Paul's Thursday Reviews CCXLIX · 8:23pm May 6th, 2021
I have been inundated in a wave of literary productivity these past two weeks. It feels really good to be able to hit 2-3k words/day consistently again. I think I’m almost done with the rough draft of Part II of my Chrysalis story, although I’m not sure because I’m not certain how a few scenes will play out. At any rate, the cover art for it has been commissioned and the artists says it’ll take at least two weeks to complete. Pretty sure the story will be ready to go by then.
There’s also the possibility of releasing a collaboration in a couple weeks, though that depends upon the availability of my collab partner. We’ll see where that takes us. I am looking forward to it though, as I intend for the story to be a pleasant goodbye to some old friends. I would love to have an art commission for this one too, but I think I’ll just go with something pre-existing and minimalistic.
I face a downside in all of this: Bulletproof Heart. It is still my top priority and I do still plan to finish the rough draft this year if possible. Problem is, I’ve been working on it for the past couple years at a snail’s pace. But suddenly this Chrysalis-themed story pops into my head and BOOM, instant 2.5k words/day. I can’t help but ask myself: does this mean I’m just not all that interested in writing BPH anymore? Have I been suffering from some kind of story burnout? It can’t be that Gunslinger Rarity doesn’t interest me anymore; I adore her as a character.
I suppose we’ll only know when I finish these two shorts (well, one short and one medium) and get back to her. I’m hoping my current wave of productivity will also be transferred over. If not… Maybe I should let Rarity be more of a side-project than a main one? I’d hate to do that to her considering how long everyone’s been waiting, including myself, and how close I am to being finished. But let’s face it: BPH 2 is a FIMFiction project. I want to get into original fiction. I have original stories ready and waiting, some already with completed rough drafts (albeit in need of major reworking). As much as I love her, I can’t let Rarity monopolize my remaining time.
We’ll see what happens in a few weeks. Until then: reviews.
Stories for This Week:
A Lost Soul in a Dark World by Lightning Note
A Beginner's Guide to Heroism by LoyalLiar
Dream Lover by avidreader07
Night Of Faded Sun by Soufriere
Total Word Count: 315,213
Rating System
Why Haven't You Read These Yet?: 1
Pretty Good: 1
Worth It: 0
Needs Work: 0
None: 1
A Lost Soul in a Dark World
59,547 Words
By Lightning Note
Twilight has been gone for a thousand years, kidnapped straight from her home. Now she’s back, and she plans to conquer Equestria.
342 words. That is exactly how long it took for me to start laughing. Why was I laughing?
Because Princess Twilight Motherbucking Sparkle was defeated by having a sack thrown over her head. No, her magic was not blocked. She got stuffed in a sack and then spent the next however many hours curled up in a ball trembling in fear, apparently more afraid of the dark and two normal ponies than she was of Discord, Chrysalis, or Nightmare Moon. If this is the quality of plot we see in less than 400 words, imagine what the rest of the story will be like.
It proves an apt demonstration. For starters, our villains don’t actually have a plan. No, they kidnap Twilight and then put her in stasis for 1,000 years. Why? Because apparently Maxspell, our antagonist, has predicted that there will be an industrial revolution in that time and she intends to wait until that technology has arrived before actually attempting her takeover of Equestria. Which is profoundly dumb, especially when A) said future technology plays no role whatsoever in her eventual takeover attempt, B) it turns out she could have brainwashed Twilight with a quick spell from the very beginning, and C) the entire reason she kidnapped Twilight was because she was strong enough to defeat Celestia and Luna entirely on her own.
Oh, and there’s a random immortality spell just sitting around the forbidden section of the archives that any unicorn could cast with ease.
And then Lightning Note makes all of this moot by have Maxspell be a Tartarus demon out of nowhere who can kill Celestia and Luna – the purported targets all along – in seconds. Seriously, author? If Maxspell could have done this at any time, why didn’t she just murder Celestia when she had infiltrated the School for Gifted Unicorns and had the princess’s trust?
Nevermind the fact that apparently this demon survives by devouring souls, which means that Maxspell has spent the last 1,000 years being Equestria’s most prolific serial killer and somehow never got caught or even suspected, not even by her snivelling right-hand stallion who has every reason to want her destroyed.
