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Dogshit Website Edition

Stubbed >>24812751

>What is /wng/ — Web Novel General?
A general for readers and authors involved or interested in the growing phenomenon of 'web novels', serialized English fiction posted to websites such as: Royal Road, Webnovel, Scribblehub, Wattpad, Archive of Our Own, Spacebattles, HFY, various personal author websites, and more

>Why read web novels?
Not for prose or tight editing or deep themes, frankly. As a whole, web novels are infamous for content sprawl and pacing issues. If you enjoy having millions of words to sink your teeth into to get to know the world and characters, though, you may be interested. Keeping up with other readers on a weekly basis to discuss the story's events unfolding is another perk, in the same way discussing an ongoing TV show might be.

>Why write web novels?
Ease of access & potential for Patreon earnings. Many successful authors gain an audience on their website of choice and funnel their readers into a Patreon. See graphtreon.com/top-patreon-creators/writing for an idea of what some are earning.
Also, once an author has earned a fanbase, transitioning into an Amazon self-publishing career is several orders of magnitude easier than starting 'dry'.

>/wng/ authors.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vSNZali-jIk2MASsAWVf8N7A8BlSyzPbAFV_BhsA5Ip3SWfMPWKxaXf8Pdb7f0TgFyWis31BzirtPeR/pubhtml


>Advice for Noobs!

##READ THE FOLLOWING BEFORE ASKING FOR HELP##

Running your story like the business it is:
www.royalroad.com/forums/thread/116847

On writing web serials:
alexanderwales.com/how-to-write-a-web-serial/

Sanderson's Writing Lectures 2025:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEUh_y1IFZY&list=PLSH_xM-KC3ZvzkfVo_Dls0B5GiE2oMcLY
Recommended web novels
rentry.co/d2yvczro

Anon's guide to success
rentry.co/RRBasicGuide

FAQ
rentry.co/pytefpxn
>>
>>
Reverend.
Insanity.
>>
In my fantasy world women are better equipped than men. A lot of the gear adventurers use is dropped by monsters, but the gear has a random form factor, eg bikini "robes" or bikini breastplate

Female adventurers wear both bikini armor and its male equivalents, but male adventurers typically wear the male variants only. Therefore women have more choice of gear and end up better equipped.
>>
>>24817158
ok.
>>
>>24817158
Instantly spotted a problem with your system: femboys and traps are broken.
>>
>>24817158
ultima online did this
>>
>>24817158
not the runescape economy
>>
>>24817158
yeah, no
you'd be a powergamer and put on the dress if it was a matter of life or death
>>
>>24817200
People do not act optimally or rationally even in extreme scenarios. You have internet rat-fic reddit brainrot
>>
I'm writing a story but I need to know all of the RR readers pet hatreds so I can be sure to feature them prominently. My goal is to write a story so highly enthralling that they're forced to tolerate whatever inflammatory inclusions I make, and as the story progresses I'll ramp up their frequency until by the end there's little else. Torturing that shitty reader base is one of my life's aims.
>>
>>24817212
f anon tried to do this and failed miserably
you are not a good enough writer to subvert even a few tropes much less the most controversial ones
>>
/wng/ is not a non-writer's market research focus group.
>>
>>24817204
"MONSTERS DROP RANDOM GEAR OUT OF THIN AIR"
>makes sense
"BUT THERE'S BIKINI ARMOR"
>checks out
"AND THE WOMEN WEAR IT"
>yep, bikinis would be an exclusively feminine clothing article in this world and not something warriors wear
"Men would wear the best gear available, rather than risk fucking dying"
>Completely unrealistic! It just wouldn't happen. Men will only wear the MALE armor that drops out of thin air from monsters.
>Women would wear the best gear available though.
>>
>>24817225
>human existence is irrational
>what a load of fucking horseshit, I interact with people and observe the world btw
>>
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chapter rewrites: all caught up
edible: taken
alchie: at the ready
vanilla sweet tea: consumed
yup. now it's high time to continue progressing the story and write the chapter of pristine, premium, deluxe suffering.
>>
>>24817225
There are about 10 million videos of people jumping off the roof and breaking their spine.
>>
We can see that humanity is fundamentally rational and optimizes their health and success because everyone rejects fast food and exercises adequately.
>>
bikini armor melty
>>
interestingly, whenever the thread is especially shitty the ghostfag anon is here
>>
>>24817214
How would you know?
>>
why would bikini armor provide more protection than not-bikini armor? just take the magic bikini forcefield and apply it to a breastplate and you have superior armor.
>>
>>24817251
nuh uh you can't
you lose the sexy points
>>
>>24817251
The wizards in charge of applying the forcefield actively refuse to apply it to not-bikini armor.
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>>24817251
The magic actually flows from the breasts like milk.
>>
>>24817251
When you roll a 1 on reading comprehension
>>
>>24817184
MC is a femboy allowing them access to all gear
>>
Male armor should be too big for most women anyways. It’s not like armor is a one size fits all thing.
>>
>>24817158
>"Bro why are you wearing a skirt, you gay or something?"
>"Pleated miniskirts are 140 defense. Cargo pants are only 80. Take the pleatpill and skirt up dude."
>>
>>24817336
correct except it just doesn't work that way because reasons
>>
How does this sound?
>MC is a church inquisitor.
>He's not a fan of the core institution, so he joins the inquisition to travel around helping people who are still truly in touch with the faith.
>Investigates supernatural phenomena.
>Exposes charlatans with fake miracles.
>Brings down cults.
>Gets his hands dirty when dealing with corrupt nobles and merchants.
>Has OP magic that is was forbidden by the secular authorities out of fear and superstition.
>>
>>24817394
Sounds nifty!
>>
>>24817394
Okay. Now show the class the first few chapters.
>>
>>24817394
The Justice of Kings.
>>
>>24817214
Fuck off, I didn't fail.
>>
Any of you fags looking to write another litrpg should study the Mercenary Mage series. What you should not do is study The Strongest Spellblade.
>>
>>24817463
This but the opposite
(actually they're both awful)
>>
Is it worth doing Writathon for exposure? I don't care about the site rewards like account xp or whatever.
>>
Lol
>>
>>24817513
better than my story, sheeeeit
>>
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Been slacking off on typography, is 'Cosmic Titans' too small text or should I make it uniform in size with 'A Game of'? I thought it was pretty cool having it split between the text but not the M. Maybe bigger text but make the M behind the saber?
>>
>>24817530
Unifom size for sure. Could go either way with the sword.
>>
>>24817493
Potentially if you're top 10% writer (not hard). Definitely if you're top 0.1% writer (guaranteed spot on leaderboards at midpoint).
Personally I'm going full precepts with ads during the writathon. Maybe it's stupid, but every chapter I post is going to shoutout my other, main story, so why not? Free extra exposure in both directions.

it's going to be a pain the first few days, to get fifteen chapters written asap so I can spampost and have something up on patreon for people to pay to read ahead, but I'm going to go for it.
5k words a day minimum until I have ten chapters to post, then dump them, then from then on write two chapters, one to post on RR, and then the extra to put on Patreon until patreon is ten chappies ahead.
I might start with slightly shorter chapters (1.5k-2k words instead of 2.5k words) to get started. Then at the end I'll get a book together with a commissioned artwork cover.

Worst case scenario I go into December with another self-published novel under my belt, alongside my main story.
>>
>>24817530
Text too small to read on thumbnail. You could make the CosMic big enough that the saber splits the cosmic M too. I get it, I prefer the smaller font size on my own cover, but it really does hamper people skimming search results/RS. So I'd say make it better but do what makes you happy.
>>
>>24817192
My initial example was literally plate skirt and plate legs, but I realized that "plate legs" doesn't make sense unless you've played RS.
>>24817200
>>24817204
A power gamer would put on the dress, but men in life and death situations probably wouldn't.
>>24817225
It's not like your choice is between dying or wearing the dress. It's between 2% more hp or not.
Do you wear a helmet when you drive your car? It could literally save your life in an accident. But you don't. We don't even use seat belts on public transport despite mandating their use in cars.
>>
>>24817538
Do you have to do something beforehand to start a story for the writeathon? Or can I just start writing when the event starts?
>>
>>24817546
speaking of RS, are there any game isekai WNs clearly inspired by RS?
>>
Women wouldn’t wear bikini armor either
>>
Will patreon kill my account if what I'm writing is smut with questionable aged original characters?
>>
I get an okay number of views on my chapters, but no one is following, or rating.
>>
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>>24817536
>>24817545
Yeah, alright, I think this'll be as good as it gets. I'm feelign ever so close to launching, any day now. 2 more weeks as they say.
>>
>>24817581
Hmmm. Maybe slide the guy over so he's not center. I think splitting words is more important than splitting the M.
>>
>>24817560
Nobody will know if you cheat sensibly, but personally I'm going in with a rough outline and idea for narrative and character arcs, which I will finalize on day one and then start actually writing.

