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I’m giving up on Metaworld Chronicles. The plot is competent, I guess; the protagonist is powerful but in over her head and the action beats generally serve to actually advance the plot or reveal setting details instead of just being flashy fights. The writing, though. The author constantly uses big words that sound like the words he actually meant to use but don’t actually mean the same thing. His descriptions are vivid, but 90% of them are about how hot the female characters, many of whom are teenagers, are. The protagonist is ostensibly straight, yet handsome men are described in throwaway sentences while we are constantly reminded how long and/or toned the womens’ legs are. Any suggestions for stories that won’t make me feel like a creep? I’m already reading PracGuide, Morher of Learning, and Worth the Candle, and I’ve either finished or given up on Wildbow’s various works.
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Aug 5, 2019 07:28
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Into the mire recently finished it’s first storyline. Dark fantasy, not an isekai and it has solid female characters.
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Aug 5, 2019 07:37
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blastron posted:I’m giving up on Metaworld Chronicles. The plot is competent, I guess; the protagonist is powerful but in over her head and the action beats generally serve to actually advance the plot or reveal setting details instead of just being flashy fights. The writing, though. The author constantly uses big words that sound like the words he actually meant to use but don’t actually mean the same thing. His descriptions are vivid, but 90% of them are about how hot the female characters, many of whom are teenagers, are. The protagonist is ostensibly straight, yet handsome men are described in throwaway sentences while we are constantly reminded how long and/or toned the womens’ legs are. Seconding Into the Mire, it's really good. Inheritors is another serial I try to keep tabs on. There's also Not All Heroes, which I write, and is creepy male gaze free. Anything else I've read comes with a heap of disclaimers and such.
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Aug 5, 2019 08:07
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Mrsha, Numbtongue & Yellow Splatters are going to be a great team some day.
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Aug 6, 2019 13:10
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90s Cringe Rock posted:Mrsha, Numbtongue & Yellow Splatters are going to be a great team some day. 
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Aug 6, 2019 20:41
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Practical Guide is doing something I’ve never seen Wildbow pull off: having actual dialogue between characters without the inevitable escalation interrupting. I really enjoyed this chapter. It’s nice to have a breather every once and a while, especially when it means we get to see characters bounce off one another and get glimpses of foreshadowing too.
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Aug 7, 2019 12:19
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the litrpg with a pangolin now has an aussie shark, just thought you all should know.
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Aug 7, 2019 17:46
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90s Cringe Rock posted:the litrpg with a pangolin now has an aussie shark, just thought you all should know. Homicidal Aliens are Invading and All I Got is This Stat Menu
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Aug 7, 2019 18:31
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blastron posted:I’m giving up on Metaworld Chronicles. The plot is competent, I guess; the protagonist is powerful but in over her head and the action beats generally serve to actually advance the plot or reveal setting details instead of just being flashy fights. The writing, though. The author constantly uses big words that sound like the words he actually meant to use but don’t actually mean the same thing. His descriptions are vivid, but 90% of them are about how hot the female characters, many of whom are teenagers, are. The protagonist is ostensibly straight, yet handsome men are described in throwaway sentences while we are constantly reminded how long and/or toned the womens’ legs are. I am in the same boat with this one, for that matter it is almost like the main character forgot her heterosexuality at some point. Early on she looks at a thirty year old guy who she would have liked to date as a thirty year old pre whatever happened, but then reminds herself she is in a 17 year old body and that would be creepy as hell. Then not long afterwards she just stops noting men at all whilst every other sentence in the writing dwells on how hot some female character is and her internal dialogue does the same thing.
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Aug 7, 2019 20:33
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On the flip side, I’m ten chapters in on Into the Mire and am quite enjoying it. All the characters have personality and motivations, and I’m really enjoying the bouncing around between perspectives as we learn more about them and the world.
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Aug 7, 2019 21:01
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This is probably getting too picky, but are there any XianXia novels with a) good writing, b) decent structure, and c) no creepy sex poo poo? I've heard enough about the genre that I feel like I should at least give one a try, but I tend to bounce off real hard right away, usually due to poor writing.
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Aug 8, 2019 00:16
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Omi no Kami posted:This is probably getting too picky, but are there any XianXia novels with a) good writing, b) decent structure, and c) no creepy sex poo poo? I've heard enough about the genre that I feel like I should at least give one a try, but I tend to bounce off real hard right away, usually due to poor writing. Way of Choices/Ze Tian Ji and Path Toward Heaven are both very VERY good. Way of Choices is complete and manages to finish its story cleanly without a thousand extra chapters of filler or a sudden unplanned ending.