Oh, right: Maxspell’s assistant Longspear hates her guts and says he’s trapped in her service. Apparently he was a former thief, and as punishment for his crimes Celestia gave Maxspell full control over his existence for ten years, then extended it indefinitely at Maxspell’s recommendation when the ten years were up. Except as far as we can tell there was no spell put on him enforcing this, so he could have betrayed her at any time. He keeps saying he’s too afraid of her to do so, yet he certainly doesn’t act like it most of the time. And get this: when Longspear finally dies at the end, Celestia has the audacity to tell everyone that it was Maxspell who forced him into servitude!
Let’s not mention how we actually witness Celestia and Maxspell go into a private room to discuss Longspear’s punishment and, somehow, Maxspell didn’t use this opportunity to murder the princess as she blatantly demonstrates she can do in the end.
On another note, let’s talk about Twilight’s new friends. Lightning Note basically puts pallet swaps on the rest of the Mane 6, calls them the originals’ descendants, and has them all be Element Bearers. Which, y’know, I would have been okay with. It’s a bit forced, but there are far worse things to focus on. Like how the author blatantly forces key quotes from Friendship is Magic (i.e episodes 1 & 2) down the throats of each of these characters in order to make sure you absolutely, without any doubt, know that these are the reincarnations of the Mane 6. Because we can’t have enough contrivances in this story.
Then there’s poor Spike. They go find him, a fully grown adult the size of a building, and ask, “Hey, you want to help us go kick bad guy butt?” And he’s all like “sure!” Then they announce their plan for retaking Canterlot and Spike… isn’t… even… included. So why the heck did you have them go out of their way to find him in the first place, author?
Luna: “I am not going to believe that you are Twilight Sparkle! She disappeared 1,000 years ago and she wouldn’t do the evil things you have.”
Twilight: “But I have a witness! Here’s this guy who has been working for the villain from the very beginning. I assure you he’s trustworthy.”
Luna: “If this guy who just yesterday stood aside while my sister and I got beaten to a pulp says you really are Twilight, I’ll believe it! No more evidence is required.”
The writing style doesn’t help matters. The narrative is Telly in the extreme and the dialogue is ridiculous:
"Ha ha, real cute, but I'm afraid your time is up for all of you."
"Oh really?" Twilight asked unamused.
Maxspell smiled before she called for the guards. Soon, a great number of them stormed in and encircled all seven mares, with their weapons pointed at them.
"Believe me when I say that your time is up," she said with an evil grin.
That’s one of the better bits of interaction, by the way. It gets really grating when Twilight makes the exact same arguments over her guilt again and again and again, with her new friends having to remind her that she was controlled by a Tartarus demon, also again and again and again.
I’ve barely scratched the surface of the countless mistakes made in this story in terms of both plot and writing, but I don’t want to waste anymore time on this than I already have. Just about the only redeeming quality this story has is that I was giggling nonstop for the first six or seven chapters at the sheer stupidity before my eyes. So yeah, if you’re really into reading badfics for entertainment purposes, this might help with that.
Bookshelf: None
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
New Author!
A Beginner's Guide to Heroism
246,346 Words
By LoyalLiar
Mortal Coil – his friends call him Morty – is apprenticed to Wintershimmer the Complacent: Archmage of the Crystal Union, Starswirl the Bearded’s one and only equal, and world-renowned evil necromancer. When a magical experiment goes awry, it leads to the death of Wintershimmer and all hooves pointing to Morty as the culprit. In exile, on the run, and with zero supporters, Morty must find a way to prove his innocence. Which might be easier if he weren’t so determined to be a hero while he was at it.
Let me just get my favorite part of this story out of the way right now. From the (next-to) final chapter:
Here, an author would normally impart some trite parting, like a plea that I sincerely hope you enjoyed my story. However, I think we can both agree that if you have gained anything less than life-altering satisfaction from this story, it is because you are a fundamentally flawed pony (or other creature), and not that there is any issue with my tale.
To the point: Mortal Coil is a narcissist, and that makes for an immensely entertaining protagonist. This guy is so full of himself that I am reasonably certain he’s the direct ancestor of one Trixie Lulamoon (in fact, I think LoyalLiar confirms it outright in the next-to-last chapter). He’s also probably an ancestor of Rarity, but I only suspect that due to his circle of friends and my long-held assumptions/headcanon about Rarity’s familial lineage.
At any rate, Morty’s ego is on full display throughout this story, with regular quips regarding his handsome appearance, his imminent superiority as a wizard, and how what others just said is stupid to the nth degree. He also lacks the self-preservation instincts required to know when to shut up in front of the living goddess perfectly capable of turning him into a walking corpse; he should keep a journal listing the names of the ponies he’s offended. You could probably dedicate a branch of a library to its many volumes.
