Half Way Whole – Short Story Written by Tim
Hey 2P START! fans, just wanted to let you know that I’ve written a short story that I wanted to share with you all. Since ending the comic, I haven’t had much of a creative outlet and over the last couple years, as I became more of a bookworm, I decided I wanted to take up writing fiction. This contest provided a good test for me as I had read the novel the contest was based on and having a deadline tends to keep me motivated (like our regular comic updates!). I know I have a long way to go before being a decent writer, but like we said when the first 2P START! comic went live, there’s always room for improvement.
Anyway, sci-fi fans may enjoy my little story. You shouldn’t need to read the original novel Half Way Home by Hugh Howey in order to understand it. The BookTrack setup allows for soundtracks to be added to a book, but to be honest, I’m not very good at that sort of thing, so I can’t say my soundtrack will blow you away. You can just mute the sound or if it’s really annoying, read the story on another site here. Any comments, ratings, and reads would help my chances in winning, but more important to me is just getting feedback, good or bad, so I can become a better writer.
Special thanks to Ray as well. He and Sarah were the only people that read parts of the draft as I wrote it and Ray provided some input on the cover as well.
Good to see another post on this website! Not that I check it weekly or anything….
Anyway, looking forward to reading this! I don’t have time right now, but I’ll get around to it soon! Always good to see new stuff from either of you!
(I actually do check the website weekly…)
Thanks for the reply! I’d love to hear any thoughts you have on the story! Leaving comments and rating the story on the booktrack website would be super helpful as it will be taken into consideration for the contest.
This is awesome! 😀 I recall in some of the later podcasts you had said you were reading a lot more. Looking forward to reading something with a soundtrack, that’s new. But it is good to see an update 🙂 Can’t believe it has been 4 years since the end of the comic.
(I check the website often as well) Not a creepy comment!
It’s crazy to us as well that it has been so long. We’ll have to do a podcast soon and talk about all that’s new in our lives!
I am so excited to see a new post. I will read this later in the week and let you know how it goes. I’ve really been into e-books and I’m always looking for more to read. Also glad to see that everyone is still alive and well.
Hey Tim (and Ray),
Originally I was going to wait until after I’d read Half Way Whole to post a comment, but apparently I’m really terrible at getting around to it. Instead, I’ll leave a short comment now to congratulate Tim on getting this out, and to add my voice to the pool of people who are hoping to see more content on the site in the near future! So Tim: congrats, and I promise I’ll leave a more helpful comment once I’ve actually finished the story!
At the risk of making this a creepy comment, I’d like to say that I STILL listen to your podcasts–usually while working on my own webcomic, ironically enough. It’s still probably my favorite show on the web, and even though I know you two are in a different place now than you were when you were making 2PSTART!, I still look forward to each new episode whenever it happens to come out.
So congrats once again, and I hope you’re doing well!
Thanks man! Ray and I have recently agreed to do another podcast episode, just need to figure out when we’ll get to it so stay tuned!
Thanks for the update Tim, I’ll be sure to give this a read! Plus I’m always happy to hear from you guys about how things are going. I know a lot has changed since the comic went into postmortem and posts are dispersed far and wide these days, so posts like this are sort of a relief in a weird way, cause they affirm that you guys are still alive and doing okay. I’ve been following you guys for seven years and it’d suck if you now just dropped off the face of the earth. So thanks, haha.
TIm,
I will read your story when I’m a little less tired. I’m sure it’s amazing.
I miss my daily dose of 2PStart. Especially now that “Brawl in the Family” is on its way out too.
Hi Tim,
I can’t believe I’m the first person to leave a comment who DID read Half Way Whole. Sorry it took two months for my feedback (It’s been a while since I checked the site, so I only found out about your story today).
Well, onto the feedback. Long story short, I loved it. I didn’t know how to feel about your protagonist being referred to as “she” for the first section, but I think the payoff was worth it when Colony names her, and is multiplied further when Alpha remembers her “real” name (or fake name, depending on how you look at it).
Maybe it’s because I don’t know anyone named “Eve,” but I immediately thought of Genesis, and figured you had too. I thought her name was a simple, yet powerful allusion for the first colonist of a new world. It hinted at a possible falling out with her all-powerful, all-knowing creator and suggested that she would meet a male colonist created before her. I was a little disappointed when I saw the missed opportunity, but all things considered I suppose it would’ve been too blunt to name Alpha “Adam.”
I really liked how in the short story Eve fails her creator’s test for the opposite reason. Her “sin” is mercy, not selfishness. Colony may be the creator, but his creations posses something a machine can never have: love. Her ability to empathize with the colonist she was told to kill is what got her exiled from the metallic “paradise” of the ship, into the natural wilderness beyond.
She began life ashamed, afraid, and alone, but by the story’s end she was unabashed and confident in the embrace of her loving friend. No serpent in sight. I really enjoyed the experience, and I thought your choice of music wasn’t annoying at all—in fact it helped set the tone perfectly. I had no idea you were such a talented writer, but I suppose I should’ve figured the guy who wrote 2PSTART’s hilarious jokes must have a dramatic side as well as a comedic one.
So, now that I (one of your many many fans, whose comment is hardly worth a single word of the brilliant short story you’ve written) have said my piece, I wish you good luck on any future writing endeavors you embark on. NST—Nice Story Tim.
P.S. I just pictured an alternate cover with “Made by Tim, not Ray” in place of your name, and laughed myself silly.
Looking forward to it.