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ward Their bits are uncomfortable especially because they feel so realistic. If you find recordings of cults, or look at the way they function, this is super similar to real life poo poo. And those go so bad that when you add superpowers it gets scary. The problem with rating how threatening the fallen are is we don't know anything about their other capes. We know they've got like 8-10 of them in this place based on Snag's comments, we also know they're crazy as gently caress and will go all out. That is pretty scary. I'm super curious about how exactly the group is being messed with. I like the theory that they're meshing *too* well, and that Victoria's past knowledge about hosed up capes in groups and her paranoia make her a good person to spot that something is out of whack. We've got enough blanks and partial knowledge that I can think of a good 6 or 7 possibilities. For example I saw someone point out that Byron is like the only person who is still down vocally on the plan, and he spends a ton less time exposed to the group as a whole.
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Feb 22, 2018 15:59
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Ward: I was also pointed to an old discussion where WB explicitly pointed to "Valefor's mom" as the reason why the Fallen never got wiped off the map, since her presence makes it super-duper dangerous for thinkers to scan places they know for a fact have fallen hanging around; apparently she's budded like eight or ten times by now, and her kids are one of the big reasons why the fallen are super-freaking dangerous to screw with. Also, am I paranoid for thinking that Elijah might be Valefor? I don't think we ever saw the latter do anything with his voice, but Fallen who's blind and has scary-effective hypnotic suggestion powers matches up. I genuinely have no clue what it is that Victoria and Jessica have picked up on... last update I was thinking along the lines of Erin secretly being a cape with hypnosis/emotion powers, and Vicky wanting to meet outside of their HQ being specifically about suspecting her, but we've seen enough of Erin and Joe Dirt's adventures away from the group to make that incredibly unlikely. Based on my track record for Ward theories tending towards the excessively paranoid I'm guessing that it's going to be something simple and reasonable, like "The group pivoted from clinical stuff to hyper-violent cape BS the instant therapy ended and everyone's using their role in helping participate in Rain's upcoming murder spree and/or violent curbstomping as their mental health fix, this is a bad idea please make them stop". That having been said, the way I read 4.7 was more of an explicit statement of "Somebody in or related to the group is doing some dirt". That doesn't really make sense unless Sveta or Chris is the conspirator, since we've seen enough of the others (except maybe Bromance Twins) to be reasonably comfortable with what their deal is. I think that even disturbed, murder-happy Sveta is too empathetic and compassionate a person to do weird emotional manipulation BS, and Chris doesn't really seem like the master manipulator type. So I don't know where Dr. Yamada is going with this; Victoria talked about being aware of the nasty stuff that comes out of the Asylum and wasn't corrected, which still makes me think that the implication is that there's something with agency screwing around, but I can't see anything else in the text supporting the issue being anything more than "This group is a bad idea, these people should not work together and have a bad plan". ...unless the big reveal is that they're not a therapy group at all, but have secretly been in Tattletale's employ the whole time. That'd be stupid and goofy, but it would make my day if the big, dumb reveal at the end of the story is that the entirety of Ward was just Tattles loving with Victoria for fun.
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Feb 22, 2018 16:37
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ward speculations I haven't read up on connecting valefore to elijah, so can't really comment on that. I think we can safely say that capes have a lot of issues. All the teams we saw in Worm had various issues. The people Victoria had group sessions with in the asylum (and team therapy) have.. more issues. Issues divisive enough that becoming a close-knit group very quickly seems unlikely. I mean, just think that you're putting Fallen Kid with the black, gay, and case-53. That's great for session therapy to help him unfuck his brain some, but at least one of those should *not* be down with a long-term team-up. The group sessions start 2-3 months before the story, not exactly a ton of time to form close ties. But by the time we meet them they're a pretty close-knit group. There are a couple different reasons someone could be mind fuckling the group to stick together. I could see Sveta getting convinced by someone like a tattletale that it's for the best and just helping them get along, and having some implant in her body. Kenzie could have contact with someone in a similar fashion (and plenty of ways to have a tech gadget) and she'd get double validation (helping outside person, and making a group of friends). Chris is such a mystery he could be anything, but if there is a sinister reason behind the messed up dynamics he seems the most likely vector (anything I can think of for Teacher being the behind the scenes source stems through Chris). Rain has 2 potentials still to be the vector. Either through someone like valefore, or unintentionally, his aura use is having a parallel plotline to what happened to Victoria in the past. What I mean is he's just laying out the long term mind-whammy and the result is something that the power doesn't directly cause. Potential 2 would be he is wrong about what his emotion power actually does, which wouldn't be terribly shocking given that he doesn't seem to have a good grasp on his powers (forgiveness aura?). Maybe I'll have time later to go back and check, but at least mentally I remember noticing less team meshing issues when he was around (in particular the CTF game, but I'd want to check some other times too). Of course it might not be that they're sticking together too well at all, in which case I'm mostly dry on ideas. It'd have to be a plant, but no one seems off enough IMO. I can't think of any clues pointing to someone with a stranger power hanging out, but maybe there is something there to dig up.