I think you have to register the new story with writathon, and unregister prewritten stuff (my other story is fully prewritten by this point so I'll exclude it).

Also it's been a year since I started my story but I may "start" it with zero chapters a few days early just so mods don't drag their heels approving it. Like I'll AI gen a cover and write a blurb and stuff, things that won't count towards word count.
>>
>>24817581
>>24817588
actually i take it back, it looks good the way it is.
>>
>>24817568
I don't know about clearly inspired but Azarinth Healer has the vibe
>>
>>24817593
>Azarinth Healer
>BTDEM
>Lifeweaver
I'm sure I'm missing it, but what other good healer MC litrpgs are there?
>>
>>24817575
I know a guy who does this, regular ATF user, publishes jailbait on ao3, ao3 links to his socials (no ads, just "here's my tumblr/x teehee" and his socials link to a clean subscribestar advertising as "freelance writer and blogger". Earning quite a bit last time I asked.
>>
>be me
>post chapter to RR
>lose -1 (one) follower
It's over
>>
>>24817602
I didn't know what that was so I searched "web novel ATF" and first result was a story about a guy who reincarnates as two bodies at the same time, one of which is a girl version of himself.
Clicked linked about more selfcest novels and it's almost all BL selfcest.
Are Asians, especially Asian women okay?
>>
What if the summoned characters in an isekai story can revive when they die? Would this remove the tension from combat? I can't think of another reason why characters would throw themselves into very dangerous fights though. The smart thing would be to never take a dangerous fight.
>>
>>24817633
ATF is allthefallen, the infamous pedo nest, none of their stuff are indexed by google so good luck.
>>
>>24817637
There's at least one chink story where the MC has a system that gives him bonuses every time he risks his life(plus one free revive if he ever dies from something other than suicide).
>>
Are all the stories fantasy/anime/rpg/fetish?
Or is there an opportunity for something else, maybe spy fiction or travel related stories? I guess I'm asking, is there one big generalized audience for this stuff and do they only want fantasy and rpg stuff?
>>
>>24817581
The thumbnail is completely unreadable. Which is like the one and only thing that matters online.
>>
>>24817654
Do fantasy fans only want fantasy on platforms specializing in fantasy? Hmm big think moment
>>
>>24817654
Primarily it's all fantasy but there's no reason good whatever else couldn't get popular.
It's just not what webnovel readers are looking for, generally speaking.

>>24817637
That's a problem of tension and conflict. What is the reason one would risk their life? If it's something compelling, that's a good story.
For duty to the state? To fulfill an oath? To rescue your bro's kidnapped wife? For the sake of your friend? To avenge that friend when you were being a bitch and he fought without you backing him up and got killed?
How about because of a slave contract? Or money to repay a debt? Or to impress your childhood friend with huge tits? How about to rescue your cat that keeps getting stuck in dungeons?

A lot of sysapoc stories are basically just survival and self-defense with monster slaughtering layered on top.
>>
>>24817654
I think other genres can work. Might not be as big an audience, but it's not like people only like reading one thing over and over. If it's good, it'll succeed.
>>
>>24817661
Ok thanks. I'll hide this thread and not come back.
>>
>>24817666
Okay maybe I'll stick around and try and learn something
>>
>>24817666
People asking these questions don't write good stories. So either they write popular genres, or they die in silence.
>>
>>24817670
Take the advice I didn't, and whatever kind of story you write, follow the normal publishing schedule of the genre-webnovels anyway. Make a big ass backlog and spam chapters for the first few weeks. As soon as I hit the end of my written stuff, my views collapsed.
>>
>>24817654
You can right whatever but it will be niche though you might find an audience.
Isekai/progression/litRPG/regression are the mainstream categories and they can be whatever flavor fantasy/cyberpunk or whatever but the main categories are more important than the flavor.
There's a regression story about a trailer trash girl that gets a do over in life that's popular. There are some cyberpunk litrpg stories that did really well.
>>
>>24817672
I ask those questions too sometimes and I think I'm writing a good story.
>>
Anyone have tried to self-host their stories and make money off ads?
>>
>>24817677
Post your work
>>
>>24817684
I mean I make a hundred bucks a month on patreon driven by RR I can't imagine making that much on ad revenue (I tried to do a blog with adsense in like 2007 lmao didn't make jack shit).

Paywall is just better, so you'll want patreon or substack.
>>
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>>24817656
Yeah it's super tiny on 4han. It seems to be at least bigger on RR as a thumbnail and signautre image at least.
>>
>>24817686
No. I already posted it here a few threads ago and I don't want to be a spammer. Besides it's nowhere near finished so even if you did like it, you'd just be disappointed and probably forget about it and never come back to it later because of the slow update schedule.
>>
Last time, I posted a few of my curse-based story ideas. This time, it’s dudes dealing with THOTs:

The Succubus’s Kiss is a skill unique to women. It allows them to drain EXP and levels from men, leaving them with nothing. Because of this, men live as slaves—fighting and dying in dungeons each day, only to have women steal the fruits of their labor each night. And what do women do with all that power? Nothing! They hoard EXP and wealth, flaunting it to one another to boost their social standing, all while indulging in harems of male concubines. When real danger arises, they send the disposable men to fight and die in their place.
Our protagonist is a young man who grew up bullied by his domineering \sisters, living as a servant in his own house. And when he thinks things couldn’t get any worse, he is sold to a fat, old hag to become her concubine. Fed up, he chooses to delve deeper into the lower levels of the dungeon, where high level monsters and danger awaits… and hopefully, something powerful enough to overturn his fate and help him rise against this unjust world!

When a sharp-tongued podcaster publicly roasts a beloved internet idol, he is hunted down and murdered by her fans. He then finds himself waking up in a post-apocalyptic fantasy realm with an eccentric Simping System. The more he showers women with compliments and gifts, the more EXP and rare loot he earns.
To survive, he must swallow his disdain for THOTs and embrace the art of simping, despite his internal screams.
Meanwhile, more and more lost women begin to gather around their kind yet eccentric white knight, who praises them with one breath, while looking like he wants to strangle them when he thinks nobody’s watching.
“He told me I’m the most beautiful girl in the world. Can you believe that?” beams a woman with half her face melted off.
“He keeps complimenting my physique. I didn’t think a man could find someone like me attractive,” says a buff, seven-foot-tall amazon.
Before long, he’s surrounded by a circus of outcasts, each more obsessed with him than the last. Can he survive their overwhelming love long enough to conquer the post-apocalypse?
>>
>>24817663
>That's a problem of tension and conflict. What is the reason one would risk their life? If it's something compelling, that's a good story.
I get that, but that's also where stories are unrealistic. Take "the oath to your country" - serving in the military.

In war units are said to break when casualties in battle amounted to 10-15%. And "casualties" doesn't only mean deaths.

Infantrymen in WW2 saw an average of 40 days of combat over the whole war. Ancient Roman soldiers took part in maybe a dozen battles over their 25 years of service. Modern soldiers deployed to Afghanistan would see maybe a few hours of combat over the course of a year. And these are combat roles. There are a lot of non-combat roles too.

Compare this to what we think of your "typical adventurer" in a fantasy setting. They fight an absolutely crazy amount compared to soldiers. They constantly go out to hunt monsters or dive dungeons where they will have several fights in one "expedition". This means that injuries/casualties must be very rare. If they had a casualty rate comparable to war, then adventurers would just disappear to attrition. If casualty rate is low, then that means they must only take fights that are very easy to them.