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Aug 8, 2019 00:26
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Avulsion posted:Way of Choices/Ze Tian Ji and Path Toward Heaven are both very VERY good. Way of Choices is complete and manages to finish its story cleanly without a thousand extra chapters of filler or a sudden unplanned ending. Oh cool! I'll start with those guys then- thanks for the recommendation! 
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Aug 8, 2019 00:45
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Omi no Kami posted:This is probably getting too picky, but are there any XianXia novels with a) good writing, b) decent structure, and c) no creepy sex poo poo? I've heard enough about the genre that I feel like I should at least give one a try, but I tend to bounce off real hard right away, usually due to poor writing.
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Aug 8, 2019 01:10
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Cicero posted:You probably already heard of these but for western Xianxia there's Cradle and Forge of Destiny. Is there any better place to read Forge of Destiny than RoyalRoad? I liked what I read, but I think there were only 40-50 chapters up, and the original quest is like 3,000 forum pages.
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Aug 8, 2019 02:50
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Omi no Kami posted:Is there any better place to read Forge of Destiny than RoyalRoad? I liked what I read, but I think there were only 40-50 chapters up, and the original quest is like 3,000 forum pages. You can use threadmarks on the Quest version to skip between story posts real easy without having to trawl through the comments. Just look at the corner of the top or bottom of the posts.
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Aug 8, 2019 02:54
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Bakanogami posted:You can use threadmarks on the Quest version to skip between story posts real easy without having to trawl through the comments. Just look at the corner of the top or bottom of the posts. Ooh derp that's what those are for- thanks!
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Aug 8, 2019 03:15
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Omi no Kami posted:Ooh derp that's what those are for- thanks! It probably also has Reader Mode, which excludes everything in the thread that's not primary threadmarks.
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Aug 8, 2019 12:49
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The throwback to epilogue 4 today in Practical Guide I found way funnier than I should've. Like father like daughter.
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Aug 9, 2019 14:51
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TWI Patreon: oh boy oh boy we're getting to have more spooky magic poo poo in the story! One of the things I love about TWI is that it actually treats the fantasy of its setting as something that's genuinely fantastic, rather than just another flavor for a dnd stat block. hopefully we'll be getting stuff more in line with the  happenings from the winter solstice. Oh, maybe we'll have a big to-do with midsummer?  
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Aug 11, 2019 00:23
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Recently ran into this https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/24751/marriage-and-monsters-an-eschatological-romance One of the weirdest things I've read. Basically - world shattering event happens, fictional universes (+ an original) get smashed into IRL, one main character somehow got turned into a pathfinder/DnD dragon and starts the exploit train (but somehow things escalate in a manner that somehow does not make this OP), other does meta stuff and is now learning an offshoot of Harry Potter magic; they try to save the world. It's a feverdream mashup of Alice in Wonderland, Narnia, HP, Narnia, Dark Tower, and recently LotR, Fallout, His Dark Materials, and zombie mind control stuff. And somehow it all manages to make sense together in a giant meta-narrative that is constantly surprising yet satisfying. lurksion fucked around with this message at 14:59 on Aug 13, 2019 |
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Aug 13, 2019 06:16
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For those that follow Lightning Brigade, I apologize for the current delay between chapters It'll clear up soon, I'm just a bit split on editing my other non-online novel and Brigade writing. Hopefully you enjoyed the space chapter from earlier, since we'll be spending some more time in that setting a bit
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Aug 13, 2019 06:27
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TWI Patreon:  we are 100% getting a visit from the Spooky Squad on Midsommar
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Aug 14, 2019 00:27
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The solstice stuff was genuinely pretty creepy to me tbh
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Aug 14, 2019 02:11
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That's not an ironic spooky that's a 100% 2 4me
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Aug 14, 2019 02:44
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guess who got into a fight with the patreon TWI discord about queer representation in stories and the necessity thereof?  christ was that depressing. i would have thought that a story like pirateaba's would cultivate a fanbase that would be receptive to the political sympathies that are in the story, but nooooope. fantasy fans are just relentlessly poo poo aren't they A big flaming stink fucked around with this message at 00:29 on Aug 17, 2019 |
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Aug 17, 2019 00:26
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A big flaming stink posted:guess who got into a fight with the patreon TWI discord about queer representation in stories and the necessity thereof? fantasy attracts a lot of people who can't, or don't want to, see political implications in their stories pirateaba's practically waving a giant rainbow communist flag with a long trailing "overcoming prejudice and bringing the world together is extremely good!" banner tied to it but good luck getting someone who's read the whole thing and hasn't figured that out by themselves to see it
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Aug 17, 2019 00:38
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New Worth the Candle is out.