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Feb 22, 2018 17:06
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More ward speculation: Hmm, I had initially discarded the idea of Rain being the vector because I was (mistakenly?) under the impression that the emotion manipulation power was Love Lost's thing, which meant it took the form of very obvious screaming. I wanna go back and re-read those friction bits now, and you're right that it would have a really good parallel to Victoria's thing. I wonder if this isn't supposed to be something the group as a whole is doing on purpose, though? I remember in the end of 4.7, Jessica mentioned that one reason she ran with the coach idea was because she thought someone who spent serious time around them when she wasn't there would start to catch them with their guard down, which would presumably tell her something. I'm going to end up seriously respecting WB's writing chops (well, I do already, but you know) if it turns out that he did all that buildup making us suspect Rain, did the second round of character building to convince us that he really was just an incompetent kid out of his depth (while looking through his eyes, what's more), only to turn around and go 'Oh wait, no, he really was just manipulating team therapy into a murder tool to save his rear end' in a way that doesn't come off as contrived or rear end pull-y.
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Feb 22, 2018 18:44
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Honestly as long as the character causing trouble isn't **Chris** it'll be pretty well done. Everyone else we've gone through the "suspicious->oh thats what" cycle to varying degrees. Like there are a ton of ways for this to pay off poorly, but based on past writing it shouldn't.
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Feb 22, 2018 19:33
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Ward: Elijah is totes Valefor. All the details match: White hair, hosed up eyes, gaze-based hypnotic suggestions. As to who might be manipulating the group, another suspect is the guy who contacts Rain during Glow-Worm. He's shady as gently caress, and he can apparently cause problems for Tattletale just to preemptively demonstrate his value to Rain. My money is either on him or Rain's emotion ability not working the way he says/thinks it works.
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Feb 22, 2018 20:44
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I think I need to reread the Glow-Worm section again now that I have some context from Ward.
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Feb 22, 2018 20:47
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Sibling of TB posted:I think I need to reread the Glow-Worm section again now that I have some context from Ward.
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Feb 22, 2018 21:04
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Random rear end in a top hat posted:Ward: As a counter to your theory, the group was already to the point of going online to meet up by that point. Basically that is a bit too late in the game to be the source of the trouble IMO. edit: holy crap, Thursday interlude, time to go read ZypherIM fucked around with this message at 22:12 on Feb 22, 2018 |
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Feb 22, 2018 21:23
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Okay the Fallen manage to be even creepier than I thought.  also Kenzie intentionally deep-sixed somebody? that's nice
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Feb 22, 2018 23:05
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GreyjoyBastard posted:Okay the Fallen manage to be even creepier than I thought. I thought she was the only one who hadn't?
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Feb 22, 2018 23:51
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21 Muns posted:I thought she was the only one who hadn't? Victoria also, but wasn’t that only because Amy would come around and clean up her messes? IIRC, her introduction or 2nd scene in Worm is her FUBARing a mugger, then getting Amy to heal him up. Their conversation indicated that this is a thing that happens all the time and Panacea was getting sick of it.
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Feb 23, 2018 00:35
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navyjack posted:Victoria also, but wasn’t that only because Amy would come around and clean up her messes? IIRC, her introduction or 2nd scene in Worm is her FUBARing a mugger, then getting Amy to heal him up. Their conversation indicated that this is a thing that happens all the time and Panacea was getting sick of it. Yeah.
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Feb 23, 2018 01:28
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Random rear end in a top hat posted:Ward: As to who might be manipulating the group, another suspect is the guy who contacts Rain during Glow-Worm. He's shady as gently caress, and he can apparently cause problems for Tattletale just to preemptively demonstrate his value to Rain. My money is either on him or Rain's emotion ability not working the way he says/thinks it works. Glow-Worm: people already broke the code he used in those posts... if they're to be believed that guy is March, one of Foil's cluster. Apparently they dislike each other, which is serious points against him because Foil's awesome, but I have trouble seeing him as a big manipulator; sting tends to have a very consistent, simple presentation as a power, so we can assume his gimmick is somewhat similiar to Foil's. If he's manipulating the group, it's via elbow grease and unassisted social engineering.
