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The Stopwatch (Worm AU)

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Just when she was running out of options, she gets some goons lol. Why join some gangs when you can start one yourself. With enough mooks she can spring her dad from his detention cell. Taylor seems to pick the reckless choices rather than smart ones due to the high she gets out of it.
 
Its been awhile since the last time a fic kept me up all night.
Watched.
 
Is Taylor's thinking always going to be this disjointed? The whole speed freak / adrenaline junky POV is, imo, best in small doses. It's making an interesting premise significantly harder to follow (& thus, enjoy).
 
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On an important note
  • Threadmarks
    • Alright, he comes the post I've been thinking of since a few chapters ago.

    You see, Stopwatch has been kind of an experiment for me. When I was writing Spirit of Nature and realized that every chapter there was one less person that read it, or just didn't like it, I became rather downtrodden. You see, Spirit of Nature is something I put effort into, I have worked hard to make it work, revising it multiple times before I was completely satisfied with it, though I still get complaints about things I have to iron out there. Due to that, writing it was slow. Weeks went by before I wrote a chapter, edited it twice with two friends of mine and then posted it.

    So I thought, maybe it was the AU setting? Maybe it was the update rate? Maybe people were just unhappy that Taylor wasn't stomping her way through the entire place like she owned it? Because well, a chapter where the group got their ass kicked I had 40 people less than usual that hit the 'Like' button. (Personally, I prefer discussion over the likes, but it does show how the numbers dwindled.)

    Then I wrote this. I would write and publish. No effort. Absolutely none. If I found myself stuck with an idea of what to do, I would simply read the thread, get inspired, add more things, continue. Rinse, repeat, word count rising. When someone complained strongly about the paraplegia, I decided to extend it. I didn't plan anything, I just wrote.

    And well, look at this!

    It's arguably my worst work (not counting With Fire Came Disparity, as much as I liked the premise, I didn't really manage to go anywhere with it), after a while I didn't even care about the typos, the plot holes, the inconsistent character that some people blamed on the concussion, others blamed on shard-shenanigans. Word of God blames it on me ;)

    Within 5 days, this surpassed all discussion of Spirit of Nature, it surpassed the number of readers, and it made me realize just how far I've gone with a simple premise of "Taylor-centric, Alt!Power, Brockton Bay", once more, like in With Fire Came Disparity. It feels like my effort is wasted in Spirit of Nature, as if the amount of work I put into it doesn't actually matter while I write, only how quickly I can write it. I don't really like feeling that my efforts are wasted.

    On that note: I have decided to leave Stopwatch where it is. I apologize for the inconvenience. I wish I could have had more fun writing this.
     
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    • @VereorNox While I'm a little disappointed this story won't continue, I can see why you might've had some issues continuing, especially with what's going on. Personally, I really like Spirit of Nature!
     
    @VereorNox Between the two I prefer Spirit of Nature. Mainly because it is something that was interesting and a breakaway. I don't write much since I only type when I see something wrong. Spirit of Nature is far from me ever needing to type someone on it other to say good job. Although it is sad to see this story stop since I also enjoyed it as well.
     
    VereorNox said:
    Alright, he comes the post I've been thinking of since a few chapters ago.

    You see, Stopwatch has been kind of an experiment for me. When I was writing Spirit of Nature and realized that every chapter there was one less person that read it, or just didn't like it, I became rather downtrodden. You see, Spirit of Nature is something I put effort into, I have worked hard to make it work, revising it multiple times before I was completely satisfied with it, though I still get complaints about things I have to iron out there. Due to that, writing it was slow. Weeks went by before I wrote a chapter, edited it twice with two friends of mine and then posted it.

    So I thought, maybe it was the AU setting? Maybe it was the update rate? Maybe people were just unhappy that Taylor wasn't stomping her way through the entire place like she owned it? Because well, a chapter where the group got their ass kicked I had 40 people less than usual that hit the 'Like' button. (Personally, I prefer discussion over the likes, but it does show how the numbers dwindled.)

    Then I wrote this. I would write and publish. No effort. Absolutely none. If I found myself stuck with an idea of what to do, I would simply read the thread, get inspired, add more things, continue. Rinse, repeat, word count rising. When someone complained strongly about the paraplegia, I decided to extend it. I didn't plan anything, I just wrote.

    And well, look at this!

    It's arguably my worst work (not counting With Fire Came Disparity, as much as I liked the premise, I didn't really manage to go anywhere with it), after a while I didn't even care about the typos, the plot holes, the inconsistent character that some people blamed on the concussion, others blamed on shard-shenanigans. Word of God blames it on me ;)

    Within 5 days, this surpassed all discussion of Spirit of Nature, it surpassed the number of readers, and it made me realize just how far I've gone with a simple premise of "Taylor-centric, Alt!Power, Brockton Bay", once more, like in With Fire Came Disparity. It feels like my effort is wasted in Spirit of Nature, as if the amount of work I put into it doesn't actually matter while I write, only how quickly I can write it. I don't really like feeling that my efforts are wasted.

    On that note: I have decided to leave Stopwatch where it is. I apologize for the inconvenience. I wish I could have had more fun writing this.
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    Sucks that you weren't enjoying yourself. I liked it, the change of pace was so different than what you normally see in worm fics.

    I think the extra discussion was mostly because of the unique take you did on Taylor's problems here, add in what happened with Danny and you have a prime target for discussion. I've never seen that happen in a worm fic and will likely not see it again.

    I'll check out Spirt of Nature later, if it's half as interesting as this was I'm sure I'll enjoy it.

