will be main characters for what comes next
Have alerted my fellow worm reader, hopefully she will be down to read with me even though last time she took a (six month) break between the last arc and the interludes.
Awesome. Can’t wait for the next update.
Normals vs parahumans incoming.
I guess the normals don’t know how golden morning played out exactly. I doubt they even know what kind of strength the Scion had. Nor did they say anything about the (large amount) of people that sacrificed themselves to stop Scion…
Ignorance is bliss, but in this case it seems like ignorance will cause a war.
The screening Thinker is probably Tattletale, and maybe another one.
… After all these years, still tried to click links to other discussion pages. Doesn’t get old.
Couple questions wildbow, will you make a new entry in TWF for PH2 or should be just switch back to voting for worm ?
Also the usual one – how long do you plan for it to roughly be, relative to your other works ?
Thanks in advance.
Seems a little weird that now, with no Scion, Endbringers etc. that a lady with a hat hasn’t fixed everything, or close to it. Has she decided to stop using her power for good? Is everything so borked that even the big C can’t fix it? Or are there new blindspots?
She has issues coming up with goals on her own, so she chose to follow a different group. It was implied that she wound up with Teacher after the final battle, but I’m not sure if she was clearly “on his side” or not.
Woo, it’s happening! Though I read worm long after it had been finished so I’m not used to the waiting ( 〃．．)
WHERE’S PSYCHO GECKO AT? Doesn’t feel like a Worm thread without it.
I’m afraid Genoscythe the Eyeraper got him.
Got a feeling he’ll turn up eventually.
Sadly, Genoscythe died in Worm canon in the big final battle. He will be missed. He is survived by his only living son, EyeGor the Walking Eye, the result of a lusty fling between him and one of his last victims, who has grown up to be a famous electronic device mascot.
He’ll be here; we were talking about worm2 the other night.
It. IT? I’ll have you know my preferred gender pronoun is “Pennywise,” not “It”. I spend one Halloween not terrorizing people while dressed as a clown and this happens. Ugh, I’ll get an earful of “told ya so’s” from that guy I know who identifies as a haunted hotel in the middle of the snowy wilderness.
Ah, PHO interludes, how I’ve missed you.
I was a little late to the Worm party, so this’ll be my first live read.
It’s gonna be interesting to see what fanon got wrong and right about post GM.
Thanks WB.
Hype!
Vote reminder, since WildBow hasn’t placed a new entry:
http://topwebfiction.com/vote.php?for=worm
I’ll withhold my thoughts until I can better organize these chapters in my head; perhaps until these short but interesting interludes end. It’s definitely been such a ride, epic conclusion of Twig all, and I’m still recovering! I’ll be glad to embark on another journey into the Wormverse(Paraverse?).
And as with everyone else, I am thoroughly & utterly hyped.
I was late to the party for the other 3 stories but I’m proud to be here chapter one and anxious to read on real time and participate on the comment section speculation.
I would like to thanks Wildbow for the amazing worlds he creates where we can run from real life a few minutes at a time and just enjoy a excellent story.
THANK YOU WILDBOW.
I have completed faith that this is gonna be your best work yet, and that is a pretty high bar already =)
Great
Looking forward to this, quite a bit.
So it begins…
I’m incredibly hyped, as Worm was my favorite wildbow work. And it made me appreciate the whole genre of superheroes more. And now I can be there live with every chapter. And judging by the high amount of comments, lots of other people are like that.
Like many do I wonder who Point@ and GlitzGlam are. Somehow I doubt they are capes we know, although later they may be some hints. I also don’t think they are our main characters for the series, but maybe secondary characters, like the team our MC is going to join?
I do wonder, will we get somebody established or a newcomer?
Also, interesting in how the society does after the Gold Morning, I actually thought after two years it would be a bit further along, especially as parts of the world seemed relatively intact. Was that just a perception by that, or did things happen in the intervening years?
Yay! It begins again!
“Where were you when Parahumans 2 started?”
“In my house, reading, excited out of my fucking mind.”
Very excited Wildbow, it’ll be interesting as the mystery of what’s happened is revealed.