It is ultimately about tension and conflict. Every other story seems to somehow work fine with the MC constantly putting themselves in mortal danger "just to get stronger", but the worldbuilding falls apart a little when the characters talk about "not taking risks" and "playing it safe".
>>24817647
I feel like a huge punishment, but no death, would go a long way to explain why anybody would engage in so much dangerous combat that adventurers typically engage in.
>>
>>24817757
I think that's just a fucked up sampling bias thing. If a story showed the average life of average adventurers, it would be nothing but scouting, resource gathering, escorting, and easy exterminations. Monster suppression campaigns are suppose to be a very rare occurrence.
>>
>>24817637
Rip off dungeon meshi, make it so that there's something spooky about the setting that enables resurrection magic (at a cost). Make it so there's an entire ecosystem of grey robes who ressurect after taking your stuff (as payment), white robes who are legit benevolent healers (maybe splice in religious themes and the church), or corpse collectors that enable the former two categories.
>>
>>24817251
You have the same protection , not more protection.
>>
>>24817765
Ohh, so to get resurrected somebody actually needs to collect your corpse and perform a ritual on you? That's interesting.
>>24817764
I don't think it is. I think it's because adventurers, especially dungeon divers, are modeled more after hunting than warfare. But the difference is that hunting IRL is a very safe activity compared to the dangerous combat adventurers seem to constantly be in.
>>
>>24817757
>This means that injuries/casualties must be very rare. If they had a casualty rate comparable to war, then adventurers would just disappear to attrition.
healing magic allows them to see a lot more combat and keep fighting compared to real world soldiers. An injury that would make you unable to keep fighting but not put you at risk of death can be handwaved away by a level 1 healer. If you don't have a healer in your party, or you are solo, things like magical potions still exist.
>>
>>24817700
>writing in super niche genres
>slow schedule
Absolutely OVER for you
>>
>>24817700
This post doesn't suggest great confidence in your own writing.
>>
>>24817158
Don't listen to the haters. I look forward to reading Crossdressing Is A Cheat Skill?! Trapped In A Fantasy World As A Cute Femboy.
>>
I really don't get why so many books needlessly make their protagonists 10-12 years old.
It's usually isekai too so they're not a kid, they're just severely limited in what they can do by their apparent age.
>>
>>24818077
So the training arc can start early and become op by 16
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>>24818077
funnily enough people who write juvenile power fantasies also fantasise about doing school again but being cool this time
>>
It seems the muse has finally released her iron grip on me. Now I may finally rest. Goodnight anons.
>>
>>24817641
>ATF is allthefallen, the infamous pedo nest, none of their stuff are indexed by google so good luck.
I regret putting this into google
>>
>>24817627
I lost 4 then gained 12 two days later. Remain strong, doomer anon
>>
I just started reading APGTS and can't help but wonder... What's the point of writing the story in third person if every little thing will get a first person 'she thought ...' in italics? Is this bad style?
>>
>>24817118
Do you guys outline? Like you know what's going to happen 100 chapters from now?
>>
>>24818115
Yes.
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>>24818115
You can get the character's inner monologue across without doing this. So yes, it's bad writing style.
>>
>>24818115
>>24818138
>>24818141
Wtf , that practically every fantasy book I have ever read. Non fantasy even.
>>
>>24818118
I don't write it down or anything, but I did have about 100 chapters worth of content planned in my head before starting. I know the ending too, but there's a sizable gap there I'm worried about filling in when I reach it.
>>
>>24818115
>>24818141
>>24818146
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_indirect_speech
ur welcome
>>
>>24818170
Huh, I've been doing this the whole time I've been writing and never knew there was a term for it. Good to know
>>
>>24817158
It's just gooner shit.
>>
>>24818146
There's a good reason everyone after Tolkien and Lewis has shat on fantasy fiction. The genre is not exactly an exhibit of good writing.
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>>24817654
They REALLY want litrpg/gamelit. As far as I can tell, that there's a large generalized audience is cope because the majority of writers don't want to write that. The mismatch between authors and audience continues to grow.

>>24817654
They REALLY want litrpg/gamelit. As far as I can tell, that there's a large generalized audience is cope because the majority of writers don't want to write that. The mismatch between authors and audience continues to grow.

https://www.reddit.com/r/royalroad/s/I1BbivLJUv

My response is linked as a post because it became too long for a comment.
>>
>>24818285
Clearly I should've waited until I was more awake.
>>
>>24817811
That's a great point. Healing magic does indeed change everything.
>>
It seems that RR authors conflate 'worldbuilding and deep lore' with 'boring infodumps and telling not showing'. Is it so hard to understand that I don't care about your world until you give me a reason to care about your world?
>>
>>24818320
I fucking love having magic systems explained to me
please spend another five chapters explaining mana flows to me like it matters
>>
>lore and magic system are expounded upon through an in-universe legend/parable
holy fucking kino
>>
>>24818339
this but unironically
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>>24818320
It's for the Economy, dude.
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>>24818404
Kman...
>>
>>24817967
My writing is fine. It gets the job done and does it well. I don't need much more than that out of it. I gave up poetry almost two decades ago.
>>
>>24818417
No magic system can work without a proper structure where every output has a specific input, a limited pool of mana production that increases according to technological level to prevent inflation, and, most importantly, absolute axioms that cannot be violated.
>>
I got an FFF-class antagonist ad earlier. Should I ignore it completely, or click on it then leave immediately to give it the most misleading statistics?
>>
>>24818515
What if Sanderson got on Royal Road and couldn’t see my ad because of you?
>>
northern plains arc was slow to start, but god damn the ending is peak
>>
>>24818118
I had a very thorough outline but overestimated my capacity for concision, so the chapter count wound up a little less than double what I wanted. Basically I know the scenes I'm going for and the ending and the narrative and character arcs, and then I just write them with mortar between the bricks, so to speak.

One time I was setting up a big fight scene and it just wasn't working, so I had to decompress it into the fight plus four chapters of buildup. It came out MUCH better for doing so, even though it added 8k words to the volume.
>>
>>24818349
>the in-universe legend/parable is shown to be wrong and the hero discovers the truth and has to deal with it
Even more kino. I fucking loved it in Fullmetal Alchemist.
>>
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I never liked mana or qi since they’re hard to quantify. Even when the writer makes it clear that a fireball spell costs 30 MP, which they rarely do, having to do the math in the middle of a fight sequence and trying to keep track of all the different spells, mana potions, and stats makes it hard to follow and anticipate what the protagonist will do next.
Treating spells as consumable items like bullets or bombs would be much better. You could say the hero has three fireball bullets and one ice bomb on him when he encounters an enemy camp. So now he either has to come up with a strategy to lure all the enemies to a single spot to freeze them all or find a way to stealth-kill the enemies one by one to conserve his resources for an upcoming boss fight.
It would definitely make each encounter more videogame-esque in this supposedly vidya-inspired subgenre.
>>
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Just realized RR counts author-reads as part of the total views... meaning my actual view count is way lower than I thought
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>>24818749
This is the kind of autistic mindset needed to appeal to fellow autistic readers. Unfortunately, writing ability isn't usually also included.
>>
>>24818749
Here's the secret of LitRPGs, anon. Numbers don't actually matter. Even in the crunchiest of LitRPGs, all formulas and so on are left up to the author, who can fudge timings and resource availability and everything else to be just the way he wants them to be. This means that there's just as much author fiat involved as there is with non-LitRPG, and so the numbers are essentially all meaningless.
>>
>>24818777
That's interesting. I wonder what the minimal time interval is. That seems like it'd allow for mass refreshes to initially boost a low view and average view count. You could have it seen like you have nearly 100% reader retention, even though the other stats wouldn't be alignment.
>>
>>24818786
Just like with non-numbers writing, though, appearance and presentation is everything. It should feel like--even if its not true--that the system that has been designed is being rigidly adhered to and is relevant to the fight
>>
>>24818749
>>24818778
I think the most interesting part in rpg systems is how competent players balance their skill rotation between unloading DPS and performing recovery actions to regain MP in order to seamlessly resume dealing damage again and keeping the fight spinning like a wheel. That was what I wanted to explore when I thought about writing a litrpg. But I was told this is autistic and nobody will want to read it.
>>
>>24818749
Why even write fantasy then? Just write scifi
>>
>>24818821
>But I was told this is autistic and nobody will want to read it.
It's not a compelling narrative, no. LitRPGs are stories, not games
>>
>>24818821
>this is autistic
Perhaps.
>nobody will want to read it.
Not true. If I was going to read litRPG, i would want this kind of detail.
>>
>>24818821
I think big combos are more fun
>>
What is your preferred proportion of sex and fanservice to plot and characterization in smut? Or is it more of a thing that you should do by feel, like, "guess it has been a while since anything sexy happened".
>>
>>24818849
I don't put that slop in my writing.
>>
>>24818830
>If I was going to read litRPG, i would want this kind of detail.
>I don't read LitRPG, but you should totally write a LitRPG like this
>>
>>24818849
You should either cut the smut out entirely, or go all in on the smut. The middle ground is lose-lose
>>
>>24818788
There is definitely some kind of delay, because sometimes it doesn't seem to count them. But then other times it does. Which sucks because it makes it difficult to keep track of how I'm actually doing.
>>
>>24818855
Okay. Do the exact same thing as everyone else.
>>
>>24818849
None. I do not read smut.
>>
Is it okay if
Might seem
Queer presenting
>>
>>24818873
It's so funny you think this is bad advice
>>
>>24818893
I didn't say it was bad advice.
>>
>>24818821
That's almost surely how it would be professionaly done in real life, especially in the special forces of the military.
>>
>>24818858
But people read smut exactly because it isn't just porn from beginning to end...because of context making all the difference...don't they?
>>
>>24818919
I prefer reading a plot with porn rather than a porn with plot
>>
>>24818902
Nah, militaries these days don't focus on sustained operations. It's hard and they hate it. They much prefer to blow their load all at once with bombardment or rapid overwhelming assault on an occupied building and get the entire thing over with as fast as possible.

