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NOTE: THIS THREAD WILL DISCUSS CURRENT PATREON EVENTS WITHOUT THE USE OF SPOILER TAGS. ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK. RR CHAPTERS ARE SAFE TO TALK ABOUT IN THE MAIN WEBNOVEL THREAD IF YOU ARE THE FIRST POSTER TO TALK ABOUT A NEW PATREON CHAPTER PLEASE FLAG AS SUCH SO OTHERS CAN READ BEFORE DIVING INTO YOUR POST.  Links: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/63759/super-supportive/ https://www.patreon.com/Sleyca Synopsis: Super Supportive is a LITRPG Super Hero web serial published on Royal Road and Patreon. It is currently one of the most popular English web serials, being 6th in the writing category on Patreon and consistently pulling in the top 3 at Royal Road. It focuses on good-boy Alden, an orphan whose parents were killed by villain named "Body Drainer" when he was a young child. This is a world with superheros and villains as well as magic were brought to Earth by Artonans, an inter-dimensional species of alien wizards who turned the world into one of many resource worlds in their empire. Humans who are chosen by the Inter-dimensional Warrior's Contract (AKA the "System") and given incredible powers to fulfill the service required by the treaty with the Artonans are called Avowed, but not every human chosen is selfless or good. The story mainly focuses on Alden in the time leading up to, and after he was chosen as an Avowed. Alden has long wanted to become an Avowed in a supportive role, rather than a directly confrontational role one would normally expect for a superhero story. Characters: Samuel Alden Thorn: The main character. Alden was born in Tennessee, but moved to Chicago shortly before his parents died. He lives there at the start of the series. He wants to be a supportive hero. Through a series of unlikely encounters he gains insights and abilities no other human has before. Hannah Elber: Adjuster who could use magic that preserved people in bubbles. Saves Alden as a boy in chapter one and becomes a big sister of sorts to him. Absolutely alive and well. Arjun: Brute who stopped Body Drainer’s rampage shortly after they killed Alden’s parents. Boe Lupescu: Alden's best friend and like a brother to him. They have known each other since grade school. Jeremy Levi: Alden's other notable friend. Probably the most normal person amongst those in his orbit. Victor: Alden's evil cat. It is extremely cranky and often acts like a wild stray Gorgon: An alien prisoner chained to the Artonan consulate in Chicago. Alden meets him as the story kicks off and they share a love of salsa and pizza. Worli Ro-den (aka Joe): An Artonan wizard that Alden meets early in the series. He provides some unique insights for Alden on how to use his powers and offers him good rewards for picking a few berries. Stu-art'h (aka Stuart): An Artonan child of similar age to Alden. Alden meets him along with Joe early on the series Kivb-ee (aka Kibby): A young Artonan child that Alden meets while picking berries. Jeffy: Water Brute. Long for Jeff. NOT short for Jeffery. Nitrousoxide fucked around with this message at 00:08 on Apr 26, 2024 |
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Apr 25, 2024 22:30
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Poor Boe (this statement is universally true regardless of which chapter you're on).
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Apr 25, 2024 22:37
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Glad to see Victor, the real star of the story, made the short list of character summaries.
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Apr 25, 2024 22:41
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Boe's rolled the dice real poorly in the past year. Poor guy
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Apr 25, 2024 22:44
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I would have preferred a No Poors Allowed thread title but what can ya do.
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Apr 25, 2024 23:19
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Nice OP! Getting the Jeffy joke in is truly essential. I think you should add explicit rules for spoilers. My suggestion would be that this thread assumes you have read all patreon chapters, but the first post after a new chapter drops should announce that and use spoilers anyway. Royal Road readers with an incredible tolerance for spoilers are welcome, but they might prefer to post in the web serial thread.
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Apr 25, 2024 23:45
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Wittgen posted:Nice OP! Getting the Jeffy joke in is truly essential. Yeah, I was going to suggest the OP should specify that the first post for a new patreon chapter should be spoilered, but it's a free for all after that.
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Apr 26, 2024 00:02
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Bremen posted:Yeah, I was going to suggest the OP should specify that the first post for a new patreon chapter should be spoilered, but it's a free for all after that. I added a note about that. I don't really want people to start using spoiler tags in here, but flagging your post if you're the first one to talk about a new chapter is fair.