Mortal Coil is a flawed creature in many ways. His narcissism is only the most obvious. His inability to shut up may be the most dangerous for himself and those who can look past it long enough to become his friends. But there’s a lot more to him than these things. He is a complex, fascinating, and just plain fun character to watch. Most importantly, Morty grows. Constantly. He may be one of the most interesting characters you’ll ever read.
Just don’t admit that to him. For your sake and his.
Morty isn’t the only interesting character, not by a long shot. You’ve got the foul-mouthed Gale trying to get away from her overbearing mother, the changeling orphan Graargh (don’t ask) desperate for a family, calm and wise Blizzard wishing to learn more about her mother, and golem Angel being endearing from start to finish. Seriously, I loved Angel. He was wonderful. I also really hope we discover he developed fur and long ears at some point in the distant future of this story, because by the end I have zero doubt that such a thing is doable.
That’s another fascinating bit: the magic. For all his boasting and wit, Morty isn’t lying when he calls himself the best necromancer in the world outside Princess Luna. There are wizard duels, complex trickery, and tons of resourcefulness going on. The exploration of what magic can do within certain clearly-defined limitations is a treat, and the big mystery of the entire story is how a certain villain appears to be breaking those rules to make Morty look like the bad guy. LoyalLiar uses this to delightful effect, making every new trick and scheme a fresh surprise, to the point that even dying can be all part of the plan. Morty never fails to demonstrate that, yes, he really is a great wizard.
This is a huge leap forward from I, Witness. I loved everything about this story. I only saw one thing that I might consider a flaw, which was the sheer complexity of Morty’s last big scheme and how it depended on a ton of luck. I was willing to forgive it because the villain’s overarching, ongoing plans weren’t any less convoluted, and it made for quite the gripping climax.
Come to think of it, there is Gale’s regularly hitting Morty. And when I mean hitting, I don’t mean “slap him because he said something stupid”, I mean “literally knock him off his hooves”. She does this constantly. It’s sort of a running gag. Which I wouldn’t mind if she weren’t Morty’s romantic interest. Do you know how shitty it would be to have a significant other who sends you to the floor every time you open your mouth? I get that it was intended for comedic effect, and it worked the first few times (Morty does have a big mouth), but it stopped being entertaining when I realized where these two’s relationship was going.
Then again, with Morty’s penchant for endless exaggeration, he could in fact be overstating how hard she’s hitting him.
Ah, I almost forgot: Celestia and Luna have entries in this story. This is supposedly written by Morty after-the-fact. He asked Luna to write scenes he didn’t actually participate in. And apparently Celestia decided to edit it some time much later, and throws in some of her own commentary as a result. Every time they did so was a treat, particularly with how they keep Morty honest at times. My favorite one was when Celestia felt obligated to ‘defend her honor’ by correcting the narrative: “no, Morty, I wasn’t checking out your flank.”
Oh, wait, there is one other thing that could be a problem: this story is set in The 24th Pegasus’s epic Commander Hurricane AU, starting a few decades after Snow and Shadows. The good news is that you aren’t obligated to read those (although you should, because they’re awesome). I only mention it because there’s a lot of history going on here, such as the Pegasi’s war against the Griffons, the fact that not long ago the Crystal Union was little more than a collection of warring barbarian tribes, or the great betrayal of one Cyclone against his father, his sister, and the nation of Unicornia. These things aren’t merely background; they were recent enough that they play an important role regarding the ongoing lives of our characters. You should be fine as long as you’re willing to accept the information given to you, but just be aware that there is a lot of history this story is making full use of to help enrich its narrative.
A narrative chock full of wit and humor, a protagonist who is ever-entertaining, many fun and interesting characters, a fully fleshed out world, thrilling magic duels, a ceaseless mystery, a smattering of romance, constant character and relationship growth, a cross-Equestria adventure. This story has something for everyone. It more than deserves its rating, and I look forward to the day Tales of Everfree City is completed. I don’t care if it ends up being way too big for my current interests regarding my review blog, I want more Mortal Coil.
Bookshelf: Why Haven’t You Read These Yet?
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
Hello, My Name Is — Pretty Good
I, Witness — Pretty Good
Dream Lover
7,396 Words
By avidreader07
Requested by avidreader07
Princess Luna is doing her nightly nightmare run when she spots a particularly strong, sex-related nightmare. She investigates to find a stallion making love to his twin sister. When the stallion fails to appreciate her attempt at an intervention, she decides to visit the twin sister’s dreams and see if she may be of some help in this situation.
