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I regret to have to ask this, but my google-fu is clearly weak; I have tried various different methods, with no result.

The story (written on an online writing platform, and a fairly reputable if not-very-well-known one) was about a girl who had the power to control insects, and goes so far as to create her suit out of spider silk. She falls in with the ‘bad guys’, and one of them has several large dogs, and the power to control them. Some of them are nice, some are not. The story’s a lot longer (and larger in scale and more convoluted) than this, but I don’t think I finished it.

I remember that there was a prison for superheroes/supervillains that wasn’t so much a prison as a huge containment facility, and that there were a group of supervillains, who, unlike the rest, weren’t just committing crimes out of self-interest, but just out of evil (or something?). The name of the group was, I remember, vaguely (and ironically) connected with an author who wrote one or more anti-war books, I think.

I think there was a character who manipulated time in some manner, but I can’t remember what the specifics of it were.

I also seem to remember that there’s this character who zips around the world saving people constantly in a bit of a god-like fashion; they’re mysterious and I do not remember their existence being explained.

I seem to remember that the end of one of the ‘arcs’ of the story was fighting against a ‘supervillain’ that was roughly approximate to a force of nature,

I vaguely remember that it (or the main character?) was called something like Twister, or Spinner, or Crawler, or something.

In spite of my use of the words ‘supervillain’ and ‘superhero’, I remember that it was much darker, and had a lot more moral grey area involved than those words usually imply.

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    @Valorum: Close. You identified one of its fanfics. :)
    – FuzzyBoots
    Commented May 11, 2020 at 12:37
  • @FuzzyBoots - I was idly googling for words like "spider-silk suit" and "bug powers"
    – Valorum
    Commented May 11, 2020 at 12:59
  • I can't say I haven't fallen under the same category of finding a fanfic of a comic, which then led me to find the comic itself. This one, of course, is complicated by that it was a wholly online publishing (there's occasional noise of turning it into a print book, but honestly, it would require a lot of editing).
    – FuzzyBoots
    Commented May 11, 2020 at 13:12

1 Answer 1

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This is wildbow's Worm series.

An introverted teenage girl with an unconventional superpower, Taylor goes out in costume to find escape from a deeply unhappy and frustrated civilian life. Her first attempt at taking down a supervillain sees her mistaken for one, thrusting her into the midst of the local ‘cape’ scene’s politics, unwritten rules, and ambiguous morals. As she risks life and limb, Taylor faces the dilemma of having to do the wrong things for the right reasons.

She falls in with the ‘bad guys’, and one of them has several large dogs, and the power to control them. Some of them are nice, some are not.
On her first night, she rescues the Undersiders against Lung. Bitch is the one who can control and empower dogs. And indeed, not all of the team are nice people.

I remember that there was a prison for superheroes/supervillains that wasn’t so much a prison as a huge containment facility, and that there were a group of supervillains, who, unlike the rest, weren’t just committing crimes out of self-interest, but just out of evil (or something?). The name of the group was, I remember, vaguely (and ironically) connected with an author who wrote one or more anti-war books, I think.
The prison is The Baumann Parahuman Containment Center, better known as the Birdcage. The villains you are thinking of are the Slaughterhouse Nine, and you're probably thinking of Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five.

I think there was a character who manipulated time in some manner, but I can’t remember what the specifics of it were.
Actual time powers are rare in terms of being able to go back and forth, but there are a fair number of people with precognitive skills, and a few that can accelerate or slow time in some way. Cody, aka Perdition, is probably the most prominent one, able to "rewind" a few seconds of time, although he wasn't introduced until the 17th arc of the story. Coil, a major antagonist in the early story, appears to have time powers, being able to live two timelines at once and then choose which one remains, but it's actually revealed to be a form of precognition.

I also seem to remember that there’s this character who zips around the world saving people constantly in a bit of a god-like fashion; they’re mysterious and I do not remember their existence being explained.
This is Zion, aka Scion. Massive spoilers ahead in that wiki, which does explain his purpose.

I vaguely remember that it (or the main character?) was called something like Twister, or Spinner, or Crawler, or something.
Maybe Crawler of the aforementioned Slaughterhouse Nine? Of course, Taylor picks up the cape name of Skitter (as a villain), and later Weaver (as a hero), so that might be what you're remembering.

In spite of my use of the words ‘supervillain’ and ‘superhero’, I remember that it was much darker, and had a lot more moral grey area involved than those words usually imply.
Very much so. There are good people using bad methods, and in general the world is very dark because powers are fed by conflict and come about from extreme trauma.

wildbow followed this up with a sequel, Ward, several years later.

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  • This series has become kind of the "go-to" for "insect powers" in recent years, and has spawned a lot of fanfic due to its very open world.
    – FuzzyBoots
    Commented May 11, 2020 at 13:13
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    Thanks for your help! Commented May 12, 2020 at 10:06

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