Stealing Fire (Worm SI)

I personally dislike SI stories where the SI tells people he knows them from a movie or game. Breaks my immersion beyond completely. Please don't.
For me its when the SI pretends that telling the characters that they're fictional will break their puny minds, usually as an excuse to keep everyone in the dark. I could see that happening if it were actually true, for example if the SI had the power to jump into books, but the general SI metastructure usually implies a multiversal setup so its just a bad excuse for angst.
You might want to at least check the next update to see it from his perspective.

The wording could probably use some work, as mentioned I wrote this in one sitting with basically no editing, but the words weren't actually the important part of that conversation.
Telling the same scene from multiple perspectives and keeping it interesting for the readers is often difficult, since you're going over the same points with just a few changes. I'd recommend against it, personally. An astute reader could already catch that the sentence after the contentious paragraph is the important one, if they know Bitch's character.
Rather than writing up the scene again, might I suggest inserting a line having Lisa notice what was happening (rather than being completely flabbergasted and unable to read body language for some reason), and editing the speech to Bitch so it sounds less like he's talking to a small child? Then just move on to the next scene instead of rehashing the current one.
 
For me its when the SI pretends that telling the characters that they're fictional will break their puny minds, usually as an excuse to keep everyone in the dark. I could see that happening if it were actually true, for example if the SI had the power to jump into books, but the general SI metastructure usually implies a multiversal setup so its just a bad excuse for angst.

Telling the same scene from multiple perspectives and keeping it interesting for the readers is often difficult, since you're going over the same points with just a few changes. I'd recommend against it, personally. An astute reader could already catch that the sentence after the contentious paragraph is the important one, if they know Bitch's character.
Rather than writing up the scene again, might I suggest inserting a line having Lisa notice what was happening (rather than being completely flabbergasted and unable to read body language for some reason), and editing the speech to Bitch so it sounds less like he's talking to a small child? Then just move on to the next scene instead of rehashing the current one.
While the fact that they are 'fictional' in another universe shouldn't break their minds, I am entertained by thoughts of what their reactions will be to the fact that their story is apparently the most interesting thing happening in their entire set of local universes, perhaps a reaction to the circumstantial invasion of privacy, and amusement at the idea that every one of Their fictional characters is real somewhere, in some fashion. Or deliberately ignoring some of these things. Honestly, only keeping TT in the loop seems like the best option, and letting TT in on the entire plot seems like it could break her mind.

An interesting question is, as each shard was... directed according to the needs of the cycle as it was planned, does this mean that Jack showing up is something that Was predicted? Has the Simurgh already taken him into account? Did Coil already know via Dinah that a tinker would fall into his hands? What retroactive changes took place because our intrepid SI was going to/will have shown up?
 
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Telling the same scene from multiple perspectives and keeping it interesting for the readers is often difficult, since you're going over the same points with just a few changes. I'd recommend against it, personally. An astute reader could already catch that the sentence after the contentious paragraph is the important one, if they know Bitch's character.
Rather than writing up the scene again, might I suggest inserting a line having Lisa notice what was happening (rather than being completely flabbergasted and unable to read body language for some reason), and editing the speech to Bitch so it sounds less like he's talking to a small child? Then just move on to the next scene instead of rehashing the current one.

This is exactly the kind of criticism and suggestion I'm looking for. I think I'll do exactly that.

That speech is definitely the weakest part of the chapter, I plan to edit it shortly.

Though I will note that, having just reread canon segments recently, the fact that Tattletale can effectively mind-read people all the time without any issues is very, very fanon. As is the fact that she makes completly impossible deductions from no evidence. If that was true, she'd have figured Coil's power out the first time she saw him.

In canon, if you'll notice, she explicitly says that reading people and personal cues is not what her power is intended for and it creates her headaches even faster than normal uses of her power. She also mentions that the only way she stays sane is by keeping her power bottled up and releasing that control to get short bursts of informaiton when needed. High stress situations tend to cause her to lose control and spiral out of control with the power, which is the issue she has with intimacy as well.