What will the title of the book be? Will you keep to the four-letter theme?
I’m hoping for worm two:electric boogaloo
So excited to see it back!!
As someone that loves superhero fiction, Worm is the best of the genre, and my favourite story overall. I’m so excited for this Sequel.
Oh, I just finished Worm about two weeks ago, so for the sequel to be here already is incredible. I’m very excited. Worm 1 was already very good, and Wildbow has only gotten better since. This could be something great.
I really love this as an introduction to the post-Worm world. Parahumans Online 4eva.
Nice to see a familiar name on the comments thread! I reckon the someone awesome in the community cameo reference.. was you.
Heh – mine was among the names Wildbow riffed off of for that first Parahumans Online chapter, ages ago. 🙂
Don’t think I’ll be nearly so active in the comments section this time, but I’m looking forward to the new story for sure.
Hello again, Packbat. I look forward to seeing many old, familiar faces, and several new ones.
PS. I wonder if I can steal Dragon’s old forum handle…
I don’t know if PG means lots of people we’ve not met yet, or if her means old names with plastic surgery…
Yes
I got a text in the middle of the night from a fan I know in RL that was like “I just found out. Parahumans 2. It’s happening.” Gonna be a lot of us showing up again, I think.
So excited for Parahumans 2! I’ve been reading post to post since arc 14 of twig but it’ll be intriguing while also excruciating to start a story at the beginning with nothing to binge. Worm may be my favorite story ever so it’s hard to put into words how I’ll be sitting on the edge of my seat for each new chapter.
It’s great to see that this is happening for real; I consider my self to be pretty lucky since, I only finished the original a few months ago so I haven’t had that long to wait.
The way this was presented worked well in regards to how people are reacting and I looking forward to seeing how the Parahuman/Civilian interactions might have changed and continue to do so as things progress.
Extremely excited to have this to look forward to every few days. Thanks for the story Wildbow- I’m so psyched to be able to read this new Worm live.
That’s here again. It is beautiful and frightening. As always.
The story made an indelible impression on me. So strong that I read half the text in a foreign language that I do not know well (yeah, it’s embarrassing) with the help of a google translator (yeah, it’s really creepy) and make me seriously worried about the issue of my skills (including the survival of extreme situations).
And I got a phobia from reading. No, not the fear of insects. Cold piercing fear of timetravel before November 2013 – because a random butterfly can provoke a reroll of one of the dice of the battle with the S-class and something irreparable will happen.
Reading Worm is like licking a poisoned blade. It does not leave indifferent and causes genuine concern for the fate of the characters. The prologue of the second part causes mixed feelings – I want to know what happened, but I also do not like it would continue after everything ended “good” (In the standard of that story? This is a living magnificent miracle!). Because while Worm goes on any “good” means “it’s become too quiet here! .. ” and is preparing to go worMst and deeper.
And still there are heroes (with any other name?) about whose fate I’m worried about. Even now. Especially now. What I feel after joy can not be described differently than
>> I’m afraid. You too must be.
This is wonderful and disturbing.
Wilbow is amazing. Thank you very much for the fact that this all exists and that we know it.
Hey, I actually get to comment as this story comes out! Neat! I found Worm a couple years ago and I’m glad I can experience the sequel first hand.
Ooooh yeah, toot toot, all aboard the Hype Train!
Chiming in to say that this is the first time I’m around for the beginning of a wildbow web serial as well. I’m greatly looking forward to the experience of following it as it unfolds. I’ve gotten so much out of the 3 webnovels before this, but Worm was definitely my favorite of the three, so I am super hyped enough for this to actually comment for once.
Too early to really start speculating about much. I do hope that we get plenty of characters viewpoints on Taylor’s actions. It will be interesting to see how she is remembered in this new world. I can hope for her being memorialized as a hero in the end, but this isn’t that kind of story, and honestly Taylor was possibly not that kind of character. I can’t wait to see how the events of Taylor’s story inform this one.
Oh my god. It’s here!! Aaaaaah, I’m so excited!