Some guy spinning a wheel of skills on rotation dealing consistent tens of thousands of damage per minute is gonna get targeted by an explosion spell and blown to bits: if he blocks the first explosion, they'll hit him with one ten or a hundred times as strong.

That said, stories are more entertaining to read a single guy scything through monsters like stalks of wheat, so definitely write that just be aware that's not how IRL works.
>>
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>>24818934
Your thinking is far too skewed by modern asymmetrical urban warfare, especially done by Americans in the Middle East.
>>
>>24818987
Not only that, but you're only considering a lone person rather than being in a squad, which is how they are able to maximize their rotations.
>>
>>24818934
>if he blocks the first explosion, they'll hit him with one ten or a hundred times as strong
Who are "they" and how will they fart out this unlimited power?
>>
>>24818919
Nobody wants to read hundreds of pages of wooorldbuilding before they can finally pull their pants down
>>
>>24819097
You aren't supposed to pull them down every time sex happens in a smutty story. Often it's just about getting the reader revved up than serving as masturbation material. Also japanese visual novels do exactly just that.
>>
Any thoughts on prologues? From a business standpoint, I mean.
>>
>>24819141
Terrible. Most prologues are shit and divorced from the actual story. They are usually worldbuilding infodumps or character introductions (that might not even appear later in the story,) and readers have yet no reason to care about either.

The fact that inherent shitness is the first thing your readers are going to see is going to make them drop it before they even reach the story you want to tell.
>>
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>>24819199
When do we get to see him actually do things?
>>
>>24819141
The best prologue is the one where you don't say, imply, or title it as a prologue.
>>
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>>24818777
>mfw all my views came from myself
>>
>>24819141
If you can't make your prologue a better reason why to read your story than your first chapter, then it's probably better not to have one. There are always exceptions for various reasons though, as with anything. For me personally, when they're done, the best reasons are either for setting up the reason for why everything in the happens in the novel, which tells the reader what to expect, or setting up the character's life story followed by a time skip. A prologue should almost always be short.
>>
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>>24819217
What kind of things?
>>
>>24819217
Don't encourage the RI spammer. Yes, even if you're the RI spammer encouraging yourself, don't fo that.
>>
>>24817757
Adventurers are naturally gifted since older DnD editions. They're only really at risk from small numbers of goblins and zombies at level 1. A level 1 fighter might be comparable to a human soldier or bandit npc but he will massively scale out of reach of them. At five a party of adventurers can fight hydras at 10 fire giants at 15 adult dragons and at 20 they can take on greater demons and ancient dragons. At high levels they gain enough gold and influence to form kingdoms of their own. There's even a setting called Brithright where the players already start as rulers in command of armies. Beyond level 20 they're taking celestial and extra-planar threats.
It's kind of politically incorrect these days for only these naturally gifted people to be the hero.
>>
>>24819234
Mine is a 560-word, humorous scene where everyone in a town is terrified and panicking because of a rumor concerning the magic everyone in the world shares, and then celebrating when they find out the rumor is untrue. And then it notes that it was an exciting, adventurous day for everyone. Everyone except, of course, the MC. Because he doesn't have any magic at all. So for him it was a totally normal, boring day.
I think it's a good, kind of unique, way to introduce the world, the magic and the MC... but I'm worried that the "hate prologues" trend will make readers reject it.
>>
>>24819240
Spotted the RI spammer
>>
>>24819141
I skip all prologues in a story, and when I write mine I don't expect anyone to read them.
>>
>>24819265
How much humor will the rest of your story have? Bait and switch is also disliked. Does the prologue have the same or at least similar tone as the rest?
>>
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I don't even read them anymore. I just the black rectangle and go next
>>
Why do you guys just squat around her for hours on end breathing each other's hot breath, all swampy with lipids and soda syrup and stale dreams?
>>
>>24819292
Well, at least you're not a hypocrite.
>>24819293
It'll have the same general humorous tone until near the end, when it'll take a more serious turn. But then it'll go back to mild humor at the actual end.
>>
>>24819097
I played like 20 hours of Kamidori Alchemy Meister before a sex scene appeared and by then I was just pissed it got in the way of the game
>>
>>24817581
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/87/StarWarsMoviePoster1977.jpg
>>
>>24819141
>>24819234
>Prologue sets up the premise, the main villain, the inciting incident and the mc's and multiple rival's cheat
>The villain literally has to stay in the shadows until the last arcs
>The inciting incident and the powers are directly linked and it would be completely unrealistic to know about it until almost the very end
In my case it feels almost mandatory to make a prologue so this shit doesn't come out of left field
How long should be a prologue?
>>
>>24819307
2/10
Please see Mr Gebeta Riting after class.
>>
>>24819141
I don't know why there's people who don't use in media res, unless you're really selling your story on system bollocks and need to spell that out it's better to grab the reader.
Reading something now and it's basically fine but the 5k words of pre-isekai stuff made it tempting to just try something else even if it did establish some character traits pretty well.
>>
>>24819234
My prologue is 900 words long to setup what is essentially a red herring.
Maybe I'm not cut out for this.
>>
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>>24819315
inspiration was actually this desu
>>
Opinions on sealing magic?
>>
>>24818706
So is the reason you love Pastor BPD so much because you see yourself in him, what with his insatiable hunger for the goo of men?
>>
>>24818749
Doing simple arithmetic on the fly is as necessary to magic as basic reading comprehension and the ability to imagine what experiences other than your own might be like. It's why in the game system where prepared spells are treated as consumables, Intelligence is the prime requisite for wizards, and those with a an IQ below 90 are barred from the class. Sort of like how those with too little brainpower just can't ever seem to create a story with the magic in it.
>>
>>24818884
Yeah, that's fine, just don't get pissed if sexually frustrated retards don't like it.
>>
>>24819354
>lodussy
BASED TASTE anon-san. glad to know people still remember this series.
>>
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>>24818884
even if it's gay, it has to be pretty, that's all that matters. MEN LOVE DEVELOPING YOUNG BOYS AS SIDECHICKS.
>>
>>24819399
I admire the mc. A person, fictional or real with such a strong sense of ambition (real genuine ambition) is something I have not seen before (maybe there are people like that irl but they keep quiet and rarely open up to others)

>insatiable hunger for the goo of men?
What?
>>
>>24819466
Goo they spew right into you makes you coo and frosts your poo
>>
>>24819238
I don't know. Anything.
>>
Aethon has teamed up with Simon & Schuster, one of the biggest publishers in the world, to publish physical copies of their books to be in bookstores across the world.

https://aethonbooks.com/2025/10/21/litrpg-fantasy-hardcovers-coming-in-2026-through-aethon-vault/
>>
>>24819584
>Aetheon
Who?
>>
>>24819591
The biggest publisher for webfiction
>>
Reading Primal Hunter

Just another aura farming dogshit with hack ability and no real struggle.

Are progression fantasy/litrpg stories just devoid of creativity?

Any time i read something popular it's just dogshit. only actually good series i've yet read is PGTS.

Primal hunter
>Dogshit written characters(only focus on MC)
>everything is about the system
>Hurr i'm strong cuz i challenge myself
>Has broken ass starting ability
>Most of the story except leveling is aura farming
This is just fucking cringe.
Give me some character development, some interpersonal conflicts.
>>
>>24819610
That isn't what most of these are about. What do you think about Dungeon Crawler Carl?
>>
>>24819598
who?
>>
>>24819610
If you can wait for about a year, I'll give you something good.
>>
>>24819613
dungeon cuck carl is the opposite to be honest
>>
When will the writeathon start?
>>
>>24807967
>Iron Prince
lol I started reading this, and as soon as I got the the sense that the protagonist's best friend wants to fuck his bully I googled it and find the author was forced to ban discussion of their relationship on his subreddit because so many people were angry the protagonist got cucked. glad I followed my instincts and didn't keep reading.
>>
>>24819610
>Give me some character development, some interpersonal conflicts.
I got bored of Primal Hunter pretty fast myself
That said, what exactly do you mean by character development and interpersonal conflicts? You're a writer too anon, give us some examples
>>
>>24819613
So what's it about? Like how can you not get bored after 100 chapters of dogshit like that?

Haven't read GCC, it seems unserious from what I've gathered. Not really interested.

>>24819628
I need something to read now or I'm gonna die of boredom. After PGTS i've tried Cradle and now Primal Hunter, both are dogshit - still better than Mother of Learning but not by much. I have finished MoL though ... just cuz it's short enough and i waited for the payoff, which never came - curse that stupid ass story.
>>
>>24819646
So, you want serious and literary stuff? Probably going to have wait a long time before that happens. There's not all that much considered as such in genre fiction in general depending on who you ask.
>>
>>24819640
I'm not a writer. By character development really anything.