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Apr 26, 2024 00:04
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gonadic io posted:Poor Boe (this statement is universally true regardless of which chapter you're on). (ch. 150) This chapter was full of fun things right from the start. I've missed that so much. Boe: I'm going to get killed by a jaguar Alden: Turn on video mode Enkor fucked around with this message at 00:49 on Apr 26, 2024 |
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Apr 26, 2024 00:28
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No mention of Esh-erdi? He is so going to sulk.
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Apr 26, 2024 00:53
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I wanted to keep the OP spoiler free since that's where some newbie to the series would land. Beyond that, anything goes.
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Apr 26, 2024 01:02
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Okay so on behalf of my partner I have a crazy new (?) theory to offer: Hazel killing Manon was one of the last bits of backlash from the Gloss. No seriously hear me out, Actually seriously I like this theory because that is what ancient wish magic should be like. Sure you wish for a pony and you get it, but the pony will inevitably turn out to be an obligate carnivore that thinks your beloved family members all look super tasty. So Aulia got S-rank Chainer but she also got her family put on a faster track to hell because that's how much juice it took to get the universe to tilt in that particular direction. Edit: forgot to add that this dovetails perfectly with why Artonans have this whole distancing religious thing around chains. They are old magic, and sometimes that means it just won't work, and other times it does work but then you have backlash coming at you for years. babydonthurtme fucked around with this message at 06:23 on Apr 26, 2024 |
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Apr 26, 2024 05:58
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Sonde: https://x.com/SadiqoJN/status/1070995854272675840
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Apr 26, 2024 06:08
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babydonthurtme posted:Okay so on behalf of my partner I have a crazy new (?) theory to offer: Hazel killing Manon was one of the last bits of backlash from the Gloss. Ok what I'm saying is that the guy who dropped out from LeafSong giving Alden a spot probably did so during the gloss backlash and there's a perfectly straight line from that to Manon's murder and its consequences
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Apr 26, 2024 06:10
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30.5 Days posted:Ok what I'm saying is that the guy who dropped out from LeafSong giving Alden a spot probably did so during the gloss backlash and there's a perfectly straight line from that to Manon's murder and its consequences I've had quite a few related theories. Sleyca has stomped them all - Gloss related activity and consequences are only during the backlash period. Events aren't set into motion during the backlast that end up hitting post-backlash.
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Apr 26, 2024 14:56
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Yeah, that just makes sense with how word chains work. You get a certain time period with a benefit. And then you get a certain time period with a negative. So super lucky period and then super unlucky period. The things that happen in those periods can of course have after effects, but the change in luck level doesn't extend out. I am very interested in the decrepit chain Aulia used to test Lute and Hazel. The super sight lasted for maybe ten seconds. The blindness lasted for something like a week. I feel like most chains we have seen have very similar time periods of effect between the giving and taking halves. Was the decrepit chain unbalanced because it is so decrepit? Is it something about how the chain was built? Does it have anything to do with why that chain is one the Artonan authorities would rather not exist? There's just so much we don't know.
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Apr 26, 2024 15:21
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I would imagine that the super heavy backlash is it making up for extended and consistent failures to pay back in a timely fashion. It would probably have similar time periods for super sight/bad sight (and the bad sight might not be so crippling) if people had actually paid it back like they were supposed to. Maybe it can be repaired over time by by using it properly. We also don't know how wordchains are created initially. I suspect it's by sacrificing authority to create a "groove" in the universe of a balanced benefit/cost. It would explain why there are no non-Artonan word chains (they are the only ones with voluntary authority control) and why people aren't just making new ones willy-nilly (authority sacrifice is a big deal) and why Gorgon said word chains are similar to his people's magic (which relied heavily on authority sacrifice)
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Apr 26, 2024 16:40
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Nitrousoxide posted:I would imagine that the super heavy backlash is it making up for extended and consistent failures to pay back in a timely fashion. This is my guess, since it doesn't seem to be a matter of potency or something (since we've seen other chains that have effects at least as impressive). Similarly, something I had commented on in the other thread is that I think a chain can get easier for someone who has uses it many times (while paying it off in a timely manner, of course). It seems like such repetition sort of "eases" the creation of the chain, since there's already a "worn groove" there of sorts. I think this is why Alden found that he was able to succeed despite minor mistakes.
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Apr 26, 2024 17:49
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That's explicitly true lute says after the first few times he mostly just mumbles. Although he's not the average user of course.
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Apr 26, 2024 18:33
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The sight wordchain might just be super old and inefficiently designed compared to modern ones too.