First off, thank you, Wildbow, for bringing Worm to us. It was/is an amazing piece of fiction, one that I love so very much. It enrichened my life greatly, and I really can’t thank you enough for writing it. You’re awesome, Wildbow.
I’m reeeaaalllyyy looking forward to this continuation of Worm. I hope you have a nice time writing it! I’m certain it’s going to be great! More than great!
Love ya, Cloud.
New Worm/Parahuman content! Worm is the best story I have ever read. Thank you for everything Wildbow!
Exciting stuff.
Oh wow, I just finished ‘rereading’ the series today via the audio book and now this. Thank you very much!!
I am so happy to be here
So good to see this back again.
What was that about unstoppable robot armies? Only one I can think of who might be able to make those is Dragon.
There was some WOG a while back about quarantine zones, mentioning the “Machine Army” quarantine in Eagleton, Tennessee. I think this is what it’s referring to?
I just waiting got the escalation…..
.
Glad to see this is back. Wonder how long it has been since Gold Mourning. Will people her get the full story of what Taylor did?
I remember putting the original Worm on hold for over a year when I found it thinking I had enough to read at the time. I remember getting losing sleep when I finally started. Looks like history will repeat itself
AND SO IT BEGINS!
I got to Worm long after it was complete. I’m so glad to be in at the very beginning this time!
Oh my god, what a great birthday gift.
Thanks for all the work so far, Wildbow, and I can’t wait to obsessively follow whatever comes next.
I’m unbelievably excited to be on the ground floor for Worm 2.
WB, you’ve put together amazing stories and amazing communities have risen up around those stories. Being a part of that is thrilling. Can’t wait to see more Worm from the actual author himself!
Well, sorted myself a wordpress. Looks like I’m a commentor this time. Neato.
Bugger it. Had to switch Facebook to WordPress to get an avatar? Positively bizarre. In any case… GlitzGlam would be a fun cape name.
Love your avatar, incidentally.
Huh, it’s been up more than five minutes and still hasn’t taken top spot on topwebficton.. someone musta rigged the votes…
Here, to a new Worm *clink*
Neither Danger Zones nor Squints power sound like it would help foster conflict.
We might just not know their actual powers but maybe now, w/o the entities, new shards are less wired for conflict?
I’m pretty sure both Capes are completely capable of causing conflict in creative ways.
WORM. is. back. Looking forward to the next years 🙂
Hype gotten.
It’s here! Ok, now that I have that out of the way (only found Worm after it was finished, glad to see this as it posts), thoughts.
I like how our first look is a PHO post detailing some bigger events with various posters giving us more than one opinion on things, and how we can see the opinion on capes has shifted following GMorning. The cape vs normie conflict will definitely be interesting in how capes are (probably) one of the things keeping some semblance of order and ade walking artillery platforms or super-soldiers, but are outnumbered by far by unpowered people. Plus, Glastig Uaine and Bonesaw flipping sides and being let off (so far as the public knows), as well as Galvanate turned Godsend and whoever else, will probably cause problems.
The quarantine zone breakings are more than likely gonna be plot-relevant too; I loved reading about the quarentine zones, so here’s to hoping we’ll see Pastor, the robot army, and whatever happened in Flint that was straight-up REDACTED. (Wondering if it was an Echidna-type incident, only not stopped like she was.)
There’s probably more I could gush about, but I’ll end with saying that no matter what happens in this story, Hope_in_Pithos’ opening statement of all the work that went into bringing it back online, the best example of humanity getting knocked down and getting back up, will probably stick with me through all of it.
This is gonna be one hell of a ride.
I hope anti-cape stuff isn’t the main thrust of the new story. I feel like it’s overused in superhero media
Also where is psycho gecko?
Boo!
Same. We don’t need another X-Menlite story.
I feel like that’s not really a problem: I’d have said similar about superhero stories until Wildbow totally upended everything I thought I knew with Worm. I’ve already found myself wondering what his take will be on the anti-superhero tropes.
Should be a fun ride. Glad to actually be a part of it this time.
So looking forward to this.
Also, looking forward to the publishing of the hardcopy. They will have pride of place on my bookshelf.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SKB6HKJnwQ
“Nakyak (Cape Geek)
Replied on August 17th, Y1:
lots of capes stationed at the portal.
some thinkers like Squint and Danger Zone are there.”