Avidreader07 explores the taboo this time. It is curious to me that this story makes no attempt to justify sexual relationships between siblings, at least not in the real world. Instead, it focuses on Equestrian culture and history and how incestuous relationships are viewed within that framework. I can’t fault the intent, having done something similar myself in the past. I was annoyed at first by the third chapter, which seemed to exist largely as an information dump. But by the end of it, I realized that avidreader07 was trying to show us why Luna viewed the twins’ romance without any offense.
I’m still a little annoyed by that point. Not because avidreader07 did that, but because I want to believe there is a better way to do it than giving us ~3,000 words of info dump. To be fair, I can’t think of a way to improve upon it, so I won’t let it affect my grade of the story much.
The other annoyance was the footnotes, of which there are a lot. I’ve seen many authors do this, and for the longest time I wished there could be a better way. Then I realized there is one. I propose that these things would be best handled with the footnotes in an entirely different, dedicated chapter. That way readers can keep the Footnotes chapter open on a separate tab of their browser and quickly switch between tabs to see the footnote then go back, instead of having to scroll all the way down to the bottom of the current chapter over and over again. I don’t blame avidreader07 for not thinking of that – it only just occured to me, after all – but I think I’ll be advocating for this from here on out. (EDIT: I just realized this format would be of no help at all for those who read horsewords on their cell phones. Still a better solution for computer-based readers, though.)
Anyway, the story. I think how this one is received will depend heavily on two factors. First, the reader’s willingness to accept that the ideas put forth are meant to be reflective of the world the story is set in, rather than the real world. If the reader is incapable of doing so, then Second: the reader’s own moral and ethical code will severely affect their appreciation of the story. Although I would argue that if you’ve reached factor two you’ve already failed as a reader anyway.
I like what avidreader07 is trying to do here, although the overall story felt a little underwhelming to me. I think that’s because the story was written in Luna’s perspective, and she already knows everything she’s telling us, so she sees no reason to react much. Had this story been told from, say, Gilded’s perspective, then perhaps avidreader07 could have captured her sense of shock, terror, awe, and ultimately joy present with the reveals. Still, for what it is I have no serious complaints.
Read it if you’re interested in exploring Equestrian history and culture involving particularly taboo subject matter.
Bookshelf: Pretty Good
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
Getting Back In The Swing Of Things — Pretty Good
Grooming A Student — Pretty Good
Night Of Faded Sun
1,925 Words
By Soufriere
Sequel to Highs and Lows
Sunset tried the whole “friendship” thing. Did it go well? Maybe. She doesn’t think so. She’s sunk into a deep depression, the kind that makes everything in existence feel terrible. Relief would be a blessing. Even if it is in the form of pain.
I remember writing stories like these. It was a long time ago, when I was an idiot teen who took everything far more seriously than I should have. I’d really rather not go back to read those pieces, they were crap.
Anyway, this story depicts Sunset after her defeat but before her redemption, now in a state of depression so heavy she’s resorting to self-harm with a knife. I have no complaints about Soufriere’s depiction of this. The only thing I have to complain about is my own squeamishness.
It’s funny to think about, really; I’ve read stories with outrageous amounts of blood and gore and pain and torture and self-harm. They don’t bother me much. But the truth is I’m very much affected by blood loss. Just the idea of it gives me chills. To give you an idea of how deep this runs, I once was rendered physically unable to walk for over an hour after trying to give blood. I’m far better at that kind of thing now – close my eyes and think about something else and I’m fine, if uncomfortable.
I bring all this up because there is a point in this story where Sunset uses a knife to hurt herself, and I got all those same nauseating feelings when she did it. Considering that 99% of all the pain and agony I’ve read throughout FIMFiction fails to get that kind of response out of me, I feel obligated to praise Soufriere’s capacity for atmosphere and description.
I’m rather disinterested in suicide/self-harm stories. Once you’ve read a few of them, you’ve read them all. Still, this one deserves credit for being well-written and effectively getting into Sunset’s head.