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Feb 23, 2018 01:41
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Omi no Kami posted:Glow-Worm: people already broke the code he used in those posts... if they're to be believed that guy is March, one of Foil's cluster. Apparently they dislike each other, which is serious points against him because Foil's awesome, but I have trouble seeing him as a big manipulator; sting tends to have a very consistent, simple presentation as a power, so we can assume his gimmick is somewhat similiar to Foil's. If he's manipulating the group, it's via elbow grease and unassisted social engineering. On the other hand, Foil's other two powers are both Thinker powers, and March's version of one of them might be more social-manipulation-oriented.
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Feb 23, 2018 02:00
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21 Muns posted:On the other hand, Foil's other two powers are both Thinker powers, and March's version of one of them might be more social-manipulation-oriented. Hmm that's definitely true. Intuitively I don't think such a specialized, combat-oriented shard would lend itself well to non-stabby applications, but we know surprisingly little about the shard beyond its utility in Worm, and I don't think we've ever met another one of her cluster to compare.
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Feb 23, 2018 02:39
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Now that we know who is who and sort of what is going on, Glow-worm is so worth a re-read, if only for stuff like: Kraken_in_a_Jar: *hugs Kenzie to get her to stop wiggling* Heart_Shaped_Pupil: *dies*
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Feb 23, 2018 05:50
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Ah yes Black doing Black things. Good fun.
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Feb 23, 2018 06:13
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lurksion posted:Ah yes Black doing Black things. Good fun. I'm going to laugh when the protagonist had to become a literal babykiller is going to be completely true and sound really strange out of context given the new info on where Akua's going to be.
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Feb 23, 2018 06:42
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Katreus posted:I'm going to laugh when the protagonist had to become a literal babykiller is going to be completely true and sound really strange out of context given the new info on where Akua's going to be. what's with web serial characters and killing babies
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Feb 23, 2018 06:57
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lurksion posted:Ah yes Black doing Black things. Good fun. Did she just change her Name? To what?
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Feb 23, 2018 07:07
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navyjack posted:Did she just change her Name? To what? I think it’s impending but hasn’t happened yet.
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Feb 23, 2018 08:45
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navyjack posted:Did she just change her Name? To what? She's on the cusp of changing it. Right now she's "just" a Squire which is getting hugely overshadowed by the part of her soul that is Fae Nobility. As she's said herself she is getting a major boost from Creation for being appropriately dramatic and fitting a story. And I feel its important to note that Fae are way more bound to Stories than others and she just ripped out the bits of her soul keeping that neatly contained in an Aspect. Black is very much still alive and she just unshackled Winter so I'm suspecting she will end up as something like Winter Knight. Unless she somehow does not change her Name here.
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Feb 23, 2018 10:48
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I liked the line of (PracGuide) "“A hundred times before,” Assassin said in that voice was not a voice. “A hundred times more.”" Everyone thinks of Assassin as being this unstoppable, unkillable assassin, but no he actually dies all the time, he just has some kind of workaround. Handy!
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Feb 23, 2018 13:01
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Practical Guide At first I didn't understand the story that she was inhabiting at the end of the chapter that gave her the weight of Creation. She spells it out at the end though, I just didn't notice at first - “What are you?” Akua Sahelian gasped. “The monster,” I said. “The one you should have bound tighter.” She is the villain's monster that slipped its leash, turned on the villain in its freedom. She's the raptor eating Vincent D'onofrio in Jurassic World. She's Vader at the end of Return. What's impressive is that Black set it all up - he knew she would get Claimed when she took the fight to Arcadia, but let her do it anyways because it set her up for the betrayal story. Good stuff, solid chapter. Edit: I read a comment on the chapter that I liked - Black's first question, about the Closed Circle of Mercantis. I bet that Malicia controls it from behind the scenes, so he knows now that she was funneling assets to Akua that she needed to get her plan rolling. That's why he looks tired for a second after she answers, because he knows that he'll have to choose between Malicia and Cat in the near future. Silynt fucked around with this message at 15:57 on Feb 23, 2018 |
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Feb 23, 2018 15:19
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The latest ward chapter was, uh, not what I was expecting. A bit of a rollercoaster of emotions, and I'll just say that the entire last scene was goddamn terrifying. Omi you were spot on with your Elijah is Valefore! Now we also see why this branch of the fallen is pretty much left to rot instead of people trying to dig them out. Mama Mathers is goddamn terrifying, jesus christ. On the bright side, I think we can eliminate Raid from being the negative impact on the group unless the negative impact is something with his aura that he isn't aware of.
