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Mauling Snarks (Worm) (Complete)

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Jacen1 said:
Besides, resolving plot points, as the author pointed out, is what sequels are for....
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To quote my version of the Three Laws of Fanfiction (written long before the start of Mauling Snarks)...
Corollary 4 to Rule Three said:
You don't even need to finish with a proper conclusion, as long as you have a good story (though the readers will probably prefer if you pick out at least some ending note, and declare it "End of Part 1").
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(This sort of thing is fairly common in Japanese web novels, I believe, though there the volumes tend to be shorter.
I suspect, however, that the work I had in mind then was almost certainly Thande's Look to the West.)
 
You know, I went 'look at the time, let's see if the update's up yet.'
Then I realized, no more updates for this fic.

Still wonder if Hybrid Hive will be moved to replace it or not in the update schedule.
 
I think from what the author has written he wants to rebuild his buffer of chapters before going to a more aggressive update schedule. I could be wrong of course.
 
CmptrWz said:
Other details in the notice were obviously cover stories, though only one jumped out at her. Thinkers reporting that the Slaughterhouse Nine had likely been 'removed from play' while powerless was obviously a fabrication, for example. One that would possibly be backed up by the group being disbanded in the wake of Ciara being able to solve the majority of their power urge issues and thus never showing up to attack anyone again.
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While I understand this, it does have one significant downside: the S9 formerly acted as a magnet for these sorts of capes; they would try to find the S9 to join up (or, rarely, to kill as many of the Nine as possible before dying), and either get help (if they had power-induced needs) or die messily (if they were just superpowered assholes).


CmptrWz said:
And so we come to the end of Mauling Snarks. The story may eventually get a sequel to show how the world continues to change going into 2012, but I've run out of story for the time being.
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Honestly, I found this ending rather disappointing and lackluster. I knew when I started Ch. 287 that the fic was about to end because I'd already seen later alerts showing the new thread title "Mauling Snarks (Worm) (Complete)", but I didn't know how many more chapters had been posted. When I got to the end of 287, I concluded it was basically just a normal chapter, though obviously building towards an ending. Then I saw the next chapter was labelled 'epilogue', and was eagerly anticipating said ending - but I got to the end of it without it ever touching on Taylor or the rest of the cast again, which left me going 'Wait, where's the ending?'.

It's not just the lack of plotlines being wrapped up - though I agree with @MaimakteriAnn; while keeping a few things around for a sequel hook is fine, this didn't feel like it resolved anything we cared about - but the lack of any proper wrap-up or concluding scene. The last we see of Taylor is her getting her pet down from the ceiling before bed. This was especially annoying because there was a perfect opportunity for a good conclusion just a few paragraphs back: the party. For instance:
  • Someone proposes a toast, says something witty/funny/poignant, "I'll drink to that!", laughter, fade to black.
  • Party winds down, Taylor lies on the couch watching her friends and family and reflects on the year past, falls asleep feeling content.
  • Taylor and Amy wind up under the mistletoe. If you wanted to (finally!) reward the shippers, they notice it and kiss; if you wanted to troll us, everyone else notices but the fic ends just before we see Taylor & Amy's reactions.
That's just off the top of my head; I'm sure you can think of others. The point is that an ending should feel like an ending. As it is, it really does feel like the fic cut off one chapter short of the end.


Rajvik_wolfboy said:
To stop getting updates of activity when I know there won't be any more author action in the thread
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Even ignoring that, as @Megagulp says, you can adjust your alerts for OP-only, this seems penny-wise but pound-foolish. With no more story updates, non-OP activity will peter off in a few weeks. On the other hand, the author might post again at any time in the far future - for example, to announce 'Hey I'm starting that sequel and the thread for it is over here'.
 
macdjord said:
Even ignoring that, as @Megagulp says, you can adjust your alerts for OP-only, this seems penny-wise but pound-foolish. With no more story updates, non-OP activity will peter off in a few weeks. On the other hand, the author might post again at any time in the far future - for example, to announce 'Hey I'm starting that sequel and the thread for it is over here'.
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I think it's the same bizzare thinking that considers 'necros' a bad thing. I truly can't understand this.
 
DestinyPlayer said:
How are they annoying when they are, usually, the reason you found that fic in the first place?
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Because the fic in question is dead and highly unlikely to be updated anymore and now im stuck with a cool story that just stops. And it makes it feel like the however many days or hours it took me to get there were wasted.
 
DestinyPlayer said:
How are they annoying when they are, usually, the reason you found that fic in the first place?
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This is what I don't understand.

I get annoyed when someone actively recommends an abandoned fic without noting that fact.

I completely fail to care when an abandoned fic is brought to my attention because it's in someone's favorites list (on FFN), or someone replies to the thread (here, SB, QQ).

If I refused to read anything but completed fics, I'd have missed some good ones. Including Lord of Caer Azkaban, which was by all rights abandoned for years before Rors came back and finished it.
 
I personally find it more annoying when I find a nice fic from last year (or even from last month), and there's an anti-necromancy rule that means I can't actually comment on how good it is (and/or point out spelling mistakes in it).

I mean, yes, abandoned fics are mildly annoying. They're also an inevitable fact of life. And short of outright author existence failure (which admittedly does occasionally happen), you can't necessarily say when a fic is abandoned and when it just hadn't been updated in a while.
And I have seen lots of stories update after two, three, or even four years (often in response to thread necros - even on sites that did have anti-necromancy rules).
 
got bored and went back and re-read Mauling Canon, and the ending for Mauling Snarks, was teased back then interestingly enough. i also approve the inclusion of the a 5-year old child on the council at the end of MC. Just food for thought.
 
Just wrapped up a re-read of the whole darned thing this evening, I had started a few weeks back when the signs were starting to pop up that things may be wrapping up since it seemed that catching up was a good plan after I had gone through Mauling Canon and saw some of the same things align.

Thanks for wrapping up the epic, or, at least, for now, as you said, while it wasn't The end, it was, AN end, and those are hard to come by in fanficland after all.
 
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