MC could
> confront their morality
> fall into depravity
>abandon humanity
>overcome trauma
Like literally anything.

Interpersonal conflicts:
>failed romantic relationships
>Broken friendship
>attempts to overcome differences
like ... there's so much. Yet all these popular novels have barely any of it. All is just system yap.

TWI is still the best in this department, unfortunately the writer is a degenerate furry or scalie or whatever.
The MC has to juggle multiple companions who are antagonistic to eachother, and not just not liking each other but actively trying to murder one another. And there are multiple instances where the characters are struggling with themselves and overcoming stuff.
>>
>>24819646
starting to sound like a you problem
>>
>>24819626
The publisher of many of the biggest and most popular works ever to have been on Royal Road.
>>
>>24819636
but the MC has a girlfriend he's not cucked by his female friend who has had previous sexual relationships (in fact her whole character is just 'lol I fucked someone again')
>>
>>24819636
>the protagonist's best friend wants to fuck his bully
Why are they like this? What causes this mental illness?
>>
>>24819646
why are you even reading web novels instead of published fiction?
>>
>>24819674
Any female having sex that isn't with the MC is cuckolding him.
>>
>>24819675
Women
>>
>>24819679
>Any female having sex that isn't with the MC is cuckolding him.
this is what turbo virginity does to a motherfucker
>>
>>24819679
Anything that isn't each male and female character being paired up up is cuckolding.
>>
>>24819676
because i like reading on my phone. Also published fiction is not much better. Also webnovels somehow manage to always hook me then crush my spirit as soon as the story progresses just a bit.
>>
>>24819660
>unfortunately the writer is a degenerate furry or scalie
Wasn't it found out the writer is a tranny that likes diapers?
>>
>>24819686
you can read books on your phone anon. that's how most people read books these days
>>
>>24819681
I meant the authors JFL
>>
>>24819688
i wish more people had mental illness then because TWI is really good fiction
>>
>>24819679
I genuinely agree. even the grannies in the story should be fucked by mc.
>>
>>24819674
>>24819679
What's even the point of having temporary hookups and whoring around in a story? It literally never brings anything to a story, mostly made to make a cuck out of someone or to aura farm how the MC is gorgeous and can bang anyone. Or horny bait. I instantly think less of the author when i encounter this.
>>
>>24819689
it's easier to find and read webnovels on your phone, as they are usually made in appropriate format. Makes it more comfortable to read.
>>
>>24819693
This. The MC's dick should also reverse menopause.
>>
>>24819688
source? never thought that autist had any fetish at all with how vanilla the smuttier parts of her story seemed to be.
>>
>>24819692
>TWI
>Good
>>
>>24819700
dude it takes less than a minute to get an epub of any book you want. you don't even have to torrent, it's comically easy
>>
>>24819703
genuinely funny power.
>>
>>24819705
>any story at all gets mentioned in /wng/
>people call it shit
isn't it tiring yet?
name your favorites so I can return the favor kek
>>
So I got fired recently and I am interested in taking a whack at writing one of these things. I'm currently going through the guides and whatnot in the OP, and reading a couple of novels grabbed at random from the "rising stars" list to get a sense of what the average one is like.

I don't get the impression the kind of stuff I normally like to write would do very well here, so I want to get an idea of what audiences on this platform are looking for so I can gage whether or not it's worth the time investment. So far it looks like most of what sells are those insert-fantasy anime type stories: some random guy gets transported into a fantasy world that's basically a video game, and he has to fight monsters or whatever and at first he's a complete wuss, but eventually he becomes some kind of ultra-powerful badass. I'm fine with trying to write something like this, but again it's not the kind of thing that I normally read or write and I don't want to spend 1,000 hours churning out a long pile of shit that nobody is going to bother reading.

Do any anons have any general pointers for what kinds of stuff people who read these things like to see in novels? Anything to avoid? Any recommendations for stories to read for reference?
>>
>>24819693
Any stories with milfs and gilfs?
>>
Are we currently in the gold rush era of webnovels?
>>
>>24819714
number goes up
>>
>>24819720
If we are, I need to know what the shovels are that I could be selling.
>>
>>24819660
Thanks anon, i'll keep that in mind when writing
That said, don't diss aura farming and fights, if anything Primal Hunter proved you can sustain a huge audience with just that
>TWI
What's that?
>>
>>24819674
I mean, you can simply not fuck your best friend's bully.
>>
>>24819730
The Wandering Inn
>>
>>24819712
>isn't it tiring yet?
Never gets old
>What are your favorites
Crow and rabbit
The one that zucchinifag is writing
>>
>>24819720
No, we're currently in its last days
Go publish your story now, while the cow still has some milk left
>>
>>24819714
>a couple of novels grabbed at random from the "rising stars
Not really the best place to do market research. Even the #1 slot of Rising Stars can be a flop by any pro's standards. Would recommend you make a sort for followers, released in the past 2 years and keep to the top 50 of that list--that's a better place to gauge the market as it currently exists.

>some random guy gets transported into a fantasy world that's basically a video game, and he has to fight monsters or whatever and at first he's a complete wuss, but eventually he becomes some kind of ultra-powerful badass.
This is definitely the most standard trope set, and it's astonishingly good at selling both on royalroad and amazon, and especially amazon. If you're truly just trying to maximize your odds of making money, I would write one of these.
That said, there are quite a lot of different subgenres that can work out for RoyalRoad, and genuine passion in your writing will always shine through.

> I don't want to spend 1,000 hours churning out a long pile of shit that nobody is going to bother reading.
You only need to write about 60k words and see if your launch takes off and gets you to Rising Stars. If it does, buckle up and get ready to slop. If it doesn't, go again.

>Do any anons have any general pointers for what kinds of stuff people who read these things like to see in novels? Anything to avoid? Any recommendations for stories to read for reference?
>Anon's guide to success
>rentry.co/RRBasicGuide
>>
Could Royal Road become the incubator for genre fiction? As in, it stays relatively unknown and a publishers picks stories from thete to spotlight and bring to the mainstream sff audience. It'd work better if the publisher bought out Royal Road.
>>
>>24819714
Are you new to writing and trying to gold rush some cash or can you actually write a solid story? Answer massively depends on that
>>
>>24819714
>So I got fired recently
Did you revealed your power level?
>>
>>24819740
Thanks, the opposite of doomers is the truth in this for now.
>>
>>24819736
>Pointless whoring around
>"She specialized in le running"
yawn ...
>>
Is Royal Road a cuckold loser website? Everything that gets popular finds someone better and stays with them.
>>
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>>24819776
nothing could have less soul then chinky cultivation dogshit.
>>
>>24819741
>genuine passion in your writing will always shine through.
I wish I still believed that lol
>>
>>24819776
>Nothing of note happens, literally 500 words to say "some time passes"
>This is "Peak" for the faggot that keeps posting these
If you're going to suck so much rice-size dick so much you could at least post some fight scenes instead of literally nothing
>>
>>24818987
How so? Is there a more optimal way to handle that kind of problem, in terms of minimizing casualties to friendly forces?

>>24819093
Any kind of organized military force that has access to offensive capability that ranges across orders of magnitude in strength relative to the threat.

Now if that doesn't exist, fair enough, but most high level mages in fantasy are considered walking nukes, and a high level mage is EXACTLY how an opposing force would deal with a strong warrior type: at range and with extreme force to ensure neutralization.

Keep in mind I was responding to someone who said that was how the special forces of a military would handle things: by rotating through skills and cooldowns to keep constant DPS up until a target was whittled down. And that's simply not true. Shock and awe is the most common strategy because it minimizes own-force casualties.
>>
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It's amazing how peak RI is despite how shit it reads without context
>>
>>24819796
The Russian strategy is to not care about casualties at all.
>>
>>24819745
it theoretically could but its not shaping up that way
>>
>>24819806
That's true. The owners could still yet try to get rid of everything that's offmeta abd retain their purity as progression/litrpg/cultavation/etc website. I guess we'll have a better once they've finished their payment system. It'll be interesting to see that affects using Patreon.
>>
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Uh oh, meltie...

>write chapter about a guy accused of committing a terrorist attack
>accidentally write him sympathetically because half the chapter is an explanation of how the law is unfair to metahumans
>get roughly four comments wondering if he was framed, because it sounds like a set up to the larger conflict of the volume
>have a meltie because you were trying to be bigoted and it went over everyone's head
>declare your bigotry explicitly, bold, underlined
>the whole thing was actually supposed to be mary sue aura farming and people didn't get that

By the way, none of the comments on RR were anything like the author characterized, and patreon only had two comments total on the post. I don't know where else they're serializing this but I wish I knew, because that comment section sounds more interesting.