    Good luck on all your existing projects and any future ones.
     
    VereorNox said:
    "Taylor-centric, Alt!Power, Brockton Bay"
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    The truth has been spoken.
    And sadly, I will admit I'm one of the crowd that simply wants to see an Alt!Power work in the Canon world of Brockton Bay.

    Somehow it's a guilty pleasure, yet one I can never tire easily from.

    I have read your SoN fic and I do love it too. However, a serious fic like that takes a lot more effort to get into, rather than the pre-existing world of Brockton Bay.
     
    @VereorNox One reason why this story may have generated so much conversation is simply the speed at which you put out updates. That surprises people and keeps them interested on a day-to-day basis, coming back regularly for more. Maybe it's silly, but when there's something you can check every day or every other day rather than every week or two weeks, you become more invested in it, I think.

    Not to say that the traditional style of releasing large chapters every so often is bad, not at all, they just receive different reactions in my mind.
     
    The Stormbringer said:
    @VereorNox One reason why this story may have generated so much conversation is simply the speed at which you put out updates. That surprises people and keeps them interested on a day-to-day basis, coming back regularly for more. Maybe it's silly, but when there's something you can check every day or every other day rather than every week or two weeks, you become more invested in it, I think.

    Not to say that the traditional style of releasing large chapters every so often is bad, not at all, they just receive different reactions in my mind.
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    I suppose I just don't have the prolific kind of writing that Materia-Blade or LacksCreativity do, but yeah, Lacks said the same thing in chat. A consistent and yet quick update rate is most important.
     
    It's cracky, but not fully crack. It's comfortable in setting and cast. It's remarkably close to a game that's currently (SUPER) hot. It's funny and new and good and wrong enough in ways that make people want to argue about it.

    It's like a perfect storm for getting views and comments.

    I read a bit of your other work, VereorNox, but left it because it was a bit too serious for what I felt like reading at the time. It was good work, though. It's on my to-read-eventually/depending-on-mood list.
     
    VereorNox said:
    I suppose I just don't have the prolific kind of writing that Materia-Blade or LacksCreativity do, but yeah, Lacks said the same thing in chat. A consistent and yet quick update rate is most important.
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    I'm not sure I'd say 'most important' but it does play a big role. Consistency seems to be bigger than quick in my mind, as I've read a lot of web comics and serials over the years. The ones with the biggest fanbases tend to have an update schedule of some kind, though typically we're also talking about things with their own websites.
     
    I liked Taylor's heroic optimism. It was fun to read the crazy stuff she did and how much of a rush she received doing it.

    I think we all can point to where a portion of the readers were turned away from your story and I also disagreed with Danny's action.

    The relationship between Danny and Taylor was one of those things that irritated me in Wildbow's story and I believe a portion, maybe significant, of readers also found it upsetting. Hence the number of "fixit" Worm Fanfics.

    However; as a fanfiction, I expected you to have a solution in mind and for Taylor to find that solution. It may have taken awhile to happen, but I was/am willing to wait for it to happen. I looked forward to seeing how you handled their redemption. Well, I hoped you planned doing something about it...

    I hope you are willing to continue this story, but understand if you do not. I find myself clicking refresh after I post an update on my own stories and pouting when the likes/replies start to fall away.

    I also like and have Spirit of Nature on my watchlist. I'll make sure to click the Like button because I sometimes forget, sorry.
     
    I liked this better than spirit of nature. I was more invested. Now it's dead because you felt like it was too easy? Because it got more discussion?

    There are other reasons than just 'Coz it updated fast' that people might like one thing you write more than another.

    For me it was a combination of things, but especially the unique power. It made the narration completely different than anything I'd read before. It was interesting as hell.
     
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    @VereorNox

    I don't hand out ratings much, I'm not sure why.

    Anyways, I think the reason why Spirit of Nature doesn't get the love you wish you'd get is the cast. It's a big cast and a small chunk is OCs.

    I personally prefer SoN over this, as it feels more IC
     
    I actually have a problem remembering to click the like button, generally because when I find out about a story, it's been going awhile, and I get sucked into the story and lose track of time.

    I think I have A Spirit of Nature watched, but I can't remember.
     
    VereorNox said:
    It feels like my effort is wasted in Spirit of Nature, as if the amount of work I put into it doesn't actually matter while I write, only how quickly I can write it.
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    I don't think it's about the update speed. I recall starting Spirit of Nature a while back and not really getting anywhere with it simply because it was too AU: it discarded 90% of the things that made Worm Worm. Functionally, it was a crossover fic where I didn't know the other half of the cross. It's an occupational hazard of writing fanfiction that sometimes you'll try to write for a particular sub-genre that simply doesn't have that many eager readers; I think "Worm / Original Universe" is one of those.

    Additionally, I didn't have any way of telling up-front what kind of story it would turn into. It could have been a first-person action thriller, a real-time strategy challenge, a civilisation-building arc or some kind of fluffy personal-development coming-of-age quest. It could have had interdimensional multiverse-saving, like in canon, or it could have been stuck at the village level. At the time I started reading, there simply wasn't enough of the story to tell. (This is another hazard of writing serialised fiction - your fic's overall trajectory gets judged based on the early chapters.)

    Stopwatch, on the other hand, is pretty much a stereotypical alt-power fic. So when I got a hankering for a Worm alt-power fic last week, I knew exactly which new thread to click on. The fact that it updates quickly is merely a pleasant bonus; there are fics that update monthly or less that I still jump on like a hungry, angry, syphilitic koala whenever a new chapter appears (cough@Soraincough).
     
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