Bookshelf: Pretty Good
Previous stories reviewed for this author:
Sasha — Pretty Good
Highs and Lows — Pretty Good
A Midsummer Day's Quest — Worth It
Stories for Next Week:
Spellbound Fireflies by bats
T-plus Seven Hundred and Sixty-Nine Days by Monochromatic
Of Fluff And Feathers by Moowell
"The Official History of the Cheese-Pie Estate: a Novel Hoof-Crafted by the Masterminds Themselves" by OfTheIronwilled
Fluff and Kidnapping by Eyeswirl the Weirded
Pray, Hope and Wander by Flashgen
Half Hour to Closing by Chapter 13
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*reads the first review* I always feel kind of bad for the creators who make something 'so bad it's good' unintentionally. Also, wow, do ponies with caucasian-skin-colored coats look a bit disturbing on close inspection.
Whoot! I got next week!
Be gentle.
Have you ever reviewed any of the story's by the author DungeonMiner? If you haven't i would recommend them as basically all his story's are really good, and if you have, do you mind pointing me in their direction?
Only one I've read is "A Beginner's Guide to Heroism." Well, to a degree. I only read about the first 10% of it and dropped out. I didn't care for it for two reasons. One, I couldn't stand the main character. Not liking a character is one thing, but not even finding the story about them is quite another. That can easily be a personal taste thing, though, as you obviously found him entertaining. That is to say, it's a reason I didn't like the story, but not a reason I'd say it's a bad story. Just because I don't like something doesn't make it bad.
My other issue with it is something that's not going to bug all readers, since it's not the kind of thing most of them really think about or perceive. But for those who do, it can be a constant source of annoyance. You've noted in reviews before that in something like a journal-based story, it needs to sound authentic as a plausible example of journal entries. Something like that got to me here. This is all supposed to be a record of events he's penned well after the fact, but there's an oh-s-convenient double standard of him remembering minute details and word-for-word long conversations, set against him forgetting other things and admitting that a passage here and there might not be accurate. You can't have it both ways. Either he has a photographic memory of it all (not likely) or the whole thing should be more full of fog and gaps. Here, it's more narrative convenience (or going for a joke) governing whether or not he has total recall about any given thing. Most people have somewhat clouded memory in general with clarity about a few specific things, but Morty is the opposite, which is pretty hard to make plausible, and the story never even tries.
That ruined it for me, but again, that won't bug all readers, and most won't even give it a conscious thought. Inconsistencies in either perspective or method of delivery are some of my biggest pet peeves.
A beginner's guide to heroism sounds a lot like the adventures of Harry Flashman. If you've never read the Flashman Papers by George MacDonald Fraser, I highly recommend it. A narcissistic dickhead coward who lived during the victorian era somehow ends up involved in every major event that takes place from the early 1800's to the early 1900's, for better or for worse.
Sounds like you're suffering from the same thing I was toward the end of of Super's run. Loved the story to death, but I would literally go onto write three other Applejack-centric stories with more vigor and passion in shorter time frames than I would ever work on Super again. Probably, it's just story fatigue. The only cures for which are to:
1) Just sit down and push through. Do whatever you need to Isolate yourself where you can only work on the thing you want to, and do it.
2) Take a short break from it by rereading what you've written to get invested in the story again, and then see 1.
If you're really as close to done as you think you are, proably just do 1. That's what got me through.
Maxspell
As in: Maximum Spells?
This...was about Equestrian history—and a little bit of Luna’s—so why would I even…? (Okay, it’s actually more of a headcanon dump, but any fictional history is that, to greater or lesser degree, really. The only question is how well it’s done.)
After thinking for a minute or two, I realize that some people might have tried to turn this into a soapbox moment, but that literally never crossed my mind.
I was? Huh, I guess I kinda was. Not consciously, though.
I wish I’d been able to do something better with it, too. If I’d had more time, more ambition, and more confidence, I might’ve worked in a couple flashbacks, if I’d been able to make them more than just flashbacks for flashback’s sake.
I tried that, in a couple places, but I didn’t feel like I could do it on a larger scale without tipping over into melodrama. Or constant repetitions of “Shock, amazement, disbelief.”
As for the footnotes, I actually did think of that idea. Several weeks after I’d posted the story. I remembered another story doing that—I think it was…one of the Civil Service stories, maybe? I might just try it in the future.
5514403
I was thinking more Maxwell, as in Maxwell’s Demon, which is…something to do with physics, IIRC, but I’m not sure.
5514200
I didn't even consider them 'Caucasian-skinned' until you mentioned it. I just saw them as a very light pink. Now I can't get human-skinned ponies out of my head. It's kind of disturbing, really.
5514237
*idly holds whip behind back* Always intended to be.
5514254
Thanks for the recommendation!