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Feb 23, 2018 21:50
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Milky Moor posted:Well, not to go back to the old argument but... Every time you make a comment that's criticizing Worm it reads like you're trying to make your own web serial look better in comparison and makes me have less of a desire to read Not All Heroes. There's a reason why artists generally do not publicly criticize other artists works.
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Feb 23, 2018 23:42
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Sampatrick posted:Every time you make a comment that's criticizing Worm it reads like you're trying to make your own web serial look better in comparison and makes me have less of a desire to read Not All Heroes. There's a reason why artists generally do not publicly criticize other artists works. Weird thoughts, my friend. It's perfectly reasonable to offer critique on other works. If you think my criticisms of Worm have only started up as some kind of way to boost myself down while tearing down Wildbow, then you're projecting hard (and ignorant of my posting history). My criticisms of Worm have existed long before NAH was even a single thought. Worm is a first draft, NAH is a first draft, just about every web serial is a first draft -- if you think they can't be criticised, then that's just bizarre. But, for example, people have asked me to do a Let's Read of Worm. I haven't done that as that is the kind of thing that I think would reflect badly, especially given that I'm a critical reader with an oppositional reading. Read my work or not, I don't mind. But I think it's sad that you'll refuse to read something because someone can be critical of Worm, even though they've read it twice, have recommended it to others who are now enjoying Ward, gave it a good review on WFG, did heaps of work on the Worm wiki in the early days where it was a mess of conflicting templates and eye-watering color schemes, wrote fanfiction, and so on, simply because they don't adhere to the party line about the text. Should I have immediately changed or renounced my views the moment I uploaded my first chapter? Wouldn't that be more suspicious or otherwise indicative of some Machiavellian motivation to make myself look 'good'? As I said, weird thoughts. Milkfred E. Moore fucked around with this message at 00:44 on Feb 24, 2018 |
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Feb 24, 2018 00:36
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Plus I'm pretty sure Milky Moor was critical of Worm long before they started their own serial. Like, I don't agree with MM much, but that take seems a little excessive.
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Feb 24, 2018 00:44
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Milky Moor posted:Weird thoughts, my friend. It's perfectly reasonable to offer critique on other works. If you think my criticisms of Worm have only started up as some kind of way to boost myself down while tearing down Wildbow, then you're projecting hard (and ignorant of my posting history). My criticisms of Worm have existed long before NAH was even a single thought. Worm is a first draft, NAH is a first draft, just about every web serial is a first draft -- if you think they can't be criticised, then that's just bizarre. Criticizing in the abstract or in the past tense is fine. You are writing a competing work of fiction now; when you critique Worm in the present tense, it reads as you trying to make your competition look like less rather than trying to make your own work look like more. It has little to do with your actual intentions - your past history of recommending Worm or engaging with the fandom are pretty much irrelevant. The text, as written, read in the present day, reads as though it has an ulterior motive even when that motive isn't really there. Let me be clear; I don't think that you actually have that kind of ulterior motive. I just think it's kinda lovely for one author to criticize another author when those two authors are competing in the same market.
