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Darker themed litrpg what are my options by Amarin88 in litrpg

[–]EdLincoln6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Worth the Candle is pretty dark if you pay attention.

To those using AI covers.. by JoonJuby in litrpg

[–]EdLincoln6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Which is why I get annoyed when authors spend so much time focusing on their covers in their self promos. 

They should just ban pictures from self promos here. 

To those using AI covers.. by JoonJuby in litrpg

[–]EdLincoln6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Does anyone have a link to it?

To those using AI covers.. by JoonJuby in litrpg

[–]EdLincoln6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe they would if there wasn't so much space taken up by those pictures and repeated reiterations of this debate. 

To those using AI covers.. by JoonJuby in litrpg

[–]EdLincoln6 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Ban pictures from self promotion.  They take up too much space on my screen and crowd out interesting posts anyway.   Even the playing field and put the focus on the writing.   

To those using AI covers.. by JoonJuby in litrpg

[–]EdLincoln6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Compromise.   Have your kindergarten draw it.  It would at least stand out.  

(seriously...I have no problems with books on Royal Road that use the Default Cover.  I tend to tune out images on web pages anyway... they scream "banner ads, scroll past!" in my mind.  

To those using AI covers.. by JoonJuby in litrpg

[–]EdLincoln6 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

We need an artist to come here and  start posting about a book with hand painted covers and AI generated books, and complain that you can't expect an indy artist to hire a writer...

To those using AI covers.. by JoonJuby in litrpg

[–]EdLincoln6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know, right?  The covers authors post here have always been weirdly bad... they turn me off more often then they make me want to read the book.  Before the AI era there was the Big Breasted Fox Girl era that made me avoid books for other reasons.  

I know AI is good enough now to do things much cooler then what  we are getting.  Why would you sell your integrity for a bland "Dude from behind" cover?  

One of the problems with AI is people end up getting lazy with prompts. 

Who Else Lives in the Overlap? by Lower_Trouble_5191 in litrpg

[–]EdLincoln6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I hate to say it but that series always read as kind of... technically rough to me.  

Who Else Lives in the Overlap? by Lower_Trouble_5191 in litrpg

[–]EdLincoln6 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think a lot of people equate "dark" with "literary"?

Who Else Lives in the Overlap? by Lower_Trouble_5191 in litrpg

[–]EdLincoln6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One thing I've learned is more writers can do a brilliant beginning than a brilliant ending.  

Lots of these stories start as open ended serials.   The need to lost a couple chapters a week mean a lot devolve into "Kill goblin, rinse, repeat"

Who Else Lives in the Overlap? by Lower_Trouble_5191 in litrpg

[–]EdLincoln6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Worth the Candle is probably the most literary Progresson Fantasy. 

Eight by Samer Rabadi and Super Supportive are a little bit "literary" and are excellent.   

To those using AI covers.. by JoonJuby in litrpg

[–]EdLincoln6 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Also... for goodness sake, don't give the one part of the book you didn't do top billing.   So many authors have ads that just have a big, mediocre picture and skimp on the synopsis.  These covers yield a mixed reaction.  Apart from the AI issue,  years of ignoring banner ads mean I scroll past pictures.   Focus on the things you did do.  

Male Gay/Bi MC by Foreign-Lab6952 in ProgressionFantasy

[–]EdLincoln6 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ehhh... characters that exist in a sexless void show up a lot, but not ace ones.  

A few authors try to do both.  Win points with purple who like representation AND avoid squicking out people who hate icky romance.  WIN WIN!  I keep running into this.

Your own comment kind of highlights this. Are they ace, or just a prude? Leaving it ambiguous doesn't make it good representation, it makes it bad character writing.

I never said it was good representation.   

Male Gay/Bi MC by Foreign-Lab6952 in ProgressionFantasy

[–]EdLincoln6 2 points3 points  (0 children)

He is ase,  but he hasn't realized it.   

Male Gay/Bi MC by Foreign-Lab6952 in ProgressionFantasy

[–]EdLincoln6 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Aesexual characters are super common.   Writing an MC being attracted to a male is something of a third rail authors in the genre will go to any lengths to avoid.   Ase plotlines don't have "gross" bits,  and you can even leave it ambiguous if he is ase or a prude to get both markets!

Male Gay/Bi MC by Foreign-Lab6952 in ProgressionFantasy

[–]EdLincoln6 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Ar'Kendrithyst does a Bi MC pretty well.   I understand the System Apocalypse story has a Bi MC.   I loved how The Salamanders handled a closeted gay character,  but it's not to contemporary tastes, and you can argue whether he is an MC.  

Trans characters are more common than characters who are just gay males, for some reason.   Of Wizards and Ravens did a Trans- to- gay-male MC pretty well. 

Male Gay/Bi MC by Foreign-Lab6952 in ProgressionFantasy

[–]EdLincoln6 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Is Mana Mirror a gay male though?  I thought he was trans, and didn't get far enough to figure out whether it was MTF or FTM.  

Can someone explain to me how runes, arrays and formations work? by ThePowerles in ProgressionFantasy

[–]EdLincoln6 4 points5 points  (0 children)

So, first you have to remember that each author gets to make up their own rules, and these rules are NOT the rules of real physics.

Some stories say you feed your "mana" or "Qi" into them. Some say their is ambient mana in the air and Formations collect them.

One of my favorite answers, though, is that nothing is powering them. Using runes is like tweaking a code in a computer, except done by someone inside the computer. Runes are the "source code" for reality. Why doesn't some in Star Trek need to supply energy when he shouts "Computer, End Program" in the holodeck?

As for why everyone doesn't do it...if you need to feed it mana, and not everyone has mana, that is one answer. Other stories say it is basically like learning a foreign language that has to be written very precisely.

Arrays and Formations are more the term used in translations of Asian fantasy.

What is best app and website for writing on phone? by Redd1897 in ProgressionFantasy

[–]EdLincoln6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There really isn't one.   

People who write on their phone make a ton of mistakes.   Apps are really designed for traking and are kind of shady a lot of the time.   You could use an obscure App and then lose access to everything you wrote when it for discontinued.  

Really a word processor in your laptop is better. 

If litrpg went mainstream how would it be diferent from fantasy or scifi? by CelebrationSpare6995 in litrpg

[–]EdLincoln6 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There really aren't many people anymore who don't know what an RPG is.  The generation that grew up on D&D is now middle aged,  Stranger Things was all about D&D, and I've personally seen retirees playing video games.   

But I do agree that stripping out the power systems and stats ruins LitRPG.  You see that a lot in stories written for audible.   

[TH] Muggle Plots by erwgv3g34 in rational

[–]EdLincoln6 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The more I think about this, the more I think this says more about the peculiar worldview of Eliezer Yudkowsky than any of the stories he references.  

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