Look at her interlude and backstory to get a sense of that.
 
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CYAO and ROB are the worst things to happen to fanfiction.

TheAkashicTraveller, how do you manage to misspell CYOA in a reply where the correct spelling is only 2-3 lines above where you are typing?

As for the claim that CYOA and ROBs are the worst things to happen to fanfiction. I don't know whether it is you being naïve, ignorant, or living a very sheltered existence of as a fanfiction reader. However we can fix real quick.

I apologize to Jack Stargazer for having this conversation in his story.
I apologize to the readers of Sufficient Velocity that I am putting up this fanfiction name on your beloved website.
I apologize to all the fanfiction authors that I am about to remind of the worse fanfiction ever created.
I apologize to all the veteran fanfiction readers that I am about to send back to rehab for PTSD.

TheAkashicTraveller, if you want to see and read the worst thing to happen to fanfiction.

Enter "My Immortal worst fanfiction ever" into your search engine or you can go look up an unedited, uncut, copy held by xXMidnightEssenceXx on fanfiction.net.

xXMidnightEssenceXx should be honored and respected for her part in keeping such dark forbidden knowledge around even if a great many hate her as much as the original author for doing so.

Reader be beware . . . .
 
And then after reading that, and subsequently burning your eyes out, when you are waiting for Panacea to fix your empty sockets...

Remember that 50 Shades of Gray started off as a Twilight fanfiction.

And it got published.
 
TheAkashicTraveller, how do you manage to misspell CYOA in a reply where the correct spelling is only 2-3 lines above where you are typing?

As for the claim that CYOA and ROBs are the worst things to happen to fanfiction. I don't know whether it is you being naïve, ignorant, or living a very sheltered existence of as a fanfiction reader. However we can fix real quick.

I apologize to Jack Stargazer for having this conversation in his story.
I apologize to the readers of Sufficient Velocity that I am putting up this fanfiction name on your beloved website.
I apologize to all the fanfiction authors that I am about to remind of the worse fanfiction ever created.
I apologize to all the veteran fanfiction readers that I am about to send back to rehab for PTSD.

TheAkashicTraveller, if you want to see and read the worst thing to happen to fanfiction.

Enter "My Immortal worst fanfiction ever" into your search engine or you can go look up an unedited, uncut, copy held by xXMidnightEssenceXx on fanfiction.net.

xXMidnightEssenceXx should be honored and respected for her part in keeping such dark forbidden knowledge around even if a great many hate her as much as the original author for doing so.

Reader be beware . . . .
Individual stories can be avoided, CYOA and ROB are pervasive and utterly break suspension of disbelief the instant they're mentioned.
 
And then after reading that, and subsequently burning your eyes out, when you are waiting for Panacea to fix your empty sockets...

Remember that 50 Shades of Gray started off as a Twilight fanfiction.

And it got published.
Which, in turn, started life as a fanfiction of Buffy The Vampire Slayer...
 
Last chapter has been editing, fixing some of the problems that were brought up and dealing with the PoV issue through proper use of Negotiator Exposition.

Thanks again to those that provided feedback and critique. Especially @Teucrian and @Amplified .

Next chapter will pick up as they enter the lair. No particular ETA, still doing an intensive work program.
 
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I do believe that the first thing that Jack should make is a Suicide Implant for himself and Tattletale. Start denying Coil knowledge of their operations early on.

It would fall in line with the mindset of a paranoid tinker given previous history of what happens to solo tinkers. Of course after every meeting with Coil that Tattletale goes to Jack would have to change out the location of the implant or install multiple redundancy.
 
Jack turns to her and takes a step forward. He's actually pretty tall up close, taller than she is for sure. He speaks in a monotone voice, his mouth not showing any teeth, and he makes direct eye contact.

Modifying body language. Speaking directly to Bitch's instincts. Knows how Bitch's mind works. Understands how her psychology has changed. Is trying to speak to Bitch in a way she will understand. Wants to seem nonthreatening, but to avoid getting attacked. Knows Skitter was attacked when she first met Bitch. Knows...
My head twinges again and I shut down my power hard. Fucking Ow.