And then in this chapter there's a miscommunication designed to... mildly upset two powerful girlbosses, and let them flex on some subordinate and make him do pushups?

Which is funny because before reading the meltie endnote, I assumed THIS was going to be the first sign of a problem within the bureaucracy, messing up orders and instructions to cause problems on purpose while disguising malice as incompetence. NOW, I can only read it as an excuse for mary sues to girlboss around.

Anyway I certainly can't complain in the comment section without risking a ban so here I am.

If this happens to you, and readers don't pick up what you think you're putting down, don't have a meltdown. Just add a few paragraphs in the next chapter making your point more obvious and explicit.
>>
>>24819820
why do we write stories instead of just describing our own opinions straight up
>>
>>24819820
sounds like copies chud sorry no kings :)
>>
>>24819741
Thank you, this is good advice.

>You only need to write about 60k words and see if your launch takes off and gets you to Rising Stars. If it does, buckle up and get ready to slop. If it doesn't, go again.
The Rentry guide says something similar, I'm actually a little curious on the specifics here. Say I launch a story and it gets a few followers but is basically a flop, so I want to try again with a different idea. Do I leave the old story up as-is or delete it? Will people get pissed off if a low-ranked story gets abandoned or deleted suddenly, or are people on this site used to this kind of thing? Should I continue trying to write under the same username, or create a new account and start fresh each time until I get a hit?

I guess the main question is if something has a modest following and people are reading and enjoying it, but it is probably not worth the bother of continuing, is it better to just ghost all of those fans and start fresh with a new persona, or keep trying to build a brand under the old one?

>>24819754
>Are you new to writing and trying to gold rush some cash or can you actually write a solid story? Answer massively depends on that
I enjoy writing and have been doing it as a hobby for a good decade now, this is just the first time I've ever seriously considered trying to make money from it. I'm probably not as good a writer as I'd like to believe, but people who have no reason to kiss my ass have read stuff I've written and told me it's good. I've had some recent minor success writing fanfiction.

>>24819760
>Did you revealed your power level?
No, I just got laid off along with like 4,000 other people due to budget cuts. I assume some jeet is probably doing my old job now.
>>
>>24819820
What author/story is this? Looks like it could be worth a few keks.
>>
>>24819745
>It'd work better if the publisher bought out Royal Road.
That would instantly kill the community, because the publisher would then try to claim ownership of the rights to anything posted on their website. The single best thing about RR is that they stay agnostic about ownership of what gets posted on their website, which makes it a safe place for authors to try new things without worrying about getting gyp'd later on when it gets popular.
>>
>>24819833
Foxfire Esq, but I don't recommend it. Spoilers ahead
The author is trans, and clearly mentally ill and a bigot.
The main character is trans, but mAgIcAl. Also trans racial to Japanese.
Sadly other than the trans nonsense, which is astonishingly poorly handled, the actual writing and narrative is interesting. The setting is a little weak, but not so bad that it ruins the overall story.
It was obvious, but unstated in the first book that straight white men, especially young ones, were the devil and no good could come from them (except one who is barely legal that the MC wants to fuck/dom/something... :( ), and now with this endnote it's explicit that the author is just running on hate.


It's sad, because if the author had just kept their mouth shut the story would have been FINE. Personally I'll keep reading it but damn do I not like the author.
>>
>>24819853
Is the mc a jew?
>>
>>24819862
Yeah how did you guess? /s
>>
>>24819745
Nah, webnovels are the future. But RR will only be a small fraction of that future
>>
>>24819853
>knows author is a tranny
>still decides to read him
>>
>>24819660
try Worth the Candle
MC enters the world that his dead DnD friend created. Tackles with grief and adjusting to living in a world his friend made, meets people, also has a failed relationship with one of the female characters that he tries to learn from.
>>
>>24819873
I was reading a Spacebattles Marvel fanfic about a Jewish lawyer, and I think they are the same person. or maybe I'm misremembering and someone mentioned it on the thread idk.
I distinctly remember this because I made the joke in my head, "If I got a nickel for every time I've read a story about a lesbian Jewish woman who is a lawyer in a world with superpowers, I would have two nickels, which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice."
Mind you, I haven't read Foxfire.
I would link the fanfic, but I literally can't find it now lol
>>
>>24819908
Nevermind, I found it, they are indeed the same person.
https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/pound-the-table-an-x-men-self-insert.951637/
>>
>>24819890
Unfortunately the writing is good enough to warrant fifteen minutes a week to read one chapter when it drops.
>>
>>24819912
Yep, they are indeed the same author, but the Foxfire MC is characterized as asexual, despite the obvious lusting for and borderline sexual harassment of the young male intern. But it's okay, because it's played up as cute when MC does it! Mary Sue can't be wrong!

Also thinking about it more the comments the author was mad about probably came from her story's discord server. I refuse to use that service so I'll never know who was trolling them there.
>>
>>24819722
Probably a novel writing app but there are already a bunch of those including free/open source ones.
The barrier to writing novels is so low there isn't really shovels to sell. It's not like indie vidya where you can make money selling art/audio assets or premade modules like an inventory system on the asset stores.
You can't even do the whole e-course grifting angle because that's already covered by guys like Dave Chesson because of the huge overlap between web novels and kindle self-publishing
>>
>>24819915
No one that mentally ill and with a brain fried by politics like that could write something good
>>
>>24819921
>her
>>
>>24819935
I could just be a sucker for legal drama. It's solidly in my strike zone, and there's not enough of it. Shit, I watched the Wizard Barristers anime which was godawful when it aired.
If I was going to review it like RR
Story: 4/5
Style: 4.5/5
Grammar: 5/5
Character: 3.5/5
Overall: 4.5/5 (giving an extra half-point for the content being something I'm particularly interested in and portraying it well).

Now the author I would rate 0.5 stars, and after the bigotry in the endnote I would rate 0.5 stars, except I don't do ratings like that because I don't want to draw attention to any of my accounts, author or alts. It's just not worth it.
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>>24819939
Thank you for the correction, anon. That one slipped through.
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>>24819684
This single webm makes me realize how absolutely miserable having to deal with a harem of women would be. Just imagine all the constant bitching, whining, and shrilled laughter going on around you daily.
Now I realize why many novels advertise not having a harem.
>>
>>24819820
Is he aware Pulse was a Muslim (with his wifes help but she got away with it) and Uvalde was a local Hispanic kid. That whole town was Hispanic including the police who refused to enter the school while the shooting was still going on.
>>
>>24819776
>>24819797
>Wang Yawn
>>
anyone have examples of femmc novels with romance with a male that still manages appeal to majority male readerbase?
>>
>>24819962
Probably unaware, but do you think if he knew, he wouldn't just make the same post anyway? We literally just had two tr*ns mass sh*oters and a l*ftist ass*ssination in broad daylight, the culprit of which was dating a tr*ns person.
The author is clearly driven by hate, bigotry, and a desire to write a mary sue girlboss.

Don't even bother responding on the site: the author knows he's a protected class that actually gets protections, and will use them to silence any critique despite the root of the problem being his own incompetence at characterization and portrayal of the circumstances.

What's really scary is that the author is possibly a practicing attorney.
>>
>>24819629
Hey, it's the shitposting newfag from /sffg/ who makes up definitions to words and believes that anybody who has ever been cheated on, male or female, is a cuck! What an embarrassing newfag nigger.
>>
>>24819921
>they
>she
You need to purge out the kool-aid you've been drinking anon or you're gonna become like that foxfire fag and start having meltdowns about the strawmans you imagine in your head
>>
>>24819313
The same thing happened to me. I forgot it was an H game.
>>
>>24819646
Read Black Iron's Glory.
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>>24819962
You need to remember that tranny is murican, so he probably consider them white, as opposed to the rest of the world that can clearly see they're mudslimes, latinx or some kind of negro chimera
>>
>>24819989
I tend to not put wrongthink into writing or any kind of recording media, even anonymously. This isn't even close to 2006 /b/.
>>
>>24820014
He's young, new, and does not understand using "they" to respond to somebody without a political implication.
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>>24819961
Every chinese courtly intrigue novel is about this and they all rule.
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>>24820014
Unless you live in canada, uk or germany you're just being paranoid
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>>24819684
>>24819961
The first thought i had with harems when i was a teen was the awesome orgy i could have everyday if i had one, just cumming non-stop as the center of attention of a bunch of beautiful women
It wasn't until i had a couple of girlfriends when i realized that, no, outside that really awesome honeymoon i would want a divorce almost immediately, even if i ended as a penniless hobo
Imagine the worse moments of your best girlfriend, now multiply that time exponentially for every harem member, because you're not just having a relationship with 9 bitches, those 9 bitches also have 1 relationship with you and 8 other bitches themselves
>>
>>24820022
I am assuredly being paranoid. It is what it is. I quit social media entirely over a decade ago and every year I manage to win simply by not playing games and not being on the board.