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Aug 17, 2019 03:22
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A big flaming stink posted:guess who got into a fight with the patreon TWI discord about queer representation in stories and the necessity thereof? The very first comment I ever got on NAH was basically 'gently caress you for making one of your protagonists gay you SJW.' So, yes.
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Aug 17, 2019 03:37
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Yeah TWI is basically one of like two fantasy stories I've read where despite having big powerful heroes it seems to focus on people working together being much more powerful
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Aug 17, 2019 04:18
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unless you slipped in an egregious sex scene for the sake of making a character gay, people are just dumb. I liked TWI Piratebea's handling of queer characters, (Redscar and Zel Shivertail) they serve plot points and aren't just jammed into the script for the sake of 'gay' representation. Another handling of gay characters I liked was The Copper promise, with Sir Sebastian being kicked out of the knight order for having gay sex Total curve ball but it wasn't egregious, and it served to explain the character more and their motivation. Only when its obvious that queer character is inserted for the sake of insertion would I be pissed off and comment.
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Aug 17, 2019 04:23
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I saw someone on Twitter highly recommend TWI the other day and I was shocked when I clicked their profile and discovered they were a MAGA chud, considering TWI has never been shy about which direction its politics lie.
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Aug 17, 2019 05:36
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Chillyrabbit posted:unless you slipped in an egregious sex scene for the sake of making a character gay, people are just dumb. I may jsut be sick and cranky and not reading this charitably enough but it soudns a lot like you do have a problem with queer representation if you feel it's only acceptable when it serves a plot purpose, rather than sometimes just being an incidental facet of characters in the same way heterosexuality is.
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Aug 17, 2019 06:36
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Be gay do crimes
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Aug 17, 2019 07:27
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he's saying its bad when its the literary equivalent of those games that have romance options that are just always available to the player no matter what, so its not actually part of their character, its just there to make the Product available to as many people as possible. its not like books or even webnovels are immune to this kind of cancerous liberal capitalist thinking where representation is a checkbox thats there because we all know all gay people will consume any product with a gay person, therefor we need a token gay character in every product who's only there to be gay there doesn't have to be a point to a character being gay, but like. i didnt grow up around only heterosexuals, i dont assume everyone else is a heterosexual. but if theres no romance or sexual tension in a novel there's no reason for anybody's sexuality to come up. so its weird when a lovely book just has Side Character B that's there to make comments on male characters or whatever because the dumbass writer doesn't know how to write a gay character Larry Parrish fucked around with this message at 07:30 on Aug 17, 2019 |
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Aug 17, 2019 07:28
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yeah i'm probably reacting unfairly negatively to the phrasing, and obviously representation can be done poorly, but at the same time saying queer representation has to be justified by making it serve some greater purpose than just a thing that some people are sometimes, that fiction should reflect, annoys me. some characters should be queer just because. In fact all characters should be queer just because.
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Aug 17, 2019 08:13
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There's absolutely no problem with a character being randomly queer
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Aug 17, 2019 12:02
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I'm probably speaking from my ivory tower of majority privilege, but to me when someone jams in a gay character in literature to tick a check box it can come off ham fisted and annoying as Larry describes. I'm thinking a gay character is like a Chekov's gun, why introduce a character/detail unless you're going to do something with it. Great, John is revealed to be gay in a dramatic unveiling because they won't gently caress a romantic side interest and then proceed to ignore that aspect of the character for the entire book. Characters can be gay but usually unless their genitals need to touch, it's almost an irrelevant background detail that I don't particularly give a poo poo about.
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Aug 17, 2019 14:22
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Being gay is an irrelevant background detail the same way being straight is. Being gay just gets mentioned more because if you don't mention the sexuality of a character people will assume 'straightness' 99% of the time. Saying gay characters feel "jammed in" is laughable on its face because... I mean, gay people exist? They're "jammed in" to reality in the same way that straight people are.
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Aug 17, 2019 14:36
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im kind of a prude so it actually kind of does bother me if a book is like 'Oh by the way this guy fucks a lot' but its never used to set anything else up, it's just a random one off detail. mostly I just find it kind of lazy. I guess I'm a big believer in chekhov's gun also I realize this is hilarious to say in the web serial thread, one step above bathroom graffiti in terms of literature, but maybe the dipshit who assumes every character is like them unless stated otherwise doesn't need to be considered
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Aug 17, 2019 14:38
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