Second Person · 6:10am Jan 22nd, 2016
I hate this kind of fic.
It continuously tells you (the reader) what 'you're' doing, aven when it's something painfully stupid or something you'd never do.
It's great for RPs and campfire stories, sure, but I feel it should never be used in a published, written work.
And yes, I feel that choose-your-own-adventure stories are dumb too, unless written as comedic parody.
Discuss below if you feel the need to agree or disagree.
3704621
I meant in general. Almost always, the author treats the audience (who is supposedly the main character) as an idiot or incompetent buffoon, and generally ignores any chance of making their options good ones.
Frankly, it feels like the author(s) is just writing one long insult to the intelligence of the readers.
3704887
And, of course, nobody has ever taken self-defense classes, weapon training, or learned some smithing skills.
And everybody is a skeptic of course if they're from a modern era. Because nobody in the modern world believes in magic or gods or anything.
/sarcasm
Offering my two cents: Leave the "Choose your own adventure" stories to R. L. Stein. He's the only guy I know who can pull off a second-person story and do it well enough.
If you want more than my two cents (it could be just pocket change or even a twenty-dollar bill, up to you) just ask and I'll share.
3705111
Yeah, but Stein was also doing them parody style, which meant that the stupid decisions resulted in funny moments, not the book browbeating you for not being able to choose between two bad options.