My author persona is as far removed from me in real life as is possible. Only patreon and amazon know my government name, for banking reasons, and protonmail I guess.
>>
>>24820027
>end of A Will Eternal
>Bai Xiaochun found the message gourd that Meng Hao threw in the river at the start of ISSTH
>left a message telling Meng Hao to not pursue or gather multiple daoist partners
>>
>>24820027
Why are so many haremlits also yuri anyway
>>
>>24820048
Heterosexual men can enjoy heterosexual romance and yuri romance. It's basically free real estate.
>>
>>24819961
>>24820027
Reminds me of that scene from Around the world in 80 days of a Mormon being chased out by his three wives
>>
How viable would this concept be?
>Fantasy story with two MCs traveling together
>One male, one female
>The nature of their relationship, whether siblings, dating, or both is kept ambiguous the whole time.
>Tagged as mystery.
>>
>>24820064
Doesn't sound like enough to carry an entire story. You need a few more characters and a larger compelling conflict.
Like if they were a pair who joined a party together years ago but they're mysterious and always share a room but deny being in a sexual relationship but also refuse advances from other people that would make a good side dish, but it's not a good main dish.
>>
>>24819745
Yeah, it could happen. Look at Shousetsuka ni Narou in Japan. Many popular anime/manga series started with some guy writing a web novel on the website that eventually got picked up. Series like Overlord, Mahouka, Log Horizon, Mushoku Tensei, Arifureta, KonoSuba, Redo of Healer, Re: Zero, Shield Hero etc started as web novels.
>>
>>24820064
I was already writing that without the mystery tag, sorry.
You can have this idea as compensation:
>MC adventurer of some repute is forced by the kingdom to marry the princess who is a fan of his but also inbred, the alternative is execution. He decides to take her on his adventures and force her to level up her stats especially intelligence, charisma and willpower but he has to make sure her stat ups are balanced so she doesn't die while fighting because then he'll be in really big trouble. Hijinx ensue.
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>>24820039
Did he fuck the ghost loli?
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>>24820092
I don't actually remember but his pre-existing harem knew something was weird between the two so they granted her honorary harem status before anything would have happened which is funny to me.
>>
>>24820097
are they trying to kill him
I've seen chink MCs fight for five straight days no problem but then those same MCs do the alien mummy meme after one night with a woman.
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>>24820122
It's more that he wants to go off and adventure and they want him to stay home.
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>>24820134
I would consider that karma for the time he abandoned his son for five years shortly after he was born just to go chase rumors of fat loot.
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>>24820064
Ok but what is the story about
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>>24820155
They need to kill the demon lord in order acquire a magical elixir that cures inbreeding.
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>>24820064
needs an intense makeout scene to make the ambiguity even hotter/taboo
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>>24820064
depends, post the first chapters so I can get a better feel of it.
>>
>>24820157
>>24820084
Sounds weird for its own sake. Instead of being inbred, have her be cursed instead. It can even be an ugly curse where her true form is only revealed under the full moon or something like that. As it would add to the fairy tale aspect of it. So now they have to travel across the lands to lift the curse and slowly grow closer over the course of their adventure.
>>
>>24820189
Anon that's just Shrek
>>
my fellow anons, I am currently writing an OPMC isekai but the MC ends up getting isekai’d into his crafting mule instead of his combat characters.

how autistic and unhinged can i write my MC before a majority of my readers would be turned off by his personality?

as in the MC is awoken from his sarcophagus shortly after getting isekai’d by NPCs who wish to recruit his magical powers to put them on the throne, and the MC agrees because he gets caught up in a train of thought that ends in him fantasizing about being the Grand Poobah of a kingdom, which the MMORPG never let anyone become. the MC proceeds to cause a plague in one kingdom that kills 20% of the population, including the current monarch and all of his children, letting one of the NPCs become ruler by virtue of being the only remaining person of his line, among other such acts of wizardry the MC proceeds to commit for his own amusement.

i do know that i’m copying the opening of the Hour of the Dragon, but that opening is too excellent to not try and pay homage to.
>>
>>24820192
Shrek, Swan Lake, Princess and the Frog, the Beast, etc. That's why I used the term fairy tale.
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>>24819745
God I hope not. I hope it remains a niche. The more mainstream it becomes the worse it's going to get for us as individual creators and the more insufferable in general. Right now you only have to worry about some retarded comments here and there, it can get way worse.
Webnovel.com and it's antics are already bad enough. Only problem I have with RR is that frontpage is too overly focused on Rising Stars which is gamed by discordfags. Imagine tradpub companies muscling their way into the space.
>>
>>24820234
>Imagine tradpub companies muscling their way into the space.
That's already begun.
>>
MC gets isekai'd to a world that's on the brink because demons have been popping up left and right. MC helps the locals for and magic together firearms. The demons immediately flee when they hear a shotgun being pumped.
One demon when cornered finally admits that they're running from the guy with the shotgun.
>>
>>24820268
So is this more rip and tear, or boomstick inspired?
>>
Hey just out of curiosity are there any limitations on publishing the same story on multiple platforms? Does it make sense to do this?
>>
>>24820285
No. Yes.
KU requires the story can't be available for free: keeping it behind a paywall on patreon seems to be permitted. Read the TOS anywhere you post.
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>>24819961
i don't know why more authors who want selfinsert wish-fulfillment sex with hordes of women don't just go the james bond route with the MC seducing new women for flings and then LEAVING THEM BEHIND and moving on to the next one on the next job/arc/etc
harems are the worst
>>
>>24820304
Because it isn't for the authors, it's for readers, and they want to cast as wide a net as possible. Why settle for just goblin slut fans when you can also scoop up elves, furries, and gays?
>>
>>24820327
It's clearly not a broad net because the majority of webslop readers avoid harem stories as much as they can.
>>
slower paced recs? getting tired of the constant stakes ramping and cliff hangers
>genre?
anything but xanxia, I'm open minded
>>
>>24820329
The majority avoid any kind of interpersonal relationships and even the MC having any personality except genius murder hobo.
Or in the case of Spellblade the mom is the genius murder hobo and the son is just there for her to mold into whatever image she wants.
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>>24818749
the author should intentionally make them hard to qualify. never state a number for MP costs.
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>>24818919
I agree. Too much porn with no narrative development to make me care about THIS story in particular will drive me away. Unless it's an ultra specific fetish setup or something, a story that's nothing but sex scenes back to back has little to recommend it over the millions of other such stories online already. And there is plenty of short form erotic writing online too for people who don't want/care about some long term interconnected story.
>>
>>24820332
The Daily Grind, Wandering Inn, Azarinth Healer
You can just search up any Slice of Life ones or look up settlement building ones.
Actually I need to make a list of ones where the characters aren't trying to save the world but are just existing in it.
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>>24819610
>Give me some character development, some interpersonal conflicts.
read Worth the Candle
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resorting to chatgpt to judge my work because no real human bean will read mine... it's truly meowover for me...
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>>24819679
>isekai reincarnation story starts with MC being born
>tfw mom canonically cucked MC with dad and this birth is the evidence
>>
>>24820364
ChatGPT is programmed to praise you no matter what you feed it. Unless you tell it to act like an old school no nonsense editor who give honest feedbacks.
>>
>>24820364
Post it under a pseudonym. AI is too sycophantic to provide any real criticism outside of grammar.
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>>24820365
>MC rightfully reclaims what's his with the strangely detailed breast feeding scene in chapter 1
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>>24820364
sometimes i read anons' works but i never ever comment on them (or on anything else on RR)
...maybe i should
>>
>>24820368
I think it gave a balanced evaluation of my chapters, it did the usual rimming your asshole to feel good for the first several of them with some dashes of feedback(which I appreciate it for, the feedback I mean), but after the 7th one it was starting to criticize me more with improvements, which I take for granted since nobody has actually read these ones specifically and gave me feedback. Think only 1 anon here actually read the chapters in particular. It's a start I suppose.
>You’ve hit the Free plan limit for GPT-5.
fug....
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>>24820376
What's your story about anyway.
>>
>>24820379
hundred years war between a galactic democractic confederacy and a galactic empire, mc is a cog in the war machine trying to resist the great man theory as humanly as he can
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>>24820304
people want happy endings even if it's unrealistic and escapist by nature.

they want an MC that's capable of caring and taming those women.