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Apr 26, 2024 18:34
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Well, that's the thing that interests me. Maybe the old word chain is so lopsided because that is how it was designed. Maybe it's lopsided because it's in such bad shape. But maybe there is something deeper going on? The fact that Aulia specifically says high ranking Artonans don't like the chain existing makes me think there's something more there. Maybe Lute will give us more insight into the nature of word chains going forward. Assuming, of course, that he didn't die trying to find his dad.
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Apr 26, 2024 19:02
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Had to double check who messaged whom, re:Lute, and I think the only Anesidorans of his age we know from the text are fine are Natalie (with her friends), Vandy, and Winston since they are the ones who messaged Alden. Not that Vandy would ever do anything like not following evacuation instructions. (Well, and Haoyu ought to be OK because he flew to the Amazon).
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Apr 26, 2024 20:11
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Wittgen posted:Well, that's the thing that interests me. Maybe the old word chain is so lopsided because that is how it was designed. Maybe it's lopsided because it's in such bad shape. But maybe there is something deeper going on? The fact that Aulia specifically says high ranking Artonans don't like the chain existing makes me think there's something more there. It could be as simple as it being a chain that lets you spy on your rivals, but I think if wizardry causing chaos is true, any potent chain is a reminder that there are ways to use authority that don't end up corrupting moons. I'm saying knights are clean coal.
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Apr 27, 2024 02:08
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Magic as a pollution metaphor also jives really well with Zeridee wanting to forgo using magic and become a member of the ordinary class of Artonans despite having magical ability and a wizard family. She (and other Artonans) being the rough equivalent of magically vegan because of the harm magic causes the universe.
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Apr 27, 2024 02:28
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Zeridee being a magic vegan also suddenly brings into light Alden's veganism and why it's so very prominent.
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Apr 27, 2024 07:11
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The main issue I have with the "magic is inherently harmful" idea is that the narrative via Alden's own personal experiences has framed wizardry as "the most pure form of personal expression." A big reason why being Avowed is torture for Alden is because it removes that freedom from how he can use his authority. This isn't really a factual/metaphysical argument so much as one of tone - authority is presented as "the self" in the most pure sense, with magic simply being an expression of that. When Alden casts even the most simple spells, it's a wonderful experience for him because it's exercising his will in a very pure way. I just find it unlikely that something presented as being this natural will end up being harmful. It seems more likely to me that something like "a history of improper wordchain use" could be the metaphysical pollution leading to a lot of problems. That's a concrete metaphysical problem that has actually been directly introduced.
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Apr 27, 2024 21:22
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How could imposing one's will on the universe in a direct and uncompromising way possibly have downsides? Well, I could maybe think of a few.
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Apr 27, 2024 21:56
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Wittgen posted:How could imposing one's will on the universe in a direct and uncompromising way possibly have downsides? Well, I could maybe think of a few. Like I said, it's an argument primarily centered on the tone and way these things have been presented to us. There has been no indication that there's anything "unnatural"/harmful about the use of one's authority. It's presented like using your authority to do a thing isn't any different from, say, using your arm to pick up and move a cup (which is also technically "imposing your will on the universe"). And it's also not "direct/uncompromising." Magic only works if you do it using the correct method, which often involves some "alignment" of concepts/materials/whatever. You have to "weave" your authority in a particular way, or use some materials/tools/etc. There's no indication that something is being "unnaturally forced" (at least with the sort of magic we've seen Alden or other wizards use). It's very possible that there are harmful/wrong ways to use magic, but I'm pretty confident that there will never be a plot point of "magic itself is inherently harmful and the only solution is to not do any magic."
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Apr 27, 2024 22:12
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I'm hoping we'll find out tomorrow when Zeridee wakes up and it turns out she does in fact remember and then tells Alden why she's a magic vegan. E: actually nm tomorrow will probably be Joe. Next week then.
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Apr 28, 2024 01:28
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People are picking up on this as a theme because Super Supportive keeps introducing forms of "fair" magic which stand in contrast to what Artonan wizards do. Both Gorgon's traditions of sacrifice and wordchains are conspicuously balanced in ways that make them unappealing in comparison to wizardry. In addition, chaos must come from somewhere, and as far as we know Earth didn't have any of it before the wizards showed up, so it's at least a reasonable guess that it's related to the practice of Artonan-style wizardry. I also doubt that the story will suggest that wizardry is inherently immoral and good people shouldn't do it, but that's a stronger conclusion than the pollution metaphor needs; it's not like the solution to pollution on Earth is deindustrialization either. I read the Scholomance series recently, which plays with similar ideas, though not in the same way.
