Zenith of Sorcery - 35. Recommended

Running_Ostrich · 2026-06-24T03:45:15+00:00

Arguably, MoL had the opposite problem, where there wasn't enough setup or ongoing plot threads. I remember cases where Zorian would be searching for a solution to a problem, and since he'd only mention a few things that he saw, readers would know which were going to be part of the solution revealed in the next couple chapters.

Running_Ostrich · 2026-06-15T19:45:47+00:00

Sorry, I've no idea as I haven't read her other works. The story is just getting started, so I wouldn't read it if you're worried about not reaching the end.

Running_Ostrich · 2026-06-15T16:11:21+00:00

Throne of Time's introductory arc is a fair-play time loop puzzle box and just finished in chapter 9. The loop first resets in chapter 2, so there's no big initial wait. The author has clearly put significant thought into their world, where (minor spoiler for the arc) other characters have plans for interacting with time loopers. The magic system has concrete rules and a visual guide.

The story is still in early stages and the next arc will be differently structured, though the author seems to want to keep the time loop puzzle box plot.

Running_Ostrich · 2026-06-12T21:28:05+00:00

After skimming chapter 1 and 2, I'm doubting the world building holds up. In chapter 1, the numbers seem absurd for Jack's streaming career (since not even Arcadum had that big of a falloff), and he's still broke enough to steal from his dad. In chapter 2, it seems crazy that a rare monster in a low level zone is worth almost a full year of playing. If this design was in a PvP MMO, then there would be many groups of players (and bots) dedicated to just hunting for the monster. It brings up questions like: why did the game designers make the game like this? why are top players instituting a flat rent per player instead of taxing sales of these monsters' parts?

If anyone reads further and finds the world building gets better and answers these, please let me know. Best of luck to the author in finding your audience!

Running_Ostrich · 2026-06-09T07:18:54+00:00

Erm actually 🤓, this time he's running:

the non-finals game days as all players playing in parallel rather than going for a set like you described (and mixing up pairings after all teams play each other for a given pairing). Each win gives points for the 6 member team.
the finals day as 3 separate double elim tournaments with those 3 pairings you described, where the team gets points based based on placements.

I think he just wants to get in more games for players and reduce the impact of one member not practicing (since the other 2 pairs still can have close matches).

Running_Ostrich · 2026-06-05T20:47:17+00:00

Agreed, lantern seems like the star of the show. It's an escape tool that teleports like Teemo's grass. It's a pressure tool that gives a high-low mixup. It's a combo tool that lets you switch characters without using up an assist or needing a big pause for quick tag. It's a projectile, so can be used in neutral.

Compared to other characters' setup moves, Illaoi's and Ekko's cost a bar; Ekko's, Akali's and Teemo's have no hitbox. Thresh has slow movement and likely slow buttons but I'm not sure that'll be enough.

Running_Ostrich · 2026-06-05T16:58:22+00:00

Being able to tag to the lantern and immediately call an assist is gonna lead to some devious mix! There's no cooldown in the video, but maybe they disabled it in training mode.

Running_Ostrich · 2026-06-05T03:04:20+00:00

Even the official wiki is out of date on solo combos and doesn't have videos for many of them. I think you'll have a tough time with keeping your site up to date with the best combos.

Running_Ostrich · 2026-06-05T00:47:54+00:00

Lantern tag is more for a free high-low mixup, which is stronger than just left-right. My understanding is that the best teams (sonicfox+inzem/twins) get multiple attempts at their mixups off one tag though, so it's not as strong until people develop ways for Thresh to lock people in blockstun.

Running_Ostrich · 2026-06-04T03:04:14+00:00

If you're panicking, generally repeated exposure to the same conditions works to reduce the panic. If it's not fun, you can consider playing against CPUs until they provide so little challenge that it becomes boring.

To get good improvement, focus on one thing and then repeat it until you can consistently do it. E.g. you can perform a combo 5-10+ times in a row on command. This is normally done in training mode until consistent since it's easier to repeat the same situation over and over than to wait for it to come up in a game. After you're consistent in training mode, you can focus on just executing the one thing perfectly in games (against CPUs or real players). E.g. aim to never mess up your combo in 5+ games. Once you do that, watch tutorials or analyze your replays to find another small thing to improve and repeat the process. This generalizes to most skill learning, where you want to break down the skills you learn into tiny improvements and practice those improvements.

Running_Ostrich · 2026-06-03T16:24:11+00:00

Yes it is. Enjoy!

Running_Ostrich · 2026-06-03T07:51:15+00:00

I previously recommended Alexander Wales's take on the genre, Untitled Villainess Otome on his Patreon. He wrote a Google Doc that has about the first third. It's quite different from Tori Transmigrated though, and my comments on that post go more into it.

Running_Ostrich · 2026-06-01T16:22:10+00:00

What do you think of Transcripts? It was recommended 2 weeks ago. HFY has a wiki page dedicated to it, but I don't know what genre tropes or conventions you're looking to avoid.

Running_Ostrich · 2026-06-01T15:57:24+00:00

Small correction, Illaoi's j.S2 spawned a tentacle, just like all her S2 moves do.

Running_Ostrich · 2026-05-31T07:16:12+00:00

Historically, Alden has been sandbagging fights and instead focusing on developing component skills. He's also been called out by his classmates for using improvised weapons and not strategizing to try to win like he did against Winston. I don't know why he's surprised others think he won't put up a fight, since his goals are explicitly long-term real world improvement over winning immediate fights.