Well then, clearly that farmer just needs to take the highway to Danger Zone. Ya hear that, Wildbow? Wildbow. Hey Wildbow! …Danja zone!
Nice to see the Squints have gotten jobs outside the Jeffersonian. Not sure portal duties good for the one whose specialty is rocks, dirt, and mold.
“bad weather, the wasteland and chasms, unstoppable robot armies, the food shortages. ”
I don’t see the problem here. Between the chasms and unstoppable robot armies, sounds like meat’s getting pretty plentiful. And just look at things from the robots’ perspectives! No matter how many humans they kill, the things just keep popping out babies from the portable factory contained in about half of them. Then sometimes those babies are packing a tiny pistol in their diapers and EVERYONE objects to a bit of violent self defense when you’re dealing with it.
Ugh. Dealing with that kinda crap, is it any wonder I can sympathize with capes who just don’t want to put up with regular people? You spend your days flying around, fighting dangerous fungal shroom squids from the depths of the Sheboygan Chasm, you salvage medically-necessary fleshlights, and all you do is catch crap any time you try to talk to someone because they automatically assume you fucked up.
Humans, not worth the flesh they’re printed on. #ScionDidNothingWrong
Humans tend to be Shitty to things other than themselves ( See also: WWII, Racial Conflicts, Pollution)
And I disagree with your statemental Hashtag.
#ScionMessedWithTheWrongShard
I have very much seen how shitty they get. Like “someone linking me to a video about how they oppose integration” levels of shitty. An important lesson about life and Worm there.
Another important lesson: hard to cry when you’re laughing.
#GoldMorningWasAnInsideJob
#BugGutsCan’tMeltMenOfSteel
PsychoGecko is back… god its been so long….
Psycho Gecko and a Wildbow serial…
God has no place here.
The other guy though…
I am so glad I get to experience the legend that is you in live.
I’ll tell you what I tell people I oggle. “Oh yeah, baby, I’m gonna disappoint you so HARD.”
#ScionNeededCounceling
I’m so glad you’re back. Wouldn’t be the same without you.
Ladies and gentelman! The Man, The Myth, The Legend! The Hype is real.
#GeckoBow2017
Damn, coming back to this site brings back plenty of fond memories of sleepless nights reading an excellent web serial.
I loved Worm, Pact, and Twig, and I have every confidence that this will exceed my expectations.
…still a little disappointed we didn’t start off with a line like ‘I, Danny Hebert, AKA Teacher, peered down an elevator shaft I had just deposited Dragon, the Undersiders, and my wife down. I laughed. “Come, Greg. There is still much work to be done.”
(Also, Psycho Gecko is back? 0_0)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rrnko1LeG2M
We have been waiting a long time for this, welcome back into our hearts Worm, my tears are ready.
The machine army is one of those “incidents” right? i hope we also learn more about the weird cult, so many questions lingering from worm.
Am guessing “Worm 2″‘s name will be Glow?
worm two: electric boogaloo
Personally, I’m thinking it might be Wing.
Literally just finished Worm 1 for the first time.
Then Wildbow posts the sequel?
The Ride Never Ends.
So excited to be able to react along with everyone else this time around. Sad that I was there to freak in out in the comments the first time around.
Thanks to V O I D and Atria for turning me on to this.
It’s happening!
I’m excited to finally follow one of Wildbow’s serials live, and even more excited that it’s Parahumans 2!
I’ll try yo read Pact and Twig as this goes on but it’snice to actually see the birth of one of Wildbow’s books. Everyone on the railroad Worm hype train !
Exactly what I was thinking! I’m still trying to decide which first, but Twig seems to be the more highly recommended by most people (not that it matters all that much, when you plan to read both in the end).
Are they letting Canadians through the portal or is it only for former American citizens?
So I’m assuming this will be a set up of Post-Gold Morning over the years? This being Year 1 and all?
Hey, what’s that? Worm 1.5’s first chapter? AHAHAHA! Well, I know what I’m re-reading constantly and making a WordPress account for. Lurking’s all well and good, but for this, you know.
