I really like the audiobook version of Worm, finished it recently(even with its flaws, I like seeing it get better over time-):
https://audioworm.rein-online.org/I have a very strong aversion to most superhero stuff (there's stories and characters I definitely adore though throughout the years tho), and this hits a unique spot that I can definitely resonate with. I feel like the parahumans setting has much more potential than most works it shares a premise/genre with, and despite some of the flaws it has (need for editing, certain drags/confusing parts, etc.), it really stands out on its own. In terms of existing in the larger sphere of "capeshit", I'd go and say its one of the best creations in the entire premise, helped in a large part by the way the narrative presents itself. The protagonist and their interactions feel a lot more human than most heroes and villains in other stories, and the entire story takes on that lifelike element. The interludes (interlude 10x especially oh my lord) work really well, because they give a different perspective than the usual protagonist's narration, and can take crazy turns with that. It's also pretty cool that a lot of the main characters are young, but not in the usual youth that glamourizes high school life, quite the opposite in fact. As someone at a similar age to the characters by the end of the story, I can say they certainly feel and act similar enough to the way someone our age IRL would, especially if thrust in such a wacky superpowered premise and world like the one they're in. The sociopolitical part of the setting gives me somewhat similar vibes to Watchmen and early Spawn, especially with how the image of things presented by popular culture and media is incongruent with the reality that the characters actually live through. The criminality of many of the characters feels a lot more real in motivation, and the plot following "villains" as full-fledged characters is just a breath of fresh air. It sees the average "superhero" for how fucking deranged they'd actually be; it looks at what would happen if sociopaths, sadists, and emotionally stunted people got abilities that enabled them to act more on their tendencies, and its all so interesting. The use of powers is also a lot more grounded, and the way they're applied is certainly a lot more compelling than the average story, also in a weird way feeling almost shonen-esque at times with the classifications and the battle vs non-battle application stuff.
I think what made it click so much with me more than anything is how it didn't tow the usual moral line of most superhero settings, which is completely ignorant to reality and can even go so far as being reactionary. The type of "critique" of the genre done by Worm is IMO far better than the kind done by Injustice and similar stories, which are basically just "what if the powerful superheroes turned into bad guys, and made the world just like 1984. this is so deep, I'm so smart". Stories like the latter tend to obfuscate the problems that characters intrinsically have, by relegating any look at their flaws to exaggerated caricatures of evil that miss the whole point of a critique. The Batmans and Iron-Mans of the comic book world are horrible people regardless of them being a parallel universe evil version, hell, almost all "superheroes" are terrible and arguably worse than their villains when looking at their relation to class and the state. That's largely a product of what the superhero medium is most of the time, a moralizing escape that idealizes the current way of things and preaches the triumph of "absolute good" over the most basic of evils, while removing agency and importance from the actual people of their settings that don't get the luxury of being godlike superbeings. That concept of good gets its basis from the current social norm, which given what site we're on, we all know clearly isn't good. Even the stories that go further and critique aspects of the current status quo only go so far as being for social reform, although at this point, these constraints and problems cover most media in general. "Crimefighting" as a part of the ethos of the medium tells all here, far better than any analysis like this does. The things I do find interesting about superheroes is more looking at problems and idiosyncracies like these, its been especially compelling to read about topics such as the weird origin of heroes like Wonder Woman, moral panics like Seduction of the Innocent, the horrible treatment of artists and writers by the major comic book companies and the aftermath of that(esp works like Rick Veitch's Brat Pack), chauvinistic tendencies in comic book creators like Dave Sim and Frank Miller; and now in the modern-day, the way that huge superhero blockbusters stand as propaganda pieces for U.S. cultural and military hegemony and have turned into a mainstay within the space of capitalist media.
Worm isn't some perfect shining work that is free of the problems of the genre or the problems of media under neoliberal capitalism generally, but it certainly stands out as special, and worth at least trying out above the majority of other stuff in and out of the genre. I haven't really looked at anything relating to fans of the series, but from what I can tell it has a pretty devoted fanbase. It's the first piece of fiction I've really, really, really enjoyed in like, a year or two, after everything new got stale and I had engaged with nearly everything really good I'd be interested in. It's one of my favorite pieces of fiction I've ever engaged with at this point, pretty ballin'
(the way it handles representation is also a bit better than most other pieces of media, I know "representation" is largely idpol libshit, but idk, it feels nice to see characters of different backgrounds actually be allowed to be shitty people, or at least nuanced. It gets grating to see every Black, Latin, LGBT or Neurodivergent character either be fucked up stereotypes or pandering, one dimensional, and "perfect" without flaws or anything actually interesting about them. Also, Worm is actually a bit cognizant of class, which is more than most shit out there.)