Never heard of them, but went to take look. Most of their stories not only look like material I would approach with low expectations, but are too big for me to consider right now anyway due to my long-term goals/limitations. But a few of them look like they have some potential. I'll add one to read in the future. It'll probably be the 'distant' future, though.
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A shame you lack the ability to appreciate the inherent humor in Morty's characterization. I thought he was a hoot, and by the end you find he was a pretty stand-up guy, ego notwithstanding.
LoyalLiar actually dealt with that issue. Granted it was something of a handwave, but it was just enough to let me ignore the issue and focus on enjoying the story. At some point he acknowledges using a spell to have greater clarity on certain events and recall the dialogue properly, but he only used it for so many events because he didn't think it necessary (and probably because of his obvious limitations, though I don't think he mentioned that). Again, it's something of a handwave, but that's far more than most authors offer and I was willing to buy it. And really, given Morty's talent for making the impossible possible, I have zero reason to believe he couldn't have learned to do it some time after the events of the book.
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Seeing as I'm taking a break from it right now, I think I'm somewhat in the process of #2 anyway. But as I said,we shall see what happens when I finish these short/medium-term projects I'm on.
5514429
Yeah, I can see why you'd not want to have your characters just repeating the same reactions over and over again. One solution to such a problem might be to have them be so shocked early on that by halfway through they've become numb to the whole effect, responding to the next few revelations with a sort of "After X, I'll believe anything."
Never heard of Maxwell's Demon before. Looked it up. Maybe Lightning Note was using the name as a clue, but if so I fail to see how the origins of the name relate to the story itself.
5514474
I still consider it a pretty good story and would recommend it to others. Just because I personally didn't like it wouldn't dissuade me from doing so. It sounds like it improves later if I'd stuck with it, but you've commented on the pain of dealing with "it gets better later," and I just couldn't commit the time to it.
I have the same issue with giving blood. Not as bad to where I am incapable of walking, but it does make me lightheaded enough I have recline for a good 5-10 minutes afterward. Oddly enough, that's the only instance of needles that bugs me. Shots aren't a big deal (maybe I just got desensitized to it through having weekly allergy shots from ages 3-8), the few times I've ever had an IV didn't bug me... I dunno why drawing blood does. My first COVID dose did something similar, but that was different. Again, shots don't bug me, and if they did like blood draws, they'd do so immediately. I wasn't having any anxiety about it at all and was fine until I started feeling really lightheaded about 15 minutes afterward. Second dose tomorrow.
5514472
I would also recommend Priceless911, but with him most of his story's are in series, and most of them are more than or close to 100k words, so I would say to approach them like you are DungeonMiners storys. I would say to start with 'Under Crimson Sails', as while it fits into a larger narrative, it can be read as a stand alone
5514472
Last one, for DungeonMiner, I would recommend to star with The Tome of Faust, as it is not in a series, and I feel like it is one of his better works
Well, you sold me on A Beginner's Guide to Heroism.
And, oh boy, you weren't kidding. It's fantastic.
I'm only at around the fifth chapter, but I already think Mortal Coil and Wintershimmer are by far the best takes on the morally good/ambiguous Necromancer archetype on Fimfiction.
Dealing with conflicting motivation for multiple stories at once can be difficult. When working on a lengthy project I don't think it's unreasonable to take a break every now and then to work on something else if that's where your interest lies, but it can be a problem if that secondary project itself ends up eating too much time. More than once in the past few months I've had these bolts out of the blue for stories that I'd really want to do, but upon evaluation it became apparent that it would be too much of an endeavor to take on while trying to focus on something else so I had to put them on the shelf in the meantime. I already had to do that once back in November and by the time I came back to my current main project I had lost my momentum and I fumbled with myself to get any decent progress underway for some time.
A Beginner's Guide to Heroism seems like a rather interesting story. I can appreciate the concept of a story being filtered through the lens of an unreliable or even unlikable narrator. Might have to see about taking a look at that in the future.
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Oh, yes. I am familiar with the multi-story dance. All I can do now is hope that when I do get back to my main piece it isn't still feeling stale.
Oh wow A Beginner's Guide to Heroism was amazing. Just plain fun.
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IKR?
5515485
You're welcome.
Perhaps a bit late, but in regards to your cell phone comment: at least on my Android, with Google Chrome, it can do multiple tabs: you just hold your finger next to the search bar at the top. That would make your extra chapter footnotes workable for all! (At least, Android Chrome users.)