I mean, I lurked all of Pact and Twig. Can’t be doing that for Parahumans though. No no, one must put on their hype music and commentate for this shit.
Did I mention hype? And already-present delicious droplets of potential conflict? Enough droplets to fill several state reservoirs, actually.
Anywho, on to content.
PHO interlude, a nice update on the state of the internet(rebooting the internet from caches sounds hellish, and on 33K, shite gurl.), some information on what’s up with civilian/cape identities(notably that they definitely still exist and are relevant even after a trans-dimensional apocalypse), some hints at possibly Parian and Foil as one commentator Point-ed out(Although who really knows), refugee drama(Hey, just like real life!), a glimpse into how capes are responding to the(definitely not sexual, ignore the all the fanart) tension between them and the civilian population, and a little bit of the good old blame game.
I’m sure I missed something, but that looks mostly right to my eyes at the moment.
Now, on the topic of a protagonist… One must consider all angles. Because while it’s very likely that we’ll have a new one, you have to consider a few things about the story before you can really make any judgements.
1) This is Worm 2’s buildup. Wildbow’s excellent at tension and even more excellent at escalation, so one has to assume that whatever happens, Parahumans 2 is going to have higher stakes than its predecessor. Which, yes, hard to do, but it’s the ‘Bow.
2) Who is Queen of Escalation? I’ll leave that point at that.
3) Now, to the real meat of the matter; Wildbow’s been writing other stories, so that he can learn to write humor, expand on character interaction, etc, but one of the goals that Twig succeeded very well at was writing a different sort of protagonist, a character with more focus on relationships and intimacy. Now, in the context of Worm, there are two real possibilities as to how this applies here.
3A) Wildbow will be writing a character that’s not Taylor in Worm 2. I think this is pretty commonly accepted(I haven’t accepted it!), but it makes a certain degree of sense. (I’m assuming that spoilers for Worm are okay because, well. But if not, ‘Bow, or someone else, slap me with a fish and I’ll shush) It makes sense because at the end of Worm, Taylor had… If not completed her journey as a character, than she at least cleared all the tasks at hand that were preventing her from completing it. She was going to college, powerless, actually connecting to her father, and had finally learned some very important lessons. Like not escalating everything all of the time, and that the ends don’t always justify the means.(Both of these, by the way, eww. Keep going Khepri li Britannia, escalate, dominate, and rise victorious; your merciless determination is all I’ve ever wanted, throw aside morality and mortality and do what must be done! Definitely not a fanatic. Nopee.) In this sense, writing a new character makes a hell of a lot of sense, because with the experience he has now writing different protagonists, he can do a lot with a new kind of character. That, as well as other more general writing experience and experimentation, is kind of what I assume he was trying to do with Pact and Twig, beside the obvious of creating amazing stories.
3B) On the other hand… All of that makes sense in a different light as well. Particularly, at the end of the last installment of Worm, Taylor was growing. A more rounded individual, with more trust, better relationships, who could afford to care about things other than the end of the world. She was learning to be something more human than the ceaseless overlord, villain, and savoir that she was in the end. She was, one could say, becoming a different person, in a way. …So, I ask you; do you think that Wildbow’s going to write a different character, or a different Taylor?
Tune in next week for more rambling commentary, questions and predictions! Oh, also. Hi everyone; hope you enjoy this ride in the same way I’m going to. With tears, rage, love, and probably lots of cursing, that is. Ayoooo, I’m outta here.
WB stated that Worm 2 won’t follow Taylor. Mind you, I also thought he said that Worm 2 would take place ten years after Worm, but when I mentioned that on r/Parahumans he actually responded to me with “Source?”
So I guess I was wrong on that. Still, 99% certain that Worm 2 doesn’t follow Taylor.
Woo, more space whale shenanigans.
This will be my first time reading a serial entirely in real time, I’m excited.
Holy crap, more Worm! And I still haven’t finished Pact or Twig!
I just finished worm this past week only to find the sequel has gone up! Lucky me!
