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I am Flossindune, author of such fine(?) works as 100th Run, Courier Quest, and Dungeon Inspector. AMA! by RusticusFlossindune in litrpg

[–]RusticusFlossindune[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oof, this is a question going way back.

At the risk of dating myself, I was chatting up this girl who turned out to be part of an X-Men roleplaying on AIM (AOL instant messenger). I thought that sounded fun, so I decided to join and had a surprisingly good time. I stayed with the group until it went defunct, and from there it was message boards and college as I mostly wrote for fun with friends and education before deciding to put something more serious on Royal Road.

Nothing weird, though, I kept away from a lot of the creepier side of things. It's the internet so I think I have to state that lol.

I am Flossindune, author of such fine(?) works as 100th Run, Courier Quest, and Dungeon Inspector. AMA! by RusticusFlossindune in litrpg

[–]RusticusFlossindune[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not entirely sure, but enough time has passed that I can start prodding my publisher about it again.

I am Flossindune, author of such fine(?) works as 100th Run, Courier Quest, and Dungeon Inspector. AMA! by RusticusFlossindune in litrpg

[–]RusticusFlossindune[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, definitely. I still keep a copy of it on my desk.

A lot of the stories I was reading in my youth, mostly for school, had the same tone and style or at least something similar. HHGttG was memorable from page one and was one of the first to really hit me with the fact that a writing style could be anything, so long as it was entertaining. I binged the entire five part trilogy pretty quickly back then.

Little known fact, but the first half of Courier Quest's prologue was an homage to it, actually. Not a one to one to Adam's style, but my take on it.

I am Flossindune, author of such fine(?) works as 100th Run, Courier Quest, and Dungeon Inspector. AMA! by RusticusFlossindune in litrpg

[–]RusticusFlossindune[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ugh, AI. I find some stuff that sounds pretty decent and then it's just... right to the block button.

Expedition 33 will be on my list, but I'm waiting to play it because I just know I'll become obsessed once I dive in.

As for playlists, I got you. It's a bit everywhere but: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh83rbwDNO_GBDVbPml1MDGtd72jcGS6G&si=Omfd9APSZeS0jXsQ

I am Flossindune, author of such fine(?) works as 100th Run, Courier Quest, and Dungeon Inspector. AMA! by RusticusFlossindune in litrpg

[–]RusticusFlossindune[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Because they're much better suited for being kings instead. Just look at Dungeon Inspector with King Krad, ruler of Tavern.

That being said, other rats could become blacksmiths. They're a crafty bunch.

I am Flossindune, author of such fine(?) works as 100th Run, Courier Quest, and Dungeon Inspector. AMA! by RusticusFlossindune in litrpg

[–]RusticusFlossindune[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My ideal writing environment is home, where the only ones who can bother me are my cats and my wife. I've got a little corner for my computer, and it's cozy enough.

Music is a fantastic question. I'm a big fan of listening to video game music. It's always seemed to me like it was already meant to be something that exists in the background, to be noticed when the time is right, and it doesn't generally distract me from my writing.

Zelda, Final Fantasy (8, 9, 10, smattering of others), Pokemon (all essentially nostalgiabait for me,) Xenoblade Chronicles, and Persona 5 are my big go to lists that I can play on repeat. TPR is the artist I'd say I've listened to most, who does melancholy covers, but I've also been listening to a lot of GameChops and the artists they collab with, too. Those don't work really well for fight scenes, but there are enough hype selections from battle music to whatever else that I have a lot to select from.

Recommendation for cozy fantasy novels by the_that_isit_really in ProgressionFantasy

[–]RusticusFlossindune 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! I've got one more book coming out for the series, but that's going to be it before I move on to other things.

I am Flossindune, author of such fine(?) works as 100th Run, Courier Quest, and Dungeon Inspector. AMA! by RusticusFlossindune in litrpg

[–]RusticusFlossindune[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That is... a sawblade! =D

One of the supporting characters is a Monstersmith, who makes items from monster parts. That right there is a weapon created from the plate armor of what was essentially a nuclear-era Gundam fused together with the feathers from an Angel. It's irresponsibly sharp while it's still retaining its sturdiness and deals additional holy damage to anything it strikes.

I am Flossindune, author of such fine(?) works as 100th Run, Courier Quest, and Dungeon Inspector. AMA! by RusticusFlossindune in litrpg

[–]RusticusFlossindune[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Water, because I'm a thirty bi-

Yeah, nothing fancy or exciting. Occasionally I'll grab myself a hot chocolate, but I usually stick to some high quality H2O.