The problem is, they become neutered yes-(wo)men which devoids them of their personality that made them attractive in the first place, which becomes the reason why readers avoid harem slop because writers don't know how to write relationship dynamics or are just lazy about it.
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>>24820387
Sounds intersting. Why do you think no one is reading it?
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>>24820353
>Actually I need to make a list of ones where the characters aren't trying to save the world but are just existing in it.
These can be added to the spreadsheet in the OP if wanted, or whatever else anyone has ideas about. If they're charts, they can be added to the charts mega.
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>>24820401
The real trillion-dollar question. I just don't think anons resonate with it at all. I post the 2 rentry links sometimes but they don't get much views—each only 12-13 views. but I also try avoid being like FFF-class and posting every new chapter the moment I can, and it's possibly because I haven't launched it on RR yet I think anons aren't bothering with clicking on rentry links. I did that for a while but it was too obvious nobody was reading them so I stopped altogether. I think the sad reality is, nobody here actually reads. Or to make it more realistic, I don't write the stuff people want to read.
>>
>>24820418
I just don't like sci-fi
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>>24820418
Even with this being the most active general/thread on /lit/ now, you have to take into consideration what the maximum number users that see any link is. It's not many.
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>>24820423
so it goes. I don't blame you. I just dropped this the other day https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/43057/birds-of-prey?review=2786429#review-2786429 after having it on my backlog for so long because it felt like such a chore to read with all its sci-fi mumbo jumbo, which is a shame because it's actually well-written, but for all the wrong reasons. Reading the reviews, maybe it was the right call since it goes into this weird dinosaur-girl romance angle which I don't think I could stomach, just based on the two chapters I tried to read.

>>24820427
it really isn't. Even in /wg/, before IP postcount was hidden by hiromoot, it wasn't much. I'd wager there's scant 20 people active in this general. It's way smaller than you think.
>>
>>24820428
I don't think it's that low, but it could be if there's a lot of proflic posters. /sffg/ regularly had ~100 IPs before it was removed.
>>
>>24820436
100 sounds about par for the course. However, you have to bear in mind people post when they're away from their PC, so it's always at least a extra IP count from the same people sometimes.
>>
>>24820418
I read but web serials are SO LONG that I will read one story for a month or more and not touch others. Maybe follow updates on 1-2 stories at a time.
I don't really get the people who follow a dozen or two stories and do all their reading 1 freshly-released chapter at a time before jumping to the next serial. I can't change gears that often.
>>
>>24820451
nta
I don't do that for web serials currently, but I definitely read a lot of manga chapters/volumes as soon they're released.
>>
>>24820418
Views on Rentry literally do not matter. If you have something you want feedback on, post that specific section and ask. People aren't going to go back to a Rentry because it's very bland and doesn't make for a pleasant reading experience. I personally feel less obligated to read something if I can't interact with it.
>>
>>24820418
Do you plan on launching it on RR?
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>>24820473
Yes.
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>>24820428
>Reading the reviews, maybe it was the right call since it goes into this weird dinosaur-girl romance angle
She's a bee. I've read the sex chapter.
>>
>>24820470
I neglected replying to this post but I do host the story on my neocities but the experience isn't any different from rentry: ostensibly. I can't be bothered adding comment boxes for each and every comment box, and I'm too worried of adding them because I fear too much shitposting for me to handle to bother.
>>
>>24820489
what is it with webnovels and banging insects
is this a crucial demographic I'm missing out on
>>
>>24820541
Is this a dual-cultivation joke
>>
>>24820418
>12-13 views are nothing
Retard, that's more than half the population of this general.
>>
>>24820436
/sffg/ is also a reader centric general (there are way more readers than authors) and it cast a very large net, as oppose to wns that are way more niche.
>>
>>24820488
Post it here when you do, the idea sounds cool. I want to at least check it out.
>>
>>24820541
everyone is into it except you. read TWI
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>>24819265
I'm not trying to change your mind, but I absolutely loathe "everyone else gets magic, except MC". I don't even care how this issue gets resolved, I just hate it.
>>
>>24820277
You know how there's the trope of trucks isekai'ing people? Well, what if Doom Guy's shotgun isekais demons?
That's what I was going for.
>>
>>24820231
It depends entirely on what the personality is like. House from House M. D. it's an unlikeable asshole as a charger, but viewers love him for that personality.
>>
Commissioning artists for cover art right now. Luckily two guys I found are pretty cheap. One guy wants $200 and the other wants $180. Figure I'll hire both and just pick whoever makes the better illustration.
>>
>>24820613
A doomguy isekai would be cool.
A badass marine has a last stand against the forces of Hell, before losing and having his soul be tortured by demons for centuries. Until he manages to break free and crawl his way back into the world of the living. Now reborn in a new body in a new realm, he must master whatever magic system this realm has before the gates of Hell opens once more and consumes this world as well.
Maybe he’s reborn as a fallen noble son in a fantasy world.
Maybe he’s now a cave man throwing sticks and stones.
Maybe he becomes a jade beauty in a xianxia world.
>>
>>24820376
You think wrong, retard.
>>24820285
You have to tell the platform you're using that you're uploading to other places, or they'll think you're a story thief reposting someone's shit without permission.
>>24820027
Now you know why romance stories are primarially rooted in FANTASY and WISH FULFILMENT. You think women are reading Twilight and 50 Shades for the realism? Guys read harems because the idea of being so popular with girls he can have his pick of litter and endlessly debate over who is best girl is a wonderful problem they'll never ever encounter in reality.
>>
>>24819820
Thanks for the quick rundown. One of the most interesting posts in these threads. Keep me in the loop with more tranny drama next time this dickless psycho goes nuts.
>>
>>24819820
Author notes are so fucking cringe. My readers often say how surprised they are to read a story without notes, as they've come to expect commentary. But I can't imagine anything more gay and audacious than trying to dictate to your readers what they're supposed to think about your slop. If they don't see things the way they were meant to, then you've fucking failed, and no explaining is going to make it better.
>>
>>24820268
obviously the demons are a multiverse invasion force, like the burning legion
>>
Do you ever get annoyed at something way too late?
I'm like 18 hours into reading a story and now I'm like "man this is paced like shit" as if it wasn't obvious immediately.
>>
>>24820950
Yeah, i put up with a lot at the moment until i can't take it anymore, usually because sometimes it does get better and i only needed to get past the author's growing pains
I disliked Overgeared at the start and i would've no patience for it now, but it did got better, so reading those first chapters made it worth it (then around 2 thirds of the story i started skipping chapters out of boredom but that's besides the point)
>>
Are any of the deckbuilding/card magic stories any good?
>>
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>>24819853
oh hey I recognize this author, it once called me a nazi on forums, I found it egosearching, and had the post removed and the trooner warned lmao
thank you moderator john
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>>24819820
lmao
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>>24820971
Anon, it's /wng/. Stories here are never good, they're at most enjoyable for a while.

But I've read a couple, I guess. All the Skills had a decent first few chapters before it became Gay Eragon. Source & Soul was decent but the split POV blew chunks. Don't recall any others offhand, frankly.
>>
>>24821120
tons of web novels are good
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>>24821145
mine isn't
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>>24820609
Seems like a weird thing to feel any way in patricular about
>>
>>24821120
>Stories here are never good, they're at most enjoyable for a while.
TWI, APGTE, and Katalepsis I would easily rate as better than almost all published fiction I've read, enjoyment wise, and I've read quite a lot of published fantasyslop
>>
>>24821270
You might get more enjoyment out of TWI than anything published but that's because it's like a billion words long.
On a per chapter basis it's got so much empty padding and stuff that would be cut.
>>
>>24821348
eh idk the last few respected novels I tried just didn't hit, even if they were tightly written and edited
they just aren't fun. TWI is fun, even the slow chapters
>>
I'll bake when we reach page 10
>>
>page
do you not use the catalog...?
>>
>>24821381
I do though
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>>24820418
Take the 'tard pill, anon
While you're stressing over how many chapters you need to have before you should post, some other 'tard is posting half-baked chapters daily
Just post your shit on RR
Doesn't matter if you have 68 chapters written or 1 chapter written
Post that shit
>>
>>24821395
>some other 'tard is posting half-baked chapters daily
and getting 0 followers cuz it's shit. hardly a solution
>>
>>24821402
I'll have you know I have 19 followers, 5 favorites, and 3 ratings averaging 4.33 stars
2.5K views
21 chapters written so far, currently writing chapter 22

but it's not about the followers for me, the story is just something I thought up and planned in one afternoon, it's about doing it, about posting the stuff that I'm writing
>>
New bread
>>24821456
>>24821456
>>24821456
>>
>>24820762
I hope I never have to again: if the author would just keep their political opinions (bigotry) to himself that would be great.
It's noticeable that /wng/ doesn't get a lot of commentary on recently posted chapters. I suspect it's because most /wng/ers don't actually read a lot of currently serialized webfiction. That, or they get it out of their systems in the comments and discords.



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