Just when I think I’m out, they pull me back in again…
The legend returns… No not that Legend, actually he is probably returning as well… So would this be the Legends return?
Either way, really excited to be reading this live.
Oh lord this has a LOT of comments already. But this will certainly be interesting, read through worm when you were working on Pact, so it will be strange reading the second one with pauses between updates. Well hope to see some more great work from you!
This is my obligatory “I was here for the start of this” post, as well as a publicly stated challenge to myself to comment at least once per post for the duration of the story (I was quite the lurker back in Worm, posting maybe 10 times total, and even worse in Pact and Twig; I fully sympathize with glitterglam’s hatred of phone typing).
So anyhow, I like the use of the new calendar, and how it reinforces the idea that all of this is something new. Any guesses as to whether or not it still begins in January?
As long as Khepri day is an interdimensional holiday, I’m good whichever month it starts in!
Looking forward to actually contributing to the commenting this time around.
Cool.
Not much time passes where this story/world isn’t on my mind in some fashion. It’s great to be back in it officially again.
Let’s wait
Yey. Worm continues. Made this comment to get on the mailing list. Now to spread the word.
And on this day, in the year of the Common Era 2762, mankind rediscovers the largest vault of their ancestors, the internet. Locked within it, a vast collection of knowledge. Not just knowledge of the facts known to humanity at the time, but the perfectly preserved thoughts, dreams, and even arguments of far-gone peoples. Tiny shards of their souls broken off and flung into the binary ether. In one tiny corner they find, for one day at least, excitement and joy preserved in the letters of ancient tongue. The joined camaraderie of strangers, constant companions, and long-lost friends finding each other again in joy.
Even that one melodramatic guy who tells dick jokes and should probably just shut the hell up.
Yeehaw, glad to be back! I skipped out on Twig, didn’t grab me the way Worm and Pact did, but I’m already in on this. Here’s to the future.
Well this immediately made today a good day.
Get hyped!
I love PHO *ludes.
Also, three anonymous messages? I clicked ‘here’ to expect to see new website at the end.
Also, it is my first time commenting on ongoing Worm updates, so…
*looks around meaningfully*
Ahem.
And here… we… go.
I WAS on the mailing list at one time, didnt get an email. Saw Worm (1) on my RSS feed and flipped my shit.
I was going to make a comment on this with the next chapter, but not quite sure how to move forward: I got about 10% of the mail sent, and then Google started leaving me very concerned messages saying ‘We’ve detected concerning activity on your account…’ (large number of emails sent).
Not wholly sure how to move forward.
I solved that problem by buying a domain name, and paying a little extra to tie a working email address to it. My mailing list is a lot less fussy now that I’m not using the gmail account for it. Can’t say it’d solve your problem, I don’t know your mailing list provider.
Aw yeah bru !
Worm 2 is happening you guys omg!!!!! Moment of hypest shiiiiiiiiiit
I was a bit worried that there would be a visible transition period between Twig-style and Worm-style writing as you got used to it again, but this reads just like Worm to me. Good chapter, and excellent job!
I’m excited to read a story as it comes out. I’m near the end of Pact, and read through Worm twice. I wonder who the mods are and whether the poster hostile to capes will be significant in the future or is just representative of the zeitgeist.
I just saw that this was up, and I am so happy right now.
Also I would like to echo the fine folks above me in expressing excitement for getting to participate in the comments this time around, never really got a chance for that last time and I hope I can overcome my lurker tendencies to join the fun this time.
Yay!
Have Hype.
Want emails.
Can’t wait to read this. A lot of time was spent reading worm now more time will be “wasted”
Nothing is more horrifying than slow load times.
Whoa … there may have been a cameo of me in here!!! I could be wrong, but one of the usernames in the James Freed section sounds very familiar ^^ (and not a direct reference to the account I’m currently commenting under).
In any case thank you, Wildbow, for a life-changing series!!! I’m pumped and SO ready to keep moving forward with more Worm!!!
Yep. Trying to give some nods to some long-time supporters and people who have given a lot to the community.
Thank you for being a fan, Mr. Enigma.
!!!!!