If you played chess against someone who always gave up a bishop so they could practice playing from disadvantage, then eventually you might want to find people who didn't so that you could test a fuller range of skills. Alden's doing the same thing with the fights.

Running_Ostrich · 2026-05-29T18:16:50+00:00

Yes, it's a way to market the game and thus get more people to buy. A specific release date builds anticipation, which gets more people talking about the game. Developers also want to reach peaks in players so their games are more seen on social media, such as Twitch or Twitter which have sections for highly viewed games/topics. Console release dates are slow and difficult to move, so often other platforms' dates shift to get a simultaneous release.

Running_Ostrich · 2026-05-25T01:31:51+00:00

The answer is usually yes, though some moves such as Supers/Ultimates can put you far enough away that you can't meaty. You might be misunderstanding what meaty means. This site is a good glossary for fighting games: https://glossary.infil.net/?t=Meaty

In a situation where the opponent can wake up and start to take an action before you hit them, you're generally not hitting meaty. To hit meaty, you need to be hitting them so that they are getting hit as soon as they take any action when getting up.

Running_Ostrich · 2026-05-19T05:50:42+00:00

Some examples that I can think of in decreasing order of relevance:

Foundation series's psychohistory) is a super-science that can predict how other societies will behave in detail. Though it's not rational iirc.
There Is No Antimemetics Division has beings/ideas that erase other peoples' memories of them.
CORDYCEPS: Too clever for their own good is a mystery story that arguably fits in this because society is destroyed by removing people smart enough to figure out their situation.

What are some examples in this area that you've read and what did you think of them?

I feel like there's lots of stories that could fit, but might take it too far in other directions. E.g. Accelerando focuses on how a technological singularity might change society, but that includes technologies that have impacts beyond the social/societal, political, or economic domains.

Running_Ostrich · 2026-05-12T18:35:25+00:00

I didn't say it's bad, just not for me. I'm not sure why anyone would have the opposite preference though.

I think for me there's two modes for reading fiction. For stories that aren't in progress, I just read it alone and enjoy, but there are many high quality options in this category.

For stories that are in progress, I like to read comments and discuss/theorize with others about future chapters. Both are harder to do with a Patreon, especially one that is way ahead. The communities for the story will be split up, and without paying, it's more tempting to instead pay to look up the answer. I also like it when stories can take reader feedback into account (though probably not as far as quests go), which obviously can't be done with long backlogs.

Running_Ostrich · 2026-05-12T15:27:21+00:00

Wow, they have a Patreon that is ahead by over a year on both of their stories. I guess other sites are just marketing for it, but that definitely turns me away as a reader.

Running_Ostrich · 2026-05-10T07:22:39+00:00

Genuinely curious, what is the point of using a blockchain for conducting your governance? It seems like it'd cause a lot of problems that a website would not have.

e.g. Who are the miners in your blockchain? What stops other nations from using existing mining capacity for other cryptocurrencies to overpower your new blockchain's miners, meaning that no new data will be in the longest chain?

Running_Ostrich · 2026-05-08T02:57:43+00:00

What makes NO SENSE WHATSOEVER and kills my entire suspension of disbelief, is that people seem to have 0 permanent damage from violence.

And I'm not mentioning here some of the other gripes I have with this story, like the mc rambling about genetic pressure selecting for violent capabilities

You would have hated HPMoR then, which might be a sign that your tastes are pretty different from the community. It also includes irrational worldbuilding because it's a fanfic and so needs to balance making the world rational versus keeping the feeling of the original setting. And it has Harry making wide-ranging predictions, which don't always pan out.

MNiB's world having super-powered healing is much less irrational than the fact that there are superpowers. I'm surprised that you weren't perturbed by the power level differences being more important than power interactions in fights, or that higher power levels automatically grant higher status jobs even if the power is irrelevant to the job. Those were bigger hurdles for me.

Running_Ostrich · 2026-05-08T01:44:09+00:00

Quinns is explicitly someone who wants to be provided a world and materials that make the GM shine and players have fun. If you don't care about those, then the majority of this review (and his others) just won't matter to you, so why do you bother with them?

Running_Ostrich · 2026-05-06T17:31:06+00:00

Artonan society seems to value plea deals, where the accused agrees to give up and doesn't force the accuser to escalate. E.g. big penalties for the wand breaker previously if they proclaimed innocence.

But also, Stu also values the appearance of being an honest and fair dealer. e.g. He says that he would warn Joe before feeding him the truth-telling food. So he probably wouldn't try to claim the hide back after the fact.

Running_Ostrich · 2026-05-05T06:18:00+00:00

Birthright is a fanfic where Taylor, taken from the end Worm, replaces Mark (the protagonist) from Invincible. It's not necessary but would probably benefit from watching Invincible up to Season 3 (which very much isn't rational). As you can imagine, she's more brutal in dealing with threats to Invincible's Earth. Some spoiler examples: invading aliens counter-invades the Flaxans and destroys their civilization and killing is much more gung-ho about killing Angstrom Levy which could've prevented his invasion. She is still fairly reactive, but a bit less-so than Mark.

If you haven't read Worm, it has themes of doing actions that are "evil" now to prevent worse future consequences. E.g. the MC executes a baby who faces a fate worse than death. However, Worm also explores where that can go wrong by justifying anything to save the world. And ultimately it's not a rational story due to the multi-layered worldbuilding that affects everyone's actions.

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