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Feb 24, 2018 00:47
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Sampatrick posted:Criticizing in the abstract or in the past tense is fine. You are writing a competing work of fiction now; when you critique Worm in the present tense, it reads as you trying to make your competition look like less rather than trying to make your own work look like more. It has little to do with your actual intentions - your past history of recommending Worm or engaging with the fandom are pretty much irrelevant. The text, as written, read in the present day, reads as though it has an ulterior motive even when that motive isn't really there. Let me be clear; I don't think that you actually have that kind of ulterior motive. I just think it's kinda lovely for one author to criticize another author when those two authors are competing in the same market. There's where we disagree on a fundamental point. I don't believe web serials compete in the cutthroat manner you seem to believe they do, and I don't see NAH as a competitor to Worm any more than Wandering Inn, ELLC, or any of the dozens of other serials as they are practically different genres with wildly different tonal schemes, thematics and so on. NAH isn't, say, Specimens, where I think that direct competition argument could be made somewhat coherently (oh, God, first Worm and now Specimens, I'm some kind of monster...) If there are people out there who think they can only read one or the other, or that they must support one over the other, then that's just sad. It's not surprising, given some of the observations I've made, messages I've received, and conversations I've had since starting my own, but it's pretty unfortunate. Again, you are projecting. Or you, yourself, have an odd ulterior motive concerning what you see as competition... See? Now we're playing the same game. My past history of 'doing my part' for Worm is entirely relevant given that your argument hinges on trying to pin down my intentions as some desire to hamstring Wildbow's work as much as possible. If that's my goal, then I have a looong way to go before I break even. Whatever you think you're reading into my words, it doesn't actually exist. This is the core phrase of your argument: "The text, as written, read in the present day, reads as though it has an ulterior motive even when that motive isn't really there." I'm aware. But I trust people to be sensible enough to not read into an ulterior motive that you yourself say doesn't actually exist. Did you really write a heated post to bring attention to something you don't think exists? Strange. TheRagamuffin posted:Plus I'm pretty sure Milky Moor was critical of Worm long before they started their own serial. Like, I don't agree with MM much, but that take seems a little excessive. Find a thread where I'm not critical of something I claim to enjoy. This is not dark sorcery or a paradox. If I don't like something, I don't talk about it. Why would I talk about something that I think sucks overall? I've actually been reading a lot of different serials over the past few weeks (newer ones, less well-known ones, unique ones, ones people asked me to read). I was on the fence about sharing my thoughts under the idea that someone like Sampatrick would say that it's some kind of Chessmaster gambit, so, I guess I won't. Maybe that's why the web serial review ecosystem is so quiet, beyond the empty echoes of 'review swaps' where anything and everything is a softball'd pat on the back. Milkfred E. Moore fucked around with this message at 01:27 on Feb 24, 2018 |
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Feb 24, 2018 01:22
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To be perfectly honest I thought that the criticism was perfectly valid before being reminded that Milky Moor also writes serial fiction. I still think it’s valid. If it were posted on their actual site then I’d have different feelings about it, but there’s nothing wrong with an author speaking about another author’s work in a setting that doesn’t necessarily invoke their authority.
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Feb 24, 2018 01:27
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Milky has valid criticisms, and he also has opinions that are very, very subjective. I don't think he has some sort of intentional 'drag down other serials so mine looks better', but I will admit that finding out he was an author colored how I viewed some of his more .. insistent views of other works in a negative light.
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Feb 24, 2018 01:34
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Milky Moor posted:There's where we disagree on a fundamental point. I don't believe web serials compete in the cutthroat manner you seem to believe they do, and I don't see NAH as a competitor to Worm any more than Wandering Inn, ELLC, or any of the dozens of other serials as they are practically different genres with wildly different tonal schemes, thematics and so on. NAH isn't, say, Specimens, where I think that direct competition argument could be made somewhat coherently (oh, God, first Worm and now Specimens, I'm some kind of monster...) You're mischaracterizing my entire statement. I'm not saying you compete with Worm specifically, I'm saying you literally compete in the web serial market by having a patreon and a paypal link prominently displayed on your page. I'm also not saying you can only read one or the other; just like you can buy both Game of Thrones and Midnight Tides, you can also support both Worm/Ward and Not All Heroes. It would be absurd, however, to suggest that Game of Thrones and Midnight Tides don't compete. I'm sorry, but it is my opinion that it's kinda lovely for a competitor in a market to criticize another work in that market publicly.
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Feb 24, 2018 02:20
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It's a weird argument. I mean, I understand it intellectually, but I don't follow it. For example, you can look up just about any web serial author on WFG. Are their negative reviews or sub-optimal ratings (less than 3 stars is a 'slog', less than 2 is 'unreadable') of other works the same as what I've said here, or are they worse? Is it a concern if another web serial author leaves a negative review or rating? What if a prolific web serial author leaves a two-star review of another serial, is that a concern? What if they don't leave a review, but just a star rating? What if they leave vastly more negative reviews/ratings than positive ones? Is that some kind of chessmaster gambit or is it honesty, as subjective as it is? How can you tell? Do you have the luxury of honesty when you operate in the same creative circles as someone else? Is there a professional code of ethics in what is, ultimately, an amateur space? Can anyone improve if no one voices what they think is lacking or failing? Is anyone even looking to improve? These thoughts have been on my mind ever since I thought I'd make a serial. At the end of the day, even if I stopped saying things about Worm, my posts would still exist and would, sooner or later, be linked back to me. I'm sure a bunch of them have been quoted, too, so I can't edit them out. And wouldn't editing them out be clear-cut evidence of some manner of image control? So, what're the alternatives? It seems to be a short list.