I have no words. Thank you again for your amazing work, and your awesome presence outside the page; immensely happy to show my support!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Based on the username “Point_Me@The_Sky,” the title “Glow Worm,” and the silvery figure in the Reddit & Patreon banners, I would assume the character’s power has something to do with light. Also, Glitzglam is either a best friend or love interest (or both?) to the protagonist.
Im hype as hell dude,
Worm was my book ive ever read,
I cant wait for more!
Best*, not ‘my’
Kill me
Aww yea. We back. Get hype. And it seems like every bit of hope needs to have a bit of dread attached. More things change, more things stay the same. Cant wait.
Yessss
Reporting for duty, its good to be back. And this time, im into this from the very beggining.
(i see lots of familiar faces here, glad to have you back guys)
Happy that I’ll finally be able to ve here from the start!
I discovered worm this year and binge-read it in a few weeks. Amazing!
It’ll be nice to follow along the new story with everyone else. On the flip side, no more binge reading on this one…
Weee Worm2 finally!!!
I got on the Worm train late (like after it had finished!), so I’m happy to be here at the beginning for the sequel! So hype!
I’m ready!
I have the best luck! I was re-reading Worm, and as I was going through the epilogue, I see this on the table of contents. I will finally get to follow along as it is being written.
Yay, first wildbow story that I’ll see from day one. Good thing I reread Worm over the last few week while waiting for the final chapters of Twig. Might come in handy, might not. All aboard the hype train! Choo-choo!
Same here to be honest. I’m pretty pumped to be able to interact and react to each chapter with the community! Let us be freshins together!
Yay, freshie-power!
I’m curious though how WB will set the stage for this new chapter in the Wormverse. Compared to the epilogues of Worm itself, who painted a somewhat optimistic picture, these snippet really feel like the kind of crapsaccharine world that we know and love WB and his stories for. It’s gonna be a ride, I’m sure.
I feel like I should post something here but I can’t really think of something that isn’t repeating numerous times. So I’ll leave this: Orange dancing sky weasels drinking cabbages and, in all seriousness, Good Luck Wildbow, I hope you enjoy writing the sequel as much as the fans enjoy reading it.
Excited!!!!
I honestly am still in disbelief that this is happening. I really thought that Worm was one and done but I’m so happy that’s not the case since this is HANDS DOWN my favorite superhero universe. Thanks for the awesome work Wildbow. Also loving Twig btw.
Perfect start.
World building and leaving us wanting so much more.
I’m so mad there’s not already millions of words to read
Linked accounts are a really weird concept. The benefit is that you can avoid accidentally outing oneself, but the drawback is that you need to trust the website’s security and the website admins not to turn over the information to the government. I’d expect mostly heroes to use it, but I’m surprised it’s a service at all. 95% of PHO’s users have got to be normals, right?
Wildbow, any way we can get an edit button for commenting?
Congrats to the Conrad Freed story on being the first ~image~ event of the Worm 2.
Also, sad laughter at people missing the old PRT’s oversight of parahumans.
1) Yay!!! Sooooo excited!!
2) I’m going to guess that the new story is going to center on new people and new problems. Even so, I’d like to request a cameo or brief appearance or at least a check in on the Undersiders.
3) “Hope-in-pithos.” Pandora’s ‘box’ was a pithos. After all the ills of world escaped the box, hope was what remained. Great name.
4) That last bit, where it says “yoy have three unread private messages from an Anonymous account. Click _here_…”
I keep trying to click it.
5) Squeeeee!
And 6) Best not get attached to either GlitzGlam or PointMe… Wildbow’s got that Whedon thing going.
Looking forward to reading more from you WB. Always exciting.
I followed all of Pact and all of Twig but reading this update was like a (good, happy) punch in the gut of how much I loved the Worm world, specifically. I am so excited to see you write this with all the experience you got from the other two projects.
