I always like to point out that there is a covenant between me the writer and you the readers.
Most of this year, I’ve been failing to uphold my part of that. It’s only been recently though that I’ve really sat down and asked myself why.
It’d be easy to blame my work; it’s draining and monotonous and keeps me from devoting the thought I need into my writing. But let’s be honest: up until this February, that didn’t stop me from producing. Hell, I’ve have more time and less stress in my life thanks to having a car now, so that’s just an excuse.
I could also blame that fact that I’ve gone from playing in one game and running another to playing in three and running one recently. But RP has always invigorated me instead of detracting from my work.
No, after some thought, it came to me that… well I haven’t been happy with what I’ve been producing lately.
You see, the current arc is not one I’ve really enjoyed writing. Against all the advice and thought I’ve put on this blog, I fell into the same lazy, rushed trap I blame on most terrible writing. And it resulted in terrible writing.
No offense if you liked the whole Lost World > Columbia > Tournament thing, but I feel like the whole thing is a mess. I’ve been trying to rush ahead to the big even at the end of the volume and I ended up not taking to proper care and time with the characters and action to make a decent story.
So many character points here are pulled directly from my ass, resolutions are not satisfying (or existing), and some new characters… just need to be taken back to the garage and fleshed out.
Plus, after all the build-up of revealing the teams’ secret Ids to the world, I immediately sent them out of the country. That… that was some bullshit right there. You guys deserve better.
And that’s what I’m going to give you.
By the glorious hand of Orwell, I declare this arc non-canon (Though VIRAL is still canon) and will be writing replacements starting tomorrow night.
First up: Hardcore Fans, where the gang get some time to bask in their celebrity—until a gang of fans puts them in way over their heads. I’m enjoying this arc way more and I hope you guys do too.
A wrong turn, got it. And no, deus ex machina – even with real deities – wasn’t ever my favorite plot twist. Onward the new plot!
I’m much preferring the new direction (I was honestly getting confused towards the end of that recent arc). Lost world was initially fine, but the ending of that immediate arc was lackluster.
Glad you’re back too! I had forgotten how much I liked your writing.
If you’re able to you might want to edit the website when you have time to remove retconned stories and move them somewhere marking them non-canon (or maybe just mark them as non-canon somehow). I was a tad confused when I came back and hadn’t yet looked at this blog post.
Done and done.
Yeah, it really became a ten-plot pile-up there and I’m glad I wasn’t just delusional thinking it.
While I believe that you could have pulled off a decent end to the arc, I’m glad you’re much more enthusiastic about this new direction. You could kind of feel the lack of spirit in the now-retconned chapters.
Good to have you back!
Wow George looking into different timelines really screwed the pooch. In serious thought yeah I kinda agree. Tournament arcs are in my opinion really hard to pull off. Which usually boils down into three categories: Everyone lives and the master is gone, Some people die and the consequences are there,or some are revealed to be alive and will come back.
Which always felt like the writer is trimming his characters cast. It is not necessarily a bad thing, but it can be annoying. Hermes already did this thing in way. So i’m glad that you decided to go a different route. Maybe you can flesh out Maeve’s guard, I couldn’t connect with them over this arc. Like their very names just escaped my mind.
Hopefully we can see some of those new characters again. I really enjoyed the Columbian president. Also the reintroduction of the Knights. Loki and his plot points were interesting too. Having him immediately hostile was not. It felt ( like you written ) rushed into the tournament. Simon Talbot also getting into it was also weird. How could the situation resolve itself? Either he dies or Cyn did or something else happens. The fight againest him, shouldn’t it be climatic end of volume thing? Instead it was fight/talk time with Simon says.
All in all, your one of my favorite superhero web serial writer. Considering most are dead or turned mediocre, looking at you Whateley Academy. You haven’t let me down before so I look forward to whatever comes next. So wirte on Vaal and enjoy your work. Take your time and do what you consider best.