Sampatrick posted:You're mischaracterizing my entire statement. I'm not saying you compete with Worm specifically, I'm saying you literally compete in the web serial market by having a patreon and a paypal link prominently displayed on your page. I'm also not saying you can only read one or the other; just like you can buy both Game of Thrones and Midnight Tides, you can also support both Worm/Ward and Not All Heroes. It would be absurd, however, to suggest that Game of Thrones and Midnight Tides don't compete. I'm sorry, but it is my opinion that it's kinda lovely for a competitor in a market to criticize another work in that market publicly. You can believe what you want to believe. But I do hope you hold to this fairly, and not because of who, or what, I'm criticizing specifically. I'd point out that Game of Thrones and Midnight Tide are series you have to pay money for (therefore with a higher barrier entry than clicking a link), but I'm pretty sure we have vastly different ideas of what it means to compete. What are we competing for? Time? If time is your only criteria for competition, then everything competes with everything else. Stellaris competes with NAH competes with Steven Universe competes with Worm competes with ELLC competes with... Your opinion is your opinion, but you should consider it more closely. Perhaps avoid other threads in TBB or CD or Games (and I'm sure many others), where actually published people in various industries criticise the works of other actually published individuals. Milkfred E. Moore fucked around with this message at 03:28 on Feb 24, 2018 |
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Feb 24, 2018 02:34
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Sampatrick posted:You're mischaracterizing my entire statement. I'm not saying you compete with Worm specifically, I'm saying you literally compete in the web serial market by having a patreon and a paypal link prominently displayed on your page. I'm also not saying you can only read one or the other; just like you can buy both Game of Thrones and Midnight Tides, you can also support both Worm/Ward and Not All Heroes. It would be absurd, however, to suggest that Game of Thrones and Midnight Tides don't compete. I'm sorry, but it is my opinion that it's kinda lovely for a competitor in a market to criticize another work in that market publicly. Cool story dude. I don't think it's lovely at all. I think it's nice to see criticism from people within the same domain, at least in something as casual as dead comedy forum something awful dot com. While critics and analysts don't need to do the thing they criticize, the additional perspective certainly doesn't hurt. I don't wonder if there is an ulterior motive at all, as I don't think Milky Moor can move the needle appreciably against Worm/Ward, though they might pick up a few readers who share their concerns about the work. I rarely agree with Milky Moor, but they are more than welcome to contribute to the thread as far as I'm concerned. Tom Clancy is Dead fucked around with this message at 04:38 on Feb 24, 2018 |
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Feb 24, 2018 03:15
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Tom Clancy is Dead posted:Cool story dude. This is phrased way better than how I tried to say before.
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Feb 24, 2018 03:36
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I don't have any issue with Milky Moor posting criticism of other works just the same as the rest of us, as long as it's not hand-in-hand with advertising his own story, or saying something like "story X sucks at doing thing Y, unlike my story which is really great at it" or whatever. And I've never seen him do that, nor do I think he would. I'm gonna finally do a big OP edit, and put together an official spoiler policy. I'm thinking something along the lines of "Anything that's been published in the past two weeks needs to be put in spoiler tags, as well as the entire current arc of Wildbow stories" if that seems fair and reasonable. Fajita Queen fucked around with this message at 03:48 on Feb 24, 2018 |
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Feb 24, 2018 03:40
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Honestly Worm (and wildbow's writing in general) has always been very obviously flawed, so I don't see much of a point in getting defensive about it in most cases. I've seen a couple criticisms I think are wrong (like people who claim there's authorial intent to portray Taylor in a positive light), but most are usually pretty accurate. I still enjoy the heck out of his stuff (it's very well suited to the "compel the reader to keep reading" model that works well for web serials), but there are definite problems. I was discussing the general topic of web serials/novels with someone trying to write their own, and I ended up coming to the conclusion that, in many ways, the medium is not well suited to truly good writing (or at least it's difficult to be commercially successful that way). I think that, in order to be commercially successful, you need to either 1. have a story that involves some topic that is compelling to a young, mostly-nerdy audience (like superheroes, fantasy, etc) or 2. have a story that involves a bunch of cliffhangers and escalation. And realistically you probably usually need both of those things.
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Feb 24, 2018 04:13
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21 Muns posted:I thought she was the only one who hadn't? oh darn, totally misread i guess
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Feb 24, 2018 04:43
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