"I'm Jack. I said that already. I'm not going to fuck with you, or with anyone else here, but I have nowhere else to go, and it isn't safe here."
Much better. That's a great change.

Edit:
Did the font size change in the middle, though?
Here:
The darkness drops and I take a breath and put my patented smirk back on. I let just a trickle of my power through, and step forwards. He started laughing again, though a lot quieter now. I can see his face in profile. He's not bad-looking, maybe early 20s? He's smiling softly.

I call out. "So, are you going to share the joke with the rest of the class?"
 
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I do believe that the first thing that Jack should make is a Suicide Implant for himself and Tattletale. Start denying Coil knowledge of their operations early on.

It would fall in line with the mindset of a paranoid tinker given previous history of what happens to solo tinkers. Of course after every meeting with Coil that Tattletale goes to Jack would have to change out the location of the implant or install multiple redundancy.

It'd certainly be on the list.

As you'll find out next chapter, Jack is one who likes to plan and prioritize specific things. Some of his early plans are going to be mentioned, and many of them will be ones which future plans depend on. He has a set of priorities which need to be finished as soon as possible, and he wants to get them done quickly so that he can move on.

If Jack had gotten the power Taylor got in 'A Cloudy Path', his first build target would have been a Tier 1 Engineer.

It is always best to start the exponential curve ASAP
 
I personally dislike SI stories where the SI tells people he knows them from a movie or game. Breaks my immersion beyond completely. Please don't.

Jack can do this smart and even a bit mysterious. Earth Bet knows cross dimensional contact is possible, so Jack portraying himself as someone from another Earth briefed on Earth Bet and the whos and whats and given powers or put in an environment to trigger almost immediately so he can have a defense and something to help establish himself on Earth Bet feels like the way to go to me. Try to keep the Undersiders from thinking Jack is some kind of agent for some kind of cross dimensional invasion or something.

And it's close enough to some kind of truth. Calling bullshit on Jack being given powers and Jack can call back that Cauldron is rumored to give powers, if Cauldron is a known at this point in time.
or alternatively, that he suspects that he gained the knowledge from a combination of having his skull, along with the rest of him, slammed through the dimensional membrane along with possibly having his memorys tampered with with the intention of causeing him to immediately Trigger in response to his environment.
 
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Pretty good so far. Has potential.

Agreed with a poster before - really don't like SI's/characters in stories telling other people they know them from fiction. It *can* be handled relatively well (see: With This Ring, OL telling Constantine), but it very rarely is.
 
You know, I just had a weird thought: maybe the SI could create a device that funnels all flame in the area into an alternate plane. Then he'd literally be stealing fire. :V
 
That would increase entropy! What a horrible thought!

I may update this weekend if I have a bit of time. I've been working 50 hour weeks.
that's not how entropy works, in fact that's part of the opposite of what entropy does, creating a dimensional sorting mechanism that shunts every element above a certain atomic weight into the next one in the line would decrease entropy in the system, if you could use entropy itself to do so then all the better.
 
that's not how entropy works,
Actually it is. Entropy works by increasing as time passes/things happen. Moving all fire from one area to another would be making something happen, and thus it increases entropy in the system as a whole (the system being the area the fire was in, the area the fire ends in, and everywhere in between). At the very least it cannot decrease entropy.
 
I'm firmly in the camp that the meta-knowledge SI that is dropped in a ideal situation to share knowledge that can then be verified and acted upon better but then doesn't is a asshole and sharing is not immersion breaking simply because its a survival mechanism and people would be more worried about not being drowned or bonesawed etc.

Unless he ties himself in (stupid) knots about predestination or the Simurgh, in which case he might as well leave the city and forget about the 'plot' therefore nuking the real reason this bull is a issue, namely the writer being a hack that wants to use meta but doesn't want it to change events unpredictably (which it would anyway btw) because he then would have to actually work.
 
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