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Apr 28, 2024 01:45
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Ytlaya posted:The main issue I have with the "magic is inherently harmful" idea is that the narrative via Alden's own personal experiences has framed wizardry as "the most pure form of personal expression." A big reason why being Avowed is torture for Alden is because it removes that freedom from how he can use his authority. I would point out that there is absolutely precedent in other fantasy fiction for magic that feels good to do being bad news. The True Power in the Wheel of Time comes to mind, and similarly doesn't suffer from many of the limitations of the One Power but is itself super insidious and dangerous to the user and those around them the more it gets used. Sleyca may be setting up Alden as the synthesis to the thesis and antithesis of Gorgon and Artonan magics too. His unique situation could potentially prove to be the solution to problem of magic and chaos, if the pollution theme turns out to be real. Nitrousoxide fucked around with this message at 02:01 on Apr 28, 2024 |
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Apr 28, 2024 01:59
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Also magic being wonderful for personal expression doesn't mean planet-spanning magical projects don't go too far
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Apr 28, 2024 02:13
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Take IRL for example. Burning stuff is one of life's greatest pleasures. Planet-wide however, hasn't turned out great.
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Apr 28, 2024 02:20
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Legitimately crazy to me to think that something feeling good and affirming in a personal way could be considered evidence against potential negative consequences. Could you imagine bringing that logic to sex ed?
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Apr 28, 2024 02:38
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Wittgen posted:Legitimately crazy to me to think that something feeling good and affirming in a personal way could be considered evidence against potential negative consequences. Could you imagine bringing that logic to sex ed? Replace that picture of a Grivick with "No!" in 20 languages with Joe the
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Apr 28, 2024 02:53
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nrook posted:People are picking up on this as a theme because Super Supportive keeps introducing forms of "fair" magic which stand in contrast to what Artonan wizards do. Both Gorgon's traditions of sacrifice and wordchains are conspicuously balanced in ways that make them unappealing in comparison to wizardry. In addition, chaos must come from somewhere, and as far as we know Earth didn't have any of it before the wizards showed up, so it's at least a reasonable guess that it's related to the practice of Artonan-style wizardry. I also doubt that the story will suggest that wizardry is inherently immoral and good people shouldn't do it, but that's a stronger conclusion than the pollution metaphor needs; it's not like the solution to pollution on Earth is deindustrialization either. We've been told avowed have an inherently stabilizing effect on chaos, and they don't have any sacrifice elements involved. I mean, for all we know it was Gorgon's people that caused the chaos problem and it eventually spread to Earth, causing Artonans to show up to defend it. We don't have any evidence of that, but we don't have any evidence the other way either. And if we want to apply a global warming analogy Gorgon's people were the ones "burning" magic, not the Artonans. Plus I've been rather less pro-Gorgon than most readers here ever since he wasn't willing to tell the Artonans Alden was alive on Thegund because it would raise questions about how he knew. Bremen fucked around with this message at 15:32 on Apr 28, 2024 |
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Apr 28, 2024 15:23
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Yeah it's been made extremely clear several times that avowed themselves, and them using their skills, have some kind of anti-chaos effect. The theory is that artonan free-casting makes the chaos problem worse, not that all avowed and their skills do.
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Apr 28, 2024 16:44
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We know that Earth is a "resource world," but what is the resource? I think it's stability. The high chaos potential, high authority people on the resource world have their existence automagically formatted to serve the Artonans. The primary referred to their "unravelling world." Esh-erdi "selfishly" hoped that Haoyus dad liked the path his affixation had put him on. I think Artonan magic pushes the universe's path in a less probable, less stable direction. By absorbing the potential futures of other universes, the Artonans are able to keep extending their own Empire's future. It is a neat metaphor for the consuming nature of empire and capitalism. Also, I recognize that Avowed are more chaos resistant and that they stabilize contracts. However, I think the creation of Avowed on a world greatly increases the chaos build up on that world. If nothing else, the fact that Avowed generally have kids who are Avowed means that the creation of the class leads to more kids with high chaos potential.
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Apr 28, 2024 17:45
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The comparison I always make is Madoka and their plotline about the universe running out of entropy and that's why that alien race is running around giving children super powers. Honestly I kind of think that Supsup will have a similar ending too.
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Apr 28, 2024 19:32
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joe wants absolutely nothing to do with alden lmao
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Apr 29, 2024 07:19
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