Re: Project 132 - Sign-ups, reviews and ratings welcome! - Reference sheet added!
As for pulling it off, so far, no, you're not. I know I have to read with the reference sheet open in the other tab for constant consultation, and that's not a good thing. The ancestors are manageable because we've been hearing about (most of) them all along and it's easier to remember animals rather than names alone ("X the Y", repeat), and most of em were non-characters anyway (literally, now that they're almost all weapons), but the characters? Nope. Off the top of my head, I can only name about half of them; if their regular user names were used, it'd probably be easier (this is a user fanfic, after all: the non-user and OC levels are already pushing it - you really don't need to go reimagining the actual folks' names too).
The difference between the intermission and all the ancestors being introduced earlier is that we're being asked to remember and warm up to all these new characters, all at once, on top of the cast we're still trying to get to know, whereas before, the ancestors were more of a collective we had to know of, with the understanding that the individuals would be trotted out gradually (which is the way to do it, and to your credit, the mythology stuff certainly made a couple of them seem like characters to look forward to). Of the folks introduced in the intermission, honestly, the only ones that left an impression were Skell and Lee; others kinda felt like "aww, but we already have fire and lightning people in the ensemble - why do we need to replace them with n00bs?", although gamer Anton and the moody black sheep ice guy at least seem like decent candidates for a "get ur butt in gear or die" plot.
So yeah, overall, some aspects are promising, but you have to recognize that the sheer size of the protagonist ensemble is daunting, with the fancy names and OCs not helping the case, and the overlap between badass normals we already care about (or are still hoping to see developed beyond the basic intros) and newcomers we don't know yet just adds another concern for the readers. You also need to stop biting the hand that reviews you - you wanted feedback, didn't you? Sometimes it's not going to be stuff you wanted to hear, and while you can try and reassure us it'll get better, you're doing no one any favours with that aggressive tone you take whenever someone questions the plot choices. Good authors take their lumps with grace, not arrogance.
That's kinda conceited. It's up to the readers to decide how well an author can or can't pull things off, not you, and going around saying "oh yeah, im so good" is a great way to make people NOT want to read your stuff. Getting really touchy and defensive is another way. Javelin made some valid criticisms and you jumping down his throat is a real swell way to repay him for taking the time to read and review your story. You've done the same to me, and I'll tell ya, it's not appreciated.Tabuu said:
As for pulling it off, so far, no, you're not. I know I have to read with the reference sheet open in the other tab for constant consultation, and that's not a good thing. The ancestors are manageable because we've been hearing about (most of) them all along and it's easier to remember animals rather than names alone ("X the Y", repeat), and most of em were non-characters anyway (literally, now that they're almost all weapons), but the characters? Nope. Off the top of my head, I can only name about half of them; if their regular user names were used, it'd probably be easier (this is a user fanfic, after all: the non-user and OC levels are already pushing it - you really don't need to go reimagining the actual folks' names too).
The difference between the intermission and all the ancestors being introduced earlier is that we're being asked to remember and warm up to all these new characters, all at once, on top of the cast we're still trying to get to know, whereas before, the ancestors were more of a collective we had to know of, with the understanding that the individuals would be trotted out gradually (which is the way to do it, and to your credit, the mythology stuff certainly made a couple of them seem like characters to look forward to). Of the folks introduced in the intermission, honestly, the only ones that left an impression were Skell and Lee; others kinda felt like "aww, but we already have fire and lightning people in the ensemble - why do we need to replace them with n00bs?", although gamer Anton and the moody black sheep ice guy at least seem like decent candidates for a "get ur butt in gear or die" plot.
So yeah, overall, some aspects are promising, but you have to recognize that the sheer size of the protagonist ensemble is daunting, with the fancy names and OCs not helping the case, and the overlap between badass normals we already care about (or are still hoping to see developed beyond the basic intros) and newcomers we don't know yet just adds another concern for the readers. You also need to stop biting the hand that reviews you - you wanted feedback, didn't you? Sometimes it's not going to be stuff you wanted to hear, and while you can try and reassure us it'll get better, you're doing no one any favours with that aggressive tone you take whenever someone questions the plot choices. Good authors take their lumps with grace, not arrogance.