IT’S REAL
List of possible typos. I’m going to ignore most of the small errors in the board posts/comments, as we can’t expect the users to copy-edit everything they say. 😉
“Unread messages in private message history”—missing period at end
“They warned him the snowfall and the groundwater was contaminated.”—”was” should be “were”—I *do* expect the news organization to have copy-editors 😀
“…made on the spur of the moment, after the manhandling of his daughter…”—comma should not be there
“‘We see people coming and going but they won’t let us through…’”—comma should be inserted before “but”
“some thinkers like Squint and Danger Zone are there.”—space following “Danger Zone” is underlined
“Replied on August 17th, Y1″—I’m not quite sure what the pattern is for which comments have bold “Replied” text. They’re possibly ones that are new since Point_Me_@_The_Sky last looked at the thread, in which case they’re fine. However, the first bunch are followed by a colon and the last few are missing that.
“[Edit: removed this myself- I decided I don’t really want to get into this]”—There’s a hyphen here where Point_Me_@_The_Sky has been using an en dash in their other comments. Side note—it’s a little odd that such a variety of different users on this forum use en dashes this way. In my experience, you have to go at least a little out of your way to use any dash other than a hyphen, and the correct dash to use in all of these scenarios is an em dash. [For anyone who wants to make their own nice dashes: the en dash (–) is [Alt]+0150 on Windows, [Option]+[-] on OS X; the em dash (—) is [Alt]+0151 on Windows, [Option]+[Shift]+[-] on OS X.]
“You have three unread private messages…”—Not a typo nor something I think you should definitely fix, but speaking as a programmer, I’d be way too lazy/”busy with more important things” to put a number-to-text function (“three”) in a place like this.
Solid first chapter. Expect to see this green N a lot more. =]
Commenting to be subscribed to new posts. Gah, I don’t know whether to read this now or wait a few months to build a backlog for an uninterrupted reading experience….
So, at last I’ll get to read Wilbow’s webserials while they’re still being done. (And use the meantime to finish Pact & Twig.
A great ride is to come.
Really excited! Looking forward to reading this in time 🙂
I found Worm in 2016, it feels surreal to actually be caught up and seeing people who’s old comments I read commenting still
It’s finally here! Can’t believe I didn’t notice until now. Super excited to get to read worm live.
Yay
Wormgasm!
…I’m so going to binge through like 20 chapters as soon as I can.
Wow. I just finished the original last month. I remember thinking, “Man, am I glad this finished 4 years ago so I don’t have to wait agonizingly for each new chapter!”
Ah, so the pain begins.
Just read work earlier this year, super excited to be in on the ground floor for this one. Gosh are these comment sections daunting though. I passed them up in worm due to sheer quantity but one update at a time feels more manageable.
Having just read worm this summer, super hype to be in on the grund floor of this one. Gosh but these comment sections are intimidating; I skipped them due to sheer quantity before, but one update at a time seems more manageable. Here’s to wildbow’s works!
Suprising how much tI missed the parahumans wordpress design
Wahoo!
👍
Great timing!
Just finished my second read-through of Worm.
Won’t have to look for something else to do…
Woo, I’m actually commenting in (close to) real time for this one, rather than simply acting like I am like I did for Worm and Pact (and someday for Twig)!
LET THE HYPE BEGIN!
So…does this get me on the mailing list everyone is talking about?
Anyway, I’m looking forward to Worm 2.
(And kinda curious how many fanfics are gonna include CICC accounts.)
Great to see this going strong again. Worm is an incredible story and I’m looking forward to being part of the journey this go around and in real time 😀
I actually wanted to catch up on Twig in order to read it on an “when it gets online” base. But well… then I will start commenting realtime on PH2.
I agree with Point and Glitzglam possibly being Foil and Parian. It kinda sounds like them + “We can talk about how gang is getting together for big shebang and what a disaster it will be” could be a “Undersiders meet in order to do something far to dangerous again”
I can’t believe I didn’t know this was happening. best Christmas gift ever!!!
I just finished Worm. Wow. How that story has been in existence for over 7 years without my knowledge is beyond me. I discovered it back in Oct 2017. And it has been something of a grounding device for me during a very strange and volatile part of my life. An “anchor” if you don’t mind. I just want to say thank you wildbow. I will continue to read what you put out. Quite a lot has changed for me in the last 5 months, some for the better. I think being able to retreat to the world you created has helped.