Spacebattles broke Wormfic, here's how:

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Title:	Spacebattles broke Wormfic, here's how:
Creator:	u/Pachycephalosauria
Date(s):	December 3, 2019
Medium:	Posted to Reddit
Fandom:	Worm
Topic:	SpaceBattles, Altpower, fanfic cliches
External Links:	On /r/WormFanfic, archive link
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Spacebattles broke Wormfic, here's how: is an essay posted to /r/WormFanfic by u/Pachycephalosauria. The essay proposes that the use of SpaceBattles as the major platform for Worm fanfiction explains some of the fandom cliches, particularly in the case of altpower AUs.

The essay is one of the highest voted posts on the subreddit and has 281 upvotes and 144 comments.

Excerpts

"Worm focuses almost entirely on a single character. There are relatively few widely agreed-upon fan favorites in the community aside from the main character. The closest thing she has to a love-interest (Brian) isn't particularly popular in the fandom, and there aren't many alternatives for her. Shipping couldn't really develop the fandom, and so rich tagging systems like Ao3's fell to the wayside. Worm is also a story that hinges on exploring a single power really thoroughly. It's intentionally set up that way. When you pitch Worm, 'a girl who controls bugs' is one of the first things that come up. For many people, Worm very much is a sandbox where you can explore a single power, its ramifications, and go from there. This appeals to a website like SB, where exploring a single power in a sandbox of some sort (whether it be Quests, VS debates, or something else) is a known pass-time."

"I'll say it: SB has shit discoverability tools for fics."

"The people who are tired of those same-y altpowers that so many of us tire of are simply dealing with the problem by doing other things. Those altpowers keep getting made because there's no way to sell somebody on a more complex or more original idea without summaries. More complex and original pitches are also a harder sell if a portion of your audience has come to SB looking to scratch a particular 'altpower' itch, so many more original fics are brushed aside by that part of the audience.

Discussion bumps your thread, attracting readers. An easily pitched idea attracts certain types of readers. Many writers will always make what attracts the most readers; most writers will try to get some audience. Repeated exposure to similar ideas prompts inspiration in writers. Round and round the cycle goes, the nature of Worm encouraging people to push the setting's dominoes from different angles to see what happens this time, and the part of the community growing tired of the perceived inanity finding it easiest to move on to a new form of entertainment, thus preventing them from pushing further support for the fics they would like."

Responses

[u/Ryven_Knight]
"You touch upon how Altpowers beget Altpowers, but the idea of altpowers aren't inherently bad. It's the cheap execution and the formulaic way they're almost all written. [...] However, even if it was just the deluge of constant low-effort-altpowers, it wouldn't be too bad. But it's the fact that these fics are praised and adored above fics that innovate and try to do new things is the true failing of the Worm Fandom. [...] Flechette's Foodie Forays is the main example of this. A beautifully written fic about Flechette, lost and alone, trying to express herself through food. It had gorgeous prose, incredible characterization, was almost entirely original- and SB killed it."

[u/ExceptionCollection]
"Part of the problem, from my perspective, is that stories that follow Taylor and aren't altpowers will tend to be even more 'stations of canon' aligned, or have stories that have already been done (and done better) - for example, I ran into Acid by BeaconHill when I was trying to figure out if anyone had done a fic where Taylor stayed out of the Undersiders post-Levi. I couldn't match that idea, so I kind of gave up on it."

[deleted]
"Yeah, I'm not a big fan of SB as a creative writing site, their problems with moderation aside. I'd rather the fandom use something like FF.net or AO3 instead.

More specifically, the search tools on SB aren't designed for searching out stories or filtering out what you want to read, especially the older stories. It's so bad that some fics just get lost until someone manages to remember a title or find a link somewhere. That doesn't even touch upon all the godforsaken snippets or one-shots scattered throughout hundreds of old threads.

Frankly, the biggest reason I browse this reddit is to find links, story descriptions, and recommendations since it's a hassle to comb through stories on SB."