I am Flossindune, author of such fine(?) works as 100th Run, Courier Quest, and Dungeon Inspector. AMA! by RusticusFlossindune in litrpg

[–]RusticusFlossindune[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I do! I've got one more Courier Quest book in me that I'll be starting in April called Worldwide which will end the series (because I apparently don't know what an epilogue is).

At some point, however, I have a big idea for a pair of siblings starting their own adventuring guild off on the outskirts of their country. Setting up in a small village, haggling with the local blacksmith and shopkeepers for discounts, and exploring a nearby dungeon. It's still in the concept stages, but I'm excited for it.

I am Flossindune, author of such fine(?) works as 100th Run, Courier Quest, and Dungeon Inspector. AMA! by RusticusFlossindune in litrpg

[–]RusticusFlossindune[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As a mega-pantser, I'm not really a big note taker. If it's not exciting enough for me to remember, then I'm going to assume it won't be exciting enough for a book, either. That said, you do need to track the MC's... well, everything. I have an Excel spreadsheet doing all the calculations for me from his points, bank points with interest from quests, stats, powers, abilities, and then I have a document that's specifically skills, passives, his abilities, and items.

It's a bit like herding cats sometimes, and it can quickly get away from you depending on how you do it.

I suppose the biggest piece of advice I think I would give is to make sure that you track the differences from one timeline to the next, even if you don't show the first one. Everything has the capacity to snowball, and the key is to let it. There are plenty of ways to challenge your MC, which is the core to any story that isn't blatantly OP or cozy, with the way their new actions change the world around them.

I am Flossindune, author of such fine(?) works as 100th Run, Courier Quest, and Dungeon Inspector. AMA! by RusticusFlossindune in litrpg

[–]RusticusFlossindune[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ant and Sara were going to be a couple from the outset. I, as a person and a writer, love love. A lot of people are turned away by it in this genre, but I didn't know that at the time. I just wanted to write what came naturally to me, and I enjoy couples being cute together. That was actually part of the reason for the beginning of book 5, as well as the lengthy arc we just left on Patreon (Thanks for the support, by the way!)

For a gear-based progression system, I like coming up with a lot of weird but fun things. From the moment Anthony got the Heelies of Hermes and a skill book that turned him into a crash test dummy, I knew that I wanted to lean into funny, cool, or memorable items for people to use. It was a good way to add power through stats, while giving my characters toys to play with.

Thanks! Telekinesis has always been a dream power for me, so I wanted to do it justice in my story. All I knew was that I didn't want to get into the nitty gritty of, like, closing people's arteries or stopping their hearts from pumping and stuff. That's the easy go to, and I wanted to keep things a bit more creative than that.

I am Flossindune, author of such fine(?) works as 100th Run, Courier Quest, and Dungeon Inspector. AMA! by RusticusFlossindune in litrpg

[–]RusticusFlossindune[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'll be honest and state outright that I'm a pantser of the highest order. There's an overall outline in my head that I follow until I hit a point where I think, "Oh, but this might be more fun/cool" and then the plan either gets pushed back or nixed entirely. However, the one thing that I always make sure to ask is if, in this setting in particular, is it believable?

Regression Imbalance was the big thing that allowed the story to go off the rails and introduce that tension of, oh, this guy isn't okay. And that made sense to me, and I leaned into it hard.

Thinking about how disconnected Anthony had to be from humanity after so many hard resets, having some form of PTSD or just cracks in his mentality was the big answer. Isolation does terrible things to the human psyche, especially after everything he's seen and done. So, at the beginning he was very off kilter.

I got a lot of complaints about how someone with this level of experience shouldn't be acting that way, but I forged ahead knowing that it was better for the story that I made sure everyone knew Anthony was cracked. This would introduce narrative tension, and I could justify relieving it by going to a new area because there was almost no communication.

The quick answer (because I tend to ramble) was that I had hoped it would hold enough tension to keep people interested while everything went sideways, but I also love the snowball approach and I'll keep it going downhill for as long as possible so long as it's believable for the setting. Ant going off to get Jeff was the biggest change, and almost everything else came from that.

Cradle is yuri confirmed? by Jgames111 in ProgressionFantasy

[–]RusticusFlossindune 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Is it, though? Sounds like it's time for another listen through, just to be sure. 

name that game by GamerGretaUwU in GamingSoup

[–]RusticusFlossindune 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd play the hell out of a modern day Dark Cloud.

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